#a bit hard for me to personally to accept the premise of the story and world right now

[4giorno]

rage quitting for the night bc i was lucky enough to get an S character but it was someone ugly from the SAME GROUP as von lycaon 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

[winxanity-ii]

✦ 𝐏𝐒𝐀: 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬, 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 ✦

I love when people are excited about my work. I really do. The fact that someone wants to share a thought, headcanon, or random idea with me because they believe in my writing? That means the world.

That being said—I do not take full story or book-length requests. Especially not ones that come with deep plots, backstories, power systems, and expectations for credit or accuracy. That's not how I work, and I want to be honest with that upfront so no one feels misled.

Here's why:

• My creative process doesn't work like that.

I'm already juggling multiple storylines and characters in my head at all times. I don't write from blueprints—I write from sparks. Give me one sentence, one emotion, one moment—and I'll build a world around it. But I don't write based on outlines someone else gives me. Not because I don't appreciate the idea, but because that kind of story no longer feels like mine.

• I change things. Like… a lot.

If you give me a premise, I will twist it, flip it, and transform it until it's something else entirely. A perfect example is Godly Things. It started with a single line: "What if Apollo accidentally created his own self-fulfilling prophecy?" That was it. One idea. And now? It's evolved into a multi-layered, myth-based epic with politics, trauma, romance, and divine war. That's just how I create.

• There's a line between inspiration and expectation.

Sharing a cool headcanon or what-if scenario is fun. But sending full plots, expecting me to stay true to them, and asking for credit crosses into a territory that makes writing feel pressured—not joyful.

So let me make this clear for everyone:

I am not accepting book-length ideas or co-writing pitches.

One-shots, moodboards, or "what if..." suggestion?

Sure. That's fun.

But I will never write someone else's full story.

Please don't take this personally—it's not a jab at anyone. It's about protecting my creative energy and making sure the stories I tell feel true to me.

Thanks for understanding, and for always supporting the wild ideas that do come to life.

— Xani

EDIT [05/12/2025]:

I posted in ch.55 a/n but imma paste it here as well. but like i said above, in the PSA:

I promise, I didn't just wake up one day and write Godly Things fully formed. my first works on here were… HORRIBLE AS FUCK!! lololo:

(info before reading: this was a fic I made at 12 💀 after reading James Patterson 'Maximum Ride' series, it was named 'Windless' and since I was also obsessed with BTS at the time it/this was a fem!reader x Jungkook with hints of various)

Blurb:

00 |

⊱ ── ⊰

"Code red!"

"Code red!"

"Subject S-04 has escaped the premisses!!" A robotic voice says over the intercom, causing you to cover your ears due to the loudness.

"I repeat, subject S-04 has escaped the premisses!!" The voice screeches on the intercom.

Your heart thumps against your chest as you run down the white hallway.

Everywhere you turn, it seemed as if you started right back at step one. Each hallway identical to the last, with red alarms blazing above you.

"Get her! She couldn't have gone far!!!"

Hearing this, you push yourself father than you've ever did before.

You stop, pushing yourself against the wall as soon as you meet a dead end. Panic fills your entire being at the thought of getting caught.

Your heart races as the sound of thundering footsteps comes closer. Having no where to turn, you fall down onto your knees in a surrendering position, ready to give yourself up without a fight.

"Come on [Y/N]! Let's go!" A voice screams out, roughly grabbing you by the shoulder.

A breath of relief tumbles pass your trembling lips when your eyes land on your captor.

"Taehyung," You nearly cry out, so happy that he made it out safely.

His hard eyes soften just a little bit once it lands on you.

"Come on [Y/N] we don't have time to waste, we have to meet the others at the spot." He says, quickly pushing you up a flight of steps as the sounds of yells and gunshots fill the air.

Just as you turn around the corner, Taehyung nearly misses getting hit by an array of bullets.

"There's two of them on the twelfth floor! They're trying to get to the rooftop! Block off all possible exits!" One of the soldiers radio as soon as the both of you come into view.

"Roger that." A grumbled voice replies through the walkie talkies.

You shiver as a dangerously low growl pass through Taehyung's lips.

Your eyes grow large as his usually light brown, doe ones begins turning pitch black.

In a flash, he un-arms the group of soldiers, killing them execution style with their own weapons, without a single remorse.

"All exits closed. Backup is being sent to the twelfth floor to detain fugitives." A disoriented voice crackles out through the device on one of the soldier's body.

The heavy footsteps of Army boots echoes against the walls the longer the both if you stay in place.

"Let's go." Taehyung spits out, walking through the pile of dead bodies as if they were nothing.

The two of you continue your journey towards the rooftop. Just as you reach the door, a series of loaded guns stops you in your tracks.

"Put your hands on top of your head, and freeze." A soldiers orders, surrounding the both of you in red dots.

Shaking, you do exactly as they say, only to tense up once you notice Taehyung not.

"I said get on your knees with your hands behind your head." The soldier spits out, fed up with Taehyung's resistance.

"I'm not about to do shit." Taehyung lazily says, as if he didn't have multiple guns pointed at him all at once.

"If you don't do what I have ordered in the next ten minutes, you will be shot." The soldier yells, spit flying out of his mouth, angry at Taehyung's resistance.

When Taehyung refuses to do what was told one of the men shots a stray bullet your way, scarily missing your head. A whimper falls from your lips as it skims past your ear, grazing it.

"I said drop onto your motherfucking knees, or your friend gets one right through her fucking head." The soldier yells out, sure enough moving the laser right between your eyebrows, directly on your forehead.

A low, inaudible growl pass between Taehyung's lips.

Taehyung slowly moves and drops onto his knees, hands behind his head

"When I say go, I need you to go through the window that's to the left of the guards." Taehyung mumbles to you underneath your breath.

Wide-eyed, you look over only to see that there was indeed a window.

"B-but what about you?" You ask him, tears beginning to cloud your vision.

"Don't worry about me [Y/N]. My only priority is getting you out of here and to Jungkook in one piece." Taehyung mumbles out as the soldiers creep closer and closer.

"Now when the time comes. You need to do exactly what I told you [Y/N]. Do you understand?" Taehyung asks, his eyes turning pitch black once again.

You fail to answer, wanting nothing more then to just jump into his arms and never let go.

"Do you understand?" Taehyung growls out when he doesn't receive and answer.

"Y-yes." You say bowing your head in defeat.

"Good." And that was all he said before all hell broke lose.

As soon as the first guards came close enough to reach you, Taehyung breaks his neck in seconds. The rest of the guards still in shock, not expecting it to happen.

"[Y/N]! Run!" Taehyung screams, breaking the trance everyone was in. A second later, bullets fly everywhere as you bound towards the window.

Just as you bust through the glass, you take one more look behind you, and your heart nearly leaps out of your chest when you do.

Taehyung fighting off the throng of soldiers that's surrounding him. One stab him in the shoulder with a silver knife, but he rips out his throat with his bear-hands as if he was nothing.

Taehyung makes eye-contact with you for a split second, making it his downfall. Taehyung eyes widen once he realized his mistake of getting off track, but it's too late because a solider behind him stabs him in the neck with a needle.

A tear fall down your face as he stumbles around, unable to fight off the remaining soldiers tackling him to the ground. Shots ring out just as you throw yourself through the glass window.

You shelter your face. For a moment you feel at peace as your body falls down towards Earth.

Your wide, black wings rip out from beneath your back just as you're about to hit concrete ground, lifting you up into the air.

With a small smile on your face, you welcome them back as the wind whizzes through your wings, ruffling up your feathers in a way that brings comfort.

You fly into the night sky, the only thing on your mind is reaching Jungkook and the rest of your family.

