#cinnamon rolls not gender roles

[chaotic-ace-arts]

💀Just realised I never posted this vent sweater i made back in January💀

🦇🖤this year has been hard so far, I just needed to vent somehow without talking to another person. So of course that only left me with my art🖤🦇

[chenaultsalt]

(via Cinnamon Rolls not gender roles - Cinnamon Rolls Not Gender Roles - Sticker | TeePublic)

[lilcreaturethingfromthewoods]

Bought myself a new patch that reads 'Cinnamon rolls not gender roles' and honestly that p much sums up my tumblr experience

[raevenlywrites]

New patches on wife's gay ass overalls, including @nerdykeppie 's "Cinnamon rolls not gender roles"

[unclewileys-bahblog]

Can we get a little? Preferably a little with a theme of cinnamon rolls (the food!)

Sure. :)

Name: Sally, Bonnie, Rowan

Age: 5-11

Gender: Sugarytastic, Bakedgender

Pronouns: Frosting/frosting’s, She/her, Warm/warmth

Sexuality: Asexual, Panromantic

Species: Angel

Ethnicity: African American

Source: N/A

Roles: Sys kid, Anxiety holder

CisIDS: cisNonhuman, cisAFAB, cisVitiligo, cisBrownEyes, cisBrownHair, cisBlondeHair, cisADHD, cisAutistic, cisGAD

TransIDS: transBrownSugarScentian, transCinnamonRollScentian, transWarm, permaCozy

Personality: Shy, Kind, Thoughtful, Bubbly, Caring, Loving

Paraphiles: N/A

Other Labels: Anti-harassment

Picrews Used: 1

Faceclaims:

Enjoy the little cutie.

- Mod Bo

[jacquesthepigeon]

Adrien's held back by the premise. 'Reverse fairy tale' he's the 'princess' perfect in his castle meant to be saved by Marinette the 'knight'.

This isn't me speculating, this is in the show bible. They honestly sat down and said 'hey if we change their crotch accessories it'll be so progressive. That's all gender roles and toxic patriarchy boil down to right? The configuration of your nether deli.'

So you have your useless emotional little princess Adrien who is both perfect and perfectly useless and the strong put upon Marinette who must protect him from the mean world amd his own sense of agency (he's just too emotional to be trusted with the truth!). She plows through the world and it hends to her will because knight etc etc.

This isn't Marinette salt, this is salting the people who say down and said 'Yeah this is totally a good story to tell.'

See, while I can see how that’s a factor, I don’t think that’s the Big problem. There have been plenty of princesses that still have agency and an active role in their stories despite their “damsel in distress” status. The issue with Adrien is that he’s Perfect and Must Be Protected At All Costs and It’s The Rest Of The World That Is Wrong. By this I mean that when they came up with these core characteristics, they doomed him to stagnation. He can’t face any challenges without risking alterations to his worldview and by extension his Perfect Cinnamon Roll status. From the moment they decided to make his dad the villain, he was guaranteed to never get a completely happy ending but because he is So Good and Can’t Handle That, they decided to ignore the most logical plot to follow with him and made him nothing more than a space filler in his own story.

It doesn’t matter if maribug is his knight in shining armor, he can’t even acknowledge the evil dragon exists.

[blorbologist]

Okay so - as a blorbologist, I would like your assistance. I thought I knew the difference between a blorbo and a babygirl but I am questioning my precious understanding.

I always thought blorbo was a morally grey loveable cranky character and babygirl is a cinnamon roll. Basically blorbo was the “could kill you” end of the “cinnamon roll to could kill you” spectrum.

Please enlighten me- am I correct? What is the different between babygirl and blorbo. Thanks.

