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ruegarding · 8 months ago

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hello! I hope your having a good day! If you don't mind me asking, what is your opinion on the Cupid Scene in Hoo? And if you could how would you change it?

my opinion on the cupid scene…well, i don't think a traumatic coming out scene is automatically bad. the problem i have w it is that rick capitalized on shock value instead of good writing. rick retconned a bunch of things to make nico alone and miserable so that he could have this scene, and it was completely unnecessary. ppl can have friends without coming out. and, as i’ve repeatedly said, the way hoo is written is literally a repeat of his arc in pjo but worse, because we’re acting like important events in pjo didn’t happen in a series that’s supposed to be a sequel to pjo and rick is inconsistent so the payoff is questionable.

the solution is…good writing. creating a cohesive and intriguing plotline where this scene is either necessary or scrapped if it isn’t.

thus begins an unnecessarily deep dive into all the retcons, inconsistencies, and general what-the-fuckery of nico’s arc in hoo bc i’m the verbose king and we've accidentally stumbled into something i have a lot to say abt.

first retcon. in son, frank explicitly says that nico does not make him nervous and describes nico as mysterious. not weird, creepy, off-putting, or anything similar. and nico is! he is clearly hiding things and shows up infrequently. this is a neutral description, and frank goes on to say that pluto’s powers, and specifically the underworld, isn’t enough to make him dislike pluto or nico.

also this, showing nico is comfortable enough around frank:

but then in hoh, frank thinks going somewhere with nico, alone, is terrifying.

at worst, frank would’ve felt awkward. they’ve never had to talk alone bc nico is at camp jupiter for hazel and doesn’t have any reason to talk to frank by himself. if frank didn’t want to be alone w nico bc of that, it’d make sense. but that’s not what’s said or implied! and nothing has happened! nico got kidnapped, they saved him, and since then he’s been chilling on the boat, exactly as weird as before, if a little more understandably distressed. like, nothing happened to change frank’s opinion this drastically. even the difference between pluto and hades (wealth vs death) doesn’t matter bc nico uses his powers in son. also frank literally summons a skeleton guy in son and hazel is a zombie, like…

(the source isn’t important but i've been quoting these five seconds for years)

oh! and that’s not all, it gets worse!

these scenes from hoh are incredibly infantilizing. why are we treating nico like a feral dog that needs to be domesticated??? yikes. and once again, it’s not true! nico was fine talking w ppl in pjo (if a bit over-enthusiastic). and then in son he was perfectly civil and was fine having the conversation abt the quest. his issue w ppl was that his powers/parentage put ppl off, and, even in son, that he had to keep a secret.

nico is perfectly capable of speaking like a normal person and working as part of a team (see: final botl battle, final tlo battle, the sword of hades). like, nico’s struggle in hoh should be 1) that ppl are calling him creepy behind his back (and therefore has nothing to do w his social skills) and/or 2) that he just survived an incredibly traumatic experience and is understandably withdrawn. neither of these are properly addressed and instead the implication is that nico is hiding himself bc he’s gay and everything will be solved if he accepts himself.

edit: i never actually explicitly stated this, but nico's queer coding and disability coding overlap, which is why this infantilization/ableism is important enough to highlight despite the conversation specifically being abt the queer aspect of it.

second retcon. percy…as i’ve said many times before, percy explicitly calls nico his friend in tlo.

this immediately makes hoo trying to act like they don’t know each other and were never close a retcon. they were friends, they saw each other frequently, nico made silly jokes w percy…and we’re ignoring all of this in hoo.

i've talked abt this previously (in response to tsats), but nico is the one putting distance between him and percy. percy reached out to nico repeatedly thru pjo.

when percy notices that nico excludes himself, percy finds a private place to talk to nico and assures him that percy wants him around and offers solutions to his discomfort (this is not percy’s responsibility. percy is a child). when nico insists that he won’t stay, percy sees it from nico’s perspective and, instead of forcing nico to do something against his will that may totally backfire, says “i hope we don’t have to be enemies,” leaving room for nico to decide whether he’s willing to be friends.

bc percy understands the root of nico’s issue (that no matter the accommodations made at camp, there’s always going to be the implicit message that he doesn’t belong there), he addresses it and uses his wish to make sure that nico has a home at camp.

and when nico tries to prove he’s useful, percy proves he would’ve invited him in whether nico was or not. bc he thinks nico deserves to be a kid.

“i wonder if [nico] had ever had a birthday party,” percy thinks at his own birthday party where he didn’t invite his friends bc he felt it was too much of an inconvenience, in a story where he never had friends prior to these ppl he didn’t invite, and the only person he had for twelve years of his life was his own mother. and percy uses his own loneliness to empathize w how lonely nico is.

percy is not some distant figure nico is idolizing. he's a kid trying his best to care for another kid at a time where no one else did, while experiencing his own trauma. all of their hang-ups exist bc of that.

going back to their relationship in hoo, even trying to make percy uncomfortable w nico’s powers (and therefore not wanting to associate w nico) doesn’t work bc percy has gone on record and said he thinks some of nico’s powers are cool and has neutral responses to others, not to mention percy is also a big three kid who makes other ppl wary (i could write a whole meta on how what percy finds disturbing w nico’s powers is directly tied to what percy finds disturbing w his own powers, but i’ll restrain myself. please clap).

and if that wasn’t enough, the entire reason percy stood up to hera in botl is bc she was willing to let nico die specifically bc he doesn't fit in bc of those powers.

this plotline was tired before it even began.

you could argue that all of this changed w nico’s betrayal in tlo. but then why didn’t percy tell anybody when it happened in tlo (annabeth would’ve reacted to it if he had)? why did percy trust nico to come when he called? why didn’t any of percy’s animosity come out afterwards at camp? and in the throne room, percy didn’t have to single nico out w his wish. he didn’t have to watch nico to make sure he was settling in. but he did. and because he did, any writing that suggests percy doesn't trust or care abt nico bc of that is bad writing. maybe rick forgot this, but u can be angry w and hurt by the ppl you love and still love them.

even the justification that nico lied in son isn’t good enough to completely change their relationship, bc it’s pretty clear why nico lied and percy says he can’t stay angry at nico when they rescue him, and let me remind u, anger is a core part of percy's character. while nico lying might be enough for characters like leo and jason, who have no rapport w him, to doubt him, it’s not enough for percy. and why are we so obsessed w dismantling percy and nico’s friendship anyway? why is that necessary to the story? like i said before, ppl can have friends without coming out. isolating the only queer character (at the time) isn’t necessary.

this conflict doesn’t even work in hoo bc their distance is still one-sided…

when did percy not give nico a second chance in hoo? the only times they’ve interacted prior to this was when percy remembered nico in son and tried to talk to him and then when they saved his life. and then nico brushes off percy's gratitude and tells him to back off. this is not nico idolizing percy who doesn't care abt him. this is percy reaching out and yet again nico putting distance between them.

and, obviously, this doesn’t work at all w pjo when the entirety of botl exists, you know, where percy chose to trust and protect nico and then went out of his way to make sure nico knew percy held none of nico’s anger against him. it’d be one thing if nico was supposed to be wrong, but considering how there’s an entire arc in hoo abt jason being the first person to trust nico, and tsats seriously acts like percy only ever talked to nico when he needed something, it’s safe to say this comes from a place of stupidity.

ok. this sections getting long, so i moved the it was stupid to have percy give jason a reason to doubt nico section to a new post. but know that i'm aware and i think it's stupid.

back to the point of all these retcons w percy. there's nothing in hoo that necessitates changing percy and nico's relationship from pjo. while percy in hoo is never cruel to nico, they act like strangers for some reason. so, it's changed for no reason and it's written poorly.

sigh. and then all of chb is retconned (or recycled if you’re feeling generous).

the ppl at camp accept him while his cabin gets built. pretty nice. then in boo nico reveals they got tired of him after a week–which is still summer–despite there being an influx of kids from all descents, some of whom would be weird or uncomfortable or whatever this justification is. that’s not even mentioning how percy’s own experiences (remember how he was ostracized…multiple times…) should have made them more accepting of nico.

why…was this necessary at all…? especially when u have an entirely different camp that treats nico as weird bc they didn’t have that good experience w him? this is really what gets me. if rick wanted to be lazy and repeat nico’s arc, he could’ve done so without retconning things.

for example, with the seven, leo, piper, jason, and maybe annabeth (she doesn’t have much to say abt nico in pjo), i could understand having animosity towards nico, as well as camp jupiter, but retconning established relationships to make ur only (at the time) queer character isolated and miserable only to then have his coming out be violent and traumatic is. well. bad! especially when the person who is w him for that experience is not someone he has built any sort of camaraderie w. nico isn’t choosing to trust jason, he’s being forced to.

and the whole nico-needs-to-learn-to-trust-ppl plot doesn’t work anyway bc of rick’s inconsistencies.

jason has a moment much like frank where he doesn’t want to go anywhere w nico bc nico is so weird and scary. nico has every right to pull himself away from ppl who treat him like he’s got something contagious. and there’s more:

“since when does jason defend nico,” as in they have shit on nico before and jason has not, in the past, defended nico. as in nico had every reason to not trust jason prior to this bc everyone, including jason, were talking shit behind his back. why are we acting like nico is being unreasonable? oh no, y’all are talking behind my back…clearly it’s my fault bc i push everyone away and that has nothing to do w ur behavior or anything…yes this is good writing.

