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scificrows · 8 months

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i like to make fun of murderbot for being all "i hate everyone, i don't care about anything or anyone, fuck off" while simultaneously caring very much about the people around it and the situations it finds itself in. i love how it "accidentally" ends up caring quite a lot about the friends it makes along the way. but i think something that i tend to forget is that murderbot actively decides to care - at least at some point in its story.

idk, as a person that struggles with depression, this paragraph from artificial condition really resonates with me. prior to all systems red, murderbot had contracts. it had routine and it had protocols. it knew what it had to do to just get by, how to perform so no one would notice it had disabled its governor module. it was deeply depressed, yes, but it was functioning (for lack of a better word). in artificial condition, murderbot's routine is gone. it cannot go on in that state of numbly going-from-contract-to-contract, putting in as little effort as possible, consuming media to cope. that option is gone because it escaped (and note that escaping the company was not an active choice, it kinda happened to it). murderbot has two options now: it can either gather all its energy; actively do something new and difficult and distressing; change something in its life and try. or it can let the numbness and the emptiness take over and stop trying. if murderbot wants to survive as a rogue secunit, it has to try. no matter how difficult that is. the wording in that paragraph really hits home for me. the way the non-caring sees an opportunity to slip in and to take over. does murderbot even care? does anything really matter? is anything really worth the hassle? wouldn't it be so much easier to just let your mind slip away a little, to go numb, to be passive, to watch media and wait for things to happen to you? wouldn't it be nice to stop thinking and struggling and feeling complicated things? to stop making an effort? you've been dealing with a lot lately and maybe it's time to just shut down. maybe you'll just take a little break. just slip deeper into this chair and start the show. time flies when you're not paying attention. trying is exhausting. who cares if you don't do the things you wanted to do, you were supposed to do. it'll be fine. let's just ignore those things for now. just let the non-caring take over. just stop thinking. you can deal with the aftermath later. just watch your shows. who cares. but murderbot cares. it decides to care. it decides to fight with all it has and i think that is so brave. and i think in the later books caring is less of an active decision for murderbot. once you start caring, it's easier to keep going than to stop; and murderbot, for all its "i'm a grumpy rogue secunit, leave me alone" behavior, knows just how important caring is. so it's not that it doesn't know what's happening; rather, it lets itself care. tl;dr: caring is not the default for murderbot, it's just the more difficult of two options. and it decides not to take the soft option. it decides to struggle. it decides to care. and so it does.

#sorry i'm rambling i'm a little depressed rn (hah) and i've been thinking about murderbot again #at least writing this got me out of the adhd/depression paralysis :) yeah this might be self-indulgent so what #the murderbot diaries #murderbot #𓄿 #i just love martha wells' writing for things like that #and i love murderbot as a character so very much #also i'm pretty sure some of this could be read in a way i did not intend #i'm not trying to say that depressed people have the option to just not be depressed #or that it's as easy as going “okay well i can either care or not care... i guess i should care! done!”#listen i know it's not like that; i know that first hand #but murderbot had just enough energy and fight in it to try and it had people in its life that cared about it and helped it #and it managed to get out of that deep dark hole #and we see it struggling with trauma etc in the later books #things are not magically better #just yeah #okay imma add #tw depression #tw suicide #(this is not about suicide though; this is about sitting on the couch while the dishes and the laundry pile up #and watching netflix because getting up and taking care of yourself and calling a friend or going outside are too difficult)#(but i can see how this might hit a little close to home if that is something someone's struggling with&better safe than sorry)#also sending lots of love to everyone who this resonates with

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aroaessidhe · 2 months

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2024 reads / storygraph

Everything Under the Moon

Anthology of queer reimaginings of fairytales by mostly Australian authors

various genres, from contemporary to fantasy and sci-fi, mostly about older teens

mlm, sapphic, trans, nonbinary, demi, bi ace, and aromantic characters, some stories focusing on romance but many on familial relationships and siblings

#Everything Under the Moon #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #aromantic books #queer books #A really nice anthology of queer fairytales! definitely a mix of all sorts of stories.#Some were a bit forgettable (I mean I’m just not a short story person) but I really enjoyed others! I #I picked this up specifically because I heard there was an aromantic story (which I didn’t know much else about) and yeah it hit hard actua #it’s about being okay with loneliness and also centred around artists….so. it did make me cry a bit….#I liked that a lot of them focused on platonic r/ships - most on sibling actually? I appreciate that there were a couple sapphic aces too #I will say while the illustrations are really high quality (I especially liked the naturey ones) I found a lot of them depicted the chars #as very.....disnefied? idk. thin and generic. lacking 'imperfect' features like freckles even #(when they’re described as having them) With a couple exceptions for sure - but a lot of them were a bit samey #I would have loved some authors notes or a list of the stories because I didn’t recognise which all were inspired by #(though they’re on the endpapers; just not specified which) - I did find this in a GR review tho

