#(honestly this will probably just end up in the novel bc its uhhh Really Really Weird and most spn fans will NOT get this)
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definitely less coherent/well-spelled than usual, still getting used to Twitter lol (im just on there for shows, art and myths. NEVER get current events stuff via twt holy SHIT)
anyway, post-show update to this is that apparently, you can't force open Janus' gates, it has to be done by choice. ....however, strapping his kid to a bomb is still pretty damn forceful.
also I'm currently trying to figure out why Rebecca has SO MUCH IN COMMON with AT LEAST FOUR DIFFERENT GODDESSES
who IS she
pspspspsps @jackgirlbluntrotation @wrenchenthusiast @very-offkey-kazoo come get yall's Janus
@maniac-reboggles idk if Roman Mythology is ur jam but here's some Deep (mostly CW Gotham Knights-Relevant) Two-Face Lore
@about-faces the (equally weird) companion piece to the whole Gilda Gold Grendel's Mother thing. I'm very normal abt seasonally-linked gods lmao
no time to copy-paste the full incoherent rant uhhh Here Yall Have Some Myths
@very-offkey-kazoo
@jackgirlbluntrotation
@wrenchenthusiast
@maniac-reboggles
#bafflingly enough#Cas came out of this fairly okay#as in he's not blown to shreds or mind-controlled or drained all his power#or anything ELSE i predicted#he's just... a war god now. and possibly evil. like thats not GOOD but it could be SO MUCH WORSE#mythology#supernatural#cw gotham knights#roman mythology#Janus#misha collins#misha fucking collins#castiel#cwverse#the cw#meta#crossover#crossover au#media analyses#lorenatural#ttr#(honestly this will probably just end up in the novel bc its uhhh Really Really Weird and most spn fans will NOT get this)#seasonal god shit#note to self- revisit for gos2
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You. š«µ Top 5 Moments in The Karate Kid Novelization
OHHHHHOHOHOHO
so for anyone who wants to read a lot of bits and pieces of the Karate Kid novelization, click the read more bc I uhhh. Well I went kind of crazy on this ask. Sorry, friend lmfao
1. Well I made a post about it before but CAN'T FUCKING FIND IT. But anyway, you and I both know the top moment is when we see what goes through Daniel's head as Mr. Miyagi gives him a bonsai and urges him to picture a tree:
"He saw it. It stood, a cypress on a cliff by an ocean, beaten and shaped by the harsh wind and salt air. Its branches withstood the environment and reached bravely for nourishment and survival. It was lonely and beautiful" (Hiller 39-40).
I love this moment bc it resonates with the theme of healing yourself and obtaining strong roots through reaching for help and connection from other people, and not falling to anger, bitterness, etc. Wounds can be healed, y'know? And Daniel is stronger than he looks, and not alone anymore. (Also how you mentioned it coincidentally reminds you of the bonsai in KK3?? INSANE!!)
2. Next would be all the moments that clue you in to how kind and considerate Daniel is toward his mother. He has his pissy teenage boy moments, but he loves his mom so much, and wants a good life for both of them, even at the expense of himself. A couple examples:
[After he is beat by Johnny on the beach]
"'Oh, Daniel! What happened?'
Daniel wanted to tell her something she could believe. She had enough worries of her own and he didn't want her to have to worry about him, too" (18).
Very very sweet. But Daniel, she's your mother!! She will worry, and you gotta be honest </3
[After The Cobras ran him off the road]
"'I'm sorry doesn't help, Ma. I want to go home. I don't understand the rules here.'
'You know, hon. I'm not so sure I understand them myself. It's been a little rocky here for me, too, though I've made it through three days without getting a black eye.' Daniel caught the twinkle in her eye and smiled despite himself.
... 'Let's get you cleaned up and we'll see if we can't figure out the rules together.' She put her arm around Daniel's shoulders and they began to walk to the apartment together" (37).
I love this moment!!! Lucille lets Daniel know they are in this together. They are able to share their hardship with one another, and bounce back from it not just to soldier on, but to be there for each other!!
3. Honestly, I thought it was cheesey at first, but from a literary standpoint, the Garden of Eden allusion/motif. Some examples:
[At first he sarcastically/bitterly thinks of "the Garden of Eden" his mother calls California. This is as he ponders about insecurities about Ali, then distracts himself with thoughts of his tree.]
"He thought of his bonsai tree and how he had pruned it and clipped it so that it almost looked like the picture in his mind ć¼ the one thing that flourished in this Garden of Eden" (44).
I love the way he thinks back to his bonsai and what Mr. Miyagi has given him, but this passage is kind of saddening as much as it scratches my brain
[The last line of the novel presents the phrase very differently (positively). It is pretty cheesy, but it's grown on me. Context within the quote.]
"How can I go wrong, he thought, with a terrific man like Mr. Miyagi for a friend, the most beautiful ... girlfriend ... a mother who will spring for lobsters every time I win the All Valley ...
A guy could really turn on to a Garden of Eden like this" (131).
I'm happy for him! This is how the ending should always be! The joy!!
4. Bobby's moments make me fucking INSANE. I think it was handled pretty well, all things considered. So: Bobby Brown renouncing Cobra Kai.
[After being commanded by Kreese to take Daniel out of commission, then beginning his match with Daniel]
"Bobby stood still, his eyes locked with Kreese's. Daniel couldn't understand what was happening as he observed a battle of wills between Bobby and Kreese ...
Once again [Bobby's] eyes shifted to Kreese, then back to Daniel ...
From the stretcher, [Daniel] watched Bobby exit the ring to catcalls from the audience. Bobby stopped just long enough to untie and discard his belt at Kreese's feet and walk out, shattered.
The Cobra, it seemed, could be poisoned by its own venom" (119-120).
THE COBRA POISONED BY ITS OWN VENOM? SHATTERED??? yeah I'm insane about this. Bobby...Bobby...
5. Lastly, bc who cares about these gay bitches (me, I do), all the moments that could be associated with lawrusso if you squint:
"As their eyes measured each other, Johnny's body moved, catlike, into a karate stance ...
Johnny and his gang mounted their dirt bikes" (16).
Cat-like, huh...mounted you say...this is some strange description, Daniel
"[Ali] smiled at him one more time and rushed off, almost bumping into Johnny. Daniel realized that Johnny had witnessed his entire conversation with Ali" (20-21).
Why are you so close, so transfixed, Johnny...
"Calmly, [Daniel] smeared the gob of blueberry gunk on Johnny's shirt. Mayhem erupted" (30) ...
"Johnny just stared at him ... Silently, Johnny brushed Daniel's bicycle to the limit" (34).
:( The bullying moments ... PIE!!! PIE!!! I love what a little shit Daniel is there. This moment doesn't have the sensuality of the deleted scene though. But I do like Johnny's STARE in the next part
"So, he learned Johnny's class schedule and avoided him" (43).
I get it but also. Hmm. Okay...š³ļøāš
"Johnny stood in front of him, soaking wet. He put his hands on his hips" (49).
This is just hilarious cuz a lot of us like to call Johnny a Wet Beast for Daniel. Also hands on his hips is just a funny and endearing moment, what a shit lol
"Daniel carefully evaded Johnny's grasp, but realized it was going to be a losing battle. Johnny was bigger" (66-67).
THE EMPHASIS...HUH. I GET IT. BUT ALSO. OKAY...š³ļøāš
"For there, on the dance floor, was Ali ć¼ dancing with Johnny. Johnny's eyes met Daniel's" (88).
Gayass
"He'd have to ... meet Johnny at the tournament, completing the battle they'd begun that first day on the beach" (96) ...
[After Daniel returns to the arena, and Johnny meets his eyes] "Daniel wondered for an instant if there was a slight flicker of relief in those stony eyes, but rejected the thought" (123) ...
"Daniel and Johnny circled, each looking for a point of attack, each oblivious to the rest of the rest of the world" (124).
The tournament! I love the phrases...the battle that begun on the beach...Johnny's recognition of and buried hope for Daniel...their eyes only for each other, for this fight...
[After the tournament] "Daniel had won the crowd's respect; he'd won Johnny's respect; most important, however, he'd won his own self-respect" (125) ...
"Finally, Daniel stood next to Johnny. They bowed. Their eyes met in genuine respect" (126).
I love Daniel's journey toward his self-respect, that is so important to me. But also Johnny's HEHEH....Cobra Kai take notes.
ANYWAY UH YEAH. THERE YOU GO. THIS LITERALLY TOOK ME LIKE AN HOUR (PROBABLY MORE). LOL...
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,,,,okay i know i just said i wasnāt going to talk about the deh movie but actually yeah imma talk about it for just a sec bc yāall actually make me legitimately distressed sajkfndsmjkgds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQ_A0H1otcĀ i dont have the braincells to do a shot by shot analysis right now but hereās what weāre lookin at
under a readmore because ghhhhhhh
firstly, let me lead with this: yes, from what we know, thereās a lot of things wrong with this movie.Ā
the worst, in my humble opinion, being the bts treatment of the (very few) actors of color, and the lack altogether of any production team members of color. thatās something that should be acknowledged, talked about, and fucking dug into especially at the current fucking period of time weāre living in. itās unsurprising, but disgusting nonetheless, and it set this movie up for failure from the very beginning. iām a white person so by no means so i feel inclined or like i have any authority in saying what one should feel wrt all of that, however i will say if thereās to be a boycott in not watching this movie, that should 100% be the reason why. itās fully pocās choice whether or not to forgive the production team or give this movie a chance for the irredeemable shit it did in regards to handling the movieās production. the movie imo definitely doesnāt deserve their forgiveness, but again, that is not for me to say.Ā
thereās some little things too that i canāt fully think of off the top of my head - like, the whole making larry connorās stepdad thing fucking irks me, for example, but, like...... listen.
if you know me like at all, you know my favorite word is nuance.
so, iām going to say it outright: the way you people are approaching this three minute trailer shows literally.... none?? no nuance ??? is it no-nuance november over here or ???? like iām begging you iām BEGGING YOU to put aside your pre-determined prejudices against this movie and like stop pretending to be a renowned film critic for ten seconds because itās really not as outright fucking abysmal as you are saying!! and also itās possible to have opinions that arenāt completely fucking polarized to one side because guess what, the deh movie? a piece of media! what is the shit yāall are constantly preaching about having the ability to consume media critically ? because youāre trying to cancel a fucking trailer based on the contents of the trailer alone !!!!! hello !!!!!!!!
