Love Games (Leo Valdez/ PJO Fan Fiction)

An Analysis of Faye Mitchell

AN EXPLANATION OF FAYE'S TRANSFORMATION - A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF FAYE'S BEHAVIOR CHANGE

So I have come to the understanding that Faye's transformation appeared to be random and unnecessary. I'm writing this to show that it was neither of these things.

When Faye started dating Leo, she was welcomed by a new concept: acceptance. Faye struggled to be accepted her entire life despite her natural Aphrodite beauty. She found it difficult to be abnormal when she was surrounded by mortals who viewed her as different because of dyslexia. (Note: Faye only has a minor form of ADHD, not nearly as much as Leo's got it). So naturally, half bloods feel like outcasts because they are in the mortal world.

Even when she went into CHB, she thought she'd be accepted and well-liked by the people who are most like her. She was not welcomed with open arms by her cabin mates, Faye stuck out from them because of her personality. Her personality comes off as completely different as theirs. Maybe the Love Games were a gift to her because she was finally noticed and considered one of them. 

The Love Games were the first step to her transformation. At first, she could see through its horribleness. But in the end, it became the reason as to why she was happy. 

Happiness and acceptance are linked. If you are an outcast society, than you are most likely unhappy with your standing and feel alone.

Leo made her feel like she was better than the rest, someone worth spending time with and getting to know. He made her feel like a daughter of Aphrodite for the first time in her life. She felt beautiful and empowered because of him. Leo was her savior because he simply cared. He saw her, he saw her pain, he related to that pain. (Sorry that's off topic and another analysis)

So as time went on, Faye progressed in the games and began connecting with Leo more and more. Even Drew began taking a liking to her and she became friends with many of her cabin mates. Faye finally was accepted.

Throughout the course of this FF, Faye had never realized her deep desire to be accepted. Of course, it was rooted inside of her just like that desire is rooted inside all of us. We all want to be accepted and have friends. We don't want to feel rejected like Faye had felt for so long. 

You're probably wondering why Faye had changed so quickly. The reality is, Faye hasn't been changing quickly. She's been changing the entire time she's been dating Leo. Because of the Love Games. She fell for Leo. She found a friend in Piper which was completely and totally new. Later on, she became friends with Corey and she later went onto befriending a lot of her siblings after the chariot race. Faye became popular, and her behavior changed because of it. She unknowingly changed herself to make these people happy with her, BECAUSE SHE WANTS PEOPLE TO LIKE HER, EVEN IF THE PERSON SHE BECAME AROUND THEM WASN'T WHO SHE TRULY WAS.

And all of her new found happiness was because of Leo, yet she doesn't even recognize that. Faye still tells herself that she doesn't like being a daughter of Aphrodite and that she's lying to Drew and everyone about who she is. Faye RELISHES being a daughter of Aphrodite and Leo's lover because it BRINGS HER ATTENTION AND ACCEPTANCE. 

She doesn't realize that although she thinks she hates Aphrodite, Faye truly embodies the goddess and the twisted affects of love and societal expectations.

Faye is a complicated character. First the loner rebel, now the popular girl? I understand how you got confused. She definitely isn't like the other characters from other fan fictions. Many of those girls do not develop or learn anything from falling in love. Faye portrays an actual teenage girl, dying to be accepted or noticed by the cute boy. Maybe she is gorgeous like the rest of them, but her body does not matter here because it is not an object, that is to us at least. She's desperate, failing repeatedly in attempts to be perfect in the name of society. It should have been expected for Faye to crack under pressure and conform to fit societal standards. It's difficult even for a strong-willed person to resist the urge to be popular. 

What I'm really trying to get at here is that Faye was like this the entire time. She buried it because she had grown so used to the yearning and was sick of it. She told herself that wasn't what she wanted and she believed it. But like so many like her, it still existed and was only waiting to be awakened. 

And another point I want to touch is: how different is Faye from her siblings? Faye actually isn't too different in many ways. Children of Aphrodite have high expectations and have a stereotype that they must live up to. All of them want to please their mother by breaking the most hearts, sleeping with the most people, or playing games with hearts. They all want to fit in and try to get their mother's attention. Most of them have never even met Aphrodite, so why wouldn't they want to impress her? Faye secretly wants to do the same just like the rest of them. I mean, what if this expectation wasn't there for them? Their personalities are not inherited, they are imposed on them from the moment they find out who they are. This moments happens for Faye when she is selected for the Love Games. 

Okay, I need to wrap this up. The question I want to leave with right now is: Does the old Faye still exist? 

At this point, I don't know anymore. Faye could be stuck like this Aphrodite brat forever or maybe Leo could snap her out of it. I just don't know. To be honest, I hadn't planned for her character to be this complicated or this book to be like this for that matter. I had no idea that the name "Love Games" would turn out to be so accurate towards the theme of the books and ironic towards the actual Love Games themselves. 

I think it's amazing that this story turned out this way. I had no intentions of this. I just wanted a petty love story. 

I want to thank you all for helping me make this thus far. Now I can honestly say I"m proud of this and this is probably one of the best stories I've ever written. 

Thank you so much.

An analysis of Leo will be coming out after the book ends. This analysis is unfinished and is explaining Faye's blech behavior solely from what happened without spoiling anything. Well if you look deep enough in the past few chapters I'm dropping mega bombs about what's happening.

Oh, I just want to apologize for being a bit confusing. But I'm not that sorry because I'm going into the most difficult English Class offered at my school for my junior year and I'm extremely scared. This sort of analysis will hopefully get me at least a B. And I"ll be happy with that because WEIGHTED GRADES MOTHER FUCKER WHOOO.

If anything else confuses you, feel free to drop a comment and I'll be happy to explain why such things happened. I hope this cleared everything up.

Thanks again,

Emilia.