#and I see their point but disagree. most of this book was a bit meh but as a wild ride through shit

[kingcriccket]

Final thoughts on iron widow are that it is very fun to watch someone break stuff for a couple hundred pages but that it was pretty overhyped as anything beyond that. If it wasn't marketed as this groundbreaking feminist ThingTM I would have liked it more I think bcos politically it's a bit incoherent besides being very firm that girl power Is Good and sacrificing girls to be car batteries for mechs is Bad. Boo the patriarchy. Did Wu Zetian effectively utilize girl power when she slaughtered innocent people in her big dragon suit? etc

[halucygeno]

The Strugatsky brothers: general notes on style and storytelling

Heya. If you want something to disagree with right out of the gate, here’s my tier list:

Ok, but seriously, I'm about halfway through the whole Strugatsky bros bibliography, and it's been kinda hit-or-miss. Some books are fantastic in terms of both storytelling and themes, some are a bit confusing and start very slow, but stick the landing with the drama and philosophy kicking into high-gear towards the end, and others are just... meh.

Anyway, here’s a loose, disorganised list of things I’ve noticed:

1) The Strugatsky's style of narration feels a tad homogenous after a while. Their POV character is usually a pragmatic, goal oriented man, intelligent enough to analyse themselves and the world around them, and often cynical to the point of distrusting simple, comforting narratives (voicing their scepticism through dry wit or sarcasm). The main variation seems to be in the protagonist's level of refinement vs. crudeness (some of them have a short fuse and poor manners), and how much they are motivated by a sense of duty vs. self-interest. The other character archetype they sometimes do is the "inexperienced young man with ambition and spunk" ("Space Apprentice", "Monday Begins on Saturday"). Yet there's some crossover - Sasha from "Monday" often shifts between bewildered novice and confident snarker, depending on the scene - and it all still "sounds" quite similar. I guess you could say this is their authorial voice - the "Strugatsky style", if you will - but to me, it makes reading their books back-to-back feel a bit... same-y.

2) Mystery is everywhere. Im surprised the Strugatskys only wrote one detective novel (which kind of turned out not to be a detective novel anyway), when tons of their works start with some inexplicable, mysterious event which then goes on to be gradually unravelled. I mean, half of "The Waves Extinguish the Wind" is just reports from an investigation into the motives of a mysterious alien species. "Beetle in the Anthill" is one long hunt for a mysterious fugitive, gradually finding out who they are and why they're so dangerous, and "The Final Circle of Paradise" is about busting a crime ring peddling a new, mysterious drug. But even when it’s not explicitly about detectives or investigations, they still often focus on an unexplained event or series of events ("Space Mowgli", "One Million Years to the End of the World").

A lot of the appeal which keeps the stories engaging for me is that they either set up a big question and slowly reveal pieces of the answer, or set up a lot of small questions that get much quicker answers, which then lead to more questions (sometimes both). In one case, they even nested a mystery within a mystery! “Beetle in the Anthill” is both a question of “where is Lev Aboukin hiding and what is his next move” and “who is Lev Aboukin and why was I ordered to track him down”?

Maybe this mystery focus is just part of the wider space fantasy sci-fi genre. Alien contact, phenomena beyond our understanding... these are very conducive to mystery; A few other sci-fi authors I've read have very similar set-ups. Well, whatever it is - authorial style or genre trope - I love it. It gives stories this feeling of discovery and learning, often with only half-satisfying conclusions that leave room for interpretation and reflection.

3) Holy shit, their representation of women is (mostly) terrible. I've heard a few people call the Strugatskys' writing misogynistic, and while I was sceptical at first (Guta from "Roadside Picnic" struck me as pretty cool and strong), after reading more, I definitely see it now. Most of the time, they depict women as trivial side characters, love interests for the protagonist, or worse, symbols of promiscuity, decadence and stupidity. I could maybe argue that some of these portrayals are more nuanced than it would first seem, but others are just... blegh.

A handful of their works ("Space Mowgli", "Monday Beings on Saturday" and "Space Apprentice") show women working alongside men as equals - suggesting some progressive ideals. "Space Apprentice" even has one chapter where they take down Shershen - a controlling, misogynistic professor who tries to sabotage his female student's career because he doens’t think women should work in space.

But none of this counters the causal sexism displayed generally, even in these seemingly positive examples. Stella's introductory scene from "Monday Begins on Saturday" shows her cowering in fear from Vybegallo's upiór, screaming hysterically. While she goes on to be much cooler in Story 3 of that book, she's still a rather lowly employee of the institute - not as experienced as the magisters (who are, you guessed it, all men).

Maya Glumova in "Space Mowgli" - the female character with perhaps the most screen time and agency from everything I've read so far - is still hinted to be more emotional and motherly towards the alien which the team discovers. So even when the female character is important and actively participates in the plot, she is partially defined by her femininity. And when she comes back in "Beetle in the Anthill", she's basically just a childhood love interest, acting as another clue to the mystery of Lev Aboukin's identity.

Natasha from "Space Apprentice" is the only time I've seen the Strugatskys write from a female POV, and even so, it only lasts two chapters, with her being completely irrelevant for the rest of the story. For the short while we get to see from her perspective, she mostly sits around and listens to other people, rarely taking the initiative to do anything. Some of her scenes feel like they could be commentary on workplace sexism, but they're too short and fleeting for the message to read clearly.

All these baby steps towards decent female representation are even harder to appreciate when you consider... everything else. Most egregiously, some visual descriptions of female characters are just gross, focusing on the lips, curves and skin in a very sexualised way. At first I thought that maybe this was a condemnation of the POV character, showing that we're following a crass, tactless protagonist who isn't above ogling someone they find attractive; a contemptible person who doesn't reflect the opinions of the authors. But without clear textual elements criticising this creepy behaviour, it really feels like it's being treated as normal, which... no, it really, really shouldn't be. At least the Strugatskys had the decency not to use this kind of sexualised, beauty-obsessed language when describing the aforementioned respectable worker women - Stella, Maya and Natasha.

On two occasions, women are shown arguing in favour of shallow, self-interested hedonism - an ideological foil to our responsible, socially-minded male protagonists. While this is a fine direction to take a character (and some male characters are criticised in a similar way - mostly in "The Final Circle of Paradise", where hedonism is a central theme), it feels like a waste to use an already small female presence as fodder for this philosophical debate.

So yeah, even though I love these stories, my appreciation is heavily dampened anytime a female character is introduced and turns out to be underutilised and irrelevant (which is disappointing), some dumb bimbo for the protagonist to sexualise (which is cringe), or a proxy for an ideology the Strugatskys want to criticise (which is disappointing).

4) Bromance! While the Strugatskys’ depictions of relationships between men and their female love interests are rather underdeveloped (a side effect of women having so little prominence, I think), the way they write emotional relationships between men and men is quite amazing. Most of these stories are brimming with a sense of camraderie and emotional closeness, with the male characters inspiring each other, guiding each other, criticising each other, learning from each other, etc. My three favourite dynamics have to be from "The Inhabited Island", "Space Apprentice" and "Monday Begins on Saturday".

In "The Inhabited Island", Maxim manages to gradually deprogram Guy from his nationalistic, fascist ideology by just being there, acting kind and showing him that an alternative way of thinking is possible. He points out inconsistencies in the government’s propaganda in a non-confrontational, innocuous way. Then, we see Guy's inner conflict when Maxim defects from the military and joins the resistance - having to view this close friend as a "traitor", despite having a lingering affection for him. And when Maxim finally gets Guy to defect and join his side, this affection is twisted into something monstrous and horrifying in a scene that I dare not spoil. It's an emotional roller-coaster, that one.

"Space Apprentice" has an interesting tension between two role models. Young Yura Borodin, despite his somewhat mundane job as a space welder, is eager to travel the stars and self-actualise. He's hungry for action, and would rather die than retire. Due to unfortunate circumstances, he's unable to catch his flight for the planet Rhea, and has to join the crew of another ship as a trainee (kinda like hitch-hiking, but in space, haha). He ends up under the supervision of Yurkovsky and Ivan Zhilin, both of which try to impart different lessons onto him. Yurkovsky is the embodiment of Yura's ideal - a world-renowned planetologist past his prime, still yearning for exciting work and hoping to make the "discovery of his lifetime". Zhilin is the ship's engineer, and has a far more cautious, protective attitude. Both of them like Yura's youthful enthusiasm, but while the former encourages his ambition and adventurous spirit, the latter tries to temper his expectations and teach him about responsibility. The stops along their route form a series of unrelated vignettes where we see the two philosophies in practice, and the ending resolves this tension in a really beautiful, heart-wrenching way.

"Monday Begins on Saturday" is just one huge "me and the boys" meme and I fuckin' love it. We have the confused yet curious newbie, Sasha Privalov, the measured and wise mentor figure, Roman Oira-Oira, the talented but rude snarker and critic, Vitya Korneev (who is still affectionate in his own way - he doesn't actually hate people, just enjoys banter), and the polite and helpful sidekick, Edik Amperian (+ a whole bunch of other colourful characters). The shenanigans these lads get up to are just a wonderful romp, as they juggle their own eccentricities and the absurd bureaucracy of a magical Soviet institute. Despite the chaotic nature of their work, often wrought with disagreement and a lack of resources, everything has this undercurrent of mutual respect and affection. I swear, this book has the most idyllic workplace culture I've ever seen, to the point that it makes it actually fun to read about office politics.

5) They start in medias res and fill the gaps with natural-sounding exposition. This is one of the core things that I believe makes the pacing of (most) Strugatsky novels feel very brisk. Characters are dropped into already unfolding situations - no lengthy backstories or elaborate speeches about the history of the world. Flashbacks are relatively rare and often contextualised (some focal point prompts the memory, making for a smoother transition). The majority of what we learn about characters comes from clues in their speech, thoughts and actions. Same applies to the world - details are drip-fed to you as they become relevant.

That's not to say that the Strugatskys never drop exposition dumps on the audience, but it's less common, and even then, is usually done intelligently. Most often, a character will see something and, in the process of expressing their opinion, bring up background details that show how they feel about it - we get both world-buiding and characterisation at the same time.

An even better way they disguise exposition dumps is by having characters casually debate something - in a moment of respite from the action, they sit together and bounce arguments back and forth: “is X thing ethical”, “what would happen if Y”, “these Z activists are starting to get on my nerves”, etc. As they make their points, they bring up examples, facts, anecdotes, and very quickly, not only do we know what they believe, but also learn about a whole bunch of things that exist or happened, all while never being explicitly told.

This is probably the best lesson you can learn from the Strugatskys - if your setting has interesting elements, either show them directly in the action of the story, or make them a talking point which characters have conflicting opinions on (better yet, do both - the Zone in “Roadside Picnic” is a masterclass in being a springboard for both characters and plot). If not, don’t bother - you’ll just distract the audience with pointless guff.

