#a part of me is like these books are very flawed but masterpieces for the flaws

[maria-eve-falcon]

I'm in a dream of sidney sheldon books and I don't want to wake up!

[bogkeep]

Would you recommend the SSSS comic? I know little of it beside the very beautiful artstyle and premise

to answer the question of if i would recommend SSSS as a comic: yes, yes i would.

a description for those who don't know: Stand Still Stay Silent is a post-apocalyptic horror + adventure webcomic set in the nordics (norway, sweden, denmark, finland, iceland) that have been isolated from the rest of the world and gone back to their old gods. the the world outside of safe zones is full of trolls and beasts - humans and mammals that got infected by a horrible virus and turned into monsters. the story follows a ragtag crew that ventures into the old world (derelict denmark) on an expedition to collect books.

the comic updated every workday until it concluded in 2022, and consists of two Adventures. the creator had plans for many adventures with these characters in this world, but ended it after two when she wanted to take a new direction with her life.

what i love about it:

- the art is GORGEOUS. it's been a huge source of inspiration for me. open any page and it's a masterpiece, and you will ask yourself "how the FUCK did she update this FIVE DAYS A WEEK"

- the characters are wonderful and endearing. i just, i love them so much. i am so thankful lalli hotakainen exists he is one of my #1 blorbos forever

- the world is so cool. the blend of chunky sci-fi and norse mythology fantasy magic slaps. it goes so hard. i fell so hard for this comic when i got to the big ferry ship with a viking style dragon head prow added to it. it's everything

- it really really gets nordic cultures. it's difficult to explain all the dynamics and nuances but it just gets it. it brings me as a scandinavian a lot of joy to read a story that speaks to my heart this way. the attitudes, the language barriers, the cultural differences... it was so refreshing to me in a media landscape dominated by american stories. when the pandemic hit, i decided to reread the comic because i found such an odd comfort in seeing how it depicted the scandinavian countries reacting to, well, a pandemic.

- there's kittycats

what i don't like about it:

- the most glaring and obvious flaw is that everyone in the comic is white. there's not a single character of color anywhere, not even i background shots or the prologue. there's no mention of the saami people (the indigenous people of northern europe), either. i believe this was done in ignorance more than malicious intent, but the implications are Extremely Bad and it's been bothering me (AND MANY OTHERS) since day 1. that is the number one caveat i will give to anyone wanting to check this comic out. i've been in the discourse trenches and i am not going to excuse this. it's just bad!

- you can tell in the middle of adventure 2 that the creator has kind of lost interest in the work, around the time when she found jesus i guess. like, very few people can keep up work on the same creative project for years and years and years and i think it's fine that she wanted to drop it, but it's a bit sad to see the comic dragged to its end like a limp corpse, and feeling like the creator no longer really cares about the characters.

- minna sundberg has said and done some questionable things, presumably gotten somewhat radicalised over time, and has also converted to hardcore christianity which is what her new works are about. there's nothing about this in SSSS - there is a moment of christianity represented in the story in a sort of mythological sense, just like the other religions, but this was written before minna's conversion. her new works... are a Choice. i have much to say about them, and i have, and im not gonna rehash it now.

SO YEAH hopefully this will help you take an Informed Choice! i got into this comic in 2015 and was deep in the fandom and it's for better or for worse part of my soul foundation now.

i also recommend A Redtail's Dream, minna's "practice comic" before SSSS, based on finnish mythology and the kalevala.

[kimchiagustd]

one week post KOA reading and not surprisingly, i am still mourning... spoilers ahead but i need to let go of all these feelings.

i miss this new family i discovered, the excitement of the next chapter or the next book, the anguish, the tears, the cliffhangers, the surprises, the couples and friendships dynamics. i miss everything about tog!

my brain is still processing aaaallllll the events of 7000 pages and a lot of things are settling when i could not process everything while still reading the books…

but to me, this saga is a masterpiece for so many reasons. as a woman, there are so many things validating in these books, i don’t even know where to begin with.

the sorority in tog is still mind blowing to me, probably my favorite part of the whole saga, that we clearly don’t talk about enough. the ending with aelin walking to meet her people with her girlfriends, marching with them as equals still gives me goosebumps. aelin and lysandra friendship (bestfriends and soulmates), aelin and ansel friendship (free young spirits), aelin and manon friendship (rivals then equal queens), aelin and yrene friendship (sisters), aelin and nesryn friendship (admiration and role models), aelin and elide friendship (bonded by fate and a love for the same kingdom) are so precious to me... i could write entire essays about them. i adore how all the female characters just fell in love with aelin, saw her vision of a better world and just followed her to the end. and then, the thirteen, do i even need te explain myself? i think a part of me will forever mourn them. the heartbreak i felt after their death is unspeakable. i never read a book with such flawed and beautiful characters. asterin (her hunter and her whichling), sorrel, vesta, imogen, ghislaine, faline, fallon, edda, briar, thea, kaya and linnea have my whole heart.

marion and josefin are branded in my very soul. their characters had so few pages but gods, how their sacrifice still resonate in me...

then the different journeys of all the characters… chaol has a special place in my heart, despite everything, despite all these things being said about him. he had so many flaws, did so many mistakes, but what a journey, what a fight against depression and disability, what an end… he was so lost and tormented throughout thousands of pages, even while being passionately in love with celeana (not aelin!), and is so appeased at the end, married and soon to be a dad… i rarely felt so proud of someone, fictional character or not. i am convinced chaol is one of the best written characters of the saga.

i read a lot of mean things about aedion too and that just broke my heart because the man redefined loyalty all by himself. he lost everything he was taught to believe in, whored himself with the enemy for his people while believing he lost his entire family and kingdom, lost every men and women in koa as a general (his very essence as a person!) and still held the line for hundreds of pages like rowan told him to do so. I. JUST. DON'T. GET. WHY. he is so hated for some fights with lysandra (that i don't excused!) in a horrific context, in the middle a many battles and thousands of casualties. just reread aedion's arc during koa : the only thing he experienced for hundreds of pages is failure, death, grief, terror and guilt, believing he failed terrasen again. LEAVE. MY. MAN. ALONE. plus, aedion is a bisexual icon, and he slayed the whole books, period.

same thing with lorcan. oh my lorcan… i won’t even begin with him but gods, what awful things i read about him… i don't know why but i fell really hard for this character, despite knowing very few things about him. he was far from being perfect, we agree on that. but what a redemption arc. him being finally at peace at the end, after 500 years of wars, (self-)hatred and being used and fooled by a valg bitch queen, made me tear up as mush as sam's death (shocking, i know but i don't make the rules).

i think, surprisingly regarding our society, people were harsher with the male characters than the female ones. aelin, manon, lysandr and elide lied and did mistakes too, yet somehow, people forgave them immediately. i think we should reflect on that.

a few words about baby dorian too... i think his end was my biggest and bitter disappointment at the end of the whole saga. i can't even tell how his ending wreaked me. he is the one character not at peace at the end of this whole journey. his city is utterly ruined, he is alone in his big castle (the very place where he lost the first woman he sincerely loved and the very place where he was enslaved) with the thought he killed the man he hated his whole life but somehow wasn't the bad guy, his friends are all married or happily in love, even manon won back the witches and her lost kingdom... but dorian is lonelier than ever and that does not sit right with me. he was such a hopeful and loving young man at the beginning of the saga but is broken at the end... i NEED a sequel, he deserves one, more than anyone.