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fictionadventurer · 3 months

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"It looked like a good day for setting fence posts, and my mother said so while taking the biscuits from the oven. 'Some morning early, when I can get away, I want you to come with me along the edge of the hill in the wood-lot," she continued. "When the shadows of the trees begin to come down the slope, as the sun rises you feel the turning of the earth. You feel the whole globe under your feet rolling into the sunlight. . . . That's something I found one morning when I was driving the calves to pasture. I've been saving it up for you. I wonder if you've seen a more beautiful dawn in any of the places you've been.'

On my fingers I count the dawns I have seen--memorable, just in being dawns. Sleepy-eyed dawn from the Paris markets after a night of dancing; mist dawn against which I was just to late to see the minarets of Constantinople--all the fault of the stupid stewardess who didn't wake me in time; one startling moment of color on the hills around the Dead Sea before they went colorless in merciless heat; sudden dawn like a clap of light over the freezing-cold Syrian desert. Four dawns in twenty years. No, I do not know dawns as my mother does."

-- Rose Wilder Lane, "A Place in the Country" (1925)

#little house #rose wilder lane #laura ingalls wilder #a little house sampler #i dove into the book seriously this morning #intended to read just the first couple of pieces and kept reading 'just one more' until i've got about 2/3 read #most of laura's pieces are familiar from her farm columns #though there's a couple of early versions of little house stories that show a lot of her voice did get through there #rose's are fascinating #i can't quite wrap my head around her #sometimes she'll seem neurotic and restless and judgey and sophisticated and a bit pretentious #and then she writes some of the most beautiful nostalgic pieces #showing so much love of home and family and the simple joys of life #this piece might be my favorite so far because it grapples with those two sides #after four years as a foreign correspondent she's back at home in mansfield #and she has a new appreciation for her parents and the work they do and the life they've built #now that she's had her adventures and is no longer a restless teen looking to get away from rural poverty #even in the other pieces it's fascinating how much love of her family comes through when you know about the difficult relationships #i should share some quotes from the piece about mary when i get the chance #(also i'm very upset that she didn't write down the story of why she and her parents never read the last book in the school library)#(you don't end with a sequel hook and just leave me hanging ms. lane!)#anyway i love the whole essay that this is from and there are other worthwhile quotes #but i like how this one captures the 'noticing beauty while doing farm work' side of laura that i've come to think of as her trademark

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love-has-a-way-ofgrowingbackward · 11 months

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thinking about hamilton and burr together but not in a kissing way but in a you are so different on surface but are made of the same core way. they have the same sort of wants and hurt but they project it in such different ways.

#two people put together like that would either love each other with their entire hearts or would kill each other.#maybe both #alex and henry from rwrb are kind of examples from this.#look cmq made alex too similar to hamilton and henry too similar to burr for me to not connect the dots.#but while their character traits put them lethally against each other in the play in the book its.. different.#i can talk about alex more since both in the book and play we see alexander more (both such fucking main characters)#i think alex from rwrb had a comparatively better foundation in childhood than hamilton. he's less scrappy than hamilton #he still does things like be lonely and drown himself in his work etc etc you all saw the parallels #but but but he sort of has room for love in his heart in a way hamilton doesnt. maybe he did with laurens because its said that he #never really opened up the same after he died. makes me think that was pretty serious. but its not in the play so im not going too much #into it. alex isn't as suspicious and survivalistic as hamilton. if hamilton saw henry he would've never put him before his work #but alex does. from his side i think that's what makes the difference.#like how he says to henry in the fight scene that they're not really very different people?? remember that #there's waaay too many coincidences i am ready to believe cmq wrote rwrb as a very very sneaky adaptation of hamiltons life #the slightest hint from them and i would believe it. this is a conspiracy theory i can get behind #rwrb #red white and royal blue #hamilton #hmm i been having thoughts about this for the past 2 hours #maybe this stem thing was a mistake maybe i should've taken literature. i like what i do though

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lavendelhummel · 8 months

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There was so much in these first WoT episodes that my head couldn’t deal with it until I had written down at least my basic thoughts about them. So here is what my brain made me scream into the keyboard before being able to watch on (ep1&2) - for obvious reasons it’s 75% Moiraine, but I mean have you looked at her??

Where is the dark friend social? Because they have the aes Sedai symbol in stone on the ground outside.

Love the phrasing „The one who walks the world, the one who was and will be, but is not yet the dragon“. Because Rand is but is not yet the dragon!