(Imagine, if you will, a little toad in a labcoat)

Before I say anything, I need to make it clear that all tumblr-related classification is constantly evolving with trends and time, like some antibiotic-resistant bacteria. So a lot of the definitions tend to be malleable! For the sake of simplicity, I'm using Urban Dictionary as my definitions, informed by my own time in fandom, though it can lag behind fandom trends and lack nuance. So take the following with a grain of salt:

A blorbo is your favorite character; it is a definition free of any connotations in regards to their morality, attractiveness, or how pathetic they are. Blorbos are usually from fictional media, but I've rarely seen it apply to celebrities. Your blorbo could be literally any character ever, regardless of screentime or role in the story - or even the actors portraying them!

Meanwhile, babygirl is a far more restrictive term that generally is intended somewhat ironically; the babygirl is, in fact, not a baby nor a girl, but an adult man*. The babygirl is usually also attractive to the poster (but might not fit media standards of what's attractive). Babygirl is more universally given to both characters and real people (e.g. Pedro Pascale), and can apply to men* anywhere in terms of morality (though you will find some communities lean toward babygirl being as ironic as possible and applied to only morally grey or evil male characters, vs others that mean it a bit more genuinely).

(I say men* because, at least from my observation, more and more babygirls are breaking the gender binary and are not actually characters/people who ID as men. But it's 'historically' been a fandom term predominantly given to men.)

Now, you'll notice that neither blorbo nor babygirl matches up really well with the 'could kill you' <--> 'cinnamon roll that could kill you' scale you presented in your ask! I think the definitions you might be looking for are 'poor little meow meow' (awful/morally grey character/person who is absolutely not a poor little anything) and a 'cinnamon roll' (firmly good, often infantilized character/person).

This graph by @luulapants helps get the distinction across well (though I've seen people's blorbos be cinnamon rolls and poor little meow meow, so I would quibble with blorbo being implied to be the middle ground between the extremes).

TLDR; blorbos are favorite characters, babygirls are usually attractive adults, poor little meow meows could and likely would kill you, and cinnamon rolls are good (and would probably be sad if they killed you). Your blorbo can be a babygirl, or a poor little meow meow and a babygirl and a blorbo at once!

Hope it helped! 🐸

[tsel-bas]

Coatis Cutie (A Headmate!)

Warning, Headmate May Not Turn out Exactly As Described. Anything And Everything May Be Changed To Fit Your System.

Name(s): Haru, Ael, Asper, Juniper, Thyme

Pronouns: Hy|Hym, Shy|Hyr, They|Them, Climb|Climbs, Paw|Paws, Tree|Trees

Gender Identity: Transfemmasc, Femmascflux, Animalgender, Vanillapawic, Boyprincess

Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Sapphic

Preferred Terms: Feminine, Masculine, Neutral

Age: 17

Role: Stress Holder, Destressor, Absorber Therapist, Sleeper Agent

Type: Willogenic Shapeshifter Kins: Coatis

Other IDs: Roseboy Girltwink

Source: @/tsel-bas

Description:

Ah Yes, A Being Who Simultaneously Knows And Doesn't Know What Their Gender Is.

Meet Haru, Your Local Shapeshifting Femboy Twink. Hy's Coatis Kin And Has The Ability To Shapeshift Into One Inside Headspace.

Shy Holds Onto The System's Stress And Deals With It In A Much Healthier Manner Than Other Headmates. Often Engaging In Relaxing And Peaceful Activities To Relieve The Body And System Of Stress.

Like Coatis', Ael Can Get Pretty Aggressive. When Someone Hurts A Being Asper Cares About, Climb Throws Morality Out The Window And Does Whatever It Takes To Protect Paws Friend.

Definition Of 'Cute But Deadly' And 'Looks Like A Cinnamon Roll But Can Kill You'

Faceclaims:

[grungegobbler]

ngl i think half of the infighting between transmisogyny and transandrophobia is just….the name “transandrophobia”. Having a word like that invokes a feeling of systemic misandry and male oppression. But the patriarchy benefits men and women are the ones who get most of the fallback from that, therefore a term like that MUST be bullshit.

