#but i have literally JUST read more in depth about the mysteries and why they're an important part of praying the rosary

[thebirdandhersong]

the Rosary is like.... the coolest thing ever..... the fact that you intentionally sit down and reflect on these key moments in Jesus's life every day and present your heart to God and teach yourself to slow down and think and get to honour Mary as well and also learn to practice regular surrender in the process is PRETTY cool

#everyone who grew up in one of the three orthodox branches of christianity are probably like. this is not news to me #but i have literally JUST read more in depth about the mysteries and why they're an important part of praying the rosary #so it IS news to me xD #slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in year 21 #i was sitting there like. oh my word this is SUCH an excellent practice #for your spiritual health your mental health and also educational purposes/helps with improving your focus and attention span

[khattikeri]

maybe a controversial opinion but while i really love jiang cheng as a character he is deeply self-centered as a person. and seeing people fight tooth and nail claiming he isn't, or is just misunderstood, or that he has genuine valid reasons to be selfish when plenty of other characters make the difficult choice to forego status and opportunities for what they believe is genuinely right to do (read: wei wuxian, wen ning, wen qing, lan wangji, jiang yanli, mianmian, etc.)

it's just odd to me. especially if they're talking about the novels.

mxtx didn't give jiang cheng the name "sandu shengshou" as a quirky coincidence. there's a REASON she named him & his sword after the 3 poisons of Buddhism (specifically ignorance, greed, and hatred). it's crucial to the story that jiang cheng is NOT selfless and that wei wuxian IS.

it's important to accept that wei wuxian is, by their society's standards, not morally gray; he represents several Buddhist ideals in direct contrast of jiang cheng and multiple people attest to wei wuxian's strong moral character, which is a lot of why jiang cheng even feels bitter about him to begin with.

it's crucial, because by the end of the novel jiang cheng realizes the extent of this and begins to let go!

the twin prides thing wasn't jiang cheng wanting them to 100% mirror the twin jades. he does care about wei wuxian, but he wanted wei wuxian to stay his right hand man, in part the way wei changze was for jiang fengmian.

and if there's one thing you can notice about wei changze in the novels, it's that literally nobody talks about him. he is only ever mentioned when his cool mysterious mountain sect wife cangse-sanren is mentioned, or (even more rarely) when they discuss him as a servant to jiang fengmian. regardless of jiang fengmian's own feelings, wei changze was considered lesser to him and didn't seem to outdo him, since nobody's out there years later still waxing poetry about wei changze's skills.

it may not be the only thing jiang cheng wants out of a twin pride dynamic, but it is a big part of it. regardless of his parents' intentions in taking wei wuxian in and treating him certain ways, this twin pride right-hand man thing is what jiang cheng has felt owed since childhood. he gave up his dogs for wei wuxian, people gossip about his sect heir position with wei wuxian there... jiang cheng wants the reciprocation of what he views as personal sacrifices.

he is ignorant to the depth of what wei wuxian must've suffered for over 6 years as a malnourished orphan child on the streets. he hates how wei wuxian's intelligence, witty charm, and cultivation abilities are naturally stronger than his own. he does care about wei wuxian a lot and want them to be together as sort of-brothers, sort of-friends, sort of-young master and sect servant...

...but if it's between that unclear (yet still caring) relationship and being able to save himself just a little bit more, jiang cheng nearly always manages to clam up in the face of danger and choose the latter, which ultimately benefits himself most. maybe it's a stretch to call that sort of thing greed, but it certainly isn't selfless.

there are of course plenty of justifications for this. it's his duty as sect heir. his home and sect was severely damaged by the wen attack and subsequent war; he had to protect himself, etc.

but doesn't that prove the point?

wei wuxian may be charming, but in terms of pure social standing, he is lower and far more susceptible to being punished or placed in harm's way by people who have more power and money. to protect wei wuxian, yunmeng jiang's long-term head disciple and semi-family member, even in the face of backlash and public scrutiny would've been the selfless thing to do. this is what wei wuxian does for the wen remnants in the burial mounds.

jiang cheng does not choose this. it's not even an unreasonable choice for him to make! nobody else in the great clans is doing such a thing, stepping out of line to take on a burden that could weaken them in the long-run. wei wuxian himself doesn't hate jiang cheng for it; he lets go of these things and focuses on what good he can do in the present.

jiang cheng thinks further into the future - what would happen to him if he continued vouching for wei wuxian and taking his side? what about jiang cheng's face, his sect's face? would wei wuxian even care to reciprocate somehow? everyone expects him to cut off wei wuxian for being dangerous, for threatening his position, for...

do you see what i mean? to call jiang cheng selfless for falling in line with exactly what people expected him to do after the war is not only wrong, it's foolish.

"but they faked their falling-out!" okay. why fake it to begin with, except to protect jiang cheng and the jiang sect's own face? is that selfless? who does it ultimately serve to protect? wei wuxian canonically internalizes the idea that he stains all that he touches, including lan wangji, and agrees to the fake fight because he doesn't want to cause the jiang sect harm. regardless, it eventually slides into a true falling-out, and in the end jiang cheng is more or less unscathed reputation-wise while wei wuxian falls.

that isn't selfless. it's many things! it's respecting his clan and his ancestors, it's making a good plan for the future of his sect and cultivation... but it isn't a truly selfless in the interest of what's right rather than in the interest of duty and what's good for him and his family lineage.

that brings me to my next point: even though wei wuxian hid the truth of the golden core transfer, jiang cheng spent nearly 20 years believing that the golden core "renewal" he was given was a birthright gift of wei wuxian's from baoshan-sanren, an immortal sect teacher of wei wuxian's mother's and a martial elder to wei wuxian.

of course we all know that's a big fat lie, but jiang cheng believed that wei wuxian gave up a critical emergency use gift to him for decades! he was lied to, yes, but jiang cheng immediately agreed without even needing to be convinced. the light in his dead eyes came back with hope the moment wei wuxian even said baoshan-sanren's name. he accepted wei wuxian's offer to give that up to him and take it via identity theft without missing a beat.

with how mysterious and revered baoshan-sanren is, that's obviously not a light sacrifice to just give up to anyone, no matter how close they might be to you. pretending to be wei wuxian to take the gift could even be considered dangerous. what if she found out and got offended? could wei wuxian be hurt by that?

jiang cheng doesn't even hesitate. wei wuxian is the one who mentions that if jiang cheng doesn't pretend to be him, the immortal master could get angry and they'd both be goners. and funnily enough, the day they do go to "the mountain", jiang cheng is the one worried and suspiciously wondering if wei wuxian was lying to him or had misremembered.

of course they've both been traumatized like hell prior to this point. but still: it speaks to how broken he was at the moment as well as to his character overall.

i digress: jiang cheng "gets his golden core back" via what he believed was a gift that should've been wei wuxian's to use in serious emergencies. rather than use it for himself, wei wuxian risked his own safety and gave it to jiang cheng... and jiang cheng still ends up embittered and angry, believing that wei wuxian is arrogant and selfish.

if he truly views them as 100% brothers and equals with no caveats, why would he think that way? it's not like he needs to grovel before wei wuxian for doing that, or to reciprocate... but this is what i mean when i say jiang cheng feels he is owed things by wei wuxian. wei wuxian's actions hold a very different weight in jiang cheng's mind, and jiang cheng himself doesn't ever act the same way, except once.

is it wrong for him to feel like he is owed something? it depends. many asian cultures, including my own, feel that a person owes their family in ways that may not make sense to westerners. for example, it's considered normal for a child to owe their parents for giving birth to them, or to other caretakers for feeding, clothing, sheltering, educating them, etc.

however, something like verbally saying "thank you" or "i'm sorry" to family is considered crazy- why would you owe that? you're supposed to inconvenience your family; saying thank you or sorry is the sort of thing you say to a stranger or acquaintance. i get half-seriously lectured by my elders on this a lot even now, even though they know such phrases are just considered good manners in the US.

this muddies up the idea of wei wuxian being jiang cheng's family vs his family's charge or servant even more. jiang cheng wants wei wuxian to be close... but ultimately doesn't really choose to use what power he DOES have to protect wei wuxian. he considers himself still owed something that in his mind wei wuxian flagrantly never repays.

this isn't even getting into how despite spending a majority of his time with the yiling patriarch he never once noticed that wei wuxian stopped using any spiritual power-based cultivation. even lan wangji, who met them far more rarely, realized that something was wrong and that wei wuxian had taken some sort of spiritual damage, hence the "come with me to gusu".

of course manpain is fun and i'm not immune to the juicy idea of them reconciling and talking things out... but jiang cheng is deeply mired in his own desire to be "above" wei wuxian in multiple ways, and doesn't realize the extent of wei wuxian's actions, the intentions behind them, and the consequences wei wuxian knowingly faced for them.

to not recognize this about jiang cheng, especially in the novels, is really revisionist if you ask me. i reiterate that i really do like him a lot. he's flawed, angry, traumatized and has poor coping mechanisms, an overall fascinating character... but he is not selfless nor ideal, and i seriously draw the line at people saying he is.

wen ning shoves this all into his face at lotus pier to disastrous results. it is the reason why jiang cheng's a total mess at guanyin temple, and the reason jiang cheng ultimately doesn't tell wei wuxian about the fact that he ran towards the wens on purpose.

for that one last act of his to have really been selfless, he needs to not seek anything in return. he did it purely because it was right to do to protect someone else. if that means wei wuxian never finds out about it, so be it.

that moment that ended up causing jiang cheng irreversible harm is not a debt that wei wuxian owes him. it hurts, but no matter how bitter it is, that realization is so important to him changing in the future.

#keri chats #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jiang cheng #long post #this is NOT anti/crit for him btw i like him a lot i just feel like nobody interprets him the way i perceive him #which even then my interpretation is p nebulous... worth saying i also heavily disagree w ppl who think of him as an evil shithead #he's upper class & steeped in jianghu politics/self preservation. flawed as hell human being but they're all war criminals lbr it's #Magical Genocide and War Crimes: The Novel #anyway this post is messy as fuck but if u read all of it: thank u. if u agree with me: ilu. i wish more ppl understood revenge ethics #as they stand in asian cultures and history vs in western (almost always culturally christian) cultures #it's unclear how far in the future the extras are but at one pt he's ''the same as ever'' which at best indicates slow emotional growth #and like. ykw? i don't think he'll be repressed bitter angry thinking abt his losses n pain forever. i think he can grow i believe in him #i have so many thoughts on this i could've made this post go on forever augh

[fantasylandbitch]

top 5 fav writers

Top 5 Fav Writers hmm..

But if I had to say my top 5 it would be-..hold on before I say whom and I know this isn't apart if of the question, however, every writer sort of in some way fills a particular need or a want that I long for....TMI ahead.

