#somewhat negative

[thesummerstorms]

wottg next day thoughts/rambling under the cut

I may not really be the intended audience for Triple Goddess at this point.

My favorite of the OG books is The Last Olympian and I loved the tone the Trials of Apollo book, especially in the later half.

I thought Heroes of Olympus was inconsistent but one of my gripes with it was that Blood of Olympus failed to commit to the actual consequences of everything that had happened.

So almost everything about WOTTG moves in like...the complete opposite of the things I enjoy most from the other series. That is going to heavily skew my opinions.

That said:

who the fuck incapacitated Rick's editor????? I'm used to a measure of continuity errors but ... This book really needed more editing.

Son of Morpheus? Leo mentioned as alive pre his return in TOA?

I ended up somewhat enjoying Chalice because I felt like the juxtaposition of Ganymede against both Percy and the Olympians had some decent emotional pay off. I don't feel like I really got that from Gale, Hecate, or Hecuba despite there being the bones of something there.

I was reading tired so I may have just missed something, but I still do not understand why the baby hellhound barks sound like "nope"???

I like the baby hellhound in theory, though I thought it was awkwardly handled in places

I could have done with 1000% less pee jokes. Like why even?????????

At least Rick finally stated outright that Annabeth held the sky for longer than Percy and that she wasn't immediately blessed or rescued by Artemis like certain folks seem to enjoy arguing

Some nice world building with the cellphones. Like we knew, but it's nice to see it actually have at least a little bit of plot consequences for once, and the time testing Percy mentioned was both funny and interesting (in that we got an actual measurement of how long it would take monsters to try to eat Percy)

I don't buy Percy taking 5 years to notice Chiron's permanent injury and intense chronic pain. It's nice to have it in canon, but it would NOT take Percy 5 years.

Nico took Percy Christmas shopping in Florence????????????? Details please???

Annabeth's characterization felt ... Oversimplified? And I hated the constant self-put downs by Percy basically saying he needed her to think for him

You can't even say it's his self esteem because we really don't get anything in the narrative to challenge the self perception other than one kind of cliche convo with Annabeth and it doesn't... Don anything really?

Percy may not be book strong, but he is clever!! He is a strategist! Wth is with the lack of balance/the diminishing of his abilities to fit in the "smart girl/dumb boy" trope

I really want to like the moment with Percy and Annabeth holding the torches together. And I do mostly out of context.

The plot just feels sloppy honestly.

I may be in a minority here based on early posts I've seen, but I don't feel like Sally's past role adds to the story so much as is neutral or detract. I don't love it.

The nymphs would have been a good chance to revisit Sea of Monsters from an older Percy's POV especially since he and Annabeth have already learned how their actions affected Reyna. But that wasn't the angle that was taken at all!

Honestly so many of the problems, as with Blood of Olympus, stem from Rick's refusal to commit.

I do generally feel like Rick did an okay job balancing between protective Percy and Percy who respects Annabeth 's ability and doesn't try to stop her making decisions. So that's a plus

We almost got a decent moment of Percy having to deal with his anger and fear and it would have been a great moment to touch on his readjustment after two wars and Tartarus. But again. RR did not commit.

I just... Could not care about this plot. Chalice wasn't life or death either, but I think it had better focus and at least somewhat more emotional depth.

[kirbybaker-the-alch]

Can I say I hate it when people (especially in my age range) act like its the worst thing in the world and go "the internet should be destroyed" when kids go all "ohio skibbidy rizz" cause like. It not new. Brainrot online isn't a new concept. I was in 5th grade when we didn't shut up about "I like trains" and "THIS IS SPARTA!!". I get it can be annoying, but most of you guys aren't exemp from being annoying as kids either. Get over yourselves.

[our-inspire-verse]

How do i. Stop seeing it. The visions

[junkpile-of-eterna]

Annoyed at being back to work. Annoyed at a person at work who I asked to get me something two hours ago and he still hasn't gotten it. And I'm not allowed to go get it myself.

Annoyed at this car thing that I have to do even though I really don't want it done, and annoyed at how my car just never works right and saps so much money.

It's not Post-con Depression, it's Post-con Frustration.

[chimerafeathers]

i really love how intensely Mirabelle reacts to act 5 Siffrin botched friendquest.

Isabeau is mostly operating out of concern and, eventually, hurt. he already knows something’s up before Siffrin gets to him. he knows something truly awful must be wrong for Siffrin to be lashing out like they are, and as soon as he can’t handle the situation anymore, he leaves and asks (with strained cheer) for time apart to cool off.

most of Bonnie’s anger comes from being upset and afraid that Siffrin would willingly put themself in danger for no reason, when that’s exactly why they’ve been so unsettled since the eye incident. they hate that Siffrin values their own life so little, they hate that they’re the cause of any pain or loss for him, and here he is, putting himself in that situation AGAIN. on purpose. it’s loud and explosive, but it’s familiar, too, being “hated” by Bonnie for this reason.

