#but it does show up sporadically as a sad reminder for why the main character is carrying out her revenge

[theriverdalereviewer]

I’m BACK! with another kdrama to suggest. This time… THE GLORY!

[snorlaxlovesme]

full thoughts on the chaos walking movie? I want to hear more about it lol I haven’t seen it yet

it just...it felt like TKONLG but without EVERY GOOD PART, you know?

scene-wise, the closest individual scene we had to anything in the book was maybe the scene where Viola read Todd’s mother’s book to him? (even that wasn’t the same bc that was also the scene where we find out he’s illiterate, and he lets her read it right away, so there was no deep-rooted embarrassment about not being able to read). also it happened in Farbranch. BUT, like it captured the emotion of the OG scene a little, where Viola is reading to Todd and he’s hearing his ma’s words and getting emotional about it.

but all the stand-out scenes from the book, i.e. saying goodbye to Ben and Cillian, meeting the girl and getting hit in the head with a branch and bandaging her anyway, ALL of the Aaron fights, the bridge, the massacre of Farbranch, the song of Here, the Spackle, Todd’s illness, the waterfall scene, Haven, NONE of that was in the movie. so imagine all the really important and powerful moments gone

also all the overarching themes? those are gone too. todd becoming a man is  HUGE deal in the books. even in his horrible awful town he just wants to feel like he BELONGS and he’s the one person in the entire town being ostracized. two of the biggest secrets in Todd’s whole world are kept from him for the majority of the book because he’s “not yet a man”. it’s important to him. and once todd realizes the connection between Prentisstown maturity and murder, he spends the rest of that book WISHING he could be a killer. wishing he could have that kind of strength and seeing himself weak for not being able to kill. 

all of that?? gone. movie!Todd often chants the familiar “I am Todd Hewitt” (and sometimes “be a man”) when he’s nervous or trying to cover something in his Noise, and has a little tiff with Ben and Cillian at the beginning of the movie bc the Mayor sees Todd as a man while Ben and Cillian do not. (that’s a weird little bit though bc the movie never really explains why the Mayor had such an interest in Todd). but that’s about it in terms of coming-of-age material in the movie. and about murder. seeing as he doesn’t. kill. the. Spackle. let that sink in.

also like. the Noise is shown as a CONCEPT but not as a theme. the THEME of Noise is that, and I quote

“In this world of information overload, the ability to feel, my boy, is a rare gift indeed.”

or perhaps

“Knowing a man’s thoughts ain’t knowing a man.”

or even

“Knowledge is dangerous and men lie and the world changes, whether I want it to or not.”

in this movie, Noise would be described as like. a nuisance at worst and a superpower at best. you can hear most of every man’s thoughts in the movie, though not a constant, never ending stream. just just bits sporadically at either plot-convenient or comedic times. the Mayor (and at one point Ben, and at one point Todd) uses his Noise to construct illusions around people kind of similar to that Jake Gyllenhaal villain in Spiderman: Far From Home. 

but neither of these two main examples really SHOW the themes that Patrick Ness showed us in the books. that Noise is powerfully ANNOYING; that it can quickly break down relationships between groups of people; that it can be manipulated making large lies still possible.

like, remember when in the books, Todd and Viola get to Farbranch and poor Todd is absolutely GOBSMACKED that 1. the women are ALIVE and 2. the men and women are living together?? in harmony?? what the eff?? and you see Hildy in Tam’s Noise and just how much they genuinely love each other and Todd is like “damn we ain’t in Prentisstown anymore Manchee”. and you can just see based on the contrast that Prentisstown people are a whole different breed compared to the kindness of Farbranch?

in the movie Todd has a few moments of inner dialogue where he’s like “oh man that’s a woman. that’s nuts” and then we move on. his world should be turned upside down here and its not. and the difference between the two towns is that they kinda just made it seem like, yeah, Noise is annoying so we have the men sleep separately from the women so we all get a little peace, and it’s fine. that’s how Farbranch deals with it. it all just feels very blasé 

(i can’t remember specifically where this happens, probably either in Farbranch or cutting back to the Prentisstown men getting ready to march, but at some point a leader ends up saying something to a crowd of people and you can see how just one sentence spreads through an entire group of men and how they all start amplifying it and getting more and more panicked and i did think the mob mentality was cool. it reminded me of the beginning of The Ask and the Answer were the Mayor is addressing the citizens of Haven and you get that moment where the whole crowd flinches over the words of one man.)

