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hellofastudysession · 1 month ago

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am i rlly going to write a death note literary analysis when i could be doing other things

about the discourse going on in the tag abt "death note is acab and thats why the characters couldnt better the world with the note (/written in somewhat jokey matter)" vs "death note is trying to say we all have potential for evil, especially if you get a chance to insta-hurt ppl without repercussions, and it doesnt matter if youre a cop or not", i personally feel like it ignores the things that i like abt death note, which is "both of these things are true", and simultaneously "both of these things do not matter". the first part of this is dedicated to the first point, the latter to the last.

first point. i think its an important part of the message and themes (unintentional or not, and i lean on the former because... come on, can you really say the author intended you to not think of the cops as good people, at least compared to light and l) that light is a cops son, and that almost everyone who gets the death note is cop adjacent/thinks like a cop and is already corrupt/powerful when they get it (mello raised to think hed be just like l, yotsuba group is self explanatory; you cannot look me in the eyes and tell me teru "churchill" mikami, who was hand selected by light out of a bunch of rabid kira supporters, is a normal citizen). i appreciated the cop post bc its rlly important to not gloss over that aspect.

all of this would be an argument for "only someone like them would do something like this, and i am not like them, so im above them and immune to thinking about what id do with it", but... misa is the MOST important outlier in all of this bc her murders are solely selfish in nature and shes not doing any of this for "the greater good"!!! her nature of being an exception and still a very very bad person is really really important...

or it would be if death note gave a shit about her character at all!!! im not talking about her tragic side, im talking about exploring the ramifications of her killing people the way lights murders are (somewhat) explored. that would strengthen the message greatly! but shes dismissed and that weakens it overall. firstly, she's dismissed by the characters when l only sees her as a way to get to kira and basically shelves her the rest of the time. secondly, shes dismissed by the narrative when her character is gradually ground down to a stump and (not to sound perilously close to the bad takes ppl meme about) she never faces repercussions for her actions. every other character using the death note is treated relatively seriously, but misa just dies bc her love is dead. im not saying this isnt a... fitting punishment or that it isnt in character, but it doesnt fit snugly into the theme other people are talking about of "you reap what you sow" at all.

we do have something of an equivalent to misa's grayscale motives. surprise surprise, its light yagami. first is light's characterization in the musical (i will also note that misa never kills anyone in the musical). light's thinking is coplike, yes — he literally starts his first song by talking about "throw[ing] away the key" — but also, oddly enough, could be read as progressive and therefore sympathetic to tumblr ("let the corporations make the regulations / and hold no one accountable when everything gets wrong / let the rich and famous get away with murder / every time a high-priced mouthpiece starts to talk, his client gets to walk"). compare to the anime and manga, where his bigotry and pride and disgust come from a place of lukewarm dissatisfaction and boredom. the musical has much less time to play around with lights character, so it gives the audience something to immediately hook on. more on how that actually plays out later.

in the animanga, none of this is justified from the start. animanga light could say he was just killing people to make humanity way, way worse, and that wouldnt matter, because at the root of it, it was always his boredom that made him pick up the note. of course he actually believes in justice and believes hes doing the right thing (no, he believes he's doing the wrong thing, for the sake of the world... the right thing, because he is god...), but it was boredom at the start. all animanga light says about justice and righteousness and the law is a front in the end, bc he is exactly like l and misa — amoral. selfish. searching for entertainment. hedonistic. we know this. he kills naomi misora*. he kills lind l. turner. everything hes saying deserves to be dismissed from the beginning.

"but doesnt that mean you agree with the discourse post you wrote this post to argue against?" like i said, i agree with both of them! but i... still think its not right to reduce death note to the message of "the power to kill people is bad". because that is not exactly what the story is saying, even though that's literally its whole plot and therefore reaching that conclusion is self explanatory (lmao). let's look at the concept of mu. nothingness. "there's no heaven or hell". The Real Slay The Princess (Death Note Essay) Starts Here.

in light's final moments in the death note manga, while screaming about not wanting to die, he remembers that the first day they met, ryuk told light that "there's no heaven or hell. no matter what they do in life, all people go to the same place. all humans are equal in death". it is retroactively revealed that light knew this the whole time, operated under this knowledge for all the years we watched him — the knowledge that nothing he does is actually bad, that nothing any human does is actually bad, that shinigami are not "evil", that the universe does not care. that no one cares except humans. this oblivion absolutely terrifies him more than anything anyone could ever do to him. its what he thinks of before anything else as he flails there, screaming, dying. one could say everything he does after that day is him trying to escape that fact, or wrest control over it. but it doesnt work.

here are the lyrics of requiem, the musical's final song, sung over the bodies of l and musical light, a light who was at least somewhat good-intentioned at first: "sleep now, here among your choices / then fade away / hear how the world rejoices / shades of gray / gone who was right or wrong / who was weak or strong / nothing left to learn". this is the final message the death note musical and the manga chose to leave us with. there is no judgement. even after all that acknowledged hurt, after all the damage done, there is no judgement.

