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janiedean · 3 years

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I came from a country where being gay is not illegal but still very badly seen so what Eric did to me came off as spoiled and privileged. Nigerian men risk their lives every time they try to live and he just comes on a holiday risk for nothing and get a high out of it like... I get he is a poc in uk so racism but he is still privileged in respect to Nigerian living there and it felt like when tourists do all they want and use foreign countries as a eat pray love playground for adrenaline and Deep Moments

thanks for having partially confirmed to me one thing i didn’t quite know how to articulate and again i don’t… right with the premise that ofc not being poc and/or lgbt myself so my opinion is worth what it’s worth i felt like not only it made eric come off as privileged and not quite realizing it - or if it was the target then it wasn’t well written nor did it come across well - the points that imvho are not well put in this entire narrative are the following

let’s say one target was ‘we want eric to reconnect with the nigerian part of his heritage and realize that being gay in the uk is a privileged position in comparison to being gay in nigeria’: there is a single moment where he feels unsafe on the car but then he goes into the bar and it was played as… like THRILLING WILL WE GET CAUGHT OR NOT but i didn’t perceive that he felt in danger or like he realized exactly what he was facing

the whole family reconnection part was like… his mom lied about her husband bc family peace and kind of forces him to not be out bc she fears for his safety so like now unless i remember wrong eric has been out/never felt like he didn’t have to be since the show started so it should have a) given him insight re how it feels to NOT being able to be out b) let his mom connect with him on having to lie abt your significant other part c) concluded with at least a hint he could come out to nigerian family and like… point b) was more or less explored, c) was hinted bc he talked to his grandma abt adam but a) felt ABSOLUTELY missing because he comes back and everything he seems to gather from it is I WANT TO GO TO BARS BECAUSE I CAN? and most of all……. going through a) should have made him more sympathetic to adam’s struggles and instead it seemed like he deduced ‘oh since in nigeria it’s illegal then it makes no sense he’s taking so much time’ like…? it’s… a pretty self centered take to get out of this entire experience and if it was a check your privilege storyline then good but… it didn’t feel like that was how they framed honestly and why talking abt adam to the grandma if he’s gonna dump him????

now the eat pray love thing you mentioned is… i mean i felt like it was along those lines but as stated couldn’t be sure re my take but again my issue is with how they went at it, bc you CAN do that narrative if you clearly frame it as ‘we like eric and he’s a swell guy but he’s not free from that kinda behavior in light of the fact that living in the uk gives him automatic privilege wrt being out so we’re going to explore how he deals with it and it might be badly but then he learns from it and checks his privilege’ like it’s smth that can happen and everyone in this show has been shitty wrt smth at some point which is good bc it means everyone is written realistically… i’m not sure the narrative said THAT but it didn’t look like even the writers knew bc it was all over the place?? and i mean… i get that this show has realistic teenagers which means they can behave like petty assholes but like it was rushed, badly explained, not overt re wtf they wanted to do with this storyline and it’s not clear if eric even cares at the end?? and thats ooc anyway bc the eric we saw until this point isn’t… that callous or dismissive? and it never seemed to me like they wanted to write him as positive char that progressively gets less sympayhetic so honestly this entire plotline looks stupid

like the thing is at the end of it: - has eric reconnected to his nigerian heritage/found a way to balance it with his uk background? doesn’t seem to me like he did - has eric concluded anything re telling the nigerian side of his family that he’s out? no - has eric gained some actual insight from his experience that’s not ‘I want to go to bars because I can and I have no patience for someone who needs to take it slower’? doesn’t seem to me like he did - has eric realized that adam not being ready to tell his own mom stuff was a sort of parallel situation to his own mother not being ready to tell her mom stuff and like... if eric’s own mom lied about her partner to her family for years and still wasn’t ready to do it then why is giving adam a bit more time to tell his own mom especially given his less than stellar background re accepting himself and coming out such a hardship? no and we just don’t know basically this entire plotline could have gone a bunch of different places that were interesting/could have caused strong conflict/interesting storytelling but it didn’t do any of these things and fell back on like... cheap drama for the sake of it and honestly idt it was very sensitive wrt anything included in it which honestly strikes me as odd bc if sex ed ever did one thing right was treating sensitive subjects well without dancing around it or making things sugarcoated and still letting the characters not be cardboards so I’m very very perplexed about it and I just hope they plan to reveal wtf they wanted it to be next year because honestly I don’t know what it wanted to be and if they didn’t make it clear it’s not good writing - which until now they had in spades, therefore....

