You Are Really On To Something Here

The hurt is going to be exquisite

Love it

Thank you !! @poetry-protest-pornography

No one in this show is truly evil. This show is not made to put characters into clear boxes of good and bad. This show is made to show how the lines between those always blur.

They are not good or bad , they are messy and making mistakes. That's not a box, that's human.

There's been a lot of "this character is so selfish" (mostly about Ray, but I already tried about that), and like. That's the point.

They're all selfish in their own way.

They're 22, they're all financially comfortable, they're emotionally illiterate.

Cheum and Mew have cast themselves as superior to the rest of their friends, and treat them all accordingly.

Cheum sees herself as a good friend, as a caretaker, as the one with their shit together; the rest of them are useless fuck ups. She can't even not complain about April-- who is basically perfect, because April wants validation for her movies, and Cheum doesn't get them, so she's annoyed at having to watch. She's constantly talking shit about her friends.

Mew thinks his not chasing sex and relationships makes him superior to his friends. He introduced them all in unflattering ways, while holding himself above them. He doesn't really see them as people, they're characters in his life, and that means he can't see them for who they are. And all this is before his revenge fantasy kicked off and he actively manipulated and used Ray.

Ray's addiction makes him selfish. He wants to be loved so he goes where he thinks he'll get it, even if it's not good for him. When you spend so much of your time trying to numb yourself, it's hard to see anything beyond that. He's still generous with his care and his money, but he doesn't share a lot of himself with most people in his life.

Sand let his need for revenge on Top drive him to do something that he knew would hurt Ray, and used Ray's feelings against him to do it. He lied to Nick and went through his phone.

Boston can't see much beyond his dick, and where his next orgasm is coming from, and even though he isn't particularly fond of anyone in his friend group, he plays the part while purposely doing things to hurt and work against them. He uses Nick's feelings to string him along so he has someone who will provide all the trappings of a relationship without having to commit to someone.

Nick went through Boston's phone multiple times, including before they knew each other for jerk off material. He was so focused on getting Boston to be his that he recorded him and Top, and then told Sand about it, which led to that whole confrontation -- Nick knew about Sand and Ray, and about Ray knowing Boston and Mew at this point, he had to know that that wasn't staying secret. Also, I think it's possible-to-likely that Nick is at least subconsciously manipulating Boston into moving his commitment line every time Nick mentions he might start seeing other people (a friend read this theory and I'm obsessed with it, going to rewatch with this in mind. If you're op of this idea, please lmk!)

Top... Top let petty jealousy over something that Boston-- who he doesn't trust -- told him happened convince him that having sex with Boston again was fine. And then he lied about it, and he consistently used the same "I win you lose" type of language about Mew that Boston does. (I know Top feels bad now, but I don't think he really realized that he loved Mew until Mew dumped him)

They're all dicks in certain ways and circumstances. They're all selfish and self involved and messy.

That's the show, friends. None of your faves are unproblematic. They've all got something that makes them sympathetic to varying degrees, too, but this is about a group of messy bitches who are struggling to keep themselves together, and to hold onto what appear to be the only relationships any of them have without destroying each other (which means lying, or hiding, or ignoring important things).

This is literally just a group of college kids, y'all. And they're here to hurt our feelings and entertain us.

(And maybe let's especially stop calling out the addict with mental health issues for being irredeemable and bad, eh?)

This.

My biggest grievance with the people who have nothing good to say about this book is that they’re comparing Solangelo to Percabeth. Percabeth had been best friends for four/five years before they got together, meanwhile Solangelo were friends for a week before Will knew for certain he liked Nico. Obviously they’re not gonna flow as smoothly as Percabeth, who had a relationship for eight books before they fell into Tartarus, because they’re still getting used to being a couple. And an openly queer couple at that, which yes, does make a bit of a difference! They haven’t got each other figured out yet, they haven’t learned the do’s and don’t’s of their relationship. All they know for sure is that they’re ride or die, and part of the story in this book is them learning how and why.

Do you guys think only friends will start talking about std's ?

This might be a tiny theory or me making something up but cheum and atom in the trailer is so interesting. Cheum looks so distressed and worried. And atom looks devastated. And it feels like an overreaction for a one night stand.Maybe atom caught something.

Idk it may be me jumping to the worst scenario but I also feel like that is the perfect place to bring it. I mean for a show that is sex positive there's a noticable lack of safe sex talk.

Exactly. And I was crying so much.

Ok the sun and the star is cringe (in a ‘this is definitely written for middle schoolers and not for me’ way), but it is also very endearing. The idea of slowly unraveling the strings of pain, heartache, anger, isolation and grief that you’ve wound deep in your chest after enduring so much trauma and figuring out the balance of light and dark that can and does coincide within you and the the realization that you do not have to carry the weight of all of it alone is just … excruciatingly beautiful and powerful

Maomao is living the dream of being the smartest person in the room, being in a political situation in wich you dont have enough power to have responsabilities but also you are powerful enough so people let you do wethever you want, girl with big tiddies love her, a pathetic man that looks like a girl is in love with her, she wears cute outfits time to time, she helps other women, she even has a cat now.

Maomao the character you are

Y’all really gonna hate me because I’m not gonna shut up all weekend about this episode 😩 fuck crumbs, we got an entire Maomao and Jinshi buffet today.

The frog is finally out of the bag, the worst kept secret in the show, Jinshi not being a real eunuch, is finally revealed to Maomao. LMAO at her refusing to listen to him say it so she wouldn’t have to deal with the repercussions. But girl you know you can’t just say someone’s meat is the same size as a frog without them getting mad 😭 not Jinshi storming off in a huff because she said it was “somewhat large” lmaooo. Some things we just don’t say!

