#This is me developing a Style bias in real time actually

[pointlesscandies]

the vibes? incredible.

Style THK Episode 1

[onewomancitadel]

A scattering of TWC impressions, which I played because a mutual posted fanart featuring a guy with long hair and I wanted to see if he had long hair in the game. The character my protagonist romanced only had long hair in a flashback. I told you, they are trying to contain me

That being said, I'll try to be fair:

By Book Two I was calling that the mother is a traitor, and I presume the epilogue in Book Three confirms this. My favourite silly thing that authors do is something like:

"I'll never forgive anybody who ever does this."

[Character who is later never forgiven for something immediately speaks]

"I sure hope nobody betrays us."

[Traitor speaks]

or in the case of TWC, every time a Rogue leader was mentioned, Rebecca immediately began speaking. It's just a subtle way of linking information together that most people aren't going to pick up on, outside of actual hard clues (e.g. there's the bit where Rebecca gets the pure DMB, and somehow Murphy had pure DMB on hand, the repeated emphasis on doing anything for her child, caginess about leaving being a leader of the Chamber/the dad thing, etc.)

I cannot imagine how much work it was to twine together a CYOA game and try to structure the prose as part of that experience, so I tried to be really gentle on that aspect when I am at my most critical with such a thing.

Present tense works best with first person (there is one time that I've read third person present tense and it's transcended my issues with it, I think because there was a real deft employment of where it's good for - especially sex scenes) in my experience because it reflects that natural English conversational tone, though my preference would still be first person past tense, for the sake of CYOA I can see why it was chosen. That being said, I think it really did struggle at points trying to marry a past tense reflectional tone to the present, and there were times that the description of the environment was especially clunky. I wrote a post about dialogue tags that was implicitly about this series lol.

I did pay for all three books so I'm not knocking on something a fan put their heart into, hahaha. To its detriment I think the quality of the prose depreciated by Book Three - having gone back to do a second playthrough to do a male protagonist/Morgan playthrough, I don't think this is recency bias. In terms of actual structure, Book Three probably has the overall better dramatic moments but experiences a weakening of connective tissue - lots of 'and then'..., and fewer scenes where I can smash my dollies together.

This really brings me to my issue which is that I didn't go in knowing it was all about romance, and I really wish - ironically - it had leant more into being about romance.

The plot is there to carry the development (which I enjoy, unless you are able to write something truly literary) up until it fell more like it was beginning to overwhelm it by Book Three - then again I hated the fake dating in Book Two because it's a beloathed trope of mine, so maybe I'm just hard to please. I think this might be an issue of the will-they-won't-they Adam romance, which - whilst I love slow burn and most of all absolutely love slow burn which dicks around - really needed to torture Adam more and torture my protagonist more to get the message through, I think in part a consequence of the tone of this sort of story which is trying to feel grounded, but I would choose sensible character development in exchange for tonal compromise (especially as it would be constrained to one route). I'm willing to be seated for people who try to stay away from each other - yess please yummy yummy - but you need to feel comfortable in getting the emotional cattle prod out.

And I wouldn't be so upset about the realism of portraying a 900 year old vampire knight unless the setting leant hard into that 'supernatural-but-realism' modern style of cynical writing... like, you can't have characters laugh about believing in God (when God structured that period of Adam's early life and magic is real and a Gnostic-esque Echo World is also real...) and then get mad at me when I want you to portray a 900 year old vampire knight properly. He sounds like a traumatised soldier from 20-30 years ago; did he change with the times? Did he never fit in back then anyway? I guess I just wanted to go weirder! Also what's his attitude to sex. Lol

Also the fact that human bloodsucking didn't come up until the end of Book Three made me very disappointed. I wanted him to try sucking her like as early as Book One. I wanted to suggest it as a thing to help them fighttttt but it could also be so so sexy. 🥰 It felt a little like dramatic scenes kind of get postponed. No idea what Murphy is doing now

That being said, the most important thing to me were the nonviolent resolutions and being nice to the monsters. I think the real reason I kept playing is because it did keep offering outcomes that let me try to be peaceful and show compassion to the big sad mean monsters... whether that was in the romance itself, or towards the antagonists, that was actually great fun.

It's not even something you necessarily get to do in a Bioware game because combat is considered the lifeblood of video games (maybe in some older games you can talk down the antagonist, thinking of the original Fallout here - but notably its sequel eschewed this, almost like a joke) and the type of character I tend to construct for this setting is the gentlest I can think of, just because such gentle characters are so rare. So it's very very valuable to me to get to play that.

That actually brings me into what I liked about the romances, which is that I never had to consistently hit a 'flirt' option - something I hate about how RPG's construct romance now - because that's not even how people become attracted to each other! - and it asked me what route I was going to take. Notably on my second playthrough, it asked me why I had been avoiding Morgan - so it actually integrated how you met those hidden romance checks into the storytelling, even when I went through a romance with fewer checks seemingly hit. (I think this might've been because I let her wait outside? But why would I force my character on her? Lol).

And because Detective Majestic (okay I was thinking of Destroy All Humans because cops/supernatural/special agencies, I wanted something silly, and then they kept using her surname the whole goddamned playthrough...) is so gentle, she never pushed Adam not even once, and it let me keep playing that way without punishing that playstyle because it didn't ~meet the romance checks~, but it also had romantic scenarios where neither of them let themselves do anything hahaha, which was amazing. This is probably the rarest portrayal of romance I've ever seen in a CYOA/RPG, and pretty much redeemed my experience because it was so fun to actually play something unique which met me halfway. That in itself is very hard to do - the reason you'd structure something linearly with absolute checks is just because this method is very complex to write. Now you've got more than 'romance - no romance' to write a route for.

So the discovery element was really the strongest, and I enjoyed it for that reason above all else. It let me be nice, pacifistic, and play a romance with a unique approach - and though I am not always the kindest on some requisite romance tropes (part of the reason I liked playing a gentle character is that I like the subversion of pushy romance tropes lol) it was admittedly quite fun!

I'm glad I checked it out, so now I know who is the one with long hair and who isn't, and though I am rather curmudgeonly, I had a little bit of fun. I can definitely see how this would service a rich transformative fandom - especially because I don't know if you could reasonably write a sex scene in the main story proper. Blood sucking might have to supplement it... that's what the vampire can be a facsimile for, just with a much more negative portrayal, lol. Probably a separate thesis to be written on why the vampire has enjoyed a burgeoning positive reception in modern romance.

[imtwoburdsbitch]

This is my setup so far!

Things might change in the future but so far, I’m pretty happy with it!

Before anyone says anything I know a lot of the items I got were a bit extra and that cheaper alternatives are available but, this is one “big” tax splurge/birthday present!

I'm going to do my best to keep this up to date as things develop!

Cage/Perches

C&C Outdoor Large Cat Cage Enclosure - 4/5

So far I love this cage! With the set up pictured above, I actually ended up with extra panels to expand further in the future.

This cage offers a lot of versatility and would be great for odd shaped spaces or tight spaces that might require a little bit more creativity!

As far as durability goes, I would say that is pretty average for a C&C cage. With that being said... USE THE ZIP TIES! Or invest in additional wire cage supports or else the first time you move it... it will fall apart!

Pros

Weight - Light weight, easy to move and and tare down!

Price Point - Affordable and way cheaper than traditional bird cages of the same size!

Versatility/Customization - This is a build your own cage set! You can go wild and pretty much do whatever you want!

Add-ons - Because this is a C&C cage there are a lot of options for expansions and a lot of add-ons (ramps, doors, patios, etc) that can be bough!