like, there’s nothing... narratively wrong in ‘I want to show that character X who faces racism and homophobia in the UK would have privilege wrt being able to be out/live his sexuality without shame in the UK and not in the country his family comes from and he has no idea because he hasn’t entertained that thought and he might come off as unpleasant or incapable of immediately getting it while that happens’, but the thing is that in this specific narrative it’s not clear whether eric got it or if he didn’t bc teenagers are shallow and don’t get it (which..... I mean the teens in this show aren’t exactly shallow like that so that doesn’t really hold up) or if he’s having trouble processing it or if the trip shook his entire world (didn’t seem like it) so like... I should hope next season it’s addressed what they want this thing to be because honestly idk and I don’t particularly like the direction it took

this adding that anyway again the way they broke eric and adam off like that makes the whole S2 finale look sour and eric come off like an asshole also wrt rahim because I mean, one thing is ‘eric has been in love with adam/has liked adam best all along but adam wasn’t around and he liked rahim so he gave it a shot but rahim wasn’t it for him so when adam does the great love gesture for him in front of everyone he decides to leave rahim for him’ because like that sucked for rahim anyway but it also wouldn’t have been fair to him to not break it off if eric had stronger feelings for someone else (and that was clear from the get-go) and then when they get together eric puts effort in it and they go places, one thing is ‘all of that happens but then the moment they aren’t on the exact same page and/or eric realizes he doesn’t want to put the necessary effort into respecting the time adam needs to handle his things even when adam forgives him and says he’ll try to get on track with him’ and so the solution is nah let’s break up instead of putting some work into it when ngl adam has been doing 85% of that this season................. it makes him look like the moment there’s an obstacle to a relationship he’s in or his partner isn’t on the same wavelength he’d just rather break it off first instead of giving it a go and that’s not a really great look on him and as stated it makes the thing with rahim look really bad because again one thing is leaving someone you like for someone who feels like is the love of your life and another thing is leaving someone you like for someone who loves you that much but then you’ll leave them too because..... he needs time to talk to his mother and he’s not ready to be fully out when he comes from repressingyourfeelingsinternalizedhomobiphobia central? like........ dunno but it just feels sour and like nothing one would expect out of eric as he was written/developed until now so I’mma just wait to see what they do next season but it’s just not good writing all around

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #sex education spoilers #sex education for ts #janie rants #i mean i have... issues also wrt jean's infidelity™ storyline #esp in light of the fact that it was anti terf season which i ABSOLUTELY appreciated a whole fucking lot #and wrt a lot of stuff happening for the sake of cheapass drama which could have been obtained differently #let's not talk about the aimee and steve thing issues #bc that also was a choice™#idk the fact that NO ONE literally NO ONE except ola and lily got nice things #AND honestly ola deserved a lot worse narratively bc she did lily way dirty #was... a choice #long post for ts #idk idk idk #there was a lot of good stuff this season but the implications at the last couple eps......... eeeeh

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greatqueenanna · 4 years

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Why A Frozen Heart does not support a redemption for Hans.

Whenever I explore the Helsa tag for neat fanart and ideas, I always come across a post or two about Elizabeth Rudnick’s book, A Frozen Heart, and why this book supports the idea that Hans should get a redemption arc. It is no secret that I’ve talked about this book before in debates on my Hans related posts, and why I actually don’t consider this book part of the Frozen Franchise Canon.

Jen Lee and Chris Buck had no involvement in it. I cannot find any sources where Jen Lee, Chris Buck or Elizabeth Rudnick talking about this book.

There are a number of inconsistencies between the book and the original film Frozen. I4

It is labeled as a ‘retelling’ for young adults, basically telling a story differently than what was presented in canon. It’s almost a remake.

Disney Corp. doesn’t seem to consider it canon either, given the fact that they presented this image at the Hyperion Frozen Performance in 2016.

To give some perspective, A Frozen Heart was written in 2015. If it the book was 100% canon, then they would have to acknowledge the family from that book in this performance. Also, Frozen Heart talks about how some of his brothers have blonde hair, to which here they all have red.

But with this being said, because of the fact that it keeps being brought up by the Hans Redemption fan-base, I feel it is finally time for me to revisit the book - I re-read all of Hans’ chapters, and after doing this, this is my conclusion -

Hans is still very much portrayed with sociopathic traits and still does not deserve a redemption arc, as he is very conniving and evil in this book, just as his whole family. I do agree that the portrayal of him as a sociopath is not the greatest in this book, as he demonstrates fear and anxiety. Regardless, he still shows traits of being narcissistic and manipulative, and states himself that he doesn’t feel emotions, which are big traits when it comes to ASPD.

