#Neros reviews

[joannerenaud]

The Lady Serena review

I think, quite possibly, this was the first ever historical romance I’d ever read. Little did I know that it was written by Virginia Coffman— yes, THE Virginia Coffman, Gothic novelist extraordinaire, who was to become one of my favorite authors. In the late 1970s, under the pseudonym of Jeanne Duval, she wrote two historical novels set in ancient Rome, specifically against the reign of the Emperor Nero. I was so obsessed with this book, I read it over and over and over again. Years passed, and I lent it to a friend, who was much less enthused about it than I was. Then I read other negative reviews, and I began to think this book wasn’t so hot, and I was viewing it through rose-colored Nostalgia Goggles. Had the suck fairy come for Lady Serena?

Anyway, at last I decided to sit down and reread it. The back copy sells it as a lurid bodice-ripper about a Vestal Virgin, Serena, who has a forbidden romance with Tigellinus, Nero’s dark and sinister prefect of police. It definitely has bodice-ripper elements, but compared to many romances of the time, like The Flame and the Flower or The Wolf and the Dove, it is a masterpiece of subtlety and nuance.

Serena, a proud, practical aristocrat who’s taken vows as one of Vesta’s sacred priestesses, is increasingly tempted by Tigellinus’s masculine charms as she finds herself pulled into palace intrigue— specifically, she is called to tend to a sickly Emperor Claudius, who dies shortly after, from a surfeit of poisoned mushrooms or… possibly something else? Soon, she’s caught up in a shadowy conspiracy and a power struggle between the impulsive, lovable but erratic young emperor Nero, and his competent and frightening mother Agrippina. The depiction of these historical characters is so good, so assured and so accurate, and so free of the usual nonsense from Suetonius, it’s as if Coffman had actually met them. It’s impressive work.

The first half of the book has this languid, beautifully written atmospheric slow burn going on, which is very typical of Coffman— but the ending is exciting and cinematic, complete with battles at sea, riots, chariot chases and a gripping palace showdown. As for Tigellinus, the hero— he’s fine. He felt a bit undercharacterized— I felt that he and Serena needed a few more scenes together, but given how abysmally low the standards of romance heroes from the 1970s were, I didn’t mind him. The sex scenes are pretty short and not especially detailed, but that also seems pretty typical for the time. I did not especially buy the romance at first, but I felt much more convinced by the end, after the couple had been on the run together (which is always one of my favorite tropes).

As for Serena, at first I found her underwhelming, but I grew to like her a lot. She’s pretty naive at first, but over the course of the book she proves herself to be tough, clever, observant and in some respects, ruthless— she fends off two attempted rapists, and towards the end she coolly rescues herself from a particularly sticky situation in a way that had me pumping my fist into the air. I found her arc satisfying. She does have a lot of internal conflict, about betraying her religious vows for a relationship with a man; but she still loves and reveres Vesta. How can she reconcile these two parts of herself? The senior vestal priestess, Lady Maxima, plays a key part too: it’s great to see an older woman play a major part in a historical romance, and I loved seeing how her and Serena’s relationship developed. I thought it ended in a rewarding place— and I don’t want to spoil too much more! But yes, this aspect is definitely something I could not have appreciated as much as when I was a teenager.

The Lady Serena is also interesting in that it walks a fine line between historical-novel-with-romantic-elements and historical romance proper, which I liked. There’s a lot of Gothic elements too— misty temples, flickering torches, ominous villas and cabals of sinister senators abound— which I found to be a treat. This approach is so unusual for this setting. Also, the fact that the author is really affectionate towards Rome as a place and a culture really stands out, and the research is mostly well done.

As for the downsides, the writing is lovely, but there are some repetitive bits that could have been trimmed. Some of the plotting also can feel a bit redundant. For example, there’s two attacks (one on Serena, and another on Tigellinus) by two separate guys who lost all their money betting on some sports event and who became deranged as a result. Once is fine, I guess… but twice? Really? There’s also a few typical Roman tropes that came from old movies that have since been debunked, like galley slaves (not a thing until the early modern era), or people using chariots to travel from one place to another (they were only for races and ceremonial use, not for ordinary use). There’s also all the borked nomenclature, but that’s so typical of 90% of ancient Roman romance out there, that my eyes skim over it at this point.