Cons

Durability - So long as your using extra supports the durability isn't an issues. Without the supports... this is going to fall apart the first time you move it!

Bar Spacing - The bar spacing on this is large! 1.65" (4.1 cm). Because of the bar spacing your going to need to get a 2" Fender Washer in order to attach most standard bird accessories. An easy fix but something to be aware of!

Cleaning - Because this cages relies on joints there are plastic pieces that jut into the cage and run the risk of being pooped on. If they are pooped on... You will have to take apart a large chunk of the cage and remove the joint to clean it... It's a pain in the ass.

Corrugated Plastic Cage Liner Base 3/5

This works just as intended! It keeps what it needs to in and what it needs to out! It can be laid flat, and folded for storage if need be.

Pros

It works! Keeps poop and seed inside!

Cleaning - Easy to wipe down and poop doesn't seem to stick to the surface! Water and weatherproof is also a plus!

Cons

Price Point - I, admittedly, did not do my research before purchasing this base! This could have easily been made for about half the price from a local hardware or craft store with a sheet of Corrugated Plastic and either some hot glue or, if I wanted to get fancy, some Plastic Chicago Screws.

Cleaning - While the outside is easy enough to clean, corrugated plastic is hallow-ish on the insides and is IMPOSSIBLE to clean! To avoid dust build up you can use a length Rubber Edge Trim along the top! Make sure you check the with of your Corrugated Plastic before buying any trim.

Perch 4/5

It's a perch, it do what it do. Nothing super exciting.

Pros

It works as intended!

Cons

The shorter perch was NOT pink, lol. Not important to most people but it is important to notes that its defiantly more orange.

Lining/Hammock - 5/5 (I'm bias because I made them, lol!

The lining is simply two pieces of Anti-Pill Plush Fleece sewn to size! Anit-pill fleece is stain resistant, easy to clean and soft to the touch!

Pros

Price Point - Much cheaper then pre-made linings!

Reusable - Simply wash and reuse! No reoccurring monthly expense for something like puppy pads!

Customizable - Make them any color or all the colors!

Easy to Make - For real! Sewing a full bottom lining takes me about 30 mins from start to finish! If sewing isn't your think you could do it tie blanket style or simply cut a piece of fabric to size and call it good!

Food/Water

3 in 1 Cat Bowl - 5/5

I love this this feeder! Not only is it super cute but, it allows you to lock the bowls in place, preventing them form moving. The angled sides of the bowl also really help to keep seed where it should be! This is super easy to clean and the fact that it has two bowls and a gravity feed water dispenser makes it perfect for pigeons!

Pros

One stop shop - because of the two bowls and the separate water dish this works great for offering see, grit and water all separate!

Bowl Position - This feeder has a star shaped grid in the bottom that allows you to change the position of the bowls. This allows you to turn the bowl so the raised edge is facing the water dish preventing water from getting into your grit and feed!

Cons

Seeds under bowl - Because the bottom of the bowl holder is open if there are seeds under it the bowl becomes difficult to lock into place. Not a big deal but it can be annoying to deal with!

Water riser - The water dish has a white, circle riser that is open in the center. It's not a huge deal, Mango got use to it after his second attempt, and it's totally removable!

Toys/Enrichment

I'll make this part short and sweet, lol!

Mango doesn't care at all about anything but his Brick. Bitches love bricks.

10 PC Cat Toy set

Mirror

Doughnut Dog Toy

Cake Foraging Toy

Snuffle Mat

Brick

Nesting Pink Bed

Crinkle Paper

Paper Straws

Hay Feeder

[thewertsearch]

You're right - it's time for the Official Wertsearch Troll Rankings!

I'll forgo the tier list for now, and rank them top-to-bottom, by simple personal preference. There's obviously going to be a bias towards trolls who've had more focus so far - but I'm sure this will even out over time. I'm planning to update it successively.

Without further ado:

Kanaya. I don't need to explain myself, and I doubt her position will change. At some point I might write a post outlining why Kanaya is cool as fuck, so we'll save any in-depth discussion for then.

Karkat. The most likeable hater in the comic. Karkat is full of huge, misdirected emotions that he doesn't understand, and seems poised to take command of the Zodiac trolls out of sheer crabbiness. Karkat thinks he despises everyone, including himself, but I think he needs to acknowledge that there's a reason he's also an expert on love.

Terezi. Probably the funniest troll, but also the one who keeps you guessing the most. She started off as one angry alien among many, demonstrated her malevolence in the Davesprite arc, settled into her role as an awesome weirdo in Hivebent, and now we're learning about her partnership with Vriska, which seems to paint her as an overzealous murderer, even for Alternia. You never know what you're going to get with Terezi, but a lot of the comic's best quotes are in leetspeek for a reason.

Vriska. What can I even say? She's the troll. I could write dozens of posts analyzing what the fuck her deal is - and I probably will. Vriska's great, and awful, and is going to do magnificent things. (Note that magnificent is not synonymous with good. Or successful.)

Aradia. I'm incredibly invested in this girl's arc. So far, Aradia's story is tragic, and we only got to see the real her for a short flashback. Many of the other trolls are trapped in unfortunate circumstances, but at least they have the opportunity to be themselves. I want to see the actual Aradia as a Player, and I want to see her break her strings.

Sollux. I have a soft spot for my troll. Sollux shares my zodiac sign, my trollsona's blood color, and (possibly) my Aspect, and I really do vibe with the little nerd. He's also the one who introduced programming to the story in earnest, and I'll echo my earlier sentiment - this code boy needs to show me more code.

Tavros. Most of his appearances so far are marred by their proximity to Vriska, but I think Tavros has a lot of potential. Left to his own devices, he's a pretty relaxed troll who dances to his own tune, and this makes him - pardon the pun - a breath of fresh air. I'll reiterate - get him away from Vriska, and we'll see him fly.

Equius. Recent events have proved that his moral compass is a little on the fritz - but this is Alternia. It's not like he's the only one. Equius is the source of some of the comic's funniest conversations, and his commitment to the hemospectrum might begin to wane as we leave the planet behind. I'm interested to see how he develops.

Feferi. Cheerful, benevolent heiress to a millennia-old dystopia, raised by a tentacle monster from the dungeon dimensions. Feferi has just made a hell of an entrance, and I want to see more.

Nepeta. Has done nothing, but gets points for being a catgirl.

Gamzee. Has done nothing, but gets points for introducing me to Insane Clown Posse.

Eridan. His hemospectrum shtick is funnier when Equius does it, but his typing style is at least a little entertaining. All the trolls so far have revealed hidden depths, and I'm hoping he's the same.

[mesaprotector]

Under the cut: most overrrated and underrated anime of each year since 2017 for me (subjective!), with explanations. You can send me hate but be nice about it.

I'm only including stuff I've watched at least a cour (12 episodes) of. And also, some stuff like Dororo, even if I didn't personally enjoy it, I can see why people would, so it isn't on this list.

Starting with overrated.

2017: Dragon Maid

I guess the appeal of this is gay undertones with adult characters in an era when that was still pretty uncommon. And I do like some parts of it, including the ending. But I just cannot look past the weirdness of the Kanna/Riko ship and especially whatever is going on with Lucoa/Shouta, and the show overuses many of its worse gags. Even as someone who has developed a decent tolerance for "weird anime fanservice" this went too far for me.

