#because jodie has zero romantic interest in EITHER OF THEM | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eisforeidolon · 5 years

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Frankly, I expected better from Berens. It's like all his writing skills went out the window when he started pandering to Wayward stans. His merry band of Mary Sues was beyond terrible. And the WS premise itself had no legs. The SPN pilot left viewers with questions - where was John? why was Jess killed? who were these brothers? Claire crying over some chick she just & some lame rift weren't even in the same league. There was no hook to keep the GA or even regular SPN fans invested & watching

I can’t say I’ve been particularly thrilled with Berens’ work on the show. Still, I wouldn’t put him on a level with Perez and the Gruesome Twosome, either. So I just don’t get how, when they were trying to launch a new series, when they’d already tried once and failed? This is the basket they put their eggs in.

To me, a good spinoff takes some aspect of the parent show that has room for expansion in a unique direction and turns it into a standalone companion story that still runs in parallel lines. Which is why I thought Jody taking in a bunch of supernaturally-traumatized orphans or the Banes twins could theoretically make for a good spin-off. A different approach and perspective to the same world, yeah?

That wasn’t exciting enough for the writers, though, apparently, so it turned into, “Hey, let’s throw in a ripoff hellmouth rift in the fabric of reality our main series protagonists will just shrug off as NBD for reasons!” It’s so random, why am I supposed to care? What does this really have to do with SPN’s world, when it seems to have been tailor-made to discard all the lore and continuity of the parent show? When, in fact, it seems like a pure excuse to try and con the parent show’s viewers into watching something entirely different but yet not particularly original? Still, even if the story was dumb and so questionably derivative it had no real hook, the characters could have made it worth it. Except the characters and their relationships have zero depth, too.

Why are we supposed to invest in a bunch of teenagers that have a lifetime’s worth of abilities arbitrarily handed to them? Without even some kind of mythical excuse? Claire is a super hunter that’s not dead of her own incompetent carelessness because ... she is. Patience is able to save herself and everyone else with her just discovered psychic abilities when her grandmother with a lifetime of experience couldn’t because ... she does. Kaia is not only the most specialest dreamwalker when dreamwalkers are suddenly a thing that are necessary (not that Jack doesn’t have his own issues with Gary Stu traits, but he can open alternate realities but not see into them? LOL), her evil double can take out two trained hunters with a stick! I mean, the term Mary Sue gets overused but seriously? All of these characters are just The Most Awesome For Reasons.

Which is bad enough, but add on top of that how the actions and goals of those characters and others around them are twisted into nonsensical pretzels to make the premise work (Jody “the mom” covering up for Claire instead of getting her deeply needed help, Alex suddenly being a-okay with signing up for hunting, James telling his daughter to GTFO after losing his estranged mother he was lamenting the exact same mistake with)? Who form what we’re meant to believe are deep meaningful bonds so powerful they help Kaia overcome years of fear in about, oh, five minutes. Not even to get into the part where they’re now telling-not-showing us that we were also supposed to read Claire and Kaia as romantic. They all fought together once, so that’s enough reason to be as close as years or entire lifetimes of having each other’s backs, right?

Then you get to the part where the writers are dumb enough to think that the best way to make people invest in a new series’ characters is by making the ones from the parent series complete incompetent morons incapable of tying their own shoes (or finding a giant glowing freaking hole in reality in their immediate vicinity)? I mean, writing 101 here, folks, if your characters have to make everyone else in the vicinity act like their intelligence and skills suddenly evaporated to make your creations seem remotely useful (forget awesome), your characters suck ass.

Why have well written female characters that actually have to learn and grow and work to accomplish their aims when you can have Awesome Ladies(TM) though, right? Why take what is already a rich mythology and interesting world and build on what’s already there? In the end, this feels like the cheapest, most cynical, laziest possible effort at trying to cash in on a younger more socially-conscious demographic who are naive enough to think watching tv is activism and representation tickboxes alone make a story worthwhile. Which ... is only a part of the overall SPN audience, so how does that choice make sense?

#askboxery #anti wayward #anti sjws #Anonymous

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thebibliophagist · 6 years

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Way back in 2015, I did Perpetual Page Turner’s end-of-year book survey. I could have sworn I also did it last year, but I guess I didn’t! Here are this year’s answers. I’d love to know your thoughts as well. Feel free to shoot me a message!

Number of books you read: 140! Number of re-reads: 1 Genre you read the most from: romance