Obviously the „we are in the middle of a meeting, a quite important one, really“ is great and hilarious. Also I said it before and I will say it again I love Ishamaeals nihilism and I think it wasn’t used as good as it could have been in the books, the ending about what good and evil and grey even means couldn’t have played more with him, I hope the show goes there. And his speech is great. But I really thought he would feed that girl to the trollocs for a second.

Also he says „monster“ not trollocs, which strikes me as AoL -speech? Children in the 3rd age know what trollocs are, in his childhood, they wouldn’t have known, they didnt have „monsters“ outside of stories…

Also i noticed for the first time „father of lies“ is an interesting name for the forsaken, who in his own mind is simply saying the truth, „Life is an endless, pointless repetition“. He doesn’t really lie, does he? Here at least he does not towards the girl, while many people probably would have.

Obviously the first Moiraine scene is devastating, what else can be said? I mean except for the fact that she es so beautiful still, that i may have stopped breathing. Her movements are so precise. She has a task and she does it and no matter what’s going on inside here, she is determined to fulfill the selfmade task without delay.

Also her outfit- the hair-thingies that are of the Lady Moiraine Damodred and look expensive and the physical work clothes she wears, show so nicely the different aspects of her character.

Light, how many buckets this bath must need. And why does she need this big bath? She does, because she is her and she would never take a smaller one, just to have less work but, Light, Moiraine!

Also what is that necklace that she doesn’t take off during the bath?

It is good to see her focused on herself and not in daes daem‘er mode.

I can‘t with the way she looks at her hands. Those slow movements as she stretches them, holds them. It is more than devastating. You can feel her loss through these movements. So precise still, and such controlled movements! The looking at her hands, because feeling them is not enough, doesn’t work, because they do not feel right, are not working as they should, but they are, they are doing her bodies movement so precisely. And yet not enough. And her eyes. The way she looks at them. So present and absent at the same time. Such horror and resignation at the same time. And then the hand sinks in the water and — and her eyes again, drawing upwards in that last sequence, its so devastating.

Ahhhhh she is so pretty! Love Moiraine surrounded by books! Ahhh her voice! I mean, her voice in general, but how she sharpens it and how it is her voice and the same but its different from how it was before. Especially towards Lan. And she doesn’t look at him.

„Everyone has a choice. And every choice as a consequence.“!!! That is such in important sentence for life in general. I want to print it on a tshirt (and give it to my sister). Also Moiraine is so pretty. Also „Door.“ The hurt. Uh, she is hurting so bad and hurting him so bad because she doesn’t know what else to do.

Egewene in the Amyrlin‘s study 👀. Interesting. But where is siuan? Love the White tower optics.

Omg Alanna. she is even more than she is in fanfics and that says something.

It’s so great that they adapted the „novices watching the wardens train“ from New Spring. Just because of the sillyness and New spring-ness. And also shows that Egwene is not that much in with the other novices.

Obviously the Nyn/Egwene convo is great, Dont smile, I have enough character, etc. It’s Them!! And they introduce more aes Sedai lore. „Even the amyrlin“ haha, they dont know Siuan Sanche at all do they?

Love serious Alanna. Good to see she’s more than sex and snacks again. Why isn’t Egwene using her hands? As a challenge to herself? because of her her cultural exchange later? Did she hurt them?

Who is that bald grey sister? She is intriguing me.

„Who’s ever been hurt by a little talk (BY AN AES SEDAI!!!)? Hmmmmm.

OMG How is Moiraine this pretty? Poem in blood! In old tongue! Omg Moiraine‘s hands. Her nod ahhhh. Her smugness, ahhh I love her.

THE WHEEL WEAVES AS THE WHEEL WILLS!!!!! + LIGHT BE WITH YOU

I really like show Nyneave more than book Nyneave! She is as headstrong but at the same time more reflective and less caricature.

I do get the disappointment that its not Siuan who throws Nyn at the wall but I think its so interesting that it‘s Liandrin! Does she do it with the same intention? This Liandrin is so much more than a dark sister! She might be evil and she is unlikable but she cares. I think? Because we dont really know if it‘s an act so we? But it feels as if she really cares about other aes Sedai, including Nyneave as she is a woman who can channel. And that fits but is also messy and interesting. And the thing about wanting Nyneave to reach that power, that no one, not even her can take from her is great. And the thing about not everyone accessing Saidar the same way, that anger can be a way and that the teachings of the White Tower are not always the only way.

The talk Perrin has with Ingtar is great too, because it gives actual substance to the whole violence thing. Anger is scary! Anger can make you use violence, that makes so much more sense than the „i am a big guy“ thing from the books. Also good that they mentioned Laila again. And it takes away the whol Nyneave = anger personified away. Other characters obviously deal with this too! I really like this non-caricature version of her better.