media is bound to be problematic. if yāall were as quick to judge any movie as you did this one, guess what you wouldnāt be watching any movies like ever <3Ā
anyway lets get into the parts that are probably going to get me cancelled lmaoĀ
ben platt - listen. LISTEN. listen i know heās too old to be reprising evan we ALL know heās too old to be reprising evan iāve heard this same argument since the announcement was made we get it we all know.Ā haha heās a grandpa yes bestie ur so right ur so funny wow. i do agree that we shouldāve maybe had a not-ben-platt evan moment but hereās some things to keep in mind: the arguments ofĀ āoooh ABF is right there !!!!!!ā 1. whoās to say he was available? 2. the environment of a movie is so, SO much different than that of a musical -- as much as you wanna pretend you know everything from just a trailer, thereās no way of knowing what scenes were added that mightāve made the movie like.. idk possibly more intense story-wise not even COUNTING the fact that just inherently a movie set is different than a musical one? like yes ben platt might be just being used as a device but thatās probably not the sole and only reason. Also, if i see One (1) more comment about his FUCKING HAIR š first of all itās not that deep like... if youāre so distracted by an actor having their hair different thatās on you, but going as far as to call it bad or distracting or being like Vehemently a way about it?Ā yāall i know itās most likely not your intention but that is literally just ben plattās natural fuckin ETHNICALLY JEWISH hair sajknfgkjds!!!! iām not the first to make this point, but like dsjnfkjdsg!??! yāall are being so mean about it and for WHAT? again, maybe not intentional, but it reads as like high key Very antisemetic and you should.... maybe not š³ be that way
connor. the thing about a trailer is that they donāt show you all the scenes because they want you to come see the movie. right? can we agree on that? all the connor scenes in the trailer had SEVERAL hard cuts, omitting a lot of the scene -- like the computer lab scene! we see the beginning of it, thereās a VERY obvious hard cut, and then heās running out! in my opinion my first watch through of this trailer i had a very likeĀ ā:// hmm all these actors feel a lil like dryā, but man oh man the comments ive seen about connor. holy shit guys. this boy gets 7 minutes of stage time in the actual musical, and the whole thing is we DONāT KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT HIM. not to burst your bubble, and i by no means hate connor, i love me some good connor lives fics and stuff, but everything we write with connor being alive? that is !! speculation on our part !!!! those are headcanons and us using the little context we have!! connor doesnāt have any significant development IN THE SOURCE MATERIAL that is being adapted into a movie !!! you 1. canāt fully judge a character with already limited screentime in a 3 minute trailer, 2. canāt really call what connor has canonically in the musical as in depth character development !! what is his arc then !!!! he pushes evan, goes to the computer lab, has an outcast loner kid moment, gets upset, takes the letter, DIES. sorry stans, thatās just how it is !! and, AND, everything in between, all the idiosyncracies, that depends on the actor playing connor! speaking of, you know who the actor is playing connor in the movie? thatās right, colton ryan!Ā so, i donāt know, maybe... have some trust in the process, in an actor who ALREADY has played connor on broadway???? and also trust that you will get more connor content then u are seeing from a 3 minute trailer!!Ā dhgnijsdg and some of the comments on like his appearance specifically? like are you really made that he doesnāt have long hair?? they kept his nails and his rings but nahhh the hair was apparently a MUST HAVE (even though like.. not all connor actors on broadway always had/have long hair but w/e)..Ā REGARDLESS. tldr on THATĀ ,Ā the movie would have to do a pretty shitty job if they want to take something from someone who doesnāt have much to begin with and i think yāall are being extremely harsh on this pointĀ
jared. honestly iām a bit worried too about the like... name change, because it does have the potential to be taking out some representation, but... they did change the name to fit the actorās ethnicity? itās a really [hmm] topic because, again, from a trailer and from what we have been told we donāt KNOW a lot of the context, but i think itās important to remember that uh.. jewish people arenāt just? always white ?? thereās a possibility they changed the last name to fit with the [ethnicity] while keeping him jewish?? ofc thereās the possibility that they Didnāt and ... again hm thatās its own thing altogether but just reiterates the point that you canāt knock a whole movie just based on the trailer. you canāt talk about things you know nothing about.Ā
alana. same thing as before, you canāt.... completely bash a character based on a 3 minute trailer. there was discussion about how she seemedĀ āshyā when talking to evan, which like.. maybe she is but also that scene was them talking in a library like if u actually take notice of whatās happening in the scene jdskngsd though i do share the general consensus with many others that she wonāt get a lot of screen-time but thatās neither here nor there š moving on
scenes and the setting. one of the things i was most like.. tentative about in regards to a switch from a musical to a movie was how they were like... going to do certain scenes? naturally, a lot has to be different when weāre going from a minimal stage set to an entire movie with like.. settings. there are going to be new scenes because a movie lends to have like, physical places that arenāt just [evanās bedroom] and [murphy kitchen] and [implied school]. so new scenes, new conversations, slightly different pacing.. this is all to be expected right like are yāall geneuinely surprised here or ........
thereās a lot we arenāt seeing yet because this is a TRAILER. again i already mentioned this re: connor but like... again, yāall are making some Claims that just... fucking outlandish. there are so many moments in the trailer that are very obvious Hard Cuts. you donāt have all the information yet. you are angry at a tiny fragment of something that is confusing you because you donāt have all the context. is there a chance that some of this shit is just genuinely Bad? yeah but you really cannot 100000% say it with your chest and gauge it without seeing the movie and understanding what that scene is in context. lowkey uhhh saw some jokes about the zoe scene in the car and :ā))) ? jesus? christ????
concluding thoughts because my brain hurts but like. you donāt have to like the movie. you donāt have to WATCH the movie. like all media if you choose to consume the movie you should do so with some CRITICAL THOUGHT. but, just like the novel (and i do not want to have any discussions about that i donāt care if you think itās good Or bad thatās not what this is about) you guys are going in this WANTING to believe itās bad and completely polarizing your thoughts on what this is going to be. yeah, maybe there shouldnāt be a movie. i genuinely think we couldāve gone without. but itās just a piece of media, itās not a progression like all your (musical is good, novel is bad, MOVIE IS WORSE OH NO) posts are suggesting. they are all just. different pieces of media stemming from a source. at the end of the day itās just a fucking movie. if you already hate it so much, guess what? you donāt have to watch it! you donāt have to put so much needless fucking hate into a 3 MINUTE TRAILER. you can stop being performative and dissing it for its poor treatment of POC while then going on to make fun of ben plattās hair and just targeting a different group like! please !!!
iām not trying to be a fuckinā advocate for this movie because thereās so much opportunity for it to suck, i do Not have high hopes for it, and iām not even really sure i want to watch it (i bought the novel when it came out and have yet to read it, and iām sure the movie will like.. elicit very similar vibes from me lsdngjkdsg like im just not uhhh feeling it) but yāknow what? watching the trailer did not bring forth the fucking onslaught of hatred in me that apparently has fuckin posessed all of yāall and like djnsgjksdg plagued my dashboard for this whole evening. donāt come into my inbox trying to like.. argue with me about this (preemptively im turning off anon because i like i Canāt lmao) this is just like... a rant i needed to get out of me real quick.Ā
SO. tldr for now: have critical thought about shit you consume, thereās no ethical consumption under [the film industry], you canāt judge a movie entirely on its trailer, and yāall need to calm the fuck downĀ
#garbage.txt#deh movie#ask to tag#irrelevant#bc this is lowkey a vent bc jfc#this isn't @ anyone btw this is just [in general mostly just from my dash] bc.. sighs#anyway im gonna refrain from making any more comment on this its just. frustrating.#edit: ok to rb
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Ok I am a single follower but I like hannibal tv but would enjoy ur movie thoughts I like some of the books too and have been meaning to get around to the movies š³š³
OKAY I'M EDITING A READMORE ONTO THIS LOL I REALIZED THATS SOMETHING I CAN DO! so now my incredibly waaayyy too long answer abt my thoughts on 2002 will is under there. apologies bc this is less "movie thoughts" and more "2002 movie will thoughts" but well thats how the chips fell
GOD okay sooo for the record i am reading the red dragon book and am like 7 or 8 chapters in and full transparency im not like. enjoying it lol. the book pisses me off with its misogyny (all the women in it are either dead or it feels like you're supposed to think theyre Selfish Bitches or theyre just there for like. bizarre and uncomfortable sexual moments like the guys talking abt that woman in the elevator, or that one part of mrs. leeds diary which is like. i guess could be there to Show Her Humanity or whatever but 1. there are more ways to do that 2. the book doesnt seem particularly concerned with her humanity considering she's barely even given a first name and so far the novel hasnt seemed to disapprove of how will thinks of her as a possession of her husband) and its inconsistency with will's most important character trait or whatever (he's so intensely, extremely empathetic towards EVERYONE, even serial killers, which makes him really good at finding them! and he can never turn this off, to the point where every time he has a conversation with someone, he ends up mimicking the way they talk, even if he tries to stop! but also he never empathizes with the victims or HIS OWN FUCKING WIFE? HELLO? so it really feels less like "extremely strong empathy for everyone that he cant control" and more like "he can empathize with serial killers extremely well and also other people if we want to Make A Point in one scene instead of letting the point show through the whole book") BUT UHHH ANYWAY. MOVIE THOUGHTS. THE MOVIE THOUGHTS YOU ASKED FOR COMING RIGHT UP!
okay this is what i am worried will either 1. draw annoying tv will graham stans to my blog like flies or 2. end with me being hanged in the town square BUT. it must be said. i prefer 2002 red dragon will graham to tv will graham. and quite frankly? so far? i think 2002 red dragon will graham is better than book will graham. i cannot lie.
my reasoning: because 2002 will actually empathizes with more people than serial killers and his boss! y'know! like you'd assume someone with constant extreme empathy would! the difference between the first scene with molly in the book vs in the movie are SO striking to me now that i've read that part of the novel. in the novel he seems very... rough, i guess, and like he doesnt care about molly's worries. he doesnt seem to see things from her perspective, which especially feels like a kick to the gut because MOLLY! SEES! THINGS! FROM! HIS! PERSPECTIVE!!! she literally empathizes with him more than he does with her! what the fuck! MEANWHILE in the movie, he does seem to care about her. his assurances that he wont get too involved seem like assurances rather than him trying to get her off his back. he hugs her and tells her he loves her and i actually believe that yeah, he loves her, he knows she's worried about him, and he wants to comfort her and ease her worries. and the victims! AGAIN such a stark difference to me! in the book, will is like... uncomfortable empathizing w the red dragon, of course, but he doesnt seem to empathize with the victims all that much, ESPECIALLY not the women. he doesnt care about them. he sees them as possessions belonging to their husbands and its so fucking gross. despite already suspecting that the red dragon chooses families based on the women, he decides to waste time focusing on the husbands as a way of "asking permission to look at [their wives]." what the fuck? meanwhile in the film, he feels for the victims so much that he can barely even say that the kids were shot in bed! when he watches the tapes, he focuses on the women! because that's his fucking job!!! and we see him empathizing with them! wow!!
siiigh okay im gonna stop talking abt the book vs the movie now bc again im only like 8 chapters or so deep. but now we come to tv will vs. 2002 will, which is admittedly gonna be more subjective and part of that it bc i cant remember a whole lot of specifics from the show bc my memory is Very Bad. but anyway
let's get the shallow stuff out of the way. yes i prefer ed norton's face to hugh dancy's. call hugh dancy "gender" or whatever have your fun i support you and your right to call any blood covered man a gender but by god is that not even REMOTELY my experience. next shallow thing to get out of the way: ed norton's line delivery is like music to my FUCKING ears compared to hugh dancy's i am so sorry. like the jokes about will shaking like a damp chihuahua before taking 5 minutes to stutter out "he's killing them....... On Purpose, jack." are funny and all but christ i had SUCH a hard time watching the show bc of that im not lying. literally hearing 2002 will just say "he's not keeping them. he's eating them." nice and quick, matter of factly is better than well im actually gonna end that sentence there but you get the idea. like YESSS you little blonde bitch get to the point i love you!!!