and in all of this I’ve barely mentioned Viola. my wonderful girl. how they’ve massacred her story. god.

all of Viola’s development for the first half of the book is tanked from the start bc you SEE the crash, you see her stealing food from Ben and Cillian’s house (that’s the inciting incident of the movie), she talks to the Mayor in Prentisstown almost immediately after Todd finds her and his Noise helps everyone locate her, she talks to Todd a lot before getting to Farbranch after they escape Prentissown. the book does a LOT of work for Viola by having her mute and scared for the beginning and slowly showing how she comes to trust Todd. and how even after their incessent bickering in Farbranch they still choose to escape together because they know the army is after them specifically and they’re all the other has. that progression is really important in the book, as well as afterwards when we see how snarky Viola can actually be when speaking, how she thinks this entire planet is BACKWARDS and she can’t wait til her ship comes and shows them a thing or two about how to live.

movie Viola, well. she wants to find a way to communicate with her ship. she’s under the impression that since her scout ship crashed they’re gonna assume she’s dead and leave her behind. even though the Mayor brings up the settlers a lot after he learns about them, Viola curiously never really brings them up in any other context besides they need to come and get her. like it really made it sound like she planned on calling them, having them scoop her, and then they’d all just fucking leave, i guess. i don’t know what her end goal was besides CALLING HER PEOPLE which became the main point of the movie. the Mayor trying to find Todd and Viola so he could....use her to contact the ship?? that was also kind of unclear. and Viola trying to get to a communicator possibly so she could get the hell out of dodge. idk if that was her actual plan, but it was certainly what Todd was thinking, enough to where I was wondering if he was going to sabotage her mission in order to force her to stay (yeah. yeah. he had that energy about him and it was grosss)

and quickly, since all the animals couldn’t talk the way they do in the book, Manchee was more of a cute prop than anything. i could have gotten over it if he was useful in any way, but he never even like attacked a dude to save Todd or anything like that. so when he died it was sad on a dog-level but not a character level, since besides sitting next to Viola like twice while she cried he really added nothing to the story. also the shock of animal death was greatly reduced already since Todd’s horse that he used to escape Prentisstown from got a broken leg after he rode him off a cliff, so Todd used the knife (off-screen, thank god) to put him down. so Manchee getting killed was kind of lessened a little since my man Whiskey got nixed like 40 min earlier in the film.

this is getting long so I’ll cut it here since I’m gonna probably post about this a thousand more times. but yeah. if you watched it completely divorced from the books you would probably think “that was a cool concept but also what was the point of any of that” which is basically what most people thought based on the review headlines i’ve read. and if you are an avid book fan you’re gonna think you’re watching something else entirely.

[murswrites]

Fluff Alphabet ⎯ K. Hargreeves

Character/Celeb: Klaus Hargreeves Fandom: The Umbrella Academy MASTERLIST Request from anon: Can you do a Klaus fluff alphabet? 👀

A/N I love this cutie so much----

A = Attractive (What do they find attractive about the other?)

Klaus loves how supportive you are, he’s been forced into isolation for a lot of his life so it means a lot that you care no matter what.

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

I don’t think Klaus would be overly interested in having kids for many reasons. One of them being that he’s worried the baby will inherit some form of his powers and he wouldn’t wish his powers on even his worst enemy.

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Klaus is like a big baby, he wants to be held and close to you. A lot of the time, he’s lounging on you like a house cat, he’ll lay his stomach across your legs, lay his head on your lap. And if you’re laying down, Klaus will lay on top of you.

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

Very sporadic and impromptu, to be honest. Sometimes he’s just like “Wanna go out?” and then you’re being dragged to typically a nightclub. A lot of the times they’re simple movie night with popcorn.

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…))

“You are my savior.”

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but he knew he liked the feeling of loving you. But when Klaus finally realized for sure that he loved you, it was during one of your long rants as he just watched you with his head resting on his hands all dazy eyed.

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

Klaus handles you with care. His hugs are secure but soft, he kisses you deeply but warmly, when you do anything ;) he’s so sweet and loving.

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

He much prefers to be hugging you but whenever y’all are up to no good, Klaus likes to tangle your fingers together.

I = Impression (What was their first impression?)

When he first saw you, Klaus was intrigued as to who you were and why you weren’t fawning over him much like many others have.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Most of the time no, but he acts like a little kid in my opinion. He will likely sulk and roll his eyes while arguing with Ben about talking to you.