and we’re supposed to believe that jason (and reyna and hedge and will) is the first person to be kind/reach out to nico, but we have this scene from botl where percy comforted nico and gave him a piece of his childhood back:

and this is after percy cleared the air to make sure nico knew he didn’t hate him and offered to make accommodations for nico at camp and then respected and understood why nico wouldn’t want to. like,

woah, you’re telling me that a character reaches out to nico after a traumatic experience in an act of kindness and this helps nico grow as a person? and it happens multiple times?! yeah, apparently rick and fandom have completely forgotten abt this (also hazel exists???). they’re even phrased similarly! “maybe it’s time to take a risk and embrace something you’ve pushed away.” furthermore, they both support their point by helping nico, percy by inviting nico into his home to enjoy cake and ice cream, jason by drinking from the chalice. once more w feeling: nico has been loved the entire goddamn time!

i get what rick was trying to accomplish w the whole cupid scene concept. which is that it’s okay to be gay and that it can feel very “othering” to be gay. nico has to accept himself in order to make friends. that’s what this

and this

are trying to say, right, but this doesn’t work when you’ve blatantly retconned established relationships to have characters push nico away for his powers/parentage/whatever. nico’s struggle is not an internal issue that can be solved by accepting himself, it’s an external issue caused by how other ppl treat him for his powers/parentage (which he has never been shown to reject btw).

the thing is, the powers-as-queerness metaphor only works when you don’t have, you know, characters who aren’t queer going through similar ostracization. not only was percy ostracized at chb in tlt for his powers/parentage (very similar to nico!), percy has a moment in this same book where his powers terrify annabeth, and then piper in the next book, in which he, you know, lets himself almost die to poison bc he feels like he “deserved it” for using those powers. again, this is not queer-coding for percy (unless…?). moreover, like i said, nico doesn’t reject his powers, so the whole queer-coding w powers and needing to accept himself is already iffy (...rejecting powers...hold the fuck up…percy isn’t…unless…). even the out-of-time metaphor doesn’t work bc it’s something he shares w hazel, who is not canonically queer (unless…?!). so, already, we’re on shaky metaphorical ground. all of this could work, theoretically, if combined w strong writing, but combined w the retconning and inconsistencies, this plotline makes no cohesive sense.

we’re supposed to believe that nico is the one pushing everyone away while they are secretly super supportive while simultaneously being shown that everyone talks and thinks shit that affirms nico’s thoughts abt them that makes him want to pull away. and then in boo we completely ignore that these ppl have been pushing nico away and suddenly everyone (reyna, hedge, will, etc) is supportive.

pick a struggle!

also nico’s coming out scene in boo sucked (yeah this is the segue).

this is the culmination of nico’s arc in hoo. he’s finally accepted himself enough to speak the truth without pressure. we ruined percy and nico’s established relationship for this. and they don’t even have a conversation. then nico walks over to will bc percy, “regular guy” percy, is “not [his] type.” don’t look too deep into that.

so, how would i fix the cupid scene? well.

there were a million different ways to write a better arc for nico and earn that cupid scene. for example, rick could’ve stuck to a plotline.

the trust plotline could’ve been good. bc this exact thing is what causes the accidental kidnapping situation in tlo. nico doesn’t trust percy enough to tell him the truth and chooses to manipulate and lie to percy instead. this choice is what sets up their conflict bc percy views this as betrayal (something that’s important to a guy who’s fatal flaw is loyalty).

it’s also interesting bc nico does choose to trust ppl in hoo; he eats the pomegranate seeds despite not knowing that someone is coming for him, he just trusts that someone will (we’re ignoring what boo says abt nico’s tartarus experience bc fun fact! that is also retconned). and it pays off, bc not only does he get saved, we see hazel and percy even willing to challenge the other members of the seven to make sure he gets saved. so, it’s not a lesson he’s already learned, it’s a lesson he’s learning. but, going back to the main question here, would the cupid scene still be necessary? was being dragged into tartarus and almost dying not enough spectacle?

regardless, my biggest problem w the cupid scene in all of this is that it gives the impression that u have to come out in order to have ppl love u and trust u. a much better message to send is that the ppl who love u will love u before and after u come out. no isolation necessary.

#shows up over a month late w an essay-length response as to why nico’s arc in hoo sucked #are u not entertained?#also hi! just realized i never said that lol #nico #rr crit #hoo crit #disability #queerness #answered #min talks pjo

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alexanderwales · 12 days ago

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A small addendum to the post on art under communism/capitalism, which had been queued for a bit: I occasionally see people complain about the "everything is a reboot, sequel, prequel, or tie-in" nature of modern mass market pop culture film, and then also complain that this is a capitalism problem, and if you're a person who cares about empiricism (like me!) you immediately go out to see whether this is true.

Which immediately led me to the character of Stierlitz, who I had never heard of before. But you can't just say "well, this was a 14 novel series with six adaptations, written and produced under communism", because this was also a series that was being pushed by the KGB, and maybe that doesn't fit in with your idea of "communism", and says more about the particular time and place it was written/made than the economic system it was made under. But my suspicion is that popularity and risk-aversion are what cause the sequel/reboot phenomenon, and that this is only substantially different under other economic models if there are deliberate efforts to avoid it. There's another example, the Soviet Union's most popular film of 1965, Operation Y, which was followed by a semi-sequel, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, and actors reprising their roles across multiple films, and ... does this count? How many more of these examples could I dredge up if I had more than a passing familiarity with Soviet film? How many from other regions?

Possibly coordination between communist film organizations would help this problem. It's unclear to me, but I don't think that we can say that this is clearly a problem that capitalism created, not unless we're just talking in terms of pure theory.

Certainly we can say that it wasn't an endemic problem in any communist country, but I don't think that by most measures it was an endemic problem during the same time period in the United States either. In the 60s and 70s Hollywood was mostly making original films, a pattern that didn't begin to shift until later. The emergence of television created reduced demand for cinema basically everywhere, so that might explain some of the risk aversion, and funding for Soviet film declined pretty rapidly going into the 80s with much fewer standout films (the movie "Come and See" is a notable counterexample).

There's also an argument that whereas in the Hollywood system there was a great deal of risk aversion, that aversion was financial in nature: a film is a bet, and a studio can only make a limited number of bets at any given time, with a string of bad ones leading to bankruptcy. But in the Soviet system, the primary risk was ideological risk, which wouldn't give the same incentive structure that led to sequel culture. I'm not sure how much I buy this, more study is needed.

I guess I want to immediately compare sequel culture to oral traditions and the way that Arthurian legend (for example) ballooned with new knights and new quests over time, becoming confused. Or the way that fanfic, absent any market forces, results in many of "the same" fics being written and consumed, similar beats getting hit over and over, formula that we can only (at best) blame on attention economy. Writers and creators often want to capture the largest number of readers/viewers, and so pitch to the lowest common denominator, using the tropes and characters that people are most familiar with.

The writers that are writing specifically for their weird friends are obviously just doing their own thing, but it's going to be harder to interest people in funding a movie with a niche story, even if it's well-told, and it's going to be difficult to get theaters to show it unless those theaters are specifically committed to showing weird stuff.

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listen-to-the-inner-walrus · 3 days ago

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So I'm gonna try and do @batmanisagatewaydrug's book bingo this year and hopefully not give up before getting bingo somehow.

For fantasy, I read The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon.

And I fucking loved every second of it. For a debut novel, it's amazing. It's definitely the best debut novel I've ever read; I struggle to come up with any flaws of it really.

Also I tandem read this with the audiobook which was narrated by Kristin Atherton and that's also one of the best narrations I've heard.

The book itself about a woman called Hellevir who is able to enter Death and trade with Death to bring people back to life. She gets herself entangled with the royal family, the De Neïds, when she brings back the Princess Sullivain after she is assassinated, and soon she gets trapped under their thumb, forced to bring Sullivain back again if she dies again. She also begins to fall in love with Sullivain.

That's like the main plotline in the book, but there are others weaving throughout like the presence of the Onaistian Faith in Rochidain - the capital city - versus the old ways that Hellevir follows as well as Hellevir's relationship with her Ma, Pa and brother Farvor, the search for the assassin, and Hellevir's tradings with Death.

Her tradings with Death were my favourite part of the book by far, everything about Death as a realm and as a person was so well written and so intriguing and fit so well with the worldbuilding outside of Death. Death himself was also so intriguing and I'm desperate to know more so I'm really excited for the sequel and thank god it comes out this year.

Her relationship with her Ma was a close second though. Without getting into spoiler territory, it was a very meaty relationship with a lot to chew on but was also very tender. It made me cry at one point.

Also when I decided to do this book bingo I was like, I'm gonna add my favourite quote at the end and I'm struggling to pick because I have so many favourite quotes. So I've limited it to 5:

"Leaning against a tree was a man of black. His hair was black, his coat was black, his gloves were black. An absolute black, as if no light could reflect from it. It drew her gaze and held it, threatened to pull her in and drown her in its absence of light. His eyes were the blackest of all and watched her with amusement."

"‘Now give the skeleton of your boasts the meat of your actions.’"