Transmisogyny is about the intersection of transphobia and misogyny but, transandrophobia is just about trans mens unique experiences. Its less systemic than transmisogyny. A lot of the discourse ive seen is a misunderstanding that transandrophobia is about systemic misandry and not trans mascs being infantilized, talked down too, fetishized, and denied medical care in TERF spaces. While also experiencing hatred in queer spaces.

Trans femmes are seen as evil beings seducing children by not just TERFS, but also by the general public. This has created a truly hard existence for them. Trans mascs, on the other hand, are seen as poor sweet summer children who cannot be allowed autonomy. We are hopeless victims who cannot speak for ourselves. Cannot advocate. Cannot have a voice. This idea has, sadly, bleed into trans spaces. Even in trans spaces, transmascs are seen as small UwU cinnamon roll children who cannot talk about our personal experiences with the OTHER trans people. We need to sit at the little kids table playing with legos and lifting weights, while we are talked over.

Thats why transandrophobia, the parts that are about misandry, focus on it being within the queer community and not within society as a whole. Many queer people hate men for being, well, men. And they take this out on the transmascs who DARED betray them with masculinity. Transmascs loose support when they transition. We go from UwU little baby soft boys named Arlo, to a big scary man who will destroy the community at the first chance he gets. For transmascs, there is no in between. We lack spaces and support from our fellow trans people because their trauma views masculinity as dangerous.

In the queer community, femininity is a celebration of self expression. Its seen as a celebration in almost every queer group. Camp, glitter, dresses, makeup. Breaking gender roles is what is not just celebrated, but expected. To be a binary transmasc in the queer community is seen as doing queerness “wrong”. Trans men are pressured to be feminine and, if we arnt, we are seen as dangerous and less queer than our trans femme counterparts.

Transandrophobia is a disleading term for many because it isn’t something “akin” to the systemic oppression of transfemms; its the infantilization we experience from TERFs mixed with the dislike and distrust from other queer people. If anything, its more about our experiences in trans/queer spaces. It definitely shouldnt take away from the experiences and harassment of transfemmes, who definitely have it worse outside of the community. But i also think its not fair for people to immediately go “WELL, thats not real because misandry isnt real”, when we actively experience misandry in our own community. We both have different experiences about different lives and those two things can exist together. In a perfect world we would advicate for both transmisogyny and transandrophobia.

[tlonista]

This sounds like the most obvious epiphany possible in retrospect, but I realized the intractable central problem I have with commercial M/F romance as an industry: the entire genre is built on the foundation that attractive masculinity is inherently about power and dominance. It's not just that a certain kind of gender kink is particularly popular. It's that if a man isn't socially and physically superior to his partner in a heterosexual relationship, you are no longer writing in the genre of commercial M/F romance, because by definition he's no longer a desirable man and possibly not a man at all.

Everything else I find frustrating about romance basically proceeds from this. Why all the archetypes seem so samey: you can't actually change the social dynamics, so as an author you're just deciding how nice your patriarch is (mean: alphahole; nice: cinnamon roll) and what kind of power (duke, billionaire, mafia boss) he holds. Why all the "femdom" and "role reversal" stuff is so ludicrously weak-sauce: a female-dominated heterosexual relationship is a contradiction in terms. Why "dark romance" is just code for "men abusing women romance": a man vulnerable enough to be hurt by a woman is no longer a suitable partner for her.

Which is all kinda... sad for me? I kept hoping there was some pocket of the genre I wasn't exploring that was more simpatico with my tastes, but I think getting into commercial M/F romance if you're not into domination masculinity is just like getting into platformers if you don't like to jump. You can find platformers with less jumping and more additional non-jumping mechanics, or where the jumping's easier, but at the end of the day you're not gonna have much fun.

