Prim

So there are those book characters that people think are weak when they are really not. At all. And Prim is definitely one of those characters.
(Spoilers for the Hunger Games Trilogy.)
Prim was twelve years old when the trilogy started. Her father had died and her mother had been depressed. That's pretty hard on a person. What people want is a mature character that is wise beyond their teenage years and can take care of themselves. So a person like Katniss. Prim wasn't that character when the trilogy began. Does that make her weak? She was really young. Not everyone can be a Katniss-like character.
And her sister Katniss had to be really brave when she volunteered for her at the reaping and then had to fight in the Hunger Games. There is no denying that. But on the other hand, I think Prim was really brave too. The way Katniss describes Prim walking up to the stage in the square trying to be strong, facing her fate, I think that this is when Prim starts to mature. I feel like twelve years old, it makes sense that she starts to mature about then. But then when Katniss volunteered, I think she may have even wanted to go into the arena then, if it meant her sister didn't have to. And having to watch her sister fight to the death? Katniss had some pretty scary and dangerous situations in that arena. I have an older sister, and if I had to watch her go through that stuff... it would be really, really, really hard.
Then when Katniss comes home, she doesn't find the Prim she left behind. She sees the new Prim, who helps her mom with the apothecary business and she's so sweet and caring that everyone loves her and she helps everyone she can. Tell me how that is weak. Katniss hunted for her family to be able to eat. That's really strong, she was taking care of her family. Well, Prim is taking care of people too. If she is healing them from their diseases and injuries, I think that is really strong. Katniss would agree, especially because she can't stand all the ill people that come into her home to see her mother. Not to mention how sweet and kind Prim is. Being like that to any person that you meet is amazing to me.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all you sweet fandomeers out there :) Today we're going to celebrate the moms of the universe, or that is, the fandom moms.
(Spoilers for Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Percy Jackson.)
I mean, oh my gosh. The Harry Potter moms? They are the coolest moms ever.

 

Those three ladies. Lily died so she could save her son, and even through her death her love for her son protected him throughout the rest of his childhood and teenage years. Molly fought in a war while taking care of seven children of her own, not to mention all the other kids she treated as if they were in her own family. Narcissa? If you're willing to pretend you're evil for your family, I'd say you're pretty cool.
And in the Hunger Games, when you live in a country like Panem you'd probably do anything for your kids. Mrs. Everdeen did have a rough time when her husband died and she fell into that horrible depression. But once she got out of that, she tried to make up for it. She's the kind of mom that would do anything her kids asked. She started working again and taking care of not only her own children but all the people in their town and their children. Then when the rebellion started she worked hard as a doctor and a loving mother. I am the biggest Mrs. Everdeen fangirl ever. And while we're here I would like to mention Hazelle, Gale's mom. Hazelle had a family and was pregnant when her husband died. It must have been pretty hard to lose him especially when she had so many young kids to take care of. But Hazelle didn't let that stop her. Just like Mrs. Everdeen had Katniss, Hazelle had Gale to help her and she started working, and you know what, her family did okay. Hazelle, you're amazing.
Last but not at all least, Sally Jackson! When your son is known by mortals for blowing up the school and known by monsters as the son of Poseidon that needs to be destroyed, you'd think you would get a little impatient. Sally wasn't impatient for a second. She took care of her son with love and patience, and she even married a horrible man for him. She wanted to be a writer but couldn't afford to go to school, so she worked hard and still tried to take care of her family. Eventually she got to go to school, married a man that she actually loved, and Percy saved the world!
It seems good things happen to the best moms :)