1. Alkivm because and this is kind of embarrassing to admit but I love love how she writes erotica. Because the way she writes and how she interprets it is very like "Wanting, Desire, I need you, I want everything you have to offer but slowly I don't want to scare you, and like I crave you" at least that is what I see in her writing in my opinion and she doesn't seem afraid to go in-depth. Also her non smut writing is equally as beautiful because to me she writes from a personal place of love and fun and who doesn't want that? It's like I got permission to like erotica and everything linked to it and honestly I'm here to stay.

(Also Alkivm is mysterious and wise. Everything about her screams attractive and cool and I'm pretty sure she knows it to. Yeah i said it. Am I scared for admitting that yes.)

2. Blackwolfstabs because I'm falling in love with how she writes for Sam and Tara. She adds a different approach to the girls and the way she writes its raw and personal to me it just adds a bit of flavor to her writing. I also love how she adds so much emotion to the characters like when Sam and Tara are protective of each other or when they're feeling a bit vulnerable. I guess I feel like its something I missed out on a little with my older sisters but I know we all kind of grew up differently and were molded differently. She hits where it hurts sometimes and its great to feel emotions when you least expect it.

3. Zombiemeadow because the way he writes for Billy and Stu is so spot on to me its crazy. In a good way of course and he writes the characters with a real but also silly dynamic sometimes but that is literally how those two characters are even though Billy Loomis is kind of mean. Now admittedly I've only read some of Billy's work, however, I'm looking forward to reading more from him.

(his writing reminds me of my little  brother a little because my brother is super silly but he knows how to talk to people without a care in the world.)

4. Wandagrcre because she writes really well for Wanda, Sam Carpenter, Black Widow, Carol Danvers, and Kate Bishop. And I dont know why but for some reason I feel like I've been following her forever..even though I might be wrong. I say that because maybe something about her writing is super familiar to me and its not a bad thing. It feels like a lost soul or companion seeing each other again and how she writes is like *chefs kiss* its hard to put into words.

5. Me lol I'm just messing with you but at the moment I don't have anyone else in mind, like that sounds bad I know. But I do appreciate the range that you guys are able to write and you guys should be proud of the work you put out.

This is a shout out to all writers out there!!!!

❤️😘☺️❤️

#fantasylandbitch #ask #Top 5 #Alkivm #Blackwolfstabs #Zombiemeadow #FantasyLandBitch's Ask

[longinglook]

happy to see you back (sorta) and that you are ok! I'd love to hear your thoughts on shows and what you're looking forward to, but no pressure :) whatever works best for you

HIIIII hello happy to be back (sorta)!! I have about 9 months worth of show to review so I'll give them a grade out of 5 and I'll try to be brief with any comments lol I haven't scrolled through my dashboard on here in ages so I have no clue what everyone thought about them!

Under a read more because it's literally an essay

WATCHED (in some sort of chronological order)

-To my star s2: 3.5/5

I think I need to rewatch it already and binge it because following it weekly was extremely frustrating to me and I feel like I might have been too harsh on my judgement. Everything about Jiwoo's choices and actions seemed extremely irrational to me and it was a struggle to watch. It might make more sense if I watch all of it at once again though. It was still well made, well acted and well produced so at least there's that.

-Roommates of Poongduck 304: 5/5

I am EXTREMELY biased about this show because I've been obsessed with this pairing since Kissable Lips (camp masterpiece, I feel like nobody gets it the way I do) and I was sooooo happy to see them again with different characters. I honestly loved the show, I feel like it was using a lot of common kdrama tropes as opposed to the usual bl tropes and it was so fun to me. The pace felt great, the characters and their motives made sense, the chemistry was so great... That said I need everyone to go vote for Jiwoong on Boys Planet because being an idol has been his dream and his goal for ages and he finally deserves a GOOD chance

-Triage: 4/5

I had started this back when it was airing but I was missing a few episodes and I have to say I am pleased with it. It had some weird pacing issues and that's why I wouldn't give it a full 5/5 but the plot was very interesting and engaging. I would definitely recommend it.

-Love mechanics: 4.5/5

I was very unfortunately a love mechanics (2020) enjoyer and veemark have a hold on me so I had to watch it and it was definitely better than the original one. They fixed some of the plot issues and the longer run time allowed them to give the characters more depth. It did feel slightly repetitive or slow at times but the actors are so good that I didn't even mind.

-Vice versa: 3/5

Very cool concept, I was a bit worried about it at first but I enjoyed the plot. My main issues were with the pacing (it felt way too slow at times) and I wasn't completely sold on the romance/chemistry either. The way the parallel universe rules were explained felt a bit lame, having someone just straight up tell them how it works while I was hoping they'd have to figure things out together. I have to say i LOVED the small details they used to define the other universe like the transparent paper or the different food, it was a fun extra element that highlighted they were strangers there. I honestly don't remember too much else of this show which means it wasn't a standout to me.

-The Eclipse: 4/5

THE ACTINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG I was so obsessed. The plot got a bit lost but wow I loooooooved the brainwashed school prefect slowly realizing he's being manipulated by the people in power. That was GOOD. I liked the characters more than the plot they ended up with. The trailer was overpromising in that regard, I was expecting a full on mystery/possible scifi elements but it got sidetracked and lost itself. The final episodes when they're shooting the movie make no sense to me. It still gets a 4 because of the main couple, both characters and actors.

-Kieta Hatsukoi: 5/5

I had not seen this before and I finally caught up and wow it is as good as they say. Genuinely heartwarming and wholesome, i LOOOOOOVE the friendships, the OST is so good omg it was so sweet and funny. I already want to rewatch it, it's in the same category as Light On Me for cute slowburn with wholesome friendships

-The director who buys me dinner: 1.5/5

Honestly it's a 1.5 because the plot is somewhat interesting but it did NOT deliver at all. The short episodes might have been the first hindrance to fully developing the storyline but the weird idol with a bad attitude side character subplot took up way too much time. The flashbacks felt rushed and hard to follow, I think Tinted With You had tried something similar but in my opinion they had managed the pacing and plot way better. This is one of those webcomic adaptations that gets destroyed by the short running time and low budget unfortunately. If it ever got remade properly I'd be interested though.

-Cutie Pie 2 You: 2.5/5

It started out better than s1 and then I sort of lost interest and remembered why I didn't like s1. SO much wasted potential. I only tuned in to see Nuer and Syn and they did not disappoint (I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED their spicy scene, god it was so awkward and honest and true and still managed to be hot) but I wish they'd gotten more screen time. Please give them a spinoff! The whole wedding fiasco was so boring, the comedy did not land well this time, how do you manage to have so much filler content in a 4 episode special is beyond me

-Between Us: 4/5

Oh the UWMA nostalgia hit so hard with this one. It was exactly what it should have been and slightly better than I was expecting (I think New's directing has improved over the years). Seeing Pharm, Team and Manaow together again made me so happy, my best friends. When the original ost started playing at the end I might have sobbed. I spent the whole time screaming for Team to get theraphy and stop trying to actively trigger his PTSD but he wouldn't listen. I had read the novel and I was a bit worried about the adaptation but I think they managed to capture the sense of comfort and safetly that Win provides to Team very well. Even the misunderstandings and the repressed feelings weren't too frustrating except for one or two instances. I even managed to enjoy the new side couple, Prince is SO CUTE!!!!!!!!! Man I just love characters who are sure about their identity and have been for a long time.

-The New Employee: 3.5/5

Cute. Nicely acted. Adored the flashbacks to university and the friendships. Plot wasn't anything too exceptional and it seems like they ran out of it 4 episodes in. Just okay

-Individual Circumstances: 2/5

The past few months have not been a happy time for kbls. They seem to be going for quantity over quality and they've been falling flat. I think the parallel between the story and the novel being written are the only interesting thing about this show, but they're also so obvious they don't really help saving it. I zoned out so bad I can't even remember why they had broken up in the first place. Were they even together? The low budget was also a heavy weight here, it just wasn't good.

-Gap: 2.5/5

I struggled rating this because it has some high highs and some low lows. I just wasn't vibing with the plot, i know the title is literally GAP and the show is about the gap in age, power, etc between them but god it got so repetitive and frustrating I couldn't really take it seriously anymore. Things I liked: Freen's acting, i think she did a great job portraying Sam. I liked Sam's character a lot, her awkwardness and apparent coldness and how she tried to break free from the manipulative power her grandma had over her. I think she was very interesting and layered and well acted. Another thing I liked were the intimacy scenes. I wasn't expecting much but I found them to be very well done, the chemistry was good and they felt very realistic. I don't think they were overdone and honestly we needed some lesbian sex to restore the balance after 5000000 bls. Cons are literally everything else, the people at the office and Sam's friends all felt like comic relief caricatures with no depth, Kirk was absolutely unsufferable. I'm only saving Tee and Yuki who I am hoping will get a spin off because I SAW THEM... I heard that baby in the last episode... How did they sacrifice such an interesting side couple for what? 10 minutes of extremely pointless Saint screen time? As a lesbian, (this is my excuse as to why this got so long)

-My school president: 5/5 10/10 1000/1000 <3/<3

WOW!!!! I was expecting less than nothing because the trailer had not prepared me. I thought it would be yet another boring high school slow burn with unexperienced actors but instead we got this amazing gem. I am SO happy I gave it a chance, it had my attention right from episode 1 and it was my motivation to get to the end of each weekend. Gemini and Fourth are incredible!!!! It was such a wholesome show about frienships and growing up together and being supportive. I loved every minute of it. THE MUSIC!! oh my god the music!!!!!!!!! Both the original songs and the bgm were so on point, I am so obsessed with all the tracks. I am usually not a fan of slow burn but if it's like this then I am all for it. The characters are clear about their feelings a few episodes in already and then it's more of a self imposed boundary that they keep pushing and pushing and that tension is just so much fun to witness. Honestly GMM was on fire these past few months, all my favorite shows were from them and it seems like they've been listening to some feedback unless it was a coincidence that all the good shows ended up airing at the same time lol

-The warp effect: 4/5

I am so confliced about this show. Everything about it is a full 5/5 for me except for Alex's character (and Army not shutting up ever). I'm trying not to spoil the ending because it's only been a week since it aired but it's hard to explain what I liked and what I didn't like about it lol. I guess I liked how the time skip worked but, while for most of the show it felt like it was an ensemble cast narration, the ending really does remind us that after all Alex is the main character. The side characters and their subplots were all interesting and varied and felt very refereshing for GMM standards (except for Army constantly outing Joe, I get that they were trying to portray him as someone very sure and proud of his identity and a bit slow at understanding others but man... they were really forcing his character to get some drama between them). Spent a solid bunch of time rooting for a Jean/Kat couple only for it to get adressed in canon and get laughed at so I quickly and bitterly gave up and accepted they were never going to be anything but straight. The more we found out about Alex and Jean's first time the more horrified I was, I did NOT want that Alex to ever be dating her so I was scared they'd put them together anyway since they're main leads. The actual ending was a compromise I can accept but still... Not ideal. If only there was a magical camera to send all idiots forward in time to witness the damage they've done...

