Mark of Athena: Full Report

Spoilers will be included. Massive spoilers. I won't be stopping anything.

So, I finished it in seven hours. It would have been quicker, but I had to quickly post that last post on my blog, had to eat dinner, had to set up my back garden, watched a little TV (I'm easily distracted) and talk A LOT
My parents like to talk

So, anyway, Mark of Athena. Good or bad?

Well, I'll start at the beginning. Personally, I don't like a few of the characters in this particular book. Jason, because I just got the feeling he thought he was the leader, and he thought he was better than Percy. Frank, because he acted a little strangely towards Leo. Actually, that's about it.
I really like Percy, he's my favourite character, and Leo is my second favourite, so naturally when two other characters didn't get along with them (at least in my head they didn't. I know Frank and Leo didn't, but Percy and Jason got on surprisingly well) I won't like the other characters.

But enough about me!

From the start the two camps got on surprisingly well. I expected a lot more arguing. The Romans did eventually attack, but still. I expected more less getting on.
But then they seemed to not act as individuals. I know a lot of them would be pissed, but Percy had just saved their camp, and Jason used to be their leader. Surely a few would go 'Hm, maybe we should give them a go?' Whatever.

So Leo, Hazel and Frank. Yes, the book actually had a love triangle. It was obvious Leo was never going to go out with Hazel, especially after he found out Hazel liked him because she used to like his great grandfather and they look almost exactly alike. Now, if you haven't read the books, this would seem very much wrong to you. Hazel was born 60 years ago or something, to clear that up, bit died and was brought back to life in this time.

There was a scene where Jason and Percy fight because they are possessed. Fine by me. Except for the bit after the fight, when they're back to normal, that Jason says he could have killed Percy, and when Percy says he could have killed Jason as well, Jason doesn't believe him.
Percy defended Manhattan against Kronos' army. He fought they titan of light (I forget his name) and the actual king of the titans. Jason went to the titan's base when they weren't home and defeated one titan, the titan of southern stars of something. Very impressive. NOT.
Moving on.

So, I won't spoiler the plot, on second thoughts. The fight between Jason and Percy is pretty early on. Hazel liking Leo's great grandfather is near the end-ish, but honestly, I'm sure anyone who read the previous books could guess it would be something like that. I did. IT WAS OBVIOUS

I liked Annabeth in this book. In a few of the books, I didn't like her that much. She seemed a little selfish to me. But in this one, I actually liked her.

Oh, I will do one spoiler for the end. Someone (not saying who) that knows a lot says Percy is the most powerful demigod they've ever met. I could just imagine Jason's face at that point.
But Jason and Percy got on well. I thought they wouldn't, but they did. It was only near the end I got past my own thoughts of what would happen and liked all the characters.

Mark of Athena was great, absolutely brilliant. Especially the ending. I know HAVE to have the next book.

A few bits and pieces I didn't like, but it was really good.

READ IT NOW

Mark of Athena

I GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEKS EARLIER THAN I EXPECTED (I'LL EXPLAIN LATER)

I'll complete a book review when I'm done. So tonight or early tomorrow. It won't be up if my internet's not working

Reasons I like Avatar- The Last Airbender

Reasons I like Avatar- The Last Airbender

Where do I begin?

I’m going to start off with a little rant. I know some people don’t like it, and that’s fine. As long as you have a good reason, whether you don’t like the plot, the characters, the idea, or even you think it’s too childish I don’t mind. However, the main reason most people who haven’t seen it don’t watch it because ‘it’s not a real anime.’

People who don’t like anime confuse it with an anime and people who do say it’s not a real anime, which it isn’t. However, I don’t think that ‘it’s not a real anime’ is a good enough reason not to watch it. I’ll watch, or read for that matter (another day maybe), anything with a good plot. You shouldn’t cut it off because it isn’t an anime. People who think it is an anime and don’t like anime- broaden your mind and try watching a few different things.
Now to the reasons I actually like it.

This is really the best TV series I’ve ever watched. There are a few I count as favourites as well, like Adventure Time and Spectacular Spiderman (the latter of which has been cancelled. I’ll go on a rant about that on another day). This however, wins. I’ll go on a long post about why. If you don’t care for the series, you may leave. If you want to watch it later, there will be spoilers. If you don’t want to read this, that’s your choice.