and rowan, oh rowan... i think "love" is not strong enough to define aelin and rowan relationship. the way they overcame depression together long before falling in love with each other is one of the most beautiful thing of this saga. they just saw each other. i love how rowan accepted aelin 1000000%, flaws, scars, fire and all. i love how he never overstepped. like many people, i read acotar before tog and thought no one could surpassed rhysand but how wrong i was... to me, rowan is the best for so many reasons. he never took decisions for aelin, always respected her every moves, respected her pace, never lied to her. i am emotional writing this because him saying "aelin is my heart... my fireheart"... *sob* aelin loves rowan with every bones and cells in her body but rowan's love for aelin? i don't know, there's something about it, i can't find the right words... i don't think i'll ever find an other rowan in an other book. rowan was intensity, hatred, heartbreak, depression, longing, guilt, pain, redemption, learning, harshness, softness, falling in love, crossing an ocean for the woman he loved, giving her an armada when he had nothing, tattooing wyrdkeys in her back to bring her back to him, waiting, loving, loving, loving again and again and again. rowan is suddenly the sweetest and most beautiful name i've ever heard. rowan is love and so much more. rowan is aelin's heart and soul and the key to this new world because aelin without rowan is fear and too far gone. rowan is everything. and what i am about to write seems crazy but i think because there's so much things happening in tog, so much characters loving each other, so many couples we rooted for, we took for granted rowan's love and actions and he somehow became a secondary character - crazy, right? i think we loved passionately his character (especially in hof and qos) but somehow forgot on the way how utterly incredible and unique he is. him saying in qos aelin must build a theater in terrasen after the war and then him offering it to her as a mate / wedding gift at the end of koa? i mean, our boy is a man of his word and i love him so much for it. WE TOOK ROWAN FOR GRANTED AND DID NOT GIVE HIM ENOUGH CREDIT.

anyway, i could write so many more things about so many characters and scenes that broke me in these books (my same is sam cortland and i am not afraid) but you got the idea.

tog is the best saga i've ever read and i am not the same person anymore after reading it. i'll take time to heal. but how grateful i am i have a good run with all these characters...

[aspoonofsugar]

you wrote such a beautiful rwby analysis but unfortunately I think you put more thought into the plot than the entire writers room

Hi!

Thank you, I am happy you found my analysis beautiful!

That said, I am sorry, but I disagree with your statement. It is fine if you dislike the series and even if you criticize it, but as for me, I think the writing is rather strong.

Here are some thoughts, which aren't really directed at you, but rather are born by me seeing a tendency going around where it is somehow "cool" to outloud state RWBY is badly written. I even saw people like... "apologizing" because they enjoy the series. Newsflash...RWBY is good.

RWBY is a series with a writing that goes from decent to very good depending on the moment. I would give it from 7 to 8.5 or even 9 in some scenes. More importantly, it is a story the writers are clearly enjoying writing, as for now. This is why I like watching it. It is genuine, upfront in what it wants to say and it takes risks. Ironically, a series with limited resources shows much more freedom in execution than many other stories, which are economically backed up.

I would also add people keep talking about good writing, but never really elaborate on it... And like, trust me, I do think there is good writing and bad writing. The problem is that people just take examples of "well written series" and decide a series written differently must be bad. This isn't really the case.

First of all, let's focus only on a specific type of story, which is the kind most modern movies, books and series are. This type of story is built on 3 (4) factors:

Plot

Characters

Themes

(Worldbuilding)

I would say the first 3 are more important usually, but there are some stories where the worldbuilding is so strong it becomes its own selling point.

Now, a good story is usually strong in all these departments. The perfect story is top notch in all 3 (4). That is because a good plot usually lets you develop the characters better, which in turns helps exploring the theme.

However, here comes the amazing truth... even the most incredible stories. Even the masterpieces loved by everybody... even them... end up choosing only 1 or 2 of these aspects and sacrifice a little bit of the 3rd (and 4th) one.

Naoki Urasawa's Monster? Its focus is themes. He chooses to go all out on this department, which is why the story is so powerful and resonates so much with people. Still, to do so, he chooses to sacrifice some parts of the plot to the point... some mysteries are not really solved. Some people may be annoyed by it, but I would not call it a flaw. It is a choice. Leaving some things open enriches the themes.

Death Note? If the story has to choose between characters, themes and plot, it goes for plot. This is why despite having so many well liked characters, it is difficult to think of outstanding character arcs in it. The same goes for the themes, which are only touched superficially. This is why btw Death Note is not a fave of mine, really.

Now obviously, many examples can be done and we could discuss forever on some because there is always always always a subjective component. What I am trying to say is... there are different ways to write a story. Not all people would like the same. Luckily, we have tons of stories.

Back to RWBY. I would say RWBY shines when it comes to themes. Characters and plot are good and interesting, but what keeps the story together, despite it playing so much with genre is that it has a very strong thematic core. You can't invent it or fake it btw. See, Death Note's author tries to do it in later works (Platinum End cough cough), but fails. At the same time, there is another department RWBY is top notch and that is symbolism. RWBY has a very rich symbolic system. Again... surely there are coincidences, but like this is a little bit too much...imho.

Now, does it mean, the writers came up with all the patterns I and others find? Probably not, but here is the thing... writing has an unconscious component. If you go earnestly at it, you are bound to unconsciously create patterns. A good writer is able to recognize them (either consciously or unconciously) and to capitalize on them. So far, I think CRWBY has capitalized on the patterns they created. I also think it is clear they are very good at researching and at playing with different sources by going deep into them. Again, you can't come up with the Ever After if you have not read and even studied Alice in Wonderland. It is just impossible. You would end up with a shallow and uninteresting copy cat. The Ever After isn't that because it is used to explore themes, characters and lore in an interesting way. Hence... ladies and gentlemen... it is a fruit of... good writing.

But really, since people are not commenting on it... I would like to point out that in 5 episodes of less than 20 minutes, they have managed to introduce a whole world, with its own lore, set of characters and main story (Alyx's) and to tie it to the protagonists' predicament in a way that hits really hard thematically and psychologically... To do that you need exceptionally thight writing... it is not that simple to do...

Anyway, have a nice day anon and consider watching something else. Thanks God the world is full of stories!

[yanderefairyangel]

Think the dumbest claim about Engage fans I’ve heard is “they do nothing but diss on 3H all day” or “There are no Engage fans just 3H haters”. Not saying I haven’t seen Engage fans who are unnecessarily hateful and hostile towards 3H, but when I look into the Engage fandom there’s far more content for and gushing about what they love about the game than complaining about 3H.

Yeah I did saw that and euh ... it left me confuse as ever ? Cause I barely hear any dissing on 3H ? Really ? And let's not like as if the fandom didn't do that in 2019 cause we all know they do this. Recall the F!Byleth's design controversy ? Or when they call Hubert, Lorenz and Raphael ugly ? Or Dima's noddle hair ? Anyway.