in the manga and anime alike, the world is just as fucked when light picks up the death note as when he dies. sure, we as readers can guess otherwise logically (and be optimistic, believing the world was never fucked regardless), but that's not what death note wants you to think. it ends with matsuda and another member of the task force noting how the world is worse again even though they killed kira (matsuda is clearly much worse for wear, but still determined), we see the shitty motorcycle band again, it ends with misa and a whole kira cult on a mountain even though kira died a long time ago...

its extremely important that light is never killed by any human or any aspect of the law. he is always killed by ryuk: a chaotic force completely detached from human sensibilities, one that does not care about good and evil. same with l; in the anime, manga, and musical, he is always killed by rems senseless, morally gray love (and you could argue in the kdrama that hes killed by love there too lol). justice is just a set dressing.

this is not just because death note is a tragedy, because good and evil can still matter in a tragedy. the theme of "nothingness" and "good and evil doesnt matter here" is also shown in a situation relatively unrelated to light winning or losing, or being good or bad. and its in fucking lawlight of all things. we all know ls not a good person. we know lights not a good person. this is tip of the iceberg death note knowledge. but the moment they start to interact, none of that starts to matter. textually, their relationship becomes more important than the people theyve killed and hurt. and the thing is? the thing is? THAT WORKS STORY-WISE. THAT'S ENTERTAINING. AND IT'S NEVER TEXTUALLY CALLED OUT IN A LASTING WAY. l and lights relationship, no matter how much i meme it, is genuinely important to the themes and "mu" because it makes it clear that despite all the pretensions, despite everything, this was never about good and evil. and it still works in the story. this is why death note is simultaneously a comedy — isn't the battle of good and evil supposed to matter more? well, fine, i'll keep watching this anyway. that suspension of disbelief comes crashing down the moment l dies, though, and a relationship built on nothingness (the "mu" sort, meaninglessness, not "character development" nothingness, theres plenty of character development) gives way to just nothingness (again, "mu", not light's post-l depression nothingness), forever.

(an aside: there is no one to root for in death note, and the only things to root for are either interesting character relationships, convoluted plots, or complete and total destruction: for everything to end so no more damage is done.)

not to say that death note does not encourage its readers to consider what damage they might do with the death note (obviously.), or that its characters never do. look at matsuda, a much easier heroic figure to latch on to than soichiro because of his unique place in the cast dynamic and because he's willing to consider both sides of the situation and kill light instantly for all he's done. its just that the story's own stance on the subject is... complicated by the existence of shinigami worldviews and by its own insistence that the world cannot change for the better.

also, this is not to say that this is executed well by the death note manga at all. it is a very strong tool, artistically, to establish and then violently remove any emotional connections between characters and make your story only about the exceedingly convoluted lengths characters go to to survive and catch each other so the reader can realize how ultimately pointless all of this is, but like... is that a good story choice if that's all you do? i would say not really. add in a good dollop of misogyny that destroys the second-to-last character who might actually be an interesting contrast to the rest of the cast's dull one-track focus on winning and justice, and youve got yourself a shitty story that... honestly still achieves what it went out to do, just not in a way id ever want to replicate.

anyway, back to the parts death note's actually trying to say. no matter what any human does in their life, no matter how they try to hurt or help the world, they all die in the end. hey, light, they all die in the end. once dead, they can never come back to life. and the seasons turn. and the world rejoices. and you say "goodbye"...

that's all.

no analysis of death notes overarching theme would be complete without nears final monologue, the definitive roast of light, the "you're just a murderer" speech: "what is right from wrong? what is good from evil? nobody can truly distinguish between them. even if there is a god." if we take this as talking about the actual god in the room (ryuk) as well as light, then near admits that humans will never be able to withstand these overwhelming forces and that, using justice and happiness and selfishness, they are just scrabbling to find meaning in things they ultimately have no control over.

but of course, near does not stop there. "[...] even then i'd stop and think for myself. i'd decide for myself whether his teachings are right and wrong." nears alright with not having control over everything, because near can still control nears own actions. these forces can and do exist, but they have no sway over nears own humanity — unlike light, who caved.

one of the creators of death note said they believe its message is "life is short, so everyone should do their best". the first time i learned this, i was like, thats... nice and optimistic, but an awful reading of the story! "life is short, so everyone should be desperate and striving like light yagami", who literally cut off other ppls lives for his own life? what character in death note are we supposed to strive towards when we "do our best"? they all do awful things with their lives! honestly, maybe they shouldnt have tried their best, if this is what their best is!

but with the view of "mu"... it makes a bit more sense. just a little. maybe.

there is no good and evil. there is only what humans think, and no matter what we do, we all die in the end. it is easy to be crushed and terrified by this in the same way light is, but what is more important than justice and righteousness and finding meaning is... doing your best. not being a person that hurts others too much. not letting yourself get swallowed up by an ideal. not going too far. and simultaneously, trusting yourself.

it leaves a few questions, though... was the currently dead l even a little bit right about his blatantly amoral approach, then? was there a point to this pain, and me slogging through this dumbass manga, and all the people that have lost their lives to a selfish teenage cop's son and the whims of everyone chasing after him? was there a point to any of this...?

the manga** never answers this. it stays clinically impartial until the very end. the musical is anything but clinically impartial (and i love it so much for that), and its ryuk that has the last word.