"‘Did you know Death has pockets?’ Hellevir asked quietly. Milandre raised her eyebrows, tilting herself slightly, as she always did, so that her good ear could catch what the missing ear couldn’t.

‘Death has pockets?’ she repeated.

‘Yes. He has pockets. Why would Death need pockets?’"

"‘The city is a carcass crawling with creatures that want nothing more than to consume her, and plucking out one will not stop the decay.’"

"‘But that was long ago.’

‘The zealotry tastes the same.’"

#kai rambles #bookblr #book bingo #batmanisagatewaydrug book bingo #the gilded crown #i really really really really loved this book #i genuinely would give it 5 stars even though i find star ratings to be very limiting #i just couldnt find any flaws in it #i think maybe the only flaw would be that i wish we saw more of hellevirs pa but like that's not really a flaw #we saw enough of him #i just really liked his character #2025 book bingo

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littlemisssquiggles · 9 months ago

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The Missed Potential of WISH

It’s funny.

Last year, I really wanted to watch the new Wish animated film from Disney.

While everyone else were hating on the art and animation style, I actually kind of liked it and was genuinely looking forward to possibly viewing it on the big screen.

Then the reviews came in. Needless to say, I didn’t watch Wish.

I remember a time when people used to complain about Disney making “too many love stories”. Then Disney stopped making love stories leading to films like Moana, Coco, Encanto and even Turning Red, which weren't bad.

Following the failure of Wish, the biggest complaint I’ve heard for that film is that “it probably would’ve been more successful if it were a love story”.

The last romance Disney had we’re the protagonist was a “black girl” was Tiana from The Princess and the Frog which was technically their last 2D animated feature film.

And don’t get me wrong, til this day, The Princess and the Frog still tracks. Second to Tangled, I still very much love TPATF and it's one of Disney's classics that definitely have the rewatchability.

That being said, Wish is the first Disney film I've seen where the missed potential of what its story was originally supposed to be (herego a love story between a human girl and shape-shifting star boy) versus what we actually got is more popular.

Aww Disney, what were you thinking?! How could you think a film where the main character, who is a PoC, the first "black girl" (well technically I think Asha is meant to be mixed) female lead/love interest that you've had since Tiana in The Princess and the Frog in 14 YEARS where she is actually human for all of the movie and gets to share a love story with a handsome "star boy" who can literally make all of her dreams come and think that that's NOT gonna make you money!

I haven't even watched Wish yet I've seen more artwork and fan-made animatics of Asha and Star Boy than anything from the actual film.

At this point, Disney should just take all of the original ideas they left on the chopping block for Wish and revise them into a future title which is an actual love story they could market from.

Or…as an audience, we can just wait for one of their competitors, like Dreamworks to smell the blood in the water like the sharks they are and capitalize on Disney’s latest flop by taking the ideas they didn’t use and coming up with something that could potentially usurp the popularity of Wish’s failure.

In the case of Dreamworks, they don’t even need to make a new star boy since, technically, they already have potential “star boy” they can use.

Remember Rise of the Guardians?

Hahaaaaa OF COURSE you do, since it gave us the original immortal boy internet heart throb (also ironically voiced by Chris Pine who played King Magnifico in Wish) ---Jack Frost.

I find it hilarious that another reason why folks are hating on Wish so much is because Disney could've given us another potential immortal boy heart throb "Star Boy" to finally usurp the chokehold that Jack Frost has had on our generation of weebs and artists for the past 12 years since RoTG first dropped.

We could've had it all.

But as I mentioned Rise of the Guardians, did you know that there is character in the original series it was based off of called Nightlight?

While technically not a “star boy”, Nightlight is the closest thing to one in an already established universe from a Dreamworks property and since this squiggle meister never misses a beat to push for continuation of Rise of Guardians, hear me out:

Imagine a Rise of the Guardian prequel-sequel about the character Nightlight and make it a love story.

(Because apparently there's a girl that Nightlight grows close to in his story called Katherine. It's just a friendship but needless to say, there is potential there).

I know it’s been 12 years since Rise of Guardians first dropped and I know I've be hollering for a sequel since 2012.

But c'mon, if there was ever a time for Dreamworks to capitalize on an RoTG sequel, it's now.

As Wish has proven, the internet is hungry for another handsome immortal boy with magical powers.

Dreamworks set the ball rolling with Jack Frost.

If Dreamworks were to revisit RoTG again, take Nightlight's story. Take his design and give him the "Jack Frost" treatment and make it a love story on top of that.

I'm not saying it will happen. Not even saying it could happen.

But if somehow thought becomes reality and something like this does actually happen, whoever does it will be rolling in dough.

This is just a longwinded way of me to say that somebody needs to bank on the concept of a star falling in love with a human and do it now since as the internet has shown, it's what the people want and what Wish failed to give.

~LMS (2024)

#squiggles talks: wish #wish #disney wish #rise of the guardians #jack frost #rotg #rotg nightlight

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theodoesitagain · 1 month ago

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Hello to like the three people that follow me on here. I have been writing a fanfic since 2018 that is very near and dear to my heart and even though I don't think many people will see this, I wanted to post about it.

The Marauders and the first Order of the Phoenix occupy a lot of my headspace and I started daydreaming about them a lot, which is how the first installment of this story was conceived. I wanted a plausible prequel to the events of the HP series following the first wizarding war. (My ships, maybe not so much but 🤷‍♀️)

I'm currently in the midst of the sequel, which is retelling of the Harry Potter series from the perspective of (mostly) Remus Lupin. I try to post a new chapter every week.

Anyway, if anybody was interested, here's a snippet from the WIP:

Before he even opened his eyes, the smell that hit him as he stepped out of the green flames was enough to make his insides flutter. That musky, saccharine, and at times, sort of sweaty smell was not only instantly recognizable; it flooded him with nostalgia to the point of giddiness. Dumbledore had very kindly requested that he Floo to this fireplace, as opposed to the one in the Defense Professor’s office on the second floor. When he thought about it, it would’ve made more sense to meet there - but Remus suspected Dumbledore was granting him a bit of time to relive the good old days first.

So he capitalized on it, and arrived a few minutes early to do just that. As soon as the crimson carpets and furnishings came into view, Remus felt an overwhelming sense of calm; he couldn’t describe what it was. Helping himself to a seat in a cushy armchair across from the hearth, he ran his hands down the upholstery and let out a chuckle.

There were few places that held fonder memories than the Gryffindor common room. And if Remus concentrated very intently…

Merlin, I can still hear them.

“Saint Moony!”

“What’ve I missed?”

“Wormtail’s making grand plans to ask out Mary.”

“Godric- Prongs- Could you keep your voice down? I am not!”

“Well, you ought to be.”

“And are you offering your expertise?”

“What expertise? Evans must’ve turned him down a hundred times!”

“She’ll come ‘round one of these days, you’ll see. Now that this is all of us, we need to discuss the aging potion prank. As much as I’d love to target Snivellus, I think he might be too obvious. Thoughts, Padfoot?”

“Who cares if it’s obvious? It’ll be well worth it to see how huge his proboscis gets when he’s a geezer!”

At the sound of the last voice, Remus shoved the memory back down to its depths.

He stood and strolled by the empty notice board, brushing his fingertips against the cork and remembering positively nefarious messages they used to leave for him to remove as part of his prefect duties:

Dear Remus,

I cannot deny my feelings for you any longer. I need you like a flower needs a bumblebee. Meet me at the Three Broomsticks this weekend so we can finally run away together.

Sincerely,

Madam Rosmerta

To the particularly flatulent resident of the boys dormitory,

Please, for the love of Merlin, stop by the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey test you for a food allergy. You’re disturbing the peace.

Sincerely,

We can smell you from the top floor

Ladies and Gentlemen of Gryffindor House,

We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Peter Pettigrew is single and accepting applications. Bribes welcome and encouraged, particularly if they are paid in homage to his roommates. Must be sixteen or older to apply.

He couldn't help but laugh again. Gits. Only when James became head boy had they let up a little - and only a little.

Passing the staircase, he had half a mind to go take a peek at the dormitories, but even with them empty, it felt improper. Instead, his path took him all the way up to the large window facing east. It was a lovely, sunny afternoon in the highlands, and the visible stretch of the lake sparkled. He couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.

Recollections seemed to hang in the air like that sweaty smell: Post-quidditch celebrations; Gobstones; card games; the collective huddle around the fire after a wintery weekend trip to Hogsmeade; Remus could’ve plucked them out of the air like lacewing flies and kept them in a jar. Even with the headlines circling about civil unrest and talks of war back in those days, it seemed things like that could never touch them in here. Not in the common room. This was their sanctuary.

Hearing the portrait hole open, Remus turned. He expected Dumbledore, but was thrilled to see the conical black hat instead.

“Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall,” he called out with a wide grin, suppressing the great urge to embrace her.

McGonagall inspected him over her square glasses. “Back to cause more trouble, Mr. Lupin? Or should I be calling you Professor?”

He came away from the window. “Let’s not jump to conclusions until I’ve spoken with the Headmaster.”

When he reached her, she surprised him with an uncharacteristic squeeze on the arm. “Welcome home.”

Ah. That’s what the feeling was.

...

In no time at all, they rounded the corner and saw the gargoyle. Remus could recall, on several occasions, passing this corridor with his friends and blurting out guesses as to what the password was; none of which ever ended up being correct.