First reason- The World

Ever since I saw this, I’ve been obsessed with anything that involves controlling the elements. For those of you who don’t know. The world in Avatar is comprised of four nations. The Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. Born in each of these nations, some people have the ability to control their element (eg: earth kingdom person may control earth.)

I would go into more detail, but this is the reasons I like it, not a summary.

 

Second Reason- The Plot

This isn't the biggest reason why I like it, but it makes it good enough to be better than most stuff. The plot is the Avatar* has been gone for a hundred years, during which the Fire Nation has waged war on the other nations (even killing all the Air Nomads). Finally, The Avatar has come back from his hundred years of being frozen in a iceberg, and must learn all the elements (except air, because he was born as a Air Nomad and he already mastered it). It's not the nest plot, but just because it fits so well with the world, and the fact the althrough the series the plot doesn't fail, I'll count it as a reason Avatar is brilliant.

 

Third Reason- The Writing

This isn't the plot. By the plot, I mean the whole story plot. By the writing, I mean the smaller things that make up the plot. And some moments in the writing are brilliant. As I said, I've seen better, but the writing is perfect for the story.

 

Forth Reason- The Characters

This is my main reason for liking the series. The characters are some of the best I've ever seen, and even better, the character development is stunning. I'm going to devote most of this post to the characters

Okay, so we've got Aang, the Avatar. A goofy kid. He can fight, but he's childish, to the point where it annoys me. But the character development... He starts off goofy, then he begins to get more serious and wise, then he's determined and focused. I love how he was developed without changing him completely. Like he still has his morals. He doesn't kill, fights only when he has to, tries to get out of situations by being quick and clever. But at the same time, he's responsible.

Katara. A hopeful waterbender who, quite frankly, sucks. She can't fight, she's almost stupid in some situations, and is almost useless. She changes as well. She becomes responsible to the point where it's basically nagging, a very capable fighter. She's my least favourite character, but still, she got better than she was at the start.

Sokka- A Warrior from the water tribe, who's almost useless. He's basically the comedy relief in the series. At the start he couldn't fight, sarcastic and almost annoying in the way he treated people with such disrespect. They changed him so he could fight (I don't think this is character development, they just decided to change his fighting skills). He wasn't funny at first. A couple of humorous things happened to him, but he wasn't funny himself. They changed that as well. They also changed the way he treated people, not with more respect, but he's just not taking it as seriously.

Toph- This is one of the characters that doesn't develop really. She's a tough, stubborn fighting earthbender. But even if she doesn't change, we get to sometimes she her insecurities and problems, which is enough for me.

Azula- A cold blooded, sadistic firebender who seems to have no conscience. She sees herself as better because she's royalty, and she's one of the best firebenders alive. She doesn't change for nearly two seasons (she's only in two) but then, in the last four episodes, we see the change. Her friends, which she had bullied and terrified into liking her, betrayed her and she sent them to prison. She starts to slip, losing trust in everyone, from her servants to her advisers. She banishes nearly everyone, and actually goes insane, seeing her mother (who disappeared when she was six or so. We think she was either banished or killed. Azula doesn't like her mother either way) in the mirror, which Azula eventually smashes. When she's defeated, she's reduced to crying, and you can obviously see how insane she is.

Zhoa- A firebender admiral who is hunting the Avatar in the first season. He died at the end of the first season. Despite the fact he didn't change, he was so flawed yet good that I couldn't help feeling that he should have lasted longer.

Jet- A sixteen year old boy from the Earth Kingdom, who hates the Fire Nation completely. He was willing to flood a town just to destroy some of the Fire Nation soldiers that were there. He views anything, even innocent lives, as nothing as long as he stops the Fire Nation. The was the first season. Second seasons we see him again, claiming he's changed. Yet, when he suspects that Iroh and Zuko (look bellow somewhere) he tries to find evidence obsessively. Eventually, he gets frustrated and attacks Zuko in the hope he'll firebend to protect himself. I won't describe what happens to him next, because it would take too long, but he dies. He hardly changed, but I like that, despite the fact he was a great fighter, he was insane and so very, very flawed.