"there's no point at all."

of course theres no point. none of this was ever supposed to happen. that is what matters more than all the hurt and the crimes and the pain.

and that's... actually okay, because it's over now.

yes, death note has many really important themes present in its story, but its viewpoint is nihilism first and foremost. thats why its so fun and easy to play around with all the other messages, because no matter what fun or torment or awful things or righteous justice or absolute nothingness or sentimentality happens in between, there is always an end.

there is always the end.

#*naomi was killed off bc the author thought shed solve the case too quickly. ironic. i dont think it was meant to forward a theme other than #'light evil! oh no!!!' bc it had minimal buildup and absolutely no repercussions. it is just kind of smth that happens #everything in death note is just smth that happens bc. at some point i just have to admit its NOT RLLY WELL WRITTEN #but it says something. it says many things. and i like balancing the two in my head #death note #personal #**>reduces anime ending to a footnote /j #anime ending: light regrets COMING THIS FAR- not his crimes. he sees l as another regret and dies.#another example of the tragic self (and tragic relationship) ultimately being more important than morals #l would be proud of the torment he inflicted on light if he were not fucking dead #i would also bring up the argument that the way every death note character uses the note is so extreme that its hard to compare them #to real people but lets assume that the author was trying to replicate how actual human beings work as much as possible*#you made it deep enough into the tags would you like to hear about near and mello being nonbinary—#'there is an end so why not enjoy the middle? chain yourself to a hot boy eat strawberry shortcake be bisexual and lie'#*either that or they were just explicitly trying to have fun like they said they was doing #light yagami #sure ill tag my boy #'you cant say the curtains are just blue!' well can i say the curtains were shittily made #norrie if you look at this post ever again ill death note you myself

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jichanxo · 1 year ago

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me & you & the son we used to have [from nov/2023]

second image is based on this fanfic by snap which you should totally go read

#jo sawashiro #sawashiro jo #ikumi (like a dragon)#...i'm just going to assume she's too niche to have an established tag #like a dragon #yakuza 7 #yakuza 7 spoilers #rgg7 #jichanart #my first art of kid sawashiro....#and i actually really enjoyed drawing ikumi?#i used references are you proud of me #anyway this probably fits the ig post format better than tumblr but it is what it is #i saw “polaroid” and was like (point) MASATO BOX IMAGERY #i have so many feelings about this concept in general though...#the passing of time... the simultaneous intimacy and distance between ikumi and jo at their shared experience...#i should probably. have tagged or messaged the author that i made art of their fic but. i have anxiety lol #it feels too cocky to go up to someone whose work you really enjoy and go “okay now look at MY WORK”#so just sending good vibes in their general direction telepathically #fic:for others

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bumblingbabooshka · 1 year ago

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[TUVOKTOBER: Day 6] Based on this line of dialogue:

#I will forever be like 'what did you mean by that??' jennifer lawrence clip about Tuvok saying he 'spoke out against it'#He isn't??? A politician?? And never was???#Is his family one which holds a certain amount of sway??#I need to know if he 'spoke out' in an official capacity - like a way that mattered to the world at large or if he was just talking shit #I tend to assume mostly the latter - maybe talking shit to specific people but still. It reminds me of how in Gravity he says #HE chose to leave Jara and school when in reality he was kicked out and banished - adjusting the facts #anyway one of the things I sincerely love about Tuvok is that he would be like one of many petty Vulcan antagonists* in another series #especially when he was younger but it's not like he's THAT much better in canon #Ex: Though Tuvok agrees & praises the peace treaty he still seems to view B'Elanna unfavorably bc she's Klingon #<- Like what Neelix says 'That's just it!! You don't feel anything FOR me but you feel things AGAINST me' that's him a nutshell #<- Another example is how he treats Chakotay in the earlier seasons: Deliberately undermining him and questioning his authority #He can be very sanctimonious both about him personally and facets of himself without much tolerance for others or deviation #It's a legit character flaw and I do love highlighting it bc I love him even when I want to choke him to death he's fascinating <3 #It's also VERY interesting bc he WAS more of a rebel punk as a teen then he went to the monastery and now he is shown to be very #devoted to Vulcan ways and have a keen interest in monastic life.#I know Vulcan philosophy is NOTHING like christianity or catholicism but like forget that for a second. Ok. Now: 'Tuvok's born again swag?#off the charts' v_v thank you #bea art tag #Tuvoktober #st voyager #st voyager fanart #*And this never changes. Unlike Spock or T'Pol he never has moments (that I can recall) where the narrative's like 'GOTCHA!'#& he's never insecure about his identity as Vulcan. Never desires to feel or be more human. & I /do/ think this is bc he's older! We see #himas an ensign in 'Flashback' struggling with his identity as its pitted against humanity AND in 'Gravity' where he's shown to have disdai #for Vulcan culture & customs. It really makes me wish we had gotten more character-building episodes from him rather than character-breakin #ones where he's not really acting as himself in full. v_v #also one last thing: I recognize that other characters do try2 'GOTCHA!' Tuvok both seriously and lightheartedly but Tuvok is never framed #as being actually affected by this unlike Spock or T'Pol where it's a whole like Thing about their characters (humanity - feeling)#tuvoktober

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edwardseymour · 6 months ago

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new jane seymour fanfic just dropped!

where are the history books that call her a ‘sweet, docile angel’? name them.