“Cauldron Cakes,” Dumbledore stated loud and clear.

The gargoyle stepped aside, allowing them to ascend the spiral staircase. Remus was fairly certain James had thrown that one out once or twice. God, if James could see him now. Professor Moony.

“And now for a nice celebratory tea, as promised,” Dumbledore fizzed, starting up the stairs.

Remus stared begrudgingly at the steps, but followed nonetheless. “I meant to bring some biscuits, but the ones I had were stale.”

“That’s alright. I keep some in my desk for emergencies.”

Remus had just made it up the spiral staircase when he saw that there were four or five people already in Dumbledore’s office, one of them being Cornelius Fudge. He also recognized Amelia Bones - the late Edgar’s sister - now the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Remus tensed up a bit, as he always had around personnel from the Ministry.

“I thought we agreed on two thirty, Dumbledore,” Fudge quibbled disapprovingly. “I hope you won’t mind, we’ve helped ourselves to the tea that was set out.”

“My sincerest apologies Minister, I must have lost track of time. I was orienting our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” Albus stepped aside so that the wizards and witches present had a clear view of Remus.

Across the office, a teacup shattered on the floor.

#marauders #bhdwtm #atshhb #remus lupin #remus john lupin #fanfic #first wizarding war #second wizarding war #emmeline vance #sirius black #nymphadora tonks #harry potter #prisoner of azkaban #mad eye moody #james potter #lily evans #lily potter #remmeline

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anlian-aishang · 1 year ago

Note

For the practice drabble thingie, Sweat/Scent kink? 👁️ 👁️

I just. k n o w. I have this headcanon that Levi always uses baby/scented powder to avoid sweating so much on expeditions/missions, but maybe one day he just runs out of it or rushes out of his room, so Levi gets flustered or self-conscious for the rest of the day or smth, idk I don’t think he would smell **that much**, but… still, he smells pretty masculine, yknow?👁️👁️

Tags: levi x reader [mutual pining], sfw [but fetish-based material], sweat & scent stuff, canonverse, gn!reader Word count: 2700 A/N: Holy hell, thank you, this is exactly what I wanted. nsfw sequel is in the works <3

It was his fucking day off.

Levi was the most cautious when it came to anticipation. Sights no one should have to see had scarred him to the point of learning: if you never got your hopes up, nothing could let you down. That thought rained on most of his parades, but he supposed there was little letdown to be had when it came to the likewise little things. On returns from expeditions, he allowed himself to look forward to the removal of his heavy gear and tight belts. When the smell of fresh-baked bread wafted through the barracks, he let his tongue salivate and his stomach sing. Today would have been his first day off in - he couldn’t even remember - god knows how long. Last night, his stagnant stoicism seemed to float away, head in clouded daydream of how to make this day perfect.

But some days weren’t meant to be perfect.

Instead of birds chirping and the first rays of sunlight that Levi anticipated, it was a series of harsh knocks at the hour of indigo sky that woke him up. Levi startled out of sleep, snapping up with a breathless gasp.

In hindsight, maybe he should’ve said nothing, maybe then they would’ve left him alone. However, being woken suddenly, though a common occurrence, almost always meant disaster in the Scouts. His voice cracked a barely audible “W’What?” No response. Levi coughed and cleared his throat, the return of his scathing tone, “What?”

The knob swiveled. His door creaked. In the shadows of dawn stood a domineering, a commanding, six-foot figure. The leisurely pace with which he entered the room conveyed that there was no life-or-death emergency, and thus no good reason, for having barged in here on his day off. Levi rolled his eyes and scowled, “I didn’t say ‘come in.’”

Erwin ignored his remark and instead cut to the chase. “Supply transports were raided in Trost.”

His mind already set in vacation mode, it was remarkable how quickly his knowledge of the restock had left him, “What?”

“Tug-of-war with the Garrisons and MPs, scouring over the leftover scraps of the materials that were supposed to be.”

“The hell do the MPs need anything for?”

“I’m headed to the capital to find out.”

Too tired to think - let alone attempt - to disguise his confusion. Levi’s brows arced, lips parted as he tried to piece together what the hell this had to do with him. When it dawned, his trademark pout revived.

“...No.”

“So you’ll take my stand, running morning drills in -” Erwin checked his pocket watch - “twenty minutes.”

“I’m off today.” Levi refuted. “Get Miche or Hange to do it.”

“They’re coming with me.” Erwin’s eyes were dead set, nearly offended, don’t you know I’ve thought of this already? “Unless, of course, you want to make the trip.”

To yak with the higher-ups? He would sooner crawl through mud.

Though he was given a choice, he took pity at his situation: “Bullshit…” Levi cursed beneath his breath, his version of whining.

Impatient, Erwin tapped his foot, “Are you going to get up or would you like to sit here and talk about our feelings?” The commander’s voice was starkly monotone, despite the sarcasm dripping in his statement.

Levi could play that card, too. “Are you going to leave or are you just here to watch my bare ass roll out of bed?”

Right. Erwin turned on his heel, door slammed in his wake.

His impulse was to throw his head back on his pillow and an arm over his face, but twenty minutes - he didn’t even have the time for that. Levi bunched his sheets in his hands, so angry that his fists trembled, and swiveled his legs over the edge of his bed. A pang of nausea and a sharp headache, his body was pissed at him for the violent disruption of his sleep cycle. Levi held his forehead in hand and shook, blame eyebrows, not me.

Levi’s limbs felt heavy, like he had just come indoors from a rainstorm. Clouds of colorful swears and harsh grunts propelled him through his morning routine. A three-minute shower, trimming his bangs, toothpaste and mouthwash followed by tea. One of many identical uniforms was laid out on his dresser, but before that…

From head to toe - undercut nape, under the arms, the shelf of his pecs, between his thighs, and finally his feet - Levi always applied a handful of drying agent. At this time of year, headquarters could seriously reek, and Levi refused to contribute to that filth. Pressing his lips together and stifling a yawn, he turned the container upside down. Lips parted, though, when nothing fell out.

Shake. Shake shake.

A blockage, a clump, maybe? But there was no sound. The slightest of twitches in his fingers as Levi delicately, anxiously, twisted off the cap and peered inside.

That’s right. He had made a mental note yesterday, that part of his day off would be dedicated to visiting the market, buying tea leaves, some new briefs, and his astringent powder - all items he was too mortified to order through the Corps. Given the thieving that had just happened, it was not like those supplies would’ve arrived anyway, but now, he would not have the freedom to go out and get them.

With the jar completely open, he considered a few shakes in vain, but the bottle was so empty that he could see the reflection of his dark-circled eyes in the bottom of it. Levi allowed himself a heavy, exasperated sigh as he set the empty vessel back on his bathroom countertop just to loudly smack it into the trash can. Fucking shit.

At least he had showered, but peering out the window and onto the training grounds, he could already see waves of heat radiating off the pavement. Come noon, it would be far worse. Clock ticking, for now, his only solution was to cut down on layers. It was then that he realized how little leniency the uniform lent. Gritting his teeth, Levi reluctantly left his top drawer shut, forgoing his undershirt and underwear. Walking past his mirror, his reflection caught his own eyes: his ivory skin barely yet noticeably peeking through the buttons of his grey shirt. Goddammit, he ripped the brown, canvas coat off its hanger and crossed it tight across his chest. To the harmony of his soles on wooden floor, his inner voice melodized: Could an outfit be both breathable and modest?

Levi could not bring himself to abandon his cravat, so instead of tying it beneath his collar, he let it sling out his back pocket, at the ready to grasp for when he needed to wipe his sweat away. That moment was inevitable, but he preferred not to think about it. He ran his fingers through his hair, base of his hand lingered on his widow’s peak, grinding pressure away like a mortar and pestle. Whatever, he tried to assure himself, as long as no one was around…

At first, he thought he might manage. If they got close enough, they would surely notice the glimmer shining upon his skin. However, by terse orders and points of his fingers, he had maintained a perpetual distance from the hoard of trainees. He was more of a hands-on kind of teacher, opting to join them as they ran laps or learned to grapple through trees. Today, though, he was standing in the shade several yards from the action. If anyone gave him shit for lazying aside, he had an excuse in that he wasn’t even supposed to be on-call today anyways. However, perhaps because he looked particularly irritable and scary, no one dared question his bystanding.

Then came you.

“Levi?”

It was the first time you had ever seen startle on the captain. A simultaneous, steep flinch in each of his shoulders. Hairs stood on end, he whipped his gaze around, “What? What’re you doing here?”

The sight of panic on someone so fearless, it caused you to fret by proxy. “I - I uh…” You had never second-guessed him before, you had never had to. “I’m covering for -”

“Erwin?”

You knit your hands behind your back, a sheepish grin, “He said you’d need help. You know, given the heat…”

Levi crossed his arms and bit the inside of his cheek. How shitty could that oaf be? The truth was that this heat was getting to everyone, yet in his fluster, Levi was sure that not only Erwin knew about his secret susceptibility, but that he had spilled it to the last person Levi wanted to know. No words seemed adequate for response, so instead, he kicked his foot against the barrack wall, leaned back, and deferred to silence.