Anyway, even with all that said, I love this book, and I recommend it! It’s an engrossing Gothic epic set in the ancient world with a cool and competent FMC, a respectable hero, a vibrant supporting cast of characters, and some incredible action. Sadly, there’s no ebook of this available, but paper copies abound, and the curious can find it on archive.org.

[readerwithsalt]

Okay this is another random thing about tsats.

Y’all know how the camp is randomly empty (which is so non canon but still) and how in the Tower of Nero at the end we find out that Apollo cabin has three new members…

So let me just ask:

Where in the hell are Jerry, Grace, and Yan? 😭🤣

I know I did not dream these three kids up. Like? One of them is from Hong Kong and the only reason they are at camp is because it’s the only safe place?? And in the timeline of ToN to tsats they’ve only been at camp for about three weeks??

But they no longer exist in tsats?? Lol??

Please someone comment if they remember them.

(Also there are a bunch of orphans at camp who don’t have a mortal parent or are way too powerful to leave but now everyone can leave … because they want to? Lol 😂)

[v-67]

SPOILER ALERT 91 DAYS ANIME

Okay so, for people who have watched 91 days, what do you think of the ending?

Completed watching 91 days

And at first, my thoughts about it are quite simple

Kinda like, okay it was a cool anime, nice.

But when I think about the ending

I have so many different answers and questions

Okay so

Is Angelo alive? Or dead?

I think Angelo's alive, Nero didn't kill him.

I think Nero didn't kill him, because Nero's father always regretted killing the Lagusas, and when he died, he died uttering the words : It was all for nothing. And then, later on, Angelo too says the same thing which triggers a fight between them and Angelo says WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL ME BACK THEN?

And then at some point they're just chilling and all of that

And Nero tells him

That you don't need a reason to live

You just live

So yeah, I don't think Nero killed Angelo

I think he just left him there

And went separate ways

What confuses me more is about that other don, who saved Angelo

And told him to do something

What was all that about (like, is it somehow connected to him suggesting that he should Kill Nero or is it something else? Like you did a good job, go kill one more person for me and you'll be free kinda? But also like, i didn't see any more of their influence? I am doubtful about that place where they got food but nothing other than that)

And also In the end a car stops after looking at Nero's car, What was that

....

I feel really bad for : Corteo (poor man didn't deserve all that) and Barbero (smart man but sadly no one trusted his gut)

Also that investigator who was threatened. Man if they had actually taken his family out, I would have lost my heart. When they showed me the car burning and made us assume for those 30 seconds that his wife and daughter were killed. I was sad, mad, and plain disappointed and angry. They were alive, and I felt better. No one should do something like that to anyone. Ever.

....

Also that part in the end when they're both just chilling together, hanging out and stuff. I don't know what to think about that, did it represent the despair they both shared.

Because they both did trust each other. Angelo wouldn't accept that, but he never really wanted to kill Nero, as he spoke, at the end.

They were good friends. And when Nero found out everything, he couldn't kill him so easily because Nero wasn't that kind of a guy, and also because of all that I've mentioned above. Also maybe because they both understood each other in having gone through the similar thing, having caused each other in a weird way, the pain they're going through.

So kinda like yeah.

....

On the other hand, If Nero did kill Angelo, it might be because Angelo wanted to die. He has no reason to live. And his words to him might signify that you don't need a reason to live, you just live. In the past sense, and maybe more to himself rather than to Angelo.

And maybe killing Angelo somehow gave him a closure regarding that it was his first job, and he felt his dad was disappointed because he didn't kill Angelo. So in that sense, if he killed Angelo at the beach, that was a loop completed, in that he completed the job?

....