-Moonlight Chicken: 10000000/5

A masterpiece!!! Legendary!!!! Everything I've ever wanted and more!!! There was nothing I didn't like? Not a single thing I can think of? Maybe just Alan being overly bitter and mean but oh well assholes exist everywhere. I went in with zero expectations because the trailer had made it seem like it would be all about cheating, as soon as I found out there would be no cheating involved I dropped all my reserves and was on board 100%. EarthMix were perfect and delightful, they're just so good together and their characters worked very well as a pairing. Surprisingly slow burn seeing how ep 1 part 1 starts. I like that Wen's job is shown a lot and he actually has real tasks to do that someone in his position would do (him answering emails at the temple really got to me lol). The atmosphere the setting the lighting the colors... Just gorgeous. AND THE SIDE COUPLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE don't even get me started on Li Ming and Heart. Wow. Getting double GeminiFourth for a few weeks was such a treat, 3 days in a row of them delivering incredible performances (their first kisses lining up on the two shows was just adorable).

-Never let me go: ?/5

I sort of dropped this one? I was following it weekly up until ep 4 or 5 and then it lost me. The pacing was way too off and they had weird audio issues. The editing as well was bothering me, with really long closeups with nothing happening and similar issues. The plot wasn't interesting or new enough to keep me interested. I might finish it now that most of the shows I was following have ended.

CURRENTLY WATCHING

-Bed Friend:

I started this for two reasons: I will be tuning in for its spinoff since it's TutorYim AND I've been hearing about this show possibily getting made for the past 3 years. I remember when people wanted it to go to SaintZee (rip) so I wanted to check it out and I see what they meant. James has Saint energy, I won't elaborate. It's definitely as explicit as a show about friends with benefits should be lol I hope they can develop the romance aspect nicely and I hope it won't stem soley from King trying to "fix" Uea. The flashbacks to Uea's past are rather alarming (another instance of me screaming GET THERAPHY at him every time he's on screen) and I'm hoping there won't be too many more insances of them. As if the abusive mother wasn't enough? It feels too tropey to send all these bad "punishments" his way because he's an explicitly gay character.

-A Boss and a Babe:

Here comes another fully biased review, I couldn't not watch this as an avid ForceBooker. Only one episode in so there is not too much to say but honestly I am on board with ANYTHING from them. It's directed by New so I am prepared to be let down at some point but they could seriously just show me 60 minutes of Force's face and I wouldn't mind. I'm excited because it did not look slow burn-y at all and that fills my heart with joy. I like office romance comedies so much what can I say. I KNOW Cher looks like an absolute dumbass but I know there's a brain in there. He's so cute he'll never get on my nerves. I will fight every single person on MDL to defend Book and his acting, I don't care.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

-Our Skyy 2: STACKED LINEUP. More PhuTian and more PatPran are a dream come true, a blessing, a gift etc. Please air soon I need to water my crops. I am honestly excited for all couples (I just need to catch up on never let me go I guess), give me that little extra content to boost my serotonin and PLEASE BE GOOD

-23.5: MILKLOVEEEEEEEEE I also really really want this to be good because it has so much potential please please please. Happy about more GeminiFourth as well, and Ford too! He did so well on My School President, I need to see more of him.

-Middleman's love: TutorYim. TutorYim. TutorYim. TutorYim.

-Only Friends: I am hoping this will be a BL version of friend zone with a more grown up writing. Stellar cast again so I am very intrigued. (I've been affectionately referring to it as the gmm horny show)

-Last Twilight: could be a big hit or a big miss depending on how they handle it. I am very curious and a bit hopeful after seeing Moonlight Chicken

-The Next Prince: I think I'll end up hating this one but the trailer was so dreamy, straight out of a royalty AU. The truth is I believe Nunew should be the next global idol and singing a few OSTs for his bls + the occasional youtube cover isn't the way to go. (I am sort of joking, of course if he's happy doing this then it's not an issue at all) (IDK why Wabi Sabi sent their actors (Yacht especially, wtf) on a Korean survival and Nunew is still shackled to Zee)

-Absolute Zero: I feel like this will be a disaster. It sounds interesting on paper but I have zero faith they'll do it justice. Please prove me wrong

-The Korean Why R U remake: I feel like I am contractually obliged to tune in since the original show is what made me who I am today as a person. I have serious doubts this will work the same magic on me.

-About a hundred new Kbls (I truly can't keep up and I end up skipping most of them unless someone I trust really recommends me one at this point)

-Rumored season 2 of blueming? Rumored season 2 of Kissable Lips???????

I think that's all for now (lol) I swear to never take another 9 month break because this recap took me 2 full hours to write

#ask #all-you-had-to-do-was-neigh #this is just insanely long #I apologize #also if you read all of it I owe you a coffee I will paypal you 5 dollars for your attention span

[spideymichelle]

idk what's your opinion on this or if you ever talked about it but you're my favorite mcu mj warrior so i wanted to read your thoughts

like i know mcu mj isn't a very flashed out / well written character but it always bothered me when people call her a pick me girl or say she's trying to be a "not like other girls" type when usually these characters compare themselves to other girls or get compared by the narrative to show they're Superior to other "superficial feminine women" but i don't remember that ever happening in any of the movies? she wasn't trying to be different as a way to draw attention and prove she was worth more than anyone else, she barely even interacted with liz or betty, she's just a introverted "weird" girl by nature and she minds her business...her interactions with peter in the first movie read as "i'm awkward and i don't know how to get close to people but i really want to be your friend" and not "look at me i'm better than any of these girls".

you are completely right about the fact michelle jones isn't well fleshed out character as much as she should be. i blame kevin, amy and jon for that

but michelle is not the "i'm not like other girls" trope or a "pick me" girl at all like my girl is just weird and doesn't know how to open up like that is all it is.... she is scared of letting people in, of being vulnerable and getting hurt (something they have explored more before peter broke her trust in no way home but i digress)

i feel a lot people misunderstand michelle as whole ... she literally can't communicate well and can't close with people something that was shown in homecoming, further expressed in far from home, and again referenced in no way home

michelle is friends with most of the acadec members but she doesn't form a deep relationship with anybody outside peter and to a certain extend ned (again only in no way home and far from home when she finally opens up to peter)

from what we can tell she has some of school friends/acquaintances but the depth of those friendships were quite shallow she doesn't sit with them during lunch or pe and is alone during those times and she is just vibing on her own .... but she will still go to parties and school dances usually in group (michelle had no issue dressing up then ... so i'm not like other girls narrative falls flat)

also she only called peter and ned out for being creepy staring at liz but didn't have any bite (of jealousy) or whatever.... she also gets on quite well with betty but again surface level betty wasn't her roommate in far from home

like there is a reason why brad was into her (mj is pretty and fun guys) and she was really nice to him while being seatmates and had no issues going along with him from watching movies (joking with him even though her jokes fall flat) on the plane to hanging out in venice but she didn't necessarily open up to him

since homecoming mj has gravitated towards peter and ned, i think it's because she liked that they weren't afraid to be themselves even if that means being on the bottom of social ladder and i think she wanted to be friends with them for quite some time even before peter became a mystery she wanted to solve which is why i think she had less problems opening up to peter it's because she genuinely wanted to be close with him

but we were robbed a female friendship for mj though .... jon watts i will get you !!!!

#asks #michelle jones watson #michelle jones #spideychelle #thank you for me your fav mcu mj warrior

[welcometogrouchland]

sorry if I'm bothering you but I FINALLY FIND SOMEONE ELSE WHO PREFERS FTF BUT PURELY BECAUSE OF OUR LOVE FOR WILLOW (we're the only ones right about her) like yeah, it's DEFINITELY not a perfect episode but IT'S ABOUT THE CHARACTERS. and I LOVE TTT TOO BECAUSE OF LUZ but tbh I didn't like being in the fandom when TTT came out because THERE WAS SO MUCH STUFF ABOUT HUNTER, TO THE POINT WHERE PEOPLE THOUGHT HE SHOULD BE THE MC AND NOT LUZ??? I love my boy but I felt overwhelmed at all of this so him not getting too much in FTF was fine for me :)

Firstly, I'd like to say YES!! FOR THE FUTURE SOLOS!!! LITERALLY SOME OF THE BEST CHARACTER WORK, ART DIRECTION, SOUNDTRACK, BOARDING, HUMOUR AND HORROR IN THE WHOLE SHOW!!!

Secondly I'd like to say that this is SUCH a can of worms that I've held back on talking about for A While™. Tbh it kinda feels like u read my mind I was literally thinking about this this morning.

(BIG ASS RAMBLE UNDER THE CUT. I AM NOT JOKING THIS POST IS SO LONG IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY)

Both episodes are really fucking good, both on their own merit and when you take into account the circumstances under which they were made. I do not want to labour this point. I hate pitting two bad bitches against each other.

I AM however interested in investigating why, when two episodes are of similar quality, but with different priorities and focuses and (for lack of a better word) Vibe™ does the fandom demonstrably prefer one over the other?

Thanks to Them is BIG on plot. It's big on "establish what the kids have been doing, introduce Lore and Mystery, do the possession, fight the bad guy, get back to the demon realm, bada bing bada boom!!". I don't think it's nearly as relentlessly paced as some people think, and I think there are definitely emotional moments to be gleaned out of characters who AREN'T Luz, Hunter or Camilla- but overall it's similar to the most plot focused episodes of season 2. Your knock knock knocking on hootys doors and your hollow minds.

But for the future is a lot more concerned with character. Everyone gets some small moment to shine, though you're correct in saying that the focus is mostly on Luz, Willow and then probably the collector. But Camilla, Gus, Amity, Hunter, King, Eda and Lilith all get more emotional depth in a few lines than like. Willow did in half of thanks to them. even Belos gets more screentime this ep than he did in thanks to them, screentime that's much more illuminating (do love the moments he had in thanks to them but they weren't huge character moments really, just him villain-ing it up).

Less plot stuff happens, if you count the main goal as "get into the titans skull" then that's only introduced about a quarter of the way through the episode, whereas "get back to the human realm" is established as the goal of thanks to them in like. Negative screentime lmao. You basically know it's the goal coming in because you've watched king's tide already. For the future isn't like this!

And I GET IT MAN! checking in on the YouTube progress bar at the 3/4 of the way through elicited pure fear in me! But I feel like the fandoms fear of plots going unresolved and questions going unanswered has created this. Like. Attitude that the episodes need to be completely spartan or they're wasting time.