* * *

That’s about it. I could probably go on, but I’m too tired to continue writing. I’d love to pick apart more specific examples of points 2), 4) and 5), so maybe I’ll make separate posts for them in the future (lemme know if that’s something you’d be interested in). Mostly, though, I'm desperate to find other people as obsessed with the Strugatskys as I am and discuss their lesser known works. I personally feel that "The Final Circle of Paradise" is a hidden gem of theirs, one that has flown under the pop-culture radar but is well worth discussing.

Peace.

[pyroreadscomics]

how does catwoman v2 compare to what came before it? you seem to be comparing it mostly with later stuff (especially v3), so maybe the reason people enjoy it so much is just that it's the best out of what existed up until then

That's an entirely reasonable hypothesis. So, to test it, what Catwoman comics existed prior to Volume 2 and how do they compare? (Read More because I refuse to be concise about Catwoman) (The TL;DR is I disagree, though)

Well, there's her appearances in other characters' (mostly batman's) comics, her brief run in Showcase '93, the one-shot Catwoman Defiant, and of course Catwoman Vol 1.

Her appearances in other comics are the most mixed bag, and also the area I'm least familiar with. I've read all her golden age appearances, and I'm making good progress on reading all her post crisis appearances, but everything from '66 to '86 is a mystery to me, and even getting past Crisis, I haven't read everything between 87 and 93, but I've read some. Specifically Detective Comics 612 and Batman 460-1 (and the Action Comics story but that's it's own thing).

The Detective Comics story is honestly more a Catman story then a Catwoman story, Selina doesn’t really add anything to the story which is a shame. The Batman story "Sisters in Arms" is honestly a good showing for Selina considering it's a Batman book, and basically gave her a new Holly which is weird but I'm not going to complain, though Joe Potato is a character I could have done without knowing existed.

In all, they're... fine, I could see arguments for Catwoman Vol 2 being better on average (certainly the art's nicer).

Showcase '93's first four issues were headlined by Catwoman: Sorrow Street, which is honestly a solid little miniseries. In it Catwoman ends up getting snaked on a job and ends up toppling a large drug operation trying to get her paycheck. The art's solid. I personally like it a bit more than Balent's but I could see a group of a 100 people saying Balent's Catwoman has better art. Also I'd say that story does morally grey Selina better then most of Volume 2.

(Random Note: If anything that story feels like a halfway point between Volume 1 and Volume 2 both characterization wise, and costume wise)

I'm of the opinion that if you slotted Sorrow Street into Volume 2, it would fit right in (unsurprising given that Moench wrote for both) and probably be considered one of the better stories.

Catwoman Defiant is a... weird little one-shot. Personally I always find myself hesitating, wondering whether the story's theme is hypocritical, but a) it's rare enough that Catwoman stories have coherent themes at all and b) otherwise, it's an excellent story.

The art's nothing exceptional and does have some meh moments but it has that good 80s style despite being from 92 and also there's some great expressions. The writing has theme, has a shockingly good one-off villian, and Selina's just great in this if like your Selina being very catty (and by that I do mean a dick)

To me, I like it way more than anything Volume 2 had to offer, even her No Man's Land issues (though those, in fairness, come damn close.)

At lastly (and I will try to be brief) Catwoman Vol 1. aka Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper (1989) And I'm not going to beat around the bush:

I love that miniseries. It has great characterization and development for Selina. It introduces Maggie as a fully realized character right out the gate. Has enough depth as a story that I've got four different half written essays on it sitting on my drive. It is, to me, The Catwoman origin story.

My avatar is from a bi lighting edit of the cover of the first issue (that DC made themselves helpfully). That's how much I like this story.

In fact I'm only willing to entertain two criticisms of it, 1) it's an after the fact side story, up to lifting panels from it, to Batman: Year One, a story that draws a lot of ire from sections of the Catwoman fanbase (and that personally am meh about) and 2) The art's bad. Like... worst thing I've mentioned so far, worst post crisis story I've read so far bad. Made even more noticeable when it lifts panels from Year One and then you can directly compare the two and see that... yeah Year One has much better art.

(Also, the reason I compared Vol 2 to 3 and not 1 is because Vol 3 is the safe uncontroversial really good Catwoman run, and Vol 1 is a bit more decisive. Just a little.)

The writing is still excellent though.

Conclusion/TL;DR:

While on the art front, there's good arguments to be made that Jim Balent was the best artist to draw for the Catwoman stories to date, Vol 1 and Defiant (and detestably Sorrow Street) all had much better writing both in general and when it comes to Selina's characterization.

[imamajesticseahorse]

Oh WWE….what are you doing, babygirl? Lol

Last night was….weird and kind of, meh.

I feel like the order of the card needed some adjusting. Or it really could have been that some of the matches themselves just kind of fell flat. There definitely seemed to hit a point where the crowd just kind of “left” and didn’t really come back.

Sadly, both women’s matches seemed to fall flat. While I understand the intent behind it, I don’t think they should have done an MMA fight for Shayna/Ronda. I mean, they weren’t going to do an ACTUAL MMA fight, so it seems kind of pointless. This I think might have fared a bit better just doing a submissions match. It leans into their MMA backgrounds, while still being a wrestling match. Doing the match MMA style, it literally just seemed to…end. There really didn’t feel like any sort of story was being told.

The triple threat was awkward. Now I will be the first to admit that sometimes I watch matches, have a thought, and then rewatch and realize I was wrong. But from just one viewing, I feel like what kind of killed the flow was all 3 of the women being in the ring at the same time too much. I know in triple threats, you have multiple points during the match where one of the opponents is rolled out of the ring, and really it makes sense. Having three people trying to wrestle each other just comes across as either kind of clunky looking, or TOO choreographed. The crowd really did not seem into it and the whole Bianca getting “injured” and coming back was…dumb. I won’t go into my full rant, but personally that’s my beef with with Bianca and her booking: they simultaneously try to book her as superhuman and as an underdog. But anyway, I was pissed that Asuka’s reign was completely overshadowed by Bianca and Charlotte leading into this match and then to have her lose, but Iyo cashing in for sure seemed to be a shot in the arm that was definitely needed at that point last night and I’m glad that she cashed in successfully.

Finn and Seth….😑😑😑 I know they’re building to the Judgement Day imploding, or at the very least Damian going rogue or getting booted out, but I really REALLY was hoping to see Finn get his redemption. I mean, long term it is POSSIBLE this could work out better for Finn because they might be going the angle that Finn doesn’t actually need them to win a match. Sometimes it feels like that’s where they’re going, but I guess we will see. Part of me thinks that Damian’s cash-in will be unsuccessful because Finn is going to screw him over.

Now the main event. Oh my god, I just want the Bloodline storyline to end. It’s always been divisive because Roman is divisive, but I feel like it’s reaching the boiling point. The whole Bloodline falling apart has been getting dragged out for months. I mean, it was Sami Zayn who Trojan Horsed them starting back…what? Last fall? I mean, he was desperate to get in and loyal for a bit, but I think most people saw that his inclusion spelled doom for them. I guess the bigger issue is that, it’s not just that Roman still has the belt, it’s because the implication is we now know that there’s no chance of him losing the title until WM at the earliest. And at this stage, who is going to challenge him? There’s Solo that they seem to be leading to, but who else?

Just to briefly go into a side rant, that’s the hard thing with long title reigns in the modern era, there is SO MUCH product. You risk overexposure and people getting bored, OR you risk them being accused of not defending their title enough. It’s a hard balance to strike. I guess for me, the whole Roman Reigns bloodline storyline could have been wrapped up a year ago. They could have started the downfall storyline long ago, and ended Reigns reign by now, and it all still would have had the same impact.

I don’t know, I know there’s people who disagree, but every feud feels like, “Wash, rinse, repeat.” Roman never wins clean, but it’s rarely him cheating directly. It’s also some, “By the hand of god,” bullshit. How many times does the ref in one of his matches get accidentally knocked out? Remember the time Finn challenged him and the ropes broke? Or even last night, Jimmy betraying Jey. Just either have him cheat or have him win clean. My god.

[queenofmalkier]

OOOOOH OKAY. SO. I actually went from hating Galad, to being meh about him, to now sort of liking him. He's not my favorite but I think he's actually a lot more complex than characters in the story - even himself! - give him credit for.

I think he's really the king of compartmentalizing, self-identifying-as-Atlas, and Not Thinking About It and it's fascinating to me.

Cut because I went bonkers.

For starters I would disagree that he's self-righteous about his rule following and trying to do the right thing. Genuinely, he just does the right things because he feels he has to because they're right. (Him being based on Galahad admittedly does color my viewpoint.)

I really wonder what happened to Galad to shape him into this Must Do Good At All Costs, very black and white thinking because it's gotta be trauma, right? He's a Damodred of course it is.

His mother left him when he was two years old. Nobody knew why, I'm sure nobody could explain it to him in a way he'd really understand, but given that it's Andor and her going missing led to a major succession crisis, I'd put good money on Taringail in the very least making comments about how all of that was Galad's fault.

After all if he'd been a girl there would have been no crisis, and Taringail is canonically a power-hungry shit.

The bitterness he must have felt, losing his power because he had a son and not a daughter, could have easily spilled out onto Galad.

I can see how a child would take that and believe wholeheartedly that he'd done something wrong - that if he wasn't Good then Bad Things happened. And nobody corrected him.

Why would they? Galad from an early age was well-behaved and always did the right thing. From the perspective of the adults they probably thought they were crushing it when it came to raising him.

Until he has siblings who are like "What the hell is wrong with you" I don't think anybody even noticed he was Like That.

Perhaps Morgase did, she does think of Galad throughout the series as her son, but she would have been so busy managing the kingdom there just wouldn't have been time to unpack his issues. Especially when for all intents and purposes, Galad having those Behave Or The Sky Falls Down thoughts were beneficial once Gawyn and Elayne got older and weren't so obedient. (Much later Morgase DOES realize they all done fucked up and tries to fix it.)

It's an interesting thing that happens to a certain subset of traumatized kids. Because they're not acting out or difficult, they get lost in the shuffle. People think it's okay because they're "not that bad" and meanwhile they're just quietly losing their shit. (Me, projecting? Nooo.)

Anyway, my point is I don't think Galad does the right thing to be a dick at any point. Gawyn might be a bit flawed, but he idolizes his brother and Morgase wouldn't have tolerated it if he was acting out of self-interest, son or not.

Elayne is the only one who really expresses dislike for Galad which I think is more an insight into her character as I believe she sometimes feels like she'll never be as "good" as Galad. He also gets her in trouble and it must be frustrating.

There is a quote about how he'll always do the right thing no matter who it hurts, which we see during the incident with the ship most clearly, and I can't help but contrast that with Moiraine and her arc in the books and the show - she also is fully committed to doing the right thing (saving the world) and will not let her think about the smaller costs.

Joining the whitecloaks is more complex than signing up with the fantasy hate group of Randland. I know as readers we're like What The Actual Fuck but the in-world perspective of the Aes Sedai is incredibly complicated, even in places that fully accept them there is fear, superstition, and mistrust.

