#on piper

[tsigililimclean]

just an fyi depicting piper in like turquoise jewelry and other pan-ndn aesthetics isn't any better than rick having her wear random feathers in her hair, it's still using stereotypical bullshit that has zero correlation with her actual culture

[tsigililimclean]

Hey! First of all, thank you for being so understanding to the rest of this fandom! I agree SO much with how everything canonical about Piper has some tones of racism or stereotyping. If you don't want to answer this then it's totally okay. But I would like to hear your thoughts on Tristan's relationship with Piper and her abandonment issues.

thank you for your kindness and appreciation 💕

as for piper and tristan's relationship canonically, i dislike how they're written- quite frankly, i'm very VERY tired of seeing parents of color written as neglectful or abusive by white writers because it feels exploitative. i also just. dislike how tristan is written because the "i hate being a native" schtick coming from the white man who wrote his native girl character as a walking talking stereotype is fucking gross. piper being upset over him not wanting to play the roles of native characters in movies such as tonto pissed me off because lone ranger is fucking racist, not to mention native actors are often made to play characters who are racist caricatures- like why the fuck would she be upset about him turning down those roles? she should be more pissed about him playing roles meant for actors of other ethnicities lmao. if tristan were trying to make it big in hollywood or even if he were just trying to make ends meet, it would be highly likely that he would have taken on some particularly shitty and stereotypical roles before making his big break, and after that, it would be much more understandable that he would never want to work those kinds of roles again, but of course rick riordan has no fucking idea how to give characters of color ANY kind of depth in relation to their identity. not to mention it's horribly ironic that piper, a character who lives and breathes native stereotypes, is pissy with her dad for not wanting to play a stereotype- it's like rick riordan was so so close to understanding and yet so incredibly far. in regards to their relationship, it's fucking sickening to me that rick thinks that tristan ignoring his daughter and having her be looked after by jane and sending her off to fucking boarding schools because he couldn't handle her or whatever was an intelligent plot move. HELLO! does this man have any fucking idea the kind of trauma that native people in america have towards boarding schools? tristan would NEVER have WILLINGLY sent piper to a boarding school, not when his own father or other relatives might've been children during the time of which native children were being tortured and assimilated in indian residential schools. it would make more sense if there were outside influences (COPS) forcing his hand, but willingly sending her to a place like that? fuck no. it honestly makes me nauseous to think about. in my head, tristan is a much more complex and well written character, and he and piper have a very nuanced but loving relationship, but in canon? the lost hero made me want to rip my hair put everytime piper talked about her dad, ESPECIALLY in regards to tsalagi culture because the way rick talks about our culture is so fucking distorted and disconnected because he did the bare fucking minimum of research and didn't bother having a cultural consultant or a sensitivity reader. he has a pattern of writing parents and guardians of color as bad parents and it's really fucking telling to me. obviously tristan didn't get the worst of this kind of treatment (because rick seems to hate women of color even more than men of color, as proven by how he wrote marie levesque and leo's tía rosa), and his and piper's relationship is better towards the end of toa to my knowledge, but tristan and piper's writing overall is what bothers me, not just in regards to their relationship, but their individual characterization.

[tsigililimclean]

I've only just found out about these tweets and the portrayal of Piper, among other characters, in Riordan's works. I have to say, I'm really upset at Rick Riordan, I'm half-Korean, autistic, depressed, and morbidly obese, and seeing this affected me really badly. That being said, if you're ok with answering this, how can we, as fanfiction writers, portray Piper in a way that's respectful and accurate to Cherokee culture?

siyo oginalii 💕 i get a lot of questions like this and it's really hard to cover everything because piper in canon is pretty much a walking stereotype. i'm uncomfortable with divulging information about our culture but in general the best thing that people who are not tsalagi can do is to completely retcon the harmful parts of piper's character in writing, those being:

her being a kleptomaniac. do NOT write native characters as thieves. i don't know what possessed rick to think that was appropriate but it's not.

feathers in her hair. literally i don't know a single ndn who just wears feathers in their hair casually like that. i know i sure as hell don't. ESPECIALLY not eagle feathers…

describing her with eurocentric features- yes, this includes her "kaleidoscope" eyes and weird coppery hair. let characters of color have dark eyes and dark hair.

sexualization- her claiming scene is really gross and uncomfortable for me to read because the way she's described is weirdly sexual in nature. don't sexualize native women and girls, for the love of g-d.