Odile pushes, and keeps pushing, until her concern overwhelms Siffrin and they strike where they know she’s most vulnerable. she gets physical, just for a moment, grabbing his collar before controlling herself and letting go. her fury shuts down into cold detachment, and she walks away.

but Mirabelle—dear, sweet, gentle, loving Mirabelle, “the most wonderful being on earth,” with her secret “ruthless side” that largely involves lightly badmouthing people behind their backs and then apologizing—slaps them. immediately.

and then COMPLETELY RENOUNCES THEIR FRIENDSHIP.

not just “we’re not friends anymore,” but “we were never friends in the first place.”

that’s!!! pretty extreme!!!!

of course, she ALSO starts by asking what’s wrong. something must have happened for him to act like this. but as soon as Siffrin brushes her off, she jumps past that line of questioning and dives headfirst into re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about them as a a person.

if he could say something like that to her and not see anything wrong with it, then she was wrong to treat him as a friend, wrong to read camaraderie into his teasing, wrong to think they must care about them all under their aloof demeanor.

that’s how Mirabelle phrases it—“I was wrong about you”—but i think that there’s a hidden layer of I was right about you, too.

she talks about the way they tease her like she had to convince herself that he was doing it in a friendly way. she says they talk like they “know better than her” like that’s a thought she’s had for a LONG time.

“Always soooo mysterious, Siffrin, always talking as if you're better than me! As if you know me!!! But you don't, Siffrin!!! You're just as lost and useless as I am!!! So stop!!! Talking!!! As if you know me!!!!!!”

none of this comes across as a new, sudden way to view Siffrin for her. it doesn’t shock or confuse her. it makes her angry, defensive, almost like she was waiting for something like this to happen at some point. the feeling of resentment, frustration, jealousy, being patronized and condescended to—this is something she’s been actively pushing down and rejecting this entire time, but they’ve given her ample reason for it all to boil to the surface. violently.

Mirabelle’s kindness is not inherent or easy. it’s a choice she’s making. she treats Siffrin warmly because she gives him the benefit of the doubt—refusing to act based on anxiety-fueled, cynical speculation, and reassuring herself that his actions are driven by care and friendship even if she can’t quite see it.

“I was wrong about you” doesn’t mean she always and without question believed them to be a fundamentally kind, caring person from the beginning—it’s that her first, colder instincts were right, and she was wrong to convince herself otherwise.

never mind that she asked what was wrong at first. she barely gives them time to speak in their own defense, to explain what they really meant by what they said. all of her suppressed doubts and frustrations are getting aired out now, now that all the trust she’d so deliberately placed in him has been betrayed. her pain feels bigger than this singular moment, so when she hurts him back, she makes sure it extends back through the entirety of their relationship for him, too.

“You're awful. You're not my friend, not my ally, not anything. You never were.”

like the others, she goes back to the clocktower and tells Siffrin not to come back until later. but there’s a finality to the way she ends this confrontation that isn’t quite there with the others. Isabeau and Odile reach their breaking point and remove themselves from the situation, asking for space to cool off but still somewhat leaving the door open for Siffrin to tell them what’s really going on at some point. Mirabelle is the only one who tries to fully cut ties—after everything else she says, her “I don’t want to see you until tonight” reads to me somewhat as “I don’t want to see you anymore unless I have to.”

I can’t wait to never see you again.

even back at the clocktower, Mirabelle doesn’t really defend Siffrin’s place in the party when Odile suggests leaving them behind out of concern for their trustworthiness on the most important day of the journey. Isabeau and Bonnie protest out of sentimentality and faith in Siffrin’s abilities and connection to them, and Mirabelle agrees, but…

“I agree, but... B-But would he even agree to come with us, still? Maybe they won't even come back tonight...”

she doesn’t say much outside of that. maybe the stutter and hesitation here are signs of regret about how things happened, but she lacks Isabeau and Bonnie’s confidence that Siffrin even wants to come back to them in the first place. she doesn’t trust that their bond was real anymore. maybe it never was in the first place, or maybe she broke whatever was there herself.

and she’s still mad when they finally catch up to Siffrin at the King! and she makes sure Siffrin knows that—after saving them, assuring him that he no longer needs to fight, that they’re all there for him. she still cares, of course she still cares—she’s still hurt, too, but they can figure that part out once there’s less world-ending stuff going on.

she’s the first to say that they all reserve the right to still be angry at Siffrin later—and that they’ve already forgiven him.

she’s also the first to say we want to stay with you, too. it’s not just you.

she was wrong! she thought they didn’t care but they care so much, it’s overwhelming, it’s world-ending.