#i’ll wait :)#we literally know nothing about this woman so we simply cannot claim with any certainty #what her feelings or motivations were. we simply don’t know.#‘jane was not a nice lady AT ALL’ well.. were any of them?#likewise why is she assumed to be inauthentic/manipulative when we simply don’t know?#while anne’s supposed ‘independence’ is unquestionably accepted as wholly genuine.#maybe jane was manipulative but there’s no evidence either way #seems weird to single her out as not nice when we know the least about her.#this ‘well ACTUALLY—‘ attitude about jane feels so spiteful.#people seem SO bitter and resentful over jane’s supposed glowing reputation… that doesn’t exist.#historians/authors either don’t care about her or they talk about her with disdain #& that there is a slowly burgeoning group of fans is not really indicative of her general historiographical record.#by and large jane is the least popular wife. we all KNOW this. there is no need to pretend.#there is no need to be this reactionary and defensive.#(ALSO:#‘genuinely lovely people were a rarity in the tudor court—#—they all backstabbed each other for a taste of power’#i need you to understand that tudor people… were people.#not every single person was/is a cartoonishly evil power-hungry machiavellian schemer.#many lacked the ability and/or the inclination. almost all lacked the agency — especially many women.#for the majority the court world was merely a place and system of employment.)#💿🐴

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androphagy · 3 days ago

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if you lean into or join in with misogynist jokes and threats as a trans man or transmasc because you pass as cisgender or are "man enough" to the person/people who are talking that way you are a traitor to the trans demographic as a whole. if you're scared of being outed and assaulted due to standing up for those affected by misogyny, sex or gender based, then don't say anything. keep your mouth shut. make it clear you're uncomfortable or glare at them or roll your eyes but if you can call it out, do it. do anything besides giving into misogynistic behavior under a misguided attempt at acceptance. if those men making the jokes and threats knew you were AFAB and/or you had any stereotypically "physically feminine" traits (long hair, breasts, makeup, etc) they would target you the same as they would anyone else they deemed acceptable.

there's nuance here, obviously, but the cis men making cruel and misogynistic threats and "jokes" will not see you as a man if you're outed. you are not allying yourself with people who will protect you. you are allying yourself with people who would hurt you if you were alone and they/he was fairly sure they/he could get away with it, and even then sometimes you don't need to be alone and it'll happen anyway. people will look the other way. the legal system protects rapists. law enforcement protects rapists. the other cis men will protect rapists. ask me how i know.

don't become someone who protects that behavior. believe that you're better than them, because you are, and put that treatment beneath you. is what they have to offer really worth whatever acceptance you may see in their eyes? why do you want their acceptance and approval at all?

#long post #long tags #obviously this isn't say ''all men'' jfc but if you actually have life experience cis men especially white #or cishet are extremely entitled and should be assumed to be a danger. don't be naive. it is not your fault but you must take steps to #protect yourself from men who are misogynistic and you must learn to recognize the signs #because they're not always overt. trust your gut #the ''cishet white man'' thing became a massive meme and joked about constantly but it comes from a genuine terror.#you don't want to be like them. no brief ''gender euphoria'' or feeling of masculinity is worth #furthering such an extremely pervasive and dangerous ideology. terfs aid and abet this and they're not all women.#to ''be a man'' in presentation is to stand up for yourself and others and use the privilege/authority/whatever you want to call it #you have for good and not to prop up would be rapists at best and real rapists and murderers at worst.#i know that sounds overwhelmingly doom and gloom but please read how many articles there are on #the rape murder impregnation and brutalization that misogyny affected people experience #trans women are abused and stats on their abuse are skewed because the legal system doesn't care about them.#i could go on for so much longer but these tags are already so long #transmisogyny cw #lgbt issues #transphobia #lgbt #assault cw #sa tw #ask to tag

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aroaessidhe · 1 year ago

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2023 reads / storygraph

The Poisons We Drink

YA urban fantasy

a girl who brews powerful potions is coerced into making potions to interfere with D.C.’s most influential politicians in an attempt to stop a dangerous Witcher Registration Act from passing, and will do anything to protect her sister after their mother is killed