[i-mybrunettelady]

i forgor how pretty she is

[jils-things]

wait wait lemme babble MAN I AGREE. i was hoping they'd have that little... southern island inclusion? super heart broken over that, man. i wish they had that - i think it would be so cool to know what the southern island looks like in the manga ... it's one of those missed opportunities fr dude ouyghhh they could've easily plugged that bit where they bought that ticket pass to go there 💥💥 latios and latias were pretty active in the story too and i was literally waiting for a point where they're like. hey ruby wanna see our home ALSLDJAKDJSJD

[the---hermit]

The Black Corsair by Emilio Salgari

This is, believe it or not, the first book I read by Salgari. He is one of the biggest classic adventure authors in Italy, and let me tell you the man was obessesed with pirates. So many of his book series are about pirates, which makes it even more unbeliavable that I never read one of his novels before. The Black Corsair is the first novel in his Corsairs of the Antilles series. The story is centered around the black corsair, of course, who is a feared pirate in the Caribbean. This pirate, the former Lord of Ventimiglia, is seeking revenge for the murder of his brothers. In fact the story's main topic is revenge. The black corsair swears he will avenge his brothers by killing the entire family of the governor of Maracaibo, his nemesis and the man who executed two of his brothers.

For some reason going into this I wasn't expecting the black corsair to be a positive character, I thought he would be a villain of some sort. Instead he is represented as this incredibly skilled and brave pirate, who is also very honorable. This is peak romanticization of the pirate figure, and let me tell you I am here for it. For some reason pirates have always been fascinating to me, and this novel plays a lot into this fascination for this type of characters. It's also set during the golden age of piracy, so you couldn't ask for more. The narration was a bit slow, but I listened to the audiobook which honestly didn't make it too bad, it's actually pretty entertaining. It's a classic that was first published in 1898, so you should keep it in mind obviously. But as I said it's really adventurous and entrtaining, it was the perfect audiobook choice for summer (so much so that I am listening to the sequel at the moment). Salgari was an insanely prolific author and I am very curious to read more of his books. Of course I will have to read at least the first Sandocan book as that is probably his most famous character (of which I remember very little from the animated series I would watch in the morning before school when I was a kid), but I read he wrote some of the first proto sci-fi in Italy and I am very intrigued by it. What makes things even more absurd is that this man didn't travel at all. He wrote adventures set in basically all continents all thanks to his library loans, which really shows you the power of reading, because the settings feel very authentic. Although the book is a bit slow I feel like it's a classic that could work for people who haven't read a lot of classics. It's adventurous nature makes it feel engaging and the writing wasn't too difficult to follow. As I said the audiobook version in my opinion was a winner so I would recommend that option if possible, but overall it was a nice classic to add to my read pile.

I read this book for the black and white cover prompt of the jumbo reading challenge (I know there two colored swirls but this is the closest I can get for this prompt with the books I own atm).

[elder-dragon-93]

Headcanon Review: Trans Vergil

Hello everybody. Welcome to the Hoard.

Today marks a new segment to my blog, Headcanon Review, which is sort of like Headcanon Theatre, but instead of me going over my own headcanons I’m giving my thoughts on popular headcanons in my various fandoms. And we’re starting off with a bang.

So, Vergil being transmasc. What do I think of it? Beautiful! Five Stars! Peak! But. I don’t think very many people think about the full implications of Vergil being transmasc. Ahem.

Implication #1: Dante is also transmasc. (Or else fem or afab nonbinary, but for the sake of the poor hamster running the brain hamster wheel I will only refer to Transmasc Dante for the rest of the post. You my put your own thoughts on Fem and NB Dante in the tags.) Well, I guess you could change it so they’re fraternal rather than identical, but where’s the fun in that? We can have more than one Transmasc boy in the Sparda Clan! (Sneakily slides in Transmasc Nero for peak Family Bonding.)

Implication #2 (tied into Implication #1): Depending on how old they were when they had their Trans realization, These two dorks named themselves as a literary reference! Come on, that is twin wholesomeness and comedy gold right there.