Moiraine!!! + Lan!! Also the little eyebrow movement she does when he walks out. saying „its fine. It’s not fine but i deserve this. I am too stubborn to cry. I am distancing myself from him and from myself and i will not even think about it. I will work now.“ Her little eyebrow movement that says „I hurt but i wont show it“.

I love that it‘s Bel Tine again. I love their lanterns and lights and it all. Also interesting that Egwene remembered and Nyn didn‘t. Because as much as Nyneave is about community and protecting her wards, so is Egwene, Egwene is about glueing together old traditions and new ways of life, here as she is building a Two River lantern in the White Tower, and later when she is wielding a trident.

Question: is that Aldieb? Also Dagger Moiraine!! Is she for real fighting two *fades* alone with nothing but a knife? And getting him by staying calm and observant.

When she says „Lan.“ And you can har that she has not said it in months. It is her voice, the voice that has interviewed Boyle Damon and the other 19 people but this is *her* voice saying „Lan.“ Adressing *him*. Getting his attention. And this voice is hoarse (ok maybe also because she cant really use her breathing muscles with her sliced abdomen, but) because she hasn’t talked to him in months, not really, not to *him*, and now she is saying his name.

This is the most brutal thing ever. It’s simply brutal. Her face. The power, she feels it and then it isn’t hers and i mean good that they live but this is the most brutal thing ever. What aren’t you telling me? Everything. That it’s impossible but it mustn’t be impossible. This is brutal.

Rand having acoustic hallucinations while working in the mental health asylum has very strong me-during-my-psychiatry-rotation-vibes (the difference being he went and got a job there and me deciding not to stay, no, nope lets stay with my lovely lymphomas)

But it fits his character very well! He is good at that!! And I also love how we are getting introduced to the sword forms this way! It’s a good way do put them in words.

That asshole reminded me of the girl internet anxiety disorder lecture mocking how you could be afraid of these things, with people with this disorder sitting there and having to listen. People suck.

I miss the intro!

Ok Moiraine in this outfit is killing me. How am i supposed to follow any dialogue when she is sitting there looking like that? But Light! Not only Lan (her responsibility! But she couldn’t! She couldn’t protect him, heal him, she could do nothing!) but also herself must have been healed with the One Power, and yes she has had that done before and wouldn’t have been able to heal herself either way, the situation is so different. That must have been such an awful situation. Feeling the power, knowing it touches you, but you cant touch it. Not only having someone use it in your presence but *on* you. Oh Moiraine. Oh Moiraine.

She has been exiled from the White Tower!!!!!!! And Verin knows!! I cant continue watching this show. The difference between her „I“ now and her „we“ in season 1 and Lan’s continued „we“! And how she doesn’t manage to block the tenderness out of her voice, when she says „you are still weak from the healing“, and then noticed her slip up and voice slightly changed but not too much for it to be obvious adds that little quip to drive him away. Oh Moiraine.

I don‘t really like what they are doing with Perrin‘s senses, why is it visions suddenly? Not only to portray on screen but also him thinking it is happening now, and Elayas calling it visions? I like him and Hurin merged though, it makes sense.

Liandrin bringing Nyneave to the Yellows!! She gets her, and she knows what it takes and she really wants Nyn to break the block! And Nyn‘s awe!!! She found the thing Ivon and Maskim asked about last episode! It’s great to see this this early on, and not just later as in the books where her blind rage over Moiraine takes up most her motivation so long. But, Liandrin saying healing is a response to symptoms and disease… hmm. I mean sure it can be, and honestly its super important because easing symptoms is important?! But you can also treat causally as they did right there, that was not a symptomatic treatment on the girl. Plus prevention is a thing. Sorry Liandrin, I do see why the yellows wouldn’t have wanted you. The way she says „I am allowed to teach Accepted“ hahaha Liandrin trying so hard being cool.

Some of the greatest pairings in the history of the world were formed between novices in adjacent rooms!!! Yay for the pillowfriends?!?!! Who is Elana Katab though, do we know her?? But really this is so cute, her wanting to be close to Egwene immediately and proposing it like this and talking about a shared future (seconds after meeting *cough* seconds after introducing herself as daughter heir *cough cough*)

Ouhhhh the foreshadowing in the convo between Alanna and Sheriam!! Ouhhhlaa this show is too much for me.

Omg Verin talking about oath loopholes!?!?!?!?!

P.S. Why is Moiraine so pretty?

The pond!!!! The pond story and they tell them!! And they are smiling.

So much foreshadowing!! Mat!!