Ahhhhhh!!! Y'all don't bully me too hard fr. I swear I was literally convulsing in my bed from secondhand embarrassment 😭😭 but yeah this was baby-writer me in all her chaotic glory. and the only reason I didn't continue past chapter 7 (which is a mess, like genuinely what was I doing 😭) is because I hadn't figured out how to manage my writing energy yet. I burnt myself out. BUT. even now, I still love it. It was my first real attempt—and though it's so fucking horrible and cringey to me now, I love how far I've come since then. anyways, I subjected y'all to that little time capsule of horror just to say: we ALL start somewhere. reading has always been my obsession—it was my comfort, my escape, my main fixation for years. writing came later, and when I finally gave it a try, I quickly realized I wasn't some natural-born prodigy or anything 💀. I wasn't the best, not by a long shot. but it was something. It was mine. and that was enough to keep going. so if you've got something in your head or heart—even if it feels messy or unworthy—just start. because the truth is, nobody writes a masterpiece on their first try. what matters is that you begin. that you make something that's yours. 💗

[voyaging-too]

March books and such

Recs Bolded.

Books

William Gibson: Count Zero (Sprawl Trilogy 2). Sequel to Neuromancer. The plot is somehow too simple and too complicated at the same time, but I don’t really mind because the characters (one elite mercenary, one disgraced art dealer, one suburban kid in way over his head) are just as lost as I am, wandering around a complex lived-in world full of wonderful subplots and supporting cast. Top-notch classic cyberpunk with corporate espionage and simulated virtual realities and weird AI gods.

William Gibson: Mona Lisa Overdrive (Sprawl Trilogy 3). Concludes the trilogy with yet more cyberpunk shenanigans and yet more hapless humans (world-famous influencer, yakuza heiress, traumatised reclusive artist, penniless teenage addict), caught up in the inscrutable machinations of all-powerful international corporations and rogue AI. Probably my favourite in the trilogy, because of the drop-dead gorgeous writing, the humour, the massive amounts of idiosyncratic weirdies populating the plot, and the return of an older, wiser Molly Millions. Gibson is not great at writing women, but here he made a concerted effort, and as a result, we have three very distinct female POV characters, all of whom I love but especially Mona herself.

Doris Lessing: Shikasta (Canopus in Argos 1) I’ve seen this book brought up as an example of what happens when a literary author decides to write sci-fi without a solid grounding in the genre’s conventions and possibilities. And that’s kind of true, but it’s only a small part of why this book is so weird. Lessing was already weird, her literary books were already doing weird things to pacing and structure. This novel is like… a novella about the fall of a prehistorical civilisation, then a few tales reinterpreting the events of the Old Testament, then a long compilation of very short stories, most of them brief fictionalised biographies of individual people in 20th century Britain, then a first-person novella about three siblings in a dystopian near-future, then an epistolary novelette about some teenagers doing a mock trial against the whole of Europe, which runs into another epistolary story about preparing for nuclear annihilation, these disparate pieces glued together by a framing device that involves aliens who observe and try to influence human history. Weird inconsistent book, but the good parts are extremely good. Some of the best short stories I’ve read in my life pretending to be a novel.

Andrea Dworkin: Right Wing Women. This is a feminist nonfiction classic for a reason. Easy to read, hard to forget. Yes, a fair bit of it is hastily written analyses of specific 1970s questions and conflicts, but the rest of it is painfully applicable even today. It’s a stark statement about how much of our society is built on facilitating marital rape, and how many women make the rational choice to accept and shore up that system in order to avoid even worse violence.

JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit. (German practice reread.) Everybody knows what the Hobbit is, it’s still good on reread although very much an episodic children’s book that swerves into a tragic war story at the very last minute. It sure has a lot of vocabulary that I didn't have before, most of it related to trees.

Jo Walton: Among Others. I loved the premise, loved the semi-autobiographical perspective of a teenage Welsh SFF-fan in the 1970s, I absolutely loved the low-key and hard-to-interpret fairy magic. But the book itself didn’t work for me, the writing didn’t work for me, too much of it felt like inert padding between the few fragile pieces of plot, and the constant name-dropping of 1970ies SFF titles didn’t give me a real connection to the character or a real sense of the historical fandom, instead I felt like I was reading a version of Ready Player One for people who actually read.

Star War

Revenge of the Sith. A double tragedy. A tragedy because if the characters made slightly different choices they could have had a happy ending, and a meta-tragedy because if the filmmakers made slightly different choices they could have made a good tragedy, as opposed to a frustrating muddle. Key parts of the plot are cribbed from Dune: Messiah and applied without context. Padme is written so atrociously badly it loops around and becomes a bold feminist statement on how a relationship can turn you into a shell of your former self.

Clone Wars Season 1. The dialogue and the moral lessons are written for eight-year-olds, the setting and the war story plots are written for fifty-year-old dads, it is dumb and doesn’t mesh well. There are some flashes of something almost interesting, and I’m told that that there’s more of that in later seasons.

A More Civilized Age Podcast, Season 1. Four people with varying levels of knowledge about Star War watch and discuss a star war. It’s funny, it’s smart, sometimes they yell at the show for being dumb and bad, sometimes they give it incredible amounts of grace and basically invent the secret good version of it, it’s fun.

Theatre

Ariane Mnouchkine & Théatre du Soleil: Ici sont les dragons. A play about 1917: I expected either the bloody yet justified glory of the revolution, or the justified yet bloody execution of the tsar. Instead I mostly got endless political discussions between various revolutionary factions in various rooms. This play said: the original sin of the Russian Revolution wasn’t killing the tsar, and it wasn’t even killing the tsar’s children, all that hardly matters now: the original sin of the Russian Revolution was killing the emperor and then choosing to remain an Empire. Suppressing non-bolshevik revolutionary parties, even fellow socialists, and deciding not to let Ukraine go, Lenin let the Russian Empire survive, and it survived Socialism and the fall of Socialism and survives today. A dark bitter weird play in five languages with subtitles, metafictional digressions, long quotes from memoirs and history books, and historical figures portrayed by actors in rubber face masks of Lenin, Stalin and so on, yes really, it was a hard watch, except for a gorgeous five-minute farce about Lenin in his pyjamas.

Exhibitions (I got to go to Paris last month)

Louvre: Revoir Cimabue. Religious art from the 13th century, when some people had already started painting interesting, differentiated faces, but everyone was still indicating holiness by drowning the painting in golf leaf. Strange arched features, hooded eyes and green-tinged skin in a sea of gold, altarpieces just shining with divinity. Works by Cimabue and also all of his contemporaries and precursors and students because not even the Louvre has enough Cimabues to fill a small room.

Pompidou: Suzanne Valadon. May be my new favourite artist. She started modelling for painters as a teenager, she features in works by Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec and a dozen other great Parisian painters at the turn of the century. She learned painting from being painted, and started making her own work, first drawings, then eventually oil paintings. Her work is idiosyncratic and meanly realistic but also warm. Her portraits and her nudes are all wonderfully mundane. She was one of the first women to paint not only female but also male nudes, from life. (But the Salon of Independents made her add a strategic leaf or they wouldn’t exhibit it. No! Let her paint cock!) My absolute favourite painting from her was also centred at the exhibition, because look at it, The Blue Room is just perfect, she doesn’t give a shit, she’s in her pyjamas.

But I also loved Lady with Little Dog, partly because of the little dog, partly because of the colours of the drape, partly because the androgyny of the model.

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

I have no thoughts on Twins and 7 Days Before Valentaine because I DNF the first and I am binging the last one. That said many people on my dash that are watching 7 Days Before Valentaine felt bad for Q more then they felt bad about Sunshine.

For Last Twilight I am mad at it but for reasons unlreated to Mhok and Day's fight. And for the Sign, I think I half agree with you, that said it doesn't bother me nor take me out of the story for me personally.

What I did want to say is I don't think that Pit Babe was trying to make us believe Charlie is really dead. The preview basically forshadow it, plus we know Charlie and Alan had a plan, I just don't think it was going for a surpise he is alive thing.

