Football

Okay, so a dramatic monologue simply put is a play of speech that is performed by one person. I’ve seen one before, but I didn’t realise that was a dramatic monologue. Haha. Anyway, I was surfing (yeah, I still use that word) YouTube when I absent-mindedly clicked on this Australian short film know as The Language of Love a.k.a. La Langue de L’amour, written and performed by Kim Ho. The topic is more towards LGBT actually but I don’t mind that. I love all good short films. And boy, The Language of Love is amazing. So, I decided to write my own dramatic monologue. Well, probably I’m so not up to the theatrical level of monologue writing but it won’t hurt to try right? Haha. Let me present to you this one.

Football

By Mohd Afiq Bin Mat Razai

David is sitting quietly in the library while reading thick books. Items such as notebooks, stationeries, and a water bottle are on his desk. The other tables are filled with people doing their own work.

David:

Hey there.

So here I am in the library. I thought it’s gonna be a bit quiet around here but, uh, not so much. This place is supposed to a beacon for knowledge, not a place to heat up romance. Look at that couple over there. Smooching and I-don’t-know-what. Wonder if the guy’s going for sex books after this.

Anyway, at least they’re here. Some people said “library is dead.” Bullshit. This institution will stay alive until the next millennia… unless we humans annihilate each other first. As a species, we are pretty dumb.

Well, I am talking too loud. Some people are looking at me. Cranky because of my voice? I know I’m not Morgan Freeman or Tom Hiddleston reading that erotic E. E. Cummings poem. That one’s real good.

Anyway, here I am alone, amidst all these pairs or groups. I guess I’m used to it… have always been a friend to loneliness. Ugh that sounds terribly shitty.

Now that I think about it, this seems like a typical Hollywood film scene. You know, a guy with no friends, in the end he gets the most beautiful girlfriend. My life so far, not that, uh, fanciful.

Honestly, I don’t have lots of friends. Yes, I do have classmates, but that’s it. I don’t easily make friends. People look at me differently. You know like this guy beside me. He is looking at me as if I’m crazy.

But anyway, as I said, they look at me differently because I am kinda peculiar. You know how we have two genders? Male and female. Boy and girl. People see those two things as wholly different concepts. No spectrum between those two dimensions. You are either a boy or a girl. Me? For them I’m different. I’m a boy who has feminine-like characteristics.

Truthfully, I don’t really act that way, but, I am not that manly either. I know you’re confused but that’s how it is.

I can’t be a girl because I… I’m not one, but I can’t even play football.

Let girls be girls. Let them play with dolls, or makeup, or kitchen knives. Let boys be boys. Let them play football, or fight with each other because that’s what boys do.

Fuck. Boys don’t fight because that’s what boys do. Boys fight because they don’t use their brains. Just look at Bin Laden or Bush. Maybe I should lower my voice. A couple over there is looking at me. I suspect they’re Americans.

Football. Fuck football. God really, those Physical Education teachers, they never provide us with proper education. They tell the girls to sit in class quietly and do their work, while the boys, “All of you, football in the field now.”

I know the boys don’t want me in their teams. I don’t know how to play football. I just can’t comprehend the manly needs of boys to kick the object into the goals. I can’t kick the ball strong enough. I duck when the ball flies towards me at 50 kilometres per hour. Although in the end, one of the teams still accepts me, they pretend like I’m invisible.

Yeah, maybe some of you think that I don’t try to participate, but honestly, I would rather do other things. Drawing, writing English essays, read books. I love reading books. I learnt all about the Ancient Greeks, planets, countries, et cetera.

I don’t really talk about girls’ cleavage and boobs and stuff, so what? I’m weird because I don’t like to talk about… girls? Come on! Not everything in life is about girls.

I would be okay with that though if they leave me alone. But they don’t. They hurt me because I’m not like them. I am not physically hurt so bad, but still, they hurt me.

And they won’t stop calling me names. And they saw me crying.

I don’t know how to fight back. I only know how to cry. They only know how to taunt me further.

