#acot rambles

[ufuckingpastry]

Trying to actually give Charlie a design in my head from just a vague centipede looking man to the weirdest fucking bug you've ever seen

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

*watching a film, the credtis are rolling*dad: oh, that idiot was this actor?dad: it's the same actor that played the us president in independence day, by the waydad: he's come a long way. made it from moron to presidentdad: ....dad: then again, so did trump

------

Bonus:

*a minute later*

dad, looking at me: you can stop laughing now

[fangirls-of-woods-beyond]

ACOT SPOILERS

Umm? So Dovey has a backstory now?? And it's kind of weird to me.

Like, her chapter is written in 1st person POV and given Dovey's personality, she's not going to lie to Tedros and gang. Dovey talked about how August Sader drew the portrait of then baby Tedros as a king, and Dovey accompanied him... which makes sense so far.

AND THEN Sader decides to go "hey Clarissa you would make a pretty sweet fairy godmother" and Dovey's like "damn you right" aaaaaand becomes a fairy godmother!

But I thought Dovey was already Cinderella's fairy godmother? And the incident with Cinderella had happened ages before Tedros was born. So it's kind of contradictory here as according to ACOT, Dovey didn't really think of being a fairy godmother until after the portrait thing. But isn't Dovey pretty famous for being Cinderella's fairy godmother? I mean, Dovey could still be just casually helping Cinderella out as a teacher or whatever, but geez... she was labelled as a fairy godmother even then.

~ Mod Crystal

[blackasmidnightcats]

Tagatha Ramblings

So . . . For me it's really unique to find the dynamic that Tagatha has and how it was handled.

I think everyone in the fandom agrees that it's only in TLEA that leveled up their game and it leveled it up GOOD.

So much so that by QfG how the narrative managed to deconstruct their moments is legendary enough that it's one of the reasons (for me at least and some others I think) that the fandom decided to hibernate for sometime and with it I think Soman's activity also started to kinda decrease.

Off topic though it's kinda unnerving how quiet we are again conscidering that it's just a few more months before OTK and Soman's not really helping with all of his random content. Hopefully this changes in the upcoming months.

But anyways, I really hope that we get some well deserved Tagatha romantic scenes in OTK cause aCoT did not provide enough to please.

Book 1 Tagatha was not just the baby, it was basically the fetus. They were a concept both as individuals and as a couple. Maybe a few characterizations here and there were sprinkled all throughout book 1 but it wasn't enough to convince everyone that they were this legendary love story told for eons.

Ngl, this was one of the reasons why I decided to pick up this book. I didn't know if it was going to be told in a well developed sense but at that time I wanted to read something like that anyways and so I did.

I jumped immediately in the Agatha train cause book 1 Agatha was incredibly funny, endearing, and understandable. She had her issues and doubts about herself but most of all I loved how selfless she can be when it counts. She's tough yes and brave as hell but it's her selflessness that really gets me cause in the end of the day that's one of the things that makes Agatha. . . well Agatha.

Book 1 Tedros . . . was something. I liked him but not as much as how I do now. I liked the few moments where it showed how he was sweet and was willing to overlook things (even though they were ill directed cause he was still pretty much being ignorant) he clearly has a different view from others caused he's the son of some pretty legendary people and is also aware of how untrue their "Ever After" is.

But of course there's his hotheadedness and ignorance that gets him in serious trouble that he's gonna regret and has regreted since.

Regarding my feelings for Book 1 Tagatha it was detached at best. They were an interesting concept but brought me so much pain in the first half of the book cause Sophie's selfishness, Agatha's low self-esteem, and Tedros's ignorance.

And by the time the book was almost ending and just then did Tagatha even start to like each other (and not in a believable way at that) it was kinda late for them but I did not have my doubts about then ending up together cause tropes and such even with the very obvious Agaphie red-herrings.

So basically Book 1 Tagatha was a fun trope that Soman managed to make an interesting story out of but it wasn't groundbreaking.

And I liked the tropes that Tagatha embody. I liked that Agatha was a cranky, goth that happened to be a princess and also liked how she still couldn't believe it but was obviously relieved that she was somewhat acceptable and capable of being loved after being shunned her whole life by her town. (She can be such a babey that we need to protect)

And I liked that Tedros was the perfect, fairy tale prince complete with golden blond hair and crystal blue eyes and was pretty much good at everything (except for some logical sense I guess) but was dramatic as hell and sometimes so sweet and another was incredibly annoying.

And of course I liked that Tagatha was a combination of this but I hated how it was executed in Book 1.

Book 2 Tagatha was a mess and even more so for Agatha and Tedros themselves.