Something was off, your eyes darted in search for it. His cheeks had been tainted a light red. Luckily, you chalked it up to the temperature, though Levi knew that was not the sole factor. His hair was slicker than its usual light-and-airy allure, you figured he had just gotten out of the shower. That was true, but this damp was sweat, not soap. Your gaze started to descend down his body, and on the way, you noticed it: no cravat.

A dog without a collar. A missing puzzle piece. Mildly irksome yet disproportionately intriguing. It was like he had read your mind, the mocking timing with which he reached back into his pocket and lifted the cloth to his forehead, sighing and swiping. After a couple wringing flicks of his wrist, he folded it and shoved it inside the lining of his tan jacket. His left hand tucked it away, hidden, while his right hand lifted the coat away from his chest, granting him the space to do so. Again, his own state snagged his attention - the dark, drenched patch of fabric at his underarm jumped out like a bug on a wall. Fiercely, he snatched his jacket shut again, praying to whatever was out there that you had not seen.

And though you had not seen the soak of his shirt, his odd behavior was garnering more and more of your attention. Cruelly, that made him sweat even more: not only the sun’s rays, but the blaze of your stare burning onto his skin. He cursed the thickness of his leather boots, the ODM gear that strapped his clothing tight to his skin, the turn of events that had brought you to this moment, his stupid genetics, and his even stupider feelings for you. Thoughts spiraling, humidity could mess with him in ways that titans could not.

If you thought hard about it, you may have realized that his humidity induced the same haze in you. Bangs glued to his forehead. Chest rose high and fell deep - combined with his light panting - made your brain boggle. Now and then, a clear bead of sweat would fall from his temple, down his jawline and neck, before disappearing down his collar - where you noticed that his top button was uncharacteristically undone.

The loud pop! as he uncorked his canteen broke both of your thirsts. Head tilted far back, Adam’s apple deliciously bobbed as he gulped down his water. Lips absentmindedly fallen, your eyes drank as he did.

Levi recognized, pretending that he hadn’t noticed your stare had thus far failed to shake it. He scoffed internally: someone could use some self-awareness, he was literally dripping with it. With a straight-on side-eye, he maintained eye contact as he gradually lowered the canteen from his lips, only to thrash it and splash it upwards into his own face. Still, you gaped like an idiot. Finally, Levi decided: if you were going to be this indulgent, he would be, too. Maybe then, you’d realize. Levi thumbed a leaking drop from the corner of his mouth. After briefly sucking the digit dry, his tongue snuck between his lips to slowly lick them clean.

Stone-cold steel eyes and his soft pink tongue - that was what it took to break your concentration. Immediately, you snapped your gaze down to your toes and silently mouthed sorry.

Despite the heat, shivers somehow managed to seize his figure. With your gaze averted, you thankfully missed them. However, when you no longer had your sight to rely on, other senses instinctively took over. Particularly, scent: aged sandalwood, burnt charcoal, bitter tea. On the training grounds, these smells did not come naturally. And if it were anyone else, you may have cringed at the combination of scents, but upon realization of the one and only source of this musk, you felt your middle warm with inexplicable satisfaction.

Meanwhile, he was squirming: fuck, how badly he wanted to hit the showers. If Erwin had left this assignment to him, he had every right to leave it to the next person. The thing was, that next person was you, the blinking, doe-eyed, fresh promotion who hardly knew their blades from their gas. If you were anyone else, he could see himself saying: take this cash, head to the square and stop at this stand, buy the tallest bottle they have and bring it back to me. Say a word, you’re dead.

But you were the entire reason he strove to keep this secret under wraps. To give you such orders would essentially be a confession, erasing the whole point. Between a rock and a hard place, Levi stood frozen in fever.

The air was thick with moisture and silence. With each breath, the memory of that canteen escapade and his intensifying aura seemed to suffocate you. Internally, he was simmering over how to shoo you away from his disgusting sorry state. On the other hand, you were parsing over how to excuse yourself without being rude.

The 10:00 bell rang, you used it to craft a feigned excuse, “If you’ve got things under control -”

“I do.” In some ways, he did. In others, absolutely not.

“- I’m supposed to help mess out with lunch.”

Levi knit his brows, seemed unlikely, but he would not object. With a slight flick of his head, his gesture released you from post and encouraged you inside.

At the door frame and with his back turned, you could not help but take one last look. At his last end and assuming you had departed already, he finally shouldered that Scouts jacket off, revealing his light-grey button up having turned dark with his sweat. His fist clutched his collar and fanned ferociously, allowing his skin to breathe. Inaudible to the other, you both simultaneously reprieved, “Fuck me…”

At 11 on the dot, Levi and the platoon of morning athletes were in the cafeteria line. So what if it meant they called it quits prematurely? Inside, no one was complaining. Levi was relieved that he did not find you there, hopeful that you were in your room avoiding heat stroke, and oddly satisfied to have correctly suspected your “cafeteria-duties” bluff earlier.

Levi looked like he had been rained on then dunk-tanked. At least, that was how his squad put it, jeering and elbowing, “What happened to you out there?”

They didn’t want to know. He didn’t want them to know. Most of all, he would rather forget this day ever happened. He took his steel tray and made for his room to eat in private - but more importantly, to shower again.

The venture back to his quarters seemed to drag - maybe it was because the dampness of his clothes had weighed him down, or maybe it was because the empty, lone quiet of the halls allowed his consciousness to echo loud and clear: humiliating, huh?

He could not deny that it was fucking humiliating, but for as scathing as the memory of that embarrassment was, the recollection of your rose-colored stare was just as impactful. All along, he had feared that if you witnessed his weakness to heat - more so the sweat and stench that came with it, it would have sent you running the other direction. Self-doubt suggested: they did end up running, though. That mess-hall excuse, them being them, they were probably trying not to offend you as they took cover from your reek. Self-confidence objected, but remember the way they looked at you? Don’t play dumb. You know that look anywhere. They like you - and hell - maybe they liked it.

On his doormat, a tall white bottle and a handwritten note confirmed the latter.

Seemed like you were missing something… …not that I think you need it. - (Y/N)

// masterlist //

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi #levi ackerman #levi x you #levi ackerman x you #levi x y/n #levi ackerman x y/n #oneshot #request #weeeeeeeeeeeee #2023 #anlian writes #my writing #alias's #fluff

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arson-09 · 1 year ago

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Why AcoMaF is a subjectively BAD BOOK

Point 1: feels like a different series

Acomaf does NOT feel like a sequel to acotar. The main reason being your introduced to a whole new cast of characters without warning. Typically, in a series your introduced to your main characters in the first book and the cast that will come and go throughout the rest of the series (ex pjo, six of crows, the cruel prince) you get new characters introduced at some points but you already know all the really important people. in acomaf though we basically forego the og acotar cast (which was small) and given a HUGE cast of important characters. Along with a new, large plot that really didn't get footing in acotar. The only thing that carries over between the two books in Feyre. Tamlin and the spring court hardly count in my mind cause its so drastically different from how it was written in acotar

point 2: characters, their motivs, and their writing

I can go on for AGES about the character assassination of Tamlin. Sjm completely re-wrote his character. There was no actually foreshadowing for this behavior in acotar and i will talk on this more in a later point. But back to our main girl Feyre. Feyre wasn't horrific in this book (shockingly) however she frequently states things that aren't true. Example, she says that "He [Tamlin] hadn't tried to kill her [Amarantha], hadn't crawled for me." which is false. to quote acotar "I found Tamlins eyes- wide as he crawled towards Amarantha, watching me die, and unable to save me while his wound slowly healed, while she still gripped his power." I could also cite early passages where Tamlin is BEGGING Amarantha to stop hurting Feyre. We are told why in acotar Tamlin couldn't fix everything (giving reason to Feyre having to do the trials etc etc) however this is promptly forgotten in acomaf to villainize Tamlin and give Feyre some sort of motive. A completely unnecessary thing. SJM can't commit to what she wrote previously, having to retcon things instead of thinking up some other motivation or reasoning. Its frankly lazy and makes the story feel cheap. I made many highlights in acomaf where something is directly retconned.

point 3: SJM and writing anger issues and mentally ill characters.

This will mainly focus on Tamlin as his character and his issues are quite personal to me.

Tamlin is written to have anger issues. these are vaguely hinted at in acotar when, after Rhysand comes and threatens the shit out of everyone Tamlin orders everyone to leave the dining room and then takes his anger out on the furniture (that is what is hinted at anyway) and then in acomaf these outbursts of anger are amped up. And used to go "look! he's actually evil and a bad person!"

As someone who has anger issues, a short temper, whatever you want to call it, finds this really disheartening. It's clear to me that sjm doesn't actually put thought or care into writing characters with tempers. Its also extremely biased as Rhysand is written to have a short temper however this is never a problem, but it is with Nesta and Tamlin. Now this is not me excusing abuse, but a character having anger issues does not equal abusive and bad like the acotar fandom heavily does with Tamlin. In general Tamlin's character is so dissolved in acomaf its just sad. SJM didn't even try to write a convincing character descent. At some point in writing acotar she fell in love with Rhysand and decided she wanted to change the love interest. (she had done this before in throne of glass) and while that's fine choosing to use Tamlins anger issues and protectiveness to attempt to write an antagonist was a cheap cop out. She couldn't even commit to making him an actual villain. Shes just capitalizing off of mental issues.