OKAY NOW less shallow points but also less uhh idk man i just dont remember a lot of hannibal. but basically: after seeing how caring 2002 will is, i'm kind of... idk i'm just so over tv will and how abrasive and harsh he is in comparison. like i fell in LOVE with how vulnerable 2002 will is, how he feels like he cares deeply about the people around him (and honestly... idk i cant remember a moment in the hannibal tv series that made me feel the way i felt when 2002 will can't say "the kids were shot in their beds". it's like... yeah this is a guy who feels so deeply for everyone around him at all times. i believe that.) and i just dont remember getting that same feeling from tv will. i have been gently spoon fed the most excellent chocolate pudding and everything else in my memory is just a snack pack. i guess tv will has those moments (what comes to mind is when he brings gideon to hannibal's house and is crying and he says "please dont lie to me") but idk they just didnt really do for me what 2002 will does. and then their scenes with reba! wow! i rewatched the tv version after watching red dragon, bc the film version made me tear up, meanwhile the tv version i barely remembered and i wasnt sure if that was just bc of the different mindsets i was in while watching them or what. and ok i just rewatched the tv version again and like... yeah. it's the wills lol. i LOVEEE tv reba SO much she is giving everything in that scene!! she sounds so like... broken, both bc of dolarhyde's apparent suicide and bc of finding out who he was + what he was doing, she sounds so fragile and guilt ridden! she's amazing!! but will. idk. tv will's delivery just seems... idk this feels dumb to say but it sounds like writing. i admittedly LOVE the line "people who study this kind of thing say that he was trying to stop because you helped him." and his delivery there is good. but between tv "you didnt draw a freak, you drew a man w a freak on his back" and the 2002 version, the 2002 delivery seems more genuine while the tv delivery sounds rehearsed. idk overall the 2002 version of that conversation just makes me feel more? its like. idk i can feel the 2002 version gently holding my heart while the tv version is a scene that is nice in h/nnigram gifsets or w/e.
umm ok this is already suuuper long and my brain is getting a bit mushy so i'm gonna start wrapping it up lol. i'll probably compare book will and 2002 will again after i finish the book, and then i miiight rewatch hannibal, or at least parts of s3. but right now my thoughts are basically: book will is a fucking dick who has an easier time empathizing with serial killers than with his wife. tv will is a nothing girl after being so completely catered to + also idk he doesnt have the same fragility that i want from my wills now. and 2002 will is my little caramel apple. he has this delightful vulnerability and feels like he cares so much and empathizes with more people than serial killers and his boss and 4 people in a diner for one scene! 2002 will made me care about will graham! which is honestly kind of a feat!
#long post#like so so so long#my condolences anon and also anyone following me who doesnt want this on their dash#but yeah 2002 will is my booboo bear my cinnamon swirl coffeecake my little heavensent angel#and ed nortons performance made me feel more than hugh dancy's#i think ed norton does a really good job at giving his characters that kind of vulnerability and i LOVE that!!#like yeah whatever 'you're gat arent you dont you just think hes hot' sure say that but also like#have you seen him in primal fear? its a movie thats a firm Its Complicated for me but his performance is so good and he feels so vulnerable#and even in fight club and kingdom of heaven i think he gets that in there! idk i genuinely think he's a good actor#personal#red dragon#if im writing an essay i may as well put it in my tags#asks#anonymous#<- FORGOT TO ADD THOSE TAGS. anyway#EDIT: NOW FEATURING A READMORE LOL.
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mdzs read diary part IV, the end
Itās inspiring how much self care wwx is gonna finally get now that his husband will go along with whatever he does, so heās gotta look out for lwjās well being if not his own. that is emphatically the STUFF
dragging my hands down I face as I read this, after all these chapters of getting up close and personal with ghouls bleeding from every orifice, slaying ancient beasts, rebelling against the entire cultivation world, the two of them are absolutely paralyzed by middle school crush sleepover math
chicken
he actually drew kissy doodles .... he....
IDK I THINK I JUST DOCUMENTED THIS PART CUZ I WAS STILL SCREAMING you cant expect me to have very useful things to say at this point
this is torture you are both so mushy you are so GONE
This part really stood out to me, itās an attitude I feel like wwx implies with his inner narration a few times but most clearly says here: heās not one for allowing himself to exaggerate how bad his circumstances are/could be even a little bit - heās already lived through some extreme low points and found a way to keep going, so he never makes sweeping statements about what he couldnāt live without (Inner JingYi: youāre supposed to say youād be lost without him here!!!) Instead he seems to accept as a given that being alive doesnāt guarantee him any pleasantness or joy at all, and as a result his feelings toward being in TRUE LOVE are surprisingly pragmatic, but also colored with such gratitude. There are a lot of things in the novel that struck me, like this, as being just a little to the left of familiar tropes/sentiments, and were more touching for it. Whether it be the influence of culture difference as opposed to what Iām used to reading in most western romance stories, or MXTXās unique outlook, or a combination of both, it was really refreshing and made me pause over it. Not āI canāt imagine living without youā butĀ āI could be living without you, but instead I get to be with you and I think thatās the best thing that could happen.ā
ADJFDKFJ THE UST BEING SO STRONG THAT EVEN THE VILLAIN COMMENTS ON IT IN THE MIDDLE OF EXECUTING HIS EVIL PLANS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WILL NEVER FAIL TO MAKE ME LAUGH MY ASS OFF. hes like god damn! here I thought I had problems
it was at this moment that I realized we were doing this Now... Iām still recovering. What a scene. I am so glad I saw the most incredible fanartĀ soon afterwards, bc the fact that someone has already drawn a perfect comic of this part means I donāt have to
I love you so much, you are so annoying, you are perfect... I like how heās been experiencing openly requited love for all of ten minutes but heās already figured out how to weaponize it to piss people off
doing!!! his!!! job!!!!!
ahh... itās a really good story. JGY is a great character. One of the most interesting differences for me between drama watching vs. novel reading experience is that without an actor to bat his vulnerable doe eyes at you and smile faintly with his cute dimples, the book does not go much out of its way to try to lull the reader into a false sense of security around him or *endear* him to you the way the show does. But just by seeing events through wei wuxianās POV, its still enough to evoke pity or understanding towards him. The overall impression is a bit more detached though, thereās less emphasis on the spectacle of how he could manipulate everyone closest to him and more of a general feeling of resigned tragedy that everyones the worst on this bitch of an earth.
I CANNOT DEAL WITH YOU FOR EVEN ONE MORE SECOND!!!!
I clearly paused to take note of less and less parts at the end & the extras due to: a) too excited to reach the end b) too spicy to photograph and c) too sleepy cuz I kept reading in the middle of the night. but I absolutely took the time for Bro We Are Teens appreciation corner:
Iād absolutely read 40 more extra chapters of their monster-of-the-week field trip antics.
god... poor Jin Ling now basically has to deal with divorced parents that talk shit about each other to him whenever he is saying with one of them. except they are both his uncles. just a disasterhood of all uncles from start to finish. AUUUGH wei wuxian and jiang cheng have fucked me up completely, I dream of them reconciling but I also REFUSE to believe it would ever be easy. let me know if theres a fanfic that absolutely tortures you for decades before they hug
HAHAHA oh no this man aināt making it to immortality thats for damn sure. HEāS JUST GONNA TRY AS HARD AS HE CAN HIS WHOLE LIFE NOT TO LOOK AT HIM BUT THEYRE *MARRIED* SDLKFJSF ohhhh itās too funny, like... the mundane domestic family drama IN the fantastical swords and sorcery setting is what really ratchets up these things from amusing to fucking hilarious I think
aaaa the end... final random thoughts? No not final, I would like to please keep discussing at length and exhaustively, all the time please - CQL has gotta be one of the best TV adaptations Iāve seen. ANY adaptation of anything would be lucky to be so good!! reading the novel has just made me appreciate it even more.
- I donāt think I can do justice to what I find most fascinating about comparing the two versions briefly, to do that I need to get drunk and ramble at my friends for hours but... the condensed version is something like this. Really all the significant differences between the two versions (besides the ones which can be attributed to censorship and therefore arenāt worth discussing) are a side effect of the structure of how the story is told - thereās barely anything changed arbitrarily. Aside from having a cold opening, the drama sticks to a very linear version of the story, and I think for a TV show or film, thatās probably the best way to do it. We see everything, we get shocked and tricked and betrayed and surprised along with the characters, we feel the biggest impact at the climactic scenes having experienced all the build-up. The novel on the other hand is not only much more non-linear in WHEN we learn bits and pieces of information, but that information is also obfuscated under wei wuxianās multiple layers of Unreliable Narratoritis, which are as follows: 1) difficulty remembering things because of personality/avoiding painful memories/actual memory loss, 2) No Homo Goggles still on, and 3) a wry sense of humor that makes the reader unsure of how much they can trust his attitude toward things, especially near the beginning. The experience of reading is a puzzle the reader has to mentally piece together through all of the above listed camouflage, and the puzzle itself is a three-sided mystery: One - How Bad of a guy was Wei WuXian really, and how exactly did all the bad stuff in his life go down; Two - wangxian epic pride & prejudice gambits; Three - political murder mystery. (I love stories like this btw... though I fully admit Iām glad I watched first this time bc it might have taken me a long time to tackle otherwise.) Because of this, where the drama wants to pull you in and submerge you in all the most potent emotional parts, the novel in direct contrast deliberately side-steps around these things and asks that you hurt yourself by filling in the blanks. In fact the more intense emotions and painful memories involved, whether it be his relationship with jiang yanli, his DEATH, the darkest days of war times etc, the more the novel evasively withholds details. I actually really like both styles of storytelling but each one is obviously way better suited to its medium. ANYWAY.... THATS BASICALLY WHERE MY BRAINS AT WHILE IM READING GAY SWORD WIZARD BOOKS
- The extras are so saturated with domestic married bliss that itās a good thing I stopped taking pictures because Iād just take a picture of every page. this is too much for me to take... I did jump the gun a few times and read a few fanfics while I was still mid-read of the book (I tried to hold out but alas I am mortal) and at one point after finishing I was likeĀ āwow what fic was it in where lwj says something cute and wwx kisses him in public but theyāre in the corner of the restaurant so no one really sees... OH NO WAIT that was actually in there.ā and ... and thatās the LEAST OF IT... *stares into the distance* theyre married wow
- I ofc couldnāt help but see a few vague blogs beforehand so honestly I was braced for something like, wildly ooc for the sake of porn to happen in the extras... I definitely appreciate how the incense burner porn interludes could be uhhh a lot for many people and not my personal cup of tea in terms of smut however [here follows the words of a poisonous frog who has dwelt her whole life in the rainforests of BL] the concept is also surprisingly SWEET SDFLKJF like wwx sees lan wangjiās darkest mixed-up violent teenage fantasies and heās just like aww babe you had a crush on me!! just... good for them
- I swear Iām not gonna rehash every cute married thing they do but wei wuxian grading papers in the tub........................rEALLY GOT ME
- I want to Draw - ok thats enough if I keep going Iāll just writeĀ āwei wuxian grading papers in the tubā seven more times probably
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Hereās my long ass review of TGCF that literally no one asked for it i have opinions and I have no one to tell them too so i must write them out and post them. (also part of this is abt the mdzs novel bc i canāt not compare them and I have a lot of thoughts abt that too)
This is very very long so itās going under a read more. Spoilers ahead!!