I do think one mistake made with Galad is his age, because he comes off as a 20-something for so much of the series and therefore his actions make more sense, but having him be like, a full grown man is weird. A 20-something could be coaxed into joining the whitecloaks because they're basically a cult, they've got the nice clean uniforms, everybody follows the rules, oh and look at this nice shiny book that tells you how to live!

Direct quote from fandom but: "He claims that according to The Way of the Light, not all women who wield the One Power are inherently evil, stating that such is a mistaken tradition of the Children. Galad continues by saying that the book really says that temptation to wield the One Power can corrupt."

^ Honestly, that passage is not wrong, and I trust Galad's interpretation more than I would whitecloaks who have built up a quite hateful ideaology. It wouldn't be the first time a group deliberately misunderstood their own texts.

We don't see it, but for Galad I can absolutely see why the whitecloaks are appealing. He has no real place in the world (he's not going to stand by Elayne's side as the First Prince of the Sword, he's of high noble birth but nobody, he has some shit-tier social skills) but there's Eamon Valda telling him he's special, spending time with him specifically. Maybe he doesn't quite agree with their thoughts on the Aes Sedai, but the Tower is split, Elayne has vanished, and he's vulnerable to that type of manipulation.

I'm not saying it was a good choice, just that I can see why he made it. Just like I understand why Gawyn defended the tower.

Honestly Morgase set them up to be cult fodder lets be real.

We start to see him splinter a bit when it comes to Morgase and Eamon Valda. He's telling himself he's doing the right thing, etc. but even then... you can feel his doubts. The self-blame. That maybe he did a bad thing and now the people around him are suffering for it. His mother suffered for it. But he wants to make it right again!! And he's trying!

Like most of the other leaders of the era, he sees the writing on the wall and knows they're going to need every single body they've got to fight The Last Battle which means compromising on key beliefs of the whitecloaks like fighting with Aes Sedai instead of against them. (I do think there is a clear dissonance in his head between Aes Sedai and his family - he doesn't want to see it. Sort of like the people who rant and rail about food stamps until they need them and suddenly it's okay because it's them.)

Anyway I'm gonna stop now, but for me that's the bulk of why I find Galad to be interesting as a character.

With most popular Wheel of Time characters, I get it even if I don’t agree. Like I find Lan boring af but he represents a popular character archetype and is the love interest of a fan favorite so it totally makes sense why he has so many fans.

Galad though? I Do Not Get It. He was fun at first, with his self righteous big brother I’m telling mom energy, but then he joined the fantasy KKK WHILE having a sister who belongs to the group they want to exterminate. And it isn’t qualified appreciation like “wow that’s an interesting storyline that really illustrates how otherwise normal people can become radicalized,” it’s “Galad is a gigachad and the only good one of Morgases kids.” Do people really hate the Aes Sedai so much that they think “the group who thinks channelers should all be eliminated” makes some good points? Is it the halo effect around very good looking people, which Berelain arguably also benefits from, even though it’s words on a page and not a visual medium? Is it because Elayne doesn’t like him and a lot of people hate her?

NOTE: I get that Sanderson did his usual “Galad is a Good Person and is put in charge so the Whitecloaks are now Good too!” routine, but it really doesn’t fit with RJs style, and it doesn’t erase their foundational ideology or what they’re famous for doing.

[ardeidae]

chain of iron ranting

honestly tbh i’ve kinda just been struggling over this book like . i love it but there are so many things that i cannot get over so...i thought i’d compile them in one post just to get my mind off them

positives

of the many, many character relationships, i found myself caring the most about jordelia (w/ some matthew) and grace w/ everyone (surprisingly). it’s pretty obvious why i care about jordelia—from all the domestic scenes to the almost absurd amount of miscommunication and heartbreak, i want to slap them both in the face and just get them to be happy. ofc, i understand why they aren’t, but i’m mad (and waiting for chain of thorns).

ofc, when we talk about jordelia, we have to mention matthew. i am literally praying that matthew and cordelia aren’t the final couple—which is funny, because pre-chain-of-iron i was rooting for fairstairs. but i’ve backed up on that decision. we saw real, genuine james in this book, and all the scenes with him and cordelia convinced me that jordelia (hopefully) is what we’ll get in the end. and besides, cordelia’s sorta said that she can’t love matthew in the way he wants her too, and i’m half-convinced matthew doesn’t actually love her in that way either—half-convinced, though. chain of thorns chould change my mind, i’m open to suggestions.

grace is slightly different. we got a look into just who she is, and i find myself...not liking, but understanding her better. the moments when she stops herself from using her power on christopher is one of my favorites (i’m still mad she pulled a one-eighty at the end though and pretend like it was nothing)

i love alastair in this book (...though i found myself not caring about him with thomas, which i found curious). we see more of the mature side of him, and he’s really one of the only characters who isn’t flat-out lying in this book, which is refreshing. i found his attitude towards his father interesting, and his little thing about the child not having a father was heartbreaking. loved him here.

negatives

now that i’ve got the stuff i liked out of the way...the negatives. i found myself—surprisingly—not too fond of jesse and lucie in this book. i understand lucie’s motivations—she both “loves” jesse and owes jesse for james’ life, even if jesse won’t hold her to that. but man, i don’t understand all the secrets. when lucie stood in front of cordelia, who was trying her damn hardest to not run a sword through lucie, all she could think about was jesse. jesse’s dead, and while she might have the power to save him, that isn’t a healthy relationship. they’re cute—i’ll give them that—but chain of gold didn’t give us a glimpse into how far she’s willing to go for jesse, and i don’t like this new development. she’s putting jesse over everyone—over cordelia, over her entire family. and i’m not happy about it. imo this is a fantasy—lucie getting to be the main hero of her story, only it’s not a story that can have a happy ending. at least, in my opinion.

speaking of that, i thought there were several things that were forced in this. it might be because i hate that cordelia ran off with matthew (though i understand why she did it), but i think the whole “james lucie will only listen to you” argument is stupid. we’ve never seen a case of this before—of lucie listening to james over her parents—and i feel like it was a plot device used only to make sure james didn’t run after cordelia and matthew.

i also found the whole “win a game, get a question” thing a bit peculiar. it’s rarely used as more than an exposition device, and we see it used once so that cordelia can find out why the merry thieves hate her brother (to my memory). i think i would have liked it better if we’d gotten more moments with this—after all, they play chess or some other game every night, and we could have gotten so many moments (i’m still mad that we never got the end of the scene where cordelia is like “if you wanna know who i had a crush on you gotta beat me at chess��� like i want to see competitive james).

the...meh

there was stuff i wasn’t too excited about here either. the plot was decent—i didn’t expect the lilith twist—but something about the pacing felt old. too slow in some places, and too fast in others. also there’s more than one plot line here, and while the murder one was cool, the resurrection one felt a bit...messy. it kind of splits into two—what lucie’s doing, and what grace is doing, and lucie’s gets a lot more of the spotlight. not really a decision i liked—i find grace’s motivations and how far she’s willing to go more interesting, and i’ve already discussed why i didn’t really like lucie in this book.

i found anna and ariadne boring too. i’m not a person who cares about...steamy scenes that much, and steamy pretty much defines most of their relationship throughout the book. i would have liked it better if we spent more time on it, but this books juggles a lot—and i mean, a lot—of relationships, and it felt underdeveloped.

i also had some qualms about the dialogue. maybe it’s just me, but sometimes it took awkward jumps to reach certain conclusions (like there was a checklist for certain dialogues) and it didn’t feel natural. but that’s just me being picky.

...oh and i’m on the edge about alastair and thomas. the fact they spent their time together making out isn’t something i liked. i would rather have them talk, because that’s kind of what their relationship needs. i completely understand why alastair turned him down at the end, and while i pity thomas, i can’t say i disagree.

i also can’t understand why magnus and james spent so long in the spiral labyrinth. i read the short story at the end, and it kinda felt like a reason to just not have two trustable, actually sane adults to help. maybe i missed something (i was running on very little sleep by this point) but i didn’t get it.

...well that was me ranting. i don’t expect anyone to care, but i like writing things down. anyway (if anyone has finished this to the end, in which case, i’m thankful) have a wonderful day :)))

[toki-macross]

Rizzoli and Scooby Doo

Ok, so this is going to be being a writing, Scooby Doo fan babble... So if that isn't your thing, then I hope you have a lovely rest of your day. But if you want to read my ramblings about Rizzoli and Isles and Scooby Doo geeking out, look click the 'read more' , keep reading, what ever is past the break.

Whoo, I did this right, I think... Ok! So, I just had finished some other series, and wanted to try poking at something. And Rizzoli and Isles fell into my crosshairs. I know I had watched episodes on TV, but never caught all of it. Overall, it's an ok show. In my opinion, it's a mediocre cop drama... but what it lacks in for the main plot cop stuffs... it makes up for AMAZING character development after a while. The beginning is a bit rocky, but most shows have that. So, I give that a pass. But as it went, you really end up seeing an amazing friendship and one of the best examples I have ever seen on TV that encompasses what it is to be best friends. That is Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles. Watching this, has really helped me get a bunch of good ideas to put towards me writing Velma and Daphne as best friends. And a bit with the Guys being best friends too. But the main two ladies, really gave me Velma and Daphne vibes... But not in the way you might think. Jane Rizzoli is the cop lady. But while her profession is something I could see an alternate universe Daphne having... Her grumpy personality really read more Velma to me. She wasn't the fondest of hugs, she huffed alot, she liked getting her way. And she loved being right. And her dynamic with Maura was often one of Maura picking on her playfully, and Jane snarking back at her. But in some aspects, she was very Daphne. Maura Isles is very much a Velma profession, being the chief medical officer in the state. But she read to me with the personality of Daphne. She was the more, warm and bubbly kind but not overly so. She also LOVED fashion, almost always showing up to a crime scene in heels, and always had spare more normal hiking boots in case it was too much for her heels. But she would ask first, and everyone she tended to ask, would give her a honest normal answer as this was a common practice. She also came from a rich family, but really didn't like slap the other characters in the face with it... though she did have a bit of a stress buying habit. XD So while being all science and lab work and stuff, she also just felt Daphne more in who she was... then what she did. But man, when she was embarrassed, her reactions was very Velma-ish. Also in the butt kicking, it was more Daphne like, then Velma's more burly, hockey/wrestling type deal. Also on how they dealt with emotions, Jane was very... I have a job to do. I will deal with it later, if ever. And Maura was always prodding her to deal with her emotions, and she did some impulse shopping to destress, and tried to get Jane to do various things with her... Like Yoga, Jogging, Spa dates, etc. And I loved how they both really knew each other, and reacted in kind. The BANTER MAN! The writers had these two to a science, it was so beautiful. And... AND!... They made a Scooby Doo joke XD ---------------------------------------- Scooby reference in Rozzoli and Isles! Where they just found a hidden door. Pressed a book and a door opens. Ladies look on in shock and awe.

