february monthly wrap-up + finally recovering from the very happy yet emotional roller coaster that was the percy jackson tv series
hello.
Where do I even start? If it were up to me, I'd begin by aggressively running my fingers over the keyboard, for reasons I'll be getting into in the next paragraph. But I don't think that would be the best way to start a blog post, so I'm going to refrain from doing it (for now).
It's a month and a half since I watched the very first episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and two weeks since I finished the finale. Ever since then, I haven't watched a single TV series. I watched a movie (I'll be getting into that later) but nothing else, simply because I hadn't fully recovered.
Despite the urge to fill this whole post with Percy Jackson thoughts, I'm going to try to turn this into a monthly wrap-up. So let's get all the other stuff out of the way so that I can rant -I mean, write- about PJO at the end.
Here's my monthly wrap up for Jan, by the way
posts I published
Shiene Lende by Darice Little Badger book review
In this book review, I wrote my ARC review of "Shiene Lende" the prequel to the novel "Elatsoe".
"Shiene Lende" is a must-read for fans of Darcie Little Badger or middle-grade realistic fiction that further cements her status as a pivotal voice in YA literature. It’s a book that not only entertains us but invites readers to ponder the deeper connections between our past, our identities, and the stories we tell.
A Valentine's-Themed Book Tag but Featuring All Genres
I created my very first tag! I've done tags created by other people of course, like the The 20 Questions Book Tag back when I started blogging and the the Naughty or Nice Book Tag, but I'd never tried making my own before.
I don't like romance novels that much, but I still wanted to participate in the February fun, which led to the creation of that tag. Most Valentine's Day tags are about the best love stories, but in that one, I explored falling in love with books from all kinds of genres.
my debate tournament
I did one tournament in mid-Feb, when I made it to semifinals, so this month was mainly filled with me preparation and recovery.
Fun fact: I'm actually a debate tournament now as I'm writing these words (March 3rd). It's an online tournament, and my impromptu round got delayed. Our coach told us to chill and take a break before round two pairings come out, so here I am. I'm kind of nervous, but wish me luck!
Edit 1: Okay, so I just finished the finals for event #1 (declamation) and I'm waiting to see if I get into the finals of event #2 (impromptu). Why is this so nerve-wracking? ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
Edit 2: Still waiting... why is this taking so long?? Apparently there are technical difficulties on tabroom. the platform the judges use to submit ballots. This playlist is the only thing keeping me sane right now.
Edit 3: Omg okay so not only did I get accepted into the finals of event #2, I think I did pretty well! I really don't want to jinx it or brag or something but I was pleasantly surprised by how my speech turned out. Now I'm just chilling until results come out tonight.
Edit 4: OH MY GOD I PLACED FIRST IN EVENT #2!! OVERALL!! OUT OF SO MANY PEOPLE! It's been a day since results came out and I just realized I forgot to update this post. I was not expecting to get to get first place at all, so this is crazy! I'm definitely going to continue doing event #2 in the future, not only because it turns out I'm good at it, but also because it's so fun. As for event #1, I ranked 5th because I had too much hand movement. But whatever, I'm happy about it anyway.
music this month
top artists
1. Taylor Swift
I'm very surprised to see Taylor Swift as my top artist this month, considering the fact that she wasn't even in my top 20 last month. Does this make me a... swiftie? Probably not.
2. Levent Geiger
I was totally expecting this. Levent Geiger is an amazing artist. I listened to "creepin'" and "Bad Days" on repeat so many times throughout February.
2. Zoe Clark
I discovered Zoe Clark last month but I think she might be my all-time favorite artist. She has roughly 560,000 monthly listeners, but is still underrated in my opinion! Just listen to her music, you'll fall in love.
top songs
1. ocean eyes by Billie Eilish
2. gold rush by Taylor Swift
3. Water Fountain by Alec Benjamin
4. Gorgeous by Taylor Swift
5. 2 Days Into College, 3 Lectures Behind by Aimee Carter
follow my spotify
playlist of the month
fav posts from other blogs
- Marianna @ Marianna's Corner gave us a bunch of novels to add to our TBR, all organized by genre, to read this Black History Month in her post "Black History Month Book Recommendations!"
- Eli @ Acereader posted a list of seven cute queer romances to binge read for Valentine's Day, with full reviews for each recommendation. Thank you!
- Lilian @ Lili Lost In A Book shared her End of Winter TBR, simultaneously providing us with amazing books to read and doubling my TBR at the same time.
- Joanna @ Portobello Book Blog had an author interview with Emma Christie, who writes psychological thrillers. It's a quick post but piqued my interest in reading her book.
- And last but not least, Nicki @ Secret Library Book Blog shared a short but sweet list of books she could read in a day. I'd never heard of those authors before!
And these were just five of the many amazing blogs who published posts this month!
percy jackson
And now we are finally at the end of this post, where I can fangirl over Percy Jackson. Wait, did I say fangirl? Oopsies. I meant 'very sophisticatedly analyze the show'. This is such a professional blog, guys. Totally. Absolutely no fangirling allowed here.
Welp, rules are meant to be broken.
