#rickriordan

For me it was the christmas of 2024 (?), when i randomly decided "I wanna read horror books!"

I never did get to reading all those horror books, but that summer i read a book called Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours, and i was HOOKED. (If youre looking for book recs make sure to check it out!)

Anyway later that summer my older sister borrowed the first pjo book from the local library (IK ITS PROLLY SPELLT RIGHT BUT ENGLISH ISNT MY FIRST LANGUAGE OKAY?) and so, my Rick Riordan fixation began

I went on to read all of pjo in swedish (my native tongue), then hoo, toa, etc etc in english.

English version below

Comme membre du Laboratoire de littératie de l'Université Concordia, dirigé par la professeure Sandra Martin-Chang, j'ai appris qu'il nous revient d'incarner le plaisir de la lecture pour nos élèves. Il nous revient de rejoindre les jeunes esprits à l'intérieur des histoires qu'ils aiment déjà. Il nous revient de nous servir des récits comme véhicules pour aborder des sujets délicats, comme apprendre à s'entendre avec un demi-frère ou une demi-sœur, un beau-frère ou une belle-sœur, qu'on n'a pas choisi d'avoir. Et il nous revient d'apparier les livres aux lecteurs selon leurs intérêts, mais on ne peut pas vraiment recommander ce qu'on n'a pas lu.

J'ai récemment lu Percy Jackson et La Mer des monstres (Rick Riordan), le deuxième tome de la série. J'écris aujourd'hui en français parce que j'ai lu une traduction française pour empêcher mon français de trop rouiller. Comme la plupart des lecteurs assidus vous le diront, le deuxième tome est rarement le meilleur, et celui-ci ne m'a pas vraiment accrochée avant que Percy doive composer avec Tyson, un demi-frère qu'il vient tout juste de rencontrer.

Avant d'apprendre que Tyson est son demi-frère, Percy éprouve de l'empathie pour ses petites manies et, autant que le lecteur puisse en juger, ils sont amis, même si Percy est un peu réticent. Les manies de Tyson prennent une tout autre couleur à la Colonie des Sang-Mêlé. Percy change de ton, qui devient dissonant quand Poséidon reconnaît Tyson comme son fils. À la fin du livre, Percy appelle Tyson « grand lascar ». Et, comme Québécoise formée dans le système anglophone, je n'avais aucune idée de ce que voulait dire « lascar ». Mais ça semblait être une chose plus ou moins bonne (j'ai fini par le chercher dans un dictionnaire). En tout cas, cet arc narratif, celui d'accepter les autres tels qu'ils sont et de miser sur les forces de chacun, est une belle leçon à retenir, et les enseignants peuvent s'en servir pour aborder des sujets sensibles.

Au-delà du clin d'œil à Ulysse et à Circé, j'ai aussi perçu un arc sous-jacent dans l'histoire. Chaque enfant a besoin d'au moins un adulte fiable, et ici, c'est Chiron, un enseignant, cette présence sûre auprès de Percy et d'Annabeth. On sait, grâce à des décennies de recherche sur la résilience, que les enfants qui s'en sortent bien malgré un départ difficile ont presque toujours au moins un adulte stable et bienveillant dans leur entourage. Un enseignant du primaire peut passer environ 25 heures par semaine avec les mêmes élèves, ce qui fait de la constance, de la fiabilité, de la bienveillance et de la gentillesse bien plus qu'un simple atout : le cœur même du métier.

La Mer des monstres n'était pas aussi forte que le premier tome. N'empêche, la série demeure un bon choix pour quiconque aime l'aventure avec une touche d'évolution des personnages.

Pas de question aujourd'hui. Prenez plutôt un moment pour vous rappeler les enseignants qui ont marqué votre vie et l'ont rendue meilleure.

Mal and Nico di Angelo meet! (Since they’re technically siblings)

The jewellery and feathers are extremely unnecessary and native people don't wear feathers casually; they're ceremonial! (Rick writing her wearing it 24/7 post TLH is a whole thing on its own)

You can give her beaded earrings, but I'd tone it down bc it looks like you added them to show she's native. Remember Piper is canonically anti fashion and doesn't really like jewellery so she wouldn't wear much if she did.

Again I'm not trying to be mean, and I really hope I don't come across as such! A lot of people are unaware of these things and end up making poor choices in their designs. I don't think it was your intention to draw her as such, so I wanted to inform you bc there's a huge problem with this in the fandom!

Hi, oh my gosh no this isn’t mean at all! Thank you so much for writing this out genuinely, I don’t want to offend anyone ever with my art so I greatly appreciate feedback like this! I think the redness does have to do with my rendering and colour picking partially, I added some pictures down below to kinda show examples! (generally my drawings all end up very saturated because I add a cool red overlay, over the skin layer as part of it) I didn’t at all mean to make her overly red, but especially for Piper that should’ve been something to lookout for!