2018: Violet Evergarden

This is a more mild case. It's a very pretty anime I don't dislike, but the story is kind of all over the place and the lasting acclaim it's gotten surprises me. There's just one episode that's top-tier (you know which one); besides that, the show doesn't know what direction it wants to take or what message it wants to have, and Violet herself is nowhere near entertaining enough to make it work.

2019: Shield Hero

This take is so lukewarm it's like someone forgot they put it in the microwave. But yeah—it starts off decent for exactly four episodes then does nothing whatsoever of interest for the rest of its runtime. I feel vaguely sad every time I hear about it getting a new season.

2020: Jujutsu Kaisen

It's a shounen, so I don't really expect more than well-animated fights out of it, and it has occasional good writing. The characters are not as interesting as I wish they were, something made clearer by my friend making me watch part of Naruto soon after the first season aired.

2021: Komi-san

This is not how social anxiety works. It does not just render you a mute who is somehow the most popular girl in your class regardless. I mean, sure, if you're watching this just to laugh it's kind of funny, but nobody should pretend this has any social message.

2022: Bocchi the Rock

Oh boy. I liked this, actually—it's a slightly above average CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) show with one-dimensional characters, a predictable plot to the extent that there is one, and only a single saving grace—highly imaginative animation for approximately 2 minutes out of every episode. I finished it, re-emerged into the world of online anime discussion, and found that people were calling this an all-time classic. I think no other show's acclaim has confused me as much as what happened with Bocchi; at one point Anilist had it at #4 all time, which is absurd even after considering the recency bias. There are similar shows that do far more interesting things with their casts— A Place Further than the Universe, The Demon Girl Next Door, K-On. I guess since I don't relate to Bocchi I just don't get it. I'll admit, at least, that she's written much more realistically than Komi is.

2023: Heavenly Delusion

This show started out extremely well, but but just like Dragon Maid above, it's a rare case where the fanservice is so jarring it seriously bothered me. The show has one episode in a completely different animation style for no real reason, just because they pulled in a guest director. The ending is miserable to watch and unlike plenty of tragic shows there doesn't seem to be a point to it, or any level of narrative coherence. I would refuse money to watch a second season of this.

2024: Apothecary Diaries

This is another mild case, similar to Violet Evergarden—it's quite good, I just don't think it's as smart as people believe it is—and Maomao's character feels a bit too pander-y even with how good Aoi Yuuki's voice acting is.

———

Now underrated.

2017: Shoukoku no Altair

I guess this entire post is "overrated: shows with great animation" vs. "underrated: shows with poor animation". But I feel a shounen with an interesting world (based on historic Turkey), actually smart writing of military tactics, and great character moments shouldn't suddenly go ignored just because it ran out of animation budget near the end.

2018: Akanesasu Shoujo

I post endlessly about this show. It's a very dumb and yet very wise show with the most emotionally beautiful final episode in the history of the medium. Cowboys. Baked fish cakes. Amazon Prime. Arranged marriage. Watch it please I'm begging you.

2019: Granbelm

As far as I can tell the only reason people dislike this 2D (!) mecha show is the cutesy designs for the mechas. It's a show that handwaves a lot of its plot elements, so it wouldn't appeal to someone who wants logical analysis of their stories, but it's emotionally smart without being cliché, and the sound design is fantastic. I scarcely notice sound design—only this and Chihayafuru do it so well to make a real difference for me.

2020: Id:Invaded

This show is reasonably well-liked and not that obscure, but it's still better than its reputation. If I had any doubts before that I Kenjirou Tsuda was actually a fantastic voice actor instead of just having a great voice, they were gone after watching this.

2021: Pretty Boy Detective Club

Slow-paced dialogue-driven shows almost always feel underappreciated by the anime community, with Monogatari the lone exception. This is by the same author as Monogatari, visually beautiful, and every bit as well-written—and yet MAL has it at a 7.08. My best guess as to why is that the primarily straight male Monogatari fandom was annoyed by the mild fanservice of the boys in this show (it's in the name, isn't it?), and nobody else bothered to watch it. It's much less ambitious than Monogatari is and much easier to get into.

2022: Requiem of the Rose King

If "an anime reimagining of Shakespeare's Richard III with dysphoria as a major theme" is a premise that appeals to you, and you can tolerate some animation budget struggles, watch this; if it doesn't, don't.

2023: Revenger

Maybe people rated this poorly because they saw "Gen Urobuchi" in the title and expected it to be as good as Psycho-Pass and Madoka (it isn't). It's still a really good series about assassins and crime syndicates in a medium-sized Japanese town, with uh—broken-down churches? Hot guys? Trade negotiations? The animation isn't even at fault here so I have no idea why it didn't take off more.

2024: Sakuna of Rice and Ruin

There are a lot of shows this year I feel were underappreciated, but this is one of the easiest to recommend—it's simple and pretty, with good character development and a really good setting, and plenty of rice farming. It is a touch kid-oriented, maybe, which shows in the lack of complexity of its character conflicts, but I don't fault that.

[habibibasket]

MY YANDERE SIMULATOR CONCEPT

Gameplay and Visual Design Concepts

The base idea of Yandere Simulator is pretty strong! That's just to say that I enjoy it though, my opinions can be kinda shit but still! The idea of systematically going through and eliminating your romantic rivals sounds like a fun game concept, but issues arise when you ask "what genre of game?" Since the one we have now is OVERWHELMED with issues. There's too many little details and distractions, with many additions not really fleshing out the world and instead just making things feel overstuffed and tangential. There's so many things to look at and explore which almost all become null and void as the rival eliminations have strict time limits and days must be spent solely on those things, giving you little to no time to actually experience the extraneous details. Additionally, the specific elimination methods don't really allow for much experimentation with the various items and weapons around the school, especially the blunt object weapons like the pipe or the baseball bat. There's so many different elimination methods and ways of killing but many of those methods just feel far less useful if none of the 'cooler' ways are completely unviable and pointless to carry out, basically only having negative consequences if you try to experiment beyond the "schemes." The schemes is also pretty stupid idea in its own right basically preventing user experimentation entirely by providing such strict instructions for your plots that any experimentation just becomes null and void as a result. It just leaves things feeling hollow and unearned as a result.

Many of main issues I have with the gameplay and presentation is entirely to do with the format of the game, which, I believe, also contributes to the main struggles with development. Models, animations, and cutscenes are all either inhibited, slowed, or completely ruined by the presentation of the game. The post-processing, blurriness, and character models in particular make everything look less than ideal. This leads me to my point and my idea for what this kind of story is best suited for...

A Visual Novel

I may just have a bias for visual novels but I do believe that with the rework I'd want with the story, a visual novel would be the best option. I want to completely replan the story anyway but even the original concept could work as a visual novel with enough planning and writing power. I imagine it more as an Ace Attorney style visual novel with a time system implemented. You can move around to the notable locations in the school and look for specific items in each room. These items will be marked in the background, and can be found with the right means and the right information. Talking to people isn't required but can be helpful if you're looking for a specific tool or trying to plan out a murder plot or trying to get dirt on the particular rival.

Additionally, there's a game design concept I want to focus more on. The idea that throughout the game, it's a Ayano/Ayato's descent into madness from their crimes and actions. Sanity is less of a gameplay factor and more of a central story theme. Additionally this is shown best with the rivals and "rivals" you kill throughout. The real rivals being those who show an interest in Taro/Taeko and who they might have an interest in as well. This will be touched on more in the rival section, but the descent into simply killing people who happen to just be near them is something I want to have built up to over time as you kill more and more people who are seemingly of no "threat" whatsoever.

I'll cover a lot of that once we get to the story section but before that I want to address setting and design.