bi MC, nonbinary love interest

arc from netgalley

#The Poisons We Drink #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #this is…….a lot of cool ideas but also so many elements and high stakes that i kinda lost track of them #the pacing is weird. the worldbuilding is random?#why is brewing SO overpowered & risky for her but the other powers seem to have pretty normal low-scale risks?#it’s definitely ambitious and has some cool ideas and also some great characters just. didn’t execute as well as I’d like #as much as we’re told the main threat is the government trying to put through a Registration Act #most of the actual antagonism we see is from other Witchers?#like the systemic discrimination got a bit lost in the witcher family drama and murder politics #important things to say about oppression and police violence but like....idk #she has this ‘deviation’- essentially evil sentient magic inside her head (and you KNOW I love that trope)#but it’s barely explained and very underutilised? other than helping her get out of bad situations you could take it out & would barely #change anything #also it’s explained at the start that she’s an empath but other than the very occasional mention I kept forgetting #will also note that I bumped this up my tbr because I saw the author talking/promoting it as the MCs sister being aroace but no mention #maybe it’ll come up in a sequel (there weren’t really any places where it would have made sense to bring it up here) but idk #(just the way the author was asking for advice on how to write an ace character and stuff you’d assume that they’d….put that in the book?)#not really a critique of the book itself but anyway. I really wanted to like this but the way it was put together just did not vibe with me #edit: I saw the author say on twitter that the version used for ARCs was before ace stuff was added and that there's other signif changes?#so perhaps that will be there! i'm not sure if I want to read it again but might skim just to see what that's about

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nostalgia-tblr · 2 years ago

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nah sorry i've thought about it and odin's "raise lauffey's only biological son as my own = he inherits when laffey dies = jotunheim is mine now/it's free real estate" plan just wouldn't work. it's a shit plan.

sure you can say your younger son is now the king of jotunheim but how are gonna get anyone there to accept that? even if he is now king by the letter of their law, how do you make that population accept his authority? the authority of someone who was raised by their enemy and who must be assumed to be loyal to that enemy. to borrow a phrase "you and whose army?" all you have there is a claim to that kingdom, you still need to make it happen.

whereas "found a baby, it's mine now, keeping forever with no expectation of this ever actually getting me anything else i just heart my new blue son (if ur offerin a 'free jotunheim with purchase' deal i wont say no tho obvs)" doesn't rely on outside events or anyone else's actions and so... it just makes more sense.

what i'm sayin is... i'm sure "ooooh this could be useful, i shall keep it" was a factor in odin's initial adopt-the-baby decision but i don't think it's at all reasonable for him to think it would actually work when the time came to deploy the plan and so no i don't think odin did just keep loki around for imperialism reasons, i think by the time that film is set he must have long since given up on that (other than a vague "well if it happens it happens" at the back of his head) and he really does just love his kid and hasn't told him where he actually came from in case it made him sad.

#it's just too shit a plan to ever work #it relies on too many uncontrollable factors (and on a lot of missing worldbuilding. like A LOT.)#why is there assumed to be no other possible claimant? can't lauffey just name his own heir?#nobody minded the attempted infanticide so why would they just accept this same rejected candidate as an adult?#how do you even prove loki is that baby? “well you never saw the body and look this young man is blue and looks about the right age”#what you have there is Perkin Warbeck - maybe he is that baby maybe he isn't. needs an army either way.#with lauffey dead who on jotunheim has the authority to accept (and thus basically appoint) the new king?#and why isn't that person making their own attempt to rule the kingdom?#why does - LOOK IT JUST DOESNT WORK. i could never work. it's a rubbish plan!#actually EVEN IF odin think's it'll work he'd have to 100% believe in loki's loyalty to him and asgard. he must like that kid either way.#because imposing a puppet king who will inevitably rebel against you is somehow an EVEN WORSE plan than the other one #thor movies #mcu tag

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aroacettorney · 7 months ago

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when will aup sidestories return from war and stop leaving me bitter about how the main story ended

#lumensis' characterization & death + the revelation of ludgers desire were extremely anticlimactic #700+ chapters of building up only to have the resolution forcefully/hastily crammed into. what. 2 and 1/2 chapters?#and am i supposed to care for his relationship with his mom when it didnt come up in 99% of the novel?#tbh it had *many* opportunities to come up but the author wanted to keep ludgers desire as mysterious as possible #and so it lost its chance to have any emotional buildup #well other than the implications of regrets which were frankly a bit oversaturated in the novel #(again. what happened to the 'show dont tell' principles)#honestly even occasional flashbacks to ludgers mom teaching him about all kinds of myths and lores when its relevant #would have helped in this aspect plus showcased his growth and development over time even when its off screen #(doesnt make his vast knowledge look like it conveniently came out of nowhere)#while also greatly enhancing the world building of his game breaking 'real magic'#anyway i think ludgers reconciliation w his mother would have been more impactful if ludgers past life came up more often #hell it would have done wonder in exploring his depth if we are going with framing his past lifestyle as a flaw #the thing about ludger as a character is that his past (in both worlds) is much more interesting than his present #bc its the only way we can see how he mentally changed in comparison as his changes are nearly non existent in the present timeline #(a part of the reasons why ludgercaseys relationship over time is an appealing topic is that it showcases both of their changes)#(reading about a protagonist who has no mental changes over the course of the story is no different than watching... a nature documentary)#im still v salty about how we never get to see arpas and bettys reconciliation btw #so do emotional closures between ludger and other characters #those are literally the meat of the story that would be worthy of their own arc #sayren why the hell did you rush through them and put them off screen #in the end instead of proving that he has finally learnt his lessons by confronting his emotions ludger chose to run away from it yet again #even if we are to assume that is whats gonna happen post epilogue why is his change accomplished by a goddamn last minute timeskip #(that is also lowkey a failed suicide attempt in disguise)#instead of what could have been... idk... a banger novel named aup #good christ #rant