[sunsuns-babie]

If I Get My Way {K.SUNOO x F!READER}

LONER BOYS CLUB (ft. 2 Baddies)

Kim Seonwoo: Sophomore @/Decelis Uni, Music Education Major (Studying so he can be composer), Delulu, Kind of feral when it comes to his crush Y/n, Did I mention he has a crush on Y/n Marsh, Talks big game in his private account but is a shy boy in love, Naive when it comes to love, Currently doesn’t have a job but his parents send him allowance

Nishimura Riki: Freshman @/Decelis Uni, Dance Major (Studying so he can 1 teach others to dance & two create his own studio after getting his Business degree), The youngest in the group, Lives close to Wonyoung, #1 Detective, Likes bullying his friends and teasing them, Lives with his mom because it’s free and he’s broke

Yang Jungwon: Sophomore @/Decelis Uni, Early Childhood Education Major (cinnamon roll personified), Sunoo’s best friend since childhood, Pretty chill but takes on an authoritative role in the group, A problem solver, Extremely smart, Cutie Pie, Works at the same cat cafe Yeji does

Jang Wonyoung: Sophomore @/Decelis Uni, Fashion Design Major (Style Icon), Competitive Figure Skater, Social Butterfly, Has fanboys and fangirls alike, A sweetheart, The prettiest girl with the prettiest soul

Lee Heeseung: Junior @/Decelis Uni, Mechanical Engineering Major (Only studying it because he didn’t know what he wanted to do so he closed his eyes and picked one), “Allegedly” has a girlfriend, Defensive about his “girlfriend” but gives 0 information about her, Constantly out with his “girlfriend”, Kind of sells weed and edibles to people from HYBE Uni

Shin Ryujin: Junior @/Decelis Uni, Sport Management Major (Studying it because she likes sports and wants to be a coach someday), Very much in love with Hwang Yeji since high school, Thinks men are gross but surrounds herself with them, Pretty laid back and chill, Friends with Y/n’s group of friends because of her girlfriend, Smokes weed with Keeho & Yeonjun on the dl

Jay Park: Junior @/Decelis Uni, Fashion Design Major (Studying because he wants to launch his own fashion house), Rich Rich like stupid Rich, Despite being rich he’s surprisingly humble compared to his friends who (jokingly I think) try to mooch off him, Acts like it’s a burden to buy or pay for things concerning his friends but doesn’t care and wants to spend his money since he knows his friends are college students trying to make it by

Jake Sim: Junior @/Decelis Uni, Computer System Analysis Major (Why? Not even he knows but he’s smart as hell so why not), Transferred from an Australian Uni this year, Roommates with Jay, Hides himself in private accounts, Mysterious, Works at a restaurant nearby

Park Sunghoon: Junior @/Decelis Uni, Dance Major (Only really studying it because of his career), Competitive Figure Skater, Socially Awkward, Has fangirls galore, Doesn’t talk about his feelings, Scared of the female gender unless it’s Wony or Ryujin the lesbian

profiles (1) | masterlist | next

IN WHICH: Kim Seonwoo aka Sunoo is a Sophomore at Decelis University and has a crush on the pretty Music Education Major Y/n Marsh. Seems like a match made in heaven since he’s also a Music Education Major and has had a crush on her since Freshman year when he met her at orientation… well sort of. He’s a little delusional about her but that’s okay, right? When finally given the opportunity to get to know her and potentially date her some weird things start happening that Sunoo doesn’t quite understand… which leads to the postponement of his grand plan to confess his feelings for Y/n. At the end of the day does he get the girl or does he miss out and think of what could’ve been?

ALSO IN WHICH: Sunoo and Y/n’s friends also have their own storylines and side quest relationships happening simultaneously with theirs.

A/N: There’s probably spelling errors somewhere in this post but I tried to catch & fix most of them.

[mellowwillowy]

The Iconic Reader - Get to Know Them

Marlon as the Sadistic Male Reader and Irina as Mage or Doll Reader. Marlon is also featured as Yan! Aristocrat. Marlon has the complex of following what Irina does (copying her) in the hope of being able to become as perfect as her. Irina overall doesn't really consider him as a threat to her position.