Ozai- The Firelord, leader of the Fire Nation, and best firebender alive. He's kept in mystery for two seasons. We eventually see him. He's insanely powerful and sadistic. Despite the fact he doesn't change and has little in the way of flaws, I like how powerful he is, and he's a great character for a villain.

Iroh- Many people's favourite character. He's Zuko's uncle. A wise old man, who takes care of Zuko. He doesn't change, for the simple fact he doesn't need to. We find out that he was a good person. Which explains why we never saw him act against the Avatar. His love for his nephew stopped him from helping the Avatar, who hindering Zuko. In season one he did almost nothing besides give good advice the Zuko. In season two he helped Zuko, and we saw him finally doing things. In season three, we saw him as the brilliant fighter he is. He has almost nothing in the way of flaws, and because he doesn't do anything major in the way of fighting, he doesn't need to develop or be less powerful.

Zuko- My favourite character. 'A fallen prince who's been stripped of his pride' is the best way I've heard him being described. He's a firebending prince, who's been banished. He'll be allowed back to the Fire Nation if he captures the Avatar. He thinks that he needs the Avatar to get his honour back. For season one, he hunts Aang. He never really gets close until the final episode, but even then, he doesn't succeed. In season two, he's on the run. He goes from prince (albeit a banished one) two a refugee. The Fire Nation is hunting him, and because he is from the Fire Nation, no one else wants him either. He hides in the Earth Kingdom. At the end, his uncle tells him that he has to make a decision. He has to stop hunting the Avatar, and be a good person. For a while (meaning a episode) it seems like he will be good, but then he betrays his uncle. In season three, he's allowed back into the Fire Nation because they thought he killed the Avatar. He's guilty about what he did, and confused about who he is. That's the first half of season three. The second half he chooses to help the Avatar, and sides completely against the Fire Nation.
I love seeing him go from a villain, to a person with nothing, to a good person. After a while, you realise that you actually care about him, mostly in season two, although a fair bit in season one. Even after he betrays everyone, you still care about what happens to him. I like him best in season two, because he had no idea who he was, and he seemed to be his own person there most, instead of someone who's life revolved around the Avatar. He's so very very flawed, and despite his changes he still has his flaws. It's because of the flaws he has that I like him so much.

 

Fifth Reason- The Humour

 It's not laugh at loud funny, but it's enough to make you smile at times, and it helps build the series into what it is. Without the humour it would be too serious, and that would completely take away from everything it is. It has the perfect amount of humour.

 

Sixth Reason- The Fighting

There has been better fight scenes, but the show isn't about the fight scenes, and what fight scenes they have are quite good. However, there is only three fight scenes that deserve mentioning. The first one is in season one, the last episode. Aang goes into the Avatar state, and joined with a spirit, turns into a huge water monster-thing. He doesn't fight as such, but  it sends shivers down my spine to see it. The second one, and may of you who have watched this would have guessed the last two- is Zuko and Azula's fight. The display of firebending is brilliant, and there's almost an art to it. The third is Ozai's and Aang's fight. The best way I've heard it being put it

"Now here they are
2 gods face to face
a battle which took a century to make
and now as they both do clench there fists
they create a force so big
that the whole world could feel it

and now as the ground begins to shake
people grit there teeth as they know the stakes

one fights to protect there lives
as the other fights to commit genocide"

This describes it almost perfectly. Two people so powerful fighting is just very awesome to see. I'd describe it, but it's best you see it for yourself. I say there have been better fight scenes, but even so, these are still very VERY good

 

Seventh Reason- The Setting

Not quite the world. The actual way they made the landscape look. Very good.

 

Eighth Reason- The Music

It's extremely good. It adds to the scenes so perfectly. Without the music, it would be very much bad. The music at times when you're meant to feel sad is actually quite sad music. But my favourite is the fight scene music. Zuko and Azula's fight scene music just makes it a thousand times better.

 

Those are the reasons I like Avatar. Characters are my main reason, but everything else just collects together and makes it so very awesome.

In conclusion, if you haven't watched it, DO IT NOW. The first season is my least favourite, and it gets better, so don't give up on it. Also, the video I found a few lines I mentioned from.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBdIfwqvQGw

Thanks for reading!