Dyslexia

In the Percy Jackson series, we learn a few things about dyslexia. In Percy's case, it makes it hard for him to read. He describes the words as swimming on the page, and the letters getting mixed up. In some cases it can affect other stuff too, like for some people it's just hard to read, for others it affects math and reading. Honestly, it must be seriously hard to be dyslexic. I remember one day when I was trying to read something that my eyes would not concentrate on the words. They just wouldn't focus. It was so hard to read, it was giving me a headache. Then I realized it was kind of like how dyslexia is described. If I had to go around like that full-time trying to read but the words wouldn't come together, I would go insane. I have some fandomeer friends who are dyslexic, they just listen to the audio versions of the books instead of read them. I talk to one friend about the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus books so much that I used to forget that he was dyslexic. So all I really wanted to say is to the dyslexic people out there: you're really awesome. Seriously, the fact that you find a way to read even though your mind doesn't want you to is amazing. As a friend of mine said once, the real heroes are people who make it through school with dyslexia. You guys are true heroes.

Katniss and Finnick

(Spoilers for the Hunger Games Trilogy)
So, you guys know me well enough that you should know that I don't ship this. At all. I am a hardcore Toast shipper. (Katniss and Peeta, bros.) But this is the cutest friendship ever. Almost as cute as the Golden Trio. Almost, that is.
When Katniss meets Finnick, she knows she can't trust this guy. This flirtatious kid isn't worth her time. And it stayed that way for a while. But what Haymitch says, in general, goes, so when he decided that Katniss and Finnick were to be allies, they were to be allies. I'm not totally sure Katniss trusted Finnick at all in Catching Fire. I think she started liking him enough. But you don't want to make a connection like that with someone you know you will have to kill if you want to keep someone else alive, and it didn't help that after she got out of the arena she found out that he was in on the plan to get her out of the arena alive, even if it meant sacrificing Peeta. Honestly, Finnick started to become Katniss's friend in the first place because of the rebellion. If Katniss wasn't going to help the rebellion, then they might have not even formally met.
In Mockingjay, that's when they really started becoming friends. Maybe it was that they could relate to each other. Peeta and Annie were both being tortured in the Capitol. It helped to be able to talk to someone who understood what they were feeling, and it actually helps you forget about your troubles to do something for someone else, so caring about what they other felt and what happened to the other and taking care of the other, that's what helped them get through it. You know it's true friendship when he shares his rope with her! That's so cute!

Happy Birthday Emma Watson!

So I just saw something about this on Facebook and I decided this was definitely worth celebrating.
Emma Watson is the perfect actress for Hermione Granger. How is she completely capable of portraying Hermione's adorable and sassy nerdiness? She really makes us believe that she wants to go to the library. She makes us believe that she is Hermione Granger. Emma Watson, thank you, thank you for being one of the best actresses in the world. We couldn't have asked for a better person to portray one of the most popular characters in the reading world.

Harry and Ron

(Spoilers for Harry Potter)
Hey, fandomeers! Today I wish to share with you a few words on the best bromance ever: Harry and Ron. Yes indeed, is there any denying that Harry and Ron are the cutest friends? No. No there is not. Harry and Ron are the most adorable friends you'll ever meet. They're always together. They love each other like brothers. Was there a summer (besides the first one) that Harry and Ron weren't together? They did everything together and oh gosh dang it it's just so cute. The worst is when Harry and Ron get in fights and they stop talking to each other. Uggh, can't you guys tell you're best friends forever?!? Here's a quote from The Goblet of Fire when Ron was mad at Harry for putting his name in the goblet without saying anything, also known as jealousy, and Harry was mad at him because he didn't actually ask for any of it:
"The next few days were some of Harry's worst at Hogwarts. The closest he had ever come to feeling like this had been during those months, in his second year, when a large part of the school had suspected him of attacking his fellow students. But Ron had been on his side then. He thought he could have coped with the rest of the school's behavior if he could just have had Ron back as a friend, but he wasn't going to try and persuade Ron to talk to him if Ron didn't want to. Nevertheless, it was lonely with dislike pouring in on him from all sides."
And Harry's so sad! And then later he does say that sure he had Hermione, and he loved her very much, but she just wasn't the same as Ron.
And then Ron runs away in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And I feel like they try not to talk about him because it's just too sad, but then the best part is when he comes back. And he saves Harry and they talk about it then they hug and he's totally welcomed back. (By Harry, that is. Hey, Hermione can say out of this. It isn't about her right now.)
Aw, they are going to be best friends forever. I love it.