Like, with bringing back Boscha and Kikimora. Some people consider that a waste of time because they weren't Big Bads in seasons prior, meaning they should be low priority and don't belong here. And ppl are entitled to feel that way!

But I don't think you can call them wasted! Or irrelevant! I think the writers put a lot of work into making their storyline fit with the themes of the show! I have an essay I may never finish in drafts about this but- one of the most popular aspects of seasons 1 and 2 was the whole corrupt government storyline, which reached it's climax in king's tide but still had no resolution, same way hexside had no resolution from what happened after labyrinth runners. The writers combined these storylines by showing how hexside wasn't going to become a mini dictatorship like the isles old system (hence the title of the episode, changing things for the better "for the future"). That's efficient storytelling! Combining two plots into one in order to resolve both at the same time!

But people don't take this as an example of efficiency because it's not Lore or Plot based. And I think that's a real shame.

Both episodes have pacing and balance issues but I don't think one is especially egregious compared to the other? Nor do they have more pacing and balance issues than say, Clouds on the Horizon, which I'd say is one of MY least favouritely paced episodes of the show. Maybe thanks to them just had more novelty factor because of the setting (not to mention it probably benefitted from having one less subplot to juggle, but eh)

And about the fandom response after each episode....yeah. yeah.

I love Hunter. He's my baby. My scrimblo bimblo. He is like my twin brother. Literally. For reasons I cannot begin to explain here, hunter the owl house is like my twin brother.

And in all fairness to the fandom, plenty of people are normal about him. I know this because I've curated my experience to entirely be the people who are normal about him.

But the people who are not normal about him...my god.

Tbh I think this issue of focus actually lands on why I prefer for the future to thanks to them (THOUGH AGAIN. THEY BOTH SLAY)

The ending of thanks to them was so abrupt and emotionally charged that it felt like a betrayal, almost. The show went so hard and so fast that afterwards there was no breathing room and I didn't fully trust the show to be able to pull back afterwards. I thought either Hunter is going to eat up more and more screentime next episode by having to deal with the implications of every that happened five minutes from the episodes end, or they are literally never going to touch on him again. The ending of thanks to them was SO MUCH in so little time that I literally could not fathom a middle road.

Whereas the ending of for the future was a lot more. Aha, eureka! Moment to me. Like "OHH so that's what we're dealing with next episode!!! Nice". There was excitement and yeah, fear that things wouldn't land, but overall there was more trust in me. And of course, they did find a lovely medium between it being the Hunter show and addressing his trauma adequately. His arc was very emotional and satisfying this ep, without the borderline hard-to-enjoy turmoil that the ending of thanks to them put me through lol.

But I think, to some people, the sheer angst of thanks to thems ending was more emotionally rewarding than the well paced stability and slight ominousness of for the future. They felt that episodes end was too "mid". Too soft. The end of the show needs to go all out all the time, so this episode that focused more on emotional arcs and early season callbacks and payoffs is weak.

And to be honest, maybe my analysis here isn't as in-depth or as in-touch with fandom complaints as it could be! I've generally avoided the people harshly criticizing for the future because I like it when fandom is fun. I don't like watching one of my favorite episodes to date get dunked on. But that in and of itself (combined with the leak situation) has led to an inability to really Go All Out with fandom engagement rn. It's a struggle!

I've seen people describe for the future as en episode where Everything happened, and yet nothing happened. I get why! I personally prefer it to thanks to them because I feel like too much happened during that episodes climax to the point where it didn't even feel like the episode had true resolution.

But also, I get that for a lot of people, it's not even about construction. It's just about expectation and preference. People weren't expecting hexside, and when they got it, they got upset. People weren't expecting Willow, and when they got it, they didn't like it. And I get that. Really I do.

But this show is so fuckin wild. It does so much and throws so many curve balls at you. Never the big twists either, always the shit u don't expect. And it's great. I've honestly grown really fond of the way this show pokes me in the ass with something I didn't really expect or consider.

Not everybody is though and like. That's fine. But I do wish sometimes people would just. Kinda. Let it go when something goes in a direction they didn't expect. Because I didn't expect the direction FTF went in at all and I loved it once I stopped to think about it. But that's just me.

I think this is only like. 25% a direct response to things you said in the ask, so to conclude by answering/engaging with your ask point by point:

Willow stans and For the Future stans unite. This is our nation. Also shout-out to the fellow willow understanders I am mutuals with/follow you guys were really keeping us going in the pre for the future times

It's not a perfect episode but circumstances considering, it never could've been, and I'm okay with most of the ways it falls short. I'm also fully willing to hold out and see whether or not watching and dreaming rectifies any of my complaints, considering several of the issues I took with thanks to them were solved this ep, lol

Luz and Camilla literally stole the show in thanks to them and while I understand that the ending of that ep was very hunter centric, hence the hunter centric fandom atmosphere afterwards, I do prefer the environment in fandom rn that's appreciating this mother daughter duo rn

Hunter is not a main character imo. Not because he couldn't be but because his story is rendered infinitely more interesting when he is a supporting character. It's one thing to tell us that Hunter lives for other people and is made to forever be a second- best underling. It's another thing to show us this with his narrative role as the ultimate foil. He Is Better Off This Way. Also this point is dumb but I fully believe Hunter would be miserable as a main character. He does not want this

Also Luz is genuinely one of my favorite main characters in television. Maybe ever. If I start talking about her we'll be here all day. Just look at literally anything sepublic has written about her it's all on point

For the future had the perfect amount of Hunter content tbh. No episode should have more or less. I'm banging my gavel like a judge decreeing this to be so

#ramblings of a lunatic #asks #toh #that is literally the only thing i will tag this with it's a barely coherent nightmare behemoth and i do not need it in tags #anyway. I'm still holding out that these specials are gonna fundamentally work better together than as separate eps #i got the feeling when thanks to theme ending was off and i felt the same when the subplots of ftf went unresolved #it's not for now. each episode is just about cleaning up problems from the previous ep and exploring how its impacted our guys- #-before establishing a new short term goal and then achieving it via emotional trials and tribulations #it makes the months between eps agonizing but also. I would not be able to handle these guys being just s few weeks apart #it simply would not have computed in my brain #ANYWAY. here's a whole lotta nothing! hope any of it's understandable #no art tonight but i am gonna chip away at the darius/camila ask #that one should be close to wrapping up we're like..a bit more than halfway through it #hope it's more understandable than whatever i went off on here!

[semper-legens]

21. Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon

Owned: No, library Page count: 963 My summary: 1968. Claire Randall and her daughter have returned to Scotland from America, tracking the history of a band of Jacobites. But why did Claire leave Jamie and return to the future? Back in 1744, there's a war to stop. Armed with foreknowledge of the future, Claire is trying desperately to keep her friends alive. Jamie won't be doomed to die at Culloden if Culloden doesn't happen...right? My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Ah, Outlander. While I may have only read the first book on a whim, I found myself enjoying it far more than I thought I would. What can I say, there was just something charming about our hero, ex-World War Two nurse Claire, travelling through time to meet her Scottish rebel beaux, Jamie Fraser. They were strong characters, very engaging, and the story itself (though not without flaws) was interesting enough to keep my attention for all of its 800+ pages. So of course I tracked down a copy of the next one. And for the most part, it's just as good! Immediately, it grabbed me with the opening premise - Claire and her daughter Brianna, who is obviously Jamie's, have travelled back to Scotland in 1968 after Claire's twenty year marriage to original husband Frank Randall ended in his death. How did Claire get back to her present? Why is she in Scotland tracing the fates of the Lallybroch men? And what actually happened to Jamie Fraser? These are the mysteries of Outlander book two - Dragonfly in Amber.

(Warning for talk of rape under the cut.)

There's so much to talk about in this near 1000 pages of novel, so I'm just going to hit on some key points here. Jamie and Claire continue to be brilliant. Claire is pregnant for much of this novel, and Jamie feels a lot of protectiveness towards her, which often frustrates her. Jamie is in his element, fighting both physically in the field at Culloden and more mentally and socially in the courts of France, and doing a good job at both. I think the reason I like Jamie and Claire so much, in hindsight, is the fact that they could so easily be one-dimensional stereotypes of their genre, but have a lot more depth than that. Claire is often in distress and needs Jamie to save her, but she's also cool-headed from her time as a war nurse and is very capable of arguing her case and getting her way when she knows what's best. Jamie is a rugged, tough Scot, but he's also got a core of vulnerability and kindness beneath him - and moreso than just the 'burly guy with a heart of gold' stereotype either, he's as emotionally reliant on Claire as she is physically reliant on him, and the pair of them make an excellent team together. There's a lot of character to them, we find out a lot about them as individuals, and they're both as flawed and liable to make mistakes and argue and fall out as each other. The saving grace is, of course, their genuine and deep love for one another. It's lovely to see their passion and devotion, even through the trials they have faced across these two books.

Sex and sexual violence rear their head thematically once more here. The sexual violence and rape that is often either threatened or actioned in these books are somewhat sensationalised - see poor Mary Hawkins being raped by strangers on the street, a fate that Claire very closely avoids. Randall continues to be a sadistic monster. Jamie's trauma comes back up, and he responds by wanting to fight it - literally, in the form of Randall. It's very matter-of-fact, and part of me does wonder if Claire being threatened so often is meant to be somewhat titilating for its assumed audience. But then, perhaps I am being unfair. Such things are shown as being as traumatic as they are in real life, with Mary basically becoming catatonic as a result of her treatment, Claire being duly freaked out by her narrow miss, and Jamie still suffering the aftereffects of Randall. And to balance that, there's plenty of consensual sex. Mary and Alexander Randall find solace in each other, Claire and Jamie enjoy a very healthy s-x life even through her pregnancy, and nobody is ever shamed by the narrative for wanting consensual sex. And for a story largely set in the 1740s, that's a huge breath of fresh air. I feel like sex is used very deliberately in these books, as both a means of characterisation and as a fact of the 18th century lives our protagonists lead. Because it's everywhere, from the gossip and frivolity of the French court to the bawdy Scottish warriors to the intimacy of Claire and Jamie's bedchamber. It happens. And that's a very mature attitude to the subject, I think.

And finally, there's something I haven't talked about yet, either in this or the last time I've talked about Outlander - the idea of fate, destiny, and changing history. Claire is from nearly two hundred years in Jamie's future, and given that her husband was interested in both Jacobite history and his personal family history, knows a fair amount about what is to happen in the uprisings. Given that Claire has no intent to revisit the future, is it possible for her to change it? She has a close personal connection to Lallybroch and the Lallybroch men (other than Jamie, that is) and doesn't want them to die at Culloden, as many Jacobites did. Claire and Jamie's reason for being in France assisting Bonnie Prince Charlie is actually to avert the Jacobite risings, though they have to be subtle about it lest they be branded traitors to both Scotland and England. Can Claire change fate? She knows that Jack Randall was meant to die at Culloden, despite his apparent ignominious death at Wentworth. Yeah, I thought that was a bit too quick and throw-away a death for a figure that haunted the first book. Turns out Randall's alive and up to his old tricks, leading to Jamie wanting to kill him dead as well as having panic attacks and bad dreams thanks to his trauma. (As an aside, I did find that Alexander Randall being Frank's true ancestor as was implied here to be a bit of a cop-out - of course Frank couldn't actually be the direct descendant of a sadistic rapist.)