I think the reasons it happen like that is two folds, 1 it happened that way in the novel and they have made some changes to details and plot points but they are definately keeping as much of the original structure they can. And 2 shows do sometimes focus on one character first then the next episode see what was happening with the other character, the first two episdoes of My School President did that as well.

Also I would argue that this episode cutting between Babe being devasted and Charlie's secret plan would have undercutted the emotional moments Babe was having. This way Babe's emotions had time to breath and sit with the audience.

Obviously this is just my opinion.

You know what is really bothering me about these last couple of days in Thai BL land?

Yes there were a lot of tears, but none of them were mine. (the exception being cherry magic. that sequence of Karan taking care of Achi and then being heartbroken. My heart wasn't ready)

These are my personal and maybe unpopular opinions so just let me explain. Spoilers galore as usual. We had some heavy episodes this week. Starting with 7 days before valentine and ending with the sign.

7 Days Before Valentine Look, was it heartbreaking? Sure. Did I feel sorry for Sunshine? Nope. Not even a little. Because for 8 episodes we've seen a selfish, self centered human being make a mess of the world without an ounce of remorse. Just picking people off one by one for his own selfish desires. So even if this episode was actually good, because he finally confronted his selfishness, I was watching wearing a big neon sign saying - you had it coming... the world's smallest violin etc... Also we know he's not actually gone so. (this is the recurring theme of the week btw)

Pit Babe I mean Pavel did a great job and this show is doing a great job at showing men being vulnerable and crying. But let's be real. Charlie is not really dead. We know that. Omegaverse or not, this is Thai bl and we don't play that here.

So the idea to leave the audience in the dark is an attempt at a cliffhanger but ultimately void of any real suspense. If the audience were to be let in on the plan, I'm sure there is one, then we could've felt Babe's suffering in a more profound way. Because, in my opinion, that would be more powerful. We could've seen both sides of this and felt bad for both of them. What's the point of leaving us in the dark? Am I suppose to gasp next week when Charlie appears? When what will actually happen will be that as soon as we know Charlie is alive we will get angry at him for making the person he loves suffer and next at Babe because they will get right back to the papa and mamma talk before the I'm sorry leaves Charlie's lips.

Twins I mean, there wasn't really a lot of suffering left to be had here. I was the only one suffering due to the fact that this show really waited until the last episode to make Sprite come clean. And to top it of, making First feel even more like a door mat by forgiving Sprite so fast. What a waste.

Last Twilight I've already said my peace about this show a couple of times. I did feel Mhok's pain. Him alone crying outside the house was heartbreaking. But the problem is how it happened. Idiotic. The catharsis didn't have the time to actually be cathartic for Mhok. The noble break up was not noble. So in the end I cannot emotionally connect to any of this. They threw Mhok's nightmare in there in case we'd forgotten about his baggage, or maybe because they had, so that sudden confession of Mhok had diminished impact as it was followed by the break up which of course is the real heartbreak I guess.

The Sign What is up with the editing of this show?

I already said somewhere last week that I thought the editing of the rescue was terrible because it was not done as to invoke any emotional impact. The same happens this week.

What the hell was that cut after Phaya woke up? We had like 15 seconds of them looking at each other and Phaya reaching out before they cut to Dr ican'tkeepupwiththenamesatthispoint and then to the police story line that let's be honest, it's taking space from everything else that's more interesting and it's not giving us anything of value in return. Stop putting everything but kitchen sink into shows if you can't manage it properly. If you don't have space for these stories to breathe and give me something I'm missing in the main story lines. Look I love that Phaya got up from his hospital bed and immediately went for it, but I mean what am I suppose to feel about it? The show is not letting us settle into any one emotional state long enough to feel anything at all.

And, I'm really asking. Is anyone at all interested in the police investigation? You can have a police investigation as backdrop to a story. But if you're also gonna take it upon yourself to have this massive mythological, past and present lives star crossed lovers story, then something's gotta give. Maybe just make it a case that doesn't also span generations and brings secrets and lies along for the ride.

I'm so mad at Thai bl at the moment. Not you Cherry Magic, you are my precious ray of sunshine in the middle of all this rain. Please be good till the end.

[Thank you @twig-tea for being my proofreader. You're the best. 💜]

[usergreenpixel]

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 37: CHÉVALIER (2022)

1. The Introduction

Well, hello there, Citizens! I’m back and I hope you missed me! Sorry for the multiple delays and all, but luckily I’m back at it now!!!

Okay, so this movie has been on my radar ever since it got announced. A story featuring a real Black man who lived during Frev? Sign me up! This has excellent potential and also, to my knowledge, at least a partially Black crew so we get more representation of marginalized groups in crews and on the screen!

At least, those were my thoughts before I actually watched the movie, but we’ll get to whether it was a good media piece later.

I found the movie on Russian language streaming websites, but it’s available on Amazon Prime and Disney Plus for those who would like to watch the original English version.

This review is dedicated to @idieonthishill , @vivelareine (who has a review that unpacks the movie from a historical pov and is welcome to add to the review 😊), @theravenclawrevolutionary , @sansculottides , @citizentaleo , @saintjustitude , @avergehistoryenjoyer , @lanterne and @jenxiez .

Okay, let the Jacobin Fiction Convention reopen!

2. The Summary

The movie tells a story of a real man, Joseph Bologne aka Chévalier de Saint-Georges. Recognized son of a white French nobleman and an enslaved black woman, Bologne must navigate the cutthroat world of the Parisian high society, dealing with racism and trying to reconcile his “white” upbringing with his African roots.

Sounds interesting, but let’s see how the premise was handled.

3. The Story

The Introduction scene - a musical duel between Mozart and Bologne, was actually quite good in my opinion. So were the other beginning scenes of kid Bologne growing up in France as an aristocrat and being bullied by his white peers, plus his father telling him not to let society break him.

These scenes establish quite well that Bologne has to carve out a place for himself among French nobility and make a lot of effort to get even a hint of acceptance. Sounds like a nice setup, right? Well, unfortunately at times Bologne in the movie doesn’t seem to have much agency at all.

For example, his title is granted to him by Marie-Antoinette basically on a whim, handed to him on a silver platter because the queen was impressed by his fencing skills, which in my opinion isn’t enough to show a character who has to work hard to be accepted. I think it would’ve been better if Bologne had at least several impressive fencing performances to prove himself and show more of his skills.

On the flip side, there are characters who have a bit too much agency. For example, in the story it’s Marie Antoinette who is calling all the shots and giving all the orders in France, even though Louis is alive and well. It’s definitely jarring to see how people say “by the order of the queen” when the king should be the one mentioned instead.

I didn’t care much for the love triangle storyline, but it’s my own personal preference and also the fact that it, like many parts of the story, isn’t all that nuanced. So yeah, very bland and boring.

Yes, Citizens, unfortunately nuance has officially left the chat, especially when it comes to the main character. See, at first Bologne doesn’t give a shit about poverty and famine plaguing France. He is enjoying his cushy life and his friendship with the queen of France instead. However, you know what makes him join the Jacobins? A fucking PERSONAL FALLING OUT WITH THE QUEEN. Not promises of abolishing slavery or granting rights to black people, not his own ideals… Just fucking pettiness!

It would have been much better if he didn’t have a falling out with Marie Antoinette and signed up for fighting with the Republicans because he genuinely wanted to do what was right, not due to personal beef. Especially since that was why he joined Frev in reality – the real Bologne made a choice to do the right thing simply because it seemed to be the right thing to him. Not out of petty desire to get back at the queen.

Also, the conflict between Bologne and his mother about how he is acting “too white”… eeeehh. To me it felt very anachronistic but maybe I’m wrong and there is more nuance missing because EVERYONE at court had to carry themselves in a certain way to make it. If you couldn’t do it, you were socially FUCKED. Besides, Nanon (the mother) and her friends crack really mean jokes about Bologne being “too white”, which is… well, an INTERESTING way to endear him to his mother’s culture…

The movie is juggling admittedly anachronistic theme about black culture, anti-slavery message, court drama and love triangles… and the juggling is done quite sloppily too, I’m afraid.