I do agree that if you look or search deep enough you will find Engage fans who reacts like little kids and attacks 3H because people said Engage was bad or whatever but as someone who checks the tags for Engage everyday, really... there is almost 0 of that nonsense against 3H. In fact... it's Engage that get that treatement. You have no idea how tiresome it is to click on the Engage tags and find yet another person who goes "Yeah Engage sucks, 3H rules" and me thinking "I came here for positivy, would you pleaaaase not tagg your negative opinion on the Engage tag or use a different wording so that when searching I can actually escape your negative opinion ?"and sometimes, I find, as you say that one person that will act as if the fandom was bullying them for not liking Engage and prefering 3H.... but I find 0 post about this. Really, not a single one! Take Bigkingly for example, he made a FE gameplayvs story tier list and even though he place 3H much higer then Engage on the story, he still got people arguing with him because he place Engage above average and said he though it was good.... And don't get me started on the pretty impressive amount of video making a bad review of Engage that have much more engagement then the one praising Engage, it's all the big FE tubers : Ghast, Mekkah, etc. The one who praised the game have very little expostion and will often have the SAME people in the comment section of Ghast "Engage fell off video" or Mekkah's or even that 2 hour long video whose views are currently getting much and much more important numbers.

And the most recent thing I saw was someone saying, and I quote "I legitimately believe the Engage fans are too lazy to actually take a break and read about the amazing lore 3H brought, along with the supports. They really believe Engage's lore is more interesting, and still prefer those supports than 3H's, that's just hilarious." or "It does suck tbh. Engage does have their own benefits, but 3H just getting targeted really does suck as it's a flawed, but amazing game." or "3H world building is just the books in the library" is one of my favorite little things that engage fans tell themselves".. and I find none of the post or comments or anything supposed to be speaking of that like... what ? And apparently there is a "3H hate train wagon" which is weird ? Cause the hate train wagon I noticed was for Engage, not 3H. Most of the 3H negativity I ever saw was in response to it being treated like an amazing masterpiece with no flaws to diss on Engage and while very childish.. that's not like the initiative I saw in the Engage hatred.

Honestly, I am thinking it's some side of the fandom trying to make believe it's a "both side" situation so they can diss Engage without any repercussion, never mind that "yeah but Engage fans said bad things about 3H" is just as childish as the part of the fandom that diss 3H just because they said bad things about Engage.

Frankly, I can't tell cause really, you are right Anon. Most of the Engage fandom, if not all is just us chilling out on characters, making fanart, fanfiction etc. While there is some discourse (cof, cof, Seadal, cof, cof, Alcryst, cof) it still stays rather silent and even the big controversial DLC romance concluded into : people who ship it can ship it, people who don't want to ship it won't ship it and we won't try to make an argument on whether opinion. And it's also acting as though we can't discuss Engage in a civle manner and that's... false ? Like, not long ago, someone told me why they though that Marni telling her backstory in chapter 21 was bad and offered a rewriting and I shared my thoughts, and not once did we disrespected each other. In fact, the most rabbid Engage haters are ... so dedicated that they retweet a lot of tweets supposed to be about Engage's writing good point to do nothing but... diss on it.

Keep in mind that my timeline is recomending me those only cause those people insist on quoting everything related to Engage and that tehy don't even have the decency to "untagg" or do something so that blocking or muting works in a way that doesn't end up with you viewing no content of the fandom you belong to.

I for one and many of the fans in my X circle are trying to spread positivity about this game. Heck, I even made a video just because I wanted to help it spread bigger and faster, on a plateform that is more accessible to everyone.

We are all tired of negativy, while would we add into this ? I for one don't really want to be known as the "3H hater" but as being a great contributor in positivity when it comes to Engage cause this is a game that has many great stuff. And again, this is more another way of stigmatizing Engage fan for liking the game, saying in an indirecct way "Engage's fan just PRETEND to like Engage, in reality they just hate 3H and use Engage to hate 3H cause really, who could love unironically this game if not people who simply just hate 3H because they are idiots ?" because like... I and many fans of Engage are pretty much the first one to say "comparing it with 3H is useless". So I ain't saying there isn't some case like that, but really ? That's a very minor part of the fandom that's hardly vocal.

Sorry it got a bit too long, (I really can't stop talking, can I ?)

[joongdokshitposting]

So uh remember when I said I wrote an essay on orv for my Communicative English assignment? Well here it is people, in all it's flawed (?) glory (cuz again English is not my first language (it is but it's a little more complex) so my vocab is weird sorta ig) (I literally just copy pasted my assignment btw so if it sounds like an assignment I wrote on at half past 2 in the night,, just look over it please 😭)

Communicative English - Speech Script

Topic: Review of the novel “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.”

I am somebody who has never read a web novel, I’ve only ever preferred regular novels. However, I do read webtoons often, and that is how I stumbled across this masterpiece of a story. What started off as curiosity quickly turned into obsession as I spent almost every moment not working on reading this seven thousand page monster of a book. And, see, truthfully, such a huge number would’ve absolutely had me running the opposite way. At least, that’s the case usually. But the prose and narration in this book is genuinely so intriguing that it had me hooked from chapter one. While it does have a slow beginning the wait is very much worth it as the plot constantly keeps moving forward without lagging anywhere. Not a moment is wasted, every single scene contributes to fleshing out the world and its characters and through it all we, the readers, find ourselves falling deeper into the thematic story beats.

But I’m getting carried away aren’t I? Let me step back a little. For starters, what is a web novel? As the name suggests, they are novels published directly onto the internet and can be both free to read or paid to read. The difference between regular/physical novels and web novels would be the publishing aspect. Web novels, unlike the usual novels, are written, edited and published by the authors themselves. Additionally, they can be both ongoing, where the author publishes a chapter on a timely basis, or fully published once completely written.

Now that that’s cleared, let’s move on. The book I’m currently so emotionally attached to, goes by the title “Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint” and is a Korean fantasy web novel. The story follows the life of a 28-year-old contract worker named Kim Dokja (Dokja, meaning both only-child and reader. This also contributes to the greater narrative of both the plot and the character.) whose only hobby is reading web novels.

The setting is as such: He’s lonely, he’s had a not-so-great childhood (as we find out eventually), and his current part-time job contract is ending, meaning he’s knee deep into leading a pathetic life where he has to work hard to survive and afford at least the bare minimum every single day. Through it all, the only salvation for this man is a web novel by the name “Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined world” (it has multiple abbreviations but the most agreed upon is TWSA) that had been running for ten whole years, him being it’s sole reader past the 120th chapter as most people gave up on such a lengthy (hitting an insane 3149 chapter count) and apparently terribly written novel (this further highlights his whole “reader” identity as we will see pretty quickly).

Now, our story begins when the web novel that Kim Dokja has been reading for ten years, becomes the new reality one day while he is riding the subway with his coworker. This dramatically shifts the supposed “genre” of Dokja’s life from “realism” (as stated by him directly) to “fantasy” thereby completely changing his life (and I mean, COMPLETELY) to the point where he becomes an irreplaceable aspect of the story and the characters we follow.