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autumnrory · 2 years ago

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i absolutely get where that “all your fave fics were written by middle aged women” post is coming from wrt how women are treated in fandom as they age but like having followed a lot of the writers i was reading stories by back in the day ik for a fact that at the time most of my faves were written by ppl who were like 25 - 35 at the time lmao

#especially bc maybe not the original post but some of the comments were talking about older fandoms #and a lot of the things i like came into being in the last decade or so #also i do think people are in the habit of assuming only women write fanfiction which is not true #it might be MORE women than not who knows the demographics but like #idk i'm not assuming anything any which way about the things i read now bc most of the ones i used to follow #left fandom or got annoying to me #and now i find it's usually a mistake if i look at something on an author's blog or other account #like i was enjoying this one person's fics and they linked their youtube page and i saw the stupidest take for a video title #and i was like WELL YOU RUINED IT NOW #so it's best to just now know anything about these people for me #like god so many of the popular 1d writers back in like 2013 really got all high and mighty later on #so yeah idt i follow a single author i'm subscribed to on ao3 i just don't wanna see shitty opinions and ruin it #ANYWAY point is like yeah i get it but i think you could just say your faves are more likely to be written by adults #and even so like. y'all think teenagers can't do anything well which is weird and wrong but whatever

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bloody-wonder · 1 year ago

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3, 4 and 7 for the ask x

thanks for the ask!📚

3. What’s something you read recently and wanted to argue with (either with the book or the author or the fans)?

buckle up for a good ol' book rant!

so the dreamhealers series - a cozy slice of life scifantasy story about two neurodivergent individuals forming a queerplatonic partnership - is, it turns out, the origin story of the characters which the author mca hogarth has conceived a long time before as side characters in a completely different arc in her peltedverse. i assume she started developing said arc when she was a teen and wrote the dreamhealers when she was already an adult. the result is two stories that tonally and structurally couldn't be more different but that both feature these two characters which naturally resulted in characterization consistency problems. you can't take a weird lil guy from a pastoral novel where everyone just vibes and put him into a high stakes high fantasy plot without it taking a toll on their personality. now, this is not a problem if you finish the dreamhealers and just stop after book 4, however comma goodreads shows that there's this novella following the last book and you assume it's gonna be some sort of cute epilogue and you pick it up and it turns out it's not that but rather a short backstory of the characters mca hogarth wrote for her high stakes arc BEFORE she wrote the full version of their backstory aka the dreamhealers. are you still following? anyways i read the novella and was appalled at how jarring the difference is between jahir and vasiht'h in the series and this novella which, if you read in the order i'm reading in, basically serves as a link between the dreamhealers and prince's game. on the one hand, it's cool to see how much mca hogarth grew as a writer and how much more nuanced and relatable she made her characters in the course of their development. but on the other, it made me have unpleasant ruminations about what is canon and what isn't. this novella feels like a retcon designed to make jahir and vasiht'h fit a new narrative. however, it was written before the dreamhealers - does that then make dreamhealers a retcon and not as canon? both things can't be canon bc jahir and vasiht'h in the series would never do things they do in the novella. which makes it feel like a fanfic written by someone who doesn't understand the source material.

phew did it feel good to get all of this off my chest! tl dr please read the dreamhealers but under no circumstances read "family"

4. What are your top 3 comfort reads?

to be completely honest i don't typically re-read books for comfort purposes. that's what fanfics are for!✨ the top 3 i used to re-read the most (but not in quite a while tho) are lessons (aftg), astray (captive prince) and this unfinished theseus/the minotaur fic which i believe was called asterius und which, as i was distraught to discover, had been privated by the author😭 such tasteful monsterfucking literature i have never known before or since

7. What book do you love but usually not recommend because it’s weird or intense, etc?

i love aftg but i will rather bleach my soul by reading that fandom's discourse again than recommend it to anyone. and to be clear, it's not bc i think the seires is weird or poorly written or not good enough for general audiences - it's bc no one is worthy of studying the sacred texts except for me and a couple other initiated intellectuals