Lucius and Adora as the Intersex Reader. Lucius gets the outgoing Reader role while Adora gets the stern one. Adora once appeared as Yan! Sadist. Lucius also goes by the name Lucy. Both Lucius and Adora share the same backstory (hehe, surprising right? I won't detail what I meant exactly). Adora is also namely, the only vessel that is brave enough to fight against her fate, allowing her to be separated from Lucius and take her own form.

A-Li as the Deity Reader or Outgoing Reader. Is mostly referred as 'Sister' in fic (if gendered). She is by far the strongest Vessel and Reader (Plus the loveliest!! She's a cinnamon roll!!!) A-Li is also the eldest vessel of all and she is respected by the others.

Brille-Braille as the infamous Timid Reader (Nerd) and Shuri as the Haughty Reader. Brille-Braille is the youngest vessel, causing the others to belittle her most of the time. Nonetheless, she is known to possess more power than Shuri despite not outright stating it.

XL, the ruler of CatboX. The one in charge of writing and managing the CatboX casts. XL possesses many vessels but only namely 7 survived. Among all the vessels, A-Li is the vessel she prides the most with Irina following behind.

Ref: The Penthouse

Also the Triplet pls.

[occultradio]

List 5 facts about a favorite sim of yours, and send this to 10 simblrs whose sims you adore ♥♥♥

After the band break up he has not allowed himself to make friends, is scared of getting used again.

Was the band mom, did his best to keep everyone alive.

Has lesbian moms and a twin sister, being surrounded by women growing up he knows absolute fuck all about gender roles....He'll make you cinnamon rolls though.

He's secretly terrified about the 'what if's' of the twins health....he's worried about them surviving at all so he's honestly just laying in bed most days, trying not to stress his body much.

He's actually ace, not sex repulsed but would just rather do other things. Trace has found out that being a brat gets him really worked up though.

[the-covens-headmate-inspo]

Hello hello! Could you kindly please do a pack inspired by The Lamb, The Goat, or Narinder?

Name: The Lamb

Age: 21

Gender: Genderqueer

Xenogenders: lambgender, godgender, crusadegender (Self coined, a gender that feels like crusades), zombiegender, nexgender, persephrogender, xeno haorder, killgender, thorngender, immortalgender, offbeatgender, cultgender (Possibly self coined, a gender that feels like (a) cult(s) in some form.), silksensgender, woolgender, woolsensgender, blood-gender (as name implies), bellgender (self-coined, a gender that feels like bells)

Pronouns: They/he/she

Neopronouns: lamb/lamb, god/god, dea/death, cru/sade, zom/bie corpse, kill/kill, blood/bloody, imm/ortal, herd/herd, cul/cult, wo/ol, wool/wool, bell, lea/der, 

Species: Lamb

Sexuality: GAY

Gen. personality: chaotic gremlin who could kill you, funny, sweet, cutesy, cinnamon roll who could kill you very kind to followers, neutral if not cruel to anyone else.

Appearance: ashen grey skin, blak eyes, white wool, small horns.

Primary role: Avenger

Secondary role: Decision maker.

Polyroles/any roles other than primary and secondary: 

Boundaries: don’t make fun of his followers, don’t make fun of either of his husbands, be respectful, no touchin or petting without permission, don’t take the red crown from him.

Moral alignment: Chaotic neutral (murder-hobo style)

Outif/fav. Outfit: Red cloak with white streak, cream button up, black flexible, gold bell, the red crown, some gold black and red jewerly, two wedding rings (QPM and Romantic).

Source: Cult of the Lamb

Views on canon: Meh, doesn’t go into a lot if thing but it’s alright in an of itself.

Source vs. canon (pls specific if canon compliant): Queer platonic marriage with Goat, Romantic marriage with Narinder, very kind to his followers, downright cruel and uncaring to anyone else, morally grey.

View on source talk: He doesn’t really want any, it makes him slightly uncomfertable.

View on sourcemates: It’d be nice to meet Nari and Goat, meeting ex-follwers wouldn’t be bad also.

View on doubles: Minimize contact but doesn’t care much beyond that.

