#sapphic rep in the riordanverse

[speedytherandom]

Alright so basically, Lavinia is one of the only canonical sapphic characters in the Riordanverse. I believe that there are a complete total of four, or at least four significant sapphic characters, all of which I plan to talk about.

Jo and Emma chose to grow old together and adopt a child and that shows lesbian relationships as something that isn't just for young people. It’s a sort of reassurance that you can be an old gay person. There are old gay people, and they are happy. And this is also on the forefront of the story. They are not background characters and they are shown to love each other, their daughter, and other characters such as Lester, Meg, and Leo. 

However, it has been pointed out that they were kicked out of the Hunters of Artemis because of the “romantic love” thing. In fact, in canon it’s mentioned that they were lucky they were just kicked out and didn't die. Now while I believe that this is actually pretty accurate to RR’s version of the Hunters, in the actual Greek myths this would have been different as it was anti-men and anti-marrige rather than anti-romance. 

It was good rep character wise, but it was really sad that they were disbanded from their family that they had had for millennia to do so instead of being supported and still being included. While this might go over some children’s heads, this is something that can really stick as “yes, you can be happy but your entire life will have to change for that to happen.”

Next on my list I have Piper. Piper was a main character for about five books in the entire Riordanverse. She’s been a pretty important character in two series. And yet, she, like Nico, was only revealed to be queer right at the end of a series. For me it really came out of nowhere. I am aware that there were some possible hints that she was questioning her sexuality in The Burning Maze but for me it was really sudden.

It was honestly a wonderful moment to realize that Piper was out there crushing on and kissing girls and I cried because she’s one of if not my favorite character and seeing that in a character I loved was really something that made me feel great. However, like I said, it was sudden. Piper is only actually and canonically shown to be sapphic for a total of about four pages which are about two chapters way from the end of the Riordanvese as a series. It’s disappointing.

And lastly, we’ve got Lavinia, the whole reason this post exists. Now, first and foremost I’ve got to say that it was great to see an out young lesbian teenager because it’s important for kids to know that being gay is just a thing. I might want to add here that having both young and old sapphics is really wonderful, especially in a middle age book series to showcase that being LGBTQ+ is perfectly normal. Lavinia was seemingly very accepted and very happy and proud right about from the moment we meet here. Like, this kid got it down and is very lucky. 

As you may have guessed at this point, your context being my original post, I am bothered by Lavinia liking an actual plant. Like I said, it’s mythology, it’s the Riordanverse, whatever, some people I’m sure really like it or don’t mind it. Consider what I mentioned before about poison oak causing rashes and general irritation. I’m pretty sure that’s not what I’d consider a healthy relationship. And then there’s the fact that Poison Oak is a plant. She’s not even human.

There’s a lot of different messed-up character-coding which some people aren’t really that aware of but a big one is LGBTQ+ characters or queer-coded characters in general are often portrayed as non-human. The first example I could think of: Frank-N-Furter. While they are not always portrayed as bad people, there’s a sort of foreignness to it that makes people maybe a bit uncomfortable.

Next, and I hate that I have to talk about this but I think it’s important for my point, is that there’s this whole thing about alien-sentient-plant fet*sh thing that I wish I didn't know existed. And I’m gonna assume that RR probably didn't know existed either. What bothers me is that often times lesbian relationships are over-sexualized, which is obviously not what you want for a young character or young audiences. 

Long Story Short: the reason it bothers me is because Lavinia’s dating a non-human and due to weird sexualization and alien queer-coding that just doesn't sit right. Plus, I’m bothered by some of RR’s other choices in sapphic rep, Piper’s (for once) probably being the best,

Note: I don't have my books with me so I may have messed up on some facts here and there. Also, this is my personal viewpoint and opinion and some fo this is up to interpretation.

is it just me that’s weirded out by the fact that Lavinia is actually dating (?) a plant? Like it’s kinda normal in RR’s universe but still… like huh?? not to mention that the plant is poison oak which is notorious for giving you rashes and general bad reactions in contact with your skin. AND it’s implied heavily that with dryads that doesn’t just go away and the ‘poison’ part still applies. 

I’m just rubbed the wrong way by this.