book ask

#book tag #with comfort reads i need instant gratification that only my fave fanfics can provide #the family novella is wrong on many levels but ngl the aroace qpp stuff felt the most heinous to me #and i can't even be mad cause ik it's not bc the author suddenly changed her mind about them #on the contrary it's bc she wrote the prequel series later in her life #when she had better understanding of what aroaceness and qpp can look like #i was specifically irritated by them calling each other brother - and she improved on that too #vasiht'h says in dreamhearth they're the very best of friends closer than any brother or lover #and in dreamstorm he calls jahir my forever-friend #so she clearly gave some thought to more appropriate nomenclature lol #and jahir's thing with his cousin who he never mentions throughout the dreamhealers books is just. major ew vibes #and she improved on that too!#in the piano short story she found a very elegant way to make a point of him not really being aroace without being gross about it #but does all that improvement really matter if she published the other stuff and it's canon too?#at least make this novella not show as part of dreamhealers so that people aren't left with a sour taste in their mouth #all of this is aggravated by the novella's high rating bc i assume most people read it long ago #when the dreamhealers didn't exist yet and they had nothing to compare it to #but even so i think i would've disliked it #it just does feel like it was conceived by a teenager #who has like. weird kinks and notions #so i will probably not try prince's game any time soon #since it's tainted by bad!jahir and wrong!vasiht'h #but i do want to see an eldritch who fucks so ig my next stop in the peltedverse is earthrise

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daydreamerdrew · 2 years ago

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Iron Man (1968) #51

#super interesting to see how Tony’s employees interpret the overlap between Tony Stark and Iron Man #because obviously they’re the same person #but Tony as Iron Man strangely inhabits a different standing as purportedly his own employee #albeit an employee that has a lot more physical power than all of the other employees because of the Iron Man suit #and a much more famous and well-regarded figure than all of the other employees because Iron Man is a famous superhero #and an employee that is able to call on the power of the man running the company by claiming his authority whenever Tony isn’t there #which is inherently whenever Iron Man is there #because even though Iron Man is able to call upon that authority he doesn’t in the eyes of all of other employees inhabit that same space #here they balk at following Iron Man’s orders because in their mind they don’t work for him #and they interpret Iron Man’s feelings as so much like Tony Stark’s expected ones #because they think Iron Man is just that invested in the company #and their takeaway from that is that they should all be as invested #following what they believe is another employee’s example #I’m curious about what people assume Iron Man’s background to be #obviously Tony is wealthy and was raised wealthy #and Jarvis was shocked a few issues ago when he saw what he thought was Tony picking up after Iron Man #because it was so unexpected for someone who has so many people working under him doing things for him #that Tony would ever do something like that himself #and obviously Tony is really well-respected by his employees as a businessman and as an inventor #but I wonder if because Iron Man’s job is so physical that that helps people not believe that he could be Tony Stark #like right before this Iron Man was overseeing a Stark Industries rocket launch and got hit hard by the shockwave and almost crashed #maybe not something people would expect Tony Stark to subject himself to #marvel #tony stark #my posts #comic panels

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h-i-raeth · 8 months ago

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*—Primarily, at least.

**—e.g. You sort fiction by one system, and non-fiction by another.

#sorry but I am curious how the 'other' is divided #also author (non-alphabetical) is specified because I think alphabetical is considered the default #but while I try to keep books by the same author together where possible #I do not in any way do so alphabetically #likewise size is divided into two categories because I assume some people want their shelf to look uniform #while others are just trying to fit as many books on their shelf as possible

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tossawary · 11 months ago

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One of my personal nitpicks for historical fantasy is a lack of servants, staff, subordinates, and... idk... subjects? Like, their absence is not... a total dealbreaker for me, depending on the situations the characters are in and whether or not I can just assume that other people are there in the background... but so many of the protagonists in historical fantasy stuff are higher-ranking (very often royalty), and/or have busy jobs, and/or have enormous houses that would necessitate having at least part-time staff.

Like, girl, you should have a maid! WHERE is your chaperone?! WHO is driving this carriage?! Where are your footmen? Are you trying to imply that a WEALTHY DUCHESS is taking a CAB?! You know that you probably have tenants, right? Where is your steward?! Where is your lawyer? Your accountant?! (Like, yeah, you're not going to have your lawyer living in your house, but you HAVE one, right???)

Or, man, you're supposed to be a military commander and you don't even have a single secretary?! Where is your SQUIRE?! (In the spirit of historical fiction, I am jumping wildly across time periods with every sentence here.) Man, I know you aren't looking after your own boots. Where are your GUARDS?! Who set up this tent for you?! Who is looking after your horse?! Who is making and carrying the incredibly valuable maps people are recklessly stabbing daggers into?!

SOMEONE has to be scrubbing these floors and delivering the mail and cooking the meals and doing laundry, and they're probably all DIFFERENT people! My dentist has at least three different receptionists and we can't even get ONE for our court wizard here? A sorcerer's apprentice to take notes? Someone like Sherlock Holmes could get away with just having a housekeeper and taking taxis, sure, but your character is supposed to be a KING?! Why is he answering his own front door? He's going to get assassinated. His SERVANTS should have SERVANTS.

Like, yes, I understand that a lot of servants in certain places at certain times were supposed to make their labor invisible, but there have always been servants who still had to interact directly with the masters of the house?! Yeah, there are potentially really messy ethics here, class divisions are bullshit, but I don't think that completely ignoring the reality that humans have ALWAYS been doing work for other humans is better than just including some well-paid and well-treated servants and employees? Because a complete absence of them, especially where logically for the worldbuilding there MUST be servants (and probably exploited servants, or worse, for some particular worldbuilds to work), often makes me think that your main characters just don't care enough to notice the "lower class" people or know their names.