[wow-its-me]

Alright Mutant Mayhem post, I just got back from the movies so these takes are are all of my first un unfiltered thoughts

SPOILERS AHEAD

First off the animation style : Absolutely Amazing,

Very claymation like, and although I see the comparison to Spiderverse, I think it’s completely unique,

If anything it reminds me of The Mitchell’s Vs The Machines

Next the cast : Absolutely Amazing

The way the characters had so much energy and just bounced off of each other. The kids that voiced the turtles really did great, everything they said felt very natural, and like teenagers actually talk. It was A LOT of pop culture references, but while a little cringey, none of them felt forced.

I absolutely LOVED this version of April and she’s currently fighting IDW April for the “best april” spot in my head. Again Ayo did a great job and I can’t imagine anyone else in the role. A fresh take while still being true to the character

And of course Splinter carried the movie. Jackie Chan was incredible as always, and this is splinter is truly the best dad. He was really just looking out for his sons, and doing anything and everything he could to make them both safe and happy.

I’m never going to get over Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko

And Natasia Demetriou was perfect (hearing her definitely through me off guard though, just cause I’m a wwdits fan, and I though her being the bat was very silly)

Overall thoughts :

If anything I found myself a bit distracted through the movie. Getting caught up comparing things to the TMNT I already know. Learning to accept that while, similar this one’s different, a new take on a beloved series.

I wasn’t comparing it as “worse or better” but seeing the similarities to certain comic issues and runs, and assuming that I knew what was going to happen based off of those. Super fly is just like Hob, Cynthia Utrom is Bishop, ect.

And while those comparisons are both interesting and fun, I was getting too into it, and overlooking what THIS movie was trying to do and say (which is a problem that I think a lot of comics fans run into)

OK critiques : I tend to be nit-picky but I only have a few this time

The Mutanimals,,,, (that what I’m calling them here y’know who I mean) their were ALOT OF THEM and I feel like they all weren’t utilized in the film, and used to cast stars who would only have a couple lines, and probably sell more toys (which, let’s be honest, is the biggest reason TMNT exists now)

Bebop and Rocksteady didn’t really do anything, I swear Leatherhead had two lines, I completely forgot about Ghengis Frog, Rey Fillet was literally just Post, and the only ones who felt like real characters were Mondo Gecko and Wingnut (and I might be bias cause I love them) and slug lady???

The way they almost immediately turned on superfly, their older brother, who was clearly like a father to them, with no hesitation?? One second their down for mass murder, and the next their helping the turtles???

Their actors and designs were cool, but the movie was only 1:35 or something, I feel like a bit more character development for them could’ve been put in

The timeline? Also a bit confusing, and implies that every mutant other than Splinter, Slug Lady, and Superfly is 15. Which I don’t think is true.

But all of the Mutanimals were shows to be babies/toddlers in the 15 year flashback?? And they all seemed like infants in Stockmans lab (other than superfly whose a couple years older) and older slug lady would’ve been tiny anyway

But I just got a little confused

And lastly the ENDING :

I really didn’t think they’d actually make it to highschool!! This is honesty super interesting and opens up the story for a lot of new plots and takes, doing things that the turtles could never do in previous iterations. It makes me very excited for what could come next for them

Their in the real world

People know them

They could have actual futures

(I’m very curious to how taxes and stuff work for splinter now, but I doubt it’ll ever get into that)

AND THE SHREDDER TEASE

Very hyped for what’s coming next, left the theater ranting to my sister about how I hope Karai will be in the next one too.

And with the backstory loosing that tie to the Foot, I’m really wondering how things will go down

And worried for how underprepared they are for someone like shredder

[thiefstealsthepodcast]

Hi! I’m a long-time listener of Driver Picks the Podcast and I finally got around to watching Leverage along with this pod. I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to because I knew almost nothing about the series except that it probably wasn’t my thing.

So, this pilot episode was a delightful surprise! I didn’t even realize the premise was a ragtag group of strangers committing Robin Hood-esque heists which is 100% my thing. It’s all so very 2008 in a way that really works for me in the way of nostalgia. Beth is right in that this pilot is A LOT but I was totally along for the ride and was able to follow along pretty well.

(I will say the only thing I was vaguely aware of was Eliot being a fan favorite and the prevalence of the Hardison/Parker/Eliot ship within the fandom with which I am already fully on board)

As requested in the pod, I am going to rank the characters favorite to least favorite only having seen 2 episodes 😭

1. Hardison: Aldis Hodge is great and I’m a real sucker for “the guy in the chair,” although I love that he’s also very active in the sort of play acting as well. I think my favorite moment is when he’s playing the FBI agent and leading Eliot to cop car. So good.

2. Parker: I can already see the immense potential for development in her and it’s so exciting! She’s an agent of chaos in the best way.

3. Sophie: she’s the character I knew the least about going in and she really surprised me! Her grift is always both satisfying and entertaining. I also find her to be incredibly hot 💕

4. Eliot: I saw someone else say that he is the most emotionally intelligent member of the group and I have to agree so far. Definitely looking forward to learning more about him. Also, I adore his little glasses! I’m glad that this style is starting to make a bit of a comeback.

5. Nate: so I expected to hate him, partially because I have a bias against some of Timothy Hutton’s previous roles lol, but he seemed like a pretty blah character from what little info I did have. While he’s still ranked last I didn’t hate him at all. He’s kind of the lynchpin here which is fine and necessary but he’s giving me the least to work with at the moment. I really loved the moment in the alley with Sophie where we see him really flustered for the first time. I really thought the Sophie/Nate thing would be uninteresting to me but I’m actually very intrigued by their past (and the flashback was excellent).

all that to say I actually really enjoy every character so far in a way I wasn’t expecting!

The thing I most look forward to is seeing the development of the group and the dynamics therein. 5 characters and 5 seasons gives us plenty of room to explore that. And despite having a trauma bond with Supernatural, I could see Leverage being much more my thing funnily enough. So thanks for the recommendation!

Okay your takes are so valid and I am honestly so honored that you have decided to follow us across to Leverage and my funny silly little goofy show that I love with all my heart. I hoped that I might inspire someone to watch the show and I'm so happy that we can act as your guide to accompany your first time watching.

[knayv]

𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖕 𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖓𝖊𝖉. independent arlecchino of genshin impact. headcanon-dependent until canon proves otherwise. minors dni. #𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐘𝐕.

BLOGROLL: @baishouqijia ✦ @capitaneus ✦ @kohlapsar

I. no homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, harassment etc. i do not reblog callouts unless the individual is genuinely harmful (i.e. behaviour related to those listed), rather than being called out for personal grievances. you are welcome to block the tag 'callout /' for this purpose.

II. i do not interact with minors. if you are a minor, i ask that you do not interact with me or this blog. i cannot guarantee that this blog will remain sfw, therefore this is a blanket rule.

III. arlecchino is a villain, and i don't intend to shy away/soften her up, so dark topics may be present. that said, i do not write incest, nsfw involving minors or sexual violence - i'm okay with these topics being included in a character's backstory but will not be writing these explicitly.

i do write nsfw headcanons/nsfw themes in my threads. this may include sexual content and explicit gore / violence, with my rp partner's consent.

as an aside, i appreciate that a lot of people enjoy the villain/victim dynamic but please don't reach out to write with me if you're only focused on tragedy/victim plot for your muse. it's very one-sided for development, and i get very little enjoyment from writing it. i want to explore arlecchino as her own person, and not as a plot device.