This ambiguity, however, of whether Claire and Jamie can actually save anyone is a large theme of the book, and I like that. It's a kind of time travel narrative that skips all the moralising about paradoxes and gets to the personal. Claire loves Frank, and wants him to have existed in the future. Claire loves Jamie and the Lallybroch men, and wants them to survive Culloden. Claire and Jamie want to save as many people as they can. And that's a noble cause, and not something the narrative punishes them for. For all the pain and trauma that come about as a result of the uprising, it doesn't rest at the feet of that caring impulse. Which is nice to see, you know? Claire's just one person trying to make the best of it in an intensely hostile world, and her struggles and choices make for an engaging read.

Next, something not all too far from Outlander - a look at sex in Medieval Europe.

#Dragonfly in Amber #Diana Gabaldon #bookblr #book blog #book blogger #4

[scythe-of-house-aurkus]

Starting to think about who the main cast might be chilling out with us in Cantha! We know it will be likely be some characters we're familiar with, some new Canthans, and that they have some more freedom with the core cast:

Gonna throw this under a cut. It got long. I ramble, sorry.

So let's start with our most frequent compatriots, Dragon's Watch:

Taimi - Whether it be in-person or through comms, I feel like this is a gimme. She's our resident dragon magic expert, so ofc she's got to tag along in some capacity as we somehow tackle the dragon problem for the last time. Plus it's about time to make good on the S4 revelations with her illness no longer being in remission. (Also I think we'll see Gorrik, but he'll be with Taimi. Though there are beetles in Cantha too!)

Kasmeer - Likely, but I'm also a little torn on this one. We definitely need more Kas and Jory time (and not just as a unit). Anet didn't really get the chance to make good on their plans for the two in IBS, but Kasmeer was also with us in PoF. Will they double up on expansion exposure time? I think she will make an appearance but may spend a good chunk of that time doing her own thing. (I will say this: if we get a status update on the Kasjory situation as they like to do, it better be invitations to the wedding. Let them be happy ffs)

Marjory - This is a given, and not just bc Marjory's of Canthan descent. Ofc she needs more screentime and a dedicated character arc. We gotta deliver on the whole "my dead sister is inhabiting my sword" thing . And if there's weird stuff going down in Cantha? We're gonna want our detective friend with us. She's also got some potential family stuff that can be brought up with it being mentioned in S2 that her mother isn't very trusting of strangers. Why is that?

Rytlock - More a maybe, venturing into unlikely. His story reached its head in IBS, and it ended in a natural stepping off point. He's literally had more screen time than any other member of Dragon's Watch, bar maybe Taimi if you count comm chatter. I think it's likely he'll be spending more time in the Homelands instead of traipsing around with us. BUT he's also basically the game's mascot, and he was with us in both HoT and PoF in significant capacities. Will EoD follow that trend?

Braham - Also a maybe. I flip-flop constantly with this. His arc also reached its close in IBS. He had a lot of dedicated growth in S4 even before that. But there are things that make me think we may see him in EoD or at least in post-EoD story plans: a) being distinctly not dead after the IBS finale and b) the story potential there. Now that he's free from his mother's legacy and the choking reins of prophecy, there's room to explore what he does now with that freedom. Where does he go next? (On a side note, in the Sunqua Peak fractal there's that 'very tall and strong' character Hyo-Sonn introduced that is speculated to be a norn. Could be our in!)

Rox - Highly unlikely at this point I fear. However it was executed, her arc was clearly done in S4. She appeared for one DRM, but if we ever hear from her again, I'm pretty sure it will just be another cameo.

Now onto core characters that would either be new, or in one case, very recently introduced to us:

Jumping off the Braham bullet point, I think we're going to be dealing with some kind of isolated Norn community from the teases in Sunqua Peak! Norn are naturally loners that wander, so it kind of makes sense to me that a group might have found their way to Cantha at some point in history. Did they go so far north they wrapped around the pole and circumnavigated the globe to Cantha? Does that mysterious hole in the Far Shiverpeaks lead to Cantha? Dredge tunnels?? Regardless of how they got there, we'll probably have a representative from them with us in some capacity. They've just got to be careful to make it feel not too much like an Olmakhan situation.

Canthan character(s). Duh, this is a gimme. We're going to need some local friends. We know this lady from the concept art shown so far will be a character. Going off of art alone, I'm speculating she has some sort of ties to the Jade Wind and/or Sea. We shall find out! Beyond that, I don't want to speculate too much since so much of Canthan culture has likely changed since GW1.

And then the one we just met, Kalidris Sparrowhawk - Oh you know, the Tengu have beef with Cantha. If they're reopening their borders in any capacity, something's going to happen there. Kalidris stood out too much to be a one-off character in a DRM, and it sounded like she'd earned a bit of prestige for her actions there. Maybe she gets sent with us as a Tengu envoy of sorts? Either way, I feel like we're definitely getting the peppy birb.

Bonus round: cameos! Characters who I think will not be part of the core cast but may show up in some extremely minor way:

Faren - It's tradition at this point. If he doesn't show up out of left field doing something you would expect Faren to be doing, well, that'd just be sad. He'll probably appoint himself Kryta's ambassador to Cantha or something.

Canach - Another out of left field one. He's done adventuring with us, but I don't think he's gotten over that gambling problem. We'll probably find him in some shady betting ring in the dank depths of Kaineng City. And once EoD wraps up, he'll take his winnings and buy up all of Tyria. The reign of Canach begins.

Bangar - Hear me out. He's another case of "oh, he's not dead? interesting." Which means we have the melted snowcone available for comedic relief over comms. What do you think it should be? Snargle Goldclaw reading his latest novel out loud to an unwilling captive audience? It's what he deserves.

EDIT: smh I forgot to add a potential returning character, and it's a big one - Mai Trinn. It's a mystery where she went at the end of S1. There are Aetherblade teases in the trailer. She will probably factor in.

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #eod speculation

[el-im]

may i ask why you disliked the new dune? i prefer david lynch's but i thought the new one wasn't that bad

im a hater

i love the lynch version too! i'm more than happy to admit i honestly just have a penchant for old movies and all this contemporary cgi/dramatic but nonspecific dialogue doesn't strike me as particularly intriguing, it seemed to me there were a lot of gratuitous shots of architecture/landscape/ships at the expense of making plot points clear (though i may be biased there--the dune series is my older brother's hands down favorite sci-fi piece ever written, so everyone in my family has read at least the ones written by frank herbert several times over--so he and i spent the entire time going 'that's not how the book went'--which of course is not to suggest adaptations/departures from canon can't be magnificent in movies--i loved how the lotr movies came out, you know, but to us, trying to see how some of the worldbuilding made so prominent in the book was sort of. brushed under the proverbial rug made us upset on behalf of the people who weren't familiar with the books? i just think it would be really hard to follow if you hadn't read them... or maybe i mean it wouldn't have the same depth, though maybe this was exacerbated by the fact that we had to keep pausing it to explain things to my brother's friend, who we were watching it with--to talk abt the significance of things like the diamond tattoo on yueh's head, for example, which, if you didn't understand just how gripping his loyalty to the house of atreides was expected to be, his betrayal didn't come off as something shocking at all, which was disappointing)

not to mention there seemed to be a pretty blatant disregard for the mysterious elements of it, which i always found to be the best part. i think the original framing of the freman as these people so separate from society that they're almost mythology made their eventual appearance (which was built up to very well in the book but... was thrust into the audience's faces in the first second of the movie with that narration) all the more awe-inspiring. ultimately though i think my main complaint comes down to pacing--if it were in my hands i would have doubled the time it took for everyone to actually arrive on arrakis--trying in that section to explain the relationships between the houses/the significance of the emperor/the bene gesserit/literally anything about why the Sardaukar were a force to be reckoned with/why jessica actually, wholeheartedly being in love with leto was significant, etc.

or, as my mom puts it:

#asks #im just a bitch but also. you can't beat the cast of the lynch movie? #personally i thought every portrayal in this (aside from javier bardem as stilgar) was so lackluster bc they didnt spend any time #developing anyone ?? #also i think timothee chalamet is. either not a good actor or very ill suited for this part? maybe it was the direction?? idk #and god it was such a shame to see jessica not . stoic? at all? or well composed?? i always see her backbone as the hallmark of her #character so her lack of depth was So disappointing to me

[tricewithaz]

THOTS ON SHADOW AND BONE

Hello everyone! it is I, Trice, and i come with my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone show cause ive got many

I'm gonna divide this in what i liked, what i disliked, and what i think could have been better but didn't really bother me. Feel free to send your opinions too!

As a whole, I really liked the show and I think it's a great adaptation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy. It's super well done! and every episode had me glued to the tv even though I knew what was going to happen.

Beware this is long

To start,

What i liked

Mal and Alina

I never really liked Mal in the books, mainly cause he had like, nothing going on for him, and not having his pov made him no favors whatsoever. Alina's perception of him was everychanging, two factors that didn't make him unlikeable necessarily, but that made me not want to read about him. In the show he's way more likeable and even though he still doesn't have a lot going on for him, you can see that he's always trying to protect alina, and you also see a bit of his demeanor through Archie's acting. I think he made a great job at portraying him. And Alina! Alina who in the books was essentially a y/n sort of character (although she did get better over time), her character, likes, dislikes, her DRIVE was incredibly portrayed in the show. Also Jessie (loml, marry me) and Archie have incredible chemistry together and they sold their yearning SO WELL (and so did the kid actors portraying them as children oh my GOD)...yall...i cried when they held hands. My favourite scene was definitely when Alina took care of Mal's wounds (a favorite trope of mine). And the HURT in their eyes whenever they thought the other was in danger....i saw the show dubbed but I'm sure their voices made it beyond incredible as well, their face acting was just on. point. Overall the show rEALLY makes me root for them both individually and together which is something the books didn't manage to do.