Also, even Frodo Baggins had a gardener and Samwise Gamgee might be the best damn character in the story?! Sam saved the world?! Servants are PEOPLE. Servants are often the funniest and most interesting characters, tbh, with the most to say about a society and its workings (yes, Discworld is a very good book series, highly recommend), and also the joke of some romantic scene being carefully orchestrated by a stage crew of servants frantically diving into bushes to stay out of sight never gets old to me. Teamwork makes the dream work!

I don't want to gatekeep historical fiction, especially not historical fantasy, because the worlds don't necessarily have to conform to our own and may have magic and characters are often in very unique circumstances, but... sometimes I pick up a story and it's like... "Author, please tell me that you know there is a difference between a butler and a valet?!"

#tossawary reading #tossawary watching #I don't know what to tag this as #tossawary fandom #long post #where are your servants #reblogs off

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writerfromthestars · 1 month ago

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DPXDC PROMPT : ALFRED IS IMMORTAL

Alright. Don't get me wrong, I love au's where John Constantine is like "soul tax evader supreme", but hear me out.

Alfred.

Alfred, Alfred Pennyworth. Who just doesn't die. The guy's immortal. The reason for this is that Alfred is awesome, so anytime he dies, whether it be from old age or a bullet or a world-wide catastrophe, he looks Death straight in the eyes and tells them that he will die when the day comes that no one needs him anymore, and not a second before, and then he just kinda pops back to life. Because let's face it, the batfam would fall to pieces without him.

So, Alfred Pennyworth has basically just been cheating death for centuries, by this point.

Needless to say, Death is none too pleased. Finally, Death goes to Phantom, the new king, who is much more reasonable than Pariah Dark was and who agrees to actually help.

Clockwork helps Danny set up a portal and he zaps into existence in the middle of a Wayne movie night. The bats are all prepared to fight this mysterious weirdo, but Danny ignores them and turns to Alfred, who he then begins lecturing about ghostly tax evasion and how defying death isn't a good thing, so he needs to file paperwork through the proper channels to stay as an immortal almost-God.

Alfred is chill, he plays cards with Clockwork once when he dies, so he knew this was coming, but the batfamily thinks that this mysterious entity is going to kill Alfred, so they're all panicking, trying to think of ways to avoid this horrible future. Alfred calmly listens to Danny, then he interjects.

"Sir, are you aware of the fact that there is a revenant on earth? One who is most certainly under threat of more paperwork than I, seeing as he has been using the Lazarus Pits to revive himself for millennia. I, however, have only been alive for a few hundred years, so I should think that he is a bigger priority. "

Danny glances over at Jason, doubtful. "He doesn't look several millennia old, Mr. Pennyworth."

"Certainly not, seeing as Master Jason is not. Besides, his Undeath License was filed. I have a copy of it if you need to see it, your Majesty?" Alfred answers, demure as always.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, sir."

Alfred leaves and returns, moments later with a light green glowing piece of paper. he hands it over to Danny, who examines it.

"Seems legitimate. I assume you filed it during one of your many encounters with Death?"

"Indeed. I have it on good authority, however, that the other revenant, a man by the name of Ra's Al Ghul, has not renewed his License in at least the last half millennia, most likely longer."

Danny sighs. "Where can I find him."

"Nanda Parbat. The signature is impossible to miss."

"Alright, Mr. Pennyworth. I will return once he is dealt with, be it by filing his paperwork or returning him to the Infinite Realms."

"Very well. I will be ready." Alfred answers.

Danny opens a portal to the area around Nanda Parbat and then another, which plops him down right in front of the Demon's Head himself, in a strategy meeting with his daughter and several commanders.

They all raise their weapons, but he just basically grabs Ra's by the ear and tugs him through a Lazarus Green portal, lecturing him about tax evasion and paperwork and bureaucracy the whole time. The League is thrown into uproar, and Ra's is set down in a room with all his overdue paperwork from the past few thousand years. He feels a little bit like crying; if he had known immortality meant this much paperwork, he would've just died, honestly.

Meanwhile, in Wayne Manor, everyone is crying, because they think Alfred is going to die, Jason is confused about the whole revenant Undeath Certificate thing, Bruce is trying to make contingency plans, Tim is contacting the Justice League, and Alfred is planning out his defense and going through every ghostly law loophole he can think of because if he leaves these emotionally constipated crime-fighting vigilantes, he knows that the house that Martha so loved will go up in flames within a month.

Eventually, Danny comes to get Alfred for his ghostly court trial/hearing or whatever, and Alfred says goodbye to Bruce and everyone, goes to the Infinite Realms. Clockwork is on his side, and Alfred ends up winning the court case, on the condition that now that the has an Undeath License, he actually renew it every twenty years, like he's supposed to.

A week later, Alfred returns, crashes his own funeral, and explains that no, he will not be dying anytime soon.

Two weeks after Alfred's return, Constantine shows up at the manor basically begging to learn how the hell he managed to avoid death, and not only that, win a damn court case against them.

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