“David’s a cry-baby!” “David is a girl!” “David needs to change his gender” “David this!” “David that!” “David this!” “David that!” fucking over and over and over and over again.

People are definitely looking at me now.

The boys and the girls said I am girlish because I cried. A boy doesn’t cry, they said.

Is there a written convention anywhere saying that? Why can’t boys cry? Because crying is not macho shit? Because boys don’t deserve to feel emotions? Are boys expected to go through anything silently even if they are in pain? No guidance, no advice, nothing, just keep it all… in.

I’ve never told anyone the things happening to me because I don’t want them to say that I’m weak… but I cry. That means I am weak, right?

I still feel alone. I can’t even play football.

How Far Can You Jump

How far can you jump
Gone is the bridge
the water's burning cold
"forget it."
have you the bravery
your feet
are they chained
or can they spring
how far
"look," they say
"it's too far
you fall and die
trust me."

but you let go
one second after
there's no turning back
the swoosh of air
the absence of ground
the leap of faith
you cross

how far?
did you jump?

Empty

I didn’t sleep well that night. It was not right to sleep well when the day after would be a rather different day than the usual. At eleven, you asked me a question, I looked at the ceiling absentmindedly and replied, “I don’t feel like going back.” Honestly, I didn’t feel like going back. I knew that it would be a joke to not go back. My time there, at least for that phase of my life, was over. I was also thinking of something else. That morning, I didn’t watch the morning sun rising from its hiding. That morning, the only thought in my mind was ‘Thank you for not pushing me away. Thank you for still having faith with me.’

That mid-morning, I went to the last place there where my feet still touched the ground. I talked with both of you, but it felt different. It felt different because the next time when I listened to your voices and see your faces again would probably be so many months away. I still could bottle up my real feelings though. I didn’t want to show I was sad. I wanted us to depart on a happy note. That day would not be the last time. I promise that. On that plane, I watched the sky. The blue that day was a beauty. The clouds were dense and white. The only thing on my mind was nothingness.

Imperfect

So, I was having this conversation with a friend of mine, and one of the sentences that he said was “If I get the girl who will like me for who I am, I will be happy.” Okay, I’m not so sure if that was the correct sentence, but in essence, that was it. It got me to think two things – one: “Dude, you’re not a bad looking boy, but I feel you.” *imaginary hug* and two: “Do we care about the imperfections of the people who we love?” And when I mean the people who we love, I mean everyone.

Perfections, imperfections, we are humans. We are never free from having mortal flaws, both outside and inside. Defects that litter on our bodies, in our minds, inside our souls, or within our hearts, they all make who we are. The first question is this: do we blindly accept those people with all our hearts? We can’t possibly accept people who’ll do damages to us in the end, and some damages can be irreversible. I know that we always say that ‘I love that person. I don’t care about the not-so-good things that person has.’ Fine, it’s good because well, acceptance is one of the keys to a good, long-lasting relationship (as long as the flaws are not detrimental to the bond you have) but in a way, what kind of imperfections can we accept without them being detrimental? Physical, well I think so. But terrible behaviour? Horrible attitude? Are those acceptable flaws?

The second question is this: do we let our own limitations stay, or do we change to be better? Obviously the real thing is to change them. I do really think that all of us have an obligation to adjust ourselves better. We can’t possibly stay on the same level for too long of a time. We can harm the very people who we adore if we let our own flaws to consume us in the end. If we know that we want the people who we love to be a permanent fixture in our lives, the one thing to do is to change. What kind of changes? The changes are those that will make us a greater person to ourselves, a person who is way superior to our old selves, one that will make us proud and happy.

All of us have an Achilles’ heel, or maybe two, or three, okay, maybe way more than that. Sometimes, we can’t change if we don’t have someone to support us. If the people we love have faith in us, they will gladly go through the bad times and the good times together. These people want the best for all relationships that they have. They want us to be better, and in many ways, they will be better themselves too. We need one another. We want to be there for one another. Changing is not easy. Love is not a walk in the park. Once you get it, you will hold on to it. We want to be the best for one another.

