#but it’s more fun to explore a freddy who’s a little fucked up imo

[reservoirblogs]

honestly if you think that creamsicle is canon then that also means freddy is a pretty shitty person

that’s kinda how i prefer it tbh…

[johndykeon]

i’ve seen people talking about how there’s a difference between leo’s born in july and leo’s born in august... roger & john skdjsbsjsj idk what the difference is but it’s there

oops!! looks like you accidentally stumbled upon one of of my dormant hyperfixations!! 🤠🤠🤠 i’m SO into astrology dude skjfhskfj like is it real? probably not. but is it fun as hell to read about and judge people based on?  yes yes yes yes yes!

anyway this ended up getting super long because i have a lot of thoughts™ about it so i'm putting everything under the cut!! disclaimer: i literally just do this for fun and everything i know about astrology i learned from various websites and an astrology book i found at value village so if anything isn’t right mind your business fskjdfshkfj and ALSO please don’t read too much into this lmao it’s just for funsies 💖

so anyway YES you’re right, there 100% is a difference between john and roger’s type of leo, and it probably has to do with the fact that they fall into different decans of leo!! so essentially each sign is split up into three different “versions” of the sign depending on the positioning of the planets when they were born. the exact dates can vary slightly, but for leo the first decan (the “true leo”) is from july 23rd - august 1st (this is where roger falls), the second decan is august 2nd - august 12th, and the third decan is august 13th - august 22 (which is where john falls).

so roger, being born on july 26th, is a first decan leo. the characteristics of this placement are things like being really extroverted, loud, self-reliant, creative, wanting attention, having a sensitive ego; so very much the traditional leo. meanwhile, john is a third decan leo, which is a placement that’s known more for ambition, honesty, stubbornness, independence, and dynamism. so that could definitely be where some of their differences come from (although i’m not convinced that the qualities of the third decan leo actually fit john all that well, but i suppose none of actually really knew him so we can’t know for sure).

BUT,  it’s also super important to look at the rest of john and roger’s natal charts in addition to just their sun signs, since they were born two years apart and therefore they have a lot of differences in the major planets in their charts.

so roger’s birth time is actually online for some reason, apparently he was born at 10:30 AM on july 26th 1949. so assuming that this time is accurate (even if it isn’t the only things that would change are his ascendant and possibly his moon), here is his chart:

we don’t know what time john was born, so we don’t know his ascendant and we can’t be certain of his moon, but we do know that he was born on august 19th 1951 so based on that here is his chart:

so as you can see, there are some pretty significant differences in their planets. starting with the moon, which represents things like emotion, emotional response, and self image, roger has a leo moon while john (most likely) has a pisces moon. 

leo moons are typically outgoing, like to be the centre of attention, pretty popular, and tend to take on a comic sort of role because they like making people laugh. they have a really strong sense of fairness and justice, and they’re known for being dramatic and prone to sulking and causing a scene when their pride has been hurt. imo the leo moon very clearly fits roger pretty well skjfhsdkjfhs

on the other hand, john is a pisces moon, which is a placement thats know for being really intuitive, perceptive, sometimes dreamy, and compassionate because they feel things really deeply. pisces moons are also imaginative, warm, sentimental and empathetic, and known for having kind of a weird sense of humor; one of the sites i use as a reference for astrology actually described it as “a strong sense of humor that is more of the receptive kind than the type of sense of humor that would make people the ‘life of the party,’” and “it's generally pretty easy to get them giggling” (which imo is pretty spot on according to what we know about john and the stories we’ve heard about him)! pisces moons also have a tendency to get overwhelmed with life easily and then need time away from eveything to escape and recharge (fucking off to bali anyone??)

i'm not gonna really talk about ascendants because we don't know john's and the point of this is comparing his chart with roger’s, BUT i just have to say that roger is a virgo rising, and typically people get on really well and have strong connections with people who's sun sign is the same as their rising sign…… and of course, freddie is a virgo sun 🥺🥺🥺 and literally every time i remember that it just makes me so soft so i had to mention it fksjhfkjshfk

moving on to mercury, roger’s mercury is in leo and john’s is in virgo. mercury is the planet that rules things of the mind like communication, intellect, and memory. so starting with roger, leo mercurys are typically incredibly passionate, good at things like public speaking and performing, and very much draw the spotlight towards themselves, whether intentionally or unintentionally. they're confident, enthusiastic, have a flair for the dramatic, and seem to make new friends effortlessly. people with mercury in virgo on the other hand tend to be much more grounded and analytical. they’re efficient and sharp thinkers, very intelligent, practical, and they like things that challenge their minds and are drawn to people that can keep up with them. john was born with mercury in retrograde though, which can cause people to struggle with self doubt and be prone to anxiety and difficulty expressing themselves.

