#acor spoilers

[zathra]

bbo spoilers

ch 2 is about kamilah, we see her with gaius in egypt during the war against octavian. antony and cleopatra are there and also a lot of reused acor assets

i wonder if it will only be one chapter per li but i hope not. i hope the book is a little longer at least lol and i expect it to be longer given that the dalton affair's chapter descriptions are well into ch 6 (and counting??)

[screw-u-vaanu]

THIS SCENE WAS EVERYTHING

[infinite-bleps]

Can you believe that my girl, ACOR MC, even told her papa that she would be careful about assassinating Caesar, and her impulsive ass poisons him and directly confesses as he is choking.

[min-kah]

I could never imagine myself in a million years witnessing my MC having a threesome with Julius Caesar and Queen Cleopatra but here we are.

[shynmighty]

The New ACOR Chapter.

So... Like many of you I’ve been waiting anxiously for the return of A Courtesan of Rome for the past millenia few months, and it made it’s return today.

And I liked it. I did. But after digesting it a bit it left me with a few opinions. So I’m going to go ahead and launch them into the ether...

(AHOY! THAR BE SPOILERS BELOW!)

This chapter is a LOT to unpack. Because it’s long. But it’s also DENSE. 

It starts out with some familiar pacing, picking up right where we leave off with Dad and Syphax. MC makes a choice who she want’s saved. I’m on board. I love making decisions like this and it’s part of what makes ACOR such a thrilling story. I hope this choice in particular has a huge impact later on. For anyone curious, I saved Victus (I’m a dedicated Antonymancer, so I didn’t have the same emotions regarding the choice. Saving MC’s father instead of her friend made more sense for my character.) and I bought the diamond scene with him afterwards where he and MC did the Rite in the water and she told him she was in love with Antony. He was, predictably, horrified and I LOVED that.

After that diamond scene, though... The rest of the chapter put the pedal to the metal, so to speak. The deliberate pacing from before is chucked right out the window. The story lights a cigarette and tells us to hang on to something because there are no seatbelts in this car. Distantly, we hear the sound of sirens.

That metaphor got away from me. 

So, yeah... The pacing isn’t great. This chapter should have been the first three chapters of ACOR book 2. We see glimpses of character development, but despite competent writing it’s simply too little to feel satisfying. Because of the breakneck speed of the plot now, we are given three potentially fascinating brand new characters. Up to this point, Caesar and Cleopatra have been exclusively used for foreshadowing purposes, and this is the first time we really get to see them interact with the plot in any meaningful way, so I’m filing them under “New and Shiny”. And Brutus! The guy who historically teams up with Cassius to stab Caesar! He’s finally here! ... Aaaand there he goes after about five lines of dialogue across two scenes. Caesar and Cleopatra get a little more attention, but it feels... superficial? You get a sense of what they’re like, but a lot of their dialogue felt like “WE ARE SAYING THIS SO THAT YOU, THE READER, KNOW THIS IMPORTANT THING ABOUT US AND/OR THE STORY.” There was a moment or two when Caesar would say something about his motives and his vision for Rome (Good, things! Juicy things!) and I’d just think “UGH I want to talk about THAT more!” But you can’t. But you can bang them. So there’s that. Bottom line: I hope we get more meaningful interactions with them next week and a chance to really explore the characters. I want to be fascinated by them the way they deserve.

Luckily, the returning cast is mostly consistent. Syphax, Sabina, Antony... Seeing them again just as I remembered them felt like seeing old friends again. There were two individuals, however, whose returns were woefully inadequate.

I’m looking at you, Cassius and Delphinia.

I don’t want you to think that I hate Cassius and Delphinia. Because I don’t. They are two of my favorite characters in the story. I know. I like Cassius. I’m controversial. Moving on.

Delphinia’s problem stems from a lot of the same issues and Caesar, Cleopatra and Brutus. There simply was not enough time for her. Which is damn tragic. Her arc is one I’ve been following with great interest. She literally talks to a goddess and has leveraged that ability to rise out of slavery and start her own cult. She is a certified, grade A, total badass. Also, she’s MC’s mom. That reunion needed to be five hundred times more emotional. I understand why it wasn’t, they needed to cram as much information into this chapter as possible, but it still felt rushed and unsatisfying, and does not do justice to the journey we’ve been following so far.

And Cassius. Hoo, boy. This really stuck in my craw.