With the words of Auzellea Kristin Mozihim

Taylor Swift's 1989 D.L.X. Version Track By Track Review

Taylor Swift is going pop, and she’s going big. A few months ago when Taylor Swift announced that her new album is going to be sonically different by being a full pop offering, fans around the world were divided into two different factions (Divergent this is not). Some rejoiced the fact that Taylor’s trying a whole different sound, and some thought that Swift’s abandoning the very essence that has made her who she is now. Me? I’m in the middle. I love her Country twang and vibes. I knew her from her single Teardrops on My Guitar and the song made me cry on my… uhhh… bed, because it was real good, but then again, her transition into a full mainstream pop artist, does it surprise me?

You see, from her first eponymous Country album back when she was like 15, to her sophomore effort, Fearless, that basically became her catapult to worldwide stardom, to Speak Now, which cemented her position as the artist to be reckoned with, and finally to her previous album, Red, that provided us with a taste of what Taylor is giving us now… every single album before this has increased pop values and 1989 feels like a destined shift of Swift’s singing career. 1989 is a fine beginning to Taylor’s pop career as she manages to blend in the current trends of mainstream music, with the uniqueness of the 80s. The admixture works rather well for her. So, to answer that previous question: I’m not surprised. I’m just surprised at how good she executed this change.

Welcome to New York, the opener of the album immediately tells you that this album is truly a pure pop offering by Taylor. This song is the red carpet to the new door that Swift is guiding us in. It signals that new one direction (totally not a pun) that Taylor is heading to, and it begins with New York City. It’s an anthemic, catchy tribute to the city of lights, with its entire dewy-eyed girl’s hyper positivity of a brand new place all around. It’s not the best song dedicated to the Big Apple out there, with Taylor putting her school girl story on the song. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind does a better job describing the grit and glory of NYC. Welcome to New York is but it sure makes you want to fly there and see the bright lights of New York yourself. Dancing in Times Square is optional.

Blank Space, the second track and the second single of the album, is a song that shows Taylor Swift actually realises the reputation given to her as a-serial-dater-who-break-people’s-hearts-so-that-she can-make-songs-out of-it. I know there’re too many dashes over there but I can’t help it. The song is quite minimal and when they said it is quite similar to Lorde’s style, well I couldn’t help but to notice it. The lyrics are playful and fun and mischievous, this is TayTay satirising about what the masses are saying about her, and clearly she had fun writing this while imagining that she’s a sort of a femme fatale or whatever.

Style is the third track in this CD. Makes you think about Harry Styles, doesn’t it? Perhaps it is about him, I mean it is obvious isn’t it? Anyway, the music sounds like the 80s noir crime drama theme song. The lyrics touch on fashion (well a bit, the song is titled as ‘Style’) but the main point is about a relationship that is a mistake but you still want to be in its cycle.

Out of the Woods is one of my favourite songs in this album, perhaps one of my favourites from her entire career so far. One word that I can use to describe this song is ‘epic’. This synthpop offering (courtesy of Jack Antonoff of the band fun.) falls on the same line with her song from the previous album, Red, titled State of Grace. Genre-wise, State of Grace is actually a soft rock song, but in its essence, Out of the Woods and State of Grace for me are the same, aurally haunting sounds. Out of the Woods is ambitious and monumental, full of deep percussions and heavy synths, with beautifully layered vocals by Swift, accompanied by looping cut voices of Antonoff, and chorus that sticks to your ears. This is a song like no other Swift has ever done. As always, Taylor shines in her song writing skills here. This 80s-inspired tune is a grand offering.

All You Had to Do Was Stay, the fifth track, is one of my favourite, although many other ‘official’ reviews put it as a mediocre song. Hey, people are entitled to their opinions. I like the chorus part, when Swift croons about a man who wants her back after he left her in the first place. Of course, there’s no going back now for the man. The background voice saying ‘stay!’ makes it all the better for me.