IV. please specify muse before interacting with me if you are a multi-muse. i'm very original character friendly, so long as there's a viable way for arle to interact with your muse.

V. please check out headcanon tags before interacting! arlecchino has little canon information so will be reliant on these. some are supported by canon lore, some of these will just be based on pure vibes alone.

my arlecchino uses she / he / they pronouns and i use them interchangeably.

VI. this blog will be low activity. i work full time in a demanding job, so please don't interact with me if you need fast replies to maintain a muse. i am quite responsive ooc, but when it comes to writing, you will just have to take my word for it that i am worth the wait ʚ₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ɞ

VII. shipping is very cool and i am open to it! i ship with both genshin and non-genshin muses, and occasionally ocs. i prefer headcanoning more than actual writing due to my writing speed, but i am still interested! i prefer shipping with chemistry rather than what's considered canon, and i'm generally singleship but this is not a hard rule. i’m also poly friendly.

ship bias: tsaritsa, columbina, sandrone, signora, beidou, rosaria, childe, capitano

all others are welcome to explore, no hard feelings if it doesn't work out c:

VIII. i'd appreciate it if you didn't use heavy metaphors / poetry in our threads. absolutely no hate or anything, i just find it very difficult to understand what the characters are actually doing in this writing style. i also ask that you don't use real life face claims in our threads; i write characters who do not have irl images so it feels very space jam.

IX. i write muses without knowing most of their lore from in-game text because i am lazy. i play genshin daily, but most of it the lore supplied by youtube/wiki because i genuinely cba going through all of the texts in game to get pantalone crumbs. if i write something incorrect to canon, like hideously wrong, feel free to let me know. chances are i just didn't read the small print.

X. i go by dima or vodka! i'm 27 and use they/them. i'm a hobbyist artist and i love fantasy, liches in particular. i will draw our muses whether u like it or not. my dms are open, feel free to ask for my discord, or genshin uid if you play on EU!

[seeminglyseph]

the blood is literally splatter from a steak his stepped on. but couldn’t cut. Most of this episode was kinda spent with Daphne and Velma trying to sell drugs and Daphne trying to show Velma that she jumps to conclusions about people and that her bias and prejudice mixed with her lack of tact which she believes makes her “real” but just makes her a huge bitch nobody wants to spend time with are problems she has to face and are likely the main reason their friendship fractured. And it feels like it was supposed to payoff with her realizing she was wrong to have judged Fred, but......... the show really just reinforces that Fred is a man baby with a hair trigger and no useful skills.

Also if he has a testosterone disorder why is he ripped? Like. They do actually do hormone therapy for cis kids who have hormone disorders. that’s a normal practice. Hormone disorders aren’t that uncommon and are rarely caused by ‘too pampered to bother having a puberty’

like there’s so much weird misdirected incorrect biased hate in this script that it’s plain old misanthropic. Everyone is awful all the time. Except Daphne who has to deal with the worst people all the time and her friends are being murdered and also Norville who is.... uh. There to be a Nice Guy who pines and is rejected. This episode featured him going on a mission to get money Velma needs without her asking to... it’s referred to multiple times as either buying her love or blackmailing her to go on a date with him in like a comedic light hearted way but he also is about to sell his kidney. Only to be rescued by a group of stoners who are big fans of his munchie reviews. Which he’s disappointed by because again, he *hates* drugs. Just so you know. That’s his joke. He hates drugs and is pining in a really sad way over Velma for seemingly no reason because she’s really mean to him.

She and Daphne develop sexual chemistry over the course of the episode and make out, so it feels like the weird press thing where Velma had a crush on Fred was Outrage Marketing considering how much this show hates Fred.

Also I feel like the art style falls into that like... teenage girl drawing anime problem where the girl characters are cute and good looking and the guys are like “I didn’t really know what to do if they aren’t cute.”

Also why did they decide to make the characters *younger* to tell a more violent and sexually charged story? I know the originals are teens and this is supposed to be an origin, but everything about this looks like it was planned to take place on a college and the fact that the characters are actually like 15 is completely forgotten. like I’ve seen adult programming with child protagonists where the joke is the juxtaposition of mature subject matter and immature characters, but like.... you know most boys aren’t finished puberty at 15, right? like..... it happens later for boys than it does for girls typically... like I’d say “have you met a teenage boy” but like maybe don’t. if nothing else you’d probably make him feel horrible about himself and want to die.

There’s only two episodes out, and part of me is like... *hoping* that this is like “everyone is awful because they haven’t had their character arcs yet” but so much about Fred feels like.... gross, mean spirited, sexist, kinda pervy, really odd about abuse and just.... idk.

They threw him in like an adult prison at the end of the episode and I feel like. in my bones like... are they going to go for the prison rape jokes? I genuinely can’t tell from the tone if they would and where they would take it and I’m like.... you setup that he’s hairless, tiny dicked and effeminate, and put him in prison with a very very large cellmate. I have no standards for this show. I don’t know how far they will push it and I am. Wary.

[baishouqijia]

#𝖇𝖆𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖖𝖎𝖏𝖎𝖆 independent PANTALONE  of the FATUI HARBINGERS ( genshin impact ). headcanon-based portrayal until canon confirms otherwise. themes of violence, adult content and spoilers. minors do not interact. by dima. ⓒ

AES. CARRD. CREDITS. HEADCANONS. MUSIC.

BLOGROLL: @capitaneus ✦ @knayv ✦ @kohlapsar

I. no homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, harassment etc. i do not reblog callouts unless the individual is genuinely harmful (i.e. behaviour related to those listed), rather than being called out for personal grievances. you are welcome to block the tag 'callout /' for this purpose.

II. i do not interact with minors. if you are a minor, i ask that you do not interact with me or this blog. i cannot guarantee that this blog will remain sfw, therefore this is a blanket rule.

III. pantalone is a villain, and i don't intend to shy away/soften him up, so dark topics may be present. i do not write incest, nsfw involving minors or sexual violence - i'm okay with these topics being included in a character's backstory but will not be writing these explicitly.

i do write nsfw headcanons/nsfw themes in my threads. this may include sexual content and explicit gore / violence, with my rp partner's consent.

as an aside, i appreciate that a lot of people enjoy the villain/victim dynamic but please don't reach out to write with me if you're only focused on tragedy/victim plot for your muse. it's very one-sided for development, and i get very little enjoyment from writing it. i want to explore pantalone as his own person, and not as a plot device.

IV. please specify muse before interacting with me if you are a multi-muse. i'm also original character friendly, so long as there's a viable way for pantalone to interact with your muse.

V. please check out headcanon tags before interacting! pantalone has little canon information so will be reliant on these. some are supported by canon lore, some of these will just be based on pure vibes alone.

my pantalone uses he/they pronouns and i use them interchangeably.

VI. this blog will be low activity. i work full time in a demanding job, so please don't interact with me if you need fast replies to maintain a muse. i am quite responsive ooc, but when it comes to writing, you will just have to take my word for it that i am worth the wait ʚ₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ɞ

VII. shipping is very cool and i am open to it! i ship with both genshin and non-genshin muses, and occasionally ocs. i prefer headcanoning more than actual writing due to my writing speed, but i am still interested! i prefer shipping with chemistry rather than what's considered canon, and i'm generally singleship but this is not a hard rule. i’m also poly friendly.

ship bias: dottore, capitano, childe, yelan, tsaritsa, pierro

all others are welcome to explore, no hard feelings if it doesn't work out c:

VIII. i'd appreciate it if you didn't use heavy metaphors / poetry in our threads. absolutely no hate or anything, i just find it very difficult to understand what the characters are actually doing in this writing style. i also ask that you don't use real life face claims in our threads; i write characters who do not have irl images so it feels very space jam.