I guilty for falling for the momentary dark, yandere Tedros in the beginning but even I knew he was being a possessive, obsessed dick and I kinda wanted to forget everything else except when he admitted he WAS being a dick and chose Agatha. . . and then I wanted to forget everything else again.

While Agatha was. . . Agatha was done dirty in Book 2. I honestly can't think of anything much positive to say about her in Book 2 aside from the angst when she wanted to stay with Proffesor Sader cause she felt safe. I honestly think that Soman didn't quite know how to handle her cause she. . . was treated AS the princess but at the same time didn't really show those characteristics that made her a princess in Book 1. She was still selfless and brave but that it got kinda overshadowed by her anxiety over Sophie becoming a witch again.

That problem wasn't even solved in Book 2. It just kinda seemed like it dissapeared and Agatha just accepted that Sophie might always want to kill her cause she can't help it. Plus there might be the involvement of guilt cause Agatha did abandon Sophie at the end of Book 2 but then again that situation is complicated.

Thankfully by Book 3 we got somewhere and some things that needs to be discussed WAS discussed.

The Tagatha development in Book 3 is still unparalleled even when they're literaly engaged as of TCY.

Tedros really did shine in this Book. He still showed some signs of being ignorant to certain faults in his character but once aware of them, he made sure to square up. Compared to Agatha, I liked that Tedros took it up to himself to approach the very obvious problem between them and fix it caused he's doesn't want to loose Agatha over anything may it be his own stupidity or her stupidity. They were getting through this together.

Agatha was different. I believe that she went back to her roots and while she has problems with confronting problems with other people involved, she has no problem looking into herself and reflecting on everything for the sake of everyone else.

The Tagatha moments were delicious. From the small things such as Tedros trying to make their obviously unique relationship normal and Agatha's random spouts of jealousy and insecurity to the more dramatic moments such as the forever iconic Moores Scene.

They grew both as individuals and as a couple in this book and it was beautiful.

But then QfG happened and I think Soman was easily swayed by outside forces that influenced his story telling.

TLEA Tagatha standards were so high that QfG somewhat destroyed (my) trust in Soman to give these two the needed narrative.

But for now this is end of my ramblings.

[graciecatfamilyband]

@sarahisatotalgeek - To answer your question, no, A Crowd of Thousands totally happened! Its just... way too much to unpack here. I will now Ramble (feel free to ignore). 

From the I Am But A Mortal And Somewhat Inexperienced Writer standpoint, I have to admit that I don’t know how to reference ACOT in a piece like this where it isn’t the focus. The fact that I wanted to get this out in time for @ouad-week (WHICH IS STILL HAPPENING- GO DO IT YOU GUYS!) didn’t help, but I’d like to eventually write an ending clean this up for AO3, and I don’t know if its something I will change even then.

From an Anastasia fan standpoint, I’m actually a relatively new fan of the musical though a lifelong fan of the movie. So while, I obviously love A Crowd of Thousands, I also haven’t completely unpacked, digested, and internalized everything it means to Dmitry (or Anya tbh). Which is also probably a reason I struggle to “summarize it briefly but also in an emotional way.” Really, I’d probably have to write a Dmitry’s perspective during or immediately after ACOT fic to work that out lol. That might be cool to do eventually, but it’s also not on my immediate radar. Welp.    

BUT, if we want an in-universe explanation (which we should 😉) , I also think its too much for Dmitry himself to unpack in the context of No Memories But These. He’s dancing around ACOT, memory-wise, and all the implications and lessons learned from it are absolutely there for him- but he’s not quite letting himself touch the memory itself. 

ACOT also happened in a hotel room and at night and probably between sleeps (as in he went to sleep, woke up, went back to sleep- haha, he totally went back to sleep and didn’t lay awake for hours amirite you guys?). These are all very liminal spaces/states/etc. In some ways, even as soon as the next morning, it probably doesn’t even feel like it really happened- although of course he knows that it did and, of course, it changed him, or rather solidified the changes that were already taking place. Still, that quality makes it that much easier to keep the memory of it locked up in a little box that he Does Not Want to Touch.

At least, that’s what I tell myself to sleep at night. ^^ 

[not-a-spy]

Hello Nikki! It's me Sia and I have a wonderful ask for you (Part of the @aphaskevent)! Everyone in this goddamn site knows my love for the seventh art, cinema! And woho Germany's got plenty of that. Could you elaborate stating major movies and/or directors? ~Sia @the-awesome-sia