Pfp:

Faceclaim:

Miscellaneous:

[golden-flute]

No one asked for my opinion on The Sun and the Star, but I’ve been thinking of nothing else since I finished the book, and I have to write my thoughts or I will explode, lol.

Fair warning: Spoilers and long-ass thought dump ahead.

Gif Originally posted by riptides

On the Themes

I picked out a few different themes that I found carried through the book:

Self-acceptance

Living with trauma

Embracing change

What healing looks like

I thought they were brilliantly approached because there was a lot of nuance for each theme. Particularly when you consider that these are pretty heavy topics for middle-reader age groups!

The biggest theme directly relating to Nico was this idea that it's possible to embrace your trauma, to accept it, and to grow around it. In his case, it's literal, with the Cocoa Puffs hanging around him now like a little parade of Walmart Ghibli Sootballs, lol.

I think that Nico was working through his trauma well before he ever heard the prophecy. The fact that he was able to accept his darkness so easily once Nyx forced him to confront it was more a mark of how far he'd already progressed than it was a big moment where he was suddenly magically healed from all of his baggage. The entire purpose of the Cocoa Puffs was to act as a physical representation of Nico's existing trauma. They will always be a part of him, but they don't define him. He's simply accepted them and freed himself from them without avoiding the fact that they'll still be there. That's such a healthy place to be, particularly because I think a lot of people tend to fall into the same trap of toxic positivity that Will did....

Many people who are natural healers and problem-solvers often fail to realize that being healed doesn't always mean that pain has totally been eradicated, hurray. In their minds, there's always some way to fix broken people. And I think that's why Will's conversation with Persephone was so important for his growth. I think he always saw Nico as someone who needed to be fixed, and to Will, that meant that Nico must hide from his trauma, or ignore it. Will's story arc centered around his acceptance that he can't (and shouldn't) always try to heal people "his way." With Nico, he had to get on his level, see him, and accept his pain. I've known people in my life who tend to avoid negative emotions because they think it's totally bad. But hiding from the pain can often make it worse. Darkness only grows stronger in the shadows, after all.

Nico and Will's internal journeys were two sides of the same coin in that respect. I loved it. Nico was ready to accept his trauma, but in a way, Will had to accept it too.

By the time they reach Nyx, these internal struggles had been mostly resolved and simply need to have their big final moment to totally hit home. But there's another kind-of-subtle-but-also-not theme for Nyx that ingeniously ties into the idea of questioning gender and sexuality. Nyx sees things as black and white. Even her own children, who are more than their labels, have to fit into these perfect molds in her mind. She's the BBEG because she struggles to change or to accept others changing around her. Talk about a heavy topic, right? But then at the end of the book, this idea of change is also beautifully encapsulated in Nico and Piper's discussion about sexuality labels. Particularly from Piper's perspective, since she's still figuring herself out and just going with what feels right in the moment. People are beautifully complex creatures who are capable of being something new every day.

On Characterization

Over the years, I've discovered that I gravitate toward the reformed, darker characters--the gloomy cinnamon rolls, if you will. Nico. Laudna and Caleb from Critical Role. Hunter in the Owl House. Zuko. Kaladin from the Stormlight Archives. Riku from Kingdom Hearts. So on and so forth. Something about their stories is so compelling to me. Perhaps seeing them overcome their own trials is a symbol that light comes after darkness, which is a message I have clung to my entire life, because it gives me hope for myself. And that’s exactly one of the messages I got from TSATS. This time, it was Nico’s turn for a reprieve from his trauma.

Y'all. Nico's a fucking NERD. The moment we met him as a little kid, he was talking everyone's ears off about Mythomagic, and he revealed he had a pirate phase and... yeah, he's just a nerd. His carefree personality took a huge nosedive after Bianca was killed, and then he became this unrecognizable dark creature of vengeance. I know some folks felt that he was really out of character in TSATS, but I find the shift just harkens back to the themes of change. Nico's transforming before our eyes, guys. Though Apollo's series and into TSATS, he's come to a place of peace where he could let go of his anger and his darkness... or at least accept them. And that's given him the space he needed to kind of get back on an even keel. He's finally able to return to his natural progression as a hyperactive dork. That's what we saw in TSATS and I loved it so much for him.