other notes:

this is more nitpicky but i hate her cornucopia. i've always thought that was dumb, especially considering cornucopias are generally seen as a symbol of thanksgiving 🤢

j-siper is a bad ship and i will not back down from that. there are a lot of canonical issues i have with their romantic relationship. platonically, they're great together. jason is a good friend and he does right by piper and leo. but i'm so tired of seeing native girls end up with white boys in fictional media. i can smell the colonization.

don't write her as "disconnected" or w/e but also don't try to write about tsalagi culture. our culture is closed to outsiders for a reason. as far as cultural connection goes, all things considered, piper is far from disconnected. she just comes off as detached because she's being written by a white man who knows nothing about us as a people and as a culture.

don't write her or tristan as having some kind of disdain or contempt towards their native identities. i HATE how rick wrote tristan (and his relationship with piper) because it makes zero sense. i have a lot of thoughts on that and i'm willing to share them if asked but just tread lightly and get rid of the weird internalized racism that rick wove into their characters.

that's all i have to say for the moment. if anyone has any further questions, so long as they aren't inappropriate and uncomfortable, i might be able to answer them.

[tsigililimclean]

hi! i’m trying to write a one shot about piper, jason, and leo at the wilderness school pre-hoo cause i just love the idea of those three being besties (also without j*siper, i’m a fan of the three of them being in a qpr but thats unrelated) but i saw an older ask of yours about how to accurately portray piper as cherokee and was wondering if there was anything i could mention being in her room that isn’t über-personal but also shows a connection with her culture? like i have a shrine to my main gods who i pray to, but i wouldnt go and describe them to someone i didnt know. i was thinking maybe she displays some beadwork for herself to look at when she misses her dad and grandfather, but i was hoping you might be able to tell me if i’m overstepping? nothing you’rw uncomfortable with though, i totally understand that most native practices are closed and wouldn’t want to pry!

dw, i don't think you're overstepping! beadwork is a v good idea, we're also very into copper and pearl/shell jewelry so she could have like engraved shell earrings/copper cuffs or smth! she could also have a woven blanket somewhere in the room. these are small examples but they still work as meaningful symbols that show her connection to her cultural identity. if you're not sure how to describe pieces of jewelry or weaving around her room, you can dm me and i can help you out, or if you want me to read over anything to make sure it sounds right i can do that too!

[tsigililimclean]

Given that the Olympian gods are further divided into identities that embody specific aspects of themselves - an perhaps none more so than Aphrodite- I wonder if there's a form of her Mom that Piper identifies with/a form that Aphrodite takes when visiting her.

within the realm of pjo canon, aphrodite's appearance changes to match the physical characteristics that the person who is looking at her finds beautiful, but in tlh, piper couldn't discern aphrodite's appearance because aphrodite couldn't nail down piper's ideas of beauty. i like to chalk up that moment as "piper is the daughter of the goddess of love and beauty, so of course she finds beauty in every person, and therefore aphrodite can't conform to one standard when piper is looking at her." but i also like the idea of aphrodite taking on an appearance that resembles piper's family and friends in her presence. sometimes she looks a lot like piper's dad and grandfather, sometimes she looks like leo or jason, sometimes she looks like piper's siblings, etc, etc. piper finds the most comfort in her loved ones, so it makes sense to me.

[tsigililimclean]

ehi so I read your last ask and I wanted to ask something if it's ok. so basically I'm writing a Piper pov (well Shelper to be more specific) fic, would it be ok for her to listen/read books made by Native artists? if you're fine with answering this ofc.

absolutely!!! i highly encourage it in fact, i think it would be a good non-invasive way of showing piper engaging in native spaces and native culture 💕

[tsigililimclean]

anyways piper being uncomfortable w wearing makeup and certain types of clothing that might draw attention to her appearance reads entirely different in the context of her being cherokee. native women are grossly sexualized and that often leads the assault, kidnapping, and/or murder of our women and girls across america. obviously rick riordan doesn't possess that level of nuance when it comes to writing his characters of color, but i've always read piper's distaste for flashy appearances as a reaction to not only the racist bullying she's obviously experienced her entire life, but out of fear that drawing too much attention to herself could be potentially life threatening. piper's character overall reads differently because she is a girl of color, but i find that particular aspect of her personality to be very much so connected to her indigeneity. piper is already hyperaware of the fact that she is ostracized from white society, and i don't think it's a far stretch to say that (in a realistic sense and from a personal perspective, because i don't give rick credit for this at all) this is something that would also consciously and/or subconsciously affect both how she presents herself and how she reacts to other girls.