Also, just to illustrate how inaccurate this movie is, the events of 1789 are shown happening in 1776 for some reason, which shows just how much the creators didn’t give a shit about research.

Moving on.

4. The Characters

I really didn’t care for Bologne to be honest. He shows selfishness and pettiness, doesn’t have enough agency in the story and is also very inconsistent. After falling out with Marie Antoinette, he claims he defended her, which… he didn’t! At least it’s not shown in the movie! What the fuck happened to “show, don’t tell”?! Also, his incredible talents aren’t really shown in the way they could’ve been, more on that in the soundtrack section. A missed opportunity, really.

Nanon, Bologne’s mother, is a real embodiment of the themes of slavery and trauma present in the the movie. She merely exists to push him to embrace his African heritage and to remind him that he will never be truly accepted by other nobles. I honestly wish there was more to her character, because she ends up being little more than a walking theme embodiment.

Marie Antoinette here is a capricious, fair weather friend. She CLAIMS to support Bologne, but does it in indirect ways out of fear that nobles wouldn’t appreciate her openly backing a black man. Even though she is an absolute monarch so she can afford to show her support more openly. Actions speak louder than words, and she is clearly not a true ally of Bologne.

Marie Joséphe, Bologne’s love interest, is a woman trapped in a miserable marriage and yearning to act in Bologne’s operas. While I do sympathize with her, I believe that there really isn’t much depth to her either. We just don’t learn much about her. This is becoming a common theme…

Also, just as a side note while we’re talking about characters, many white characters in the movie are shown as mere flat caricatures. I can understand why, but, again, this doesn’t show nuance as in reality, while Bologne definitely had to deal with racism, he was not only accepted, but adored as a celebrity, but we don’t see that reflected in the attitudes of other people towards him. Because apparently the brains of the spectators will implode when they see nuance in a modern movie, it seems.

5. The Setting

Personally I wasn’t that impressed by the costumes or the settings. I’ve seen much better ones. Nothing bad, but nothing outstanding either.

6. The Soundtrack

Where the fuck is actual music from that time period?! Where is music by Bologne himself?! It’s a fucking missed opportunity and I don’t know what prevented the creators from including the music written by the MAIN DAMN CHARACTER into a biopic about him. A shame that they missed yet another opportunity.

7. The Conclusion

Honestly… I can’t say much when it comes to what this movie is fucking about. The story is bland, lacks nuance, doesn’t follow basic historical facts and is pulled in a million directions.

For a movie about an obscure figure, it doesn’t show much of the things Bologne was known for and at times even strips him of agency. We need to have better POC representation, because this is just not it.

The movie is mediocre, bland and forgettable. Don’t waste your time on it.

With that, I declare today’s meeting of the Jacobin Fiction Convention to be over. Thank you for your patience and support during this hiatus of mine.

Stay tuned and stay safe!

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[kpchrs]

I think between shippers (and this is me saying this, an outsider to both ships) there’s Def the nagging voice saying “Coriolanus sucks irl” in everyone’s mind

So that’s Def a part of the civility in my opinion. Like why fight when the main guy in your ship is the worst guy alive. Bonding moment IG lol

LMFAO You are so right, Anon. Bonding moment for real. As some people in the post's comment said, "we both share the toxic blond" and also "we're trauma-bonded".

But I think it's not really a nagging voice. We all know Coriolanus Snow fucking SUCKS. If you compile all of my thoughts about him from everywhere, the majority is me clowning on him actually. I want to do violence to him.

It's funny, and I'm sorry for the out of topic, but this...wish makes me fantasising about a "Coriolanus Snow & Conscience!Reader" Crack AU. I've told some of my friends but just for fun I will tell a little bit here:

Okay, the premise is right in Chapter 1, we the readers/the fans whatever you wanna call us, get inside his head and it's up to us to try to put him on a good(?) path. (Emphasis on TRY.) Or actually, it's just an excuse or catharsis for us, especially me, to clown him in his head tho, because his thoughts are so deranged, yeah? It will be fun to mock him, tease him, and "scold" him, and we will bicker a lot, and he can't do aaanything about it.

So it's like this (below has some real excerpt of Chapter 1 of the book [page 3-4] but switched to present tense):

This morning he went to her room at daybreak, only to find both his cousin and the shirt missing. Not a good sign. [...] He thinks of people putting a price on her. With her long, pointed nose and skinny body, Tigris is no great beauty, but she has a sweetness, a vulnerability that invites ab-- NOOOOOOOOO! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ABOUT YOUR OWN COUSIN?! The voice -- scream -- comes out of nowhere and echoes very near in his ears (inside him?). To say it surprises Coriolanus is an understatement. Grabbing on air, he fails to stop himself from slipping and falling on his bottom.

Lol.

I'm not sure I want to write it because writing, even more in English, is daunting, but it's really fun to think about. It will be on the Snowbaird route, though. I imagine we will follow his love story with Lucy Gray, but I think...we will unfortunately fight over her.

LOOK! At Lucy Gray's arrival, The Voice screeches annoyingly loud in his head. It's my girl! Even after weeks, Coriolanus still hasn't decided if The Voice is a crazy part of him or an entirely separate entity somehow attached to his mind. However, the possessive term it used tugs the wrong string deep in his chest. Whether it makes sense or not, he hisses at it, 'She's not your girl.' The brief silence that follows is the most peace he gets these recent days. Oh shit, you are jealous. 'I am not.' You totally are. Just like with Billy Taupe. C'mon, I'm inside your head. I know. 'I am not.' Listen, Coryo-- 'Stop calling me that.' --just accept that Lucy Gray is everyone's girl, okay? She's my girl. She's not really just yours. 'Who in the Gem of Panem is everyone? Who even are you?' I can't tell you that. It's against the rules. 'What rules?!' Uh-uh, still can't tell. Give it up already, Coryo. Coriolanus is losing his mind. He has had a talking creature inside his head for weeks and it is just now he truly feels he is losing his mind.

Lol. Writing is hard, huh. Okay, I'm not sure this is categorised as a character & reader fic now that I used third person, not second person pov, but eh xD

I'm willing to talk about it more though, if anyone is interested!

Thank you for the ask and the space to bullshit, Anon!

[rosieuv]

The ground to the hog to the ground to the day (I watched Groundhog Day for the first time today)

I heard it was some time loop film from a few various YouTube videos so that made me interested in it as I love stuff that does reality warping things. Overall, I say it's a pretty good film. Not as good as Back to the Future Part 1, but not a lot of films are as good as that. Nothing wrong in it's execution that makes me feel that way, it's more down to it's tone and genre that I prefer certain films over it. In fact, I can't even really think of a criticism for it that isn't it's terrible film poster. It has a vision and it does it very well. I just prefer things with more action and complexity personally but I still found this entertaining.

The plot of the film is simple: guy gets sent to some random town to report on the event known as "groundhog day", guy gets stuck in time loop, guy goes insane. For a premise with no clear goal or direction, it still flows very well. It uses jump cuts for pacing but uses them in a way that you can tell what cycle he's on very clearly. I see it as 7 phases:

normal day

confusion but quick realisation

carelessness

trying to get laid

depression and agitation

suicidal

redemption

I didn't realise that he would actually be free from the time loop because it's unconventional structure makes it a bit hard to predict things. I had a feeling he'll just accept it and continue for the rest of time in the loop, but I didn't think that he would actually try to become a better person, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Wait I just thought of a nitpick: they never show what happens between 5:59 and 6:00 am. It's clearly established that 6:00 am is when everything resets, but if he was idk like eating jam on toast in his bed at 5:59 am, would the toast vanish at 6? would he be forcefully jolted into position when the clock struck because he's always lying in a specific position? Would he blink and be in position? I guess another nitpick is that he said to the camera guy "hey we never talk much, do you have kids?" and we never find out if camera guy does. I just feel like 20 seconds of conversation could've made his character a little more in depth.

