#diverse cast of characters

[mint-termsandconditions]

The Meta Knights’ Melting Pot

Since Meta Knight has a Spanish accent, Sword Knight is British, and Blade Knight is incomprehensible (though I’ve always assumed it was Australian for some reason)

A funny thought of mine is that the rest of the Meta Knights all have their own thick accents from around the world.

I’m not really sure exactly which ones

but Sailor Waddle Dee has a Scottish accent and no one can change my mind.

If anyone have any idea what the others could be, suggest them I would like to know

[blueheartbookclub]

"Whimsical Wonders: Navigating the Uncharted Realms of Imagination in H. G. Wells' 'Thirty Strange Stories'"

H. G. Wells, renowned for his pioneering works in science fiction, extends an invitation to the peculiar corners of his creative mind with "Thirty Strange Stories." This collection, published in [year], is a compendium of tales that transcends the conventional boundaries of storytelling. The title alone suggests a literary odyssey into the extraordinary, and Wells does not disappoint, offering readers a kaleidoscopic array of narratives that blur the lines between the plausible and the fantastical.

The stories within this collection showcase Wells' remarkable ability to traverse genres and themes. From the whimsically speculative to the hauntingly macabre, each tale is a testament to Wells' mastery of the short story form. The title acts as a portal, beckoning readers into a realm where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the mundane is transformed into the extraordinary. As the pages turn, readers are transported from the familiar to the uncharted territories of Wells' vivid imagination.

One of the distinguishing features of "Thirty Strange Stories" is Wells' uncanny knack for blending scientific speculation with elements of the supernatural. In tales such as [specific story], he weaves together speculative concepts with a keen understanding of human nature, creating narratives that are both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant. The title serves as a teaser, enticing readers with the promise of the strange and the unexplored.

Wells' narrative finesse is particularly evident in his characterizations. Whether introducing eccentric inventors, time travelers, or ordinary individuals thrust into extraordinary circumstances, Wells crafts characters that linger in the reader's imagination. The title "Thirty Strange Stories" acts as a tantalizing preview, hinting at the diverse cast of characters that populate this literary menagerie.

Furthermore, the thematic breadth of the collection is striking. Wells tackles societal issues, philosophical quandaries, and the profound mysteries of existence within the framework of speculative fiction. The title encapsulates the overarching theme of the uncanny, suggesting a journey through narratives that challenge the boundaries of reality and the limitations of human understanding.

As readers delve into the pages of "Thirty Strange Stories," they encounter a tapestry of ideas that reflect Wells' fascination with the unknown. The title becomes a guide through this labyrinth of narratives, promising unexpected twists, intellectual delights, and moments of sheer astonishment. From the first story to the thirtieth, Wells maintains a grip on the reader's attention, orchestrating a symphony of strangeness that resonates long after the final page is turned.

In conclusion, "Thirty Strange Stories" by H. G. Wells is a testament to the author's unparalleled imagination and narrative prowess. The title serves as a thematic overture, encapsulating the essence of a collection that transcends the boundaries of conventional storytelling. Wells' ability to seamlessly blend the ordinary with the extraordinary, the scientific with the supernatural, makes this anthology a captivating journey into the uncharted realms of the human imagination. As readers embark on this literary odyssey, the title becomes a whispered promise of strange wonders waiting to be discovered within the pages of Wells' extraordinary tales.

"Thirty Strange Stories." by H. G. Wells is available in Amazon in paperback 14.99$ and hardcover 22.99$ editions.

Number of pages: 407

Language: English

Rating: 9/10                                           

Link of the book!

Review By: King's Cat

[blueheartbooks]

"Whimsical Wonders: Navigating the Uncharted Realms of Imagination in H. G. Wells' 'Thirty Strange Stories'"

H. G. Wells, renowned for his pioneering works in science fiction, extends an invitation to the peculiar corners of his creative mind with "Thirty Strange Stories." This collection, published in [year], is a compendium of tales that transcends the conventional boundaries of storytelling. The title alone suggests a literary odyssey into the extraordinary, and Wells does not disappoint, offering readers a kaleidoscopic array of narratives that blur the lines between the plausible and the fantastical.