IX. i write muses without knowing most of their lore from in-game text because i am lazy. i play genshin daily, but most of it the lore supplied by youtube/wiki because i genuinely cba going through all of the texts in game to get pantalone crumbs. if i write something incorrect to canon, like hideously wrong, feel free to let me know. chances are i just didn't read the small print.

X. i go by dima or vodka! i'm 28 and use they/them. i'm a hobbyist artist and i love fantasy, liches in particular. i will draw our muses whether u like it or not. my dms are open, feel free to ask for my discord, or genshin uid if you play on EU!

[lookwhatilost]

to return to this thought and keep it relatively brief, tumblr 2011-2014 wasn't what most people outside tumblr thought it was. The popular perception outside here was that it was some sort of sjw hellhole, when in reality, it's better thought of at the time as a warzone, with no particular side really having total control of the site. i would say that until 2014, in general, the anti-sjw side was winning, and of course the "hipster side of tumblr" (read: normal people who use instagram now) was always the biggest, and the "fandom side" could go either way depending on which part of the fandom you walked into.

within the sjw side of tumblr, you had a lot of different factions, which more or less unified into one unruly chaotic blob sometime around 2017-ish. but in 2014, the anime communists were still a relatively small faction on the site, and the bigger names on the sjw side were people like medievalpoc, who was notoriously exposed as lying about their ethnicity and for getting a significant amount of the history wrong or oversimplified (the blog's theme in case you forgot, was to point out non-white people existing in european history). other things are a lot like how people might imagine – great focus placed on offensive jokes, on particular approaches to social issues, things like that. but what might surprise people who didn't use tumblr at the time, is that a lot of the people who were in that sjw side were very different to the outside perception of tumblr as being soft and sad about having ~le fee fees hurt~, but were actually extremely aggressive people, o, were just people who held a real life ideology that basically matched the people who say, comment on youtube and say that huey's ronald reagan speech in the boondocks represents them perfectly.

something changed around 2015-ish. whereas before, most people would respond to someone saying "cisheteropatriarchy sounds weird lol" or "these critical theory texts sound a little goofy" with defensive and earnest explanations of why you only think this because of a particular bias society has inspired in you, the freedom to actually be able to make fun of this stuff developed. I remember distinctly posts about bikini bottom written in the style of critical theory discourse at the time, and in fact, this is the year that gave us the actual term discourse as it's used on the internet now! it comes from here, of this era! it was a term that was used by tumblr leftists to make fun of what tumblr leftism was like, primarily arguments after argument after argument over the most inane shit (yes, even to us) with no resolution in sight, but also over things you were convinced had to be important, melded together with the inane shit in a way where nobody could cleanly separate the two. hence, why it just got reduced to the discourse chef meme image, to sort of sum up a general frustration with what existed at the time.

this transition from the earnest white feminist posting to aggressive irony leftism never actually stopped, it just kept going and going and going, until now on you can use homophobic slurs and tell people to kill themselves and it's generally socially acceptable. not to say current tumblr is good or a haven of epistemic perfection, but it's stupid in different ways than most people imagine because almost nobody has actually ever used tumblr, and so most people can't imagine what it was actually like.

it's quite bizarre that this is one of the most influential websites and subcultures of all time, but also is barely actually known and understood by nearly anyone, and almost all of this is because this website has like the worst fucking SEO ever, and whenever I want to find an old, famous post, no I can't lol, I feel very very lucky whenever I manage to locate a post from the old days that sums everything up for me (I have a particular favorite about discourse flip flopping). it's not documented well. there are popular tumblr posts out there – in fact, I can even think of ones that I wrote and are spread around in screenshots – that only make true sense in the context of what other posts were popular on different dashboards at the time, and that's knowledge that's almost completely lost to time and that you had to be there for. everything else important about tumblr is even more poorly documented. i think the internet would be a very different place if tumblr had had good SEO all along.

[biffhofosho]

NO WAY!! I can't believe your bias is Hyungwon also. I feel like I never meet other monbebe who are in his lane :( Fun fact, I actually couldn't pick a bias for such a long time because of how much I love all of them. One day, however, I was showing my friend one of their music videos and they asked me who my bias was. I balked at first but ultimately I had to admit I always felt so validated, appreciated, and moved by what wonnie had to say.

His songs made me feel something, unlike other artists(not compared to the other members lol). He has such a way with words and as an avid reader, I fell in love with how he wrote. His personality played a huge role in my trip also haha. I feel so safe when I listen to him sing or read stories about him. His disposition was similar to mine, I am an INTJ, and his fearless nature helped me gain confidence in myself.

ALSO, I am in awe that Wonho was your semi-first bias of MX, considering he was the one who got me into them. I saw a TikTok of him dancing and I was immediately absorbed by his energetic yet smooth style. After that, I searched them up and fell in love lol.

Although Hyungwon holds my heart, I must say Kihyun bias wrecks me so hard all the time, which isn't helpful when MX are my ults.

Anyway, enough about me, who's your bias wrecker? I feel like you are possibly a Honey mbb lol. You give off such a comforting and kind energy, yet an intelligent and analytical one at the same time. Getting to know you has already been such fun, I can't wait to develop our friendship further! Speaking of which, how should I call you? I figured since you call me Santa lol you deserve a nickname also haha(I hope that didn't come off the wrong way!)

xox mbb Secret Santa

p.s. remember to drink lots of water and eat well!! much love :)

Sorry for taking a while to respond! Weekends are busy because I do many things with my husband and kiddo, and I wanted to give you a nice, long response for your very nice, long ask. <3

You can call me Dutch or Biff on here or any kind of silly pet name you want--I'm only picky about food haha. (My real name is reserved for DMs where MX can never find me embarrassing myself lol.)

Oh, it's so true, isn't it! Where is the Hyungwon praise, people?!? At least that means it's less we have to share of him haha. :D Stil, Hyungwon (and all seven boys) deserves all the love and best things in the world. I feel like he's really only become truly comfortable in his idoldom since Wonho left, as it was pretty easy to take introvert shelter in Wonho's tremendous wingspan heh heh.

Yes, Hyungwon is as unintentionally funny as he is intentionally funny. Since Inssaoppa, too, he's really been flexing his quick wit and wordplay, and I'm here for all of it. I love that he's been given more and more creative freedom, too. He's an INFP like me, and if we can't create, we wither and die.

Almost all of my all-time fave MX tracks are written by Wonnie, particularly "Mercy" (though I hadn't realized he'd written that song until long after it had been my favorite). I remember the first time I played the No Limit album in my headphones. I had intended to fall asleep listening, but the second "Mercy" hit, an entire universe opened behind my eyes. I cried into my sheets lol. That song rattled my bones. Needless to say, it's my favorite from their whole discography, and I started an entire novel around it. So, yeah, there's that.

I'm not sure if I have a clear bias wrecker since they've all wrecked each other for me for years lol. If I go by non-Hyungwon fics I've written, my favorites tend to be Kihyun's. If I go by the numbers of photos I've saved per member, Minhyuk's and Wonho's are a dead-heat in terms of how many photos I've saved. And aren't we all Honeybebes at heart? ;) I feel the same intense compulsion to put Jooheon's head in my lap and stroke his hair that every single member of MX does. *sighs* He must me adored and babied at all costs. :D

Oh man, I've got you fooled haha. But thank you for saying such nice things about me. If I give off a 1/16th of the warmth Jooheon does, that's the highest compliment I can think of (behind you saying I write like Hyungwon *continues to sob for all eternity*).

