Board Thread:Magnus Chase & the Gods of Asgard/@comment-32364251-20171218232652/@comment-39165977-20190506204537

Okay, I'm not well versed in South Park, but I solemnly swear my (very much in french) copy of Magnus Chase has Mallory being called Mackey ;)

But don't you think in this case heterochromia can be just symbolic? Or a shout-out to David Bowie? I mean I'm only making the link right now, but the echo is quite obvious when one thinks about it, right? (sorry, yeah, I'm old, beware my references from the 80s). Just because young fangirls have written the worst mary-sues giving them colorchanging eyes/hair, it doesn't mean heterochromia can't be used in a smart way to say something about the character. Because honestly, heterochromia is not only a symbol of a double nature, it can also be something unsettling, something we're not used to see in others and that will make someone look strange, odd, rather than beautiful.

- I'll be fair to Rick Riordan, I agree with him (?) : I LOVE wedding dresses, they're absolutely beautiful and they do wonders to any woman wearing one. I'll also be fair to Percy and Magnus, I LOVE pretty women, and I will never fail to inwardly notice when there's a pretty girl around, even if it's unrelevant to the current situation. (And usually I don't even have a crush on them, aha.) So…. Percy and Magnus are just… true to real life in my eyes? XD (….yes I'm kinda superficial when presented with feminine beauty.)

- I had to reopen my (again, very french) copy to find the comment of Sif on Alex's looks but… I didn't find anything. When Alex and Sif come back, Sam is the one saying Alex is beautiful, Sif merely comments that given Magnus' reaction, her work here is done. Maybe it's a matter of translation or maybe it's somewhere else?

- Also regarding how "fast" Alex and Sif's relation evolves : during the meeting of Sif and Alex, I couldn't help noticing that even if she shows resent and hatred towards Loki (and throws Alex and Sam "venomous glares" when he's mentionned), Sif seems more upset by Alex being an einherji than a child of Loki, since she's respectful towards Sam (despite Sam and Alex both showing rudeness even after the goddess helped them all). It's the "einherji" part that seems to upset the goddess, to the point she calls him/her a "creature". Also, keep in mind that Sif seems to find attractive very masculine males (and einherjis are probably viewed as the opposite of that). It's not really one-sided, given that Sif symbolises all that Sam and Alex hate in women : they see her as superficial and stupid, and we as readers are tempted to think the same….. despite the fact that Blitz and Hearthstone seem to adore her (and we know these two are wise characters, so there must be truth to their point of view). The situation stays the same until the day after, when Alex and Sif leave together for their little wedding fashion moment. Magnus and Sam wait for these two to come back for a long moment, enough for Magnus to wonder where Alex hid Sif's corpse : so more than an hour, not just five minutes, right? And many things can happen in an hour. When they do come back, Alex seems humbled up and respectful towards the goddess : she/he "doesn't know how to thank" Sif. The goddess acts the same as before, though she's not commenting on Alex's nature anymore : wise and smart, just like Blitz said, she answers that maybe each of them should avoid judging on appearances in the future. And to strangle Loki with the gift she just offered. I think it shows, with a few words, that Alex was taught a big lesson here : mainly that Sif is not superficial and stupid (she does love a biceps or two, but she's the brain here), nor is she mean. I think Sif echoes Loki as Alex's mom : a beautiful woman that can be smart and manipulative, thought contrary to Loki, she doesn't use her beauty/brain to hurt but to protect and nurture. And I think it's brilliant and important for Alex to learn. Sif herself was probably taught a smaller lesson : some einherjis have more in common with Sif herself, than with their own "mother". I liked the way it was done, implicitely, without us having to read through a looong scene of the power of love/friendship/feminity always wins, but instead alludes to it. And it's okay : it's Magnus' story, not Alex'. (To be fair again : I do love wedding dresses but I HATE having to witness girls trying outfits and sharing beauty tips. I was glad we were spared from this. Though I do wish we'd seen how much this must have echoed within Alex, regarding her/his past.)

- regarding the use of LGBT characters : again, I didn't feel like Alex eclipsed the story, but I can see your appreciation of the book did focus a lot on him/her. Maybe I feel different because… in my ideal world I would have wanted even more Alex in the story? XD Don't get me wrong, I buy Rick Riordan's books partly because of the mythological concept and adventures. I read Rick Riordan books's because they're fun (…except when someone dies), because they give me a welcomed break from work and the real world, because they're funny and feature brilliant characters and because they give me a retelling of myths and deities that I love …BUT if I mainly wanted mythology, I would buy mythology books. For I also read Rick Riordan's books BECAUSE of all the ways the author tries to be inclusive. Even when it's clear he's been stretching his mind on how to include one more aspect of difference. I love it. Because as a child, I wish I had had this. Instead, I had books where love was only heterosexual (or ended up in misery/death otherwise) and gender only cis. If I wanted fun action stories, I could only find ones where only boys could be the heroes. And god forbid someone disabled could be featured as a main character! Maybe Rick Riordan's way to include diversity is not perfect, maybe it won't fit with everyone's views or personnal experience. But it exists. And it does something good for our world. And as part of the LGBT community, I wish he'd been there when I was a child. (Yes, Mr Riordan, where were you when I was 9 y.o. and needed your books, huh? è__é)