More Under the read more. *WARNING*, this section i going to be very long, sorry.

Evidence 1: Fleeting Sympathy

The first evidence of sociopathic traits comes early on, when Hans supposedly feels sympathy for his oldest brother’s wife.

She (Caleb’s Wife) looked painfully uncomfortable, and for a brief moment, Hans felt sorry for her(....)Well, at least father is kind to her. Hans acknowledged, some of his sympathy fading. (pg. 27)

Now, it is easy to misinterpret this quote as Hans showing empathy. However, the author labels this as sympathy, not empathy. What’s the difference?

Sympathy is like pity, where someone will acknowledge that someone is suffering. Empathy is when someone actually feels bad about it, and wants to help said person or see them feel better.

Here, Hans simply acknowledges that Caleb’s wife is suffering, but doesn’t feel out right sorry for her. In fact, it states that Hans only felt sorry for her for a brief moment, and this pity is fleeting. Why? Because Hans puts his own suffering above hers.

If Hans actually felt empathy for her, he wouldn’t acknowledge his own suffering, and instead just comment on how uncomfortable she looks. For example -

“She looked painfully uncomfortable. Hans felt bad for her; he knew what it was like to be ignored and her struggle made him wince.”

Or something like that. But Hans is actually saying this -

“Well, she’s suffering, and that’s sad, but my life is worse so who cares.”

Here, it clearly shows that while Hans can recognize that people can be sad, but will always put his own emotions and needs above other’s.

Evidence 2: Disrespect

Now on to how Hans treats Lars. Lars has an understanding with Hans because he used to be the younger brother, thus he’s nicer to Hans. Hans even recognizes that Lars is the only person he can talk to - but there’s a catch. Hans only wants to talk about himself.

On pg. 39, Hans states that Lars could go on and on about History. The chapter states that while Hans find his hobby endearing, he refuses to listen for more than a few minutes, often getting up and leaving without telling him anything. This shows that Hans has no real respect for Lars or his interests, and only indulges him because Lars is the only one who treats Hans nicer.

On page 60, Hans also shows disgust for the villagers giving him something in place of tax payments, showing no sympathy for their situation and finding their alternate payments disgusting.

Evidence 2 Envy for Power and Praise.

There is a moment in the book where Hans daydreams about being the only son, and getting constant attention from his father. This is on page 28 - 29.

His frustration here is not that the King is abusive, but that his father ignores him. And only him. In fact, he indirectly insults his older brother.

“Hans wondered if Caleb even appreciated his father’s attention.”

Without considering his brother’s emotions or stance on the subject, Hans shrugs away any empathy for his brother and out write states that Caleb doesn’t appreciate the attention he gets from their father.

Of course, the argument could be made that Hans’ brothers treat him poorly, so there’s no reason for him to feel pity for them. And while that may be true for some of his brothers, Caleb has never been shown to be abusive towards him. Thus, his envious comments are unwarranted. He simply doesn’t like him because Caleb receives the attention from his father that Hans craves.

It is also worthy to note that Hans does not desire love or compassion from his father. He only wants him to give him what he believes he is entitled to - praise and becoming a King.

Later on, Hans basically becomes a lapdog to his father in order to convince him to let him go to Arendelle. The author mentions this -

“Even now, when he had been given a role of some honor, he couldn’t let go of the bitterness of his past. But never mind that, he thought, I’ll show them soon enough.” (Pg. 58)

This shows that even now when he has slowly started to earn respect from his father, and gaining an honorable position at his side, it is not enough for him. He craves more power, and only becoming a King will supposedly satisfy this thirst.

On Page 85, Hans shows envy at Anna and Elsa sharing a bond.

Evidence 4 Objectifying Others

Hans feels entitled for a wife in the early pages of the book. This goes to show that Hans does not view women as people, but as objects to further his own status.

“And while he had heard the royal affairs coordinator discussing possible suitors for his brothers, Hans had not heard a peep about a possible wife for him.” (Pg. 32)

Later on, when Lars tells Hans about Elsa being single, he essentially treats her as if she’s a tool for his advantage, not a human being.

“This plan meant getting his father to trust him and convincing a woman he had never met to marry him(...)He would have to stop spending his days daydreaming and learn how to become more conniving.” (Pg. 42)

It’s so easy for Hans to just accept the fact that he would need to be conniving in order to get what he wants. He doesn’t feel bad for thinking it, nor does he try to consider what Elsa has been though. She’s just the mysterious princess who he needs to convince to marry him. Nothing more.