Jane: "I've always wanted one of these. Shaggy and Scooby would be so proud"

Korsack (detective that was her previous partner) gestures for her to walk in first: "After you, Velma"

Jane catches her own word before saying: "No She's Velma" points to Maura "I'm Daphne Obviously. Maura, Back me up about this!"

Maura: "I'm going to examine the body. "

Maura passes in and Jane just points after her, whispering to Korsak "Velma"

Jane: "Alone in a sealed room?"

Maura: I" will not guess, it's suspicious"

Korsak: "We have a Mystery."

Jane: "If only we had the Mystery Machine." excited face at the end

Maura: "Really, still with the Scooby Doo"

Jane playing it up: "ZOINKS"

Maura: "You do realize every episode was the same, right? Greedy Millionaire, dressing up as a ghost to protect his property from a land grab."

Jane with a look: "It's... A classic. "

Maura: "The title Character, is a talking dog."

Jane like she is explaining things: "...Who solves crimes!"

Maura: "Agree to disagree."

Jane as Maura is walking away: "And he was a Great Dane, by the way!" ---------------------------------------- I Love it! XD Above is what I copied to tell a friend about it. But the writing is amazing. And I really was loving how they really ended up making loveable characters with their own development and the end really leaves you feeling like you stopped as they kept going. So, you can feel that they keep living past what you are allowed to watch. Which is sad, since it ends. But it also makes it feel like it lives forever beyond what you were allowed to watch. And probably has all the things for fanfiction, really. I might have to look for some. But, it is something I can see myself re-watching, and paying attention to all the personalities and little mannerisms that the ladies had that I can then use for my own work. If you don't mind a kinda lack luster cop shop with amazing character stuff, give it a try! I really liked it, but it does take a bit to really hit their stride. Might just jump past all the meh... You would think that a serial killer out to get the MC would be interesting, but meh. Not that they had better villains then him, but it just didn't take me in as much as the banter and fun interactions between two Best Friends, and the friends and family that put up with them.

[trainsinanime]

Just finished Mandalorian season 2 so far (up to Episode 14 / Six of season 2). Some random notes:

The start felt like they had run out of ideas, which is fascinating for a show that felt like it never had a single original idea to begin with. The thing is that Mandalorian takes very old tropes and just executes them to perfection. No subversion, no nothing, just the old thing done really, really well. Most of the times that's enough. Sometimes, though, it seems to start dragging just a tiny little bit. The ice planet episode in particular was just a generic trench run followed by a generic monster fight, with nothing ultimately learned or gained.

There are parts where the storytelling is arguably too conventional, and this is most obvious with the character of the blue coward in the cloning lab episode. Apart from the fact that his objections were very reasonable - he's an accountant, not a superhero, and it makes no sense whatsoever that they expect him to act like one - the whole character is a very old trope: He is portrayed as cowardly, untrustworthy, concerned with personal comfort and material wealth, and coded weak and effeminate when compared to the very masculine no-nonsense main heroes… in short, this is an old homophobic caricature. Compare TVTropes. Now, I'm not saying the cast and crew of Mandalorian are deliberately homophobic, or at least not all of them. But I am saying that they are creatively bankrupt (which should be obvious, they brought Boba Fett back) and clearly don't think enough about the context of the old tropes they're stealing.

Another thing is Baby Yoda eating the unborn children of the frog lady, which I know Twitter was upset about back when that episode first aired. Personally, I agree that this joke is weird and leaves a bad taste (I mean, I assume, but clearly Grogu disagrees), but since the whole frog lady plot was a giant waste of time anyway, I can't even bring myself to care. Honestly, why are they setting up the whole "can't communicate" conflict, then provide her a means to communicate, have her not say anything of value, and then revert back? That's just weak.

I'm not entirely sure whether I like Ahsoka Tahno here, or just Rosario Dawson. She is an amazing presence, but it's not like she gets a lot to do here. I appreciate Thrawn being canon in the live-action TV universe again (I vaguely recall something about a show called Rebels that was apparently animated, happened before this, and also brought up our favorite art lover, but I never watched that show. Maybe I should). That being said, the moment anyone even so much as whispers "Yuuzhan Vong", I'm out.

I know a lot of people like Din's unwavering commitment to his own questline, but personally, I think it's selling us short. Like in that heist episode, he learns that "the way" he's been following may not actually be "the way", or at least the only way. And his response is… to skip the dialogue lines so he can get to his side quest quicker. Gotta say: Meh.

I don't like the Boba Fett episode, although it did something unbelievable: It briefly made Boba Fett seem cool! I don't know why people keep insisting that he has ever been cool before. I did watch him in the movies. I did read all the Karen Traviss books. But I never thought he was actually cool or interesting. And the fight that was meant to convince us that he was cool in this episode was mostly just ridiculous. The way that these stormtroopers completely fail to hit Ming-Na Wen is just plain ridiculous, especially once they set up their machine gun. But then they manage to hit only the characters that are wearing armor, so the whole thing seems more threatening. And in the big finale, a character with a jetpack arrives to late to save the day because he couldn't walk fast enough. Like, seriously? This is a classic idiot plot that only works because at any given point, someone was incompetent enough, not because of any actual reason, but just because the plot wouldn't work otherwise.

Overall, Mandalorian season 2 is still mostly the same as season 1: Unoriginal ideas executed with beautiful perfection. But I think we're seeing more and more cracks form.

[adventuringsidhe]

A Discovery of Witches Season 2 - I Have Issues With This Season!

Before anyone gets defensive, I do like this show. It’s not my favourite TV show, but I’ve been very reserved in liking a show too much after Game of Thrones. Seriously, that show ruined my way of enjoying a show forever. The last two season, whatever you felt about GOT, in terms of storytelling, it was a disaster and decisions made within it were stupid and non-sensical. But I digress (even thinking about it makes me irritated). 

A Discovery of Witches Season 2 was a long, drawn out bore fest. If I’m to sum it up, that is how it felt. There is one thing that really bothered me more than anything by the last episode and this may seem trivial but it made me dislike the main characters (which I was struggling to like throughout this whole season anyway).

Jack.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, in season two, Diana brings a little orphan boy into her and Matthew’s tudor home, feed him and gives him a place to stay. They then go on throughout the entire season to allowing him to grow attached like family to them (we’re talking months here if not over a year). Give him education, reading, and caring for him at night when he has night terrors etc. Basically adopting him. So, why am I so bothered? Well, by the end of the season, Diana is pregnant, and their going back to the present. So they just say their goodbyes to Jack and leave.

That pissed me off so badly I can’t reconcile with them as characters. It was obvious he had grown attached to them, bonded, and basically like family, even mother and father to him, only for him to be left behind by them. I think that is pretty shitty no matter how you look at it. Whether intentional or not, they brought him into their home and treated him like their own child, but then at the last moment because they’ve to come back into the present era, they leave him. I don’t know, but I just found that whole story line a little shitty. Jack had no family and was living on the streets, stealing because he was hungry, only for this couple to give him a home and only later abandon him again. Shitty.

It honestly reminded me of that Youtube couple who adopted a child that had needs, only to ‘return’ him a while later because they couldn’t cope with him, while giving a sob story and a few tears.

I was struggling to like Matthew throughout this whole season, he acted really shitty towards Diana, which bothered me so much, and it was all played down as ‘protecting her’. Bsht. ‘But look how good he was with Jack?’ Yeah, that was the only good thing about him this season, and then made worse by his easy disconnection when they had to leave by the end of it.

I know some fans will disagree with me and excuse this behaviour because their from the future and Jack is from Tudor times, so blah blah reasons. I get it, you love these characters, but I just didn’t this season, and major flaws in their ‘good’ persona broke through which just weren’t nice at all.

So yeah, I didn’t appreciate them taking in an orphan and making him feel like family, only to abandon him at the last moment because you got to return to the future and you’re pregnant. Kinda shitty in my opinion.

Matthew - Blood Rage.

Never mentioned in the first season, and honestly - it was such a lame thing. Another vampire series where you never see the vampire’s teeth. This is getting boring and kind of childish. A series that has magic, blood, violence, sexual moments, doesn’t have vampire teeth? Boring. Sorry not sorry. The vampires in this world are boring, not scary, not even interesting. Matthew is made out to be a good vampire, who restrains himself, blah blah crap, but honestly - I have more connection to Lestat, Lois, Claudia, Blade, Stefan, Eric, Pam even Bill (William Compton) etc. Matthew though? No, he just wasn’t as good this season. They tried to make him have a ‘issue’ because of the time, etc, but I just thought he was a bit of an dick. Blood rage also was a poor excuse and given a modern plot too, with some character had blood rage, along with Marcus. Anyway, I just didn’t like him this season or the whole ‘blood rage’ excuse.

Diana.

Look, I appreciated the whole ‘’They’re not teenagers’’ thing when it came to this show, same with True Blood. I hate teenage romances or that follow teenagers around as if they have more years of experience than a 30 something. I appreciate the change of audience, the maturity, the complexity, the lived in past, all those things that come with older characters that I can relate too so much more than a teenager. Which is why I like vampire shows like True Blood, movies like Interview with the Vampire, Blade, Vampire Hunter D etc. They are fantastic, deeply complex characters with amazing stories.

Diana though...meh. I was so into the magic thing in the first season, what drew me to it, not the vampires (lost interest once I knew I wouldn’t see the teeth). However, this season, I’m so over the ‘’must protect Diana’’ thing, I just found myself nodding off in parts. She’s treated like a sacred divine being, and the only one of her kind. Those ‘’chosen one’’ stories can be intriguing in some cases like Harry Potter, who, grew over time and had complex emotions about it, and he did suffer immensely for being the ‘’one’’. Diana however, this season - is a bit of a bitch. A know it all. A little too smug. 

I’m also tired of the whole ‘’rich vampire who played a role in major historical things’’. The rich vampire who can give you the world is a nice thought, but I don’t like it all that much, it just makes it harder to buy into the whole secrecy, living in the shadows stuff. It seems everyone in Tudor times knows about Vampire, Witches and Daemons, so...a bit weird honestly.

Diana getting pregnant I knew was coming, as its apparently in the books too (not into the books, sorry). But, it’s another cliché like Twilight. Honestly, this is very similar to Twilight but their older. Yeah. And Diana has magic and apparently the most powerful being on the planet. I get that their these incredibly intertwined lovers who were destined for each other across time and space, which is all nice and everything, but Jesus....is their no one else or anything else important to them at all? I also thought it was cheap as f**k bringing Diana’s dad in at the last moment, as this emotional weight, which just didn’t do it for me at all. It’s really sad to say this but I lost all connection to Diana this season, and to their love story. It fizzled out faster than my lemonade when I leave it to sit in a warm spot.

The Other Characters

Their really wasn’t that much time with them at all to bond with. Marcus’s relationship with the auctioneer woman? That escalated quickly. Seriously, one moment their having a one night stand, to the next, he tells her all the secrets of his world and bringing her to France and meeting Ysabeau. Is he planning on staying with her forever now? Like what is going on there? No interest.