I feel like we were matched so well for Secret Santa omfg! Your energy is just my flavor, dear Santa. <3 Thank you for being so chatty with me. Is very, very lovely. :D Can't wait to chat more!

[iamthenightcolormeblack]

My Experience with Jane Austen Part 2: Reading the Books

In part one I laid out which books I read, which ones were my favorites and least favorites, and the adaptations I've seen. Now I'd like to talk about my reading experience.

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert, just a casual reader sharing some observations, feel free to correct me if I get some details wrong. Out of the books I’ve read I’m most familiar with Pride and Prejudice.

Let's face it. Reading Austen can be challenging and I understand why some people dislike Austen.

It's easy to perceive her novels as "boring" because on a surface level, not much happens. The characters are well-off people (in the upper half of society) who spend their time at home or traveling between social calls and it's easy to dismiss their conflicts as "first world issues." Settings are often indoors, reflecting how "confined and unvarying" the lives of the rich (especially women) were. The plots often move forward through dialogue or conversations rather than big dramatic events. The focus on marriage can also make the stories feel like antiquated relics of the past and can be hard to relate to.

The writing style is also different. There isn't much dialogue at times because Austen slips in lots of very subtle commentary or prefers to describe a character's external appearance or characteristics. Often big events like proposals are described briefly after they happen rather than during, which can make the story feel rather "dry." The books are narrated in third person and sometimes there is unreliable narration (Pride and Prejudice) where we get characters' multiple points of view, but all narrated in the third person as to give each one credibility and prove that it's hard to trust others. Austen's writing style means that readers have to fill in the blanks with their imagination. For example, she doesn't give exact physical descriptions of her characters, often relying on general characteristics like "tall," "handsome," or "amiable." In my previous reviews of Pride and Prejudice adaptations, I explored that intentional ambiguity as a big reason why the character of Mr. Darcy is alluring--because the reader forms a personal connection with the character by sketching his portrait alongside Elizabeth. The characters (their physical appearance and some of their motivations) are purposely mysterious and while it gives the reader lots of opportunities for engaging with the text, without historical/literary context for "filling in the blanks" it's easy to see the characters as stiff mannequins in strange clothing rather than human beings.

Austen as a romance writer: Her romances don't always match up with our perception of what a romance should be. Some people start Austen expecting intense emotions and outbursts of passion but become disappointed when presented with formal courting and stately dances instead. Emotions are often veiled behind dialogue and for a first-time reader it can be challenging to see a romance developing. Most of the time readers have to rely on the clues given by Austen (descriptions of characters "blushing," looking "pale," or losing their composure) to detect the stirrings of love, but on a first reading it's difficult to do so when one's trying to figure out the plot and the characters. Finally, the dialogue can't always be taken literally; lots of people, including me, were disturbed when Mr. Knightley said he loved Emma since she was 13, but it was actually a joke made in response to something she said.

Her books are products of their time, and I sure am not an expert in Regency era economics or social norms. Sometimes the implications of certain actions can be lost on a reader if they don't know about the social norms of the time (I had no idea that Darcy following Elizabeth around, alone, on her favorite walk at Rosings was a sign of his love for her). Differences in social class are also very subtle and while one can generalize the characters as all "well-off" people, they are separated by many levels of hierarchy and their ideas about social position and status affect how they interact with others outside of their station. Darcy looks down upon those whom he perceives to be below him, and while Emma wants to make an advantageous match for Harriet, Harriet's lower social position means that Emma's schemes are not likely to work.

Because of the unique quirks within the novels, the reader is required to go beyond the surface level of plot and appearance and read between the lines to understand character motivations and actions. Without historical context (Regency era society having little social mobility, women having few legal rights and needing to make good marriages to secure material comfort) or literary context (the Enlightenment, 18th century Gothic novels referred to in Northanger Abbey, the birth of the novel, early Romantic writers just to name a bit) reading between the lines is nearly impossible.

So why do we read Austen? Below are my personal reasons.

The novels feature female heroines that have dignity and self-respect. It's significant that the stories focus on women who are trying to live according to their own values and speaking their own minds rather than acquiescing to societal dictates. Elizabeth Bennet is revolutionary in part because she wants a marriage based on mutual admiration and respect between two partners who know each other well, rather than an economic arrangement for a home. One could go on forever about how Austen is a feminist, but, the characters don't act like modern day feminists--they are still people of their time. However, it's easy to assume "feminist" heroines have to have "aggressive" characteristics (rebelling, fighting, defiance) in order to be labeled as "feminist." Importantly, Austen's women are allowed to be vulnerable (they cry or struggle with their emotions) without that being a shameful thing. We also see different types of personalities celebrated: Jane Bennet, who is kind to everyone, is seen in a positive light rather than shamed for seeing good in everyone. Anne Elliot, who is regarded as "old," becomes more beautiful as she gets older and has a second chance of love. Emma Woodhouse is spoiled yet confident and assertive and "not likely to be well-loved" (paraphrase of Austen's commentary on Emma). Fanny Price is a shy person but still achieves her happy ending. Her heroines are real people who have flaws and get opportunities to learn and grow so that they can make their aspirations reality.

A unique take on the universal conflict of humans versus society: Austen's characters are bound by social norms of etiquette as well as a value system that idolizes wealth and connections above all else. Persuasion is a great story in part because it focuses on how Anne Elliot learns to follow her heart and avoid being "persuaded" by others (and by society) to follow a path that will not make her happy. She's had to live with the regret of following the well-intentioned but harmful advice of others (Austen notes that Lady Russell values social connections too highly) over her own feelings and judgment, nearly losing her chance to be with Wentworth. The romances are significant in that they reinforce the dignity and self-respect of the female heroines. To a certain extent, Austen's stories are realistic in that marriage is necessary for material well-being in a patriarchal society that provides few ways for women to provide for themselves. But most importantly, she also sees marriage as a means of affirming self-respect and dignity of the women. It's one of the few parts of their lives over which they have any control because they get to choose whom they marry (for the most part, unless the marriage is arranged). Their wish to marry for love is revolutionary because they dare to aspire for something more than wealth. They want their future partners to be their equals, someone who they can love and respect (or be totally honest with them) and who will provide the same in return. This line from Emma (the 2020 movie adaptation) sums it up: "I have none of the usual inducements of women to marry. Fame I do not want. Fortune I do not want. Consequence I do not want."

The difference between outward appearances and inner character is a fascinating theme that appears in several Austen novels, most notably Pride and Prejudice, where Wickham and Darcy are foils of each other ("one has got all the goodness, the other all the appearance of it"). A lot of the villains in Austen's novels are those who deceive others about their motivations or lie for their own advantage. A common trait these villains all have is that they have a charming outward appearance that masks their true natures; they don't look ugly nor are they unpleasant (ex. Wickham having great social skills, Willoughby following the trope of the knight rescuing Marianne as the damsel in distress but leaving behind many broken hearts, Mr. Elliott being charming and knowing exactly what to say and how to act but actually a swindler). In contrast, the "good" characters are honest, even at the cost of social displeasure, use manners/etiquette to show respect rather than deceive people, and act selflessly to prove their worth (actions speak louder than words). It can be summed up this way: "don't judge a book by its cover."