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #sarah j maas #tamlin #rhysand #feyre #acomaf #a court of mist and fury #sjm #sjm critical

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literary-illuminati · 1 year ago

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2024 Book Review #2 – He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

I’ve had this sitting on my bookshelf since it came out but, as so often happens, having it just laying around meant it faded to the background whenever I was deciding what to read next. Not the worst case of that (there’s a lovely of Cyteen that’s been sitting on my dresser and shaming me for at least a year now), but certainly long enough for me to regret it.

The story is a direct sequel to She Who Became The Sun, a low fantasy retelling of the fall of the Yuan Dynasty and the ascension of Zhu Yuanzhang to the imperial throne – though in this universe the ‘real’ Zhu Yuanzhang died a starving peasant child, and his sister assumed his identity and his destiny of greatness, willing to do anything and everything it takes to force the world into alignment with it. The book starts with her having lost her right hand, and only gets more emphatic about making her prove it from there.

Aside from Zhu, the narration’s split between several different points of view that fill out the struggle for the future of China. The book honestly does a better job with multiple POVs than the vast majority of epic fantasy I’ve read – every one is a thematic mirror of Zhu on one level or another, and every one has an arc dedicated to the book’s twin fascinations of what it means to be willing to do anything to achieve what you want on one hand, and gender nonconformity and queerness in an intensely patriarchal traditional society on the other.

The actual plot of the story is almost episodic – Zhu encounters some new obstacle on her way to victoriously marching to the Mongol capital at Dadu that can’t be defeated with the blunt force she has available, and she and some collection of the supporting cast goes on an insane adventure to snatch victory regardless. Then every so often there’s a cutaway to Wang Baoxiang (who, among all the other POVs, is easily the one that comes closest to deuteragonist status) scheming his way through imperial court politics in Dadu in his incredibly operatic and self-degrading scheme for revenge on his dead brother. The plots start affecting each other quite early, but I’m pretty sure it’s only in the last twenty pages or so that the two of them actually meet face to face (it is in fact a minor plot point that Wang can’t recognize Zhu when he sees her). It all manages to feel like it’s capturing a whole swathe of political intrigue beyond any one person’s understanding and feel fairly well plotted and cohesive as it comes together. Not that there aren’t plenty of points where you have to just run with it and not push back at what the book’s telling you but nowhere where it’s serious or blatant enough to actually be an issue.

I’m not sure it’s a complaint per se, but one thing that did take some adjusting to is just how, melodramatic I suppose? All the POVs in the book feel very profoundly and effusively, and also have absolutely zero awareness or understanding of their own emotions. This is particularly acute with Wang and Madame Zhang, but in every case there’s just a lot of characters being driven by emotions too large to be contained within them. It kind of feels like a musical, in that respect (but absolutely no other, to be clear).

Anyways, this is a book with absolutely massive amounts of Gender in it. With like, literally one exception, every POV is to some great extent defined by struggling against their position in the gender system of medieval China, and all the issues doing so their entire lives has left them with (Zhu is far and away the most healthy and well-adjusted about this.) Importantly, being oppressed and marginalized for being a woman/effeminate man/eunuch is in no way edifying or ennobling – it’s mostly left everyone involved deeply damaged and full of coping mechanisms that serve them poorly and everyone around them far worse. There’s basically no mention of even the idea of solidarity among the oppressed here – Madame Zhang tortures, mutilates and kills her own maids and her husbands’ consorts whenever necessary, Wang operatic revenge plot involves befriending and seducing a queer prince knowing it will get him killed in the end, Ouyang hates how effeminate his body is and deals with this by becoming a pathological misogynist – even Zhu doesn’t spare much to think about the cause of woman’s liberation beyond herself and her wife.Given the state of a lot of modern genre lit I honestly found this rather refreshing.

As both cause and consequence of the choice of POVs, the book has a rather interesting relationship with normative masculinity. There’s, as far as I can tell, exactly two examples of successful heroic/virtuous normative masculinity in the book – General Zhang and the Grand Councillor of the Yuan – and despite both being really incredibly competent and fearsome on the battlefield and legitimately selfless and honorable, both end up condemned as traitors to their respective lieges (both indolent, vicious, and generally contemptible men without anything in the way of redeeming features, themselves) and dying unpleasantly after being outmanoeuvred in court intrigue. Victory in the end goes not to those who are cherished by their society but the ones who are overlooked and brutalized by it but are willing and able to do whatever it takes and use anything and everything they can to claw their way to the top despite it.

Speaking of – the overriding throughline of the story is what it means to be willing to do anything to achieve your life’s ambition. Being willing to endure pain and suffering goes without saying, and while the book does put its leads through the physical ringer, that’s not really what it’s interested in. Are you willing to spend the lives of those who trust and rely upon you? Sacrifice those you love, or ask them to die for you? Betray those who have only ever shown you kindness? Are you willing to degrade and humiliate yourself, or lie and betray your own hard-won and precarious identity? And once you’ve done all that, and finally achieved your heart’s desire – well, are you really sure it was all worth it? Three cases out of four in the book, at least, ended up regretting it in the end.

This is a book that’s very concerned with sex and sexuality but, like, very nearly exclusively in offputting or unpleasant ways. There’s something like a dozen sex scenes (okay, ‘scenes with sex in them’ is probably the less misleading description. If you come looking for porn you’ll be disappointed) in the book and of them I believe exactly one that you could characterize as enthusiastically consensual and mutually enjoyable. Maybe three, if you count the incredibly toxic relationship which boils down to asking for help dong self-harm and it turns into a sadomasochist thing. Which never becomes/is never understood as sexual by the people engaging in it but describing it is definitely the closest the book gets to erotica. In any event, just somewhat surprising to see so much sex paired with so little romance, relative to most modern stuff I’ve read. Ties into how alienated literally everyone is from their bodies, I suppose.

Also I really don’t know enough about the historical memory of the early Ming dynasty to know whether all the stuff about how Zhu knows what it’s like to be nothing and how she’ll reorder the world to care for everyone is supposed to read as really darkly ironic or not.

#he who drowned the world #shelley parker chan #lesbian space atrocities #sff #tht #map fantasy #book review

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ariel-seagull-wings · 6 months ago

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@themousefromfantasyland @the-blue-fairie @thealmightyemprex @piterelizabethdevries

"I've always been a big fan of Ke$ha. The music of her early years was like a gateway for me letting myself to like Top 40.

I was a huge fan of her aesthetic of this flagrant shameless image... it was fun, it let you feel like being broke and young and partying all the time was aspirational.

It felt like a pass not to care about the world. At least as long as her music was on.

But then, years pass and it comes out that all of those party girl songs were made during years of physical and emotional abuse by her producer, that the party girl image was a construct that she didn't really have control over and maybe even didn't really like.

And knowing that in a world where otherwise I would still play the hell out of those Ke$ha early years music, it just doesn’t feel the same anymore.

I want to go back to the way her music made me feel in 2010, just unapologetic and dumb and glittery, but even though I want to, I can't.

Because now I know the circunstances under which that music was made.

And if you watch a piece of media, had an emotional reaction, whatever it was, and then learned that the context involved a certain level of exploitation, it changes the way you view the media, wheter you want it to or not.

Maybe Harper Lee's old age and deteriorating mental state were exploited by her publisher, in order to knock out a quick sequel to an American Classic before the door closed.

Maybe Ke$ha's party-girl image was carefully crafted by a sexually abusive iron-fist producer who had 100% control of her public image.

Maybe a lot of the art you consume, or even that you love, only exists because a person or people, or an entire island nation, were exploited by more powerful business interests.

But, that's capitalism.

Profit driven exploitation doesn't always have the last word.

Ke$ha's still locked into a contract with the label that enabled her abuser, but at least he's not there anymore?

And there are elements of the Hobbit Law that are up for repeal now that Labour is back in power, particularly the bit about outlawing collective bargaining, which to me is the most heinous part.

But these are only half measures, particularly the Hobbit Law repeal, which itself is no guarantee. I reached out to several people affiliated with the various New Zealand film guilds, but none are making comments to the media about the law until the law gets repealed.

If it does get repealed...

If you discover that a brand or company, like a bank or something, did something bad or unethical, it isn’t surprising. People just kind of shrug and go, yep that's how banks roll.

And maybe you'll close your account and go to a different bank, but the reality is that you probably don't care enough to even do that much, because unethical multinational corporations doing terrible things to people in the name of profit is just, kind of, the world.

You don’t have the brain space to care about all of them. We pay monopolistic cable companies for internet access, we have 401ks run by morally bankrupt hedge fund managers that we will never know, we still buy IPhones, we still buy cheap clothes while paying vague leap service to the knowledge that people are being exploited somewhere so we in America can boss Siri around.

In some ways we engage with a multitude of brands and corporations every day that someone, somewhere is getting exploited by, often cruelly so.

But media is different. Media is personal.

Media is designed to provide an escape, to stir emotions, to inspire.

The film industry is by no means the industry with the highest incidence of sexual harassment, but people care more about it when it gets exposed in the film industry, because the film industry creates media that hits emotional nerves.

And then when we find out that something we loved was made by someone who said or did bad things, it's like betrayal.