I found Will's progression really interesting as well. He's always been seen as the intrepid healer with a sometimes-literal glowing halo around him. In this story, the tables were turned and he had to accept that he needed support sometimes too. But more than that, this is the first time we've really gotten inside Will's head. We've only ever really seen him from the perspective of Nico (his admirer) and Apollo (his affectionate father). But this time, we were able to get Will's thoughts, and he's... not as perfect as we expected. And I love it. No one is perfect, and I think that in the absence of more information on Will, people sort of developed headcanons of him that understandably made the TSATS version of him a bit jarring. But if he were this perfect pariah of a character, that would hardly be interesting. I really enjoyed that in the first half, he spent so much time complaining about the Underworld, because it just meant there were some lessons for him to learn as well. He's complex, just like the rest of the PJO cast.

Other Incongruent Thoughts

Guys, I'm dead. When we finally heard the fated prophecy, I was... really underwhelmed. It didn't feel like it was literarily as impressive in the same way the other prophecies had been. It just... wasn't very good poetry. But then Dionysus criticized the rhyme structure and called it "a bit forced" and I was like "Hang on..." Come to find out, Hades made up the prophecy to get Nico to go save Bob! Can you just imagine Hades sitting at a desk, surrounded by crumpled pieces of paper, writing bad poetry that's convincing enough to get Nico off his butt and into Tartarus? I'm deceased.

The reunion between Nico, Maria, and Bianca BROKE me, y'all. I was full-on sobbing and my eyes were swollen this morning when I woke up. I was confused by how they were there, since past books said that they'd "moved on," insinuating they'd tried for rebirth. But I saw another post someone made about how Hades (or Bianca?) mentioned that they were the barest of essences remaining. I'm not saying it very well, but it made a lot more sense, and I hadn't caught that insinuation in my read-through. But I absolutely loved that we didn't get this reunion until after Nico had already accepted his trauma. If this meeting had come before, I'm sure he would have fought to "save" his mom and sister--I mean, he even says it in the book. But by that point, all he needed was to say his piece and get some closure, and that was enough for him. It was a mark of how much he's grown, and I just... *chef's kiss*

I love Hades. He's genuinely a good dad. Well... sort of. Maybe not at the beginning of PJO. But he, too, is changing his ways and taking more of an interest in his children. Or at least Nico. I wonder if we'll ever get more Hazel/Hades content? But Nico pretty much confirmed that Hades was around when he was a kid, and Hazel said the same thing in a previous book, which is more than pretty much every other demigod can say, so there you go. By Olympian standards, Hades deserves that #1 Dad mug.

I was really surprised that it took over half the book for Nico and Will to make it to Tartarus! Don't get me wrong, there was still plenty going on, but I was so used to the idea of Percy and Annabeth dropping in at chapter 2, it surprised me!

Anyone else peep the really big typo on page 401 of the US hardcover? "My mother is Bianca di Angelo, and she loved me and my sister." I stared at that for a long time last night wondering if I was going crazy, lolol. From what I've heard, the typo has already been fixed on the kindle version of the book, but those of us with physical copies have got the OG mistake. Whoops, lol!

I'm having a hard time discerning if the "'Dam it,' said Nico." on page 352 is a typo or not, for the pure and simple reason that there were so many dam jokes in PJO. And somewhere else in the book, Nico actually says "Damn," so... was it a typo? The 'dam' joke didn't really have a purpose for being there, and it wasn't repeated later, so I feel more like it might have been another typo?