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (ORV for short), despite its dystopian and violent setting, is a book filled with love. And by that I don’t mean romance, god no. If anything, this book has absolutely nothing to do with that genre. No, this book? Oh no it’s not talking about rose tinted cheeks, shy confessions or tragic love declarations. Well, let’s keep that last part because it happens a lot actually. Just not the way we expect it. As mentioned, this book in itself is a love letter to readers and touches on the topic of interdependence between authors and readers. How inevitably one cannot exist without the other. This is most evident in the three main characters of ORV and their roles/powers.

Both thematically and as characters, they’re so intimately interwoven that one quite literally cannot exist without the other two. Kim Dokja the reader, Yoo Joonghyuk (the original hero of TWSA) the protagonist, and Han Sooyoung the writer. Part of what sells their need to depend on each other comes from the fact that all three of them cannot stand one another. At least, initially. Their dynamics are literally just verbal insults, attempts at murder and pathological lying. They genuinely cannot go a minute without feeling the urge to strangle each other. But guess what? While their fiery rivalry and banter remains, it slowly develops into one coming from a place of affection rather than weariness. In that sense, ORV is also a slow burn. The characters take their time opening up, and are more often than not, extremely human. Almost all the characters (and there’s a lot by the way, many surprisingly or not, non-human in nature) always have their very own completely valid and plausible reasons for doing what they’re doing. And sometimes we find ourselves sympathizing with them.

The core of this novel, from what I can understand, is about love. Both in terms of deserving and expressing it. Dokja, despite loving the characters/people in his life so much that he willingly sacrifices himself, not once, not twice, but multiple times, firmly believes he’s not worth saving. It’s heartbreaking, watching this 20 something year old who spent his entire life in isolation, deny himself of love he deserves just as much as anybody else just because he hasn’t received it for so long that he is accustomed to living a life without it. He constantly tries justifying him putting a wall between him and the world; he says it’s his job to be a “dokja”, a “reader”, someone omniscient, someone who supposedly exists outside the story, outside the narrative, and therefore should not be the point of focus at any given time.

Time and again the others tell him, they remind him of his humanity, saying how they wouldn’t have survived without him. But he counters by saying it’s the opposite and that he wouldn't have lived for thirty years if not for the characters and therefore he is only repaying. He speaks of how the ending of the story he wants to see is one where nobody dies. For that, and that alone, he dies again and again and again. And you, you have to sit there watch this mess of a man so unabashedly full of love throw himself death’s way and not be able to do anything because he won’t listen. You feel helpless, just like the other characters, including Han Sooyoung and Yoo Joonghyuk, and only pray to all things divine that this man also gets the happy ending he’s so desperately fighting to give the others.

This book has genuinely impacted me in a way no other has. And that is saying something because it’s so easy for me to jump from one interest to another. It has been two weeks since I finished this book and yet it refuses to leave my mind and heart. It stays there adamantly with the same stubbornness with which Dokja denies his well deserved love. Every moment not spent working, I spend thinking about stories and readers and writers and heroes. I look to the stars and think of all the stories in the world I don’t know, stories written with such tender love that only certain readers can ever truly embrace them. I think of how, perhaps, this is how humans are too. I think of how maybe we’re all made of stories waiting to be read with love by others the way Dokja read TWSA thereby giving life to Yoo Joonghyuk and purpose to Han Sooyoung.

Sooooo is this still enough to encompass my thoughts on orv? Absolutely not :D

[thesungod]

ok so I took a peek into TSATS and I see what u all mean when u say its out of character 😭 like, a lot of the narrative IS relative to various characters and such, like Nico's trauma, overcoming it, other things I haven't read yet, but the way it's written, and the way the characters go about portraying it... it doesn't even feel like Rick picked up a pen and wrote it. like, obviously he did, but you just can just tell the co-author really took the lead on this one.

like -

Nico thought Mr D looked like he was about to explode from excitement, and it was honestly a complete delight.

since when the fuck does this man smile 🤨 like yes, obviously he's a fully sentient being with emotions and shit. ik he feels happiness, he just expresses it differently, and this just seems so... forced? it's less the grumpy-lovable but still an asshole Mr D we all know and kinda love, but more-so a diluted version of him? like someone comparing a stick figure to a Van Gogh piece. it just don't work 😭

‘My two favourite demigods have returned,’ he said, and he held his arms open and embraced both of them at the same time.

this man hugs??? like, his kids and wife / lovers, sure. but he's like the most demigodphobic person ever 😭 he'd be the person to let the other hug him, pat him on the bag, scowl and say "yeah-yeah" and then shove them off. like??? (at least in my brain he is)

‘Favourite?’ Will said into Mr D’s armpit. ‘I thought you didn’t even like demigods.’ (SAME 🥴)

and then he goes on to say "fuck all u, but like, u 2 least of all" so that's pretty in character for the most part, but still

like this book don't look bad by any means, it just feels... offshade. off white to white? 1st cousins. expectation v reality. a Van Gogh baby vs an actual baby (google them, they're horrifying)

but yeah, no hate to the book, it just doesn't feel like Rick even touched it, yk? and I haven't even read a single chapter. that was me skimming to see what the fuss was about 😭 and what's up with some of the books using these quotes '' instead of ""??? it's so hard to read.

anon i’m so sorry i completely forgot to get this ask out of my drafts even if it was answered!!

i hope you’re still around!!

and i 100% agree, after reading tcotg i’m convinced rick riordan didn’t- touch tsats with a ten foot pole.

i was very willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and say the book was a team effort when it came out but there’s simply no way that’s the case. my man lied. the writing style is so different and the interpersonal relationships between characters feel so off😭

don’t get me started about the humor because tcotg had its flaws but it was literally laugh-out-loud funny in some moments. had the difference been written on purpose- like, the authors wanting to characterise Nico and Will as kinda lame people- that could have been an interesting choice (i maintain my headcanon that Nico is only ever unintentionally funny), but i really doubt it was.

and why would Mr D hug and smile and coddle Nico and Will like… it’s giving self indulgent fanfiction where everyone adores the author’s favourite character. which, i mean, if you’ve ever read my Apollo fics you know that I get it, but a published book should be held to a higher standard imo!!!

tsats did not have to be a masterpiece but it was too OOC for me to enjoy.

still, i’d advise you to read it for yourself and find out!

