sunset☀️

general thoughts on blue box lol bc it's my current obsession

i really like blue box for its grounded writing (though i haven't completely caught up with the manga)

it's rly interesting bc it follows familiar beats while having a nuance to them that makes the story as a whole more real. for a romance manga,, surprisingly i find myself invested in all the characters. the main characters are great, but i could totally see how the perspectives of everyone else can stand on their own. actually i don't rly read blue box for the main romance at all lol,, i just wanna know what happens to all the characters.

on that thought tho,, i do have mixed feelings on taiki and chinatsu as the main couple. they're great, they're cute, and i always thought that it was logical for a boy like taiki to like a girl like chinatsu, especially since they're high school students. the way their relationship developed was also quite realistic, their getting to know each other better after becoming a couple also makes sense again in context of a high school relationship. in short, very solid and understandable. but i feel like their relationship lacks... spark? there's a lack of emotional depth between them, at least from where i'm at in the story. anyone who roots for them would be valid in doing so bc they make sense together in the setting and environment they're in, but i think they're not as interesting as they could be (but maybe that's the point? don't know but it could be kouji miura simply wanting the main couple to be ordinary). i would say taiki and chinatsu are more interesting as individuals than together.

i love the scene sm but tonally it's off considering what happens next at the train station. it unloads insecurities that elphie and glinda have that are more appropriately addressed and explored in part 2. we do not have time to cover all this ground in this first movie 😭

and the dialogue,, again i love the openness and vulnerability but it's rly blunt. i like the final cut of the movie where moments are up to viewers' interpretations bc everything that glinda and elphie talk about can still be seen in the movie but through their actions and the editing ((ex. glinda being insecure over being left behind shown through the shots of her waking up in between the fiyero and elphie forest scene)). it's fun discovering the nuances in ari and cynthia's performances,, elphaba's promise also has that going on but it does spell out things too obviously.

like first, they're actually decent people in spite of their flaws or they have great development and come out better people,, but then when it comes to their relationships, suddenly they're somewhat aggressive and overly insecure. being insecure is normal,, being angry at your partner when they do smth stupid is normal,, but when the show portrayed it,, it was over the top for the sake of drama? for no??? reason???

like nini gaslighting ricky for being honest with his feelings when she was the one who told him to tell the truth. gina storming out and telling ej that maybe the old, worse version of him, is the real him in front of everyone, despite knowing he's highly insecure about his past. and the show sells it like we're supposed to clap and root for these "girlbosses".

sure he's obviously passionate enough to protect both camp half-blood and camp jupiter bc he considers those two places home,, but the sentiment comes from a love for those places in general. that doesn't necessarily mean he cares deeply about every single person there on a personal level.

both calypso and bob the titan were completely forgotten by percy even though they helped him immensely. and bc he forgot about them,, characters like leo and nico/will end up picking up where he left off. and the funny thing is,, percy will feel vaguely bad about it,, but ultimately,, it doesn't impact him in the long run.

"I told the truth, oh, but you didn't like it, you went home." // "That's just the way life goes, I like to slam doors closed. Trust me, I know it's always about me."

piper is the one who broke up with jason,, and from the burning maze, we know she saw it as an inevitable event. internally, she has been struggling with figuring out who she is outside the perils of demigod life,, and if she's living the life she wants or the one hera/aphrodite wanted for her. basically, she's dealing with the confusion and exhaustion as a result of all the life-changing events of hoo.

while i have comments about the way rick wrote and explained this break-up (again,, topic for another day),, it's clear that piper needed time away from everything to deal with her turmoil, and it's this that drives her to end things with jason. she needed to search for clarity, and she couldn't with him around when his presence in her life only added to her confusion. so she slammed the door closed and thought that it was for the best, and i can imagine jason responding as maturely as he could while still showing signs of heartbreak. all piper could do was let it happen.

"Thankful you don't send someone to kill me."

piper being absolutely relieved and guilty about the way jason responded to her decision 😭

"Two summers from now, we'll have been talking, but not all that often, we're cool now." // "Wistfully lean out my window and watch the sun set on the lake. I might not feel real, but it's okay."

these lyrics capture the kind of relationship piper and jason had - because romantic drama aside,, piper considers him to be her best friend ("more than annabeth"), and even when they were on shaky terms,, they were still able to communicate and understand each other well as noted by apollo. so yeah,, they'd definitely continue being friends even after a break-up. and it's nice and weird and comforting all at once. because the old piper wouldn't have expected things to happen this way,, but the present piper is glad that they can still be in each other's lives.

if only they had enough time to work things out though. because here comes the tragic part 😭

"You were the best but you were the worst, as sick as it sounds, I loved you first. I was a dick, it is what it is, a habit to kick, the age-old curse."