We got a little Percy and Annabeth action! And Sally and Estelle! I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that Percy and Annabeth had already forgotten about Bob. Especially since Percy's whole growth in the House of Hades was to realize how many people he'd left behind. I never expected them to join Nico and Will in their Tartarus journey, but they apparently brushed him off so fast I got whiplash! What was that about? I wonder if we'll get more on that in the short story that comes out later this year?

We got a little mention of Damasen in this story as well, and obviously if he hasn't regenerated yet, there wasn't much they could do for him. But... I'm surprised that Percy and Annabeth didn't mention him or ask Nico to keep an eye out for him as well because he was there at the Doors of Death, making the same sacrifice as Bob. Will there be another Tartarus rescue mission in the future? Nemesis told Nico that any future journies into Tartarus would be unsuccessful. While I feel like it's unlikely we'll get any more Tartarus field trips, those little asides made me wonder if Rick Riordan's got more ideas floating around that he wanted to leave open for later, just in case.

They used the words gay, bisexual, and lesbian! I don't think this book series has ever done that before! I have a sneaking suspicion that this was part of Mark's contribution to the book. RR usually tends to talk around those words--he'll make it obvious, like when Apollo talked about his love for Hyacinthus, but I don't think Apollo ever actually used the word bisexual to describe himself (correct me if I'm wrong). I think that it was a really good step forward for children's literature. If you're going in, go all in, you know?

Lil Nas X made an unbelievable appearance! Lol! Though I have to admit, the inconsistency of the timeline of references sometimes gets me. Like many books ago, some character probably dropped a reference from ten years ago, and a year or two in book time, we get a Montero reference. Like, it's a small nitpick, but that inconsistency always pulls me out of the story a bit. Yeah, you heard right--I'm totally fine with the issues everyone else had with the books, but the weird timeline of references messes with me, lol. That's where I draw the line! That's not the say the Lil Nas X reference wasn't spectacular, though, lol.

Do I... like Mr. D now? I love Dionysus from the mythologies, but Mr. D was always so... blegh. But he's like legit a decent person to Nico. He shared his popcorn! That. Was. HUGE. Hahaha.

We finally got the full scoop on Nico's first trip to Tartarus!

The nickname "Night-Light" is endlessly adorable. And then Will ruins it by turning around and calling Nico "Death Boy" lol.

The trogs were never my favorite mythological creature ever, but they grew on me in this story.

So... Menoetes and Geryon, huh? Menyon? Geroetes? What's our ship name? Lol.

Will having the hots for Persephone was not on my bingo card, lol! I did really enjoy their talk, though. It really set up Will's character arc very nicely. And I loved that Persephone seems to be taking a leaf out of Hades' book and trying to be a bit kinder towards her stepchildren. It's not their fault, you know?

I'm seeing a lot of reactions to Nico's coming out story. I agree, that's one part I felt was a little bit forced. Introverted people can have moments where they're feeling brave and don't mind an audience (Hi, I'm exhibit A), I wouldn't say it's out of character per se. But it was a little bit... shall we say out of context? Since we didn't get the actual scene, but Nico and Will's recollection of it?

I really liked Gorgyra. The random chapters of stories from Nico and Will kind of jarred me a bit, but I think they were a nice touch, but would have been too much if they'd all been told chronologically. I agree with Rick and Mark's decision to split those up.

Amphithemis was a trip! I wish we could have lingered a bit more on Nico being upset at Will for tricking him away. I was glad that Nico at least asked Hades to free Amphithemis.

I saw some complaints that Nico and Will were super cringey around one another. To that, and as someone who's ace, I say... most couples are cringey around each other, particularly young couples. Nico and Will are still feeling out their relationship, and they don't have the years of friendship that Percy and Annabeth had that made their relationship so easygoing. I think Nico and Will's relationship is a bit more realistic in terms of first loves.

I loved the frank conversations about PTSD. I eat stuff like that up, because when I read it, I can just imagine someone else who really needs that sort of representation reading this book and finding comfort in characters like them.

And I'm literally out of space. I had no idea Tumblr had a character limit, but I hit it, lol. But if you got this far, thanks for reading!