Ambition
Percy Jackson is an Etonian from a Manchester estate with a dark past. Annabeth Chase is a young genius who dreams of something more. They've been best friends since forever, but what will happen when Percy achieves a place in one of Britain's best boarding schools, leaving Annabeth behind?
I feel if ever I'm going to write a controversial story, it'd be this one.
This is going to be one of those stories. The one's that deal with politics, with abusive parents and classism, both reverse and 'normal' – if classism has a normal state.
For my readers that, perhaps, don't know what I mean by the term 'Etonian', it refers to someone who goes to Eton College, near Winsor. It is arguably Britain's best school – joint with Harrow, I would think – and is basically the epitome of Britishness. There are many people in Britain that would like to see it abolished (I'm personally not one of them) and has received criticism for its perceived classism (i.e. you can only go there if you're from old money families).
I want to write this story because I feel there are so many in which the rich girl gives up her privileged lifestyle to live in the slums, and there are some very good ones along those lines (A Fish Out of Water by critic456 being a good example of this). However, I think this storyline is so underused in fanfiction – maybe because it's unpopular, or just because some people find it boring and cliché. Either way, I'd like to give it a try.
Time to go through normal protocol I do in this notepad:
Please don't send me flames for this idea, okay? If you don't like it, feel free to say so, but I swear if I receive one comment when I've written the story saying something about how 'Moss Side isn't that bad' or whatever, I will have a fit. I have lived near Moss Side and helped out at food banks and such near it. I know what I'm talking about.
If you aren't from Britain and perhaps have no idea what goes on in it, or if some dialect or stereotypes or political references confuses you, I'm very happy to help with that. On a similar note, if I've gotten anything wrong (I know a fair bit about areas such as Moss Side, having lived near it for nigh on fifteen years, but I'm not an expert, and I know next to nothing about Eton) feel free to tell me.
If some things, i.e. political views of characters, offend you, please tell me, preferably in an educated, collected manner (see above points). Seeing as this is dealing mainly with the upper class, or the ambitious, Tory views are probably going to be expressed more than Labour views. Don't think for a moment I'm dissing Left policies – I understand them, but the ones leaning Right would suit the characters of the story more.
I would love it if you could send some political views in the reviews or, if you feel uncomfortable doing that, just in a PM. Please don't be afraid of offending me or anything like that (I know how sensitive we are in the U.K to this kind of thing); I'd be more likely to be respectful of your willingness to give an opinion than get offended by your view.
I'm really quite hesitant about this story. I don't think it'll be long, and I wonder if I'm ever going to get around to publishing it. If you don't like it, or feel some things about it could change, I'd be happy to accommodate that. I think that, if there's ever going to be a story in which I will have a beta, this would be the one, so if you're willing, I'd greatly appreciate that.
Cheers!
Evil Nightingale.