I wanted to know more about this baby born of Daemons but damn they left it so late and gave so little time and by the end it’s hard to care about everything. These stories really need to stop trying to add multiple characters and stories into a just one story. Just make one story. Not several packed into a main one. Flesh it out better, slower with other characters. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the aesthetic of this world, the design, the beauty of it. Even the magic is interesting, to a point, if a little simple for my taste. I do appreciate what they’re trying to do, but once again the stories fall flat, the characters become distant to the audience (talking of myself, maybe others don’t feel that way), and not relatable at all. This is fantasy, and we can’t related in many ways, but their lives, choices and feelings do make it relatable. I remember watching Interview with the Vampire and seeing how much consequences Lois’ choices caused him, it was devastating because you knew Lois had to make a choice which wasn’t always right and it burdened him immensely. Even as bad as the last few seasons of True Blood were, their were heavy, heavy consequences on all the characters for everything that had happened throughout the show and all the years.

This show just felt very Twilight by this second season, and as much as Twilight is okay back in the day, now it feels outdated in terms of relationships, intimacy, toxicity, danger, and other things important to us in terms of love, romance, family and friendship. 

Another tv show I’ve been disappointed in unfortunately, like Game of Thrones, Outlander (even though the standard is still there, the story has gone off too far not for me to hold interest anymore), are but a few that I was really into and then slowly they veered off course and so did my love for them. Same with A Discovery of Witches, which is only in its 2nd season but already it feels flat.

Anyway, rant over lol! Only my opinion, you can love it or not, just a random opinion on a personal tumblr page.

[catboyralphlanyon-archive]

The Charioteer covers ranked

This is my opinion, and you are free to disagree with me

1. 1953 cover (first edition)

9/10

It’s a clean cover, the charioteer allegory is there and I like the color scheme. A bit old fashioned, but it still works.

2. 1963 Paperback

7/10

It looks like a cheap romance paperback novel, and there is no Laurie in there, so points off for that, HOWEVER that Ralph Lanyon is perfect and for the most part I don’t like faces on book covers because I feel like they can see my deepest darkest secrets, BUT I am willing to make an exception for this one.

***even though I do feel like Ralph is giving me the Judgement Stare(tm)

3. 1983 Cover

2/10

Something about the face just puts me off. It looks unnatural to me (it’s probably the hairstyle...) To whoever designed this cover: thanks, I hate it :)

4. The "I have no idea what year this is from or if it’s even real because all I could find was a shitty picture on pinterest of it but I saw it and it’s what inspired me to make this post in the first place" Cover

10/10

This is it. Everyone else go home, this is the perfect cover.

There are so many things I want to talk about here and so many questions. Why does Laurie look like he is dying? What the hell is he doing walking out on the street (?) with his robe on? Why does Ralph seem to be having such a good time even though Laurie looks like he’s about to pass out? Just, the complete ridiculousness of the drawing is too perfect.

5. 2013 ebook

6/10

There’s really not much to say about it. It’s not memorable, nothing really stands out to me but it’s okay I guess.

6. The 2013 paperback covers ft. Faces

3/10 and 4/10

Right Cover is fine, except Laurie is staring into my soul. Not a huge fan of the font either...

The left cover on the other hand: FUCK IT. I hate it. I don’t know what about it makes me have such a strong reaction to it. It makes me so uncomfortable, because like I said, I don’t like faces on book covers and this face is HUGE. It covers almost the whole book’s cover. Nope. No thanks. I’m out of here.

7. The Spanish Translation Covers

6/10

They’re pretty meh. They’re not bad, per say, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call them good. Don’t really care to tell the difference between the two of them but I like that they included the "lighting other person's cigarette" detail. Also, the translation is killing me (I think it’s a funny word). Honest to god, I’ve NEVER heard the word "auriga" in my entire life and I’m losing it now

8. The audiobook cover

7/10

Again, I don’t really like faces on covers, but this one I can tolerate. I like the blue, since I feel it fits really well with the mood of the book overall. I also like the details around the margin. All in all, I would have given this a 10, but I still have issues with The Face.

Edit: Part 2

[adustierstar]

Lawblr Book Club

Hello naughty children, it’s time for Nissa’s Opinions

Coming in RIGHT under the wire for October book club, but still. I have read the reboggles I could find on T’s tag (bc tumblr search is what it is), and now it’s my turn.

General Questions:

1 - What did you like best / least?

I liked the worldbuilding a lot - I want to know more about the Reaches and the Travelers and why everything is made of wood in Kolonya?? Least... we will get to lol

2 - Would you read more by this author?

mmmmmmmmmmaybe. Like I want to know wtf happened, but I’m also still pretty mad about the ending. We shall see.

3 (a) - If this story followed a different character’s POV, who would you pick and why?

tbh the last thing this book needs is more POVs

3 (b) - Did you like how the three different sister’s POV was used to push the narrative forward? Did it make your reading experience more or less enjoyable?

idk, it was a little slow for my tastes. I did like that the girls all had different perspectives, but I wish they’d had more different personalities. Like Ren and Akeylah are the same person, just brought up with different abuse. And if Zofi has a personality beyond anger, she’s probably the same, too.

4 - What scene stuck with you the most?

I really liked the first time Ren and Zofi confronted Akeylah in the library - it was kinda “did we just become best friends?! YUP!” but also FINALLY gave them a team vibe and distinct specialties.

5 - What kind of lingering questions were you left with (besides the obvious cliffhanger WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME ELLEN)

literally what was the point of this being its own book if the single main conflict wasn’t actually resolved???

6 (a) - Could you relate to the characters & their story arcs?

Meh. I mean, a little bit? But overall I didn’t find them terribly relatable.

6 (b) - How do you feel about each character’s ending?

WHAT. ENDING.

7 - Were there times you disagreed with a character’s actions / would have done something different in their shoes?

YES MANY.

8 - Were you rooting for any character or pairing in particular?

I wanted to like Akeylah best bc she seems really sincere and genuine, BUT then suddenly all of her “I’m a secret genius” calculating stuff comes up and it’s a little tough to reconcile those things. I liked each of the girls okay, but I didn’t feel like there was a clear answer to who should rule (aside from Ren’s musing about all 3 of them, maybe).

9 - Do you picture any specific fancasts when reading the book?

The only one I have any clear idea what she looks like is Akeylah, but I can’t think of anyone who looks like that, you know? I think of Zofi as looking like an angry Ice Climber from Smash Bros. And like...idk maybe Letitia Wright for Ren? Maybe Lupita Nyong’o or Gugu Raw for Rozalind, unless she’s supposed to be the girls’ age, then somebody younger, I guess? Idk.

Story Specific Questions:

11 - Did you enjoy how each girl’s secret was teased out? Do you like when authors slow-roll this kind of information?

I do like a slow rollout (”who taught him ‘rollout’?!”), I think there’s a lot to be said for setting readers loose in medias res, BUT I also think it wasn’t handled amazingly here - idk maybe it’s just me, but I felt like it was sort of stage-whispering. Like “oh no I hope no one guesses my TERRIBLE SECRET!!! I would be in SO MUCH trouble!!” It just felt very obvious to me, although the secrets themselves weren’t obvious (the first time we learned about them).

12 - Do you think each character was fleshed out sufficiently, such that you had a sense of the different personality for each sister?

Not really? Kind of. An attempt was made with the girls, but basically no one else got any dimension whatsoever.

13 - Do you have guesses on who the blackmailer is?

Not really, bc this book broke every rule of how to write an engaging mystery. Like literally the only people who could POSSIBLY be it from the information we have are Rozalind, Vidal, and Andros, none of which really make sense given everything else, but like???? I guess Rozalind is my best guess bc she was acting kinda sus re: the acolyte etc. But I think that would be a bad choice unless a lot of other things change between now and that reveal.

14 - Was Yasmin a believable antagonist to you?

Like. I thought she was SCREAMINGLY obviously a red herring the entire book. She was brusque with the girls, and there was some weirdness in the first scene where the girls meet the king where I thought maybe she was possessing him, but that’s obviously just the weird mind link thing they did, and that’s it. Like being a bitch isn’t illegal.

15 - Do you think the daughters’ secrets were defensible actions?

Kinda? Like, definitely understandable, but like, is murder ever defensible? Ren had no reason to suspect her information would be used the way it was (whether or not Danton knew is something I’m not convinced on either way), Akeylah had no reason to believe she wasn’t cursing the man she fully expected to kill her (although MAYBE she should have paid closer attention during the cursing itself?? Like, the distance seems like it should have played a role in how hard it was to find “her father”), and Zofi perhaps overreacted, but used what seemed like appropriate force at the time in defense of another’s life (or rather she couldn’t/didn’t want to  think of a way to simply restrain or incapacitate Nicolen, so stabby stabby). Was it stupid? Yes, for all of them. But they’re children (are they 18? I forget how old they’re supposed to be. Also, why are they the same age, if they are? was that just Andros’s Good Fuckin Year?)

16 - How do you feel about this unique system of magic?

WEIRD. I NEED MORE INFORMATION. WHY does the blood have to be drawn? Where does it go? What is the scarring situation with these people? What about the SHARDS OF GLASS permanently embedded in Zofi’s legs? Speaking of which, how the FUCK are Travelers out here hand-blowing glass in a mobile way??? That’s not a pick-up-and-carry craft! What’s the cooldown period for tithing? Why is it CALLED tithing? Who are you tithing TO? What negative effects are there for tithing for too long? Zofi mentions that they exist, but this is never explained. I feel like after all her reading, Akeylah should be able to answer these questions for me. BUT SHE DIDN’T.

17 - Was the theme of racism sufficiently handled?

Handled..??? If by that you mean vaguely suggested as existing and occasionally seems to have affected some characters’ lives, sure. Like, the closest we got was “Vidal’s not as racist as some other people yay!”

18 - Do you have any theories about the poem found in the library?

tbh I don’t even remember a poem in the library, just the notes about the weird echo situation.

19 - How did you feel about the cliffhanger ending?

BAD. VERY BAD. It was like the ending of Cars in that it retroactively ruined a lot of the book for me. NOTHING was accomplished in this ENTIRE book WHY

[mariisseething]

Analyzing Hero Costumes: Girls of Class 1-A

My obsession has spiraled out of control. Let me roast analyze these babes. I’m dumb. I’m tired. I’m gay. Let’s do this.

Warning: I’m a cynical, lazy-ass critic with no consistent taste. Don’t expect a fair analysis.

(This is just for fun, please don’t get mad at me for being an undereducated weeb! I went into writing this with only the knowledge I’ve obtained through watching the show and reading the manga. I don’t know everything about the costumes, and I don’t want to either)!

Ashido Mina (Pinky)

Babe, imma be frank here.

I love her, but—

that shit ugly.