Okay so first off this book was a fucking behemoth i canāt believe i read all of that (minus the extras) in under a week.. what the fuck. I definetly got reading fatigue halfway thru book 3.
Iām gonna separate my thoughts into sections bc iĀ have a few points that donāt all relate
firstly, overall writing and organization:
I said it earlier but tgcf is a lot more structurally sound than mdzs imo. My biggest criticism of the MDZS novel (minus the bad sex scenes, homophobia, and general I hate mxtxness of it) was the way the flashbacks were presented.Ā
Like OH MY GOD they were presented so badly. I hated that the flashback was told intermittently and only when one of the characters invoked the past. For example, when WWX meets Jiang Cheng and a second time, Jin Ling distracts JC to releaseĀ āMo Xuanyuā bc he saved his life in the Nie Ancestral hall earlier. WWX then proceeds to be the self sacrificing dude he is and take away Jin Lingās curse and put it on himself. When he escapes and returns to LWJ, LWJ offers to carry him.
Ā If you watched CQL, you know exactly what LWJ is referring to when he says smth to the effect of āYou once offered to carry me too, remember.ā HOWEVER in the novel you donāt know what heās talking about. This is because the flashback wasnāt been revealed to you yet. The next chapter goes to tell the flashback. I think that this takes away all of the emotional depth away from the scene. But in CQL, having the flashback already be known, you make the connection on your own and are likeĀ āawww wangji remembers that.. even 16 years later.ā Its a lot sweeter bc you know what the two have gone thru. At this point in the MDZS novel its barely the 30th chapter or so and you have no real idea what wangxian have been thru together or what reasons wangji has for loving wwx. You just think, well obviously they like each other bc this is a danmei novel and they are the two leads, ofc they have to like each other. But in cql, you learn through watching them that theyāre in love. Itās not just likeāwell they have to be!! its a bl!!ā
Okay that was a rlly long side tangent but it makes me so angry. So what did any of that have to do with TGCF?? well tgcf doesnāt have this issue. In fact, i believe that it gains a lot from having the flashback withheld from the reader.Ā
I really liked how the flashbacks were contained to books 2 and 4 respectively because it adds a layer of mystery. Hua Cheng is a very secretive man so it makes sense for us to not know everything about him upfront. The way that the author teases and hints little things at you make you want to know more, making it all the more satisfying when the truth is revealed. Because in a way you Know that Hua Cheng meets Xie Lian before and you know that heās the child XL saved during the God Pleasing Ceremony but you donāt know all the details. Like obviously since Hua Cheng is a ghost you know that heās died and it was likely for Xie Lian or Xian leās sake but you probably never expected that he actually died twice. Once on the battle field and second when he took the human face disease. I think the difference between these flashbacks and the flashbacks in MDZS result from the length. In TGCF you get two long concise flashbacks that make sense to be placed where they are. Book 2 because you already have a feel and hint at what the characters have been through and book 4 because the White No Face appears again so then you learn how he and Xie Lian met before. It wouldnāt make sense to place book 2 any earlier bc there is no emotional impact. And it doesnāt make sense to place book 4 earlier because you donāt know what the white no faceās deal is so itād be confusing. In MDZS, you get numerous short flashbacks happening alongside the main story and it makes it hard to piece together the timeline in a way that feels satisfying. Ik a lot of ppl grill cql for having a confusing intro episode and having a rlly long flashback but its much better than the mdzs novel. However the mdzs donghua handles the flashback in the most concise way imo.
Overall i think the way the story is structured is very good and is a step up from mdzs. Also the horror aspects of tgcf are rlly enjoyable and honestly i think mxtx should just write short horror stories at this point. like enough long ass novels chock full of fetishization. just write some fun horror with no romance and call it a day.. pls
Side Characters:
okay so straight up, i think the side characters arent used as well as they were in mdzsĀ bc mxtx wanted to focus on hualian and didnāt want to give the side characters as much focus. This is a weaker point of the novel.
Iāll get into it more below but i think hua cheng was done dirty as a character by having him rlly only care abt xie lian. Since he doesn;t have any real relationships with others outside of xie lian this takes away from having more depth in the side characters. Theyāre really only related as far as xie lianās relationship with them. Though thankfully xie lian gets rather close with a few officials and the ones we get to see more of are rlly interesting. I especially loved the reconciliation of mu qing, feng xin, and xie lian at the end of book 5. honestly their relationship was one my favorites and iām glad they finally said what they had to say to each other after 800 fucking years. Also Shi Qingxuan is a delight. we stan sqx in this house.
The characters i wish we had seen more of were yushi huang (although she didnt rlly want to be there, good for her), Quan Yizhen and Yin Yu. I very much wish yizhen and yin yus story happened earlier on and we had more time with them. It felt strange to have their subplot occur towards the end and it was sort of out of place but i liked them a lot!! i wish there was more to it. and that there was a reconcilation but mxtx hates happy shidiās doesnt she, (glares at novel jc). Also man yin yu did NOT have to die like that iām sad.
Also, honestly.. i donāt think qi rong added to the story whatsoever and i have no clue why he and guzi were there. qi rong just pissed me off the whole time and added literally nothing.
going back to yushi huang, iād like to say for the millionth time that i hate how mxtx uses any of her female characters. like we get it.. u hate women being useful... im still pressed but what i want to say has been said many times before so ill leave it at that.
Hualian:
I really really did like hualian at the end. They had a truly epic love story and it was so beautiful, especially when hua cheng repeated his words as wuming to xie lian as he started to disappear. But, I said it once and iāll say it again. I donāt think Hualian is a super healthy relationship. As fiction its fine (i firmly believe fiction impacts reality but let me finish), i guess bc literally nothing about their situation can be replicated irl and none of it ended up containing manipulation or abuse or anything bad but there was a potential for it to and iām really glad it didnt go that route.
Hualian is a highly idealized and romanticized relationship full of some truly troubling feelings of self worth. While its ābeautifulā in a way that hc really was xls most devoted believer, it wasnt healthy for him to live for xl like this. Nor was it healthy for xl to feel so unworthy of hua chengs love. Ā
Hua Chengās devotion to Xie Lian is a little too extreme and it bothers me. When the truth was revealed abt the Temple of 10,000 Gods I had the same reaction as Mu Qing and Feng Xin. I was like... HEY WHAT THE FUCKK thatās a little uh... thats NOT HEALTHY,, dianxia PLEASE say smth. But ofc Xie Lian didnāt say fucking anything and and i was so pissed. Like the whole thing of Hua Cheng living his life solely for XIe Lian is really kinda fucked up and not romantic. I was holding out hope that at some point XIe Lian would sit him down and be likeĀ āHey! I love you and iām really grateful that all these years youāve still believed in me when no one else did. But you canāt just live your life for my sake. You deserve love from many other other people and deserve to have a life and happiness outside of me. I still want to spend the rest of my life with you, but you need to not only think of me.ā or something to that effect
It bothers me that after Xie Lian learns the truth he doesnāt once reassure Hua Cheng that he didnāt have to make Xie Lian his reason for existence. Like.. idk i just think thatās rlly kinda unhealthy. Like I understand why Hua Cheng is so deeply devoted to Xie Lian-- he saved his life twice and was the only one to ever show him kindness and heās seen xie lian suffer a fate worse than death multiple times. I get that he wants to protect him and make his life easier, but to not let anyone else into his life and spend 800 years looking for xie lian is just overkill. Like if the whole 10k statues thing never happened iād be 100 percent fine with hualin but the whole devotion to that extent... uhhh yea.. no that put a bad taste in my mouth. Obsession should not be romanticised. I donāt think any reader of tgcf is going out and deciding to live like hua cheng obviously but still.
Also Side note, the whole 100 swords scene.. bro i felt for hua cheng, the way he screamed seeing that, i donāt blame him. I was so horrified reading that chapter. i donāt think iāve been so horrified by a piece of media like that in a while. Poor fucking xie lian.. oh my god. I understand the intense reaction he had and how seeing that prompted such a degree of loyalty but still.. 10k statues?? the cave that mu qing and feng xin saw... thats a little too much obssession... like please.. dial it back.. im begging u.
I was talking to mary (liviahyes) and she said smth abt how Hua Cheng doesnāt have a character outside of xie lian. And sheās right, he kinda doesnāt. If Xie Lian didnāt exist neither would Hua Cheng. I get that that counds kinda romantic but in practice i donāt think its a good things. Especially because Xie Lian has a story outside of Hua Cheng, hehas goals, he has friends, he has something. Hua Cheng said it-- his only dream is Xie Lian. Which is romantic but very very unbalanced.Ā
THAT BEING SAID, i still rly liked their relationship and i think theyre cute they just have issues they need to work through.Ā I mean they have time but yea. It wasnāt perfect but eh. overall iām bitter bc they couldve been THAT COUPLE but theyre so many bad implications as mentioned above and i.. smh. They still have amazing moments. Like the lantern scene, the alter scene, theĀ āwhat matters is you, not the state of youā, the end when hua cheng helps release the shackles on xie lian, the scene where hua cheng disappears, the way xie lian waited for him, like they were so close to being THAT COUPLE but then mxtx and her fujo ass just had to make it uncomfortable like that. iām so bitter. Like the reason why i wrote out all of this is bc this novel couldāve been great but so many little things added up and made the experience far more sour than it shouldve been.
MXTX did hua cheng SO DIRTY by not giving him a character much outside of loving xie lian and being good at everything. Like when I first learned abt how Hua Cheng beat 33 heavenly officials at what they excel in best i was like WHO IS THIS LEGEND but honestly.. he rlly doesnāt have any motivations outside of helping xie lian and I wish he had more to him . Like if we had more situations like the one where hua cheng dug out his own eye to save the group of mortals on mount tongālu then heād have been a much more well rounded character. Honestly, thatās rlly the only instance where he seems to have taken xie lians ideals to heart. I wish we had more of that bc that scene was so cool. i wish it hadnāt been revealled so late and there was more than one occasion where he defends others (minus xie lian ofc) without anything for himself to gain that.