It's a very clever film though. It takes a repeating setting, repeating characters and simple narrative and really explores what you can do with it. The writing on the news reporter guy is also very clever. You can see him becoming more arrogant and pushy the more he realises he can get away with anything but gets humbled by...Rita? Sorry I'm terrible at remembering names, and that's what leads him into becoming cynical and an overall asshole. I assumed that if he died with the groundhog, then some override would happen and it would be fixed, but that didn't happen which is good as it lead to some really good scenes like this one where he picks up the toaster from the B&B kitchen while the toast is still visibly in there, and takes it to his bathtub to kill himself. I find it hilarious just because he never bothered to take the toast out he just plucked it from it's table and was like "well toaster you're coming with me!".

The poor toast is gonna go soggy...

Then there was that conversation with I think Rita which is what convinced him to try use his ability of knowing basically everything at this point about the town, to try make it a better place as he can see the future. The part where he tried to save the homeless man from dying only to have to give up because no matter how much he tried to keep him healthy that day, he would still die of old age, was quite sad.

At it's core it's a story about becoming a better person, and it showcases this really well. He only manages to escape the time loop by using his knowledge to try to help as many people as possible in a single day and develop many skills, to the point where he becomes a local celebrity and he gets Rita to fall in love with him but not in the same way as the "trying to get laid" section and he doesn't do this with the intention of breaking free, he does this because he learned to care and it's such a nice ending even if it leaves it up to interpretation about what happens next.

Overall I give it an 8.5/10. 9.5/10 if I was a proper critic with no biases.

[evilpenguinrika]

Fuck sorry no okay I thought of something more for my Hosie Jujutsu Kaisen AU

ok ok ok so Mikaelson family are like infamous. So I think in this AU, it would make sense if they're part of the Big Three Families (like Gojo clan, Kamo clan, Zen'in clan).

The other family that would be part of the BTF would I think be the Gemini Coven (I think I'll leave them as that name instead of like idfk listen I only watched LGCS and TO bear with me here I'm so sorry) as that is the only logical thing in my mind (also, I have decided that everyone in the Gemini Coven's Domain Expansion is called Prison World--because again, iirc they're the only ones on the show that can create a prison world so it would make sense--but like each of their Prison World Domain would be different/represents the person themselves. So like Josie's Domain Expansion: Prison World would maybe have something to do with school library/studying to reflect her character from LGCS or IDK I didn't think THAT far ahead other than everyone in the Gemini Coven's Domain Expansion is called Prison World)

For the third family that's part of the Big Three Families, I think it'd be interesting if it was Malivore.

We didn't get a lot about Malivore in LGCS other than he's just a goopy goop that wipes out a creature's existence if they fall into him. So I think if I were to just make Malivore into just. A guy or more like, a powerful family (I've already made some Malivore lore for my Hosie Omegaverse fic that I haven't touched in a while) would help me figure out a better way to write this apparent Hosie JJK AU fic that I've decided I will now hyperfixate on. And it would be nice to rope in other characters and figure their story out and their relationship to the main premise of why I'm writing out this long-ass ramble about a niche AU/crossover lmao (like maybe Landon and Rafael get accepted into Jujutsu High after they experienced some deep shit with curses--kinda similar to how they got brought to Salvatore school. Landon, like in the show, doesn't know he's actually from the Malivore family and discovers this along the way with Hope and the twins and Super Squad and oh man if this supposed one-shot AU fic becomes a series I will punt myself into the sun)

And I think it would help me figure out even MORE on how to turn this AU into a Hosie thing.

Originally I was wondering--because of age--Hope would be a 3rd year while Josie and Lizzie would be 1st years, but I wanted Hope and the twins to be more of like a team. I don't know I'll try and figure this bit out. But I think maybe they knew each other when they were younger and ofc Josie has a crush on Hope since childhood because of how cool and pretty Hope is and as they grew up, that childhood crush turns into like full on Josie is pining mad hard for Hope.

Oh yeah, so, Hope would 100% without a doubt be a Special-Grade Sorcerer to reflect her Tribrid status. it just makes sense.

The twins, because I've decided that they do have curse energy but it's so fucking faint that it feels as though they don't... Maybe they'd be 1st or 2nd-Grade Sorcerers. I'll have to go back and read up on the different Grades (or maybe use this as an excuse to rewatch JJK teehee)

Anyways, sorry, back to the Hosie wow I'm sorry I am rambling anyway

So yeah, I think it's a "they fell first but they fell harder" thing. Though I do want to bring in the canon fact that Hope had a crush on Josie in her teens into this AU somehow. I mean maybe she still does. Maybe Josie continues to crush on Hope and sees how amazing of a sorcerer she is and wants to get stronger as a sorcerer so she can feel worthy to stand beside Hope and fight alongside her.

Hope probably develops a crush on Josie when Josie comforts Hope and is there for her when something happened to the Mikaelson family--or more specifically Hope's parents, leaving her an orphan. Hope appreciates Josie's warmth and kindness and maybe notices her more now (kinda also like in the show, ESPECIALLY the "quiet things heard" episode. like Hope being hyperaware and perceptive with/about Josie in that quiet way and secretly looking out for her is hella cute).

The brain bees are ruminating. I'm gonna have to really plan this out properly if I'm going to make this AU work

hopefully this will just be a one-shot fanfic but you know what. wouldn' be surprised if I end up making a whole multi-chapter fic for this.

[trulybetty]

Sunday | Week In Review VI

A bit of a slow week this week - nothing much really happened. Got some writing done, announced some things I'm working on and worked on my TBR list. Odd week as my notifications just disappeared and felt a little disconnected. Things seem to be back on track *fingers crossed* - so lets get on with this weeks review...

Truly Betty Updates This Week…

Strings Part V Mood Board

Salt Water Soft Launch

Autumnal Offerings

Fics I Enjoyed This Week…

How Good It Is (Benny Miller) by @wildemaven Fully on the Benny train, this scratched the itch this week with this delightfully wonderful piece of fluff with a delightful touch of spice and I can't wait to get more insights to this couple's relationship.

A Safe Haven Drabble (Joel Miller) by @darkroastjoel You don’t have to have read the series to appreciate the angst in this small little drabble that packs a punch. Explores Joel’s feelings on the impending arrival of Tommy’s child with the grief of missing Sarah and it manages to do it all in less than 600 words beautifully. 

Your Hand In Mine (Joel Miller) by @thelightsandtheroses This is a great opening to a new series and it's such a great opening premise that will have you wanting to find out what happens next and in eager anticipation of what is to come next.

Open Mic Night (Marcus Pike) by @secretelephanttattoo No denying it anymore, I’m ankle-deep in this Pike Puddle and this is an excellent example of what keeps me content with damp *ahem* feet… Are you one of those who forgot it's canon that Marcus was a part of a band? This one-shot is here to remind you with a bang!

Clouds (Joel Miller) by @softlyspector This is incredibly soft with a few hard edges - allusions to events from TLOU2, but no spoilers and no golfing. Highly recommend a read of this.

Little Monsters (Dieter Bravo) by @chronically-ghosted Dad Dieter was not the trope I thought I needed, but here we are and I can’t get enough. This is all what I picture Dieter as a father being like. This is equal parts fluff with equal parts spice which makes for a delightful read! 

For the Night (Agent Ortega) by @ladamedusoif I think the pilot hit the web for all of a couple of hours before we were blessed with this delight. As far as I am concerned this is what the pilot should have been, it’s deliciously raunchy and I may have read it several times. 

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 5 (Triple Frontier Boys) by @rhoorl I don’t know if I still have words for my thots feelings on this update to this series. So please accept this gif and go get caught up, and if you've not read it? What are you waiting for?