Shake It Off, the saxophone-laden sixth track, acts as the first single on the album and it immediately reminds me of her first single from Red, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. Why? Here are the similarities: first, the choruses of Shake It Off and Never Ever just hook you from the beginning. Second, there are spoken sections in both singles (which I know lot of people like to say with weird accents, including me) and third, those two songs are energetic, upbeat anthems that prompt us to shake out butts off. I should add the fourth one now – they are not the best that Taylor (and her team) can create. Sure, I love both songs. Head-shaking and butt-wiggling are sure to occur like there’s no tomorrow when the songs are played, but they are just similar to many other pop songs these days. Still, you can’t deny this song’s mass appeal.

I Wish You Would, the first song in which guitar plays a prominent role. And as always, two o’clock in the morning is the time when Swift is still breathing, perhaps making music. Listen to her previous songs and tell me how many times she used the same hour in the songs. The song is up-tempo and as it goes on, it goes bigger and bigger. For me though, the song is quite ordinary?

Bad Blood is Taylor Swift being pissed off like how Taylor Swift can only be pissed. Well, this is her fifth album, so she is pretty much an expert in putting a person to a limelight with her lyrics and emotions. She is angry and she wants to have her revenge. Do I love this one? Well, not so. In fact, I think Better than Revenge from Speak Now has greater pissed-off value than Bad Blood.

Wildest Dreams is a slow ballad, and honestly, not all ballads appeal to me. Here though, we can see that Taylor Swift is channelling her inner Lana Del Rey. Whispering and trembling voices, and minimal music, the songs is about Lana… wait, I mean Taylor, asking a guy to remember her when she’s gone due to a condemned relationship. Does Taylor passed the Lana Del Rey Mimicking Test? Perhaps 59.9%. Lana Del Rey is better as Lana Del Rey, but congrats to Miss Swift for trying.

How You Get the Girl straight up sounds like the song that is connected to Taylor’s previous brand of music, although the influence of 1989 is still there. Really, if you take away the pop production, this could sit well with Swift’s earlier Country albums. The song is Miss Swift telling all you guys to be honest with your girls. Tell them what you really feel. It’s cheerful, chirpy, it fits for a family serial drama background song, and it’s what I like.

This Love is the eleventh track, and boy it is slow… and sentimental. Swift gets her vocals layered and fluid here and the song itself has sonically layered synths. And yes I said I don’t like some ballads, but I kind of like this song.

I Know Places references hunters and foxes, perhaps it’s Swift trying to equate her and her lover and the media with those two things, you know since the lenses of paparazzi (and the public) are on her life all the time, but it could abode well with couples trying to get out from annoying aunts or parents asking them when they are getting married. The verses are menacing and unnatural, as if you’re waddling through a river in a scary forest. Seriously I thought the song is going to be like that in its entirety, but comes the chorus, and it changes to a cheery, joyous sound. The alternating drums and piano give different vibes to the music. All in all, the fast pace tempo song manages to stick to its theme.

The final song in this album is Clean. First thing first, if the song is in another singer’s album, I would be inclined to think of it as a coitus-related song, you know on the same par as Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda, Beyoncé’s Partition or all Miley Cyrus’ over-sexualised videos, because the title ‘Clean’ implies that… uhhh… sort of. Nevertheless, the song is NOT about coitus and Swift still manages to keep her squeaky clean images intact with the song. The song is all about addiction (wait, didn’t you say Swift is clean in this song?). Well, it’s another kind of addiction, an addiction to a person who destroys you, but then you learn how to let it go bit by bit and come back to the hopeful world that you have left behind. This is an emotionally flooded song, and aptly titled so, since it employ many water metaphors. The electronic vibes of this ballad makes it different from the other pop ballads that you have heard before. One of the best songs in this album.

Now, if you buy the D.L.X. version of this album, you’ll have three extra songs. The first bonus song is Wonderland, and if you guess it’s related to Alice in Wonderland, 10 out of 10 you are right. Taylor equates her life with her beau with all those sinister and beautiful things in Wonderland (Underland if you want to be technical…).

You Are In Love is the second bonus song, and I don’t like it. It’s a song that you can play during a marriage ceremony as it will make your bride smile, but nah, not for me.