To contrast hualian with wangxian, i think wangxian work so well bc at their core, they have the same life goals and same ideas about people and the world. Where in hualian, xie lian has core principles and morals and hua cheng is just like, anything for xie lian. SMH they couldve been great but overall i think hualian falls flat for me because of my own fear of dating someone who doesnāt have a life outside of dating me. Moreso, my parents had this sort of unbalanced relationship towards the end of their marriage and it ended very badly and yea, i just canāt whole heartedly love relationships that in any way resemble this, even if it ends differently. thatās a personal thing tho.
I donāt think Hua Cheng has ANY bad intentions towards Xie Lian or ever will. I donāt think heās ever manipulated xl or tried to force him to love him. But again, itās my own personal feelings that makes me feel kinda.. ehh conflicted abt hualian. There was potential but again.. fujoshis ruin everything... smh. Overall i think the way it ended redeemed the issues it had but still there were issues and i really wish xie lian like,, reassured hua cheng about living his life freely at some point but whatever.Ā
IN CONCLUSION
TGCF had the potential to be better than mdzs, it rlly did but it was bogged down by the authors own toxic mentalities abt love, and mlm relationships, and treating women like ppl and it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I enjoyed this book, truly i did (otherwise i wouldnāt have stuck through and read 750k words of it) but there are some flaws that cannot be glossed over. I hope that tgcf when it does get adapted, goes through the same miracle that cql did and makes the characters more like ppl and less like tropes but i doubt it. Also i highly doubt that a live action tgcf is feasible given the supernatural aspects of the series but we shall see. Iām excited for the donghua when it eventual comes out but i will continue to be critical of the novel bc..well.. you see why. idk if iād reccommend this book tbh bc like yes i would, no i would... well.. </3. yea. overall, it sure was something that i enjoyed in spades. especially the last 5 chapters. I generally liked it but had many issues with it at the same time, but honestly, yea thats the standard fair for a mxtx novel.Ā
#text heavy#'like rlly fucking text heavy#tgcf#tgcf lb#and with that... the lb is over#i dont think i'll read the extra but who knows#also i reread this twice looking for missing words and typos so i HOPE its coherant#anyways if u read this.. bless u and feel free to ask me anything abt what i've said#i legit just finished it and i havent thought back on everything so im v willing to hear different standpoints
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is this too personal? should it go on my private journal blog? maybe so. but i donāt fucking care.
listen i know to fall in love is like THE PEAK of the human experience (for some people, or at least thatās what the allo world has led me to believe) and i do in fact know it EXISTS like i know true love is real and itās out there and people are living a fairytale where someone will stay married to you for like 30+ years and they will do ANYTHING you ask them too just bc they think youāre cool but like.........the fuck of it all is that i still believe romance isnāt meant for me
way back when i started this blog when i was but a dumb high school child i would always get pent up on line UGH ALAS NO ONE WILL LOVE ME I AM GROSS AND STUPID! (which like...valid) and i kept feeling shitty bc everyone was falling in love (none of those couples save the one shitty one survived that hellhole) and no boys would pay attention to me (me, a girl who stayed at home 90% of the time, did no extra curriculars outside of guitar lessons, and did not EVER interact with the boys in her classes unless forced to) and also i think i just hated myself (still valid sometimes) ...wait where was i going with this...OH YEAH i kept feeling sorry for myself bc NO ONE WOULD EVER LOVE ME and it felt like some huge travesty that no guy would ever tell me he thinks iām special and beautiful and that he would do my laundry for me if i asked (the golden standard honestly). which like...in some ways, might be true. i do think true love is special and i think everyone deserves a shot at finding that, but i think itās been cool to see my views on all this change over the past few years.
itās not that i donāt believe in love. itās not even that i believe iām undeserving of it or that no man will ever find me attractive (bc honey i am GORGEOUS and i donāt CARE). like i think if i put myself out there and did try to go on dating apps or meet people at parties or go to bars i COULD do it. like i DID go on a date last year and that guy was VERY MUCH into me. and it was sweet. it was nice to have those nervous butterflies bc OMG WAIT YOU THINK IM CUTE??? NO WAY like yes that was nice! so clearly it can happen! itās a thing! but like...i think iāve become more exposed to that stuff and iāve been in those situtations and iāve realized that i am much more aroace than i thought. i still donāt think iām aro, by any means, bc i genuinely love romance books (which means i like romance yes????? whoās to say) but like...man the idea of being IN A RELATIONSHIP...itās weird man.Ā
whatās odd is that up until like...2008/2009ish i donāt think i EVER was fantasizing about marriage/falling in love...at least not like that, not dramatically. i remember in 8th grade i went to oh lord it was a BIBLE STUDY OF ALL PLACES and the girls were likeĀ āso are you praying for your future husband????ā and i was like uhhh what and then i SPIRALED SO HARD after that bc i was like FUCK I MIGHT HAVE A FUTURE HUSBAND!!! WOW!!!! A WEDDING IS SO PRETTY!!! I SHOULD HAVE THAT!! I GET TO HAVE THAT!! THE UNIVERSE/GOD OWES ME THAT!!!! IāM GONNA BE THAT!!!! and like the fuck of it all is that if i had never had that realization, had never seen bride wars or started a journal to my future husband (PLZ LAUGH BC ITāS THE SADDEST MOST HETERO THING I HAVE EVER DONE AND I HATE IT BUT I KEEP IT BC ITāS A JOURNAL OF THAT TIME OF MY LIFE) i donāt think i would have spiraled so much in high school fearing iād end up alone. like sure when i started reading romance books i got sad too, but i donāt think i realized until that age that like...i was so invested in marriage? (yes we switched from love to married weāll get to that - apparently itās therapy time????) like i think i always assumed itād happen for me bc doesnāt everyone get married and have kids? (my sweet summer child oh boy the brainwashing was deep) and itās like.......fine. bc marriage is fine. love is fine and great whatever. (and i had a great marriage to learn from) but also...........all those expectations were pinned upon me when in actuality what iām realizing now is that IT DOESNāT FUCKING MATTER!!!!!!
like iāve been to a number of weddings now and iāve seen friends get engaged, have breakups, fall headfirst in love and then fall out it just as quick, iāve seen friends be single and have hook-ups and get married and have their heart broken and like....even though in my heart of hearts i know itās worth it if you find it, i also know that i wouldnāt know how to handle it. like iāve read books about it all, iāve listened to the songs, hell i HAVE watched other people go through it all...but i still donāt know what mine would be. bc the fuck of it all is that 1) i rarely feel attraction to anyone, and i havenāt met someone iāve been attracted to since 2010 (!!!!) 2) at the end of the day i donāt think i necessarily want a physical relationship (which is kind of half the reason people marry right?) and 3) i donāt think i can imagine myself being that intimate with another person.Ā
is it possible? yes. maybe one day in another 10 years iāll make another leap and iāll be living somewhere like new york and iāll meet some guy through a job or through travel or through some weird twist of fate and we DO hit it off and everything works out and suddenly i realize that i can only be comfortable with this ONE person and thus we take it slow and eventually get physical and get married and HOORAY ITS ALL FINE IM NORMAL and as it turns out the gut feeling i had at 16 was correct and i AM actually demisexual! could happen. i wouldnāt be totally shocked. but i also know that right now...itās not a possibility. it would take a LOT for me to be in that place. and i think thatās the difference. ten years ago in high school i just assumed i was normal, i assumed if i got what i thought i wanted itād all work out and be fine and iād be happy bc I WAS IN LOVE. but the fuck of it all is that that first date i had? it was proof that you should be careful what you wish for. i donāt want a boy to kiss me. i donāt want a boy to hold my hand. i want someone to talk to, who likes what i like, who supports me and thinks iām cool, whoāll buy me nice presents sometimes and see me for who i am and not run away. and honestly? i HAVE THAT. i have a few people like that actually.
what i realized was that what i ACTUALLY want, is for the butterfly feeling. that feeling you get where youāre like nervous bc the other person said they think youāre cute and they want to learn more about you and theyāre interested in you and they SEE YOU and you feel the same way about them and you think theyāre nice to look at and they think youāre nice to look at. thatās what i want. i want the butterflies. i want to be attracted to someone. i havenāt felt that in GOD so many FUCKING YEARS. i mean i feel that with fictional characters sure, but we all know thatās stupid and doesnāt count.Ā
like i kid you not iāve only been attracted to two (possibly 3, but iām not counting the 3rd) people in my entire life. just two. (i donāt count the celebrities and characters and things although i guess if i did itād be up to like 5-10 maybe) but like people iāve met? two. thatās it. and itās all so STUPID. bc it DOESNāT MATTER! like i feel weird being like LOVE ISNāT FOR ME I DONāT WANT IT! bc it feels like a lie and i do know i would like someone to fall in love with me. but genuinely, truly, i feel like a different person that the hopeless girl i was in 2010 bc...i donāt need it. i donāt know what iād do with it. i donāt want someone to touch me.Ā
the great thing about all this that i realized a long time ago is that this bitch is never going to have a bad heartbreak. and i know the saying better to have loved than never love at all.......but i do love. i love all the time so much that sometimes i canāt breathe. i just...donāt have that kind of love. and itās okay. bc no one will EVER hurt me like that.Ā
like i always said if i WAS going to fall in love it would happen ONCE like i will not be dating multiple people in my lifetime, hell i probably wonāt even go on that many dates without finding THE PERSON bc in part i donāt put myself out there often, but mainly bc i KNOW people. i know myself, i know what i want, i have intuition about all that and i truly genuinely think that if i ever found it, itād be that or nothing. bc i also think the person iād be into would be similar. and i know people probably think thatās stupid and also thereās nothing wrong with dating a lot of people in your lifetime, in falling in love more than once, but like...iām not that kind of person. i think part of me really does believe in soulmates, even if there is some level of free will in the world outside of determinism.Ā
but because i feel like that, and bc of my very VERY private personality (who doesnāt let people in easily, who doesnāt care casually, who doesnāt give my heart away without protecting itself) i just donāt think iād ever let myself...oh no here is a dark truth YIKES...i donāt think iād ever let myself feel that deeply about someone.Ā
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
well this is an interesting thought
which is the PERFECT start to a romance novel i might add
like i feel a LOT donāt get me wrong. i may repress my emotions but ya girl has a lot of passion a lot of love a lot of feelings for things. and i do love some people A LOT. like friends mainly. i love them SO MUCH (too much) and the ones who are STILL my friends...i have learned how to let them live their lives. i love them desperately, they inevitably let me down or move or fall in love (jesus christ itās the worst) or whatever, and then things shift and i tell myselfĀ āhey you know what? itās okay, youāre clearly no longer the most important thing in their life, so you can just pull back and not invest so much in them bc clearly they want to invest in other things and thatās okay!!ā and then i move all my affection to someone else who DOES want it at that time, and thus i let people go bc i give them the space i assume they need and then the space gets to big and we canāt overcome it bc i donāt know what iām supposed to fight or go back or try again or whatever and then they donāt fight for me (maybe bc i didnāt fight first, maybe bc they just stopped caring about me) and then suddenly...itās over and iām sad but iāve put so much distance between us that i donāt really feel anything anymore. like oh my god what the fuck
literally my heartās self-destruct protocol is that when i notice someone slipping away and stop caring about me i just assume the worst and immediately stop caring about them and then they canāt really hurt me. so the ones who HAVE hurt me are the ones who directly called me out and lied to me or did something bad. most of the people i drifted from who i once ADORED really only stopped being close to me because i thought they didnāt want me around anymore and i didnāt want to be annoying. (or bc i pushed them away bc i didnāt want them but thatās another thing) so like truly i think it would have to be someone being MEAN to me out of nowhere bc otherwise iād just be likeĀ āitās cool, we grew apart, iāll get over itā (which i dont believe someone who really loved me would do) ahhhhhhhhhhhh
...