now on to venus. venus is the planet that rules love, romance, and what we value and take pleasure in in life. roger’s venus is in leo, while john’s is in virgo. leo venuses like roger are known for being warm, genuine, and grand in love. they’re prone to big gesture in their relationships, and they have a deep need to feel desired and wanted by their partners and can get hurt when they don’t feel like their lovers are showing them enough love. they're really loyal, but need a lot of attention from their lovers and have high expectations. on the other hand, people with venus in virgo like john are known for loving and showing love in quieter and more understated ways, unlike leo venuses who are more of the ‘shout it from the rooftops' variety. they show their love through dedication and willingness to work on a relationship, and they work really hard on doing "the little things'' to show their partner that they care, and they need to feel recognized and appreciated by their partners for doing these things. they're very devoted and sensitive in love, really genuine, and can be quite shy. john was born with venus in retrograde though, and people born during venus retrogrades tend to feel things very deeply but struggle with awkwardness and insecurity in expressing those feelings and their love. they take relationships really seriously and they love very deeply, but they can struggle with self-sabotage in their relationships because they usually have a lot of underlying insecurities and fears that they aren't good enough or loveable enough.

finally, mars is the planet that rules things like passion, anger, sex, desire, actions and energy. roger's mars is in cancer, while john’s is in leo. people with a cancer mars like roger can be prone to passive-aggressiveness and become defensive as a means of self protection when they feel threatened, but they're incredibly protective over the people they care about. also, fun fact— i read something that said mars in cancer is known as the sign most attracted to breasts, sooooo i guess roger is a tits guy confirmed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ on the other hand, people with mars in leo like john tend to be high in passion and desire, and usually have well defined goals and ambitions in their lives. they're also known as one of the most sexual positions of the zodiac, and they tend to enjoy sex more than most, but they typically have a strong need for love and romance to be an integral part of sex. they want their partners to be devoted to them, and can be prone to becoming jealous and possessive of their partner but will usually try to hide it.

there are ofc a bunch of other placements in natal charts that we could go into, but these 6 that i’ve mentioned (sun, moon, ascendant, mercury, venus, and mars) are generally considered to be the major players. there are also things like aspects and houses and everything that can be analyzed to gain a better insight into someones chart but honestly i don't really understand them so i'm not gonna go into that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

but yeah so as we can see, even though john and roger have a lot of the typical qualities of a leo in common— hard-working, enjoying luxury, proud, bright, determined, noble, loyal— there are a whole bunch of factors that make them really really different despite their similarities!! because you’re totally right anon, roger and john are both leos, and imo you can tell that they’re both leos, but there’s also a certain energy about each of them that sets them apart from one another that’s SO fun to get into and explore!!!!!!!

[dirtyhancls]

thoughts on the s&b show mostly because i want somewhere to put them all & i'm not going to stop hyperfixating on it until i do so

spoilers ahead

okay so just as a disclaimer i wanna say i DID enjoy it the first time around. i genuinely had a fun time watching and it was a little bit like being transported back to 2014 & reading the books for the first time so i'll give it that. as a standalone show for someone with no prior knowledge of the books i think it's probably pretty good. as someone for whom these books were like, a cornerstone of my middle/highschool reading experience (and whose url is literally dirtyhancls...) i have thoughts TM

like i said, i did genuinely enjoy it during my first watch through, it's just that the more i think about it and the more i think about the characterization the more upset i get so here we go. if you're not prepared to read quite a bit of criticism, then i suggest you not read this

first of all, fantasy racism - not great execution, but the problem is that the fundamental world building just does not stand up to any sort of examination and even ignoring the terribleness of the worldbuilding in the first place, the fantasy racism doesn't even make sense! there's no consistency! why is mal called slurs when they're kids but not when he's in the army? why is mal called slurs when jes isn't? why is alina always called out for being shu but botkin is now shu all of a sudden and it doesn't matter? (and that's not even touching on the whole fighting/kung fu master = asian thing happening with botkin). WHY would the crows ever care that alina is shu when they didn't give a fuck about kuwei? I seriously did not understand that bit at all. the fantasy racism only appears when it's relevant to alina being outcast and it's so transparent that they're doing this for like, diversity woke points and to give alina a sad backstory as if fantasy racism is enough to give her character depth. i hate it here

but also seriously, rice eater? we're really inventing fantasy slurs here? and that's the best you could come up with?