Rude

You know what gets on my nerves? Rude people. Call me a hypocrite all you want, but I don't set out to be rude.

I recently had someone on a role play wiki delete my character page. When I asked them why they did that, they said it's their "policy" to delete pages if the person has been inactive for 25 days.

One- I have a wiki talk page. Try asking me before deleting

Two- Why was I not told this policy?

When I said I never heard of this policy, they pointed out that I had a big message on my talk page that had a link to the policies.

It was one of five pages. I had a look at them- THEY'RE BLOOMIN' LONG THEY ARE!

Do they expect me to spend about two hours reading almost useless information? I read the whole welcome page, it took an hour and a half, and it never once mentioned that if I don't do anything for 25 days I'll get my stuff deleted.

That's not the bit that got on my nerves though. This was

"... so if you didn't bother to read them, that's not my problem."

The simple rudeness of this sentence makes me so angry. There's no need for it. Just point out that the pages were there. But f***, that is just plain rude.

Oh, and FYI, it is your problem, you take care of these things, you’re an moderator or whatever, you deleted my page. IT IS YOUR PROBLEM.

 

Also, on the forums. I got into a discussion about the rules of Necromancy. Everyone was saying that you could do it without your objects, and the objects were just to help.

I haven't got a problem with that. I disagree, and use a few quotes from the books to help prove my point.

Then these people all but calls me an idiot.

I said that it was never stated that Necromancers don't need objects. I also said Skulduggery said himself that they need objects.

One of the guys said Skulduggery wasn't even a master of his discipline (Elemental magic), let alone Necromancy. He also said what about Serpine? He doesn't use an object.

I said Skulduggery was a master of Elemental magic. He was the only one who could fly, use earth for something other than statue mode and Val said it was the first time she had seen streams of fire used that way when she saw Skulduggery use it in DD. And I said he was the Death Bringer, he should know about Necromancy.

I also say Serpine is an irregular case, like Melancholia. Serpine wasn't originally a Necromancer, he learnt the red hand technique when he took over a temple.

Then this other guy says that Skulduggery isn't a master, he might not be the only one who can fly, he isn't the Death Bringer, and called my argument flawed.

I then said the only one we've seen from the books fly, and Vile was the Death Bringer, which is very similar.

He then asked when he said that.

Dark Days, page 110 (my copy)
"You'll need to master everything else about Elemental magic first, but yes. If we live through this, and if you continue your training, and if you're real, then yes, I'll tech you to fly. I'll teach every Elemental to fly. It's fun."

And it mentions in Dark Days, Mortal Coil and Death Bringer that Vile was the Death Bringer. I also said a spoiler for KOTW which I won't include here. And one final quote: Death Bringer, page 515
"Well, I should. I was the Death Bringer before you were even born."

He then said Skulduggery was joking about being the Death Bringer. And that the Necromancer's confirmed this.

He then said it was a joke, completely ignoring me, and that the Necromancer's confirmed it multiple times. And he said that if Vile was the Death Bringer, would the Necromancer's just let him go.

I said I think they wouldn't have a choice. Lord Vile could kill them all. Maybe a few even tried to stop him, and he killed them
I've never found anything saying it was a joke
"Well, I should. I was the Death Bringer before you were even born."
When Melancholia says she doesn't get the joke, Skulduggery says it's not a joke, he was Lord Vile.

SPOILER FOR KOTW. HIGHLIGHT IF WANT TO SEE.

Then the first guy said that compared to Mevolent, Skulduggery was nothing, so he couldn't be a master.

SPOILER OVER FOR KOTW

Then first guy this guy agreed that Vile was the Death Bringer, but he said that didn't necessarily mean he knew all about Necromancy.

I missed a bit. He said before that Necromancers had to be able to use Necromancy without magic. How would they start then? I said maybe that it was known but unable to use until one day someone found a way to use it by putting the power in objects.

To this he said

But my arguments make a hell of a lot more sense then an entire magic discipline was created so that people could store the power of death and shadows inside items and go 'round looking cool.'