Hello! I am very happy about this question actually, since I wanted to make a post about some good german movies in the first place! NowI have the oppurtunity, and now you will need to listen to my rambling ~ With that, let me introduce you to our, without a doubt, most famous Director! You know him well, for sure. I bet you know movies like “Star Gate”, “2012″, “The day after tomorrow” and, his most famous example, “Indipendence day”! All thanks to the german DIRECTOR, PRODUCER and WRITER:ROLAND EMMERICH! By far our most famous represantative in Hollywood, where his movies tend to do incredibly well. I actually do not think I need to add much here, since everyone should know at least a bit about him! Now, to the probably second most well known. WOLFGANG PETERSEN. To get smoothly into out next theme, lets talk about his most famous movie: “Das Boot” (translated “The Boat”). If you dont know what the movie is about, please pay just a bit of attention now, for it is a very good movie! As far as I could find out, the movie is based on the book by the same name by the writer “Lothar-Günther Buchheim”, where he writes down his own experiences, and the book and movie are about the submarine “U96″ of the german Navy. It is written very realistic and I reccomend that you should really give it a look if you can. Now, on other parts I am not too well versed with german directors (that actually work in Germany, that is), so lets move on to our... Lets say, interesting collection of movies that is! Now, lets just get that off the list right of the bat. We love us our terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE Rom-Coms. Not expected from a serious nation as us, to be into romantic comedies, isnt it? We do have quite the collection there though, going from “The bank robber who becomes a teacher on accident and gets hired because the headmaster doesnt care at all” to “Our confession line literally was that we are both terrible in bed” over “The wild wild west Bromance” up until “The movies with the guy nobody likes and his daughter”. Now, lets get into detail.

The first movie to mention, and the most popular movie in the last few years from Germany, would be “Fack ju Goehte” (I dont think I need to translate). Hell, so popular a company in America copied it, just in spanish. Elyas M’Barek, in the movie known as Zeki Müller, is a bank robber who just served his time in prison and now wants to retrieve the money he stole and his friend hid. Only problem being his friend is one really stupid Lady and buried it on a construction zone. Where in the following year a gym for a school was build. Now he sneaks into the school and accidentally gets a job as a teacher. He gets to teach the most problematic class in the school and slowly they get attached to the cool new teacher, who teaches them respect by shooting a paintball cannon at them when a few students where too late to class as example. Or tells a crying student “Whine quieter” when he noticed. After a while he helps them and turns them into a good class! I wont spoil the end, but there is a small twist to it. My personal favourites where Chantalle, creative girl to say the least, and Zekis friend, a surprisingly friendly, but blunt stripper. Then, to some of the most popular movies of our country (and the actually good ones). Made by no other then the PRODUCER, ACTOR, COMEDIAN, WRITER, VOICE ACTOR and DIRECTOR: MICHAEL BULLY HERBIG. The most famous comedian of German cinema, he made his first truly famous movie with “Der Schuh des Manitu” (The shoe of Manitu), a parody of the Winnetou stories. In Austria, this was the most popular movie aired there so far.  Other very popular movies of him here include “Traumschiff Surprise” (I think its easy to guess what this parodies, and does so very well), “Hui Buh- Das Schlossgespenst” (- The Castleghost) and the parody about Austrian History, because german cinema just needed that, “Lissi und der wilde Kaiser” (Lissi and the wild emperor). He even had a sie role in the american movie “The incredible Burt Wonderstone” as a magician. He also acted as the german voice acot in a few movies, including Toy Story 3 as Woody. In any case, if you ever get the chance to watch a german movie, I recommend you choose one from him. Laughing is guaranteed! So. That are some major mentions that where worth noting, and to wrap this up, I would like to reccomend you some of my favourite movies to you!

Fack ju Göhte! A movie already explained in detail above.

Buddy! Another movie and Rom-Com by Michael Bully Herbig, where he plays the protective and VERY annoying angel Buddy (the one in the Hoodie Jacket). Driving the guy he is send to protect to become a better person and to the point of near insanity.

The serious, dark World War 2 movie, as an obvious choice. And, one last movie as a small surprise.

A surprisingly interesting social critique and, even more surprisingly so, an actual Comedy movie, starring Hitler. No, you did not read wrong. Germany actually made a Comedy with Hitler in the main role. Well, our well known former dictator suddenly wakes up in modern day Berlin, to summarize the start. He has no idea what is going on, and so just does as always, talking what he always did. The kicker though? Everyone thinks he is a Comedian and just playing a role, actually meaning the opposite from what he is saying. He is being himself, but the world takes it as a parody, and so Hitler becomes a TV comedian. It is actually a very interesting movie, where, in some scenes, they just dropped the actor in full costume off at popular locations in Berlin, and just let the people react naturally. Some very interesting part is when they actually dropped him off at well known Neo-Nazi scenes and let them react to the actor. I would definetly recommend to give it a try, especially the last scene will give you something to think about... In any case! I hope I could give you a look into german cinema and got you to research, maybe even to watch one of the movies yourself! Thank you for the question, and if you ever get to skip through some movies, I wish you a lot of fun!