Funcionality: Mina’s quirk (Acid) comes from her hands and feet. If I remember correctly, she has passages in her shoes that her...foot..acid.....can pass through, and her hands are fully exposed. So her costume is “practical”, and works with her quirk.

Design: As I said before, that shit ugly. The body suit has the worst pattern and color combination I’ve ever seen. (Like if Sully from Monster’s Inc. was turned into a cow and hated it). Her tiddies should be popping out any second now, which isn’t great. Her weird armpit vest with it’s stupid fluffy collar is quite reminiscent of Hawks’ jacket, which leads me to believe that their costumes were made by the same designer. (Many of the designers in the BNHA universe put calling-cards in their costumes). Her white mask is pointless, but at least it matches the fluff on her collar. Her boots, though they have a purpose, are ugly as sin. The pale yellow doesn’t match any other piece in the ensemble, and the Dabi-scar colored purple makes me sad. Hate that.

Total Score: 2/10

Her costume does almost nothing to enhance her quirk, and it’s hideous. The only reason it got two points was because of the shoe holes, and the possibility that it’s connected to my boy Hawks.

Seriously, this is some Seasame Street lookin-ass bullshit.

No hate on Mina, she’s lovely, but her taste is atrocious. (see: her bedroom).

Asui Tsuyu (Froppy)

Okay, okay bitch I see you.

I’m here for this.

Funcionality: Tsu’s quirk (Frog) requires a decent amount of flexibility from clothing. Spandex works for that I guess. Normally, I would automatically fail this costume for having goddamn toe “socks”, but for Tsuyu they’re nessecary. Having her individual toes chiseled out helps her grip onto shit when she’s kicking ass. It looks like her gloves are attached to her body suit, which is rad, but I’m not sure what the purpose of that waist belt-thing is. If anything, the chunky pieces of her costume would make it harder for her to swim. I also have no fucking clue what that head piece is. I once thought they were like binoculars or something, but she’s never put them on her face so...they wouldn’t fit....on her face..huh.....I’m so stupid bro.

Design: Lets start with a positive, the color scheme slaps. Everything goes together, and the dark green even matches her hair. The bodysuit has a cool structure, and I can definitely appreciate the slight turtleneck and boot-esq feature; however, the chunky wrist pieces, belt, neck/chest-thing, and head piece confuse me. I guess they’re there for fashion, gutter fashion. Shitty crap face fashion. Ugly butthole fashion. FILTH! I need to calm down holy shit—

Total Score: 6/10

The look honestly only lost points for the random ass statement pieces. Water terrains are Tsuyu’s specialty, and a clunky outfit would certainly slow her down underwater.

The toe shit, turtleneck, thigh-high “boots”, and color scheme are pretty dope though.

(Also, she only has three toes but frogs have four).

(My Hero Academia: Cancelled).

Hagakure Toru (Invisible Girl)

So, here’s the real question.

Is she naked?

Short answer: I dunno.

Funcionality: So she’s invisible, right? A good costume would emphasize that. I can only assume she wears the boots and gloves for comfort and so her allies can see where she is. If she wants to go full invisible, she just has to take them off. At one point, it was confirmed that she was topless during the sports festival, but we’ve had no further updates on her costume. A few people have theorized that her costume is made of her hair (assuming she has hair). We know that this is possible, as Mirio’s costume is made of his hair so he can remain clothed while his quirk is activated. The only issue would be making an outfit out of something you can’t see. If I were Toru, I would choose to fight nude because, I-uh...hmm, I-I can do what I want SHUT UP!

Design: There’s not much to critique here. The shade of blue on her gloves is cute, and the pink stripes don’t make much of an impact. The shoes are just about the most boring thing I’ve ever seen, like why are they beige??? What are they supposed to match? I just—ugh, beige??? What the fuck Horikoshi...smh.

Total Score: 5/10

Since we don’t know if the “hair-costume” thing is canon, I can’t rate it any higher. If that is true, it would be an 7/10. The outfit does its job, but I’m bored and beige sucks.

(Btw I don’t trust her...)

(Sketchy chick right here).

(Sketchy chick with some ugly-ass beige shoes).

Jirou Kyouka (Earphone Jack)

Aww.

She’s cute!

Look at her little face, d’awwwweeeeee!

Funcionality: The lovely Kyouka’s quirk (Earphone Jack), makes absolutely no sense to me. Like, I get that she can hear better and can eavesdrop really well, but how does she...make loud noises??? With the speakers??? Plugging earbuds into a speaker doesn’t make............noise, and the speakers aren’t part of her body. Whatever, back to the analysis. The speakers on her hands and calves amplify sound somehow, and her earlobes are exposed. It’s works.

Design: The speaker boots are basic, but acceptable. She’s got some comfy looking black pants, and a trendy salmon-colored top. Her jacket is iconic, and she’s wearing a choker. (+1,000,000 points for that). The white gloves don’t match shit, but they’re fingerless so I’ll let it slide. Her headphones almost match....meh. I don’t care. (+10 for the face paint).

Total Score: 8/10

Listen, I’d give her a 10 but this costume just isn’t....gimmicky, enough for me? She’s a superhero for fucksake! Now’s the time to dress your goddamn best! The look is practical, and seems to be her taste, I just disagree with her choices. Sue me. I’d either wanna fight in the wackiest most dangerous getup you’ve ever seen, or completely naked. Either way, I’m getting arrested. Jirou needs to get on my fucking level.

Uraraka Ochaco (Uravity)

I don’t know boys,

it seems like she might be...

round.

Fuck sharp angles!

Funcionality: Ochaco’s quirk (Zero Gravity) only requires her hands to work. More specifically, her fingertips. Uh, yeah those are some nude fingertips. *Ahem* moving on. Actually wait, since she often uses her quirk on herself it would be helpful for her to eliminate as much extra weight as possible, so I’m hoping that all of the accessories are hollow. They better be, or I’m gonna start throwing hands with Kohei Horikoshi.

Design: When Ochaco first got her hero costume she was surprised by how tight it was, even saying that it wasn’t supposed to be that tight. Bitch, how could it have been loose? I don’t...fuck it. I like the colors, I like the boots a lot actually, but who cares about that, I wanna talk about her fucking chastity belt. Who she keepin out? (Jesus Christ she’s a child, tone it down Mari). Do you think it’s comfortable to walk around with a chunk of plastic on your crotch?! I don’t know, seriously, is it? Maybe she’s trying to hide something...a hip dip perhaps?! Jk hip dips are stupid, that’s how bones work, don’t be ashamed. Her wrist...spheres... have handles on them, no comment, and whereas I usually LOVE chokers—that one is stupid and I hate it. Curvy little shit.

Total Score: 8/10

I like it overall, but some things are just too strange to overlook. (i.e. the chastity belt, wrist cuff handles, and the ugly choker). This costume doesn’t really scream Uraraka to me either. It’s a bit unoriginal to me.

I just don’t love it.

(Why are her fists clenched? Is she trying to fight? I could snap her like the twig she is and steal her girlfriend).

(Assuming she has one).

Yaoyorozu Momo (Creati)

Oohooohohohoho

hooohohoho

hoooooo mAN do I have some WORDS for this one!

Funcionality: Momo’s quirk (Creation) does require quite a bit of skin to be exposed, but I’m not sure why that skin HAS to be her boobs. She’s got thighs, a stomach, a back, an upper chest, and arms. Why do her Russian nesting dolls have to come out of her tiddies??? Okay, actually, she doesn’t make that many things with her tits. So....why’re they out? This costume definitely lets her quirk run wild, maybe too much.

Design: The red is pretty, and I can tolerate the sandy yellow. Her shoes are unimportant, so let’s just gloss over those. Now, WHAT is that thing? A makeshift, tan colored, plastic tube mini...skirt? I know she has a shelf on her ass that she carries books on, but doesn’t she have a cellphone? Google? Can’t she just remember the molecular make-up of a cannon? (Because she only makes cannons now for some reason). Have we ever even seen her reading those books? Can she read? A large portion of her midsection/chest is exposed up to another one of those weird chest pieces and a neck jacket. Maybe she should cut the neck coat off and glue it to her tiddies.

Total Score: 1/10

Listen, Horikoshi clearly understands what Momo’s costume needs, but he has no idea how to make that. This outfit IS inappropriate, no matter how you look at it. She’s a minor, and I don’t like the idea that she’s running around 75% naked. The only part of this that I like is the shade of red. That’s not good.

I really like Momo, she’s a good character, it’s unfortunate that we have to sexualize her so much. Can’t girls just be smart without also being eye candy for creepy 30 year old weebs?

——————

That’s it for this analysis. I plan on posting more stuff like this since I enjoy writing it so much! You should totally follow me so you don’t miss my future ramblings! 💖

Unless you hated it.

I wouldn’t blame you.

[vulpesvulpesjenna]

Rank-king; Disney Princesses

Inspired by the Try Guys’ Eugene I want to rank the official Disney princesses in my opinion from worst to best! He made a YouTube video ranking them, and since I disagreed with so many of his decisions, I wanted to make my own list. Justice! So, here is my own list of official Disney princesses from least favourite to my favourite. Like Eugene, I will count Elsa, Anna and Moana as official princesses, even though Disney has them separate. 

14. Snow White Snow White, the first Disney princess from 1937 reflects her time’s ideal woman; she’s cheerful, innocent and loves housework. Which is exactly why I dislike her. Her character is built on being cute and virginal, cleaning up the dwarves’ house just because... why does she like cleaning up the filthy home of strangers so much? I don’t know, I just find she lacks personality. She’s simply the embodiment of the “perfect female” of her time, and that irks me more than anything. Blah, she doesn’t have a personality, so she’s my least favourite.

13. Aurora Very much like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty is just a pretty, innocent and virtuous girl. She’s almost an extra in her own movie (I mean, she *is* asleep almost half of the time). I like her design and the fact that she walks around the woods barefooted and is a countryside girl; otherwise she doesn’t have a lot of personality. Her finding her prince is a tad better than Snow White: at least Aurora meets Philip once before he comes along and kisses her while she’s sleeping. 

12. Cinderella CInderella’s supposed to be amazingly kind, patient and understanding, and sure, that she is. To the point of being a mat that everyone is welcome to walk over. I think she tries to change her own life a bit more than Snow White or Aurora, but in the end, Cinderella is still dependent on her prince saving her. Otherwise she’s, again, this perfect, virginal woman of her time at the cost of having a personality of her own. At least she has a dream and cute little mouse sidekicks.

11. Ariel I think this is my first truly controversial pick; Ariel is loved by the masses, and people will surely be appalled by my choice. But to be honest, even though I love mermaids and red-haired princesses as much as the next girl, I find Ariel to be a bit of a... brat. I mean, she sees prince Eric from afar once and decides she wants to be with him. She’s even willing to abandon her family for him. Seriously? Not to mention acting very childishly and making some very stupid and outright dangerous life decisions by signing Ursula’s contract. And it very nearly ends in her complete demise! She put her whole family and people in danger just because she felt she was not like the other girls. I know people love her, and I do too, but I can’t fool myself into thinking she’s very smart or mature. Gotta give her props for 1) having a personality and dreams of her own and 2) being imperfect, which is what earlier princesses lack. 