so anyway we all know this is hypothetical and obviously i wouldnāt know how iād genuinely react if i fell in love but we also know that i WONāT fall in love in the next 5-10 years (prove me wrong by tyler joseph) but itās fucking VALENTINES DAY WEEK and literally this happens every year bc i try and convince myself that HEY! YOU DONāT HAVE TO BE IN LOVE DAMMIT! but then sometimes i think FUCK! I WANT TO BE IN LOVE DAMMIT! and itās like honestly yeah mood....but they can coexist. i want to fall in love. i know i would not do well in a romantic relationship right now. i also know i deserve love, and i would be a great partner to someone. but i also know itās all complicated and fucked up and difficult and i donāt meet people anyway and i wonder if my real partner is somewhere waiting in new york and and and and and and and iām just so FUCKING SICK OF IT ALL!!!!!!! truly!!!!! iām sick of feeling inadequate just bc i donāt want to kiss a boy. iām sick of feeling obligated to fall into societyās romantic norms. iām sick of waiting for someone to love me and treat me well when i have people who do that already. iām sick of my friends falling in love, sick of people having their heart broke bc they fall for shitty people...iām sick of shitty people breaking other peopleās hearts for no reason. iām sick of my awesome parents and their absolutely beautiful true love. iām sick of being single. iām sick of daydreaming about what itād be like to be romantically attracted to someone. iām sick of reading romance books and iām sick of wishing i was in one. iām sick of being asexual. iām sick of allosexual people. iām sick of watching people make out. iām sick of my friends falling in love and then treating their friends like shit just bc they only care about their significant other. iām sick of VALENTINES DAY!!! iām sick of weddings!!!! iām sick of conventional hetero norms!!!! iām sick of love songs and dating apps and feeling like my worth is tied to someone loving me romantically. iām sick of SEX OH MY GOD PLZ MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!Ā
i canāt believe my therapist tried to tell me that i would always be a little lonely if i never had a romantic/sexual partner. fuck that. you donāt need anything but your friends and your family and your own self love. god is big enough.
IāM NOT LONELY I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND ME AND LOVE ME FOR WHO I AM!!!!!
...
just had a weird thought that i can never be an authentic christian bc half my friends arenāt christian so around them i act like christanity is a joke (in some ways it is?) but i also canāt be authentic around my christian friends bc some of the things they say i canāt fully stand behind either bc i am a secular person too and itās just like WE REALLY CANāT WIN HUH GOD!!!!! i love being unknowable!!!! at least i have laura shes the only person who understands both sides thatās nice
oh my god i get to hug laura the day after tomorrowĀ
...
anyway.Ā
canāt wait to be the random single family member who shows up at all the family gatherings while all my cousins get married and have kids! i finally have accepted that i get to live that dream and WOW IT FEELS GOOD!!!!!!
#love#marriage#asexuality#demisexuality#vday#why does vday even exist#im not even mad im just like......do we need it#i love capitalism#personal#sorry if you're on mobile just SCROLL PLZ
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plans for 2020???
uhhuhuhuhuhuhhhh
graduate college
get a part time job and take a gap year for academia/save up money while job hunting for my first Real Adult Job?????
figure out my gender??????????????? probably switch to like they/she pronouns or something bc i realized that every time i post something on twitter/snapchat/tumblr/whatever i always refer to myself as aĀ āa foolish child who makes bad financial decisionsā orĀ āa person who makes their wallet cryā or likeĀ āguess who just spent like $40 on a steam sale???? this kiddddddddddā like ive always just been unconsciously referring to myself in like third person or they/them/gender neutral pronouns?????? like. i dont think that in any tweet/toot/snap ive ever written iāve called myself something likeĀ āa foolish girlā orĀ āa girl who makes her wallet cryā or anything so like theres that. and honestly ive made/been making some posts about this gender thing for like the past year. ive asked the cool mods at feminism and media about it (ill post the screenshot later). ive changed my main tumblr about page which i dont think anyoneās ever visited since itās listed underĀ āhiā and like maybe i should change it toĀ āaboutā? anyways ive like changed most of my stuff online to be something likeĀ āgender questioning, but she/her pronouns are fine for nowā or likeĀ āgender questioning/probably nonbinaryā and then just straight up changed my facebook pronouns to they/them (but im p sure my family hasnt noticed thank goodness cuz thats not a can of worms i wanna explain to a bunch of religious baby boomers rn), changed my myanimelist gender to non-bianary (again why is this a thing? a rando blue anime hellsite is not the place i expected to have this option but like im not complaining so lol), and also put āgender questioning, probably non-binaryā in the write in gender option on goodreads so like. uhhh. i guess im probably non-binary????? but also im a terrible and indecisive person so like every time i say im probably non-binary my stupid brain goes back to bein like. wait is this some internalized misogyny that makes me not want to be a girl/cis girl? but also i find the dysphoria memes/jokes on the egg_irl subreddit really relatable and its just a bad cycle in which i goĀ āoh these gender dysphoria memes on a trans subreddit are really relatableā ->Ā āhuh maybe. im not a girl???ā -> brain awakened to being not a girl -> self doubt of brain might have internalized misogyny -> haha im a cis girl even tho i always refer to myself with they/them pronouns in writing -> haha wait that doesnt sound right a cis person wouldnt refer to themself with gender neutral pronouns right -> i know, ill go to a sub that i know makes gender dysphoria jokes and caused this self doubt/gender questioning in the first place with dumb jokes likeĀ āwould you push a button?ā and this meme but replace theĀ āim biā withĀ āim aceā -> haha these gender dysphoria jokes are really relatable -> oh no (repeat this hell cycle of self doubt for 2 years and its me haha)Ā
regarding the above example sentences of steam sales and my finances, uhhhh, i wanna play more video games this year. and actually finish them. because i think according to steamdb or whatever account rating site it is, my accountās games net worth is something ridiculous like $600. and like. ive only played like 30% of the stuff i own. so uh. i should get my moneys worth and play stuff
the above resolution does not apply to games that are technically endless with no real goal/end, such as the sims, cities skyline, prison architect, etc. this resolution applies only to games that do have an end, such as nameless, pesterquest, steins;gate, etc.
the above resolution also may have some exceptions due to technical issues or time since some games, mostly japanese visual novels like steins;gate, are not compatible with macbooks i guess maybe theyāre not popular with gamers (not surprising the macbooks has terrible venting lol) and also maybe not popular in japan so japanese companies just dont think to port things to mac os??? idk what the issue is here exactly but like since im in a college dorm and not at home ill only have access to my macbook for a majority of the time.
also similar to theĀ āfinish the gamesā thing, i should read, or at least attempt to read, all the books iāve brought. i have so so many ebooks. that are unread. yet i also keep buying more books. i should stop buying books and finish the ones i do have and also use the library more.
also i should probably figure out how to save money lol. im 22. but im constantly broke.Ā
also i should uhhh probably find more diverse books lol. like i love my shitty indie fantasy books and stuff but the protag is usu a white dude so like eh. but also. sometimes when i read books w female protags im like haha cant relate. and then the gender questioning sets in once again. is it because im probably non-binary? or am i actually trans or something???????? i mean i hang out on egg_irl, a mostly mtf trans sub, but also an occasional non-binary or ftm trans post comes up which is also nice to see. idk mannnnnnn lollll
also there was this whole like haha cant relate brain reaction to my schoolās vagina monologues event when i went in to listen to my nursing major friend have some monologue. like she talked about some thing about like delivering a baby and it was kinda near the end of the event bc i got there late and the ones that i did hear at the end were just like haha cant relate but also ive been told that the monologues that year were particularly terf-y, probs in response to my college turning co-ed (it was up until i think 2 years before i entered a womens college and the older students, alumni and current students that were there at the time, were apparently super pissed about it, so the school i guess doubled down on ā(cis) girl power!ā but also kinda excluded trans/gender queer ppl that werenāt cis girls in the process)
gender is stupid i feel like id much rather not have to deal with it/pick a label to be and move on with life lol but my brain wont let me
push this internal gender crisis out of my mind by playing a ton of video games/reading a ton of books/do school work ig hahahahahaha
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11/11/11 tag !!!
thank u sm for tagging me @yikescommaā, @buckaroowritesā nd @yikeskimiā !!!
rules: answer 11 questions, write your own 11, tag 11 people !
under the cut bc its a Lotta questions KSKSKSHK
yikescommaās questions!!
1. whatās your favourite place to write?
oh this is ?? kind of a tough one bc i feel like i never Branched out in my spaces when it comes 2 being productive,, like a lot of my work is done in my bedroom just bc my desk is there and itās the most convenient,,,, honestly im jus gonna say my favorite place to write would be from . my desk . bc it faces the window :-)
2. which character(s) from your wip(s) is your favourite?
since i only have wtsf confidently worked out ,, iāll use those ocs !! but i think , quite Honestlie ,,, that wendy is my favorite character !! im rly in love with how she progresses as a person nd also sheās jsut . she gets it u know .
3. what are some inspirations for your wip(s)?
I TALKED ABT THIS BEFORE but b/tsā hyyh series, my neighborhood, spring day by b/ts are a few inspirations for wtsf !!!Ā
4. how did you start writing?
my dad got me hooked on reading when i was really really young !! and being able to read abt all these huge worlds nd being given an opportunity 2 fall in love w them rly inspired me to want to write worlds of my own . plus , i watch a lot of different shows nd animes that feed into my daydreams nd sometimes im likeĀ āyo,,, that was a good daydream,,,,, time 2 story itā .
5. which of your ocs is most difficult to write?
uHGHHGHGS ARTHUR ...... trying to capture this like . enigmatic feeling while keeping close 2 his reasons for acting That way is actually ,, rly hard?? hes a tough cookie 2 crack but i will crack it .
6. what aesthetic do you associate with your wip(s)?
for wtsf ,,, quiet towns , lonely beaches , sunset nd sunrise ,,, running through the streets ??Ā
7. do you like planning?
YEA !! i see it more as like . being able to explore ur wip and what directions it can take nd its also jsut rly helpful to have a solid foundation .