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

Klaus definitely kissed you first, he thought nothing of it, a peck on the cheek doesn’t count? Right?

L = Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

You say it at the same time.

M = Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

When you tried to teach Klaus how to make no-bake cookies and he made it wrong so the cookies didn’t set right :(

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Klaus spoils you with love <3

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

Any warm color.

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

Darling, hun, a nickname based of your name.

Q = Quaint (What is their favourite non-modern thing?)

He likes live music, but really anything that drowns out the spirits.

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

Klaus honestly loves playing in the rain and running around, jumping in puddles.

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

Music really helps him and so does talking to anyone as a way to distract himself from the spirits.

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Really anything, Klaus is the type to do the “Just hit a blunt...” thoughts,,, even when he’s not high. He also really likes arguing about random bullshit and will DIE ON THAT HILL!!

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

Taking baths with music in the background.

V = Vaunt (What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?)

His sobriety and friends.

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

He’d definitely pull out a ring and be like “Wanna elope?”

X = Xylophone (What’s their song?)

Fake Happy - Paramore + She - Harry Styles

Y = Yes (Do they ever think of getting married/proposing?)

Honestly? Not really, he’s never been on to commit to someone so it hasn’t really crossed his mind.

Z = Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

I think anything fluffy, but coming to mind would be a maine coon or mini-lop rabbit! He’d name it after something silly like a drug, ex: MJ (Mary Jane), Chrissy (chrystal meth EJWNFIGN)

TUA Taglist (open)

@heliophilia

@simonsbluee

@msbzowy

@rolls-and-rolex

@bluesclues-1234

@yippikaiyaymotherfucker

@jackie565656

@imayhavemisunderstood

[reluctantreader00-blog]

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

★★★☆☆

I feel like I shouldn’t even be reviewing this book. While reading All Our Wrong Todays I felt like I was once again in the middle of Andy Weir’s The Martian, desperately dodging scientific jargon and theories while searching for story, character and plot. Both books are brilliant in their own ways, their authors obviously talented and clever, their lovable characters disguising their genius underneath a slathering of meta humour. So, if you enjoyed The Martian, there’s a very good chance you will enjoy All Our Wrong Todays, but if you’re like me, someone who – despite enjoying the occasional sci-fi – is not scientifically minded, you might… well, find it boring.

All Our Wrong Todays is about thirty-two-year-old Tom Barren who comes from the future. But not really. He comes from an alternate 2016, where the world looks like how people from 1965 envisioned the future – hover cars, glass utopias, a world of “retro-futurism” aesthetic.

In this world, humanity possesses the source of unlimited energy, the Goettreider Engine, which was invented by Lionel Goettreider in 1965. Our 1965. From the moment Goettreider turned it on, it never stopped running, making power sources that we know and use like coal, nuclear energy, etc, completely obsolete. In this alternate timeline of our futures, everything is possible because there is no limit on energy, and by the time that 2016 comes along, that 2016 is vastly different from the 2016 that we know. Yet, even though in Tom Barren’s future time travel is slowly becoming a possibility thanks to his distant, genius father, Tom is still plagued by the same issues that we all know: self-doubt, insecurity and sadness. After the suicide of the woman he falls in love with, Penelope, Tom makes the rash decision of being the first to travel back in time, even though he was not really meant to. His father’s time machine brings him to the moment and place when Goettreider turned on his engine, causing a ripple of events which change the world’s future. When he is back in 2016, his friends, family, and the retro-futuristic world that he knew had never existed, and he is a John Barren, with a different family and life.

Ah, when I read the summery of this book I was unbelievably excited. Not exactly for the time travel or Tom’s immanent self-discovery but for the world of retro-futurism.

So maybe it was my own expectations of what the book should be rather than what it is that lead me down the path of disappointment and boredom. The world that I wished to read about wasn’t really brought to life. Sure, there were the hover-cars, shiny buildings, synthesized food, meters that let you know your compatibility with the person you just met, but besides those brief mentions, I got no sense of what it really was. Especially because Tom – the main protagonist who is meant to shows us that world – is so preoccupied with self-pity and his school-boy-like crush on the far superior Penelope that he cares little for anything else. The beginning of the book was not used to set up the setting but the circumstance of the science behind the Engine, time travel and this alternate timeline. There was so much jargon that I did not understand, that I found myself skimming through paragraphs until I came to something that made sense. I’ll admit, it went well over my head, but others might find it enjoying, which is why I say I am not the most appropriate reader to review this book.