The Darkling

AAAAA i really enjoyed the Darkling omg, incredible charisma, Ben does such a great job (and so did his voice actor in Spanish oh my GOD). His acting was just as I imagined it in the books and i loved how he could be as sweet and mysterious as he could be menacing. In fact! i liked him more than i did in the book, and i think it was a great choice to make him more human. I'm not sure if this was Ben or the writing, but i could really see his yearning for an equal, for Alina, his loneliness and his thirst for power and control too. Great love interest, even greater villain. And his wardrobe was phenomenal. I also really liked how they implied that The Darkling was a name given by other people, it was very believable that people would call someone who literally controls shade something akin to "son of the dark" or something of the sort, instead of it being a name he gives himself or his job title (both if which are incredibly pathetic and cringy to think about).

Jesper

No comments. He was just great. I love Kit.

Nina

Omg Danielle did SUCH a great job at portraying Nina, it's exactly how i imagined her in Six of Crows.

Helnik

THE. YEARNING. THE. CHEMISTRY. I didn't love their scenes at the boat but once that was over I was practically screaming at the screen to jUST KISS ALREADY. Calahan and Daniell have such good chemistry together and the few changes they made only served the story better. I did wish they had development over more time cause Matthias' change of mind felt too quick, but i get why they had to rush. Because of how good their chemistry was, their fallout also was incredibly painful.

Inej's fear of the Menagerie and her morals

Amita's portrayal of Inej's hurt, devotion and her refusal to kill (and later hurt cause she has killed) is incredibly subtle but so SO effective. She's so talented really and truly sold Inej's feelings throughout the show.

VFX

Man.....the fold, the volcra, the grisha powers.....kudos to the animators and overall artistic team cause they were incredible. Also seeing the different title animations in each episode was such a tiny detail that made me so excited and they all looked so good.

Ketterdam

Again, kudos to the artistic team, everything about Ketterdam felt so alive (and weirdly moist), truly sold a kind of aesthetic and life that is so characteristic if the Barrel, even when i didn't imagine it that way in the books.

David

He appeared like, twice, and both times were so cute and charming I can't wait to see more of him both on his own and with Genya.

The Wardrobe

So, at first i hated the keftas. I thought the looked tacky and costume, but when you see them on screen they're just perfect (although i have to say the patterns on some of the keftas were kind of...cheap looking? and the training keftas were just kinda boring. My favourite was the Darkling's. Aside from that, i really liked Kaz's and inej's clothes too. Very distinctive and recognizable (although it was kind of weird seeing Inej in teal instead of purple lmao).

And the queen's dresses. Chefs kiss.

It's...so cheesy (affectionate)

The whole show felt like the kind of movies I would watch as a kid like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was stylized enough to make it incredibly dramatic and overall there was just so much heart behind all of it. Definetely a show to watch again and again and feel all of it, cause that's what it being so cheesy managed, to make me actually feel for it. It feels like something to watch on a rainy afternoon after a bad day....it's great okay i really enjoyed it, even (specially) the most unbelievable parts of it. And here's the thing, it's something that i think a lot of newer tv and film have lost, so this is good.

What i didn't like

Zoya

Mostly cause of the writing. Originally, in the first book, i didn't like her, neither as a character (stereotypical mean girl with no other motivation than to bang the love interests....all three of them....what's new i still think it's an incredibly sexist trope) or a person (hey at least this was intentional), but over time i grew to LOVE her (mean girl turns out to have a good heart and actually respects the mc and decides to fight alongside her cause it's what's right, without necessarily liking her or giving up her character??? AND she has strong motivations??? now THAT'S new). In the show, i hoped they would keep her mean girl nature while foreshadowing her depth, but all they did was turn her into a petty seductress with barely any screentime, and that only makes her not even a bad antagonist but just a boring character to watch. Not only that but they took away a big part of her character that needed to be developed in the next books. I wanted to watch her rivalry with Alina, her unjustified venomous tongue too, I wanted to be entertained by her and I wasn't. This was also a problem cause when she finally changed teams, and when she hugged Alina, it was incredibly unsatisfying, it would have had a way stronger effect if we had seen her being Ruthless Zoya with a big ambition. I also didn't like how we were told that she didn't like alina, or that she had a family, instead of it being shown on screen. Just from the show, all i can tell you about her is that she likes to bang people and she has a good moral code i guess. Yall, I'm so petty about this.

Kaz

So, I didn't hate him, in fact i think I would have enjoyed him if I hadn't read the books first, cause the two things that bother me about him were two essential characteristics of him in the books. FIrstly, he seems so strained, instead of the seemingly laid back, almost chill looking (even though we know he's not chill at all) Kaz we see in the books, the Kaz that always knows something that you don't. Show Kaz doesn't seem to always be in control, to always have the last word, the last laugh. Instead he seems strained, all the damn time. And I think this is mainly a writing and directing issue. And he also seems weak, something Book Kaz would never do. This is also an issue cause because he doesn't have the same presence he has in the books, the times where he is weak, don't seem as effective. Sure, Pekka Rollins has essentially reduced him and humiliated him, but I haven't seen enough of Kaz being actually dangerous for this to be shocking and for Pekka to seem even more hateable (and, i really liked Pekka, loved him as an antagonist more than i did in the books). Idk, Kaz was so charismatic and just fun and engaging to read in the books that his portrayal in the show felt lacking.

Alina's power's VFX

The little suns were cute and all but the light coming from within her was just ugly I'm sorry.

SFX

A lot of the sound design was just too stylized for the tone of the show i think. I particularly remember the sound of Mal's punches....what's that about.

What i think could have been better, but didn't particularly dislike

The Crows' storyline

And i think part of this is a consequence of Kaz not being as witty as he was in the books. Where's the incredibly complicated heist moves? the even more unbelievable C and D plans when something goes wrong? I didn't like that them getting Alina was essentially just luck, cause i didn't see enough of them being smart and quick on their feet. I also think it was unnecessary to have their storyline mixed with Alina's, i would have enjoyed watching a different heist, maybe in Ravka as well, and them incidentally crossing paths with Alina, more than i liked this storyline. ironically enough, the heist was the part i was least interested in

Genya and Alina

I just feel like her relationship with Alina wasn't strong enough, and i think it's because the show tried to make us believe they were much closer than they were without spending the necessary time in them.

Overall, I really really enjoyed the show, i will be watching it again (particularly cause i want to watch it in English) and i cannot wait for the second season omg (although i have to say, I'm scared for Nikolai)

I think that's all! I would also love to read yall's opinions and have a conversation.

#Shadow and Bone #Shadow and Bone spoilers #sab #sab spoilers #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #six of crows #malina #helnik #shadow and bone series #sab review

[ask-ivory]

RWBY Random Rant #2!

What villain is the best? (Cinder vs Roman)

Second rant everyone! This one may be a bit longer than the first, so if you don't have time but find this interesting, then I suggest reading this later. If you have infinite time on your hands and your board, then this might help depending on your interests. So let's jump into today's rant!

So, the world of Remnant is a big place. There, you'll find friendly people, weird people, mean people, and people who are just flat out crazy. But today, we're looking at a certain group of people: Villains. Now before we jump in to the blender of craziness, this post is an analysis that can be used for predictions and plot lines. I may be wrong, but I'm writing this off of what I know.

Anyways... Let's start with the basic question, What IS a villain? A villain (or for the more technical term: antagonist) is a character who is trying to stop the hero (or protagonist) from accomplishing his or her goal. Either this, or they're trying to get something and the hero is trying to stop them because what the villain wants is wrong. This is the loosest definition, so you can imagine that this goes way deeper than you think.

There are some things that you need to ask and have answered before you confirm who is the villain in a story. Some of which includes the following:

Who is this guy? (Basic background)

Why is he or she interested in this scenario? (Could this benefit to their cause?)

Why are they doing this? (If so, then why?)

So if we take this and try and apply it to the "villain" we can tell if this is a VILLAIN. Another important thing to note is the quality of the character. What sort of events cause the villain to act like this, and why?

Well, when we're talking RWBY, then villains come in different shapes and sizes. Some villains are immature, and others have experienced enough pain and defeat to know exactly what will work to achieve their goal and/or stop the hero. Then you have the peeps in the middle who aren't as overwhelming as the big baddie, but have enough common sense to know what's going on, what needs to be done, and why they're doing it.

So I'mma gonna start at the bottom of the rainbow and work my way up to the best colors. I'll also be rating these characters on a scale of one to ten. I won't do everyone. Let's start with the entire fandom's LEAST favorite character.

Cinder Fall

Stars: 0/10

Now if I was a writer for the show, I think the most interesting thing that could happen to Cinder is if she just dropped dead. That's how bad she. Literally. Now, what makes her so disgusting? There are two answers.

She did horrible things. Like hacking the communication towers (With help from Watts, of course), making the people at the Vytal Festival Tournament doubt the leaders of Vale, and, to top it off, KILLED Pyrrah and Ozpin.

But these are the actions a normal villain would do, so what really makes her Terrible? The second answer has the reason.

2. She's a poorly written character with a lack of depth are perception.

I have no idea what made the writers want to make Cinder a hated character, but whatever did worked really well. Honestly, it's like Roosterteeth did the opposite of what Disney did to Cinderella. But when I say she lacks depth, I mean there is nothing that makes her character any good. She's also one of the biggest mysteries in the show, and I don't mean that in a good way. Here are some of the questions that I often ask about her:

Why does she want power?

Does she want to rule the world?

Why does she wear an outfit that's guaranteed to help her freeze to death?

Does she want to kill Salem?

Why doesn't she learn from her mistakes?

WHY THE HECK DOES SHE EVEN EXIST?!?!?!

Well, after some examination, I found out something shocking. She is just a plot device. She may talk and act evil, but in reality, she's just there so that the characters have something to worry about. She has nothing that makes her good, or relatable. To add to that, she's like the Grimm, all she does is attack and kill and if she loses, she DOESN'T reflect on her actions, and she DOESN'T try to fix her mistakes. She just goes back into the fight with the same strategy as before. If the main protagonists studied Cinder's basic movement, then they would be able to take her down, no doubt.

Can Cinder be saved? The answer is no. I bet that, judging from the road she's going down, her strategy will be her ultimate end.

Hazel Rainheart

(I may have spelled his name wrong. Sorry.😁)

Stars: 2/10 ☆☆

Now Hazel is a bit more interesting. Unlike Cinder, he has a reason he's on the side he is now, but like everyone, he has his flaws. He lets his anger get the better of him, and he's quick to judge. But the real reason why he's not so good is because of his reasoning. His sister died on a training mission because SHE chose to become a huntress. But Hazel takes all of his anger out on Oscar and Ozpin just because he (Ozpin) was the headmaster of Beacon, and let her into the school in the first place.

And I gotta say, this reasoning is understandable, but it's still dumb.

But there is something that makes Hazel a huge threat to the heros: his semblance of pain nullification. This gives him the ability to block out pain. And I kinda get where it comes from.