Great, so now that matter is out of the way. Where do I even begin?? Let's start by dissecting my thoughts on the casting controversy (because I like arguing with random racist people on the internet).
leah sava jefferies as annabeth
People hated on Leah because she's an actor of color who was casted as Annabeth, a character described as caucasian in the books. Keep in mind that Leah was just 12 when she was cast, but she still received very threatening messages by so-called 'fans'. Yeah, these 'fans' were completely fake. The core message of Percy Jackson has always been that difference is strength, and anyone can be a hero. For that reason, a true fan would support Leah's casting. Just saying.
In the words of Rick Riordan himself, Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase.
Some of you have apparently felt offended or exasperated when your objections are called out online as racist. “But I am not racist,” you say. “It is not racist to want an actor who is accurate to the book’s description of the character!”
Let’s examine that statement.
You are upset/disappointed/frustrated/angry because a Black actor has been cast to play a character who was described as white in the books. “She doesn’t look the way I always imagined.”
You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks. She is a Black girl playing someone who was described in the books as white.
Friends, that is racism.
*mic drop*
Ladies, gentlemen, and demigods, can we please get a round of applause for Rick Riordan. I could not have set it better myself. And I would highly recommend you go read the whole post if you're interested. Click here for the link. It's eighteen quick paragraphs of absolute perfection, and reading it instantly elevated Rick Riordan into my favorite authors list.
And as someone who watched the TV series, I can vouch for the fact that Leah slayed the show. Her performance was 100/10. Amazing. It was so cool to see these book characters come to life on the screen! Oh, and because of her amazing performance, she was nominated for the NAACP awards. Voting ended a couple of days ago, and of course I gave her my vote. I hope she wins!
aryan simhadri and walker scobell as percy and grover
I wrote so much for Leah, I'm having to combine Walker and Aryan to maintain an equal amount of words. Wow.
Let's start with Aryan. I'm from India too, and it was amazing to see someone of South Asian ethnicity cast as the role of Grover, one of the main trio. Usually, we'll see people cast as the side characters or the comedic relief, but not in this case.
And looking beyond that, I think Aryan is one of the most underrated actors in the whole production. His line delivery and timing was impeccable. He made the Percabeth scenes five times as funnier by playing the role of the third wheel perfectly.
I've seen these edits where they pause exactly when you can see Aryan's face over Walker and Leah's hug. It's so funny because that's the moment when Grover realized he's going to be a third wheel for the rest of his life, and Aryan's expression perfectly coveys that 'oh no they're percebething again'.
And moving onto Walker, he did great, too. If he's not cast as Keefe if they make a KOTLC movie, it would be devastating. Not only does he look like Keefe, he also has Keefe's personality. But let's come back to him playing Percy.
Did you know that in this interview with the Teen Vogue, Rick Riordan says, and I quote, "I think Walker’s sense of humor is even sharper and quicker than I write Percy. That makes him more Percy than my Percy.” While I'm not sure I'd go that far, I can see what Rick Riordan was getting at here.
wholesome pjo clips I love
This is random, but there's this one clip that Dior Goodjohn (Dior is another slay queen actor in the production, a girl who played the role of Clarisse) posted on social media of Walker running really fast to keep up with the pace of a golf cart Dior was sitting in. All the comments were various rephrasings of "Hey that's not Walker, that's Runner". Get it? Because Walker was running. It's so random it's funny.
Oooh, and there's also that one interview where Walker says "I'm going to do my best to bring Percy Jackson alive. For all of us!" It was so heartwarming.
Finally (and this is the last PJO clip I'm going to reference, I promise) one interviewer asked the walker/leah about Percabeth. Now, first of all, this dude pronounced it "perk-eh-beth". LIKE UM THATS NOT WHAT IT IS!!! Percabeth is pronounced "Per-sa-beth". The key difference is that the "c" is pronounced "see". If the "c" was pronounced "k", that would make Percy's name Perky. So, in conclusion, pronounce it correctly, everyone!
Now, coming back to the interview, the cast's reaction to being asked about Percabeth is so funny. Grover decides to flash a halfhearted smile at the camera, knowing he's about to be third-wheeled. Leah visibly closes her eyes, like, 'if I close my eyes, it'll all go away'. The question was directed at Walker, and he responded by just staring at his hands. Thankfully, the interviewer took the hint and moved on, but not after the awkward silence had already become prominent.
Okay, I'm going to embed my favorite PJO cast video below so you know what I'm talking about.
If you watched that (and I hope you did!) then you can probably see why I'm able to write so much about them.
other fun pjo stuff
Honorable mentions:
1. Charlie Bushnell. He played Luke and is seriously underrated. I could feel the sheer emotion radiating off of his acting. Guys, if they didn't want us to like Luke, why did they make Luke's actor so likeable??
2. Dior Goodjohn. I mentioned her before, she did so well. Her scream in episode one sent shivers down my spine.
3. All those adult actors I forgot to mention (like Adam Copeland and Miss Jessica).
conclusion
Well, that was the longest post I've ever written. I don't know how to end this, but thank you for somehow reaching the end. Have a great march!
Paige C, signing off.
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