Implication #3 (again tied into #1): These two idiots most likely did their own top surgeries. Double most likely with their own swords. Bonus points for Vergil judging Dante for it only to have Dante immediately turn it back around on him and tease him relentlessly for the hypocrisy.

Implication #4 (and likely the biggest one here from a fic writing standpoint): Vergil would have been the one pregnant with Nero (a popular headcanon on it’s own and thus will also be getting my thoughts on it here). Guys, from what I’ve observed of Vergil’s reaction to finding out Nero is his son, I don’t think most of what went down in the series would have gone down the same way if Vergil knew about Nero from the start, and he definitely would if he was the one carrying Nero. Temen-ni-gru might have happened, but I don’t think Vergil would have fallen into hell, at least not without telling Dante where Nero was. And Vergil sure as hell wouldn’t have willingly left Nero in Fortuna. So yeah, more Momgil staying in the human world to raise Nero with Uncle Dante please.

[adamwatchesmovies]

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

How do you follow a film like John Wick? The 2014 ballet of violence was such a pleasant surprise because it took a plot that’s been done to death and revitalized it. That’s where John Wick: Chapter 2 finds its purpose: by expanding on the world at the characters within it to make what was familiar new.

Set about two weeks after the first film, everyone now knows that assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has come out of retirement. For crime boss Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), this is the opportunity to collect a debt John owes him.

Like before, the stunt choreography is the reason to buy an admission ticket. By now we sort of know Wick’s preferred method of dispatching his enemies but it’s still plenty of fun to watch him efficiently and methodically take out anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. Director Chad Stahelski even throws in a couple of new tricks to make our jaws drop, like a scene in a bar that involves a pencil and not much else. There’s a particular death in that scene that’ll have you squirming, and you’ll love it.

If you think the only appeal is the violence, you're wrong. There are several points where the cinematography and staging are a wonder to behold. A climactic scene set in a hall of mirrors is a great example. Amazingly, cinematographer Dan Laustsen was able to shoot real people performing real stunts in this tiny enclosed space while keeping the cameras out of any reflections and making it look as good as it does. Oh, and shoot it in a way that’s easy to follow, which is the most impressive aspect.

So far, we’ve talked about what you’d expect from a John Wick film. What’s new? The side characters and large chunks of world-building. John is back in an environment he sought to escape. We caught a glimpse of it previously but now, writer Derek Kolstad gives us a good look. This world hiding in the shadows has its own politics, codes of conduct, currency, honor system and rules. Piecing how it all works is loads of fun because it makes so little sense it makes perfect sense. Countless assassins are hiding among us. The busker playing violin in the subway? They’re hiding a gun in their instrument and are ready to take someone out as soon as they get the call. Think that’s weird? Try wrapping your head around the secret society of killers disguised as vagrants! You have to believe these people spend most of their bullets taking each other out rather than high-ranking politicians who’ve made enemies, which actually makes the movie much more digestible than you’d expect. Like Sin City’s Marv said “I love hitmen. No matter what you do to them, you don't feel bad.” When these hired killers take each other out, they’re not people with jobs; they’re targets for John to take out. The secret society is so busy with itself that there's no room for police officers to respond or innocent civilians to get in the way/be taken hostage. Anyone and everyone has a gun hidden on their person. It’s so absurd it removes you from the weight of what all of these deaths would mean had this film been set in the real world.