8. what is your favourite quote from your wip(s)?
i pulled this from my drabbles but:Ā āSlow down.ā Wendy grabbed Arthurās wrist, pulling him down to sit on the sand. āThis world canāt keep up with you.ā
9. do you like to listen to music while you write?
yes and no ?? im very particular to the kind of music im listening to nd more often than not, i write in complete silence ,,, but sometimes iāll find a song that i feel rly fits the vibe of what im writing nd i just put it on repeat HGSHJK
10. what do you like most about your own writing?
i think i like the descriptive aspects of it ?? like how i describe places nd feelings ,,,, :-) !
11. what are/were/would be your ocs favourite subjects in school?
everyone except piper in wtsf is graduated from high school but ,, wendy liked english class the best bc it was fun nd she got good grades !! rafael definitely loved psychology nd took it at an ap level ,, arthur liked math nd chemistry .. chemistry he liked More bc he got 2 blow stuff up SKKSKSEH and piper likes world history!! tho shes not good at it . but she likes it!!
buckaroowritesā questions!!
what is your favorite subgenre to write? to read?
i lov urban fantasy and low fantasy JGHDSHGJKS like its my favorite to write nd read bc like .. o heck ?? ghosts nd ghouls nd just overall supernatural stuff irl ?? thatās the way 2 go
if you had to be trapped on a desert island with any of your ocs, who would it be and why?
if i had 2 be trapped on a desert island ...... iād probably choose rafael . honestlie he just seems like he always knows whatās up nd my chances of survival would increase w him JHGJKSJKS
what is your favorite medium to write?
definitely novels !! its a format iāve pretty much grown up w and im more comfortable w this medium than any others GHSHJKS but iād love to explore like ,, screenplays nd see where that takes me
who was your first oc?
HYLLY SHITTTT THIS BRINGS ME BACK SJHJHJGJKS i used to draw a lot back when i was younger nd so i had this oc JHJS his name was ian and he was meant for the maximum ride universe but he was a dumb dude who was 2% cat . nd he had an adopted sister ,, i forgot her name but she was part bird .
what was your first wip about?
world end club is supposed 2 be abt a group of teens who work together 2 take down a corporation that wants 2 essentially control the artificial island they live on thru engineered soldiers . ITS A CONCEPT ,, nd it requires a little Too Much for my one brain cell to think abt
thoughts on shakespeare?
uhhh no thots bc i never read his work in high school i jus know macbeth is cursed .... wow i rly dont know anything abt shakespeare huh .
poetry or prose?
o this is TOUGH i rly adore both .......... im gonna . im gonna go w prose . i lvoe poetry so much sometimes there are lines that just rly fucken punch u in the face but im gonna go w prose bc its familiar !!
would you ever co-write a story?
nO ..... i wouldnt b able 2 compromise iād jus b like oH ACTUALLY SKSKKS MY IDEAāS DUMB LETS JUST DO URSĀ
write what you want to write or write what you want to read/watch?
oh . fuc .... i feel like its important to have a good balance of both but . honestlie im very partial to what i want to read/watch ..
do you like to write violence?
i dont Like 2 write it but its In My Wips !
what is your favorite trope?
oH ,, probablyĀ āfire forged friendsā or like . mutual pining ... i have too many favorite tropes nd somehow im gonna incorporate them all .
yikeskimiās questions!!
Tell us about the main character(s) in your current WIP!
oKAY SO im gonna try to not make this too long SJKHJGS !! wendy is a very like . prickly character . shes like a cactus . nd sheās not too fond of letting ppl get close, but the ppl who do manage to get close to her are happie 2 learn she would actually die for them . loyalty is a Huge Huge part of her character, and she cares very deeply abt the people she calls family . shes also v sarcastic nd like .Ā āopen ur eyes dummyā .
arthur is a kind of person who lives heavily on false pretenses . like he projects this image bc its an image that he can control nd he jsut Rolls w it , but hes actually someone who likes 2 tease his friends nd be friendly to them ,, hes got Issuez nd is very much the type of person to be likeĀ āo lol im ok :-)...ā nd prioritize the needs of othersĀ
rafael is , in all honesty , just babey . he studied a lot during high school nd rly pushed himself beyond his limits bc he wants to be able 2 go 2 a good college on scholarship nd get a job 2 support his family , nd hes just ?? very responsible nd sweet but that can also manifest into him taking on more than he should nd burning out .Ā
piper is a very ,, honestlie kinda sad character kjHGJSJ she spends a lot of time just trying 2 appeal to other ppl bc she knows her interest in the supernatural make her aĀ āweirdā person nd she wants to be able 2 have real friends ,, but when she learns 2 let go of this sheās very silly nd always making jokes During The Right time ..
Do you have an all time favorite OC? Tell us about them!
hMMMM i dont think i do ??? my memory of my ocs is rly bad JHSJ so more often than not i just ,, rip i dont remember them </3
If you could be best friends with one of your OCs, who would it be and why?
ms piper chaiyathan !!!! shes a very open nd kind individual nd i feel like our humor nd joking style would match V v v well !!!
Last line youāve written in your WIP?
Wendy, unlike her brothers Adam and Nate, had inherited her fatherās rough touch, and that made them both unwanted in the high stakes setting of a diner kitchen.
If you have a chosen title for your WIP, were there any titles you considered before it? And if not, what are some titles youāre thinking of?
when the sun falls went through SO many titles nd i actually have them all here: where the sun goes / fever dreams / above the sun / where the sun follows / the drowned sun ... as u can see the sun was smth i Needed .
What is an important element in the world your WIP takes place in?
uHHHH the supernatural element is . Very important but i cant be too specific about it but i will tell u it involves a dead tree on the beach .
Tell us an out of context spoiler.
arthur gets a cool new set of eyes.
Any power couples/ships in your WIP?
wendy nd arthur babey ,,,,,, bat nd molotov cocktail duo ,,,, last name central until the important moment nd THEN they use each otherās first names ..
Any music you like listening to while you write?
uHHHH specifically for wtsf i listen 2 a lot of hozier, lorde, conan gray, khalid nd halsey :-)
What would your main character(s) favorite song be?
oH okay i got this in the BAG ... wendyās favorite song would Absolutely be work place by hozier or more than sorrow by a-lin ,,, arthur would definitely b listening 2 like . free spirit by khalid .. piper, since she p much spent all of middle school nd 2 years of high school in thailand ,, i think sheā
Which character in your WIP could you relate to the most?
honestly? all of them !!! a lot of the characters in wtsf have little bits nd pieces of me bc thats how all my ocs come into existence nd theres no One character thats likeĀ āoh,,, das meā
and here are my 11 questions !!
Which one of your OCs do you think could survive a zombie apocalypse? Why?
Whatās something youāve been itching to write about?
Share the last paragraph you wrote!
Do you prefer coming up with plots or characters? Why?
Do you have any abandoned WIPs? Tell us about them!
What are some favorite themes/tropes to write about?
How do you get into the zone for writing?
Tell us a random fact for any of your OCs !!!
Are you someone who needs a visual for your WIPs?
What are some influences to your writing style?
If you had to be a character in one of your WIPs, which WIP would it be and what role would you play?
iām gonna tag @babyreeds @holotones @alejandroistyping @noloumna @faerisms @omniawrites @aslanwrites @ashesconstellation @thegrievingyoung @glittcrpeach @syposium !!! no pressure to do it if u dont want to tho <3
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Sing me a song, o muse, of your bitter hatred against catcher in the rye bc SAME
Oooooh boy, I smell one of my long winded rants coming on. Strap in folks its about to be a wild ride.
So, Ima preface this by saying that I have NOT read it since I was forced to read it in 11th grade. For like, several fucking reasons. (the primary one being that I donāt want to, the 2nd one being I donāt know which bookshelf my dad stashed my copy on. He stashed all my required readings on various bookshelves after I was done with them. Because we were all given copies for free by the teachers that we were allowed to keep. Iāll chalk this up to private school benefits I guess? Iāve been out of the public school circuit since the end of 5th grade) So basically my memory of like, most of the events that take place in the book are foggy at best and unremembered at worst.
@ my mutuals and followers who like this book, thatās fine you do you, but I personally am not and probably will never be a fan of Catcher in the Rye. My feelings of why I dislike it are my opinions and Iām not gonna force them on you.
Problem 1: Main character is an unsympathetic asshole
My biggest gripe about the book is honestly a gripe I have about SEVERAL books. Unlikable characters, and I donāt necessarily mean written poorly (though I donāt remember being awed by how the book was written, Iāll be honest.) I mean unsympathetic asshole little bastards that make you want to just chuck the book across the room. Other books that share this problem are The Great Gatsby (that book is hot fucking garbage in terms of likeable characters and I WILL die on that fucking hill do not even @ me), Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Main character is an asshole little snobby bitch and despite being a murder mystery written in first person she literally figures things out at such a pace its not fun for the reader because she STILL ends up caught in shit situations she KNEW WAS GOING TO GO DOWN BECAUSE SHES SUCH A SPECIAL LITTLE SHIT- okay thatās a rant for a different post) and The King Must Die. (If you ever want to read a book with shit diction, pick it up.)
Now, as a writer/roleplayer of almost a decade, Iāve made plenty of characters that fall into the unsympathetic asshole role. My problem isnāt with the archetype, itās often used and often done well (fandoms later trying to apologize for them aside) My PROBLEM comes when thatās either the archetype for the only character given any spotlight, or ALL the characters have that problem. (see, Great Gatsby.) Holden Caulfield(or however the fuck you spell it) is an unsympathetic asshole, and also the character whoās perspective is the only one we get to see, and the only character we really know much about. (Mainly cause he just doesnāt deign to care to give a legitimate effort in giving a damn about anyone else aside from how innocent children/his sister are. More on how creepy that shit is later.) Making a book like this means that Iām far less likely to enjoy it because I want to be able to root for someone. I can root for an asshole, so long as theyāre likeable in some regard. Holden is a grade A fuckboy in the making and as such I am not a fan.
TL/DR: Itās possible to have likeable unsympathetic asshole characters, it is almost impossible to do that if thatās all you have exposure too in your cast.
Problem 2: I was really not in the best place to receive such a fucking depresso espresso lesson about life.
Switching gears momentarily from problems with the writing/book itself to problems with the timing of this book showing up in my life. High school was the time when all my trauma Iād successfullyā¦ repressed? Avoided dealing with? whatever, basically all my mental health shit suddenly decided to spring itself on me and yell āSURPRISE, YOUāRE MENTALLY FUCKED AND WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!ā in 10th grade and it wasnāt until halfway through 11th grade that I even started getting a handle on shit. I almost failed high school and it was *bad*, especially for someone who was just trying to get to college so I could get to vet school and be qualified for a job that requires an ass load of education. So in walks this fucking book and itās message of āadulthood is a sham, nothing matters and you really should just fuck around and do whatever because itās all bullshit anyway. Childhood was where itās at.ā
Like???? Alright, thatās not what I need to hear when Iām barely passing high school. Go to fucking therapy and get some help, we all have trauma and therapy is the best path to work through it. I dunno like, yeah okay some people need to hear that message at whatever time in their life they read the book, but that message really wasnāt great to my Anxiety/Depression/ADHD struggling ass trying to just stay steady enough to get into college.