When people ask wheter is moral to separate art from the artist, or in this case, product from multinational conglomerate, what they're really asking is:

'How can I go back to consume media like I did when I was a kid? When the most context I had or cared about was who the author of my favorite book was, or why I like this actor, or what Ke$ha's real name and birthday is.'

But as an adult, you're expected to be an ethical consumer of media.

And it's somewhat inevitable that some people resent that, because consuming media the way children do is comforting.

Consuming media like The Hobbit as an adult is complicated and in this day and age, it's hard to do so innocently.

And I totally understand wanting to return to that innocence, and I don’t really have an argument against that worldview other than... that's adulthood."

(LINDSAY ELLIS: THE HOBBIT AN UNEXPECTED AUTOPSY (PART 3/2)- THE DESOLATION OF WARNERS )

#quotes #musings #fandom musings #pop culture #lindsay ellis

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metallicat777 · 5 months ago

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I need more people to realize that if you want quality entertainment, food, clothing, etc, you have to be pro-union. You have to be pro-worker.

The reason there’s only one or two good movies coming out nowadays and the rest are hollow sequels nobody asked for is because CEOs of animation studios like dreamworks for example, are choosing “saving money” (see: Union-busting/avoiding negotiations with unions, outsourcing animation to other countries where the animators are paid *even less*) over authentic art. They cut out interesting plot points, balance of heartfelt moments and humorous scenes because it’s cheaper to settle for sloppy animation made by people who aren’t paid enough and poorly written stories and execution that only succeed because they’re riding on an already popular franchise.

The minute Starbucks unions were able to come to a deal with the CEO, he gets taken out and a new guy gets put right back in, so they have to start the whole process over.

Clothing companies resort to poorly made mass produced fast fashion which is manufactured overseas by children who get paid 15 cents an hour because it’s easier and cheaper than hiring unionized factory workers.

Shitty writing in tv shows and even books is becoming common because it’s easier to use shitass ai programs than it is to hire people who care about creating good content for others to enjoy.

Capitalism does not create innovation. Capitalism is build on making excuses, cutting corners, and taking the easy way out. Pay attention to what you consume, look into which companies have successful unions and which ones don’t. Look at which workers are striking, and how important that is. Quality no longer exists under capitalism.

#Kat’s meow #sag aftra #capitalism #late stage capitalism #animation industry #film industry #clothing industry #fast fashion #unionizing #pro Union #pro worker #anti capitalism #anti capitalist

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hottakehoulihan · 22 days ago

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Hench

by Natalie Zina Walschots

(tl;dr: It's capepunk. There's a sorta-Accord-like character? The book uses some JKR words. : ( ...but it's a book with some good ideas. Like measuring cape-hero damage in 'lifeyears' and opposing it therefor and arguably for ACAB reasons.)

There is no ethical employment under capitalism, but people still gotta eat.

So if you can't make a living wage slinging fries or answering phones, you try dipping your toes into henching for B-lister criminals.

Like Uber and Leet. Or, in Walschots universe, Electric Eel, a villain who seems like he likes incense and peace signs when he's not throwing victims into a pit that's full of ethically-sourced sharks?

The book was readable and I thought it had a lot of promise.

The author is mostly new but clearly into the subject (her other book is apparently erotic love poems to supervillains) and seems like she'd be fun to hang around. The book is pretty good. 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5. It has some new ideas I greatly enjoy. My normal instinct would be to puff the book up to and beyond its deserts, because I parasocial easily and also I want to get new authors a leg up and especially if they show promise to grow into something I'll like even more.

Which is to say that although it doesn't deserve fulsome praise, it deserves praise and I would ordinarily overdo it because--as G. K. Chesterton did NOT say but maybe Oscar Wilde would have (and as HotTakeHoulihan ABSOLUTELY says), "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth overdoing."

But first, before I get into the plot, why am I restrained?

Our protagonist ("Anna", when she's not working) is a woman in her...early 20s? And once, back when signing up at a temp agency, went by the Harry Potter surname "Tromeldov" and regrets it. ..but this is the best name we have for her (the other alternative is her never-used work-name "Palindrome"?) As far as we know, she's "Anna Tromeldov" on her birth certificate or...something?

The author published this book in 2021.

In book publishing years, the timeline between 2019 (when JKR went fully mask off) and 2021 might be longer than it seems.

And maybe the author didn't know because she doesn't pay attention to these things. Plausible deniability exists, and sometimes it's because it's the honest truth.

But it's as if the main character had a crush on a character who happened to be named Hank Atlas Rearden or Eva Dolph Brawn. It's distracting and hinky, but could be not-a-dogwhistle at all. Here's hoping I'm not helping platform a hate-group person. : /

Also, spoilers:

Protag gal signed on for a short gig just standing around with other bodyguards/henchmen at an event for her C-list supervillain boss. She's not strong or powered (maybe in a subsequent book--the sequel comes out in March) but he wanted some women in with all his muscle (which are common enough they're referred to as "meat", in-universe.)

Alas, this wasn't the minor stand-there-and-look-like-a-scary-fireplug job it was set up to be. Electric Eel is a villainous tinker and while his gadgets are usually about as reliable as the X-ray specs from an old magazine catalog (I have never held one of those but I've seen simulations on YouTube), he's got an enslavement ray going and he's kidnapped the mayor's kid.

Protag is unhappy, because she got handed the slave-ray just after the boss told the kid to cut off part of a finger (to demonstrate the ray) and the kid was gearing up to do his best and was clearly going to be allowed to.

It's not at all clear if protag was going to stay obedient much longer, but she seemed pretty frozen by indecision.

Fortunately, a flying brick burst in and knocked her out of the way, destroyed the dingus, beat up all the 'meat', and chased the villain (who was hoo-hoo-ha-ha-ing his retreat and spraying murder-clouds everywhere, killing some people our protag knew.)

And then our protag realizes she can't stand. Later, in the hospital and having to undergo multiple surgeries to partly-reconstruct her leg (Supes hits hard) she learns she's fired for being no-longer-useful as a physical hench, that she's not going to walk for at least six months and will be using a cane after that, and the cops and superheroes have decided the official report is that she was hurt by the villain because superheroes do no wrong.

Shortly after she's evicted, but her best friend takes her in, and during this time?

This is the interesting part

She starts internetting and studying natural disasters and hits on the concept of the "Life Year", which is measuring the impact of things (like COVID) based not merely on how many deaths they caused or on merely how many dollars of damage or lost income they caused, but also things like impaired ability to live life--such as she's enduring--at that time.

And she's meticulous about documentation, and conservative about how she notates her assertions, so when her blog is discovered by pro-cape media they mock and deride it with the spin they can muster, but she starts acquiring her own community of contributors and corroborators.

Bluntly speaking, hero activity isn't just more trouble and damage than its worth, but this is true on an immense scale. Unless you're a mayor's son, I guess.

Soon after, protag acquires a new A-list supervillain employer, who is meticulous and precise and also a powerful combatant with mechanized mail and claws and mask. He'd like her to both continue her research and also--now that it's clear that she's on the same page as he is--help him come up with ways to utterly destroy (what we might call "cancel") or at least nullify the cape threat.

And she does. She becomes pretty cool, and her fellow henches end up with a cute office culture and get. shit. done.

Another review I read (after I finished the book) says she goes full-on-evil. Maybe they're more right than I am, and of course few IRL villains would admit they're being and doing evil to themselves...but she's doing the wrong things, for the wrong reason, but to accomplish the right ends. ...and she'd freely admit this even while twirling the modified cane her employer gave her.

Alas for her, she's made the more amoral facets of the superhero community Very Angry. And so for the final third of the book? She's gonna have to deal with the upcoming climax.

(Also, she's got a crush on her new boss. ...and her best friend--who doesn't mind henching or supervillains at all--is freaked out by her prominence and her importance and...and it sucks to have your BFF cut comms. I expect this'll pay off in a subsequent book, with BFF either becoming a hostage, an adversary, or a secret third thing.)

(Author is demonstrably pro-woman (Yay!) and LGB friendly (Yay! 3/5!) , which are things I'm a fan of, and there are some same-sex couples in the peripheries of the book, but protag seems pretty into only dudes, so I don't really think her profound attachment to her BFF is latently romantic or sexual.)

I can tell you how it works out, and there are some fun bits of media manipulation, office snark, and combat shenanigans. ...and if you ask in the comments I'll answer.

But that's the book. I'm kind of--guardedly--a fan of the protag (and the author), and am sorta cheering as these well-meaning heroic doofuses are retiring or 'being retired' as a result of the protag's efforts. ...because they ARE well meaning. ..and they're killing the mosquitos on the playground with industrial quantities of DDT.

The sequel, "Villain", comes out in March. I'll probably wait until I can get it used, but will want to read it just to see where the story goes.

3.5 stars out of 5, and the protag is more morally gray than Taytay. I love the ideas and approach. At no point in the first third of the book did I successfully guess what direction the story was going (I legit thought maybe she'd end up being courted by the contrite-and-trying-to-do-better flying brick hero, for a time. Also, I did not expect her to get knocked out of the henching junior leagues so decisively or early.)

Maybe I'll check out one of the fanfics (there are at least two) on AO3.