The final song is New Romantics. New Romantics… one question to Miss Taylor Swift is why didn’t she put this on the normal version of the album? Like why the hell why?! It’s funky, it’s groovy, it’s anthemic, it’ loud, it has this I-don’t-care-attitude! I love this song. The 80s rhythm is so good here and the chorus is noisy and freaking infectious.

To end the 1989 experience, Taylor Swift provides us with three voice memos, describing the ways she writes her song. So you can get her personal insights on where her creativity and inspiration come from. You also get to listen to early versions of three of the songs in 1989.

So, Taylor Swift has finally completed her transformation from an All-American Country Sweetheart to a Global Pop Force. Some people may find it to be a disloyalty to her Country roots, but if you’ve followed her growth since the day one, the progress from one genre to another seems to be natural. She has proven herself as a great Country musician, and now she’s making a really titanic splash in the pop arena. If there are people who can juggle two different kinds of music in the same time, one of them will be Taylor Swift. Of course we don’t know if this transition is just a one-time fling or a permanent fixture of Taylor’s career, but one thing is sure, Taylor has done it again, and Taylor has done it real good.

I need to say my thanks to Syed Noor Yazeed, my classmate, for buying me the album. He’s my Secret Santa for my class’ Farewell Dinner. Thank you so much Yazeed!

INK - Issue:1

Do you know what a zine is? Zine is an original, self-published, small-circulation booklet or magazine either cheaply photocopied or in digital form. I have always wanted to make a zine for a long time because it's unique and personal. People usually make zines on the topics or matters that they love, be it films, gaming, poetry, food, anything.

Since I didn't have anything to do, I actually created one with my Photoshop and Word today haha. The name of my zine is the INK. So, I can say that I’ve finally fulfilled that dream! Yeay! Making the zine was a bit tough but I do love it. I especially love creating the layout. So, lads and lassies, let me welcome you to the first ever issue of the INK. In the November 2014 issue, it’s all about haiku. So sit back, relax, and read on! Thanks!

Read it here: The INK

Like Water

I look at you, and in my mind, you are an element of nature. Perhaps like the water of the sea, one that comes to the shore as waves that grip my feet and sweep me away from the ground, pulling me into the freezing depths of my soul. You make me realise the tremendous amount of affection I have towards you, deeper than the bottom of the ocean, circling around my body like never-ending oceanic currents, giving me heat to sustain living. This love (one that you may never find out) makes hurricanes that devours on that heat. This love is one that drowns me, in as many ways as the sea harms a human. I am suffocated, no way of breathing air, but I can’t let you go. I am blinded, no light falls on me, the saltiness hurts my eyes, but still I wanted to seek you. Like waves shaping the coastal shores, you shape me in ways unfathomable. I am a yacht without a sail, travelling slowly upon your surface. I want to break free and get back to the land, but as much as I want that, I dream of just being afloat with you, letting you to dictate my course. Sunken or docked, my final verdict still unknown.

When You Were Eight

When you were eight
you made a fort
out of the pillows
you were the king
midnight was still early
but morning was all too soon
chocolates were never enough
colours came in 12 sticks
and you had magic
paper aeroplanes were as
good as the big ones
for your small eyes
the world was big enough
but then you said
“can I be an adult soon?”
you couldn’t wait
to be tall strong beautiful
you couldn't wait
to have your own job
you couldn’t wait
but you could not have known
the world never stops
now you look
to a mirror
and wish to send
paper aeroplanes back
to yesterday
when you were eight
falling from a bicycle
made you cry
now it seems
the visible scar
was less hurting than
a broken mind
a shattered heart
a wrecked trust

Harm

Let’s face it, life can be unfair. There are many people out there who don’t know how to escape from the problems they face and end up doing things that hurt themselves, or worst, committing suicide.

But as always, a lot of people are not helping. Some people think that those who cut themselves are crazy. They think that people who have suicidal tendencies are just clamouring for attention. What the society thinks of them are harmful.