Spinning in the Rain (Frankie Morales) by @frenchiereading This is like the best kind of fluff, it's atmospheric, it's indulgent, it's sweet and it's Frankie - what more can you ask for? Oh, and it's based off a song that I already adored and this makes for one to go back to for re-read.

All I Need (Frankie Morales) by @frenchiereading Mel has such a way with these perfect snippets of fluff and romance that make your heart swell and this is another example of this. I can't do it justice, you just need to read it to experience it!

Exposed (Ezra) by @maggiemayhemnj This was a delightful debut and a great read that flowed just as well as Ezra's poetic prose, which Maggie manages to capture perfectly. If you are a fan of Prospect and Ezra, you will not be disappointed!

Personal Day (Marcus Pike) by @sin-djarin If I'm staying in the puddle, I'm going to make sure it's in good company with fanfics like this one! If Marcus Pike is going to ask me to come back to bed for five more minutes, who am I to deny the man?

Shared Breaths | Chapter 9 (Frankie Morales) by @frenchiereading It's a triple header here for @frenchiereading! The slow burn of the first eight chapters pays off with a bang here and, it does not disappoint! If you're late to the game like I am on this excellent story, I very much recommend jumping in because it does not disappoint!

Posts I Enjoyed This Week…

The thots were truly alive and well on this Narcos gifset. I don't think the image of this post is burned into the back of my eyelids. Also, might have prompted some non-Narcos writing somewhere in the WIP pile...

Thoughts on the contents of the Delta Landscaping Yelp page? We got you here!

@goodwithcheese's book recommendations! I'm off this week and hoping to get some reading done between parental activities.

Things I’ve Enjoyed This Week…

I got four episodes deep on Wrestlers, a Netflix original docu-series on OVW, a Wrestling farm out of Florida that was once where the WWE sent its superstars to cut their teeth before making their debut. I once upon a time was a big WWE fan, so this has been an interesting watch. I'd recommend it too even if you're not a wrestling fan as there are some interesting stories from both those who run it and those who live it.

This Week’s Song…

On a N'Sync kick this week with the rumours that they're going to be reuniting for more than just the Trolls 3 soundtrack/movie. I will be feral if the rumour of a reunion tour materializes!

Happy Sunday all! Here's to a great week ahead!

B 💕 x

[gummybugg]

i keep seeing you post about the mice come out at night but i still don't know what it's about

As a joke I was going to put "even I don't know what it's about" but that won't due since I began writing it yesterday hehehe! There's no excuse not to give a serious answer!

It's a wip still in its baby stages, but I can give it all I got for a solid rundown! ✨️ (btw it's very scarcely mentioned in my pinned post, but I can elaborate a bit more)

So strap onto your seat belt and grab an unalcoholic beverage because I'm about to go on an incoherent ramble about mice, men, ghosts, and cajun culture:

Also, there is an intersection between Cajun culture and queerness. They are both things Morgana is ashamed of. He wants to fit in, get rid of his "embarrassing" accent, and just live his life under wraps. But that's kind of impossible when he finds a family of ghosts haunting his home. Through the tragic telling of their deaths, they help Morgana realize that he must cherish what little time he has to live and to live his life unabashedly. And keep telling stories. Be the person younger You needed. Don't hide yourself/don't be embarrassed. You're not living life for others, but for yourself. Stop appealing to those in charge. Do what makes you happy and you will find your company.

Morgana is a closeted trans guy living in Louisiana who drops out of college because it makes him depressed af. He needs a change, so he decides to move out into this conveniently affordable haunted home with what little funds he has left until he can make a living. But it's a *haunted* house (you know, typical spooky Louisiana lore), and he must find a balance between the spirits and finding meaning in his life.

It's a coming of age story but lowkey the plot of a Christmas Carol if you turn your head 90 degrees and squint really hard. Like the ghosts go "Morgana stop being an idiot and just live your life already" but he's like "but everyone will hate me and ill probably die or something" and they go "then it's a win-win for us."

We also get featured scenes/themes such as: Morgana's clown-core clairvoyant sibling Tooth, who can actually see what tf is going on (Morgana can't, he didn't get the ghost-seeing genes); a gay ghost wedding between the two father figure ghosts (Addison and Vincent); found footage of a broken household (relatable things); sibling power; gender euphoria; funny trans moments such as a pun about "dead names" (come on, it's FUNNY); acceptance; and found family.

For now, though, the story is on hold until I can get a better understanding of it and the direction I want to take it. I'm also writing it now, but yeah! Thank you for asking, this really helps me get a better picture of this project!

I plan to expand upon the Cajun culture as it is the entire reason I began this project (to not let the culture fade away). Culture, along with identity, go hand in hand with how we should be proud of our backgrounds instead of shy away from it to conform. Go and learn about those before you, and you will feel less alone instead of brooding in your college dorm, counting down the days until graduation!!

I think this sums up the premise, but I can keep going if there are any questions. I am always eager to share about my stories!

I have huge aspirations for this (and many of my other projects), as I plan on implementing many forms of media into this story (if the stars align and this takes off). Such as photographs, audio files, journal entries, blah blah. I was also thinking of being fancy and dropping a few lines of poetry/literature that inspired this story at the start of each section if this story goes anywhere.

But yeah, so thanks a lot for the ask! I really appreciate it :')

[mediaevalmusereads]

Hell Followed With Us. By Andrew Joseph White. Peachtree, 2022.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: YA, science fiction, horror, lgbtqia+

Series: N/A

Summary: Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: transphobia, blood, gore, body horror, self harm, child death, violence

OVERVIEW: This book has been on my radar but I didn't pick it up until I found a used copy. The premise was intriguing, and I'm a sucker for stories that grapple with complex understanding of religion and gender. But while I did like a lot about this book, I think the main think holding it back is the lack of a driving plot. Don't get me wrong - the story of queer survival is a good one, but personally, I felt like most of this book was just in a holding pattern.

WRITING: White's prose is generally pretty good. On a sentence level, it moves swiftly and works hard to capture Benji's emotions surrounding his transformation, his need for support, and his complex relationship with his past.

I did like the way Benji ran through a lot of Bible verses and teachings in his head, showing the hold that religious indoctrination can have on a person even if they disagree or leave/escape a church.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Benji, a 16 year old trans boy who escapes from an eco-fascist Christian cult two years after said cult has released a virus on the world. Survivors live in an apocalyptic wasteland, and to finish off the 'unbelievers' and bring about the true end of the world, the cult creates a new strain of the virus called Seraph. Benji, being the first person to survive Seraph, is believed to be the ultimate weapon that can advance the cult's goals, so when he escapes, they make it a priority to get him back.

I do think, however, that some of the prose could feel repetitive, mostly because there are some places in the plot where it feels like we're waiting around. It felt like White used repetitive descriptions of Benji feeling sick or Benji checking in with Nick not to build suspense, but because there wasn't really much happening. I think if the plot was a bit more focused, less of this "dead time" could have been more interesting.

I'm also not sure how I feel about the switch in perspectives. If they were a little more consistent, I think that would have helped, but some of them feel random so it was a tad awkward.

Meanwhile, Benji finds shelter with a group of teens holed up in an old LGBTQIA+ Center. While Benji tries to hide the transformations that are making him more monstrous, one of the group's leaders, Nick, has a plan for Benji that may work against everything they stand for.

I really liked the idea of monstrosity being not an allegory queer and trans identity itself (in the vein of monstrosity = outsider, monster as queer, etc), but also as a metaphor for how an oppressive group (Christianity, in this case) can create feelings of monstrosity in a queer person. Monstrosity is something that is deliberately done to Benji in order to further the cult’s own goals, and a big part of Benji's arc is learning to deal with his monstrosity despite never asking for it or having no control over it being done to him.