To my Serpine being an irregular case argument

He is an irregular case, but we can't throw away data because it does not fit our other pieces of information.
All Necromancy power needs to be stored in something, or none of it does.
You cannot use both arguments.
Either Serpine is able to ignore an item and just pour out pure death through his hand, wild and powerful and without finesse, or they all need to put their power somewhere, he chose his own body and the raw power stripped the skin from his flesh.

SPOILER FOR KOTW

I said the just because Mevolent was more powerful doesn't mean everyone weaker than him isn't a master.

SPOILER OVER FOR KOTW

I also said that I never said Necromancers put their power in objects to look cool. I said I think that they couldn't use it before they found out to put it in objects. I said it was my opinion.

To his Serpine argument

And we can't ignore the majority of data because there is one piece that may not agree with it
There are exceptions to everything. Serpine wasn't originally a Necromancer, so his ability was always going to differ from the others. He learned a Necromancy technique after the surge. It should be impossible, so it makes sense that it won't turn out like the majority

The second guy said that now I'm ignoring evidence, that I just shot myself in the foot.

I asked what evidence I was ignoring

The first guy said

Nefarian Serpine

"I haven't used this power in years. When I first learned it, I thought it was a wonderful thing..."

Learned. Not gained. Not obtained. Learned.
Also, pretty sure the High Priest says he is the one who taught Serpine that power.
A Master.
Knowing everything and having full control.
"To acquire complete knowledge or skill in."

SPOILER FOR KOTW

Mevolent has shown abilities that have not even been remotely demonstrated by Skulduggery.
If he can do something, and others cannot, he is the master. His knowledge and power is superior. He is a true master of the Elements. Skulduggery is good. Skulduggery is very good, but he is not a master.

SPOILER OVER

He also said

No, you didn't say it looked cool, I am aware of that. I just chucked that in.
It doesn't make sense for them to be unable to use magic without an item. Not one bit. Otherwise the discipline would never have arose in the first place.
Being an Adept is not about the one Discipline.
Serpine's Assassin, book 1. He had his immune to fire trick.
Tanith Low, manipulates gravity to walk on walls/ceilings and can also pick locks and seal doors.
Skulduggery says that "An Adept could have so many tricks up his sleeve, so many different abilities, that he could prove himself stronger than even the most powerful Elemental."
Some Disciplines are all or nothing, like Teleportation. Others can have small tricks adapted from and toyed with. Serpine chose to be an ADEPT after his Surge, not an Elemental. It is one or the other. As an Adept, he can learn as much as he wants about Adept magic.

Then the second guy said I was ignoring the evidence that Vile was the Death Bringer, as stated.

When I asked him when it was stated, he just said it was stated several times and refused to answer any more.

This is when I left. It was my opinion, I was stating it. Then they try to prove me wrong without even using proper evidence. I don't mind difference of opinion. I do mind when people are rude about it.

I read it after (though never commented)

The second guy's opinion this is how Necromancers got their power or something

Right, a bunch of weaker ones got sick of getting kicked around by the higher ups. They see this rebellion and they go: 'Whelp, we got Askadlkjadskl all to do.' So they join in. The strongest of these was known as the 'Death Bringer', and was relativity powerful. Eventually, they get cornered in a place of magic. Sensing their impending doom, DB decides to give the Ancients one last helping hand.
He gave them his power.
And there comes Necromancy. Like one of you said, it was uncontrollable. So the stick it in stuff, and boom, fully fledged Necromancy. They begun to worship a 'Death Bringer', saying he will rise again and all that good stuff. But it got changed as the years went past, so that's how the modern day ones happened.

The first guy wasn't too bad. He still annoyed me, but not as much as the second guy.

I swear, rude people are everywhere.

 

On Pewdiepie's Slender game once, I heard a rumour that Slender wouldn't catch you if backed away without looking away. To this, someone replied

"You f***ing c*** brained idiot. That doesn't work you retard. Just f*** off you p****.

 

This is why I hate people. This is just my post on rude people on the internet. Don't even get me started on rude people in my life.

If you'd like, please put your opinion on Necromancy rules in the comments. I'd love to hear them, as long as you aren't rude.

People have no manners. That's the simple truth.

If I offend any of you, I'm sorry, it's unintentional.

I'm going to try and be more active in my rants.