John Wick: Chapter 2 (which is not going to be the last in the series) is not as surprising or fresh as the first but it makes up for it. Common, Ruby Rose, Laurence Fishburne and Claudia Gerini all play memorable characters with small but important roles. They join Lance Reddick, John Leguizamo and Ian McShane in the pool of actors who give the world a lot of personality. Once again, the fight scenes and gunplay are spectacular. It’s got more than a few brilliantly shot scenes, and its fast pace means the 122-minute running time flies by like nothing. If you liked the first, you'll want to see this one too. (March 26, 2022)

[extraneusfictawrites]

Movie Review - The Pope’s Exorcist

When it comes to horror movies some of my personal favorites fall into the supernatural category, which often seems to include exorcism movies. With the sub-genre having existed for well over 100 years now, there have been many popular movies over the years within it but we often see similar themes show up between some of the best ones.  That can make a movie within the sub-genre stand out when it deviates from the standard formula, be it for good or for bad. The recent release The Pope's Exorcist certainly does seem to deviate in some ways, but they can’t necessarily be called bad. 

The first thing worth noting is that like many popular exorcism movies the tale is based in some part on real life. The pastoral protagonist in this story, played by Russel Crowe, is Father Gabriele Amorth, who was an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome for the Catholic church in real life, until he passed in 2016. He was one of the founding members of the International Association of Exorcists and claimed to have performed thousands of exorcisms. The role is certainly a departure from the norm for Crowe, who notably has not starred in a horror film until this role. In the first scene that you meet him, Amorth initially seems like your typical priest who’s on his way to assist in a late night exorcism. He’s quiet and seems kind as he walks through the streets, going so far as to compliment a nearby man on his boar. However, when he goes into the room and confronts the possessed victim, he sounds more like Zack Bagans of Ghost Adventures. He’s somewhat arrogant, verbally combative and seems to be doing his best to make it angry enough to change hosts to disprove his smack talk. We then see why he was so complimentary of the boar, as it’s brought in as a “vessel”, and once he seems satisfied that he’s completed his task in getting the demon to take the bait, it’s shot. This is one of the first ways that the movie seems to deviate from the standard formula, as this is not your typical exorcism and if his attitude is anything to judge by, Amorth is not your typical priest. 

We then get a reality check as the movie cuts to some time later, where Amorth appears to be at the Vatican meeting with other members of the Diocese as they want to investigate him and his recent “exorcism”, as it was not sanctioned. In a brief interaction with a kinder colleague, he again seems almost arrogant as he tells him that his faith “needs no defense”, when advised that he would do his best to defend him. He continues to show that he’s not your typical modest priest, as he defiantly explains, in Italian when English was requested, that he did not perform an exorcism, but he instead created theater for someone who believed they were possessed. We then come to understand that while he does claim to have performed thousands of exorcisms, many of the people he’s asked to meet with are not possessed but instead are victims of mental disorders that require appropriate medical attention - which he directs them to. He then pushes back and claims that he believes they are still investigating him for a case that he was unable to help in before storming out saying that they should speak to his superior, the Pope, if they have issues with his performance. 

The next scene we see that there is more to this man than his priestly swagger, as he meets with the Pope and receives his next assignment. He’s calm and respectful while he discusses what seems to be the possible possession of a young American boy. We see Amorth take the Pope’s warning with care that he feels that there may be something truly evil and powerful at play. He also gives Amorth an ominous warning that the site has given them problems before. And while all this is unfolding in the Vatican presumably, we also see the story that Amorth is about to be introduced to start to play out within the inherited home of an American family.  We learn that the new inhabitants of this home in Spain inherited it from the recently deceased father of the family, and that they are trying to fix it up before selling it to try and cover debts and then move back to the US. With that recent loss you see the members of the family dealing with what are normal issues, a defiant angry teenager, a silent young son and a mother who seems to be barely handling everything because she's in mourning. The move is clearly putting more stress on them, and when there is an explosion at the home, the crew working the site is pulled the same night that it seems that the demonic forces within the home take hold of the young boy, and demand a priest. We quickly see a young priest brought in, who is quite literally tossed aside before the demon tells them that’s the wrong priest. 