Always good to learn more about my boy Gaoshun. Hearing about his backstory actually explains why he and Jinshi get on so well and are a good mentor/mentee duo. They both sort of got thrust into positions without their consent and are just making the best of it. Also confirmation of our other worst kept secret about Jinshi being the emperor’s brother! Something tells me that this assassination attempt is just the first of many challenges he and Maomao will face so she better start listening lol

Worst assassination attempt ever. If you’re gonna use a flintlock pistol you better make sure you send your best shot lmao. RIP to the noble who tried to take out Jinshi.

Glad Maomao apologized to Jinshi quickly and didn’t let things drag out, but it really does make a ton of sense why she’d struggle to understand people’s feelings and social cues given her upbringing. I’d love to see she and Takao from Ameku MD this season collab because they have the exact same issues

Jinshi should’ve known better than to give Maomao Ox Bezoars if he wanted her to actually pay attention to what he had to say lmaoo. Hilarious end to the episode and perfect transition into the second cour. Nice mix of Jinmao and lore stuff!

Completed tsats, in the middle of exam week, guess I have my priorities straight. Okay, let's get into the pro and con opinions of mine in this book.

Pros

1.Nico got over his trauma. Not completely of course, but he is on the right path. And the cocoa puffs are really cute ( send me fanart).

2.I am glad nico is more emotive in this. We saw him smile more, make jokes and generally be more optimistic then the other books. I felt like titan's curse nico is coming back and i love it. I love that nerdy side to him.

3.We see him cry it out. After so long of seeing him being described as emotionless, cold and scary, it was nice to see him letting out his emotions.

4. I love that he is so affectionate with will. We already know that nico is physically affectionate with the people he cares about, like hugging Jason, reyna, and kissing hazel on the cheek. It makes sense that he will be affectionate with his bf.

5. I love that the entire story revolves around how kind nico is. Like we knew that nico was the only one who saw and talked to hestia. His selflessness is the most important trait of his but also the most overlooked. But it's also the trait that got him in the most trouble. I am glad that he told nyx to f**k off, it means he is learning to prioritise himself and i am so glad for that. Also it felt so good to see people and deities acknowledge that, too the point that a primordial goddess was threatened by it. Listen up kids, KINDNESS IS YOUR BIGGEST STRENGTH NOT A WEAKNESS.

6. I liked will's characterisation. He's exactly what I taught he will be, kind, daring, supportive and brave. And he learns, accepts his mistakes and meets nico in the middle, what more can i ask. ( I feel like a parent giving their blessings to their child's so)

7. Nyx felt threatening, way better then gaia. And I really liked the way the final battle was more psychological then physical. And the new development in wills powers, that's a head cannon that felt validated. He can use plague powers, powerfull sunshine boy, nico, powerful sunshine boy.

8.Bob and small bob, they are the best. And them being happy and enjoying their freedom, ah, I was crying. I love them.

9.The deities crying over solangelo. I get it, they are so cute. Kind of shows a human side to them. And that talk about lost souls with gorgyra, yeah, another scene that brought me too tears. The fact that they still have hope. Warmed my heart.

10.Loved the talk about change , and being true to yourself and having the option to choose. It read nicely and it's a great message for the kids out there, not just LGBTQ kids, to everyone. And even bitter adults can learn this lesson. So be open minded people.

As a literature student, I am done with all the nihilist, Existentionalist, tragic stories that I had to read. This was the cheesy, funny, pure, and sweet book that I wanted to get rid of all this stress. And that's what I want from a percy Jackson series book.

Cons

1.It was rushed. But I think I understand. I mean they had to put nico's solo tartarus plot, the actual plot of the story and also address their trauma, add fanservice, create a believable story for why nico had to go to tartarus again ( sideyes hades) , yeah way too much for a spinnoff.

2.I would have love to know more about will. Don't get me wrong, as I gushed about it, I really like their interactions. But it felt like he was made for those interactions, like will solace is still not an individual character but nico di angelo's boyfriend. To me it felt like Rick was telling," look at this sunshine boy, I would tell you why he is perfect for nico", hence the earlier blessing comment. ( you have my blessing will, you have my blessing). But I don't care about it much, for me I was looking forward to Nico's story and I got it so I am happy.

3.There were inconsistencies, like bianca and his mother. It felt like a retconn, but it's also a story about gods, so it makes sense that hades will do it.

4.The tartarus parts didn't hit as much as I thought it would, nicos past solo trip, that is. Maybe it's because the story was written by two authors. I cried but it didn't tear my heart out. Maybe because I know nico gets out. Hmmm, something to think about.

5.Please dont take this the wrong way, but I didn't like how they constantly kept saying boyfriend. Like I get it, I know you are a couple, I want you to be couple, but it felt like the authors didn't think they would come across as a couple and kept on reminding us. This is one nitpick I have in this book.

Oh another nitpick. I wanted to see the other characters, like hazel and reyna and how did I forgot apollo. I need more apollo. I really wanted to see nico's reaction to reyna joining the hunters. Not much just a tiny reference, like when they were talking to gorgyra, like she also abandoned me, something like that.

And that's it. I can't think about any more cons.

TLDR: This book left me feeling like a proud mama who's watching her son grow up to be a hero. And that's exactly what I wanted. So, this book is a 10/10 for me. Cherished forever.