[night-market-if]

i haven’t seen my best friend in almost 2 years until today.

we went on a coffee date to catch up for the first time in a long time because life somehow poked holes into our plans and something always managed to get in the way. we went out to a coffee shop that’s connected to an old book store. it’s the place where we first met when we were 13. we’re both 24 now and we decided that it was the place we wanted to be when we see each other again. we caught up on our lives and i brought up my fixation on The Night Market.

i went into details about the amazing world building and the fleshed out characters that have their faults and their flaws but nevertheless deserve all the love. she became invested and used my laptop to read the chapters and fell in love with characters herself, we laughed over our love for caliban, because everyone deserves a caliban in their life and cried over her relating a little too much with hazel wanting her brother back. we teared up and took a healthy break when malcolm was pulled through the gate.

i held my tongue so she could get to experience all the twists and turns of the world you created. she read the latest patreon released chapter and was in awe with the ending and how she turned all milo’s red flags’ green out of simple denial and love for him. she compared milo to peter pan if peter ended up in The Night Market instead of Neverland. we ended up sitting and talking for hours until the coffee shop had to close. we promised that we would find a way to make time and get together again once you release the wip of the second book so we can pick up where the book left off.

i could go into more details but i won’t. i’m honestly surprised there isn’t a word limit on here because damn. i apologize for this being so long. i doubt that me telling you about my day is the last thing you expect to read whenever you receive this but i just got home a little while ago and i just wanted to tell how much i appreciate the time and effort it took to create such a masterpiece of a story. i appreciate you as a person for sharing your work with everyone and your passion for all of this is shown through every word you’ve written over the past year.

you deserve all the support in the world and congratulations on your kickstarter almost reaching it’s goal. my best friend and i decided we want to support you whenever we have the financial opportunity to.

you created something that people can bond over and you must be a special, special person to be able to do that. i had a small fear that when i saw her today, we would’ve realized that we’ve grown too much as adults to be able to connect again but if anything today just pulled us together closer than ever and i have you to thank for being a part of that. i wish you nothing but the best for not just you but your loved ones too.

from the bottom of my heart again, thank you. 💐

Well you made me cry.

As someone who connects with their best friend through stories and creativity, I get this one. Stories have been some of the best ways to connect with the people in my life and to know that this game helped you two in this situation is very personal to me. I didn't know my game could be considered something like that for someone else. The fact that it is only makes me feel so much gratitude towards all of you.

I am glad you and your friend were able to reconnect. I think the transition you are in right now is one of the hardest. You still have some really amazing connections in life but because you are trying hard to navigate how to do the adult world yourself, those connections can sometimes get lost. I promise you, good friends can go years without seeing each other, however, and pick right back up. And it will not always be this way. There is going to come a point where it can and will be different. You just got to give it time.

I have two amazing friends in my life. One, who I have known for 30 years. She is practically my sister but I only see her once a year because of life. The other, @mooreaux, who I rabidly see at least once or twice a week. Both of these individuals have always been story people with me and it's provided me with the best kind of friendship I could have. I hope for this for you and your friend.

I cannot wait for you two to start reading book 2 together. Please message me when you guys do. I would love to hear about your guys day.

With all my love,

Zinnia

🪷✨🪷✨ If you want to support me 🪷 ✨🪷✨ 

Demo 🌿 Patreon 🌿 Ko-fi 🌿Discord🌿Kickstarter

[thehappyscavenger]

Books Read in February 2023

Another high-volume month!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Well this was whelming. I don’t remember why I requested this but apparently it’s a super popular book and I can see why. A super digestible novel about a 35 year old woman who is depressed and feels she has nothing going for her and decides to try to kill herself and ends up in the titular library which is full of possible lives she might have lived. From here on out it gets super predictable. She tries out a supposedly “great” life, it turns out their are pitfalls, she leaves and tries another life. 

Fine enough but not really exciting in any way. 

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

I heard so many mixed reviews for this one but the thing that convinced me to give it a shot was so many people describing it as a flawed masterpiece. I loved it! It’s less a novel than three repeating stories told roughly 100 years apart with characters with the same names (but different characteristics). It focuses on grandparents whose children have, through death or incompetence, failed to raise their own children leaving it to the grandparents to raise their grandkids. There’s background stuff about pandemics, states becoming more fascistic but I found the repeated grandparent/grandchild recurring motif the most fascinating. I can see why some people don’t like this or find it “messy” but to me Yanagihara seemed totally in control of her prose and I loved it.  

The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley

While this had some real bangers in terms of writing I found this mostly to be a slog. It’s about a man reflecting back on the summer of 1900 when he sort of “lost his innocence” as a child and got entangled giving messages between his friend’s older sister and her lover, a local farmer. Set up is slooooow and the ending is rushed. Will say that while reading this I thought there was no way Ian McEwan wasn’t inspired by this for the first part of Atonement and he’s said so in interviews so I was right! I really like McEwan’s re-interpretation of events over this book.

The Actual Star by Monica Byrne

Mixed feelings about this one. This was a bit harder scifi then I’m used to and fell into the typical hard scifi trap of interesting ideas with terrible writing. 

Set at time periods 1000 years apart and heavily based on Mayan culture the novel follows a set of twin siblings, a young Minnesotan teen, and a group of genetically modified humans living in a post-climate catastrophe timeline as they each grapple with significant events in their lives. Byrne put a lot of research into this and I can tell she was trying, as white woman, to be careful about being respectful of past and present Mayan culture but she’s a Catholic and in some respects that really shows in her writing and ideas. 

I did appreciate that by the last 150 or so pages I knew how the story was going to end up and it was a pleasure watching Byrne tie all the knots together. An interesting book. 

The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing by Nicholas Rombes

This was popular on Tumblr when it came out circa 2014 and it’s taken until then for me to read it. A very slim novel set in Ohio the book follows an unnamed narrator who works for an obscure cinema revue who travels to a motel to visit Roberto Laing, a film prof who burned a number of obscure works by famous directors but can recount them in detail. All the films involve loss, mystery, persecution etc. The book reads like a trippy film noir and is more mood than plot. Recommend for people who describe themselves as “cinephiles”.

[sweetestpopcorn]

Hi popcorn! I'm recently interested in Aegon/Jaehaera's dynamic. I try to find some fics on ao3 but I am really frustrated by the results. I'm a canon-based fanfic lover, which is why I really like your fic. However all fanfics of this ship change their dynamics horrificly different from canon, which l'd say I feel them become writers' OC rather than who they really are in the book. The tragic and interesting part of them is that they both experienced similar trauma due to each others parents, then they have to face the ultimate forced union to make peace.Their experience is similar but they are on the opposite side, they never try to understand each other. Maybe there are sympathy and hatred coexisting in their relationship, which may get better if Jaehaera lives. That's the particular dynamic I want to see. But the fanfics of this ship just easily erase the bloody past of "my mother was eaten by your father" or "my brother was beheaded on your fathers order", instead focus on how they pity each others pang and fall in love. That's kind of a cheating way to write a complicated relationship. They have similarities but they have even more obstacles to truly understand each other. Writers don't know how to deal with it so just change their character traits, make them totally different persons. That's one of the awkward parts of these fics. The other wierd part is that writers tend to set up Daenaera as an imaginary rival by depicting her as a failed seducer or an unwanted second wife. The logic is weird bc Daenaera has nothing to do with the tragedy of Jaehaera. Their marriage ended tragically due to their own miscommunication and the murderer Peake. If there has to be an evil female rival It should be Myrielle. But sarcastically Aegon treated lady Turnip even better than he did with Jaehaera in canon.

What's your interpretation of their dynamics? Or do you know if there's a better way to write this kind of relationship? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Hi there Anon, sorry for this delay 😊

So, I have explored my thoughts about Aegon III and Jaehaera as a ship here I don't know if you ever stumbled upon it. But this sums up what I think well.

Because in the end I am not interested and because of some issues I have, that I mention in the post, I never lost a lot of time thinking about them and their potential.