This is where our two stories seem to meet and all hell seems to truly break loose. When our very confident protagonist shows (on a scooter no less, to keep up with his already different personality) up to meet the distraught family he enlists the help of the priest that was initially brought in, even though he tells him that he is not trained in exorcism. The young priest, Esquibel, has heard of Amorth though and tells him that he has read many of his articles, to which Amorth asks if he has also read his books. Esquibel tells him that he has not and we again see Amorths personality shine through when he tells him that “the books are good too” as  he then takes a drink from his flask, blaming it on his throat even though he sounds fine. The two make multiple attempts to exorcise the demon from the young boy only to find that their efforts are in vain, and that its reach now extends to the boy’s sister. While they are trying to understand the reason for the possession so that they might be able to successfully exorcise the demon it tells Amorth repeatedly that it will be his downfall and that he’s taken the bait. Amorth and Esquibel are haunted by images of their past and sins; Amorth of his time in the war as well as the girl he failed to save as an exorcist, Esquibel of a woman he was sleeping with under the guise he was going to leave the priesthood, when he was not. Amorth makes it clear to the mother and Esquibel as their attempts fail that they do not have much time, as the boy will die if he continues to be possessed. As time goes on you can see that the boy is deteriorating, and it’s only getting worse. 

While we see the escalation of the events happening at the home where the possession is happening we also have scenes that cut away to show us the Pope still at the Vatican. While Amorth is investigating we see the Pope dig further into the information about the home in question and its history. He seems to locate paramount information about the evil they are facing when we see him fall ill and be taken to what appears to be a well outfitted hospital. 

Back with Amorth there is investigation that needs to be done and it leads to almost Indiana Jones-like plots. Amorth happens to notice what appears to be a closed well when he enters the estate and at this point decides that it is worth investigating, as the demon seems to have larger plans than the boy, hence it’s taunt that he’s taken the bait. Upon further investigation Amorth finds that it appears that it’s got a seal from the church on it and when he cracks it open he finds that it appears to date back to the Spanish Inquisition. He and Esquibel investigate further to find that based on the records they locate in the tomb the leader of the Spanish Inquisition was possessed by a demon long before starting it, and that all the actions taken by him in that time were in hope of attaining its goal. Their hopes seem to dim further once they find that the demon in question is Asmodeus, his goal was to unite 200 fallen angels as an army, and that he had only been stopped before by being trapped away, as all exorcism attempts had failed. Once this comes to light Amorth understands that Asmodeus is trying to use him to infiltrate the church and continue his plan and that the stakes are far greater than he realized. The two priests then make one more valiant attempt to exorcise Asmodeus, but unfortunately this fails and the demon takes possession of Amorth. He maintains control long enough to take himself down to the inquisition tombs while Esquibel takes the family, all now safe from Asmodeus’' control off the property. He returns to find Amorth in the tomb and after a battle of wills they are able to exorcise Asmodeus. Of course when this happens we also see the Pope make a miraculous recovery, as well as Amorth take another swig from his flask for his “throat” while Esquibel accepts his offer of a drink. 

As the movie ties up we are given the understanding that the church has bought the land the former home is on and that the family has moved back to the US. Amorth and the younger priest get pulled aside to be told that some of their colleagues of trouble are no longer an issue, and that they’ve been replaced by better, and kinder people. They are also given the news that the church is identifying the other sites like this one, so that Asmodeus’s plan can be totally stopped as each demon, or fallen angel is exorcised, and Amorth is asked to be the exorcist for all the related battles to come. He indicates that with some help from Esquibel it could be done, which leaves the opening for many sequels. 

Overall it’s worth the watch if you like horror movies in this vein. While it’s not the scariest thing by comparison to other movies like it, the personality that Crowe plays Amorth with almost makes it worth the time alone. Given he hasn’t done much in horror before, and he’s so good in this role it almost makes one hope that we get a sequel for that alone. It’s also worth noting that while it may not be terrifying, there are definitely images in the movie that will have you jumping at the first sign of them, or feeling a sense of dread at the tone they inspire, so it’s not totally off the mark with horror. The groundwork laid for the buddy-cop like nature of the two priests also makes for a refreshing injection of laughs in a normally serious kind of movie and does seem like it could be explored further into a mentor-mentee kind of relationship. While it does seem to suffer from pacing issues, it could be argued that because the tale being told is meant to be happening in a short time that it’s a tool itself to aid in the telling of the story. With the ending in mind as well, since this could be the starting movie for a series, it’s possible that later movies would have a better sense of pacing because there would be less introduction and groundwork needed for some of our characters. 