Honestly, even to this day I HATE HATE HATE books with depressing messages like that. I already deal with the struggle of being afraid of failure, getting where I want to be, all that shit. I donāt want that in my literature. Give me a person who struggles but still succeeds and finds some sort of happiness and self-worth in the end. Give me someone overcoming their traumas in such a way that they can at least have a good quality of life afterwards, even if the trauma will never leave, so long as theyāre happy. Iām tired of YA novels that try and sell our generation and gen z the message that life sucks. Give me more hope, more heroes, more people making a difference because hell life is short so best make the most of it making a difference.
To quote GotG, why do I care so much about stories that revolve around saving the world, even if that world is just as small as a found family?
And my existence might as well be a happy one and have HOPE GOD DAMMIT.
TL/DR: If a book leaves me feeling like shit after reading it because it ends on a super shitty note, Iām generally not going to enjoy that book. And the fact that most YA novels these days that are given to highschoolers fall into this category is hot garbage when this is around the time theyāre trying to find some sort of direction in life.
*Note: I realize that there are times and places for books that give more somber messages. Hell, Iāve even enjoyed some books with messages of such a tone. But media these days, and honestly for most of my life starting in mid to late teenage years (and maybe earlier) has started taking a turn towards the more depressing/somber stuff, and its overwhelming and just bad. And even back then when first reading it this was something I picked up on and didnāt enjoy. It just was not the right time in my life to hear a message so devoid of giving a shit.
Problem 3: Holden is honestly, super fucking creepy.
Okay, we back on the train of the actual bookās writing. Holden the dipshit is honestly, really fucking creepy. Towards women specifically. I have no direct quotes from the book specifically, but I DISTINCTLY remember the way he talked about women (or even young children/girls) being creepy as shit. Like, he waxes lyrical about his kid sister and her classmates and how innocent they are and how he wants to be the āCatcher in the Ryeā to keep them innocent and to keep them from realizing how bad the world is. Great, lovely sentiment Holden. Except that the way youāre going about it comes across as being a pedophile.Ā Youāre at the very least sexist as fuck, because youāre objectifying the fuck out of people anyway.
That scene with the sex worker in the hotel room is also one I remember making me feel super uncomfortable. Not because the sex worker is there, but because uh, just, god, that whole scene gave me the creeps. Probably because I felt bad for the woman, coming into the room expecting to be paid for work and thereās just this kid who breaks the fuck down, tells her some depressing shit, and maybe pays her? (does he pay her? I canāt fucking remember, Iād like to think he does, but I wouldnāt be surprised if he doesnāt, because heās an ass.) Actually, bigger question IS HE EVEN OF AGE TO HAVE SEX WITH HER LEGALLY? HOW OLD IS THIS KID? HES STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL RIGHT?
ā¦. so I looked it up, heās 17. SEVENTEEN. HE IS A M I N O R. Iām like 99% sure that the woman he hires is like, twice his age at least. Thatās straight up illegal.
god this just gets worse.
TL/DR: Holden is a 17 year old creep who comes off as a pedophile in the way he talks about kids, and also definitely hired a sex worker while he was underage. Idk if that was legal at the time this book was written, but if it was (and I doubt it), that has aged very poorly.
Problem 4: Itās got a lot of male fans who fall into that all too dangerous category of having Fight Club or Rick and Morty being their favorite bit of visual media.
Okay, again, not a problem of the book. But when the majority fanbase (or at least, the most vocal part) are a bunch of abusive men who donāt realize that the message they took away from a work of fiction is incredibly problematic? Or worse, know and donāt care because they think their take is superior? Uhhh, how do I say, big yikes.
Like, this could be your favorite book, whatever, thatās you, I donāt care, but if your reasoning for it is because Holden is, in your opinion, an unflawed idealized version of yourself/your ideals?
thats a nope from me bro.
āāā-
Thatās all I can do off the top of my head without going in and reading the book again. Which I probably wonāt do for a long time, because I donāt need to hear that struggling to make a place for yourself is dumb and proves youāre just āpart of the machine, the man has made you his bitch.ā while Iām still trying to yāknow, get to where I want to go.
But there you go, four solid reasons why I really really do not like Catcher in the Rye.
#catcher in the rye#Me? make something short winded? never in my life#maybe I'll update this with findings if I ever go back and read it again#though#given that my ability to sit and read through things is basically null and void at this point that won't be for ages
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Question Time with Hal
owo thanks @warofmywordsā
How Many WIPS are you working on at the minute? Yes. Too many RIP
What is each WIP about? Uhhh letās go with the. Top 5. 1 - Finding Magic: Runa and Laith are just two normal teenagers from a small village in a country named Galetha. Until one day, Laith gets a cryptic letter from his grandfather; he and Runa canāt quite decipher it, but know heās trying to tell something important. So they, alongside Runaās unicorn friend Falfain, Runaās dog Fana, and a demon named Ephraim they picked up along the way, leave to find Laithās grandfather and get some answers. 2 - Rainbow: Itāll be a Visual Novel. In the world of Rainbow, everyone has āsoul marksā; they look like simple black tattoos. Whenever someone meets someone whoāll play a big role in their life, good or bad, the mark turns colorful, showing that youāve just met someone important. Some people never meet the ones their marks mean - It might be authors who inspire them, or celebrities they look up to, and not every mark has a counterpart, though many do. In the VN itself, the player can choose one of six marks, each standing for a different character - And where the journey leads, well, thatās up to the player. Friendship, romance, or something truly supernatural...? 3 - Ira & Lupita: Iām still in the planning phase, but I have written some shorter fics with them. Ira and Lupita are shapechangers and girlfriends, and since the shapechangers in general are vaguely inspired by the World of Darkness Fera, the plot might be, too, but idk yet. 4 - Cyberpunk: This is like, the least planned of them. Itāll be Cyberpunk-esque, following a small group of rebels whoāre trying to overthrow the government. 5 - Changes: Lyka used to be just a normal kid. Until a seemingly kind woman promised her and her little sister shelter and food, if only theyād come with her. What the woman hadnāt mentioned was that Lyka and Fia, alongside many other kids and teens, would be used for experiments, designed to strengthen humanity. But this wasnāt what Lyka had in mind, so she tries to escape...
Where are you in the WIPās progress? Finding Magic - Working on the Second Draft, I gotta rewrite Chapter 3 but am either a) procrastinating or b) too busy with other stuff >-> Rainbow - Iāve gotten like 50k words down b u t I gotta redo some planning bc it has several routes/ends so. Eh. Ira & Lupita - Um, planning and writing small ficlets of it Cyberpunk - Planning Changes - Itās kinda... Dormant right now, but Iām about 20k words in.
Do you have a favourite line in the WIP? if so, where and what chapter and what is it? Just gonna go with Finding Magic, and aside from like almost all of Ephraimās dialogue, I really like the very first line. Translated, itās roughly: āA young grove wyvern flew past Runaās window. It swerved in the breeze and landed on her window sill before it lifted off again and continued its way. She looked after it, watched as it found its way away from the villageās houses and towards the trees.ā
Is there anything you wish you could change about how certain events have played out in your WIP? Hm... In Changes, thereās a character death thatās just. T_T.
Who is the worst OC in terms of things theyāve done? Hm... I like my villains to be the typical āheroes of their own storyā, as in, they wouldnāt consider themselves villainous and many have understandable reasons - though not necessarily excuses. Since i donāt know enough about the government for the Cyberpunk WIP, Iāll go with Genevieve from Changes. For, yāknow, causing the abduction of children and experimenting on them.
Who is considered a Hero/ main character and how did they get to this point? Finding Magic - Runa, Laith, Ephraim and Falfain all get POV chapters, though if I had to pick, Iād name Runa the #1 Main Character. Sheās the one who convinces Laith to go look for his grandpa, sheās the one who knows Falfain, and sheās the one who decide to let Ephraim tag along. Rainbow - Itās you! Since youāre the player, and your decisions determine what happens. Ira & Lupita - Unsurprisingly, Ira and Lupita. Cyberpunk - Most of them donāt have names yet Iād put Avery as #1 main character though, since heās the leader of the rebel group. His second in command is his datemate Jackie/Jordie. Changes - Lyka is the #1 Main Character, since she sets the escape in motion.
What happened to your villain to make them what they are now? Finding Magic - He genuinely thought he was doing good, that he was protecting everyone else. Cyberpunk - Not sure yet, but they probably do believe theyāre making the world a better place Changes - Oof well. Genevieveās firstborn child died of something that does occur in non-human animals, but is usually harmless in those. Her goal is to figure out how to splice animal DNA into humans so that in the future, those kinds of things are treatable.
Is there anything your OCs may want to change about themselves? Laith would love to be better at standing up for himself. At least his girlfriend has his back tho
Who was your first OC you ever created and do they still have a story? Oof, good question... A myriad of PokƩmon Self-Inserts and Inserts of my friends, maybe. Or one of my many, many RPG characters... Maybe Fia, who I played in a Jurassic Park RP when I was 10 or 11?
What has been the biggest inspiration for your writing and/or your WIPs? Hm, Iām not sure, it varies depending on the day, my mood, etc. Most recently, it was reading Leigh Bardugoās Grishaverse books, because Iād love to be able to touch someone the same way her books touched me.
Who is your least favourite OC in terms of things theyāve done? Oof, good question... I guess if they were real people... Genevieve, and whoever made the government the way it is in the Cyberpunk story, even though I donāt even knowĀ that guy yet. But since they arenāt... I canāt hate my own OCs. No matter what they do, I cannot dislike them. I did hate Genevieve when I started Changes, but sheās changed quite a bit since then.
What is one piece of advice you would give Past You, if you were given the chance? Honestly, no idea.
Do any of your characters celebrate Pride? If so, how? I feel like Ira and Lupita might. Runa absolutely would if she lived in our world. Avery and Jackie/Jordie probably did, before they joined the rebel group, because well, they really shouldnāt run around huge crowds with many people who might recognize them.
Is celebrating Pride any different from celebrating ours? Well, the Cyberpunk story is set in the future, so Iām guessing for Avery and Jay itās similar but slightly different, though I havenāt done enough worldbuilding yet to know how.
Do you prefer fanfiction or original fiction? No. I love both.
How long have you been writing seriously? Hm, define seriously. Iāve been trying since I was, like, 12, even if most of those stories are now banned to a folder called āOld Storiesā and not looked at anymore. Changes with its 20k got started when I was 14ish, but has been dormant for half a decade now. I started writing fanfic somewhat regularly in uh... March 2019, and Iāve been more involved in my original fiction since NaNo ā18. So, pick one of those dates.
What genres do you tend to stick to? Mostly Fantasy, but also some Sci-Fi, I guess?
How good would you say you are at being able to write Angst? Have you ever made someone cry? Iāve made myself cry, does that count?
Any writeblrs you look up to? Well, you, Hal lol. Bc youāre pretty damn awesome at not letting those asshole anons get to you.
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