I understand your frustration, I do, and I have said it before and will again that the asoiaf fandom is not as strong as others fanfiction wise. Never was. In my days of reading it I can tell you I think I found like 3-4 fics I thought were absolute masterpieces but other than that I couldn't go past 2-3 chapters. It was just... no. Just a no.

At the end of the day though, when we are consuming free content we can't really be picky 🤷🏽‍♀️

When we want something specific and can't find it, I am of the mind that we should take an active approach. This was what I convinced myself to do. So, if I want to read something and it doesn't exist and I have good insights on the characters and what I want, I can write it. If I couldn't write it I could maybe try to commission someone to write it for me with my specific instructions.

With writing, I like my writing, despite it's flaws, and I do enjoy the process and going back and reading my stuff, but I can't draw, so if I want something I may try to find an artist willing to take a commission from me. It's a win-win (despite the fact that the artist has to put up with me), I get what I want and they get paid and if nothing else can get some practice.

All the best to you and thank you so much for your very lovely words 🥰 Happy Holidays!

[twentyninebirds]

2022 readings: assorted hogfather thoughts

way back when in january of this year i decided to pick up hogfather based on its absolutely batshit summary, which somehow failed to capture the absolute insanity that is hogfather, and honestly does that even come as a surprise to anyone. who could've guessed that the book where santa is murdered and death steps up to the task while gods are spawned every other page would go off the rails.

was this the best way to start the death books? as someone who hasn't read them all yet i can't answer that, but holy shit did i enjoy this book. a lot! a lot a lot! i felt the pacing was a bit odd in some places, but unfortunately i'm insane and enjoy that sort of off-kilter feeling. keep me on my toes and prod me to see what sound i make, go wild. i appreciate a good bout of chaos with a million moving parts specifically because it makes my brain squish in funny ways.

did i feel the story dragged in some parts? yes, but any flaws regarding its narrative structure i can forgive for how hard the book steamrolled me in the last bit. the humour in this book is sharp and absolutely on point and as someone who adores terry pratchett's writing style perhaps it's no surprise that i have half the book highlighted. it's just the cost of good literature.

anyway, if you're interested in reading any more of my deranged comments then here they are:

death as a character is just. how do you do it. how do you make such an incredible character. the utter glee of watching the guy monkey-see monkey-do his way into santa-hood is a masterpiece. "i shall tread extra soot into his carpet" is such a throwaway line but not to me it isn't holy shit

the unseen university subplot is exactly the sort of stuff i like to see in a narrative this unhinged. every time the god of hangovers was addressed as the "oh god of hangovers" i snorted, which really reflects more on my eviscerated sense of humour than anything else. i cackled through the entire hangover cure conversation and you should too

hex's existential horror trip into +++ All Things Strive +++ and honestly the whole hex subplot is just fantastic. 12/10 would terrify machine with the unbearable weight of mortal existence again

this book doesn't pull its punches regarding the nature of belief but it also picks up the issue of "socio-economic factors" and compresses it like a squeaky toy. there's something very telling about death, who begins the series as a character who seems if not content then at least indifferent to the fact that everyone prescribes to themselves their own eternal afterlife no matter how deserving or underserving they were of it—there is no justice, just death.

and as that itch of humanity rears its head over and over again we get death confronted with the bearable yet still fundamentally wrong hardships of being born on the wrong side of the socioeconomic divide. what is happiness, really? death doesn't have to worry if you die happy, just that you die punctually.

the scene with the little match girl sold me immediately on everything i read before and after. if the world allows for happiness only after that very world fails you then the world itself will reject it. death recognizes his role and his function as a stabilizing agent, but more than that he recognizes the limits of his ability. this isn't how it should be—this is just how it goes.

the book isn't particularly subtle in communicating the power of belief in shaping all lives, not just mortal, but hell if i didn't enjoy it. at first it plays on the field of absolute lunacy and holy shit is it entertaining: bees and sock-eaters and hangovers, oh my! and then we have conversations about how the world is structured and how said structure makes people feel.

it's good that there are people who are not just miserable, but genuinely, entirely, senselessly miserable, like little girls selling matches in the bitter cold, because if they exist then that means at least you aren't them, and some sense of structure is returned to the universe. it's easy to miss ridcully's comment that "things go wrong, things get lost, it's natural to invent little creatures that—" that what?

the many bearable hardships of life transform into nuisances of various forms... and in those forms they embody both problem and solution. to believe that those little problems are caused by something is to believe in one link in the universal causal chain. in the chain all events have purpose and reason. and in such an existence so long as you believe then it's not your fault and even if it is or even if it isn't you can make it better. you can fix this. the horrifying mundane is made fantasy. a child's drawing is a real, tangible domain. and in that realm you don't die. you just "get old, listening to the laughter..."

the entire scene where susan tries to ease banjo into taking over the tooth fairy's duties made me deeply, viscerally sad. the sort of quiet sadness that settles over you, akin to grief but also a little distant. odd experience. holy fuck

"the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape" is probably among one of the best-known phrases in all of discworld and for good reason. i have almost that entire conversation highlighted.

there is no justice. there is no mercy. there is no duty. if you put the universe to the test you will always find it wanting—but the universe wants for nothing. you just want it to be. there is no meaning except where you find it, and the same goes for justice, mercy, duty... and yet you still have to believe, because if you don't what's left?

the evidence is against you. the numbers don't add up. there isn't so much something missing as something that wasn't there in the first place. you feel betrayed because you've made the choice to believe in something that wasn't real and when you were faced with the facts only now is something wrong. and yet. and yet

"You have to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?"

there's this ongoing notion that children are the perfect innocent ideal, entirely devoid of evil, unable to take responsibility for their actions. in some ways that's true! in others it's absolute bullshit. children can be absolute devils and they can suffer the cruelties of a world made by people who failed them. these statements are not, in fact, mutually exclusive. when death claims that letting children know of the brutal violence of the world is "educational", he does so while also teaching them that "there's always the poker". maybe they didn't really understand his angle, and their innocence will protect them? or maybe "they had a very good idea of what he was."

anyway. can you tell i recently took a course literally called "reason and revelation". false advertising embodied. should've called it "the nature of reason and belief". can't believe i subjected myself to such horrors. or can i? anyway i've thoroughly enjoyed every death book i've read so far. yes. all two of them. maybe a third in the coming weeks! sometimes i like to lie down and listen to great echoing indifference of the universe. i also like to read. i hope you also like reading, or else.

[box-dwelling]

Day 3: Interview with a vampire

Tw: discussions Sa and Pedophilia.

I DIDN'T GIVE UP AFTER 2 DAYS I SWEAR. Yeah this is super late sorry illness happened. I'm 3 days behind on reviews and 1 day behind on films so we're going to catch up one night soon and I'm going to review the two other films tonight. I'll be using the same review system I wrote out in my Lake Mungo review so check that if its confusing.