To end this off, I'd like you to think of this. Would it hurt to use some common courtesy to the people around us?

Thanks

 

BAM

I just went through 4 epiphanies in the last ten minutes, and it's doing my head in. I wasn't meant for this much... MEH

Epiphany 1- I'm doing it again. I'm getting angrier and taking it out on the people of blogland. I'd like to distance myself, to leave for a few weeks and calm down. Small problem. I can't...
Last time I tried to leave for three weeks. I didn't last over one, and I... well, I didn't leave as such, I just didn't comment. Most of the time I was there. My whole life is on computer know. Writing, looking at videos, talking, watching TV... The only thing that I may count out is reading. No, wait, reading a book I can count, but just reading I can count out. I read lots of your stories on the blogs. I want to leave. But one, I can't, no matter how hard I try. Two, it won't calm me down. It just won't keep me calm...

Epiphany 2- Oh, well, that's personal. You'll probably never find out about that

Epiphany 3- I'm sick of being anti-social. I want to be normal, have normal friends in real life, think normal thoughts, do normal things. I want to be popular.

Epiphany 4- I do not have anything in common with the new people on the blog. I don't get along because I'm just not like most of them.

And while I was writing this, I had another epiphany.

Epiphany 5- I am taking life way too seriously. I don't know how long I've been like this, but I looked at all my old posts and saw how I looked at life. I'm taking it too seriously. So I'm not going to anymore. I feel better already.

Out of all of those, I only like epiphany 5, because after I had this epiphany I changed me outlook on life and started feeling better.

Just because I've been watching it too much...

Meeting Derek

So, I'll start from when school ended.
The bus I take wasn't there, of course. So everyone that was waiting for the bus walked about a hundred meters, me as well, and I looked back and said "Hey, isn't that the bus...?"
So we ran back
Then I almost ran home. I got all 9 of my books, and left for the bus station, with my mum. After the bus was late by 20 minutes of course, we left and got to the city. My plan was to buy the special editions are the store, because anyone that could be bothered buying special editions should be at the store. I wasn't the only one with the idea, and there were 4 special edtions there, and $14. I decided to just get to the event and hope that all were there, and cheaper. Well, there was no long line and $10 a book. Got all 6 special editions before the event.
Then this woman started on triva before Derek got there. She didn't even know the answers, and had to check the sheet every second. Then the triva was interupted as Derek saunted into the room. He was awesome.
The even was held in a church hall, it was that overbooked. As soon as Derek got to the front, he said he felt like this is were he should be. He started rolling in with the jokes, all being tremindously funny. Then he started with some Q and A. He was just about to ask me, but the woman interupted him and said he should answer only two more questions. Derek didn't ask me, but that was okay because he answered my question when signing.
So, we lined up in a line that was practally laps around the hall. I was one of the first, and the place where they told us to start lining, but people started queing right in front of Derek's desk. May they grow fungi in their armpits.
So the women interupted the signing by starting the best dressed competition. It took about 15 minutes, and I was bored.
So, the signing started. I was now unfortunatly no longer at the front. Blame the armpit fungi people. This woman (different to the other one) asked people, one by one, what they wanted one of their books to be signed to and put a sticky note in the book saying the name. I picked Nixion in KOTW. The girl behind be noticed it was Nixion. Turned out she was Izz!
I was awkward, as always. I'm better at conversation when there's no presure, and, you know, not in real life. I pretty much failed at this conversation, but I met Izz! Hi Izz!
So, after 25 minutes or so, I got to Derek. I asked this woman who was passing the books along to Derek how many books I could get signed, and she said all of them. I have 15 books in total, now all signed by Derek.
When Derek saw Nixion, he looked at me and asked if I was the same Nixion. This was what I was asking! Did he remember me! And he did! I said yes, and he gave me a brofist? Am I watching too much PewDiePie?
Never mind. He said he'll see me on the blog. I gave him a few questions on paper and he said he'll answer them on the blog. I said I'd see him next time he comes, and he gave me the thumbs up. Let that mean he'll be coming again.
After that, I needed to sit for a minute. It was too much to take in.
This was, by far, awesome-er than sliced cheese

PRAISE THE GOLDEN GOD