1. Best book you read in 2017? Hands down, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. 2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t? The Fortunate Ones by R.S. Grey. 3. Most surprising (in a good or bad way) book you read? Maybe Kissing Max Holden by Katy Upperman? I thought it was going to be a cutesy book about a romance between neighbors but it really just ends up being about a guy cheating on his girlfriend. 4. Book you pushed the most people to read? I don’t think I’ve really pushed a lot of books this year, but I do incessantly recommend anything by Krista & Becca Ritchie. 5. Best series you started in 2017? I mostly read standalones this year, but I could definitely go with Krista & Becca Ritchie’s new Like Us series. 6. Best sequel of 2017? Again with the Ritchies... Infini for sure. 7. Best series ender of 2017? Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab. 8. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? R.S. Grey. 9. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read? Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. 10. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? I don’t read a lot of books that fit that description, but I did have a hard time putting S.D. Grimm’s Summoner down, so we’ll go with that. 11. Book you read in 2017 that you’re most likely to re-read next year? I don’t do re-reads unless required. 12. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? A Million Junes by Emily Henry. 13. Most memorable character of 2017? Farrow Keene from the Like Us series. 14. Most beautifully written book read in 2017? I know it’s a really polarizing book, but I loved E. Lockhart’s writing in We Were Liars. 15. Most thought-provoking or life-changing book of 2017? Hmm, what a question. Maybe We Should All Be Feminists? 16. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2017 to finally read? I read a lot of 2017 and 2018 releases and not a lot of older books, but I could probably go with either Brown Girl Dreaming or Everything, Everything. 17. Favorite passage or quote from a book you read in 2017? This is not a deep or thought-provoking passage, but I loved this line in My Lady Jane since it was such a funny Monty Python reference: “Who are you calling beef-witted?” she laughed at him. “Your mother was a hamster, and your father stank of elderberries!” 18. Shortest and longest books of 2017? According to Goodreads, my shorted was To Cast a Cliche by Aubrey Wynne (15 pages) and my longest was Second Chance Seal by BB Hamel (712 pages). There’s no way that book was 712 pages, though, so I’m going with A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab (624 pages). 19. Book that shocked you the most (plot twist, character death, etc)? All the Bright Places. See below. 20. OTP OF THE YEAR -- I will go down with this ship: Luka Kotova and Baylee Wright in Infini. Give me all of the pining from afar. 21. Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year? The Hale/Meadows/Cobalt siblings in the Like Us series! 22. Favorite book you read in 2017 from an author you’ve read previously? I’m so sorry but I have to do Infini again. 23. Best book you read in 2017 that you chose solely based on a recommendation from someone else or peer pressure? The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. 24. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? Davis Price from Arm Candy or Julian Lefray from The Allure of Julian Lefray. 25. Best 2017 debut? The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It’s the best book I’ve read in years. 26. Best worldbuilding or most vivid setting you read this year? Maybe 27 Hours by Tristina Wright? I didn’t read a lot of books this year that really needed a lot of worldbuilding. 27. Book that put a smile on your face or was the most fun to read? My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. 28. Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2017? So I actually very rarely cry while reading, but a ton of books just decimated my heart this year. The Fortunate Ones by R.S. Grey, A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab, and All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven immediately come to mind. 29. Hidden gem of the year? I’ll call this hidden because I haven’t brought it up a lot -- Operation Prom Date by Cindi Madsen. 30. Book that crushed your soul? Ugh, definitely A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab. I’m still not over Holland and it’s been months! 31. Most unique book you read in 2017? Probably The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry. It’s not often that you find a YA novel set in Inquisition-era France that focuses on a young woman who hears the voice of God. 32. Book that made you the most mad? All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I think the author had good intentions, but the book was really irresponsible. I wrote a really detailed review if you’re interested.

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017? I’ve been following the same handful of book blogs for years, but I did recently start following girlxoxo, which has been a lot of fun. 2. Favorite review you wrote in 2017? I’ve written 140 book reviews this year (possibly more, because I was a little delayed at reviewing book from the end of 2016) so this is a really hard question! I think my spoiler-filled, semi-ranty, essay-length review of A Conjuring of Light is probably my favorite. I got so emotional about that book. The thought of Holland still breaks my heart. Here we go again... 3. Best discussion or non-review post that you had on your blog? According to my blog stats, it’s my top ten anticipated releases for the second half of 2017. 4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes)? I don’t do a lot of events because of social anxiety, but I’m trying! I joined Krista & Becca Ritchie’s Fizzle Force and try to participate in the events there. I would love to go to a signing but I feel like I’d probably just clam up and forget how to speak. 5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017? Alright, there are two. First was getting an ARC of Renegades by Marissa Meyer, which was totally unexpected and totally awesome. Second was that publishes and authors started reaching out and offering me ARCs this year, which was also totally unexpected and totally awesome. 6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? Definitely moving! It took up so much time and so much effort! I don’t think I read anything for at least a month. 7. Most popular post this year on your blog? My review of Renegades by Marissa Meyer! 8. Post you wish got a little more love? Probably Top Ten Tuesdays in general. I love doing these lists and I usually end up putting a lot of time and effort into them. Sometimes they’re hits and sometimes they get literally zero attention. 9. Best bookish discovery (sites, stores, etc)? Probably booko, which compares prices between major retailers, and bookoutlet, which has huge discounts on popular titles. 10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? Yes! I completed my goal of reading 125 books, the 2017 Debut Author Challenge, and both Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenges. I keep track of my challenges here if you’re interested.

1. One book you didn’t get to in 2017 that will be your #1 priority in 2018? Probably Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, which I got in 2016 and planned to read in 2017. Hopefully, 2018 will be its year. 2. Book you’re most anticipating for 2018 (non-debut)? That’s a really hard question because I’m anticipating so many books, but probably My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. 3. 2018 debut you’re most anticipating? So far, You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon. 4. Series ending/sequel you’re most anticipating in 2018? The Lady’s Guide to Piracy & Petticoats by Mackenzi Lee. 5. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2018? There are a few things I can say here. First, I obviously want to meet my reading goals and finish my reading challenges. Second, I want to maintain relationships with the publishers and publicists who have been so great about providing me with ARCs! (I’d also like to hopefully build relationships with more publishers.) Finally, I hope to be a bit more active in the bookish world outside of my blog. I’ve had this blog for almost five years now and I think it’s well beyond the time that I should be getting out there and spreading the word. 6. A 2018 release you’ve already read and recommend to everyone? Unfortunately, I haven’t loved any of the 2018 releases I’ve read so far. At least not enough to recommend to everyone. But there are a ton of them I’m looking forward to!

#discussion post #best of 2017 #the year in review

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