#CW transphobia #fuck terfs #boox #Natalie Zina Walschots #Hench #HHH.txt #transphobia #CW JKR #JKR

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el-moscorrofio-y-el-mercachifle · 5 months ago

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I used to somewhat Betty la Fea growing, as my Colombian side of my family would watch the show a lot.

I grew to appreciate the show now that I'm older as it was very clever when it came to writing, although a bit over the top sometimes, but it's a novela.

I'm watching the sequel series, and I'm a bit lost; maybe I'm an idiot and I'm missing something, idk.

First, Daniel Valencia. I don't doubt that he would be involved in something like money laundering, but I'm not sure why he would do it. Daniel isn't stupid; he's very manipulative and calculating, and while he's not above money laundering, he'd need a decent reason to do it considering the risk. Idk, maybe I'm wrong, but I'd really like to know why he'd did it and how he went about it.

Another thing I'm curious about is Marcela and her connection with the new character, Ignacio. Why does Marcela want him to be president of Ecomoda? What is he to her?

Why is Marcela close to Mila? I mean, obviously, she likes how her being close to Mila bothers Betty, but there are moments in the show where it looks like Marcela somewhat genuinely cares about Mila. I know Marcela isn't completely heartless, and I don't think she's doing it out of love for Armando because she also wants him to pay for what happened to Daniel.

Also, I really hope Mila gets decent development because I want to like her as a character, but right now, she's hard to tolerate.

Your thoughts?

Helloooo!

Jajaja I totally relate. I used to dismiss novelas but ysblf with its great characters and fun writing definitely opened my mind to them!

You're for sure not the only one lost regarding the sequel. I am also a bit lost. I must admit I'm not liking most choices, and a part of me is kinde hate-watching and another is very curious about future writing choices.

About Daniel, I'm a bit on the fence. On one hand we know Daniel isn't much for illegal and dirty stuff-- remember how he was disgusted at Olarte's sabotage of Betty's computer. On the other hand, we also know he wasn't as great on businesses as he claimed to be. He lost everything to a growing project, never diversified his income, and worked at the government for a pretty mediocre salary, apparently. He was willing to empty his capital to bet on a barely-growing project, too. So I kind of see how he could end up involved in something shady, perhaps out of need or out of ignorance. We don't yet know very well.

Honestly, about Marcela and Ignacio, my theory is that they're related. Perhaps Daniel's son or something? Idk, I definitely don't think they are romantically or sexually involved.

Marcela's relationship with Mila is one of the biggest misteries to me. I genuinely have no idea. Like... why? How? Mila is very very close to Marce, but I don't understand how. Since when? When did Marcela return to Ecomoda to meet Mila? Was Betty ever okey with them being close? Was Armando okay with that? Why did Marcela even want to be close to Mila, the daughter of her ex and the woman he cheated on her with ??? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

I really can't stand Mila rn. The whole talking in acronyms, especially ones that no one ever uses (it would be tolerable if it were at least something like "O.M.G" or "L.O.L" but with random ass phrases that no one knows???), talking to the camera like it's a diary, and being obsessed with trends just... no. Ik they tried to make her an entitled nepo baby with family issues but it's so badly done it feels fake and like a parody of what a boomer thinks a GenZ is.

Armando, Marcela, Beata and Daniel were all entitled nepo babies with family issues and they feel like actual people, not a Rosa de Guadalupe version of what a 60 yo thinks a 20 yo is. And don't even come to say that Armando, Marce, Daniel, etc were all in their 30s and that's why they don't act like that. I'm in ny early 20s and I have never in my life met anyone who behaves like that. It's so bad and cringy.

Anyways lmao Ik I can't judge much yet and have to wait to see the final product.

Thanks for the questions!

#ysblf #yo soy betty la fea #betty la fea #armando mendoza #beatriz pinzon solano

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legendary-defender-of-fandoms · 9 months ago

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Guess what? It’s Vanellope’s turn

So, one of the chief complaints that gets tossed around about RBTI is how Vanellope “went Turbo” by abandoning Sugar Rush for Slaughter Race. And while I get some of the criticism, I have to push back on some points.

Folks say that gamers will notice Vanellope’s absence & get the game unplugged for good. First, she’s been missing for at least a decade and no one noticed. Second, her outfit & kart don’t match ANY of her pictures on the game console and no one cared. Third, KING CANDY’S gone and his death didn’t lead to the game being unplugged. That’s the power of the Random Racer Roster - no one notices if an old character disappears or if a new character is added. They think it’s just chance.

Turbo forced himself into Roadblasters & Sugar Rush, completely hijacking the latter’s programming to make himself the guy in charge. Vanellope was INVITED to stay in Slaughter Race.

While the movie clearly meant to make it a stupid joke about “Oh, those Disney princesses, always wanting Something More,” we can’t forget that Vanellope was abused, ostracized, and mistreated during her Glitch decade. If Wreck-it Ralph was a standalone movie, it’d be ok if she took charge in the end but became a benevolent ruler so no one would experience the pain she had to suffer because the movie was 90 minutes long & folks needed to get home for work the next day. But with a sequel, it’s not out of the question for Vanellope to need some time & space away from Sugar Rush to figure things out. MAYBE she’ll come back someday, MAYBE she’ll stay in Slaughter Race forever, but she deserves a break.

So, no, I don’t have a problem with Vanellope wanting to expand her horizons and try some new things.

IN THEORY.

In RBTI, however, the execution was incredibly flawed. The press leading up to this movie said the story was meant to be akin to friends going their separate ways for school, one friend being ready to move on while the other stayed behind. But the film made it feel like Vanellope was trading up, not moving forward. The whole thing went out of its way to make Ralph the worst possible choice for Vanellope, replacing him in her life with Shank.

And I’m not hating on Shank. She was clearly made to capitalize on Gal Gadot while Gal Gadot was a marketable star, and the character doesn’t do anything to try to one-up Ralph in the Surrogate Parent department. It’s all the narrative’s doing.

Oh, Vanellope said “Cool” to Ralph living in the garbage once and Ralph kind of trauma-dumped about how living in the garbage sucks ass? Well, Shank & her friends live in a super-cool dystopian dumpster fire & they think it’s AWESOME!

What’s that? Ralph & Vanellope spent a long time baking her first kart, which didn’t look anything like the perfect sample kart but Vanellope loved anyway because it was HERS & her love for her imperfect kart gave Ralph a sense of pride for doing something right for the first time in his life as well as recognition that perfection is overrated? Then the two bonded more as Ralph helped Vanellope learn how to drive & unlocked her dormant driving skills? Well, Shank just GAVE Vanellope her own race car during an Alan Menken musical number & they flew through the sky, so same thing really.

And again, Ralph’s character was COMPLETELY ASSASSINATED to make him look worse compared to Shank! They went back to his stupid beta version from the deleted scenes that was super whiny, kind of gross, and impressively stupid so Shank would look smarter, sleeker, and more put-together. They made him throw a temper tantrum outside of eBay when he didn’t understand the rules of bidding & blubber like a baby when he got caught trying to steal Shank’s car so Shank would be the more emotionally stable one. HE PURPOSEFULLY CRASHED SLAUGHTER RACE & ALMOST KILLED VANELLOPE so no one would want to see her stick with his clingy, insecure ass.

And this “Vanellope traded up” vibe continues in other media. Like the “Sugar Rush Racers” books I mentioned before. Vanellope spends MAYBE five off-page minutes with Ralph before he takes a nap & the other Sugar Rush Racers ask Vanellope if they can join her in Slaughter Race for a bit. Then during the story, Vanellope’s always referencing either the Disney Princesses (which she apparently does a LOT according to the other Racers’ reactions) or her new life with the Slaughter Race characters. There’s ONE mention of that time Ralph was WILLING TO DIE TO SAVE HER LIFE, but that’s it. No mention of making her kart together, no talk of their heart-to-heart in Diet Cola Mountain, no acknowledgement of the training montage or the time he trashed her kart because he thought he was saving her life, then his going back later to apologize & really help her get her life back by winning the race. Nothing. Almost like their adventures together meant nothing. And there’s no mention of OTHER adventures they might’ve shared between movies, despite the Sugar Rush Racers casually mentioning the time King Candy banished two of the recolor racers (which opens a WHOLE can of worms about why he didn’t just do that with Vanellope, or kill her outside Sugar Rush before trying to delete her code & reprogram himself into the game, but whatever). And at the end of the second book, when the Racers are told they can go back to the arcade, Vanellope says she wants to spend “a hot minute” with Ralph before going back to Shank & her crew in Slaughter Race. Implying they’re her REAL family.

WHAT

THE

ACTUAL

FUCKITY

FUCK?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I truly believe if the authors of the books COULD have left even the mention of Ralph out, they would’ve. He has been thoroughly Scrappy Doo’d by Disney, and it fucking HURTS!!!! HE’S THE REASON VANELLOPE EXISTS!!!!!!! AND THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL HIM!!!!!!!

And still, I need to know why? Why does Disney hate him? Why does Disney want US to hate him? WHY are they trying to bury him?!!!?! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED DURING PRODUCTION OF THIS STUPID CURSED SEQUEL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

#disney #wreck it Ralph #wir #ralph breaks the internet #rbti #vanellope von schweetz #I’m still not over this #excuse me while I scream into the void for another month #why won’t this stupid IP leave me alone?#why can’t I move on to my new hyperfixations in peace?

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