People who mutilate themselves or choose to end their lives do not find any ways to solve their problems. It’s not because they cannot search for one, it’s because they have lost hope. No one supports or loves them. They have let their problems to be a part of themselves. What I know is this, diminishing the values of the crisis they are facing will never aid them. We should not equate the lives of other people based on our own.

The thing is maybe we can never even understand what they are going through, but if we try to understand, encourage and be there for them, they will know that they don’t have to face this world alone. Everyone needs one another.

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

So, before I begin, let me tell you a story. I’m not a person who really knows how to control my emotions. Nope, not the usual kinds of emotions, but the one when you get too excited and too happy that you just forget about the other people around you. Well, that’s me. I saw this book in the bookstore, almost one month after the book came out, and I literally screamed and ran towards it while shoving my friend (as if she didn’t exist) like a madman because I was that happy. So… let’s forget about that now, shall we?

The Blood of Olympus is the fifth and final book from the Heroes of Olympus pentalogy. In this book, the seven demigods, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo also the trio, Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge the Satyr, are in the final quest to save the Earth from the waking Gaia, the primordial goddess of the Earth. If Gaia wakes up, we can say ‘yasas’ to the planet (that’s ‘goodbye’ in Greek). While the seven demigods are trying to get to somewhere in the Greek mainland to fight Gaia, Reyna, Nico, and Hedge are struggling to bring back the statue of Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood as a sign of truce between the Roman side and the Greek side of the demigods and prevent a destructive war. Will they ever succeed? Also, the book has a side (a major side for me, at least) of Leo trying to get back to Ogygia, where the love of his life, Calypso is trapped due to her curse. Will he ever succeed in getting another kiss from Calypso?

Anyway, as always, the author, Rick Riordan, wrote the story with flair that is just so amazing, weaving humour, sass, suspense, adventure, emotions, and educational stuff in a book 500 pages long I admit, I’m no Percy, heck, I’m not even Piper… I can’t hold this book for an extended amount of time. It takes a lot of energy from me! You open one page and you’ll laugh out loud (especially when it’s Leo who speaks). Open another, and for five pages straight, you’ll scream “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as you yearn to know what will happen to the characters (Will they die? Will they kill the monsters?). Open yet another page, and be ready to be sucked into a wormhole of emotions as the heart falls from the chest due to really emotional scenes between the characters (and there are so many of them, which I love, since you can never put aside humanity from the young ones). It’s a fun book, really. You’ll even learn so many things about Greek or Roman myths. That’s why I love Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. The myths are the integral parts of the story. Rick Riordan doesn’t shove them in your head like… well, like a History book.

Still, I wish there are POVs from Percy. The book doesn’t have that. It is sad since I fanboy over him like a lot. Also, I wish Rick Riordan added at least another 25 pages to make the Gaia scene in Camp Half-Blood more electrifying and scary and well, more fights, since she’s Gaia, the primordial goddesses. It feels short to me, the demigods fight with Gaia. But all in all, the book is a great read. The characters? They are always the best.

The friendship in the book, they are all believable, and the support and love and faith they give and get from one another prove to be the catalyst for them to go all the way in the quest. I’ll say these things about the characters:

Percy – Percy, Percy, Percy. You know I’m always smitten with your goofiness and clumsiness. NO ONE, AND I MEAN THIS AND NO MORTALS SHALL EVER DO THIS, no one can ever hate you. Percy has always been protective of his friend, but he never has any qualms on keeping the wrong things he has done to himself. He shares his mistakes because it’s the right thing to do. He is remorseful of all the faults he made before, and he tries to mend them. If one thing, the traumatising experience in Tartarus changes Percy for the better. In a way, Percy is much more humanised, if I may say so. Percy is as strong as the waves over the ocean, but he still knows that he can never succeed without this friends. No one in literary fiction can ever outdo Percy. Hands up!

