Mcga - Blog Posts
I read a post about Alex a few months ago that basically said Riordan's portrayal of genderfluid people was problematic because of the way Alex explained being genderfluid to Magnus. I beleive they said it was unnatural and that no one would explain it that way.
I think they may be forgetting that Magnus Chase is for young kids who probably have never heard of the term before. Alex explains genderfluidity in a similar way other characters explain mythology. The characters aren't just explaining the subjects to each other, but also the audience. Who are meant to be children.
Of course you may think that its a rather patronizing way of explaining it to kids, which is fair.
That being said, Riordan definitely made many mistakes in portraying his minority characters accurately/respectfully, and he didn't respond to criticism well, but I don't think this particular criticism is fair. If anything it should be a criticism of his writing style.
Of course this is just my opinion, and I couldn't find the original post so I may have misinterpreted it (apologies if I did, feel free to set me straightđź’™)
i hate hate hate HATE the interpretation of magnus as a “soft boi uwu” just because he’s a healer. that man is an absolute menace to society and does not get enough credit for all the problems he causes.
Rick : *yeets Solangelo Solo Book at Us
I have reached the point where every fictional character is bisexual until proved otherwise.
I love Rick Riordan but there’s just a few issues with how Rick writes that can makes his books get repetitive
Pretty much all of the gods are unserious which can be funny at first but it gets tiring and repetitive when that’s all that happens there’s a few exceptions but still.
Like for example Odin in MCGA I personally feel like the books would have been better if he was a more serious character, and that vibe fits the god better than the unserious character who loves to make PowerPoints that Rick wrote him as.
Another thing that gets repetitive is that all the ships have the same dynamic as PercaBeths one that makes fun of the other and one that makes jokes that dynamic worked great for them but less so for other characters.
Like Leo for example, he always makes jokes to hide his trauma his coping mechanism is being funny and while Calypso is great she’s not the kind of person he needs. Leo needs someone who’s kinder to him and can see past his facade and help him when he needs it, not someone who makes fun of him.
There’s a few other details but I’ll stop here. And again I love Ricks books but after reading so many it is starting to feel repetitive especially since I’m now on the third book of MCGA and the way Magnus acts and a few of the others too so closely resembles Percy’s book feels unoriginal and that can make it harder for me to read since it’s kinda like grabbing mostly the same characters but shoving them into a new story with new names and faces.
Anyways what do you think?
Wait—
THEY’RE NOT MARRIED???
The fandom has lied to me once more—
they were fucking.
Who is Dr. Dolittle? Does he live in Valhalla?
MCGA, The Ship Of Dead, Rick Riordan
My success would depend on me. Alas, me was my least favorite person to depend on.
The Ship of Dead, MCGA, Rick Riordan
The Ship of Dead
Magnus: *surrounded by enemies on the ship*
Magnus: *being roasted into oblivion by loki*
Magnus: *in charge of stopping ragnarok*
Also Magnus: When Alex kissed me under the blanket yesterday, it was the best thing that ever happened to me...
And you've got to flaunt the weird, my friends.
MCGA, The Ship of Dead, Rick Riordan
The Ship of the Dead
Loki: Samirah, turn into a lizard and scuttle away.
Samirah: No father, why don't you?
Loki's Army: oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoHhHhHhHhHhHh
Samirah al-Abbas, daughter of Loki, but better than Loki!
MCGA, The Ship of the Dead, Rick Riordan
You missed a pedestrian, want to go back and hit her?
MCGA, The Sword of Summer, Rick Riordan
The Ship of the Dead
Magnus: I will use the mead of Kevin!
Aegir: Do you mean, the mead of Kvasir?
Samirah and Alex: *bury faces in their hands*
The Ship of the Dead
Magnus: You want to come with me to a creepy mansion and look through a dead guy's stuff?
Alex: I thought you'd never ask.
If he was the lord of Muspellheim, high king roasty-toasty, shouldn't he pick on more interesting heroes, like the children of Thor? At least their dad had a movie franchise. Frey didn't even have his own cats, he had to borrow his sister's.
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Rick Riordan
How many of you have been in the embarrassing situation of wearing a bulletproof waistcoat without a matching bulletproof tie?
Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer, Rick Riordan
I have an addition:
Nico: Magnus: Nico: you're dead. Magnus: I SWEAR I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE YOUR SNACKS I'M SORRY- Alex and Will: *eating popcorn*
Percy: I put the 'bi' in 'bitch' Percy: Percy: Wait, fuck, 'bitch' doesn't have a 'bi', does it? Hazel, whispering to Annabeth: Should we tell him? Annabeth, whispering back: No, just give him a minute.