When his sister died, he was broken. She was probably the only family Hazel had, and when she was killed, he wanted to block out the emptiness, the grief, the pain. Thus his semblance was unlocked and he could no longer feel pain. This ability is probably how his aura charges up so quickly. If pain can block aura from charging, then he has the tools to be a force to be reckoned with. The only downside is that just because he can't feel pain doesn't mean that he's not hurt.

Can Hazel be saved? Maybe. But if he goes on a redemption arch, then he will probably die. But that doesn't mean that he's a lost cause. There's still plenty of things that can be added to Hazel's character to make it better. But at the present, he could be better.

Adam Taurus

Stars 2/10 ☆☆

This character is relatively horrible. In fact, he's worse than Hazel!

But the thing is, he's like Hazel in a special way: he has a tragic past. Certain events that wreck a kid's childhood can scar them for life. Adam was discriminated for his faunus traits, and this set him on a path of revenge that would be his bitter end.

He was a threat, but small compared to the real one. His semblance made him very dangerous, but it also makes sense. To be more specific, his semblance is, what I like to call, absorption of impact (or for the EruptionFang version, moon slice). This gives him the ability to absorb any damage done by the enemy into his blade, then release it back at a more powerful rate. This can cause devastating damage to both the enemy and the environment. As for why he had this semblance is pretty basic once you think about it.

Adam desired to get back at those who mistreated him. He wanted them to feel his pain, but a lot more extreme. He wanted them to feel what he felt, but worse.

Adam had a lot of potential, but, well when you get stabbed in the back, it's not easy to get back at your enemies. Over all in terms of writing, the thing that would've made him better was a better understanding of what he went through.

Tyrian Callows

Stars 4/10 ☆☆☆☆

If Adam wasn't crazy enough for you, then Tyrian's your go to guy.

I think that Tyrian is insane enough to join Salem, but has enough sense to know how to kill. He's kinda tough to figure out, but thanks to some much needed information in Volume 7, we now know a bit about Tyrian's past.

Tyrian was a mad man killer on the continent of Anima but was captured. He was then rescued by Salem and her Grimm. Since he's mad he owed his life to her ever since.

He's mad, so there's no bad excuse. And to add to that, he is flat down dangerous. His semblance is the ability to cut through aura, making him a hard to beat.

Can Tyrian be saved? Not really. The only way to kill him is for someone to fall victim to him while another strikes the killing blow.

Doctor Aurthor Watts

Stars: 5/10 ☆☆☆☆☆

Alright. Here we go!

Watts is very interesting. That's saying alot. Now that we have more information on him, it's easier to see why he wants to screwer Ironwood.

He was an Atlasian scientist who went against Pietro in the effort to make something great for Atlas. While Watts helped write the Atlas security code, Pietro found that the best inspiration is found inside. That was were Penny was created. Watts was disgraced and faked his death. Then Salem found him and he joined her group to get both revenge on Ironwood and respect from Atlas. Though he is clearly unaware of what Salem's true plans are.

He is a wiz when it comes to technology. Besides that, I believe he has some experience with combat. His semblance could have something to do with technology, but we're still figuring that out.

Can Watts be saved? Writing wise, maybe we can get more details about Watts in the final episodes. He's not a lost cause when it comes being a more interesting villain.

Story wise though? He's a dead man.

Salem

Stars: 6/10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆

Yes, I didn't save her for until the end.😼

Now from the writer's point of view, Salem's backstory has been completely fleshed out. It's pretty complicated so I won't go into details. But from that alone, Salem's actons make sense. As a prisoner of life, she yearns to be free. She wants to die. And she believes that the only way to do this is to divide humanity and summon the gods in there darkest hour. Then the gods destroy the world and Salem is free. She doesn't care about the people she is hurting. She hates humanity and wants to destroy everything. But above all, she wants to get permanent revenge on her ex Ozma (or Ozpin or Oscar). She wants him to die and stay dead when millennia ago she made great sacrifices to try bringing him back from the dead.

Now she has nothing to show for it except endless years of war, hatred, and suffering. There is some relation that one can have with Salem. If anyone who is reading this tried to do something for someone you cared about, but got nothing to show for it in return, then that's what Salem would be feeling. And this has caused her to spiral into madness. She is the purest definition of crazy.

Can Salem be saved? It depends at this point. Story wise, most likely not.

Emerald and Mercury!

Stars for them both 7/10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

These two are going to be paired in honor of their beloved ship: Emercury.

Both characters have tragic pasts, so that gives them some common ground, but both are looking for something different. Emerald is looking for love, the one thing that she never had in her entire life. Mercury is looking for a purpose in life, a way to make himself Worthy of greatness. He claims that Cinder recruiting him was just destiny.

Both of these peeps are incredibly good at what they do. Both can fight better than the members of team CFVY.

Emerald's semblance is Perception manipulation, which makes perfect sense in her case. In a very special case, her semblance is similar to Adam's. She wants others to see what she sees, Emerald wants people to see how alone she is, and just how much she needs family. Her semblance is an incarnation of her desire. And she uses it to make people see what she wants them to see.

Mercury's semblance is currently unknown at this time. But we do know that his semblance was stolen by his father. After killing him, Mercury probably got his semblance back, but lives under the illusion that it's still gone.

Mercury grew up in an abusive household, under the guard of a murderer. He was tortured everyday by his father.

Emerald grew up on the streets.

Basically, these characters are well written, and both have great potential as well. There's even some hope of a redemption Arch for these two, and possibly some romance.

Can Emerald and Mercury be saved? Writing wise, yes. More trauma and info can definitely help. Story wise? Hopefully, yes.

Roman Torchwick

Stars: 9/10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Time for the classics!

This charming young schemer has been the first character in the actual show. Fans everywhere love him, and will often mark him as the best villain. Honestly, I have nothing against it. But for the sake of this post, let's break down this lovely character and examine his awesomeness.

Roman's origin is currently unknown, but maybe we'll get some light cast on it with Neo's backstory as well. Many believe that he is somehow connected to Brunswick Farms, and it's still a possibility that has yet to be ruled out.

Roman is a good fighter and a master mind behind the underground crime rings of Vale. By himself, he is a relatively good fighter. Though his semblance has yet to be determined, he has his own Roman candle.

Another aspect of this character that won the hearts of fans is his charming personality. I mean, who can blame him? Though his death was sudden, and unfair, his handsome face will live on in the hearts of many.

Neo Politan

Stars: 10/10⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The star of the show, folks!

Neo made her big enterence in Volume 2 episode 4 Painting the Town, and ever since has been one of the most popular characters in the entire show. If you break down Neo's character based on what we know, then it's actually really interesting. Let's scoop ice cream!

Neo's backstory is unknown, but we're hoping to have some light shed on the subject. Based off of the song "One Thing", we can tell that Neo's backstory is tragic in some way. She lost everything except for Roman. And she is willing to fight to protect Roman from the death. How do I know?

Her semblance is called illusions by many, but Unicorn of War calls it Mirrors, which I think is the most accurate. Her semblance gives her the ability to reflect her opponent's attacks upon themselves, and she can change her appearance right down to her hair and eye color.

What does any of this have to do with protecting Roman? She will use Any means necessary to protect what little she has left, and to her, that one thing is enough. She Will change her identity as many times as possible, and she often gets away with it. But she is so fierce in protecting that during a fight, any pain that the enemy can dish out to her dumdum would make her determined to kick her opponent's butt. She would give them a taste of their own medicine and literally reflect their attacks upon themselves.

She is a reflection of protection. And like that reflection she represents, she says not a word, but shows people how exactly they can hurt the one she loves.

After Roman's death, Neo Politan is determined to reflect her loves justice upon the true enemies. If you can't face yourself, then you can't face Neo.

So, there you have it, villains everywhere.

Be sure to reblog if you found this interesting!

If you have questions, then ask away!😁

#RWBY Random Rant #RWBY #rwby villains #cinder fall #hazel #rwby tyrian #tyrian callows #doc. Watts #Salem #rwby salem #more historical data that doctor oobleck would faint if he saw it all #emerald #Mercury #Roman #neo politan

[lonewolfshayu]

Vengeful by VE Schwab book review. I first reviewed Vengeful on my currently deleted Tumblr account, Spaniard Seer. And I can't remember if I posted a review of Vengeful on this account, so I'm making sure to do it now.

First of all, I have to say I hated Vengeful. But I loved Vicious, the first book, so much.

Second of all, VE Schwab still has my respect. I just don't like this sequel at all.

Third of all, please understand that this is my opinion of Vengeful. I'm not trying to hate on this book just to hate on it.

Okay.

2 out of 5 stars is what I rated Vengeful.

It's not 1 out of 5 stars, because this novel still kept me a bit entertained. I just didn't like it, ultimately.

1 This book read like a really bad fanfic written by someone who isn't even VE Schwab. That's how I can describe Vengeful in one sentence.

2 Marcella bored me to tears. Not literal tears, but reading her POVs was horrible stressful. After I read this novel, I never wanted to hear another mention of high heels or fingernails ever again. The repetition of high heels and fingernails in Marcella's chapters was EXTREME. It was awful.

3 Marcella's sex scene mentions with her husband was so cringe. I can't even describe how bad it was. You really got to read it for yourself.

4 Slut shaming from Marcella. Sigh.

5 It might not be obvious, but Marcella was a huge reason why I hated this book. Seriously, there was nothing interesting about her. She wasn't even a villain I could despise. She was annoying more than anything. Meanwhile, my hatred for Eli is OBVIOUS in my posts about this series. You can't even love to hate Marcella. She wasn't a good villain at all. Just a waste of a character.

6 Hallelujah. It's sweet how I have so many more reasons why I despise this novel. I HATED VICTOR IN THIS BOOK. Victor was likable in the first book, but he was so sociopathic that even that was hard to do. Still, the dude was practically a hero. In the first book, that is. In VENGEFUL, he starts murdering innocent EOs. Just like Eli. He became too dark. Slipped too much into black morality. I couldn't root for him anymore. Without a doubt, this is the main reason why I hated this novel. The biggest reason. Everyone becomes pure villains in this. And if they're not a pure villain, then they helped the pure villains(Mitch and Sydney helping Victor, like some minions or something)

7 Before I forget, I need to say that June's fondness of Sydney was random and creepy in a child predator type of way. If June was a man, imagine how creepy this would be. The woman even meets Sydney at a park, for God's sake. We don't know a damn thing about June's past. And we can't care about her motivations because of that. We don't even know her motivations. June was even more of a waste of a character than Marcella. Schwab really should have given her more depth and history. Because I really couldn't care about June. She was a total waste. There's such thing as too much mystery.