Essential Books to Read in Their Essential Order if You Want to be a Writer

(Spoilers for Frankenstein.)
This is for those fandomeers who want to make other fandomeers just as happy as they are someday, by being a writer. Cool! I want to do that too! So now that you have this desire to write, you probably want to learn a lot about your profession. Reading other books is the best way to learn about writing. It helps develop your style, plus you know the ways that you absolutely do not want to write if you didn't like the book. So, in my personal opinion, and as a fandomeer I would trust my opinion, these are the books you should read if you want to be a writer in the order you should read them, and if you're curious as to why, I'll tell you that too.
1. Harry Potter. This is the basis of all fiction literature. Don't believe the haters. It's good stuff and it'll teach you a lot. You need to start with this because it has it all. It has an entertaining story, which is a pretty important part of writing fiction if that is what you desire to write. Do you want a plot that has so many secret things, pieces that make you think, and mind-blowing moments? J.K. Rowling's masterpiece has so many of those things you won't even know what to do with your life. You'll have plenty of experience with surprising the readers. And lastly, Harry Potter is, of course besides the pieces of wizardry and things, the most realistic work of fiction I've ever read. The people act like people. Most people in books act like people, but not to this level. If a teenage boy would do it in real life, then Harry and Ron will certainly be doing it too. So many things you can learn in seven books.
2. Hunger Games. Now that you've learned the so-much-more-than-basic basics of writing, now you can go into something deeper. Suzanne Collins can teach you how to write some seriously intense stuff. Your readers won't even know what to do with their lives until they've read every single page of your book. These books can teach you how to do that probably more than any other book in the world. And this is especially relevant to you if you like to write in first person. Hunger Games can teach you how to narrate. Sure, there's the dialogue, and that alone is amazing. But one of my favorite parts of reading Hunger Games is listening to Katniss's thoughts and monologues. They are seriously well-written paragraphs of Katniss just thinking. And some people cannot achieve that. (Like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which I'm reading in school. It was pretty dull listening to Victor being devastated after Justine's trial.) If you want to know how to write some dialogueless narrations, this is the trilogy for you.
3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians. At this point in your writing research you've learned about plot structure, realism, keeping the reader interested and narration, you should learn more about writing elements and how to enhance those plot structures and narrations. These books are a perfect example. If I do say so myself, Percy is a hilarious kid. They way he thinks and how he and his friends talk is so perfect, I just love it. And if you want to know other elements of writing. For example, Rick Riordan is pretty much the kind of similes because of this series. Read the series and you will discover how to write a simile your readers will love. It always adds a little bit of fun and excitement to a story to having some good elements of literature in there.
4. The Chronicles of Narnia. Yay!!! You've learned how to develop not only a story, but your personal writing style! C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia can do two things for you. It can help you review what you know already. These are some seriously good plots, I was so surprised about the ending of the series, I was hooked in the chapter about the magician's book in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and the first paragraph in The Magician's Nephew is written so well with so much description I don't even know what to do with my life, not to mention they can be pretty humorous at times. And maybe you like your story to have a moral or a point behind it, or maybe you want them to be symbolic to something. These books can teach you about that. For those of you who don't know, C.S. Lewis was a very religious man and this series is highly based on Christianity. The symbolism is seriously cool. I love it.
5. The Heroes of Olympus. You've learned all the essentials to writing a story! This last series I added to the books everyone should read because they are quite as good as Percy Jackson, plus if you're a Percy Jackson fandomeer and you haven't read these books then everyone is talking about them and you'll be kind of left out. But they can help you with writing, too: If you want to write a successful spinoff, this is how it's done, friends.