10. Jasmine Princess Jasmine is painted to be this rebel in Aladdin. But to be honest, I don’t know if she really is. I like her and I understand her, but again, I wish she was a bit more level-headed. Yes, it is charming how out-of-touch she is having lived in the Palace her whole life, and I do admire her will to explore. I also like how she says what she thinks and doesn’t try to sugarcoat things just because she’s a princess. She has a fighting spirit, which I like. I am a bit bothered by the fact that her most effective weapon against Jafar is her sexuality (nnnggghh), which is one of the reasons she’s this low on my list.

9. Tiana I love Tiana; she’s exemplary in her drive and hard work. But I can’t help feeling like... that’s it? I don’t know, I guess I hope she had something more going on for her. Because at the end of the day I find her to be a little boring. Or I guess she does have personality, but I think it could have been brought up in more interesting ways. It could also be that I’ve only seen The Princess and The Frog like twice. But anyway; she’s great but I kinda wanted something more.

8. Pocahontas I *loved* Pocahontas when I was a kid. She was so graceful, but wild (yeah, yikes...). These days I see the aboriginal-glorifying (also known as racist) undertones in her depiction, and can only cringe. Anyway, she really is a wonderful character none the less; she has wanderlust but also enough maturity to reign it in. She’s curious and non-judgemental. She has a close relationship with nature, which is something that resonates with me personally. She’s wise. She also has flaws; overly independent, reckless etc. I always thought she was a lot older than the character is supposed to be. But yeah, the racism and sexualization can only be escaped so far, which is one of the reasons she’s my number 8.

7. Moana Okay so I’ve only seen Moana once (I know, don’t eat me). From what I remember Moana was a great character; driven, imperfect, brave with a big heart. Anything one can hope for from a Disney princess, really. She really is great. But tbh, her movie just didn’t do it for me. Maui was great, but for example the (other) sidekicks were kinda meh. The music was a bit boring too, IMO. I know I’m alone with my opinion, but this is my list so here we are.

6. Elsa I know she’s really a queen and not a princess, but following Eugene I’ll put her as one of the princesses for the sake of ranking. Elsa is amazing and I relate to her a lot. Comparing her hiding her powers to depression really hit me as someone who’s been struggling with depression for more than 10 years. I get her. She’s very, very imperfect, but also very powerful. I’m pretty sure she’s more powerful than any of the Disney princesses, which is cool as heck. I know she was supposed to be the villain of her movie at first, and honestly I kinda love the sass and confidence and the IDGAF attitude she has at the end of her Let It Go number. She’s also responsible and sensible, which are rare characteristics in a Disney princess (queen).

5. Merida Oh, Merida! Bow-and-arrow wielding, horse-riding, apple-stealing princess with a charming accent! I can’t not love her. She has a lot of the same themes that Jasmine does, but I think they were handled better with Merida. And again, I just love these outdoorsy type princesses. Shes’ capable and determined. She also makes mistakes, even if her mistakes were very frustrating watching the movie. People say Brave didn’t have a real plot or conflict and complain about the Mother Bear thing (yes I’m looking at you Keith of Try Guys), but I disagree. I liked that the movie for once focused on the relationship between a princess and her mom. I’d like to be friends with Merida.

4. Anna Anna is just delightful! Helps a lot that her voiceactor is Kristen Bell, whom I adore. But anyway, I really like Anna; she loves her sister more than anything, she’s brave and willing to face the freezing wilderness to bring Elsa back. SHe’s weird and quirky (though to be completely honest the quirkyness is sometmes a bit forced). Just all around a great gal.

3. Mulan These last three are just arbitrarely in some order; I pretty much love all of them equally. Mulan is like the best female character from Disney ever, period. She’s willing to do anything to save her dad and her country. She’s strong and smart and daring but also sweet and understanding and kind. They succeeded in making her a woman character who possesses a lot of masculine traits without losing her heart, and still being very relatable. Also Mulan is cool as hell. She also has the best sidekick, Mushu.

2. Belle I always get the result of being most like Belle from online quizzes. Because yes, I do have brown eyes and hair (naturally), love books and knowledge, and dream of a brighter future in the great wild somewhere. I related to her ever since I was a child; one of my dreams has always been having a library like Beast’s. Her whole movie is amazingly pretty and has the best music. Also Belle’s Finnish voice (which is the one I heard as a child and still know best) is perfect. Yes, all of this comes down to my personal taste, and I’m not sorry. I love how Belle is a strong female character without being a bad-ass fighter. She does her best for her father, she’s independent, she doesn’t let gossip bother her, she stands up to Beast even though she’s scared, she stands up to Gaston, she stays truthful. These days people like to claim she’s suffering from Stockholm Syndrome; to those believing that, please watch Lindsay Ellis’s video on YouTube on the matter. Also, Emma Watson is not my Belle and I try to pretend the whole live action version never happened.

1. Rapunzel Rapunzel is my idol. She’s crafty and independent and joyful and a dreamer. She’s really imperfect and in my opinion most like a real person out of all the princesses. She’s genuine and wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s amazingly brave, witty and kind of a bad-ass. She breaks out of her narcissistic kidnapper’s grasp. Her romance feels real and organic.  I just really think Rapunzel and Tangled as a whole movie are very underrated. Go watch it.

Honorable mentions to non-princesses - Megara from Hercules, one of my favourite films. Meg is great, and rare with her cynicism and world-weary attitude. She’s so cool and I love her. - Kida, who weirdly is the princess of Atlantis but not included in the DIsney princess line? I’ve never understood that. She’s amazing and beautiful and ugh. - other women of Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Helga Sinclair, Audrey Ramirez, love them. It’s seriously such a good, underrated movie - Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, another one of my childhood idols. Rare a Disney woman in that she’s not ashamed of her sexuality, but not dependent on it, either. She kicks ass. - Jane from Tarzan, she’s silly and cute, and so stylish!

I’m right, you’re wrong, shut up!

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 42

Chapter Summary -  With Tom in Sudan and Danielle in Wales, they are tested for the first time on the ability to be apart from one another for a notable amount of time, can they hack it, and what are they planning for their little reunion?

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog  @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @lys-syl @youcantcatchafallingstar

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

“You got it!” Tom was forced to hold the phone away from his ear as Danielle shrieked excitedly down it at him.

“I have not gotten anything yet, technically speaking.” Tom pointed out.

“But you were brilliant, and half of the nominations, I haven’t heard of the shows, much less the actors.”

“Elle, that’s mean.” Tom scolded.

“But I haven’t.”

“Well, you’re not renowned for your love of watching telly.” He pointed out.

“Guilty,” she admitted nonchalantly, causing Tom to chuckle. “Who else has congratulated you?”

“So far, I have had texts from Luke, Ben, the cast, obviously, Kenneth Brannagh, a few of my previous work colleagues, couple of the guys from school and college, cousins, my aunt, Sarah, and of course, mum called, but I only got a message because I was charging my phone, I will ring her back in a while.”

“And Emma?” Danielle asked, noting that he had not mentioned the youngest of the Hiddleston siblings.

“She hasn’t sent anything yet, but mum said that her schedule is hectic at the moment and that Jack was saying she does not get home from the show until three or four most mornings, so I think she is still asleep now, it’s lunch time here, but I think you are still midmorning.”

“Yeah, it is. That’s fair enough.”

Tom had been about to ask Elle something when he noticed the disheartened tone to her voice. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“She’s not talking to me.” Danielle almost sounded like a child, her voice was so small.

“Emma?”

“She’s barely responding to anything I text her, she only responds with one-word answers.”

“She will get over it with time, as you said already; it’s just a little weird for her. Though it’s not fair for her to guilt you like this.”

“It’s also not fair to go after a friend’s brother.” Danielle countered.

“What, are you saying you broke some ‘girl code’?”

“I don’t think there is something officially written out, but yes, I have done something worthy of being told to go fuck myself in many people’s books.”

Tom felt crestfallen. “Do you regret us?”

“I know it sounds bad, but no, I don’t. Emma is one of my closest friends, I have never really been as close with anyone like I have her, I love her, I would do anything, legal or otherwise for her, but I love you, and I like being with you.”

“These are different sorts of love you have for us both, I assume?”

Danielle laughed, “Obviously.”

“It will be resolved soon enough, darling. She cannot stay too mad at people for too long, it is not her way. Do you want me to say something?”

“No, if she needs to be mad for a bit, then let her be, I rather not talk to her until she is ready to. She could say something in anger that could make a big difference to everything and I don’t want to do that.”

“I don’t think I have ever heard of you not confronting something head on before,” Tom noted.

“Because normally, I don’t feel like I could lose my best friend from it.”

“You won’t lose her.” Tom felt hurt on Danielle’s behalf. “She’ll realise soon enough that she’s not actually mad at us and that this isn’t some sort of trashy little fling and that we are happy together, then she will realise you are all the more special.” His smile was blatant through the phone.

“Especially when we decide to…Shit, I am being called back onto set here. Tom, I will talk to you later and I am so happy for you, bye.”

Tom did not even get to say goodbye before Danielle hung up the phone, not that he would have been able to utter the word anyway. He stood, phone still to his ear as he processed what Danielle had been saying before she was called off. She was clearly about to mention something that indicated that she was thinking of something regarding the long-term future for them. His curiosity was piqued at what she could have been about to say. Looking at the screen, he realised he had received several more texts of congratulations, one of which was from Emma.

Emma – Just heard, well done. X

Tom stared at the message before deciding what to text back.

Tom – thanks, sis, sort of shocked, obviously, in an honoured sort of way. By the way, is everything okay? Elle thinks you are angry at her.

Tom looked at the phone for a moment wondering should he have mentioned Elle, before pressing send and turning it off, heading through the departures lounge to start the journey back to London. His trip back to Sudan was over, and in truth, felt worn from it, but, armed with new experiences of the situation there due to his revisiting, he would be able to speak more of it and the terrible situation there, so hr knew it was worth it.

*

“Hey Irish,” Danielle looked at the sound guy who was standing nearby with a few other behind the scenes set staff. “We’re stuck working this weekend, but off earlyish Saturday and late on Sunday, so we are having an unofficial Christmas Party, you in?”

Danielle had taken out her phone as soon as he had informed her that they were working to tell Tom. “I’m probably not going to be able to.”

“Cancelling plans?” he asked, referring to her phone.

“Himself and I were supposed to be going to friends, so yeah.”

One of the make-up artists looked at her curiously. “You never mentioned a boyfriend.”

Danielle froze for a moment, thinking as fast as she could. “Does anyone around here, if you don’t have a wedding band or a diamond ring, I don’t know anyone’s relationship status.”

“True actually. So what will be your plans now?” The artist conceded.