I feel like his whole arc has been leading to that moment where he looks at MC and says something along the lines of “Caesar must die”. I have been waiting for that moment since chapter freakin’ one when they introduced him as a gentle, somewhat naive idealist who believed in the power of law and rhetoric over brute force. Whatever your opinion of him, his journey was carried out magnificently from a writing standpoint. His faith in the establishment he dedicated his life to is shaken, leading him into doubt and paranoia. We see the writing on the wall, we know the end of the road leads him to orchestrating the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, but it seems so unlikely because he’s so NICE. The classic story of a good man falling into darkness. Juicy character development. I love this stuff.

So I felt super let down when they made that HUGE revelation into a throwaway moment that gets lost in the shuffle of the chapter. That was an important moment for an important character. This moment had no right to fall flat like that. This moment deserved better.

And while we’re on the topic of plots to assassinate Caesar...

What the actual $%&# is UP with MC going off half cocked with her poison? I’m having flashbacks to Chapter FIVE, where I seem to recall we did this exact same song and dance with TERRIBLE results. What happened to all the awesome development that took place in her struggle with Aquila??? This isn’t poetic or things coming full circle. It’s just a plan that SUCKS. And... and... CASSIUS is literally RIGHT THERE feeling MURDEROUS (as we’ve established, grr.) and MC can’t be bothered to... I dunno... plot WITH him??

Oh and we finally found out what happened to Cingerix. I really hope he gets more than ten seconds to explain himself next week. Like everything else, he was kind of treated as an afterthought. 

Still reading? Wow. I’m impressed! Thanks for indulging me in my wacky word vomit! 😁

TL;DR Some good, some not so good. I’m happy ACOR is back, but this chapter should have been spaced out better to give all the important stuff in it the attention it deserved.

[beezoroma]

victus radiates big john mulaney vibes

[noralefay]

I forgot to take a screenshot, but that blurb at the end of today’s ACOR about “why is Sabina here? Is she the Legate’s victim too? Or has she been on his side the entire time?” is written like even the writers have never spoken to Sabina.

[it-llves]

[boneandfur]

Do as the Romans do...

And go play ACOR!

You know it's a good chapter when:

Marc Antony proves he's not just a taker, he's a giver

You got a lump in your throat during Victus' scene, because you could feel his pain (I actually started crying)

Your motto is "kill them all" ... or "fuck 'em (all)"... literally

Sabine is Legate Aquila's... wife?! If you don't want to help save her, you've got a heart of stone, Domina.

[maxwellscorgi]

how much do u guys wanna bet that our acor mc will die in the last chapter and that’s why there won’t be another book

[eleanorbraidwoodmanor]

I did not wait for weeks on ACOR to be so viciously attacked like thiS.

[courtesanofchoices]

I finished it!!

[screw-u-vaanu]

The only thing I’m salty about the ACOR ending is that I didn’t get to marry both Syphax and Sabina.

When I was hooking up with Sabina:

Um NO, Syphax knows and is totally cool with poly!mc.

[brideofvulcan]

There is a high possibility that we'll get a 30💎 Marc Antony scene tomorrow... but Victus and Syphax are still gonna throw down on them sands.

[thefirstcourtesan]

PSA: Spoilers

I will not answer asks about spoilers based on unreleased files. I am going to respect PB’s requests on that matter, because I have seen the files I will also not answer asks about theories for chapter 19 because I can’t do it unbiased.

If you want to chat about it, PM me.

[shynmighty]

I’m gonna rant about ACOR Chapter 19 now.

This chapter has everything.

Excellent writing? Check.

Reasonably balanced storytelling? Check.

Answers about Cingerix? Check.

Naked Antony?

DOUBLE CHECK.

Also Antony just generally being his awesome self?

Check!

😍😍😍

...ahem, got a little distracted there...

As I was saying...

Awesome outfit?

Check. (THE MOUNTAIN GOAT DETAILS!!!! I’M DEAD!!!!!!)

Fun, thrills, action and excitement for the whole family? Check.

Winning the love of the crowd? Check.

This?

Check.

Also this?

Check. 🚢🚢🚢

And who can forget THIS?

Hell yes! Check!!!

Finally getting the Brutus and Cassius team up? Check.

All in all, Chapter Nineteen is a much needed return to form for this story. The good stuff massively outweighs the less good stuff. It’s a crazy ride and a little outrageous, but I think the build-up throughout the story allowed it to feel warranted. The quicker pace works for an action-heavy chapter like this one. Would it still have worked better as a sequel? Probably. But if the rest of this book continues to this satisfying, I will be ...begrudgingly pleased. This chapter provides a much sturdier foundation for a climactic ending than the previous one. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the conspiracy will play out.

Also that Antony diamond scene is HOT. 🤤