i think she’s gonna be wallowing in guilt post-canon the moment she remembers what she said and did TO SIFFRIN and not just what Siffrin said to her. especially now that she knows Siffrin’s exact hangups, and especially especially if she figures out what Siffrin was trying to say.

they put themself through hell out of loneliness and fear that none of the others cared about him the way he cared about them, he was going insane from repetition and exhaustion and hunger and trying to keep them all safe and together, and all they did in the midst of all that was say something kind of mean to her one time (that turned out to not even be MEANT to be mean it was supposed to be HELPFUL they just SAID IT ALL WRONG) and she SLAPPED THEM? and told him that they WEREN’T FRIENDS AT ALL??? how could she!!! she should have known better!! what they said hurt a lot but still!!!

so when they eventually manage to try to talk about it, they end up almost in, like, a guilt competition.

Mirabelle apologizing for how she reacted, that she shouldn’t have yelled or hit him, that she doesn’t want to be the kind of person who acts that way out of anger and she’s sorry that she made Siffrin expect that reaction from her, she should have known better and believed in him more and they only messed up like that because they were losing their mind in a time loop but what’s HER excuse—

and Siffrin going nononono stop I deserved it—(HUH DON’T SAY THAT NO YOU DIDN’T)—and that he should never have said such awful things to her, ever, and she was under so much pressure already with the weight of the country and everyone’s lives and futures and her religion and their whole party counting on her to do this impossible task because she’s the only one who can, all this unbearable expectation and hope crushing her, and they KNEW that but they thought they could skip to the ending as though her feelings didn’t matter at all, like helping her wasn’t as important as saving a little time—

until they’re just. in tears together, apologizing for all the horrible things they did in between complimenting each other’s strength and kindness and resilience and how much they admire each other and saying that no, everything you did was completely understandable, actually, the only one who sucks here is me. which neither of them will accept coming from the other!!

they’re so similar, in ways they couldn’t really understand, before.

warm, affectionate, perfect Mirabelle, the resolute hero, a beacon of compassion and hope for all those around her, who wears her heart on her sleeve, her fear making her courage shine all the brighter—nothing like the insignificant, forgettable Siffrin, too terrified to be known, too fragile to touch, too selfish and disgusting to bear letting go.

cool, mysterious, unflappable Siffrin, the worldly traveler, as charming and silly as they are confident and skilled, who brushed off losing an eye like it was nothing, accepting the risks of this journey with barely more than a shrug—nothing like the anxious, stagnant, undeserving Mirabelle, a fraud and a nobody crumbling under the weight of a mission too important to be entrusted to someone like her, doubting herself, doubting her friends, doubting her mentor, doubting her faith, too weak and brittle to bend and change the way the world needs her to without breaking.

not worth bothering others with their problems. they should be able to handle this alone. stay positive, stay calm. breathe in, and out.

they’ll struggle with it, still—the hiding, the minimizing—but now, they understand each other a little better. they can hold each other accountable for what they leave unsaid.

it’ll get easier, eventually. they have plenty of time.

[coffee-toffi]

[betterluucii]

Hc that the traveler has stars/constellation floating around them whenever they cry or experience intense/overwhelming emotions

Ignore how messy this is I cant visualize it well💔

[premamelody]

i think they'd be somewhat friends

[cementcornfield]

Ja'Marr Chase Crying Compilation 💜

[craske]

hows the greedy cheese, reacting to the de-jamming incident and burning spice being a her problem

furious. not plased at ALL. she hates how much of a danger and risk it is to her kingdom, seeing burning spice around is unnerving. she feels almost no sympathy for this pitiful thing that hurt her and threatened everything she holds dear, and more! but what safer and better place to keep the beast? goldie is relieved that even before being sent to beast-yeast she began preparations of hiding and securing soulcheeses and everything else of importance, otherwise she wouldve not agreed to have him around. and while she makes sure he isnt of any danger to anyone, goldie herself tries to be around him as little as possible. the memory of his violence towards her makes her subconsciously keep her wings away from him too

[spineless-lobster]

This is gonna be troy (2004) all over again and my heart can’t take it

[luasumas]

and now i go back to my million year art slumber

[junkpile-of-eterna]

Just re-read one of my fics and like, damn, that person could write, I wonder whatever happened to her.

[scikeyuri]

been thinking about the similarities between mouthwashing and clinical trial. i find it interesting how its two different reactions to a similar situation.

[melit0n]

How I feel making Sleep Token analysis posts

[nicorobinphd]

stg, being an enjoyer of jane twdg is like being forced into an expert-level course on the way misogyny manifests in video game spaces.

god forbid a woman be complex or difficult or provably mischaracterized (see tags) at the end of her arc to service the culmination of a man’s storyline.