So, I really won’t mind if you disregard my opinion and stop reading this right now.

Really, I won’t mind.

.

Oh good, you’re still here.

Mastai really does try his best to make all of his colossal ideas about time travel, the future and their science accessible to the scientifically uneducated reader like me. Writing in the first person, the story becomes his character, the writing conversational and casual. Especially in the first several chapters, the main character Tom Barren constantly reminds us how stupid he is, how we should not trust what he tells us, because just like us, he is not a genius, but a simple unambitious “Joe” who sort-of-kind-of knows how this Goettreider Engine and time travel thing works – just how we know sort-of-kind-of know how a power dam operates.  Which, I suppose, was meant to be helpful but instead I found the extreme casualness annoying. By imitating speech, Mastai often used the world “like”, which we don’t really notice while talking unless it is used in excess. In writing, however, even when he used it sparingly, whenever I came to every single “like”, even in characters’ dialogue, it was extremely jarring. It was like listening to a valley girl. It broke up meaning and the flow of the narration, cheapening it’s meaning, acting like a little annoying fly that I wanted to swat. Practically at the end we understand that the whole novel was really a diary, a memoir, which Tom was writing, but even then, who uses “like” in their personal writing?

This is just one of the stylistic choices that was explained at the end but was annoying at the beginning. For example, there are 137 chapters in this book. With 369 pages, that averages to about 2.5 pages per chapter. Scenes were split into two or three chapters. At one point, at about page 136 (chapter 55) there is a summary of what happened in chapters 44 to 54. There is another summary later on as well, which, really, makes reading the whole thing feel utterly pointless. Since this was Tom’s diary, he explains that he wrote it sporadically, hence the short chapters, and his alter-self, John, wrote the summaries as preparation for the novel that he was planning to write based on his dreams. Dreams that were really memories of Tom’s life in the retro-future. See, all explained, neat and tidy… but right at the end. And I really, really, really struggled to get to the end. Until then, all of these unique elements were annoying and I fought through the urge to put the book down. What I am saying is, knowing why Mastai decided to format his book this way makes sense if you make it to the last quarter of the book, which you wont if they grates on you too much. And that is where I think Mastai went wrong.

Even though Tom does evolve as a character by the end of the novel – almost impressively so – he and his motivations are so unlikeable that I found it hard to care for him or for any of the characters. Tom changes the course of human history because his crush on a girl goes wrong. After eliminating the possibility of his utopian world ever existing, instead of being concerned with trying to bring it back, the first thing does in our 2016 is find the alter-version of Penelope. Instead of trying to settle into the life of John Barren that he took over like a parasite, Tom almost destroys John’s career by secluding himself with this new Penelope, who he is now 100% in love with. When he finally decides to try and “save the world”, or rather, save himself, he comes to the conclusion that it was all for the son that he and Penelope eventually have. He also concludes that maybe after all, our 2016 is better than the utopian 2016. Which is baffling.

That said, Mastai knows where people might question the story’s logic so he tries to explain it. The reason Tom and the alternate Penelope so quickly fall in love is because she is influenced by the memories of the Tom’s original Penelope – so they are sort of like cross-time soul mates. Tom also realizes that the reason that John is such a successful architect is because he has been copying Tom’s memories of the retro-futuristic 2016 without realizing it. Therefore, what we could have been in other timelines of the world influences who we are in our current timeline. Fine. But my question is why wasn’t Tom influenced by John in his original timeline? John is ambitious, obviously successful and more confident that Tom who always felt like he was a failure. How come they never balanced out? Is it because John had no possibility of existing until Tom changed humanity’s future in 1965? Maybe. But if Tom’s world disappeared, why hadn’t Tom?

Anyway…

The reason I give All Our Wrong Todays three stars is because it is smarter than I am. Originally I was going to give it two, but then I thought that it was unfair. Just because I could not understand the complicated theories of time travel doesn’t mean that the book is bad. Just because I was bored doesn’t mean that someone else will be. Still, it lacked a character that one could connect with, a world one could see, a plot that is actually worth 137 chapters and 369 pages, so therefore, I cannot recommend it.

I received the ARC of All Our Wrong Todays from a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. I want to thank Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy.

All Our Wrong Todays on Goodreads. Purchase All Our Wrong Todays on Amazon. This review was originally published on my main blog.