~~~~~
Leo: Okay, let's go back to basic math - what's 7+3? Octavian, without hesitation: 10. Leo: Incorrect. It's 'ten' not '10'. Octavian: But they're the same thing..? Leo: I hate you, so it makes a difference when I say it.
~~~~~
Reyna: Weak ass bitches, running around screaming that they wanna be royalty. Reyna: Peasants.
~~~~~
Will: I want to hug you, but I don't want to overstep your boundaries, so pinky promise me you'll hug me when you're comfortable. Nico: What- Will: I SAID PROMISE ME Nico: But- Will: DO IT Nico: I'M ALREADY COMFORTABLE YOU FUCKING AIRHEAD WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR 5 YEARS AND WE'VE HUGGED MULTIPLE TIMES JUST DRAG YOUR CUTE ASS OVER HERE
Inge: *kisses Hearthstone*
Blitzen:Â
Magnus:Â
The Entire Magnus Chase Fandom;
“You’ll forget me. You’ll forget.”
Alex Fierro and my silly lil Adrian design!! :3 Uhhhh yeah enjoy Magnus Chase nation [ there’s like 28 of us ]
Thinking about the Hotel Valhalla gang actually looking like raggedy spooky scary ghosts but the glamour makes them look normal. Like. How fucking sick would that be?!?!?! [ ik that it’s mentioned in book one that magnus looked spotless but eh lemme just throw it out the window ]
Random Magnus Chase thing thought up completely in my brain
(Fighting) Mallory: You can’t spell “Magnus” without “new”
Magnus: Wha- yes you can! There’s no “e” or “w!”
Alex, leading a stampede of gnus across the battlefield: G-N-U, MOTHERFUCKER!
I’m going to draw this once I figure out how poses other than standing upright
Redraw of the art from this ReadRiordan article
Getting back into the Magnus Chase books means that I get to remember the absolute beauty of Blitz and Hearth. Two lovely men who are rejected by their families for being different.
Blitzen is a brilliant artist who cannot survive in the sunlight, whereas Hearthstone is a talented rune mage who can’t survive in darkness. And yet, they are inseparable.
Hearth is known for not showing a significant amount of emotion, yet any time Blitz shows up after being separated from him, Hearth practically launches himself at the dwarf.
Blitz is unendingly protective over Hearth; always there to catch him when he feints, never missing a chance to defend the elf’s abilities.
They’re casually and non sexually intimate all the time. Whether they are queer platonic, romantic, or a secret third thing, they’re absolutely devoted to one another.
And I think that’s beautiful.
I SHOULD BE OVER ALL THE BUTTERFLIESđź’—đź’śđź’™
Magnus Chase and The Kane Chronicles were also screwed up
You know, I'm happy about the fact that many people can acknowledge and accept that Rick fucked up the Greek myths and his portrayal of the gods-
But I also feel like the same thing can be said for MCGA and TKC. They represent Norse and Egyptian mythology and I've seen some posts on how Rick effed up THERE-but only a few. Not many others. And yes, TKC is a beautiful series, but it also has some terrible problems.
It's on the tip of my tongue. It's just slipping out of my grasp. But someone needs to talk about Rick screwing up Norse and Egyptian mythology too.
Ok, is anyone going to talk about Gunilla bullying Samirah? This is Magnus Chase from the Riordanverse BTW.
So we know that Samirah became a Valkyrie when she was fourteen and she's 16 in the MCGA series. And it states that Gunilla actively disliked and maybe even bullied Samirah because of her father.
Gunilla was 18 when she died and had centuries of experience under her belt. She should be more mature about this. And then she decides to go and bully Samirah, a teenage minor, over her parentage, something she can't control? Samirah doesn't even LIKE Loki and Gunilla still bullies her because of the whole terrible romance with the son of Loki.
Samirah, who was 14, 15 and then 16, who was living out a very stressful double life with her grandparents who COULD NOT be exposed to the magical world as it would destroy their brains, and really wanted to keep her Valkyrie job. Are you listening to this ridiculousness? And Gunilla also sabotages Samirah further editing her video footage of Magnus. Brilliant, Gunilla. Really Valkyrie worthy!
Yeah, ok, Gunilla may have died at the end of the first book, but I don't really care for her. (IMO she died because Alex was coming and Rick couldn't let them clash. Would've been so interesting to see though.)
Why not make Gunilla a mentor to Samirah? Like, she sees this poor teenage girl who's struggling to live a double life and she could help her with it. Enroll in her high school (cue the comedy). Just make excuses for her every time and cover for her with her grandparents, saying that she's a fellow tutor. It would make Gunilla more likable and her death more tragic and meaningful.