So this was @ungulatejunction's choice and also a film I'd been wanting to check out for a while. I loved it but had slightly mixed feelings. The film is gorgeous, the acting, set design, cinematography, costume work, direction, effects work, everything is basically a masterpiece. But, I did unfortunately have a few issues with the screenplay. From what my GF has told me, it's pretty damn faithful to the book and a lot of the issues I have with it are fixed there. My main problem is that I kinda felt like it lacked theme and purpose. There's a ton of deeply interesting ideas there. Claudia is an insanely facinating character who I just adored. Her actress did an excellent job especially given her young age. The literal concept was interesting but I also found that it worked as a deeply interesting metaphor for a child rasied in a sexually abusive household. Basically all the feeding scenes were framed in a deeply rape like way imo. So her being turned at a young age, regarded as something she could never be ready for and would lock her development in one area in a childlike state, it sounded a lot like stories of sexual trauma at a young age stunting development. The lead up to her killing Lestat feels like her coming to terms with the fact her abuse was wrong and that he was also abusing Louis. And that was really deeply interesting to me. But then the rape stuff kinda doesn't go anywhere from there? I maybe wrong. I may have missed stuff but, it then just felt like I was watching women be brutalised for no reason.

My other main issues was with Louis who I found pretty bland and uninteresting. From what I've been told this is a case of what I've deemed "author screenwriter syndrome" where an author is too dedicated to book accuracy and doesn't make the necessary changes for adaptation. From what I've been told in the book he is the pov character and a deeply introspective one. This works excellently for a book because we can hear his thoughts. In a film it's a lot harder so he just feels mopey and bland. By the end of the film all the characters with interesting themes and characterisation are dead and it leave the ending a touch empty to me. This was also compounded by very much having a chapter like structure instead of a films traditional 3 act one.

I don't want this to sound like I'm shitting on the gay vampire film. I'm not, I did genuinely love it. There is a shocking amount of talent and beauty here. It was just less than the sum of its parts to the point that the flaws were more what stuck with me because I was just thinking "god it was so close to perfect, if only they've done these small things" Ironically given the author I do deeply want to expand on the themes in a fanfic setting.

Score

Artistic merit: 6/10- It had the talent on board to make this a 10 but for me to give a high score in this category I have to be able to cohesively decipher what the film is trying to say. This film has a lot of interesting themes and really doesn't go anywhere with any of them

Scares- 7/10- I was expecting this to be way lower but this baby has so properly disturbing imagery in it

Atmosphere: 9/10- all I can say is beautiful and Iconic

[equanimitypage]

Written from the deepest corridor of my heart;

First off—please allow me to apologize for the stream of words you'd read just now. Our conversation last night had me on a desperate urge to tell you the things circulating my mind like butterflies—yearned to kiss your soul. Dear, imagine that life is a vast and massive garden, where every person is remains unique and peculiar. In this garden, no bloom is without its quirks and blemishes; Some petals, upon closer inspection, may reveal delicate imperfections that, rather than detracting from their allure, serve to enhance their intrinsic beauty. Each flower is truly a reflection that perfection is an elusive dream, and flaws are the brushstrokes that create a masterpiece. Therefore here goes the reminder that each flowers are indeed the best version of itself—none are born entirely flawless, and none are born completely terrible: all merged in one waltz of excellence, and it's love, it's love, it's love. Including you, my dear.

You see, I've always regarded you as a precious beloved of mine—a rare and invaluable treasure that time could never diminish. From the very first moment our paths crossed to this very day, my perception of you has remained unchanged. Your presence in my life has been like the gentle, comforting glow of a campfire on a cool, starlit night. It's your warmth that seeps into my soul, making me feel at ease and utterly content. It's like the soft, inviting light that dances across the pages of a favorite book, revealing hidden worlds of imagination, and you ignite that for me. You see, you have this incredible ability to light up not just the room but the whole demeanor of my being. You know, what I genuinely wish is for you to look in the mirror and see yourself just as I see you. Because you'll see just how precious you are to me. Meeting you has truly changed my whole chapter of life, where right now I am only seeing colourful and vibrant rainbows painting my days beautifully. You have given me a chance to love someone in all of its greatness, and with you, everything feels as endearing and easy. You are truly the source of my peace, where right now I am feeling love in all of its beautiful spectrum.

If I were to say that you're the best version of the guy I've ever liked or admired, I wouldn't be speaking anything but the truth. It's not just about the way you make my heart skip a beat when you smile or how your laughter feels like a melody that's always playing in the background of my life. It's the way you effortlessly carry this charm and grace that's utterly captivating. You've got this unique blend of kindness, wit, and that twinkle in your eye that's just so incredibly magnetic. In a world full of ordinary, you stand out like a shooting star across the night sky, leaving a trail of awe and wonder in your wake. And honestly, every moment spent with you feels like a page ripped from the most beautiful love story, one that I can't help but want to read over and over again.

And after last our conversation last night, it felt like a revelation to me. It made me realize, once again, that you are the best version of everything I've ever admired in a person. Your words, your laughter, the way you express yourself—it all adds up to create this incredible fragments that I find utterly captivating. As we talked, it was like discovering new constellations in a starry night sky, each one more beautiful and mesmerizing than the last. I can't help but be drawn to you—for the person you are inside. You have this truly remarkable, almost otherworldly, ability that never ceases to amaze me. It's the way you effortlessly weave empathy and understanding into every conversation we have. When we talk, it's as if you've unlocked a secret chamber in my heart that I never even knew was there until you arrived. It's not just about feeling understood, though that's undoubtedly a part of it. It's about feeling seen for who I truly am, with all my quirks, dreams, and idiosyncrasies. You listen, not just with your ears but with your heart, and in doing so, you touch the very part of my soul.

In essence, you are the keeper of the keys to my heart, and with each passing day, I'm more grateful to have crossed paths with you. Until then, remember that you are, without a doubt, the best version of everything wonderful in this world, and I love, I love, I adore you, Nalendra.

—29/09/23

[banapsha]

Take Me With You- Book Review

I have been so grossed out and scared at so many points in this book. I still can’t believe ink on paper holds the power to do that to me!

Nina was right, there was no light where we went…

Oh, where do I even begin? This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster that I never wanted to get off. But I wanted to run away at the same time! 

From the very first page, I was hooked and completely invested in the lives of Vesper and Sam. I was terrified still I just had to turn to the next page.

Let me tell you, these characters are so flawed and unrealistically real. Vesper, with all her complexities, is a character that I found myself rooting for, despite her struggles and mistakes. And Sam, oh, Sam, he's the kind of guy who stays with you long after you've turned the last page. Not in a good way.

The way the author weaves their stories together is so tragic and beautifully written. 

But what sets this book apart is its unflinching exploration of dark themes and tough subjects. Nina G. Jones doesn't shy away from delving into the messy and uncomfortable parts of life, and it's that raw honesty that makes this story so powerful. It's a book that forces you to confront your own emotions and perceptions, leaving you with a sense of introspection long after you finish it.

The writing style is poetic, almost lyrical, and the way the author crafts her sentences is a treat for any reader who appreciates beautiful prose. The descriptions are vivid, allowing you to immerse yourself in the world she creates, while the dialogue is so authentic that you feel like you're eavesdropping on real conversations.

Without giving too much away, the ending... oh, the ending. It's bittersweet, but it feels just right for this story. It leaves you with a mix of emotions, you may shed a few tears, or pull your hair out in frustration. So, be vary.