However, I do think the overall plot of this book was a little weak. White does his best to create an impending sense of dread while also reveling in a revenge fantasy, but there isn't a lot of support from the story to make those things land. The author's note tells us that more than dread and revenge, this is meant to be a survival story, but again, I think the plot needed a little something else to make it feel like Benji and the others weren't just existing. Perhaps Benji and Nick team up to try to find a cure but Nick is plotting a betrayal. Perhaps they team up to get Benji as far away from people as possible. Some kind of end goal that can drive the narrative rather than leaving it so open.

Lastly, I think more needed to be done to show us the impact of the past on Benji. The book opens with Benji running away and the death of his father, so it's a bit in medias res. From there, most of Benji's past is told to us, so it's difficult to absorb his emotional attachment to his father, to Theo, etc. I think having flashbacks or dual timelines would have helped a lot.

CHARACTERS: Benji, our protagonist, is interesting in that he's a trans boy struggling with his very literal monstrosity and his past as a child in an eco-fascist cult. I liked that White showed him as compassionate towards the Graces and I liked Benji's complicated feelings for Theo. But I do think more could have been done to give him a personal arc that unfolds over the course of the whole novel, not just all at once at the end.

Nick, the autistic teen in charge of the ALC (more or less), has some sweet moments. I liked the way he bonded with Benji by passing notes back and forth, and the pressure Nick was under to keep everyone alive and safe was understandable. I do think White showed his cards too soon when it came to Nick's secrets, and I think more could have been done to explore a personal arc of moving from staunch protector and soldier to something else.

Theo, Benji's former fiancé, was very interesting to me because he accepted Benji without question yet still fully believed in the cult doctrine. It was fascinating to watch the complexity of how feelings for someone could challenge one's belief in a cause, and I was eager to find out what would win out in the end.

Supporting characters were fine, though I think there could have been more opportunities to shape the plot so that Benji bonded with the ALC teens more emotionally. As it stands, most of the others just kind of feel there until the end, when Benji decides to view them as family. I wanted a little more growth to support that switch.

TL;DR: Hell Followed With Us is a book with an interesting premise but needs a lot more narrative support. While it's nice to have trans representation in a book about survival and religion, I also think this book lacked a driving force that would have made the plot more interesting.

[popculturebuffet]

Next up, favorite character from the Adult Swim originals from 2013 -15 : Newsreaders, Hot Package, Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories, Mr. Pickles, Rick and Morty (aka their most iconic cartoon original in the 2010s), King Star King, Decker, Black Jesus, The Jack and Triumph Show, and Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter? Mike Tyson Mysteries excluded since we already covered that in the Warner Bros Animation ask.

Okay so as usual what I haven't seen up top: Newsreaders, Hot Package, Decker (Though I have watched some of it's sister show on Cinema), King Star King The Jack and Triumph Show and Neon Joe. (Though I did WANT to see tha tone)

Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories: I checked out an episode or two but coudln't get into it. I wasn't into horror at the time, so that didn't exactly help but even then it feels a bit too long for Tim and Eric's own good. Mr Pickles; Is garbage. I only saw bits but it was ugly , mean spirited and as someone already not a fan of the michigan j frog bit, I didn't want to see it done over an entire series.

Rick and Morty: WUBALUBADUBDUB. It's a hard choice but i'd go with mr meeseeks LOOK AT ME. Just such a good concept. As for the show itself, first off.. fuck Justin Roiland. It was a shame to find out someone this talented was such an asshole but fuck em. Unlike Dan Harmon he did not take responsiblity for his actions and become a better person after doing something incredibly shitty.

Now with that elephant out of the room I liked Rick and Morty at first... a high concept show that SEEMED like a status quo show, but wasn't, with fantastic animation, a great cast and lots of good ideas. But as the show went on... I started tuning out, eventually ending with season 4 part 1. I didn't like how the show stuck to it's status quo to it's detriment, or got creepier with Summer being thrown into sex stuff with grown men despite being stuck as a teenager, and the slut dragon episode. My attempt to come back ended when I ran into an episode where morty and summer had an incest baby they named Naruto and refuse to just.. render non canon.

The series also kinda disappeared up it's own ass with Vindicators 3 feeling like one long angry screed against marvel.. and while i've come to accept the mcu has issues and has DEIFNTELY degraded since, it felt less like a genuine parody and more like Dan Harmon yelling at a genre he didn't like. The show lost that spark and if it's regained it good for them. But I just can't go back. And the fact I can't go back to a show with Keith David as a guest star every season really says something.

Black Jesus: I liked this show and wish i't'd lasted longer. IT's a solid show with a fun premise of a man who may or may not be jesus hustling with his friends. Trailer Park Boys Meets Boondocks.. literally with the creators of both teaming up for a solid cult classic.

[detectivereads]

Usotoki Rhetoric by Ritsu Miyako

5/5

This post is for fan entertainment, I’m not being paid.

Hi everyone,

I finally got a copy of Usotoki Rhetoric, I love the premise of this manga.

Our main character Kanoko Urabe, in the being of the manga she is living her hometown which at the time was clear why she was leaving, the only thing that was said that her power is the cause of this.

So right off the bat, we got our mysterious main character which already got me hooked. I like stories that just ooze mysteries.

As Kanoko gets to the new town, we get to see her power when people talk. Kanoko can hear when someone lies. Being new in town would definitely help, with being new in town she won’t get tricked by kind-looking faces.

Now I like this part of this series because the power is a double edge sword, however I do find it odd that the main character who has a power like this is compelled to tell people that person A is lying.

As we see throughout the manga, having a power like this made growing up with this power hard for not only her but her family as well.

Now our next character and our male lead Sowa Iwai, who is a down on his luck detective. From when I first read this manga, I thought he was shady but once I did read the manga and looked back at him, he is a great guy.

Once Sowa met Kanoko and he understands her abilities, he understands or at least gleams the idea that Kanoko doesn’t really like her powers and that it’s a bit of a sore subject. Respectfully he offers her a job at his detective agency to help him solve cases, which she accepts (new in town and a person is offering her a room and a job).

Now the cases they tackle in the first volume are some good ones, missing person cases, theft and blackmailing and fake kidnapping (when you are reading the chapter you’ll understand).

I have read a little more online and I love this series, the time setting 1926 was an amazing choice to set this story in, the clothes the beautiful kimonos and suits and dress they all looked so gorgeous, the feeling: reading some of the chapters I did get some somber feelings for some of the characters.

Now looking at this I am unsure if it’s going to be a romance where both Sowa and Kanoko will end up getting together, but I wouldn’t to upset about that the two of them are a wonderful together.

If you are looking for a manga series that is set in 1926 Japan detective series this manga is the manga for you. 

[hotchfiles]

Honestly your take on ,,dark“ fiction is interesting but I feel like there is no circumstance and no coping mechanism that would excuse minor x adult smut.

there is also a difference between exploring dark themes and romanticizing them.

Fiction affects reality, always has and always will and just because someone might use fanfiction as a coping mechanism doesn‘t mean it’s healthy or excuses anything.

If you write sa/noncon or abuse or whatever you deserve to be publicly called out if you romanticize it and especially if you don‘t give warnings.