8 Eli Ever. I genuinely wish Eli did a face heel turn in this book. You know, become good. Go from "evil" to "good". Because Eli was genuinely my last hope. I couldn't care about Victor anymore. Or Sydney. Or Mitch. Didn't even like June or Marcella in any way. Didn't find them interesting. Eli Ever becoming a character to root for would have been great. But no, Eli is still evil Eli from the first book. And yet, I really loved his POVs. You know you effed up when I actually WANT to hear from Eli Ever. For comparison, I hated him so much in the first book. In this one, it was easier to root for him. Now that he wasn't killing innocent people. I still hated him, but hated him less. If he became a good guy, regretted his past murder of the innocent EOs, and fought against all the villains (villains like Victor) MAYBE I would have given this book three stars. Maybe.

9 I couldn't care about anyone in this book, simply put. That made for boring reading.

10 I genuinely forgot there was one character I did care about. Dom. Dominick freaking Rusher. The ex-soldier from book one who can stop time and teleport this way. Dude was golden. And Victor being mean to him and calling him a fool after Dom SAVED his life was just terrible. And out of character. Victor is prone to being stoic and aloof, but he wouldn't straight up insult someone like that. See? Even that shows how much of a villain he became. Victor in this book and Victor from book one might as well be two different characters. They didn't even feel like the same guy. Plus, Victor can suddenly control people's bodies via their nerves? Seriously? Cringe. Just cringe. Cringe and a stupid power upgrade.

11 BTW June randomly bumping into Victor at the strip club was an awful meeting. Seemed so cliché and convenient.

12 I hated Vengeful. Absolutely despised it. I still do. I highly recommend not reading it. There are no characters to root for. No "good" aligned characters to care about. No "villains" to love to hate. And everyone else in-between aren't interesting at all. Things in this book was so contrived and convenient for the sake of plot. And that's not to mention there are loads of cringe and out of character moments.

2 out of 5 stars.

#Vengeful #ve schwab #Books #reading #Literature

[elizabethrobertajones]

You know, I desperately want Destiel to be end game as much as anybody, but somedays I think I would just be content if the show just textually acknowledged that Dean's bi. Something as simple as a dude at a bar asking Dean to come home w/ him while they're on a case and Dean saying something like "any other day I'd take you up on that but I can't tonight." IDK the subtext that Dean is bi is strong enough that I can't say the GA would be shocked by it and it would just be a nice textual nugget.

Hey, sorry it took so long to answer this, I’ve not been at my best for ages… Been thinking about this all week though :P 

I think it feels to me like the general audience can discard or mentally discredit an AWFUL lot of implication and direct hints - there have been comments and moments in many bits of media which imply directly or with heavy innuendo that a character may be interested in a non-hetero way to someone - especially things like teasy moments… 

Thinking of things like in HIMYM there’s an ongoing joke about Lily having a crush on Robin, but since she’s with Marshall the entire show, it doesn’t really go anywhere, and when they do kiss the dynamic swaps and Robin is left with kind of a crush on her and Lily’s over it and it’s all a joke, and even though they kissed it was a lol girls kissing is hot joke for the whole show, and it never turned into a discussion of sexuality, even if they would both happily stay married in their heterosexual marriages. (And… Uh. Robin stays married okay, I’m pretty sure that was the alternate ending in the DVD unless I hallucinated it out of sheer frustration >.>) Anyway to me it seems pretty natural to read both of them a little queer to full on bi, and if it had gone even a little bit differently Lily especially could be good representation for a bi woman in a relationship with a man who just happens to have ended up falling in love with him and that’s normal and doesn’t invalidate her sexuality? But yeah. No such nuance, so this whole thing barely registers for people and in general people would think it’s all a joke. 

I mean, even Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which is where that Getting Bi song comes from, has an episode where the main character has a huge rival-crush on the girlfriend of the guy she’s into, and gets so into her she even kisses her, but there’s no exploration of what that means to her and when her boss comes out as bi with that number, no exploration of if she might be as well, even if all these characters eventually might feel more comfortable defining themselves as straight it’s just weird to me there’s all these jokes about it which can go as far as kisses, use overly romantic language or a long-running joke of Lily heavily coming onto Robin or something, and yet unless you’re like a magpie collecting all this stuff it’s all still just noise. 

I bet a ton of people would not even have considered the characters were not-straight, even when directly pointing their eyes at this moment, consider it all as a joke or that it’s just something straight people do sometimes because of the cultural massive repression of bisexuality and the indications in more liberal times and places that when polled people will be majority queer to straight with at least some bi leanings… There’s all these headlines about gen Z being the gayest generation yet, but it’s not something in the water, it’s that previous generations have never dared be as open or consider that they’re non-straight, especially if they are easily attracted to people heterosexually… 

I think the Aaron scene was 90% of the way to what you are describing, minus Dean giving him a raincheck overtly, and Aaron admits it was a ruse before any further tension can follow. I think, having snooped a lot of blog archives in my time, that really was a turning point that got a lot of people convinced of the textual possibilities, especially with the director/writer commentary basically confirming it. And obviously it didn’t work to make EVERYONE see it, although fandom swelled that season and it was a very dramatic moment in the history of bi!Dean and Destiel within fandom. 

To give another example from outside the show, I’ve been watching Black Sails with my friend, who is very straight in mindset, and - major spoilers for that show ahead - the main character is confirmed to be overtly queer in the  middle of the second season. I think I know exactly the point I would have picked up this was a queer narrative in the first season, and what would have made me suspicious about the mysteriously un-revealed backstory. The build up to the reveal was amazing in the second season and I think if you didn’t get it you really need to do a rewatch, because my friend was utterly blindsided by the revelation, only catching on a scene before it happened (she does like guessing and is smart at TV if she knows all the cues to start with). But she’s - sorry - at sea with the character’s motivations and reasons, and understands his earlier actions almost completely backwards to me as she took him on face value for far too long without suspecting there was more than treasure and restoring his name on order, and not understanding his motives to be so political or to want to burn the entire system down or his utter alienation from the system; even after the reveal she didn’t understand the degree to which things were on the line or the forces pressuring him one way or the other. 

(I find it really interesting and I’m not really disagreeing with her, I’m curious how the surface layer all reads tbh :P) 

In any case, I don’t really have much confidence in a wider general audience taking throwaway moments to be full canon, and generally would need declarations and inescapable discussion or plot arcs for it. I think in some ways the trail is being blazed now - when Rosa came out as bi in b99 it had a sort of special episode educating you on it as much as being very sympathetic for bi people to watch and see literally a bulletpoint list of their issues and weird things people say about it acted out on screen. The subplot is basically the masterclass in addressing it. 

(So is the Getting Bi song :P although it covers less of the issues overall, it does make it fun and normalises the idea into a dance routine and deals with someone discovering the label for themselves and being thrilled it makes their life make sense.) 

I don’t think spn should do anything quite so specific or hilarious, but I love @bluestar86‘s concept of an episode which uses flashbacks to reveal Dean’s bisexuality - basically like with Robin in 9x07, but I think even just showing it was a childhood crush and he never figured it all out at the time but meeting the guy later in life makes things make a lot of sense or something… And we already have a template for that without going all the way into it with his reaction to meeting Gunnar Lawless, a childhood celebrity crush. So there’s paths to take which could do it.

But ultimately I think the issue is so messed up and tangled into the main arc that it would be next to impossible to confirm Dean is bi without having an utter drama about why not Destiel, as the two concepts are not, at this point, really separate or that you could have one without the other, though it would be easier to not address Dean’s sexuality in any way of assigning labels or having more than the immediately necessary self-reflection to deal with feelings for Cas without exploring deeper… (Not that I like that idea, it’s just, they could, you know? Not even in a “i don’t like labels” way but just something like Dean going “huh” and then getting together with Cas and literally no one ever makes a fuss or starts up a dialogue about why they’re now holding hands :P) 

But it’s been such a ridiculous, epic, drawn out relationship on screen that making Dean bi independent of Cas would seem bizarre and off-balance without addressing his relationship to Cas. Just because they have such an intense relationship, and within the text of the show are many many references to their relationship on many different levels, from snide comments to enormous declarations. None of this happens in isolation to other storylines or character depth. With the momentum and depth it has in the story, making Dean bi would be seen as a precursor to Destiel, and at this point cruel and strange not to address it and would beg the question of why they ever confirmed him bi in the first place, if not to leave the ship unresolved to the end but to be open for us to imagine it might happen one day when the story is over - or not, if we don’t ship it, and it’s the way to thread a needle to try and keep everyone happy. Which I’m not sure would work except for the people who very specifically would advocate for bi Dean but don’t think a ship is necessary. I mean, I know that’s a chunk of the Dean fandom, and it’s a valid way to read the text, and of course a lot of Destiel shippers are fully aware Dean is bi without any special interference from Cas about that :P 

And, I mean, in the same way, Cas’s story isn’t ALL about Dean and he has a lot of personal growth that doesn’t have to do with him or happens in spite of him in some cases. But it’s still inextricable from Cas’s character how much he loves Dean and how much Dean has meant to him, and they crossed the line of Cas loving Dean, unrequited or not, a long time ago, and Cas has been existing in a subtextual agony of being in love with Dean but seemingly unrequited for a very long time now, as that line was crossed before several season renewals made it  a painful wait for him. This doesn’t exist in a void to Dean’s sexuality either. 

So, I mean, I don’t know. I disagree with you about the general audience thing entirely, and I think this exchange you imagine could easily be absorbed by the GA to not really credit it as a full part of Dean’s character, laugh it off as a joke from him no matter how seriously he delivers it, and generally not remember him as a bisexual character. Because to straight viewers, they aren’t seeking out sexuality hints and confirmations, and such things don’t really affect their view of a character unless it becomes a textual romance. It has all the meaning sucked from it by their lack of interest and inability to sympathetically mould the character’s inner life based on their own experiences that match. If they’re not making a study of the character, these things can be dismissed as white noise, and in a few years time, a Buzzfeed article of “10 Pop Culture Characters You Never Knew Were Gay!” or something.

And it’s like, yes. We knew. We knew all along. We knew before it happened. But that doesn’t affect how people think of it.

So it feels to me like the only way if they wanted to make a real point of Dean being bi is to have the frank discussion, and devote a proper subplot amount of time to Dean’s sexuality, enough that it is clear and inescapably affecting him, or to confirm it via a relationship which would in this case conveniently by answered by the angel he’s been subtextually pining for for years, and who has his own arc of being pretty overtly in love with Dean to answer… should the show decide to go with addressing Dean’s sexuality, they have put a LOT of work into having this relationship ready and waiting, I’m just saying :P And if they only had an Aaron but x10 scene, it would STILL not really affect anything except layers below GA  - there’ll be more queer viewers who see it for the first time, and within these four walls it will obviously never be forgotten and will be a huge part of how Dean is celebrated by fandom, but I just can’t see it making an impact unless it’s more than a passing moment, because those get swallowed by a heteronormative void…

#Asks #riverboat gambling #dean is bi #destiel

[salvo-love]



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Photo by someone who took my advice

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