Annabeth – One badass demigod with an ocean of knowledge and a knack of logic and martial arts, don’t mess with Annabeth, the daughter of Athena. Annabeth has always been one of my favourite female characters, and I don’t think I’m farfetched to say this: she’s one of the best representations of female in literature in young adult fictions. She has brawn, she has brain, and her spirit shines bright. She’s Percy’s beacon, she’s the guiding light of everyone else in Argo II. Like all humans, she has her weak points, but she never lets her weaknesses to be barriers to her life. She crushes them like she crushes giants.

Jason – Let me confess, I didn’t like Jason the first time I met him. He seems so… stiff, rigid. It is like he doesn’t know what he is supposed to be. I’m glad to say that Jason, after five books, you have climbed up my ranking of characters. You starts to excel in the House of Hades, and in the Blood of Olympus, you are, what can I say, a kickass guy who learns that your heart is the greatest weapon and ally you have (well, besides the fact that you are the son of Jupiter). Jason shows us his flaw in this book, and honestly, I pitied him like a lot (and I never expected I would). He develops so much in this book, I feel like he should have his own book now. I admire Jason for who he is, his steadfastness and his trust in all his comrades.

Piper – Piper is a beautiful girl. Enough said… if you only look on the outside. She wants to prove to the world that good looks are not the only thing that she has, she wants to show you that clouding your judgments with the things on the outside is a wrong thing to do. Within her, Piper has the power to carve the road that she wants to take. Her destiny lies in her own hands. She is quiet gale that will sweep you away with the slightest force.

Frank – From a big kid, to a still big but now buff Roman Praetor, Frank’s tremendous change also echoes the change in his faith to himself. He used to be insecure, thinking that he is going to die anytime, his lifeline literally burning like slow combusting coals, but Frank then gains all the confidence he needs to know that life is not about worrying all the time. It’s about living it in ways that will make it more meaningful at every single moment. Having a well-toned body helps too.

Hazel – The daughter of Hades has the power to bend the mist according to her will. It’s a good thing, although unfortunately before this, she is not that willing on having her feelings in check. Fortunately, in this book, Hazel learns to not confuse herself over guys. Well that’s good since she has great powers, like super dangerous powers that can even confuse Gods and other creatures, and she’s way better with it now. Go, magic girl!

Leo – This kiddo! This damn little scrawny skinny fuck-ass git! Why on earth why?! You are sloppy, you know how to blow stuff and ironically, you make stuff too, you are such a clumsy, clumsy, clumsy kid, and only know how to make bad jokes (that are admittedly funny) 24 hours a day, seven days a week… and then you just… just… ugh!!! You brave, brave boy. You think you are a coward, you think you are the seventh wheel, let me tell you, if you are alive and kicking in front of me, I’ll scream at you and say “Get fucking over it! You’re the most badass best boy out there!” Live your life with Calypso. Go, go, go!

Reyna – In this book, we get chapters from her POV. I was rather apprehensive in the beginning, but boy, I love that we get that. Reyna is a strong character. Even with a troubled past, she managed to get through it (well, sort of) and be who she is today. She doesn’t let her past to determine her future. Her sisterly bond with Nico? It’s cute. I like it that she has someone whom she can trust, especially on her history. Reyna is always about putting other people first. She believes in the goodness in other people’s hearts, and in the end, that faith frees her own soul from being chained to guilt.

Nico – Another child of Hades, and Nico, let’s start with how much I adore you. You are always left in the dark, being all alone. You think it’s because the others think that you’re a bit of a freak, you know with you being the son of the God of the Underworld and all, but then you realise that you don’t have to be invisible. You step out into the light and be happy. You overcome your fears of not being accepted, of being alone. I’m so proud of you Nico. Not to mention, you now have sass too. You go, di Angelo!

So, this marks the end of the Camp Half-Blood world. There is no going there again. Percy Jackson and his friends may still need to fight occasionally, but for now they will save their weapons in a good place while living their lives normally. I guess that’s a good thing about it, you know, imagining that your characters have a good future to look forward too. They must have had enough wars for a lifetime. Me? I’m just going to go to the shower so that I can cry. Farewell Percy Jackson and the Gang. It’s been good knowing you all this time.