As a victim of grooming and sa when I see someone writing about these topics and publish (!!) it as if it‘s something usual as a recipe it‘s disrespectful, especially if you aren’t a victim yourself.

i totally understand your point! that’s why i said one of the things we must take in consideration is that the fact we want to write something doesn’t mean other people have to be comfortable with it

i have hard limits myself, romanticization of nazism, slavery, real incest, age gaps when the older has known the younger since they were a child

i also have flexible limits, i don’t mind reading noncon when it’s part of a bigger story and it makes sense and it’s not romanticized, i’ve read a young snow x reader one that had noncon as a plot point and it was honestly so good, it wasn’t hot or anything, it was sad and agonizing and reader only found out what was happened to her by the ending so it wasn’t graphic (graphic noncon is one of my hard limits)

i do think fiction doesn’t happen in a vacuum but i also think fiction is a way to safely explore darker themes, and it all boils down to how you do it and why you do it

i used professor!remus as an example on that post exactly because it is my most problematic plot, reader is 17 and smitten, and the thing is, she is smitten because it’s remus, because remus is fictional so he’s perfect, if a 17 old girl told me she was pinning after her teacher and he was accepting her advances i would immediately tell the headmaster

the thing is, and its why i dont write and post anything of the sort, im 27 so i fully know how to separate fiction from reality and what my limits are and aren’t in both, but my audience isnt made of all people that feel like that and i do try to respect my audience fully

like i said before, content like that needs to be heavily warned, and if you don’t give warnings about it, it gives the impression that you don’t think it’s a problematic theme, and i do think thats an issue, if you write it, know its problematic, warn people about it so they won’t read it if it affects them, i think it’s fine, because it shows you know how to separate fiction from reality and that you respect the boundaries of your readers

i think lolita (the book) is a good example of that, lolita is written from the creep’s pov, so it’s written as a romance, people might empathize with him if they read it without any warnings or media literacy, but it’s not a romance, it’s the story of a creepy man going after a child and blaming her for it, when you read the book already knowing that, the experience is completely different

what i do find a bit problematic is how common some tropes are, and in that i can understand and support talking about how problematic it is (which is why i commented that we as writers have to know and show that we know that type of content wouldnt be okay irl): how often reader is “innocent” and inexperienced, the use of femininity as something fragile, the infantilization of grown women—and it bothers me more when is written not as a kink reserved for sex, but as the whole premise of the relationship

i’m usually very “extreme” on my opinions, but fiction writing dark themes is one of the topics i have a lot of thoughts, i debate on it a lot and i have different perspectives depending on the theme and how it is written

i personally prefer writing dark themes in other ways (i write about death and suicide a lot, one of my fics will deal not only with suicide but with the unfortunately common and widely known SA of young boys in the catholic church) but i know that the way i write it might make people uncomfortable even if it isn’t sexual/smut, and i wouldn’t get mad at people for that

that post was more of a vent as i debated with myself about it and not a hard truth i will hold on forever

[andersdruv]

Okay. Okay.

I truly love all these three. Xena: Warrior Princess was a breath of fresh air in my late teens, a show that was intense, silly, grim, and had a central relationship to die for (as the characters themselves did, repeatedly (they got better)). Revolutionary Girl Utena was a show that starts out as a quirky genderbent "prince"-in-school story and then turns the premise on its head so many times, and gets dark and scary while still keeping the focus on a hero who will do anything to attempt to save the one who suffers. Avatar: The Legend of Korra is such a cool sequel to The Last Airbender both with personalities, technology, and politics. It's Avatar a bit more grown up and more complex.

Xena is such a jock, albeit a broody one. She revels in her physical abilities, she's cocky when up against powerful opponents, and she can perform feats above and beyond those of the many, many warriors and warlords around her. She's a force of nature and can get a stubborn singlemindedness to go beyond all limits of her strength, like when she protects Gabrielle in One Against An Army.

She's the epitome of the cool outsider to Gabrielle who starts following her out of the sense that she is someone who can show you how to go your own way. At the same time she's desperate to change, to do good, and finds the inspiration to do that in her plucky tag-along turned sidekick turned partner. She is strong, and funny, and protective, and learns to accept herself one staggering step at a time.

Utena is the prototypical jock: good at sports (extremely good at sports, as all the school sports clubs are desperate for her to join), passionate and impossible to dissuade from her goals. She sees a girl being treated poorly and despite being thrown into the weirdest duelling game ever she chooses the path of helping that girl. But she's far from perfect, in a very jock-like manner!

She thinks that becoming the substitute to an abusive "boyfriend" is enough, that the binary makes sense as long as she can be on the other side of it, that a prince can save the princess by pure heart and drive. To be fair, that is also what everyone in her world also thinks.

But like Xena, she is capable of learning a different way, despite being the stubborn and reckless hero that I love so very much. (not mentioned here: also often accused of being dumb as a brick, but really it's more oblivious to certain things we can all be blind to and bad at reading some social cues)

Korra is a jock superstar. She's the Avatar, the most admired person in all the four nations, she's a sports star, and has never met a problem she couldn't bicep her way out of. Until she comes to Republic City and politics, adult villains, and relationships all come crashing down on her. I got very annoyed at Legend of Korra because I felt that it didn't do her character justice.

As I wrote above for Xena and Utena, a big part of them is that they learn, they change. And a lot changes for Korra during the course of the first few seasons but the large lessons generally don't stick. So she keeps being a stereotypical jock well after the world around her has changed, and that bothered me. Because she's cool, and physically accomplished, and she tries so very hard but it's never enough because the problems she faces, political, personal, and metaphysical, are such that punching them doesn't work in the long run. Yet it felt that the show creators were pushing for that to work, and thus Korra felt like she was treading water for quite a while (which she can, because she's a physical marvel).

Luckily the show faces up to that in the final season, and Korra becomes a Better Jock, and gets together with the Coolest Girlfriend. But it was a long time coming. She's so cool though!

LGBTQ Jock Showdown Finale!

[locustheologicus]

The Titan submersible disaster, migrant crises and the Social Trolley Dilemma

Kevin Clark's sentiment connects with me in his analysis of the two tragic maritime situations that occurred this week. I have to echo his critique of how the media has morally failed us.

If, in the end, the public knows more about what motivated the passengers on the Titan to pay for their exclusive journey than they do about what compelled the refugees and migrants who paid human traffickers to board a doomed fishing trawler, then the media will have failed to do its job.

I have personally been caught up with the story of the submersible. There was no way to avoid it. Beyond the media attention, it was the topic of conversation all over. Had it not been for my attention to Vatican news and Rome Reports, I may have missed the greater tragedy of the sunk migrant vessel in the Mediterranean.

Mr. Clark points out that "Since 2014, more than 27,000 people have died or disappeared during the deadly crossing of the central Mediterranean." The sad response has been to "cut back search-and-rescue capacity and criminalized or restricted private efforts to rescue or otherwise assist migrants and refugees."

The great moral failure here is that millions were spent on the search for the five billionaires, while no financial priority was dedicated to the 500 lives trapped in the migrant vessel. In the same way, the public attention devoted to the five billionaires is not comparable to the generally neglected refugees' lives that were lost. Pope Francis did raise their lives in his morning Angelus.

With great sadness and much sorrow, I think of the victims of the very serious shipwreck, which took place a few days ago off the coast of Greece. And it looks like the sea was calm. I renew my prayer for those who lost their lives and I pray that everything possible may always be done to prevent such tragedies.

There is a moral failure that needs to be addressed here. The ethical inconsistency between how we value 5 Billionaire lives vs. 500 refugee lives raises the famous trolley dilemma. If the trolley is on its way to accidently kill 5 lives do we switch it knowing that in doing so we will kill one innocent victim. In the simulation part of the premise is that all lives are of equal value. The moral dillemma is wether we take reposnibility for killing the one in order to save the five. A version of this dillemma is how much resources and attention to we give to saving the five or the one.

Society just played out the trolley dilemma in real time. While no one had the responsibility to change the course of the trolley, society did make the moral choice to spend resources and attention between 5 billionaires and 500 refugees. We saw the result of how we responded to these actual tragedies, and quite honestly, we should be ashamed of ourselves. This was a collective moral failure on our part. Pope Francis' prayer request is not one that seems to resonate with the vast majority of us.

Evidently society places tremendous value on wealth versus poverty. We need to reflect on this. Why do we agree to this? Why do we place such value on the frivolous lifestyle of those who have ludricrous wealth versus the hard-working community that suffer for the social scraps? The below image is a tongue and cheek representation of the way society values the Billionaire's Trolley Dilemma, but let's think about this. Is it that off-base? or do we shrug our shoulders acquiescing to this moral perspective as perhaps tragically unfair but socially acceptable.

For those who do not know about the trolley dilemma. Here is a 3 minute lesson. It's humorous, and a bit gross, but it definitely gets the point across.