[zombiee-reviews]

Golden Shrike Discussion

Hello yall, today is something a bit different. Today I will be reviewing / giving a short discussion on the comic known as Golden Shrike. This is in no way a negative review, but something had caught my attention that did not make sense to me.

Here we have our lovely, thick-headed Nero telling Riptail he does not want to send a message back home, unlike Runi. ( Can we also just appreciate how beautiful this page is?! Even with simplified shading, it is very eye catching! )

But if we go back several chapters, we notice that at this time he DID want to send a message back home.

I am rather curious on what changed his mind? What is it that Nero wanted to urgently tell his family then, but now chooses not too? This topic is open for discussion!

[i-mybrunettelady]

Silence the voices in my head

I picked my poison, now I'll drink it to the bitter end

[tinyreviews]

This is some kinda arthouse film that I do not understand. A lot of talking. No excitement.

Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes is a 2023 German-Moroccan historical drama dark comedy film directed by Robert Schwentke, starring John Malkovich as Seneca. 

[supitsgdo]

Book review: The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

Rating:

The Hidden Oracle - 4⭐

The Dark Prophecy - 4⭐

The Burning Maze - 4⭐

The Tyrant's Tomb - 4⭐

The Tower of Nero - 5⭐

This was another great adventure from Rick Riordan. It was so nostalgic for me that now I want to re-read all the other series and I'm so excited for the new series (I couldn't help myself from noticing the clues in the book and the announcement, of course).

About the story, well sometimes I was bit annoyed with Meg or Apollo, but they ended up growing on me; in one of them I was so heartbroken that I couldn't stop crying. I really liked the fact that Rick involved old characters, it just made sense about what happened. Also I love Nico and Will's relationship, I WANT MORE ADVENTURES WITH THEM BEING THE MCs.

Anyway, the story was really original. All of them are. But this one involved the Roman Emperors and the different Oracles, and Apollo had to save the messes he made. It was also nice to see the character development of Apollo. From being a total arrogant god to a more human being’ish god. He learned from his mistakes and I hope the other gods follow him in the future. Can't wait for the next adventures.

[leonleonhart]

got prev-ed on not one but both characters i tagged on a post >:-3

[lightdancer1]

Wrapped up the biography of Nero:

Between this and the biography of Domitian I've just started and the biography of Caligula, the great tyrants of the Empire were all in the specific set of Emperors with biographies. Each of them embodied different facets of autocracy in their own ways, and each of them ultimately came to a bad end precisely because of it. Bootsie was murdered, as was Domitian. Nero committed suicide when the war that became the Year of the Four Emperors broke out. One of the realities behind their careers was both the abstract and the practical limits of autocracy, both the glories and the dangers.

The autocrats wanted a world where power was reliant purely on their whim sanctioned by force. So it proved to be, and so each of them was murdered or forced to self-destruction. One point that further applied here was that the autocrats' very successes meant they were libeled after their deaths by the Senators that wrote the histories, because as it turns out people subject to the terror of what people with absolute power are prone to do with it resent the everloving shit out of it and if the victims rather than the beneficiaries write the histories that doesn't bode well for the people who exercised that power.

So it's proven with Nero, who was every bit the natural-born despot, who ruled as one, who gleefully ordered murders and executions on a grand scale, and thus wound up alienating all the elites he had to rely on to rule and then the Legions started to do the 'I should be Augustus instead of the Augustus' and so fell the Julio-Claudians and ultimately rose the Flavians.

Interestingly there is one parallel with classical Rome and Chinese historiography. The last Emperor of a dynasty is almost always the 'Bad Last Emperor' and the most reliable target for demonization by the new one.

9/10.