Psychology: Austen very effectively described hindsight bias when sarcastically commenting on how the village of Meryton turned on Wickham after the elopement with Lydia, when previously they regarded him as an "angel of light." She also understands how easy it is to manipulate peoples' minds through confirmation bias (Wickham telling Elizabeth all the dirt about Darcy, which she eagerly takes because she hates Darcy so much). She also knows that emotions can override people's judgment: "angry people are not always wise." It's fun seeing how her people are social animals who make flawed judgments based on first impressions/emotions.

The secondary characters: Mr. Collins the clergyman is the most famous and he's so funny because of his arrogance in spite of his low social position (he keeps worshiping Lady Catherine instead of respecting God). Another great one is Sir Walter Elliott, a nobleman who is vain and constantly checks himself in the mirror (the most obvious social criticism). Also Austen understood how women insult each other: through passive aggression (ex. Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst talking negatively about Elizabeth behind her back). Austen's female bullies use their talent and "good breeding" to intimidate or shame others.

The romance (no explanation needed): "You pierce my soul. I am half-agony, half-hope. I have loved none but you." I love how the couples learn about each other through many spirited conversations and become slowly fascinated with each other until they realize they are in love and then have a conflict between formality and their growing passion...or they fall back in love with each other...or they are friends who slowly realize that they are more than friends...okay I'll stop talking nonsense I've been trying so hard to be semi-scholarly

Tags: @talkaustentome @austengivesmeserotonin @austengeek @princesssarisa @appleinducedsleep @colonelfitzwilliams

[thejudgingtrash]

Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.

YES.

That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!

Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.

And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.

But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.

Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.

This should count as a paper of its own.

Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:

Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.

Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.

Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.

The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!

To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.

The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.

The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.

We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.

People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me. 

There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.

I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).

The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.

The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?

If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.

People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).

And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.

That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).

Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.

This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.

People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:

You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.

Let me repeat that:

Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.

So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.

This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.

So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.

Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:

Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.

A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.

Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.

With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.

Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.

But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:

The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)

The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)

The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)

And these female characters only know three endings:

End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve

Get dumped into the hunt

Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something

We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.

Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.

But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.

I hope you people get my point?

Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.

TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.

Peace out.

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: The Infinite Noise

Author: Lauren Shippen

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | Drama | (Low) Fantasy

Content Warnings: Depression | Mention of Self-Harm | Suicidal Thoughts 

Overall Rating: 8.7/10

Personal Opinion: It’s the classic love story of a jock and nerd except the jock also happens to be an Empath and the nerd happens to be depressed. When you can feel everything that the person you love feels, does that make having a relationship harder or easier? You’d have to read to find out. But I can guarantee that you’ll love reading about the way Caleb and Adam pine for each other along the way.

Couple Classification: Caleb X Adam = Jock X Nerd/Goth

Do I Own This Book? No.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- I adore the alternating POV and I admit, that is probably because it’s my default writing style, so there’s a bias. I just love seeing both Caleb’s and Adam’s unique perspectives and thoughts to their growing development. To start with, the fact that Caleb is so dense to his own feelings (although they give reasoning for it, he often confuses others feelings for his own due to his ability) was funny and it made me so eager to see him realize that he’s having gay feelings for a boy. Meanwhile, Adam is aware of his own feelings and is constantly having a gay panic every time hot jock Caleb gets too close and again, it is hilarious. The funniest part was when Caitlin was talking about asking out Caleb and Caleb just could not, for the fucking life of him, parse the jealousy oozing out of Adam. 

- The development from near strangers to friends is honestly my favorite thing. Because the two of them actually act like super close friends and their flirting is so cute too. From the moment Adam made that cute playlist for Caleb and Caleb was just on cloud nine while Adam was panicking like “Oh shit, does he think I’m hitting on him? I’m trying to be a good friend! Is this how friends act?” It was new territory for both of them to navigate because they were both loners for their own reasons. Caleb just happened to have his own social circle because of his status as a jock but he was just as clueless as Adam was in navigating their friendship and later, romance.

- Adam helping Caleb choose an outfit for Homecoming was so adorable! And the moment when Caleb fell over Adam and they just stared into each other’s eyes had me squealing and wishing they would kiss! The fact that Caleb had still yet to figure out his own feelings at this point was just wild too. But when he finally did realize he wanted to kiss Adam, at their table no less, I was already so head over heels in love with their relationship.

- You know what really appeals to me about this book though? It completely destroys all the tropes I disliked in other books I’ve read. Their “breakup” isn’t caused by some internalized homophobia (like Be Dazzled). And Caleb doesn’t hook up with Caitlin, instead turning her down immediately while still maintaining friendship with her (instead of fucking making out or having sex with her like in We Contain Multitudes or The Dangerous Art of Blending In). And their fight was caused by real anxieties with actual life or death stakes (unlike in Late To The Party). And even though Adam didn’t want to be some damsel in distress for Caleb, he still acknowledged and also appreciated Caleb’s help when he was being picked on and was aware that things could’ve been worse had Caleb not intervened (unlike in Running With Lions). And the couple is out here communicating when they run into walls! Granted, they stopped doing that for months but Adam is severely anxious and Caleb… well he should’ve texted. Like he said.

- I also love Caitlin. She took rejection from Caleb well and tried to maintain a friendship with him. But best of all, her relationship with Adam is so good. She saw that he was lonely and being the nice person that she is, tried to get him to come out of his shell but not in an abrasive way. She’s just such a chill and cool person and I wish more characters were like her. Also I’m hoping that, from her surname (Park), that she’s Asian. For me personally.

- Fuck Bryce the homophobe and fuck Henry the sleazeball. Both are disgusting in their own right and also fuck Tyler for shitting on people for the qualities they lack. All three are disgusting people and I am so glad that someone (Caleb) stood up to them. And he called them out on their very own insecurities too while advocating for therapy like he’s doing. By the way, love whenever a book will advocate for therapy and all his sessions with Dr. Bright were so pleasant but also many of them were hilarious. Where he would just straight up text Adam while in her session. The way he had no idea Adam was embarrassed of his romantic feelings being so out there this entire time until Dr. Bright (AKA, his common sense filter) told him had me rolling. 

Dislikes: - Something I have to take into account when rating this book is the fact that it’s a multimedia story. There is a podcast called The Bright Sessions made by the author that tells other aspects of the story and centers more on, I assume, the Atypicals and the organization that Adam’s parents work for, the AM. Taking this into account, I am aware that there’s information I am missing that a fan of the podcast would not be while reading this book. That being said, this story stands on its own because it’s not about the Atypical experience but rather the love story between Caleb and Adam. It just so happens that Caleb is an Empath and Adam is depressed. 

- I’m guessing other patients of Dr. Bright like Damian and Chloe are more prevalent in the podcast but I do wish we got to know the latter a little more at least. She’s so sweet and kind. 

- The blank period where they both stopped communicating and thought the worst was honestly so disappointing. They were so good at talking about their issues! When Caleb first showed up to Adam’s house and Caleb kept on blurting things out until Adam got pissed, Adam actually said, “We are acting like assholes again” and they both put it aside to be good friends. To talk! Even if they couldn’t be 100% honest due to personal reasons, they wanted to be as transparent as possible. And they still wanted that but the two of them were being idiots! I just wish Caleb would’ve texted like he said he would. At least they apologized and agreed to date for real again afterward. But I will admit, I’m probably more inclined to let this transgression pass because, in comparison to some of the other couples I read about, this annoyed me the least.

- They never went on a real date and we never quite saw people’s reaction to them dating and that kind of bothered me a lot. Like where is the pay off for all of that slow burn pining? Just for them to fall out like that? Not sure if worth it...