no bc in my head,, this whole bridge is piper's thought process as she deals with losing jason post-burning maze.

he was the best - literally, not only one of the most powerful and reliable demigods, but also the most supportive boyfriend she could ask for - but also the worst,, bc sometimes she felt like she didn't know him,, sometimes he was distant and too inside his own head,, sometimes she wasn't sure if they were meant to be together or not,, and that uncertainty and doubt nagged at her, and it's exactly why she breaks up with him later. but was it really the right decision, or did she let her insecurities control her? and if the latter was true,, then she broke both of their hearts for nothing,, which ultimately led to their strained relationship, and they would neve have full closure bc of what caligula did.

in piper's head,, she might start to think that she made a mess that didn't have to happen,, and the crazy part is she let it happen even though she was the one who loved him and had feelings for him first,, whether they started as an illusion or not.

so how could she possibly let all this happen? we know piper has struggled with a low self esteem since before, and she might look back to past actions that were rash in retrospect,, like stealing cars to get her father's attention. so piper might mistakenly spiral into thinking that everything is her fault bc she was lacking as a person,, and that bc she didn't beat her age-old habits, they haunted her like a curse.

"I tend to laugh whenever I'm sad, I stare at the crash, it actually works. Making amends, this shit never ends, I'm wrong again, wrong again."

piper tried to accept the break-up and losing jason as best as she could. she tried to play down the emotional weight of the break-up in the burning maze bc she felt as though she thought it through,, and at the end of toa, she's obviously trying to move on. these methods seem to work for her on the outside,, but that doesn't mean the grief and confusion has gone away.

the pain and the memories might keep coming back,, and piper might have to grapple with the possibility that she was wrong this whole time, again leading her to believe it was all her fault. in short,, she's confused and devasted and has no idea what the truth is anymore (which is why a book fleshing out her and leo's grief would be SO good).

"I wanna speak in code, hope that I don't, won't make it about me." // "I love you, I'm sorry."

the last chorus of the song beautifully reflects piper's confusion and longing, wishing that maybe she did things a little differently, wishing that maybe she and jason had a different ending.

but the thing is, in spite of all that happened and the confusion she's facing now,, the one thing that never changed was that she loved him, and it's both because of this and in spite of this that she did what she had done, and why she's feeling all these mixed emotions now.

like can we talk about i miss you, i'm sorry by gracie abrams being about them from jason's pov???? 😭

HEAR ME OUT

"Do you remember happy together? I do, don't you? Then all of a sudden, you're sick to your stomach. Is that still true?"

piper broke up with him,, and while he's the most polite and understanding boy ever,, he's not invincible. he can't help what he feels,, even if he thinks/knows that piper's decision might have been for the best (or the logical choice,, which is interesting but a different topic for another day).

the burning maze doesn't go deep into it,, but he's clearly heartbroken. "the truth was enough to break jason grace",, to me,, means a lot of things, one of them being the end of his relationship with piper. part of him accepts it,, but another part of him is miserable because of it.

"Thought you'd hate me, but instead you called and said, "I miss you". I caught it." // "I don't wanna go, think I'll make it worse."

we know that post-breakup,, they had a hard time working together, yet still contacted each other especially for the quest in the maze before apollo showed up. plus,, mellie mistakenly thought the breakup was something to blame on jason specifically.

it was all very awkward and confusing. even if piper was the one to end it,, we know she still has conflicted feelings towards him, and he likely felt that, which made him unsure where they stood. but like the gentleman he is,, he let her be despite whatever desires/longings he had himself.

"Nothing happened in the way I wanted, every corner of this house is haunted. And I know you said that we're not talking, but I miss you, I'm sorry."

i don't even need to explain how much jason loved piper and thought they were going to grow old together 😭 she has always been his safe space too,, someone he could truly be himself and vulnerable around,, so losing the person he knew best/cared for most must have been devastating.

no bc let's talk about percy going,, "i'm sally jackson's son!" in the tv show vs. jason in blood of olympus when he sees the mania of his mother and he tells her, "i'm a child of greece and rome. i'm no child of yours."

percy has always been grounded in the love of his mother who taught him to choose his own path and stay true to himself. meanwhile, beryl literally abandoned jason to the wolves. not only did he have to fend for himself at three years old,, he also soon learned that he was the son of jupiter, meaning he was meant for greatness. from the moment his name was given out of an obligation to please hera,, his character was destined to believe that his path was chosen for him. it's why he struggles with his identity, and who he is vs. who he's expected to be.

the saddest part?

ik the timeline of events makes it hard for that to happen,, especially including leo,, but why haven't we heard more of all the fun stuff that happens when most of these kids are at camp together lol