I didn't hate the guy or anything (hell for an Ares kid he seemed really nice though... we barely saw him), but it struck me as a bit inconsistent
this. Chris did seem like a decent guy, which ironically actually made it even harder for me to buy him with Clarisse. Not because he was nice, but because he seemed kind of weak. Like I can't see Clarisse with a boyfriend at all, let alone one who likes to talk about his feelings and goes crazy after being in a maze for a while.
In terms of the character, it could have been that she was trying to come to grips with her sexuality and Chris was her way of 'checking' herself
This is really how it came across to me, like her friendship with Silena began to make her nervous. Silena flying back to 'talk to Clarisse' also struck me as really gay. Like if her 'boyfriend' couldn't convince her, why did people think Silena could? Oh yeah, cause Clarisse was mad gay for her.
though a really cynical part of me thinks that Riordan got a letter or something asking about Clarisse, he panicked and shoehorned in a 'relationship' for her as if to say SEE SEE SHE'S TOTALLY NOT GAY and then completely forgot about it somehow XD
As sad as it is, I feel like this might be true. Like considering that nothing was done with the relationship (I mean, it was Silena in one way or another that got the Ares cabin into the fight) I don't really see why it had to be in there at all. Like, just let people speculate about her. Nobody told him he had to give her a girlfriend.
A lot of the relationships seem shoehorned in there, like Riordan was told he had to have couples so that girls would read the books too. I mean, Silena/Beckendorff came out of nowhere as well. Luke/Thalia was like hinted at but then it's like Riordan got bored with that half-assed subtext as well. Grover and Juniper was like 'Whaaa?'
I didn't really give a shit about most of the relationships in these books though (I did really like Luke/Annabeth and was kind of into Percy/Rachel, and Sally/Paul was okay).
Percy/Annabeth at the end felt really forced to me, like Riordan thought he HAD to get them together. IRL I feel like they'd break up within 6 months of getting together. The communication between the two of them was so piss poor, like they never seemed to be able to really talk to each other which killed a romantic vibe between them for me.
I feel like he was just trying to write a fun adventure series, and then people were trying to get him to Twilight-ize it to maximize profit.
Still, the romantic plots were so minor that the randomness of them really didn't impact my enjoyment of anything.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-18 07:25 am (UTC)this. Chris did seem like a decent guy, which ironically actually made it even harder for me to buy him with Clarisse. Not because he was nice, but because he seemed kind of weak. Like I can't see Clarisse with a boyfriend at all, let alone one who likes to talk about his feelings and goes crazy after being in a maze for a while.
In terms of the character, it could have been that she was trying to come to grips with her sexuality and Chris was her way of 'checking' herself
This is really how it came across to me, like her friendship with Silena began to make her nervous. Silena flying back to 'talk to Clarisse' also struck me as really gay. Like if her 'boyfriend' couldn't convince her, why did people think Silena could? Oh yeah, cause Clarisse was mad gay for her.
though a really cynical part of me thinks that Riordan got a letter or something asking about Clarisse, he panicked and shoehorned in a 'relationship' for her as if to say SEE SEE SHE'S TOTALLY NOT GAY and then completely forgot about it somehow XD
As sad as it is, I feel like this might be true. Like considering that nothing was done with the relationship (I mean, it was Silena in one way or another that got the Ares cabin into the fight) I don't really see why it had to be in there at all. Like, just let people speculate about her. Nobody told him he had to give her a girlfriend.
A lot of the relationships seem shoehorned in there, like Riordan was told he had to have couples so that girls would read the books too. I mean, Silena/Beckendorff came out of nowhere as well. Luke/Thalia was like hinted at but then it's like Riordan got bored with that half-assed subtext as well. Grover and Juniper was like 'Whaaa?'
I didn't really give a shit about most of the relationships in these books though (I did really like Luke/Annabeth and was kind of into Percy/Rachel, and Sally/Paul was okay).
Percy/Annabeth at the end felt really forced to me, like Riordan thought he HAD to get them together. IRL I feel like they'd break up within 6 months of getting together. The communication between the two of them was so piss poor, like they never seemed to be able to really talk to each other which killed a romantic vibe between them for me.
I feel like he was just trying to write a fun adventure series, and then people were trying to get him to Twilight-ize it to maximize profit.
Still, the romantic plots were so minor that the randomness of them really didn't impact my enjoyment of anything.