someone said that alina has no personality and like... lmfao sorry alina it's kind of true. the problem is that so much of her conflict is happening in her head about her insecurities but it's hard to translate to screen. so all we ever get about her is her relationship to mal. but also i do love jessie mei li as alina and that's all i'll ever have in my head anymore

they did right by mal in the show at least, i forgot how much i did love their dynamic. can't wait for season 2 for his character to be totally butchered -_-

on the darkling... it seems like they did try to be more explicit about how terrible he is, but the problem is also that they seriously nerfed his powers. kaz being able to escape with THE CUT with a flashbang and inej being able to throw a knife at him? like yay for them, but unreasonable and takes away from the threat of the darkling's power's, imo. isn't the whole point that alina has to give up her powers and almost her life to take him down in the end?

i still don't like nina/matthias BUT whoever the actress is for nina is seriously selling it. she is doing such a good job, i was almost convinced even though i desperately do not want to be convinced

alright time 2 strap in, onto the rest of the crows... i feel like i'm in a minority here but i genuinely do not like what they did to kaz and inej's characters.

first of all, the timelines for character development don't add up. why move up the development of the relationship between inej and kaz to this point in their relationship when it takes like 2 whole books for kaz to admit it to himself, and that's after they've worked together for years? it feels cheap and unearned to me. and worse, he's still paying off her indenture? he essentially owns her? and then he's spouting that investment line? i don't like it! it makes me so uncomfortable! and the racial dynamics don't help at all! i don't care what he says or anyone says about him treating her as an equal or whatever, because at the day he legally pretty much owns her. why did they have to do this?

and kaz is just so... meh in the show. he has none of the presence & menace that is so essential to his character. they took away all his viciousness & ruthlessness & cleverness until we're left with... this. everyone keeps calling him dirtyhands, bastard of the barrel, etc etc but it's not there, you can't just tell me that and not back it up with anything substantial. freddy carter mr english cowboy isn't the right person for kaz imo BUT i think they've also just shot themselves in the foot by trying to bring the crows to life because i think part of the problem is that kaz's figure & presence in the books is too large & looming to bring to life properly. part of why it works is the reputation of his monstrosity and when that's left up to the reader to think about and imagine for themselves, it's much more effective.

i also think that them dulling his character down probably has a lot to do with likeability & trying to build a general audience... it's hard to root for kaz when he's ripping people's eyeballs out. but then what's the point of his character anymore? the whole point is how he's had to become monstrous to survive in the barrel & in response to his trauma & thus is obsessed with his revenge but part of what's so compelling about his character is THAT juxtaposed with his obvious care for inej. the monster has a heart, after all. but if he's not monstrous in the first place, what's the point?

inej inej inej... the love of my life. i don't like what they've done to her religion and i don't like that she just. steps foot into the menagerie to have a civil conversation with tante heleen like it's nothing. part of what's compelling to me about her faith and about religion in general in books is the uncertainty-- the dedication and belief in something EVEN when you don't know it's true. So having inej see alina summoning and MEET her takes so much away from that for me. and i thought the whole inej's first kill going against her religion was at the very least an interesting moment for her character but it's dropped so quickly and never really explored beyond the moment in which it happens and all of a sudden she's killing more people. again, one of my favorite parts of her character is the way she's reconciled her faith with her actions and i would've liked to see more of that actual moral grappling but we just :/ don't get it

jesper! <3 i love him with all my heart and kit young is SO GOOD as jes. it's a different take on his character than i was expecting but at the very least kit young sells it. i really, really wanted more jes / inej bff moments. we got crumbs of it in crooked kingdom and we get more crumbs here but i honestly think they should've put that into the focus as opposed to kaz & inej. they should've just left kaz all mysterious and brooding lmao

easter eggs were fun haha. the sailor song especially- totally going to lose my head when nikolai shows up. i don't even remember anything about s&s or r&r apart from the fact that i adore him. and the hint that jes is a fabrikator! demolitions expert! i am being suckered and i kno it

oh and something that really fucking annoyed me - why make a big deal of them all splitting up when they just GET ON THE SAME BOAT afterwards. seriously, who thought this was a good thing to pull? i'm losing it

i'm trying to conjure up some of the more enjoyable moments lol. the dekappel, milo, the fact that mal basically becomes an honorary crow lmao, the heist. seriously even though i don't super love the show's version of the crows, i do think the show is riding on their shoulders. like it would've been a bit of a drag to have it just be the shadow and bone plot, so splitting it up was smart on the showrunners' parts. i just wish we had been given actual baby crows backstory like we were initially told as opposed to this