“I will have to tell him the situation and see what he does about it, he may come here instead now.”

“Surely he can join us all then.”

She looked at the other woman apologetically. “He’ll be just back from a tedious flight, so I will mention it, but I can’t give a definite answer yet.”

“Ooh, he sounds fancy, what does he do?”

“Promotion,” Danielle thought quickly, technically, it was not a lie.

“Meh, scratch that,” The other woman dismissed, “at least in makeup, I get to work up close with celebrities. So Danny has an introvert boyfriend, let me guess, you two sit in, watch Game of Thrones and read most days off.” She smiled playfully.

“Not really a big fan of the show, but yeah, read, relax, walk the dog and going for a run usually.”

“Ooh, a dog and everything, very cosy. I hope we get to meet him.”

Danielle smiled politely, but in her mind, she feared such a thing, not yet mentally ready to declare to the wider world about her celebrity boyfriend. “Maybe if he is feeling up to it, we can join you all.” She commented as she thought of what to say to Tom of what was now her weekend, knowing full well he would plead for her to allow him to join her for it.

“Cool, so Danny is a ‘maybe’, what about you Jack?” the makeup artist decided to focus on who else could be roped into a drinking session.

Danielle just smiled, part of her relieved that she already had set up the excuse for her not being there at the weekend. A piss-up, in the guise of a Christmas party, was the last thing she wanted, especially that she knew Tom would be back. Unlocking her phone, she decided to finish and send the text to Tom.

Danielle – Your coming home has saved me from a weekend of hangovers and regrets. Are you coming Friday or Saturday?

*

“It hilarious,” Danielle erupted in fresh giggles.

“I respectfully disagree,” Tom grumbled, though he was somewhat surprised by her reaction, relieved that she had not been upset.

“It’s hilarious, trust me.” Danielle reaffirmed, looking at her laptop. “Though what has me concerned is; the artist putting it there because they knew you lived nearby, which is somewhat odd and unsettling, and how did the paparazzi know you would be passing there. Was it all done as a stunt?”

“You think I set this up?” there was both hurt and anger in his voice.

Danielle sighed, she knew he was jetlagged and that he was always somewhat sensitive when people suggested that he was media hungry. “No, I am saying that they would, of course, know you are home, since you were on the TV this morning, talking about your trip, which, by the way, was a very well done piece, but let’s face it, I knew it would be, I think they did the stunt to keep making money off you and her, even if all you were doing was going to Sainsbury’s for some milk.”

“Sorry,” Tom groaned, his tiredness blatant in his voice, “I shouldn’t…”

“Love, you’re exhausted, please, go get some rest.” Danielle encouraged.

“I’m not…”

“Tom, you seem to forget you were on telly this morning, I saw you with my own two eyes, you’re bollixed tired, don’t deny it. Get some rest, after all, you promised to come see me this weekend.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go out with the others, I can entertain myself for a couple hours?” Tom asked, turning on the kettle to make a cup of tea while he read over a few things that had accumulated while he was away.

“Well, let us look at everything for a moment, I could go drinking, something you and I both know of my lack of interest in, with a bunch of people I only know three weeks and will only be working with for another two, or I could hide away in a hotel room with my incredibly sexy boyfriend and show him how much I have missed him over the past few weeks, especially when I may have bought something just for the occasion. Such a difficult decision to make.” She feigned a tone of deep thought for a moment before giggling. “I ought to spank that delectable derrière of yours for even suggesting such a thing.”

“I am not going to lie, I am looking forward to seeing…wait, you want to spank me and you bought something, please tell me it’s something I can ogle you in?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” She could not hide the grin on her face or the excitement in her tone.

“Darling, you have no idea how much I want to get in my car and drive there to you, right this instant.” He groaned in frustration.

“Aw, is my poor man frustrated?” she half-joked.

“Well, thanks to your imagery, I am now sporting something that could…”

“Herd cattle?” Danielle laughed, loving how he was getting more and more wound up.

“Country mouse.” Tom grinned, using Danielle’s own analogy of herself.

“City mouse,” she retorted jestfully.

“Darling, I cannot wait to be around you.”

“Are you heading to your mum’s between now and then?”

Tom’s brow furrowed slightly, unsure as to why she was asking about his mother. “I don’t plan to, why?”

“I was just going to ask you to send me a picture of Mac, I miss him.” she stated sadly.

“If I do, I will.” He promised.

“They have a collie dog staying here at the moment that reminds me of him, I think one of his parents was a collie and the other a German Sheppard, it is so like him.”

“They let dogs stay there?”

“Yeah, not everyone wants to put their dogs in kennels when they go away, so they allow them here for another ten pound a night.”

“That’s a great idea.”

“I know, right? So if you see him, tell him I miss him and I will see him soon, and get me a photo.”

“I promise if I see him, I will.” He smiled, loving how much Danielle cared for the scraggy pup he had rang her about one cold morning while he was on set. “I will talk to you soon, and trust me when I say, I cannot wait to join you.”

“Goodbye Tom, I…I love you.” She admitted in a meek voice.

Tom’s eyes widened at her words, she had said them once or twice before, but never over the phone like that. “I love you too, Elle.” He smiled, “Goodbye, darling.” As soon as Danielle hung up, Tom thought to himself for a moment and then grinned slyly, so with a quick Google, he retrieved the number he required and pressed the call button. When a woman answered the phone, he put his most charming voice on. “Hello, I know this is an odd request, but I need to ask a favour and keep something secret for me.”

[laurent-ofvere]

Bro watchu think about the one saying Kastor would have been a better villain. I do disagree because 1) I believe he could have had a bigger role than simply being...a selfish meathead. 2) the regent is quite honestly, one of the most effective villains I have encountered in fiction so far. We don’t get much scenes with him but I think that’s the point. The subtle tones of malevolence and evil he embodies. I’m at a loss at how Vere did not straight up impale a pedophile to death on the spot

hi hello this got LONG.

i personally view kastor and the regent as two different kinds of villains. i got an ask once saying that the regent wasn't believable as a villain to them bc he had no good qualities and a good villain is a layered one and i can agree with that in certain circumstances, but not all. i can enjoy a villain who has subtle bits of good in them (like the one bit of humanity that doesnt justify all else but is still there) and i can also enjoy a villain who is blatantly a bad person with no redeeming qualities, it just depends on the context and what the story and circumstances requires. i think a story like capri benefited from more than one kind of villain.

i think pacat hit the nail on the head with the regent. she set out to present him a certain way, and i think she executed it perfectly. i personally think she intended to write kastor as more of a multifaceted villain who has depth and good but ultimately was won out by the bad in him, but its debatable if she succeeded in that or not. i know its difficult to really analyze kastor bc we dont see him much or get too many flashbacks to ios pre canon, but i also think hes the kind of character that enough context and thoughts from damen are there to flesh out an understanding and not have it be total projection. given that i understand pacats motives, and with my own interpretations, i feel that ive garnered enough about him to have a sufficient view of him as a more rounded character. in terms of him as a villain, that gets trickier bc he jus wasn't really present until the end, and even then he comes off like a cardboard cutout, so i understand what you mean by him having a bigger role. granted i (think i) get why he read so meh at the end (he thought he was calling the shots and was this big payer but it was really the regent who was on top and pulling the strings, and kastor’s general insignificance in the grand scheme of things shows in the end, despite what he thought) but the disadvantage to that is that he comes off as lacking when it comes to being a meaty villain. bc his angle is not straight up bad like the regent, but hes also being painted as the big joke, and his other elements are told from damen rather shown. so it all amounts to a big uhhh so ? kastor ??

in terms of cassie’s specific comment, i know that cassie likes kastor and thinks he was more complex and had more potential than what was presented so i think she generally just meant that he could have and should have been better than what he was given in terms of rep/writing/attention etc which like... yeah.

tldr1; if “better” means kastor being a better vilian than the regent or vise versa then i disagree bc i dont think that was the point.

tldr2; i dont think kastor was intended to be just a selfish meat head and i dont think he comes off like that to someone like me who's analyzed the shit out of him and the text, but i do think he’ll come off like that to someone who might just read the books once and take it all at face value which is unfortunate

[pleasereadmeok]

Hey there! Since I only discovered MG recently, I started to slowly (very slowly) make my way through his movies. I watched "Birthmarked" (meh) and "Stoker," which I thought was a beautifully disturbing movie (just as Matthew's character - those blue eyes really shined!). I think I'll go with "A Single Man" next, but I was wondering if you had any recommendations? What are your top five MG movies? p.s. hope you had a great time at the wedding!

Hi - goode to hear from you and the wedding was wonderful - very romantic - thanks for asking.

Top 5????  That is such a hard question and my answer is different every time so I’m not committing! 

Stoker - he’s so creepily goode in that.  What to try next???  It really depends on what you like coz he’s done such a variety.  

If you like rom coms then Leap Year (that got me hooked) with Amy Adams and Chasing Liberty with Mandy Moore.  

If you are into comic books genre stuff - Watchmen. 

If classic stuff is your bag - Brideshead Revisited.  Oh and how could I forget The Imitation Game!

TV dramas - The Crown season 2 eps 4/7/10, Dancing on the Edge, Death Comes to Pemberley (Matthew will always be the best Wickham and I will fight anyone who disagrees!) and Ordeal by Innocence (such fun to see him be a total bastard with a vulnerable side).  I adored him in The Goode Wife but he’s not in it much - Finn is an adorable character and there is a lot of Matthew’s own personality in that role.  Jeez - nearly forgot Downton.

Laugh out loud comedy - My Family and Other Animals - he’s hilarious.  Cemetery Junction but not in it much.

The saddest movie ever - Burning Man.  You will loathe his character at first and then he will have you sobbing about 20 minutes in.  Still one of his best.  

Then there are what I call the ‘eye candy’ roles - not great movies but boy you get a lot of ‘Whoa he’s bloody gorgeous’ moments - The Hatton Garden Job.  The Lookout is goode too - bad boy in that and that cropped hair and tattoos.... 

Most of the rest he’s done are smaller roles but he’s stunningly goode in them - A Single Man, Guernsey, Match Point, He Knew he was right (dull show but he’s fab for about 5 mins!), Belle (also 5 mins!), etc.  

If you want to see Matthew speaking Spanish and getting naked (completely naked) .... well of course you do - Al sur de Granada.

BUT - if you want the BEST intro’ to what this gorgeous adorkable man is really like - you HAVE TO watch him in The Wine Show.  That is how he is in ‘real life’ - a joker, a bit crap at things in the funniest way, geeky, VERY naughty and a joy to look at.    

I know I have forgotten loads but most Goode fans will watch anything he’s in whatever so I guess you will be joining us in that!   I’ve seen everything and still want more.  Don’t bother with Copying Beethoven tho’ - dire.

OK - work your way through that lot and do report back @goforwhatevermakesyouhappy​   !!!   

Come on Goode fans - what did I forget?  Loads I know.

Have fun!  PRMxxx