She didn‘t! Did she really say „When i am with you, I can pretend i am with him,“?? Ouhh she‘s bad. „Pretend I am whole again,“ you mean pretend you never bored that freaking hole in the dimension or what?! Also yeppp she is hot. Shit.

„I knew when the time came, you‘d be able to survive on your own.“ Thats what she wasn’t telling you, Lan. For 20 years and she never planned to survive this with you. She knew you‘d survive on your own. (But doesn’t this contradict the Myrelle plot?)

*Her loyalty is with the dragon reborn.* Thats Moiraine. Always and *always* will the dragon, will the world, will fate itself come before anything.

And then she says his name „al‘Lan Mandargoran“ and rides away. Oh my heart. Oh Light.

Fuck, the suldam and Damane are creepy. I mean, they should be and they are creepy-creepy-creepy in the books too, so… but unexpectedly seeing them on screen? Yeah mission accomplished they are creepy.

Also creepy: Rand’s little smile at the end. I guess things are going to happen.

#this is very spamy #but I had to get it out of the system and now thought why not put it here #now I might be able to watch episode 4 #(well saturday because sleep and work and did I mention that I never have time and life sucks a little at the moment?)#seriously I am in no condition to watch WoT #these episodes overwhelmed me so much that I had to take breaks every 20 min #and didnt manage more than one per day even though I had a free weekend #anyway I love moiraine and her reaction seemed very logical and on point. it was good and I get it #wheel of time #moiraine damodred #egwene al'vere #wot s2 spoilers #I don't think this is #wot book spoilers #but anyway. and good night

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itissadbutitsmy-life · 7 months

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you know I think probably people in ooo didn’t Suddenly start loving fionna and cake fanfics so much as they knew how much ice king wanted them to like them, and are trying to connect with simon through the thing they remember he (ice king) liked a lot. something he MADE!

#like dirt beer guy probably just appreciates simon’s work as an author in general and wants his help and input #but also is like ohh uyeah I read those stories back when I was first starting out (didn’t really get them? but) they were rly somethin!#an I know how much you loved them at the time I mean you used to have author readings at the library and everything you were very successfu #you also wrote those dry science books I think are technically marvelous but really difficult for me to parse um. but anyways.#connect with me about the series you clearly loved for a long time and found a lot of success with #it brought you so much joy dude you used to giggle every time you tried to read it to us (after holding us hostage to do so I might add but #anyways. sorry. thinking.#that line about Jake bringing them all around to the stories tracks though. he kinda liked being derivitavely. what did he say.#and also would love connecting with ppl through media and their personal creations #adventure time #fionna and cake #o

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zoebelladona · 4 months

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i think i'm gonna have to rewatch these last two episodes to come to terms with them and the themes of the show because so far my reaction has been

#they are streamlining less than the musical but because the musical is a Musical it's easier to forgive #maybe i'm just being a book purist but ://#i'm also maybe being too much of a mythology purist when i know pjo is not about accuracy #but bestie tf you mesn the chimera is young and learning to hunt. she very famously tried to kill bellerophon #i also would have liked some snake motifs on echidna. if there were any i didn't see them #also what was the point of leecy getting poisoned lol and How. the echidna has a serpent's tale not a scorpion's tale #the guy with the scorpion tale doesn't come in for another book #cool or whatever that the gateway ar h was a temple to athena. but why couldn't they include the fact annabeth likes architecture??#they could have still used it to hide annabeth could have just nerded out about how it was “safe” because of [architecture infodump]#ALSO WHAT'S WITH ATHENA LETTING THEM KILLED?? NO???? NO— WHAT??#echidna didn't really compel me and i Love echidna. i love mothers of monsters in mythology but she was just some white lady #i just... i don't know #i liked the bait and switch percy did though. to get grover and annabeth out #also sally 😬 girl what are you doing snapping at your kid. who are you #pjo tv

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thedreadvampy · 1 year

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sorry I'm on one now. Narnia is one of my Big Rant triggers.

but like. I would be lying if I said I didn't love Narnia

(everything except the Horse and His Boy, which a) even as a tiny kid made me uncomfortable with how fucking racist it is (literally there is ONE. ONE. character of colour who isn't evil, selfish, greedy and violent. even when you're 5 and white and don't really understand racism it's like. sorry there are just no nice people in this whole country? and every Narnian is lovely?) and b) is just fucking DULL partly bc of the 2 dimensional racist caricatures populating the world)

but I can't pretend for a second that it isn't specifically built around a Christian theology that's explicitly racist, hierarchical, supremacist, colonialist and The Bits I Like Least Of Anglicanism

and my FAVOURITE books in the series (except the Silver Chair which tbh is WAY less theological and way more mythology-nerd) are the first and last, which are by far the most explicitly Christian. even more so than TLTWATW.

and I can just about stand by the Magician's Nephew bc it's mostly just a mix of Christian creation myth and CS Lewis's sci fi interests in the esoteric and multiverses and it honestly feels fine. but my all time favourite most iconic Narnia book is The Last Battle and I just. cannot. justify it for a second from a political or philosophical standpoint.

it's got it all bc it's the book where Lewis is like ok hold up let me lay out explicitly what my theology is. and what he thinks it's important to say is:

Almost all Muslims are bad and evil

They worship Satan by doing Bad Evil Deeds to please him

There are a couple of Good Muslims who do good deeds. they need to be brought to the light, understand that the voice calling them to do good deeds is the Christian god, and they too can achieve the kingdom of heaven

Some people will use Christianity as a mask for exploitation and mistreatment. They are bad and their faith is false (ok fine)

...and they're doing that because they're CONSPIRING WITH THE EVIL MUSLIMS TO OPPRESS GOOD CHRISTIANS

...and THAT'S THE ONLY REASON ANYONE WOULD TELL YOU THAT GOD AND ALLAH ARE DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE SAME GOD. because they're either conning you or because they've been misled and can't really think for themselves.

DID I MENTION. THAT MUSLIMS ARE EVIL AND TRYING TO BRING DOWN CHRISTIANS.

and other than the GOD AREN'T MUSLIMS JUST THE WORST of it all, he also goes back over to more fully explain several points he's made throughout the series, such as:

white Christian public school kids are the god ordained leaders of the world and attempts to think otherwise are heretical

god places people where they need to be to serve his purpose

free will is largely an illusion - your only choice is faith or chaos, and as a godly person your actions are preordained

the problem is though. he's kind of a really good character writer? and in The Last Battle he pulls out most of his best classics (hi Reepicheep! hi Frank! hi Jill!) and gives us a whole wealth of really fun new characters (Tirian and Jewel, Emeth, Puzzle, Shift, Griffle and Ginger are all just SO FUN) and it's such a solid adventure. for me it's hands down the most FUN Narnia to read and an effective and affecting end to the series.

but like. god its unjustifiably fucked philosophy is baked into every single character and event. it's so hard to ignore. it's my favourite book in the series. it's the book that makes me angriest. it's everything right with Narnia and everything wrong with Narnia. I like it cause it asks me to engage critically with Lewis' philosophy and I hate it cause it requires me to engage critically with Lewis' philosophy.

in conclusion, Narnia is a land of contrasts. also occasionally brownface.

#red said #i love these books. i love the last battle especially.#fuck me they're awful philosophically though #they were probably the first chapter books i read when i was 3 or 4. they are such a big part of my life.#and I've always loved them and i still do. I'm so fond of them.#and part of that is inextricable from the Christianity of them. i think there's something really fun and interesting in the fusion of #christian myth and celtic paganism and classical myth and arthuriana and new age mysticism and sci fi multiverse stuff #like it's not. new to blend those things. but lewis is such a nerd about all of them and he blends them up in a really flavourful way #and also i think like as a kid. the utter claroty with which These Are Metaphors About Theology And Philosophy #really worked for me even though I disagreed with most of it. because it kind of wants to engage with you directly as a child #it is. to me. pretty honest about its intentions. and it digs into some moderately complex ideas for a young audience.#like they're parables not morality plays. the Goddier ones are inviting you to think and engage in a conversation about the ideas #which tbh. not a lot of kid's books did at the time and age i was reading them?#they wanted me to be thinking about the whys and hows of morality. like obviously Lewis SUPER has an opinion on the Right Answers #(i would usually. say we're diametrically opposed on most conclusions but then i was rooting for Jadis' army in LWW)#but idk Lewis's theology is interesting. he's very much pro faith and determinism but he ALSO thinks you should question stuff i think #like. it's often kind of self-contradictory but the books are pretty pro asking questions pushing back straying from the path #as long as you come back #and the last battle particularly is really clear that you're not doing a good job of engaging with faith if you don't think about it #like other than MUSLIMS ARE EVIL AND BAD the main message of the last battle is.#if you don't think critically about faith then someone else will think for you and fuck you over #tirian is our hero bc he has a personal and often uncertain relationship with faith that means he refuses to get swept up in the crowd #puzzle is painted as someone who is too scared of conflict to voice his concerns #he's prepared to believe he's too stupid to have his own questions or relationship with faith and so he becomes a tool of the powerful #because he is told to trust the teachings of the church not his own heart #now. do i think this is philosophically good? generally yes but it also props up the I'M A BOLD TRUTHTELLER AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT #reactionary tendency. and it's written by a guy whose Unpopular Truthtelling is partly 'Allah is Satan' so. grains of salt.#buuuuut. it's probably why it resonates a lot with people like me or my mum who as kids often felt constrained or patronised #by the way adults approach obedience and blind faith #like. Lewis is advocating for FAITH. he DOESN'T think that faith should be uncritical or without discomfort

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aro-who-reads · 1 year

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Aro book review: It Sounds Like This by Anna Meriano

This is a contemporary YA novel about a girl who plays flute in the school marching band, and despite her strong ambitions has to switch to tuba. I played flute in school concert bands for 8 years, so I enjoyed that aspect of it (even if the marching specific part was new to me)! It was a quick and enjoyable read, I finished the book in an evening.

There are a number of well-done sub-plots about family, friends, and bullying, and also, one about the main character questioning whether she is aspec. Another major character in the book, Bloom, is grey aroace, and through him she realises the attraction she has been feeling probably isn't romantic or sexual.

She hasn't decided on anything by the end of the book, and while I don't mind leaving characters still questioning, it would have been nice to have a bit more acknowledgement of this sub-plot at the end of the book.

But it did feel present throughout the story, with Bloom referencing his orientation is ways that felt natural, and some discussion I really appreciated about not always worrying about exactly what attraction you may or may not be feeling, and just spending time with the people you want to spend time with.

The only other little thing that didn't quite work for me personally was all the references to the school tests that are in the US - I didn't have any idea what they were for!

Overall, a nice example of some grey aroace and questioning aspec rep.

#aro #aromantic #aro books #Honestly marching band just sounds like hard work #But I did love concert band very much #Although there's a bit in this book where she talks about how she tried piano first and didn't like it!#And while I might be a bit of a flute player I don't relate to that at all - Piano is definitely the best instrument #I also don't relate to having that strong drive to practise for hours and hours - even though I love playing and music in general #But that's why I went for composition instead

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magnusbae · 1 month

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I confess, I am... kinda excited ; w ;

#sometimes i feel like all i do is just work and survive #once in a while get myself a takeout #i work so much and what for #i never buy anything it's so depressing to think about #since bookdepository closed even my occasional 'buy a book i'd never read' shenanigans stopped #i was lately contemplating buying a new pc‚ and while that's undoubtedly a treat‚ it does fall within my very strict:#'a useful electronic' category of allowed expenses #like i was wondering between ps5 / pc but again those are planned for for years now‚ and hardly can be called 'indulgence' given how #one is for work and the other is years overdue since i was waiting for it to be less expensive..#ah‚ i babble 🙈#i did decided i will not share this irl though #i figure‚ i want it to be my private little positive treat #without the unnecessary opinions about how a 'book is not worth that much'#i mean i agree but did you see the book #it's the sexiest book i've ever seen in my life #i am not sure if i'll go ahead and get oathbringer in a few years #but wok-wor are literally the two books i love the most #my most beloved #my light in the dark #-coughs- ok ok.#yeah.#this is the most you heard me babble here in a while -laughs-#i've had a rather rough few weeks and has not been present the way i wanted to be-- those i have not yet answered to-- i will-- soon.#buns.txt

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twilightarcade · 4 months

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man looking for books makes me feel like an absolute idiot. Yeah I like everything but the stuff I don't like. Hope that helps

#wordstag #it's so freaking. Particular also. Be normal freak #huge fan of fiction but also had a moment where i decided i hated fantasy and never got out of that moment #i like fantasy probably i think but me in that moment decided i was sick of world building and we never got out of that #and i don't like raw fiction it needs to be like. Something that could reasonably happen in real life while still being mildly unreasonable #yk?#nothing i could go out on the street and see or whatever . But it would be funny if I did #i think i need to go read some good fantasy books though fantasy is such a goated genre #the . The potential.......#also needs 2 be a story about people but if the people are completely uninteresting and flat Well #but beyond that it needs to have those themes and motifs shit and they need to be Not In Your Face #i think mystery is pretty fun like in concept but i haven't read very much . Good mystery as of late #ROMANCE would be so baller if it wasn't so about romance yk. Which is just a me problem #i think romance has insane potentials to explore a person's psych and whatever but it just. Never hits for me.#and sometimes it's not even a romance book and like they jsut start going at it like come on now. Not in public eye roll emoji #i would like romance more if it was less about smashing faces and more about the inherent intimacy of romance yk #imagine opening up your heart to someone that shit is fucked up . I could talk for hours about romance but it would never be about romanceT #it's like the romantic movement from hit century like 18th maybe. Those are my Guys #anyway love romance as a concept but i think there's a bit too much hype around it. We should chill a bit. Look at the stars and shit #ok where was i going with this actually

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wriochilde · 4 months

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ok.

#wjatevr. i dont care #no actually i do care. its about morishige how can i not care #i saw a very interesting take on why morishige chases yuka (not the tutorial idea. thats also interesting though)#something about how he was protecting her and he was never going to harm her #and i was like huh. maybe i misunderstood because i played the game when i was 11 #and then i realized i literally played it last week #i cant help but disagree? yeah he wasnt planning on hurting her. it makes the whole chase scene very funny especially if you get caught #he keeps repeating the same thing and me and my sister joke about it all the time lol #but anyways. i think that even in the manga he wouldnt have hurt her even though he hints at his intent being more malicious than in game #i love this scene because i love hearing people talk about why the fuck he did this #let me talk about the manga instead for a moment actually i think this scene is much funner there #he stops for a moment when yuka stops crying before he breaks into this very obviously malicious grin #like he was EXCITED. the darkening had already startrd to show and its very clear while hes chasing her #the whole time he was just messing with her. he wasnt planning to harm her in the manga either #because he literally catches up to her. and he could've caught up to her multiple times had he not been taking pictures as she ran #all he did when he caught up to her was whisper in her ear. so #yeah. he wasnt going to kill her or injure her like in the anime. but does that mean he had any good intentions?#im not sure how this could be described as him simply helping her #and i could be remembering wrong but doesnt he somewhat explain himself in book of shadows?#i remember him saying something about him just having fun and enjoying how scared she was #so ive always just seen it as him enjoying the rush he got from chasing someone weaker than him #because it was partially the darkening right?#im not one to say that morishige is inherently evil or always had a huge interest in gore or anything. becausw its not true #but i dont want to deface his character by warping his intentions to seem less malicious #i need to get a fucking journal this is getting out of hand #finn.txt

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halyorke-vampiredisaster · 7 months

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Everytime I read a good book i'm like 'hell. This is the best thing ever. I should do this more often.' and then proceed to promptly forget about it for 1-17 business months

#books #reading #the current book was if we were villains by the way #and though i'm not a dark academia guy by any means there are some parts of the genre i very much appreciate #it's everything but the academia strangely #anyway this book completely tied itself together and tore my heart out in just the final 20 pages how did i do that oh my god #recommend if you love to get wrecked by literature

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hauntedmoors · 10 months

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Hello, I’m curious what do u think about Elain Archeron?

nothing particularly significant, and it’s partly a product of my indifference to acotar, which I never really cared for even when I enjoyed reading her throne of glass stuff. throne of glass, for all its faults, still infuses a fairly engaging degree of complexity to its characters even when it’s instructing you how you’re compelled to feel about certain characters. acotar, on the other hand, revolves entirely around feyre and rhys. it doesn’t ask you to pay attention to the characters around them until acowar, or really care to flesh them out until acowar.

keeping that in mind, elain is barely a footnote in the books. I think she has less plot significance than nesta and we know that nesta is also barely in the books. she plays the good, sweet, naive sister in the first book that feyre feels a sense of responsibility towards, and has a tangent where she gets engaged to a faerie-hating human but it’s still played out in a fairytale-esque irreverence with sarah refusing to really engage with her as a character - that’s because feyre is the main character of the fairytale and elain’s husband-to-be has more bearing on feyre and her relationship with elain and feyre’s own complex identity instead of having to really do anything with elain as a character herself. without examining the complex political and racial dynamic at play or the ideas of abuse, prejudice, familial suffocation, compliance to patriarchal femininity & victimhood, elain is done an injustice and so is nesta (and the fandom continues to uncritically malign her to this day, lol). once elain transforms into full fae sarah chooses to finally acknowledge her, and may the irony not be lost on any of us 🫡 her writing, as well as feyre’s in acosf, was an example in demonstrating that no matter how bad you think sarah’s writing can get, it can still turn out to be worse. the idea of allowing the women to voluntarily grapple with their tense relations and actually play their roles as the main characters of the series and commit to the themes is overthrown in favour of the male characters who seem to be all that sarah cares for these days. whatever I don’t care enough to be upset anymore. she’s shifting her genre of preference from fantasy to sexy romances and I don’t want to critique a sexy romance that’s not trying to be serious about anything.

she’s obviously also hinted at grappling with the consequences of fated romantic partners and the idea of rejecting destiny with elain. we’ve not witnessed the completion of this arc yet, and I have no doubt that it will be dealt with in the worst, most unimaginative way possible.

#I’m still very in love with mor though. I hope sarah never writes a good book again for doing what she did to mor.#asks #anonymous #yayyy I wrote so much for a stupid series I don’t even care about. I wish I could do the same for things I actually care about.

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