Also about the feathers, I did see many artists drawing her with it because of that particular mention in the book so that makes a lot of sense! I’ll remove them and maybe add another cute hair accessory instead (not sure what yet maybe some clips)

And I’ll definitely overwork the design again for the feathers and the skin render, As for the earrings I did reference a cool pair I found but maybe something smaller would be cool too?

Anyways holy yap, I’m really sorry I didn’t mean to be offensive in any way and I’ll definitely work it over! Tysm again for letting me know about this! :-)

COOL DUO I THINK WOULD BE COOL TOGETHER

Setting: Camp Half-Blood. Percy is sitting on the steps of the Big House after yet another quest briefing. He’s stressed, covered in scratches, and staring into the distance. Evie walks over with her signature confident grin.

EVIE:

Whoa. You look like someone just told you blue cookies are canceled.

PERCY:

Worse. Chiron says I have to “prepare responsibly.”

EVIE: (dramatic gasp)

Responsible? Percy Jackson? That’s tragic.

PERCY:

I’m serious. Every time I finally relax, another prophecy shows up. Another monster. Another world-ending crisis. I don’t even remember what “chilling” feels like.

EVIE: (drops onto the step beside him)

Then congratulations.

PERCY:

For what?

EVIE:

You’ve officially enrolled in my masterclass.

PERCY:

…There’s a masterclass?

EVIE:

Yep.

(She stands up and clears her throat.)

EVIE:

Welcome to How to Be Chillin’ Like a Villain, taught by yours truly.

PERCY:

That sounds… slightly concerning.

EVIE:

Exactly. Rule number one.

(She points dramatically.)

EVIE:

Stop looking like you’re personally responsible for keeping the planet spinning.

PERCY:

I mean…

EVIE:

Nope. Not listening.

(She covers his mouth for a second before removing her hand.)

EVIE:

The world existed before you. It’ll survive while you take a snack break.

PERCY:

Tell that to Kronos.

EVIE:

Kronos is gone.

PERCY:

Fair point.

EVIE:

Rule two.

(She flicks a pebble into the lake.)

EVIE:

Your enemies expect panic.

Don’t give them panic.

Give them…

(She leans back casually.)

…vibes.

PERCY:

Vibes?

EVIE:

Imagine you’re fighting a giant sea monster.

PERCY:

That happens more than you’d think.

EVIE:

Exactly.

Instead of yelling—

“Oh no! A giant monster!”

You hit it with—

“Seriously? You interrupted my lunch?”

Confidence damages egos harder than swords.

PERCY: (laughs)

Okay… that’s actually kind of funny.

EVIE:

See? You’re smiling already.

Rule three.

Make chaos your roommate.

PERCY:

I don’t think I invited chaos.

EVIE:

Chaos doesn’t wait for invitations.

It kicks the door open.

So instead of trying to control everything—

Dance with it.

Improvisation is basically your superpower anyway.

PERCY:

Annabeth would hate hearing that.

EVIE:

Annabeth makes plans.

You make miracles.

Both work.

PERCY:

…You’re weirdly motivational.

EVIE:

I charge by the hour.

Rule four.

Never let the villain know they’re ruining your day.

You know what’s terrifying?

Someone who smiles while winning.

You know what’s more terrifying?

Someone who smiles while losing because they already know they’ll get back up.

PERCY:

That’s… actually kind of awesome.

EVIE:

Exactly.

Villains feed off fear.

Starve them.

Give them sarcasm instead.

PERCY:

I can definitely do sarcasm.

EVIE:

I know.

It’s one of your love languages.

(Percy chuckles.)

PERCY:

So what’s the last lesson?

(Evie becomes unexpectedly sincere.)

EVIE:

Rule five.

Don’t let being a hero erase the kid underneath.

Heroes deserve to laugh.

To have friends.

To make dumb jokes.

To sit by the lake and skip rocks.

If you only survive…

and never actually live…

then the monsters already stole something from you.

(Percy looks out across the water.)

PERCY:

I never really thought about it like that.

EVIE:

Then think about it now.

Saving the world is important.

But living in it?

That’s the reward.

(A comfortable silence.)

PERCY:

So…

Am I officially chillin’ like a villain now?

EVIE: (pretends to inspect him)

Hmm…

Less frowning.

More confidence.

Definitely more blue food.

But…

Yeah.

I’d say you’re getting there.

PERCY: (smirks)

Thanks, Evie.

EVIE:

Anytime, Seaweed Brain.

PERCY:

Hey—that’s Annabeth’s nickname.

EVIE:

Borrowed it.

She’s not using it right now.

Melhor Ordem de Leitura do Riordanverso, de Rick Riordan (v6)