“No matter what Queen lay in wait for him inside Arendelle’s castle, Hans knew that he would find a way to become her King.” (Pg. 59)

Again, overall disinterest in Elsa as a human being, and only refers to her as a ‘what’ and that she is his for the taking. This is further supported on Pg. 65, when he runs into Anna thinking its Elsa.

“That, he thought, could not have gone better. Princess Elsa of Arendelle was practically his!”

Later on, after the run in, Hans is disappointed that he ran into Anna instead of Elsa, even considering running into her a joke. Pg. 71 -72. The only time he starts to consider Anna, is when he realizes that Elsa is unreachable. “Considering” is a strong word or course, as he is basically just throwing away one item and getting another, easily talking about how he wants to overthrow Elsa.

“It was all obvious now. He would marry Anna and overthrow Elsa.” (Pg. 77)

Again, Hans is so easily able to just announce these things without feeling even a bit of remorse, and treats the sisters as tools.

We’re not even half way through the novel yet, and Hans has already showed his blatant disrespect for others, objectification of others, bitterness, and entitlement for power and possessions. Not once has he shown any sort of reluctance or empathy for his actions and thoughts, and has an unquenchable thirst for power.

To avoid this getting too long, I’m going to do a “Lightning Round” of quotes that shows Hans’ terrible nature.

“Hans let a out a sigh of relief as a warm feeling flooded his chest. Now, now, he told himself. Remember why you’re here. This is a business transaction, nothing more.” Pg. 100

While throughout the novel Hans does indeed show that he actually might have some kind of admiration for Anna, and even enjoys some of her antics, he makes it very clear that he has no interest in actually falling in love with her and stops himself when he thinks he might be enjoying her company.

Next, while Anna and Hans are trying to tell Elsa about their engagement -

“Hans remembered the advice from his father(...)If you wanted to get someone to like you, you just had to act like a mirror. People love their own reflections.” (Pg. 104)

This shows that even in the novel’s universe, Hans purposefully mirrors people because he knows it will get people to like him.

This is a big one. When Hans and his men find Elsa’s beautiful grove -

“Hans had been clinging to one single reassuring thought: Elsa was a monster. (...) It was this, her utter lack of humanity, which guaranteed Hans his chance to be a Hero. If the people of Arendelle feared Elsa, they would want her to be captured and restrained. They would want her to abdicate her throne, and in turn, they would want Hans to take it.(...) All he had to was make sure that she never created anything like this again. He would destroy this glen and any trace of beauty.” (Pg. 198 - 199)

In this long passage that I summarized to the main points, Hans displays disappointment and how disgusted he is that Elsa is capable of beauty, because he wants everyone to think she’s a monster. He even states that he will destroy all evidence of Elsa’s beauty.

The book also recognizes Hans’ actions towards the chandelier.

Hans looked around the room desperate for a plan, and noticed the giant chandelier directly above Elsa. (...) True, it might kill her, but would that be so bad? One less obstacle to the throne.” (Pg. 226)

Chapter 26 showcases the darkest Hans has ever been throughout the novel. The entire chapter is filled with such hateful and entitled comments from him, it’s ridiculous. Honestly, I could sit here and quote the whole chapter. But let’s just get a couple of the worst things.

“Hans shook his head, He wasn’t there to fill a hole in Anna’s heart. He was there to win a throne. (...) The Westargaards didn’t do emotion - that was the one legacy he had been given.” (Pg. 244)

This confirms that Hans doesn’t feel emotions, something he feels he inherited from his family.

Now, this one hurts. I wanted to cry for Anna. I want this quote to really sink in, especially for those that feel that this book justifies a redemption arc for Hans.

“Did she honestly think this was one such tale? Hans couldn’t help himself. After years of bullying by his brothers, after years of taking the joke but never making the joke, after years of being the thirteenth son, he was going to get the last laugh. And he wanted to make it count. (...) She looked up at him, confusion racing across her face. At one time, he might of pretended to care. But he was done playing games.” (Pg. 244 - 245)

A few quick observations -

Later, on page 258, Hans states that the reason he didn’t like to be a murderer was because he didn’t want to be considered a brute, not because he felt anything for Elsa (or Anna for that matter).

On page 271, Hans states that he feels ‘pride’ when Elsa falls down in grief over her sister’s death.

And finally, after everything was said and done, and Hans had failed, he feels absolutely no remorse for his actions, and instead shows pity to only himself.

“If only I had acted a moment sooner, Hans had thought. Then they (the sisters) would never have known forgiveness. Never felt the love of a sibling again. Just like me. Just like my entire life. Elsa would have been dead. Anna would’ve followed soon after, and I would have taken what I deserve.” (Pg. 285 - 286)

And with that, I put this book down. While, again, there is no concrete evidence to say that this book might be considered canon, I still respect what Elizabeth Rudnick wrote here, despite that some of her facts were a little off. She was really good at being able to capture a sociopathic mind, and even able to give me chills, even if it wasn’t perfect at all times.

There is honestly no source, no canon or non-canon work, that supports a redemption arc for Hans. Even in A Frozen Heart, contrary to popular belief.

#greatqueenanna/analysis #Frozen #Frozen: A Frozen Heart #Prince Hans

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queen-scribbles · 5 years

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@pillarspromptsweekly fill #85: Spring. Adi gets this one, along with her best buds, because it’s been too long since I wrote them together.

There were many things Adela loved about spring. Better weather, birds singing, baby animals. It was also the time of year a lot of academics emerged from fours months ensconced in their toasty warm studies with new papers and treatises on a plethora of topics(not that she’d had time to track any of them down this year). But more than anything, she loved the flowers.

And this year--like last--she was getting to see a whole array of new ones. The Deadfire Archipelago had an even greater variety than the Dyrwood, given the wildly different climates on the various islands. There were some on Tikawara almost as big as Adela herself, and then ones not much bigger than a fingernail. All of them were fascinating, and beautiful in their own way, and after a little trial and error, Adela and Xoti had mostly figured out how to determine which ones were safe to touch.

“Adi, look at these!” Xoti crowed as she returned from scouting with a handful of pale pink blossoms. They looked like peonies, except fewer petals. “Ain’t they pretty?”

“Very,” she agreed with an enthusiastic grin. “Where’d you find them?”

“Over that way.” Xoti waved her free hand toward a hill that sat to the west of their campsite. “There’s a whole... I guess you’d call it a glen, with all kinds’a flowers I ain’t seen before. It’s beautiful, and it looked pretty safe.”

“Maybe we can go back after dinner,” Adela said, at the same moment Aloth asked, “How certain are you it’s safe?”

“Adi, that’s what I was thinkin’--stew smells really good, by the way--an’ Aloth, whaddya mean?” Xoti planted her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow at the wizard.

“This is an uninhabited, uncharted island,” Aloth said, fiddling with the pages of his grimoire. “I’m simply concerned that a single, cursory scouting trip is insufficient to deem the entire place safe.”

“He’s got a point.” Adela gave the stew one last stirring to make sure none was sticking to the bottom and swung it away from the firepit. “I want to go enjoy flowers as much as you do, Xo, but we haven’t seen nearly enough of this island to be sure it’s completely safe.”

“We’re gonna be together, ain’t we?” Xoti countered. “We ain’t exactly helpless.” She nudged the hilt of her sickle, setting it rocking against her leg. “Hel, if you’re really worried, I bet Rekke would come with us.”

The redhead started at his name, looking up from the patterns he’d been tracing in the dirt. “I... go with you?”

“Only if you want to,” Adela assured him hastily. “We’re gonna explore after dinner, go see a place Xoti found with lots of plants and flowers.”

“Ta, I will come,” Rekke nodded, brushing his hair back from his face.

“Great! See, we’ll be fine,” Xoti grinned at Aloth. “You an’ Pallegina can hold down the camp, right? ‘Less you’d rather come with us, too.”

“Oh, no.” Aloth shook his head, smile tugging at his lips as he darted a look toward Adela. “I know what she’s like when you give her access to large quantities of flowers.”

And to Xoti’s immense frustration, neither he nor Adela would elaborate the entire time they were eating dinner. Pallegina pled ignorance when the priest tried to ask her. “I wasn’t present for this... incident, whatever it may be.”

Adela finally took pity on her as the two of them, plus Rekke, headed for the glen Xoti had found. “Flower crowns.”

“Huh?” Xoti looked at her, confused by the lack of context.

“On the way to Defiance Bay the first time, back in the Dyrwood. It was spring, and I was excited there were flowers, so I made flower crowns. First one for me, then Kana, then just decided to do one for everyone.” She shrugged. “They’re fun to make, and we’d set camp early, so I had a lot of time to kill. To Aloth’s credit, he did wear the one I made him for a good hour before it ‘mysteriously’ disappeared. Kana and Sagani, on the other hand, loved theirs so much they were still wearing them when we reached the city the next day, even though they were starting to fall apart.”

“Yeah, I gotta say, Aloth don’t really strike me as the flower crown type,” Xoti commented, leading the way through a patch of trees.

“He’s not,” Adela confirmed. “But we didn’t know each other well yet, and he didn’t want to rock the boat, and I was too caught up having fun to notice he wasn’t terribly thrilled. If I made him one now he’d prob’ly wear it to humor me ‘cause we’re friends. But I won’t do that to him.” She grinned. “Not when I have you two.”

Xoti laughed. “We’ll definitely be more enthusiastic about ‘em, won’t we?” She elbowed Rekke playfully in the ribs.

“Hm? Oh, ta,” he nodded, attention seeming more drawn by their surroundings than the conversation. All the same, he offered a smile. “I would be happy to wear a crown of flowers for you.”

“Are you alright?” Adela checked. “You seem distracted.”

“Oh, y-yes.” Seeing she wasn’t convinced by the stuttered reassurance, Rekke raked one hand through his hair and tried again. “These trees, there are ones like them near Lipasalis, ta? I am just a little homesick.”

She glanced at the trees, short, scrubby things with gnarled and twisted branches and a peeling layer of bark. “That’s what your trees look like?”

“Some of them. Others are tall, and big around. But the ones closest to the city look like this.” He reached out and trailed his fingers along the bark as they passed. It flaked like parchment under his touch.

“Well, c’mon, we can swap stories and distract ya,” Xoti said with a wink, tugging on his arm. “We’re almost there.” And she promptly launched in to what Adela figured was a greatly embellished version of the Dawnstars’ first few days in the Deadfire. Embellished or no, the story had both her and Rekke laughing no more than three minutes in, and filled the rest of their walk to the glen Xoti had found.

Adela could see why her friend had been so excited; it looked like something out of a fairy tale. Edged in scraggly(if slightly taller) trees, the small glen held at least five different kinds of flowers that she could see. One even sprouted from a hanging vine, trailing from tree to tree in a brilliant yellow boundary line.

“Wow,” was all she could say at first, followed a few moments later by, “I sort of want to live here now.”

Xoti giggled. “Knew you’d like it. D’you recognize any of these flowers? “Cause I sure don’t.”

“A couple look almost familiar,” Adela said, locating the patch of pink blooms Xoti had brought back to camp. “Maybe they’re local offshoots?”

Xoti almost reverently trailed her fingers across small orange blossoms, similar to marigolds. The stems were different, and the middle tiers of petals darkened to red, but otherwise they matched the cheerful yellow flowers Adela knew from Ixamitl. “Think they’re safe to pick?”

“Probably,” Adela said slowly. The ones she almost-recognized all looked like harmless plants from either back home or in the Dyrwood. “Only one way to know for sure, though, which you’ve already tested.”

Xoti rolled her eyes at the teasing. “So we know the pink ones are safe. Should we find out about a couple more?”

Adela grinned. “I’m always ready to take a few risks when flowers are involved.” She studied the orange ones Xoti had touched. “Bet these would make a really pretty flower crown.” And there were certainly enough of them to pick a couple dozen without feeling bad. “This color would look good against your hair, Xo.”

Xoti smiled and pushed back her hood. “Aw, thanks, Adi. If you’re gonna do that, I’m makin’ you one, too.”

Adela giggled. “Deal. We should prob’ly find something to talk about that Rekke will like, too.” She flashed him a smile. “So you don’t get bored listening to us.”

He chuckled, idly gathering his hair to tie it back from his face. “I know this was a... risk, ta? I do not mind, it helps me practice my Aedyran.”

“Still...” she curled the tail of her braid around her thumb. “Being left out’s not a fun feeling.”

Rekke nodded. “True.”

“So, Adi,” Xoti began as she walked further into the flowery glen. “I guess it’s safe to assume your favorite part of spring’s the flowers?”

“You got me,” Adela conceded, kneeling to pick the orange marigolds. The sturdier stems must help with drawing more water in the dry months, she guessed. And maybe it got windy here? “Spring’s my favorite, and there’s a lot I like, but the flowers are definitely top of the list. How ‘bout you?”

For all their sturdy stalks, the flowers came up easily, and she’d picked half a dozen before Xoti answered. “Aw, that’s easy,” she laughed. “I grew up on a farm, Adi. Baby animals galore. Whaddya think my favorite part is?”

“Hmm, I’m going to guess planting vegetables?” Adela deadpanned, then laughed when Xoti chucked a pebble at her. “Oh, so it is the baby animals. See, I figured that was too obvious.”

“I’m not a master of skulduggery and secrecy like some people,” Xoti retorted sweetly. “How ‘bout you, Rekke? What do you like best about spring?”

He mulled it over for a minute while Xoti and Adela finished collecting flowers and got themselves comfortably seated to start braiding. “Here I would say the weather. There is rain, but not so much. And it is.... softer? than in winter, when it comes.”

“Mm, that’s a good one. Summer can be bad, too, to hear Tuliak tell it,” Adela commented, biting her lip in concentration as she wove the flower stems together.

Rekke wrinkled his nose and muttered something in Seki she didn’t catch. “Back home, there is a nut, very sweet, that can only be picked the first couple weeks of spring. It tastes very good, by itself or...” he frowned and rubbed his thumbs across his fingers as the word escaped him. “...broken small?”

“Crushed?” Adela supplied, and he nodded.

“Ta. Crushed on food. We cannot buy later in the year, because of the cost, so we only have it in spring in my house.”

“Do ya ever put it on chocolate things?” Xoti asked, looking at Rekke rather than the crown she was braiding.

“Oh yes. It is very good with chocolate,” he grinned.

“What isn’t?” Adela laughed.

Their conversation shifted to food from there, talking about favorite dishes, bemoaning less enjoyed ones. Xoti and Adela finished the crowns they were making each other. The orange and red blossoms looked as pretty against Xoti’s dark hair as Adela had predicted, and the crinkly blue cornflowers she’d chosen were equally complementary to Adela’s blonde waves. Once the two of them had gleefully exchanged their own circlet, they set to work together making Rekke one of small, deep purple flowers. They reminded Adela of yarrow, aside from being the wrong color.

Rekke was very appreciative, smiling wide as he ducked his head so Xoti could put the crown on him. The three of them sat and talked for another hour or so, enjoying the scenery(and the break from being shipbound), before heading back to camp.

Aloth and Pallegina were both sitting out near the campfire as they approached. The wizard was engrossed in his book, but Pallegina looked up from sharpening her estoc at the sound of their footsteps. She raised an eyebrow at their new accessories, golden eyes flickering with amusement.

“I take it you enjoyed yourselves,” she commented.

“Immensely,” Adela said with a cheerful smile.

Aloth looked up at the sound of her voice and a wry grin pulled at his lips. “I knew it.”

“You do have experience with my foibles and passions,” she laughed as she plunked down next to him and peeked at his book. It was something about Deadfire wildlife, the more mundane varieties. “I was tempted to make you one, but refrained.”

“How shall I ever survive?” he deadpanned, still smirking slightly.

“I can share mine if you like,” Adela offered with a mock innocent smile.

“No, no, I’ll manage.” Aloth reached over and straightened the circlet as it slipped toward her eye. “It’s even cornflowers.”

“Hey, Xoti made it, that actually isn’t my choice.”

“I picked that ‘cause I know you like ‘em,” Xoti chipped in.

“So it was sort of my choice, then,” Adela corrected herself with a laugh. “They are my favorite.” For several reasons. She tugged one of the extras she’d picked from her pocket and tucked it in the tie holding back Aloth’s hair.

He shot her a flat look but left it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said sweetly. She reached for her pack and dug for a book of her own. The light was hanging around longer than before--another great thing about spring--and she wanted to take advantage of that.

The five of them settled in for the evening all absorbed in their own doings, but every so often Adela and Xoti would catch each other adjusting their flower crowns and they’d share a grin.

Yes, there were many things to like about spring.

#queens fic #pillars prompts weekly #adela tecali #rekke #xoti #pillars of eternity

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arecomicsevengood · 7 years

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Border Worlds

A collection of Don Simpson's Border Worlds was just collected as a book by Dover Books. The majority of it was drawn in the mid-eighties, but the story never concluded. The collection includes a new ending, freshly drawn. It is very hard to talk about the comic, as its own thing, divorced from this context. While the final chapter wraps things up, it's unlikely the initial serialization was made with an end in mind: Most serial comic books are designed to run indefinitely, and a science-fiction premise continually seems to promise that there are more stories of the world to explore.

Much of Dover Books' line of graphic novels has a similar pedigree. Commercial comics has produced plenty of work not designed with an end in mind. Plenty of projects have been undertaken with ambitious goals, only to find the market won't bear it. These works, being commercial failures, then go uncollected.

Don Simpson is best known for his superhero parody comic, Megaton Man. It seems pretty bleak to have the vast majority of your work be in the well-trod territory of superhero parody, but before Border Worlds was back in print, he had to suffer the double indignity of his second most-famous work being a porn comic done under a pseudonym. Its title? Wendy Whitebread, Undercover Slut. If you haven't heard of either of these, that's totally reasonable: I bring it up to gesture at the idea that it seems pretty unreasonable that, with a library like that, he wouldn't have finished Border Worlds. But that's the market.

Border Worlds is pretty good! I once tracked down another 1980s science-fiction comic because Chester Brown said he liked it in an interview in a contemporary issue of The Comics Journal. I do not remember its title, and it was a fairly tedious read. Border Worlds is easily better than that. It's pretty difficult to talk about the book without just parroting things Steve Bissette says in the book's afterword, as he enumerates all of the book's reference points. The premise is working dudes in space, stiffs just trying to hustle. Bissette mentions Dan O'Bannon's stuff but somehow I never saw Dark Star so I can just say "yes, like Ridley Scott's Alien." Or Futurama. The approach to science fiction is not particularly high concept. These are adventure stories, taking place in the future. The author regrets calling the book Border Worlds, and thinks he should've just titled the book after the space station where the whole story takes place, but to me the title makes it seem like all the time being spent on the space station was just a way of saying the story was going to eventually going to get going and dive deeper into its world. It never does, which is fine: That sense that the story is supposed to go somewhere it never gets to keeps to themes of a working class milieu, a feeling that inertia creeps into life, and the big changes to make in life are always being put off in favor of practical concerns.

The comic seemingly made a smart formal decision during its serialization, also. After the initial short stories, it seems like the issues themselves were broken into chapters, of differing lengths, which is pretty smart. I imagine it made reading it serialized feel satisfying, getting multiple chapters in a given issue, each tightly structured; but also it goes a long way to making the collection read like a book. It seems vaguely possible the new conclusion might read a little better-paced if it had been decided to have the ending be two chapters instead of one, but this is just backseat driving on my part.

The ending isn't satisfying, particularly. There are no surprises. It's an adventure comic: It ends happily for everyone. The satisfaction of the book doesn't really come from any literary aspect: The drawings are good. I'll make a separate post of nothing but black and white images that will pitch the book solely on those merits. I first saw color pages online years ago at Brandon Graham's wordpress blog. Brandon captures the appeal of the drawings: The naturalistic figures have the same weight of his cartoonier figures carried in their lines. The ending, drawn in a different style, pen instead of brush, can't help but be disappointing. (Sidenote: the same wordpress post also has pages by Ruben Pellejero, which were what convinced me to buy that Dieter Lumpen book IDW put out last year.)

It's readable, as a story, easy to follow. The only time it's hard to read is when the serialization betrays the book, by recapping stuff you just read pages before. The first issue's recap of the short stories that preceded it feels particularly egregious. Not only is it happening early on, in terms of the scope of the book, but it's not even done using dialogue. There is narrating text, running alongside an image. Simpson says in his introduction he imagines the story as a film, a slow-paced one. Letting images run without text would go a long way towards approximating the sort of stillness you get in something like Solaris or 2001, but as it is the tone feels more like TV than anything.

That's one bit of text that could've easily been deleted. So too could the bits, originally appearing at the end of an issue, announcing the title of a chapter that would run in the next issue. (This probably won't bother anyone: The beginning of an issue might go a few pages without announcing its chapter title, and in these instances the table of contents gives the chapter as starting on the page the title is displayed.) There's also the Border Worlds logo, running over the opening pages, as it appeared in the first short story. These are things where the erasure would essentially be a design decision rather than an editorial one.

Dover is also publishing a similar "All of the content from over a decade ago, plus an ending" edition of David Hahn's Private Beach, a comic I read in high school, and liked, but have no idea who would read it. If you want something better than Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise, but not as good as Jaime Hernandez, this is a variation on that kind of thing where in a movie adaptation you would try to get the main woman played by Courtney Cox. It's not that bad, but the most accurate way to describe it is also the meanest way.

It's interesting, in a way, that they're books. I think they should be available digitally, because they're the comic book equivalent of a TV show, and people watch TV online now. It doesn't contend with literature and art. The audience for it is people who like a lot of comics. I do not imagine the comics Dover put out sell very well. That said, they are almost certainly better than… let's say 85% of the comics currently being published by Image, which they essentially prefigure. Honestly, the main lesson to take away from this line of comics is: If you start telling a story, finish it. Maybe the book's editorial/design decision is that, after that final chapter, drawn decades after the preceding chapters and not being nearly as interesting to look at, an "end book one" appears when it's finished, implying an intention to do more of these comics which it's difficult to imagine the author would want to make, or the audience would want to read. A moment in time passes. The future a comic aspires to create for itself does not necessarily come to pass. We're stuck on the space station yearning to explore the depths, and then come to regret ever telling anyone that was what we wanted to do in the first place, the older we get without achieving our aims.

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meirudnick94-blog · 6 years

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Celtic Cross Tattoos

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