In the end, Take Me With You is a captivating and thought-provoking tale that lingers in your mind. Nina G. Jones has crafted a masterpiece of storytelling, and I'm certain that Vesper and Sam's journey will stay with me forever. Not sure in a good way. If you're looking for a book that will challenge your emotions and leave you contemplating life's complexities, this is the one. Trust me; it's a journey you won't want to miss.

It’s so scary and Sam is so bad and Vesper is so enraging but the book and writing are amazing and well, I have always said it. If something leaves an impact, good or bad, it is indeed good work. Because you need to know what you are doing to leave people horrified using ink on paper.

[apocalypticavolition]

The USA Trilogy

So I've been reading John dos Passos's USA Trilogy and despite being only 500 pages away from finishing I'm thinking I might not be able to. It's a highly recommended trilogy - some peope say that it's the Great American Novel - but my god.

The novel has four different sorts of sections: biographies of various American figures, collages of newspaper headlines and articles, an apparently autobiographical section with a horrible postmodern aversion to capital letters and punctuation marks, and the actual story, which follows about a dozen people over the course of the early decades of the twentieth century.

First, the pros: the newspaper collages work quite well, giving a taste of events in the world at large as the narrative advances. The biographies are sometimes quite interesting when focusing on lesser known figures or, the absolute masterpiece of the trliogy, "The Body of an American Soldier", which is something of a multiple choice past for the man interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It's incredibly written and a genuinely touching critique of the senselessness of war.

Further, there's a few interesting main characters. Mac, the first one introduced, is about as sympathetic as a drifter can be with the values dissonance of a century between us and has a storyline that has a relatively traditional arc of rising action, climax, and falling action. Eveline getting re-examined by the transition from Eleanor's friend to POV character of her own works very well, to the point where I will miss not getting to see her from a third POV in the next novel since I'm cutting it short.

That said, the flaws are a lot. The "Camera Eye", the autobigraphical stuff, is completely unreadable because skipping half of the necessary steps of English writing leaves an incoherent, unpleasant mess. E. E. Cummings (yes, capitals included) and all who humor him are a blight on the English language.

The other biographies are hit or miss because so many of them barely seem to have anything to do with the narration. Eugene Debs works because every character is a socialist (more on that in a mo'). Thomas Edison has nothing to do with anything except in the sense that many scenes in the novel have lightbulbs present.

Then sadly there's the main narration. The work is very existentialist, stuff just happening for the sake of happening, and while that's not necessarily a problem, it turns out I can't really take the better part of 2,000 pages of it even spread out among 12 assholes.

And they're basically all assholes. Some only barely - Daughter seems to be capricious mostly in that "male writer feels women are incomprehensible" sort of way - some entirely so. Frankly, with all the talk of socialism and revolution and pacifism that comes out of their mouths while they drink, party, and look for ways to screw everyone over makes me long for THEM to be lined up against the wall. And of course they're all sellouts to boot, which again isn't exactly a problem it's just that it leaves me with even less reason to stick around. I know how this ends: the ones who get rich like Moorehouse abandon all pretense of caring for their fellow human beings and the ones who stay poor look for any excuse to avoid taking responsibility for their behavior.

If the books had some broader point than the upcoming failure of the socialist movement in the US, I might be able to stick it out. If I could get more than a chapter without seeing a racial slur, I could stick it out. If the dialogue wasn't written with every accent spelled out, I could stick it out. But honestly I think that getting to "Body of an American Soldier" is victory enough and I'm done. It's a shame, but I've spent the last two nights avoiding reading because I absolutely did not want to open "The Big Money", and since I'm just getting back into the habit again I need to move on.

[veworgray]

Mm food mf doom samples

#Mm food mf doom samples full

MM.FOOD is one of those albums I can enjoy in back to back (to back) listens. Content to kick back in its own world, on its own terms, MM.FOOD comes across like a master at work rather than a masterpiece, and I’m grateful to have finally gotten acquainted. Never does the record come off as grandiose or self-important it’s just that good, and it’s just that much fun. There are skits and samples aplenty - masterfully produced might I add - with the overall effect being of something effortlessly larger than life. This display of talent is made all the better by the fact it’s presented with the technicolour kookiness of a Saturday morning cartoon. I can barely string together a ‘thanks, have a nice day’ at the supermarket and here’s DOOM with words tumbling out of him for minutes at a time with every single one fitting together like god made them specially for that purpose. MF DOOM’s wordplay and delivery have that weightlessness of peak performance, like Muhammad Ali dancing circles around Cleveland Williams, or David Gilmour playing guitar in Pompeii. Playful and stylish, with flows so smooth they border on indecent, MM.FOOD is hip hop on another plane. It represents everything I adore about MF DOOM: the greatest supervillain of them all. It’s a go-to album for when I’m feeling low. MM.FOOD may have its flaws, but for much of the time I couldn’t care less.

#Mm food mf doom samples full

Music has always been there to bring me back from the depths, and there are very few things as thrilling and heartening than listening to MF DOOM in full flow. With every passing year, life finds further ways to test and challenge me. Perhaps that’s the point, and they certainly keep the album ticking along nicely, I just think the record would be no worse off without the middle interlude, where MF DOOM doesn’t feature (on vocals at least) for almost ten minutes.Ī large part of my skepticism towards these instrumental interludes is purely because I love listening to MF DOOM rap. Truthfully, some of the skits scattered across the album leave me slightly fatigued, and it’s a relief when songs do re-enter. The instrumentals on “Hoe Cakes” and “Deep Fried Frenz” are delightful, and I will never get tired of the guitar loop on “Rapp Snitch Knishes” (I have had that song on repeat for quite literally hours on end). The jazzy beats of MM.FOOD are comprised of joyful, humorous food samples that have a distinct ’90s feel to them. When the wordplay is so sublime, it’s easy to forget MF DOOM’s other major skillset: production. In a way, MF DOOM was the Godfather of underground hip-hop. Pair it up against “Vomitspit”, though, and it ironically feels like child’s play. There’ll always be a place for songs like “Rap God”, if only for the novelty factor. His casual delivery and calm demeanour was, and always will be, a welcome contrast to rappers who aim for as many rhymes per minute as possible. I think most rappers knew better than to take on MF DOOM, simply because there’s no way they could have matched him for intricate wordplay. The third verse of opening track “Beef Rap” is an exhilarating early example of his technique, as he brilliantly mocks the culture of beef rap within hip-hop: ‘to all rappers: shut up with your shutting up/and keep a shirt on, at least with a button up/yuck, is they rhymers or stripping males?/out of work jerks since they shut down Chippendales.’ He defies the expectations of wordplay time and time again. It’s pure, natural talent that cannot be taught, nor replicated. MF DOOM doesn’t try too hard - in fact it feels like he’s barely trying at all. It may not be the unequivocal classic that stamps his name in the history books, but for my money it’s the most fun and nourishing project in his whole discography.Įverything about MM.FOOD feels effortless. However, if there’s one record that truly signifies the craft, humour, and outlandish creativity MF DOOM possessed, it’s 2004’s MM…FOOD. There’s no better way to mourn than cherishing the incredible music he gave us from the youthful days of KMD to the mastery of Madvillainy. The news of his death felt like the knockout blow of 2020, a year most of us were already keen to forget. He was your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper.