amileofrandomness

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Erik: ◕︿◕ Charles:  ಠ‿ಠ Another one for my dear @glycxrine​ happy valentine’s day my love <3 Caption this  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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Michael Fassbender photographed by Patrick Fraser, 2016

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@follow-butterfly

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— Hermann Hesse

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yeah, well, yeah, exactly. that’s what i thought. 

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I love that the Witcher proves how you can have a sexist world without having a sexist story. The framework is patriarchal, it's at times blatantly sexist and at one point Yennefer even bitterly points out that, as far as the world as concerned, women are just vessels. But the narrative isn't.

Things like -- it would be so easy to turn Yennefer into a villain. She's got a classic Femme Fatale backstory, she hits every point, she's powerful and ambitious and ruthless... but she isn't evil. In the end, she doesn't put her ambition over doing the right thing. She doesn't let her recklessness get in the way of the Battle at Sodden Hill; she registers some displeasure at being put up in the tower to observe and report, but she does it, and she does it without reserve or bitterness, to the best of her ability. She went through hell to find the power that she thought would give her what she wanted, only to discover that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be -- on her own. She didn't get this revelation from a lover, or from some great tragic descent into madness and fall from grace. She came to this realization over time, without someone else's opinion.

Queen Calanthe -- jfc, Queen Calanthe is how Daenerys Targaryen should have been handled. She's a powerful woman, an unapologetically ambitious warrior woman, who falls and loses her throne and country -- exactly the same way a King would have. Her flaws -- her hubris, her selfishness, her unwillingness to let go of her granddaughter -- lead to her downfall, but they do so rationally. She doesn't go mad, or start making stupid irrational decisions, or have to be otherwise softened -- she loses the battle. She was out-maneuvered, and her support was blocked, and she just failed. She just lost. Queens -- any poweful woman, really -- always go mad and have to be put down For The Greater Good, they never get to be a Tragic Hero in the classical sense -- always Lady Macbeth, never Hamlet.

Calanthe is a fucking Greek Tragedy. She hits all the high points of an Aristotelean Tragic Hero: she evokes pity and the fear that the viewer could have made all the same mistakes; her fortunes change from prosperity to adversity, not through vice or depravity but through error of judgment; that error is made through a fundamental character flaw, something that the character could have stopped, but also couldn't because of who they are as a person.

I cannot think of another Queen treated this way in fiction.

There's one single mention of rape, and that character does imply that this in part led to her not being a princess anymore -- followed almost-immediately by the main character explicitly and pointedly calling her Princess, pointing out that it isn't what was done to her that makes her monstrous, it's what she herself does. Even so, it's simply part of her backstory, she's the one who brings it up, and there's no gruesome flashback to "evoke sympathy" or whatever bullshit excuse to show women suffering.

It's just. It's so obvious that this showrunner is a woman. The comparisons to GoT are all over the place, and obviously -- they're both dark, gritty fantasies with a heavy political aspect -- but the way this show treats its characters, and particularly its women, is just so refreshing. It's not without its flaws, and while I'll admit that there were a few moments where I was like, "did she really need to be naked here?" none of those moments were tasteless or predatory, and there was none of that gratuitous degradation of women that was such a hallmark (and turnoff) of Game of Thrones.

(There's more, too, about how the Witcher differs from GoT in how sometimes, some people are just decent and kind. Sometimes, people really are all right, and do the right thing regardless of their own self-interest. And while, yes, it would be unrealistic if everyone or even most people were that way -- it's just as unrealistic to have no one be. There's this element of human compassion in the Witcher that's far too rare, if it exists at all, in Westeros, that makes the world so much less heavy. There's plenty of darkness and bleakness, but there's also kindness and compassion to balance it out. But that's a whole other post.)

It's just. God, it is just so nice, to have a fantasy show that acknowledges sexism without itself devaluing the female characters.

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When I find myself in times of trouble, Geralt of Rivia comes to me speaking words of wisdom

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Geralt of Roastsia

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Our first photo of the cast of Wonder Woman 1984! (x)

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#baby ‘i do as i please’ yoda

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they’re the biggest dummies in the galaxy and i love them

(this blog will no longer be spoiler free…!!)

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I saw THIS and just … it works.

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Cherik #20, massage? Victuuri #9, awkward kiss? 7, scared kiss? :D!

Cherik, massage

It had been a stressful week at the school. Every week wasstressful in its own way, but this one deserved special recognition. Inaddition to the general pressure of midterm exams and the lousy weather thatkept everyone bottled up indoors, they had one student blow out a load-bearing wallwith his powers, another had a screaming breakdown in the main stairwell, andtwo sixteen-year-olds made an attempt to elope.

And now, on Friday night, just when Charles was having abrandy and trying to unwind the slightest bit before going to bed, ErikLehnsherr appeared at his window.

For a moment he considered closing the curtains and going tobed. Instead, after a long pause and a deep swallow of his brandy, he went tothe window and opened it a crack.

“I will let you in,” he said, “on the conditionthat you do nothing to make an already terrible week worse.”

Erik raised an eyebrow. “Shall I take a vow ofsilence?”

“It’s an idea.” Nonetheless, he rolled back fromthe window far enough for Erik to come in, without actually demanding the vow.He could always shut off Erik’s vocal centers if necessary.

“You do look very tense,” Erik said, combing hisfingers through Charles’s hair as he set the helmet aside with the other hand.

“Nngh.” Charles tried not to let his eyes flutterclosed at the contact. “My neck feels like an iron bar. My shoulders arein worse knots than the kindergarteners’ shoelaces.”

A slow smile spread across Erik’s face. “Go liedown.”

Charles slanted a suspicious eyebrow at him, but transferredonto the bed, propped on his pillows.

“No, all the way down, on your stomach. Let’s get theseclothes off.”

“Erik.”

“I’m going to give you a massage.”

“Well… all right.”

Erik went to the nightstand and rummaged until he found abottle of scented oil, one they’d found too slippery for other activities. Itturned out to be perfect for this—for Erik sliding his hands up and downCharles’s back, kneading his shoulders and neck and arms and hips. Charles feltcertain he had become a puddle and would run off the edges of the bed presently.Occasionally it hurt when Erik attacked a knot, but in a good way.

“Erik,” he murmured into the pillow, “how doyou—I mean, I never knew you knew how to do this.”

He couldn’t see Erik’s cheeks color, but he could feel theemotion suffusing the room. “I’ve been… learning.”

For you, he didn’tsay, but that, too, filled the room. Ilearned how to do this for you.

The hot, bright, uncontainable thing in Charles’s chest waseither pain or happiness, but he wasn’t sure there was a difference when itcame to Erik. He knew Erik would leave in the morning, and there was no tellingwhen he would be back.

He also knew he’d always open the window.

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@follow-butterfly

OKAY I have been meaning to do this for MONTHS but hey, there’s no better time than the present so buckle up, here we go! THESE BOOKS ARE A GODSEND. I am ALWAYS on the lookout for writing aids that ACTUALLY HELP. If you’re like me, and occasionally venture out to buy books on, let’s say, showing vs telling - you will always get the same rehearsed speeches on what that means. -summons pretentious writer’s voice- You’ve got to shoooooow what’s happening in the scene, not teeeeeeell~~ BAH! What you NEVER get, however, is how to do it, or how do it better.

THESE BOOKS ARE THE STUFF OF DREAMS

Each of these is so freaking helpful, I can’t even convey. They all follow the same format as the pictures I’ve shown above, so you get one detailed page of descriptions followed by tons of more in-depth, thought provoking concepts. I’ll do my best to lay out the five that I have and if you are interested, hop on over to Amazon and buy these suckers up because they are AMAZING; I have NEVER used a writing resource more than I use these. Negative Trait Thesaurus & Positive Trait Thesaurus -gives you a definition of said negative trait -gives you similar flaws also found in the book -gives you possible causes of WHY the character might have this trait -gives you a list of other behaviors the chara might have -gives you examples of the chara’s thought process -gives associated emotions -gives positive aspects of the trait, as well as negative -gives examples of well known chara’s that have this trait -talks about how the chara might overcome it -gives traits that, when combined with this one, might cause conflict How I use this information: Chara building, or when I get stuck on what I want a character to do. Man, I just can’t decide what they WOULD do. Well, awesome, I have a little guide to help me think through the character’s possible motivations. Also, I get help building a potential backstory because I get a framework of which to think, why is the character this way? Urban Setting Thesaurus & Rural Setting Thesaurus -gives a whole lot of examples of sights, smells, tastes, and sounds -gives examples of textures and sensations (ie at an ‘antique shop’ you may encounter chipped paint, distressed wood, etc) -gives you possible sources of conflict (ie at a ‘hotel’ you might have noisy neighbors) -gives list of people you might expect to find at said location -gives related settings -gives tips on this type of setting -gives a setting description example How I use this information: IMAGERY IMAGERY IMAGERY Emotion Thesaurus (aka MY FAVORITE) -gives a definition of the emotion -gives physical signs and signals (ie chara may look pale, might fidget, etc) -gives internal sensations (aka, blood pounding in the ears, dry throat, adrenaline rush) -gives mental responses (ie fight or flight) -gives cues of acute or long-term impacts of the emotion -gives ‘may escalate to _______’ and directs you to other emotions -gives cues of suppression (ie cues of suppressed rage) -gives writer tips How I use this information: I love this book so hardcore, it’s so helpful with internalizing. It’s great because I get to step outside of that box of using the same five responses to a certain emotion and start really thinking about, what can a character do instead to show that they are feeling this, rather than me using adverbs or his adrenaline pumped fifty gazillion times. These books are all co-written by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (bless their souls) and if this sounds of interest LOOK INTO IT!! I get such buyer’s regret after buying writing guides but these are legit the best ones I have found and I reference them so, so, so much. Hope this helps anyone out there looking for something life-changing!!