The stories within this collection showcase Wells' remarkable ability to traverse genres and themes. From the whimsically speculative to the hauntingly macabre, each tale is a testament to Wells' mastery of the short story form. The title acts as a portal, beckoning readers into a realm where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the mundane is transformed into the extraordinary. As the pages turn, readers are transported from the familiar to the uncharted territories of Wells' vivid imagination.

One of the distinguishing features of "Thirty Strange Stories" is Wells' uncanny knack for blending scientific speculation with elements of the supernatural. In tales such as [specific story], he weaves together speculative concepts with a keen understanding of human nature, creating narratives that are both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant. The title serves as a teaser, enticing readers with the promise of the strange and the unexplored.

Wells' narrative finesse is particularly evident in his characterizations. Whether introducing eccentric inventors, time travelers, or ordinary individuals thrust into extraordinary circumstances, Wells crafts characters that linger in the reader's imagination. The title "Thirty Strange Stories" acts as a tantalizing preview, hinting at the diverse cast of characters that populate this literary menagerie.

Furthermore, the thematic breadth of the collection is striking. Wells tackles societal issues, philosophical quandaries, and the profound mysteries of existence within the framework of speculative fiction. The title encapsulates the overarching theme of the uncanny, suggesting a journey through narratives that challenge the boundaries of reality and the limitations of human understanding.

As readers delve into the pages of "Thirty Strange Stories," they encounter a tapestry of ideas that reflect Wells' fascination with the unknown. The title becomes a guide through this labyrinth of narratives, promising unexpected twists, intellectual delights, and moments of sheer astonishment. From the first story to the thirtieth, Wells maintains a grip on the reader's attention, orchestrating a symphony of strangeness that resonates long after the final page is turned.

In conclusion, "Thirty Strange Stories" by H. G. Wells is a testament to the author's unparalleled imagination and narrative prowess. The title serves as a thematic overture, encapsulating the essence of a collection that transcends the boundaries of conventional storytelling. Wells' ability to seamlessly blend the ordinary with the extraordinary, the scientific with the supernatural, makes this anthology a captivating journey into the uncharted realms of the human imagination. As readers embark on this literary odyssey, the title becomes a whispered promise of strange wonders waiting to be discovered within the pages of Wells' extraordinary tales.

"Thirty Strange Stories." by H. G. Wells is available in Amazon in paperback 14.99$ and hardcover 22.99$ editions.

Number of pages: 407

Language: English

Rating: 9/10                                           

Link of the book!

Review By: King's Cat

[bixels]

Reminiscing about Little Witch Academia.

[aroaceleovaldez]

i'm so happy you brought back up the topic of rick's shitty writing of anyone even remotely non white / "white passing"

with that being said, do you think the shitty script he gave to annabeth in the show has to do with him just being deeply uninterested in adapting his story to include characters of color? bc it seems like once rick encounters a character that cannot be easily erased all ethnic or racial identity of to fit them into an usamerican specifically white ass narrative, he gets lost.

i just keep thinking how the only thing that "changed" about annabeth as presented in the show was her race but her plot relevance and her characterization got downgraded severely. meanwhile percy, whiter than before (wheres the mediterranean god look......................................), got half her functions. like i just look at rick in context and i wonder if he just gives so little fuck about characters of color he cant even write a decent character arc for an adaptation of a very established persona

thoughts? thank u!

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Rick (and the writer's room, since it actually seems Rick isn't all that heavily involved if much at all with the script itself based on some interviews) just has internal biases that he refuses to reflect on. It would be a consistent trend with the uptick in offensive writing in the books themselves (see: the troglodytes in general, all the Jewish kids in CHB being in Hermes cabin, etc etc). Rick seems to want to engage with these topics but refuses to actually assess how he's approaching it and his own biases while also overemphasizing his engagement with the topics. It's a kind of big talk/words vs actions type thing to me.

[this got a wee bit long so throwing it under a cut]

I was having a couple of conversations about this topic recently - one being group reading/discussion of WottG and how, allegedly, the slightly different characterizations in that book are inspired by the actors in the show. Annabeth is repeatedly and frequently described as motherly and maternal in the book, plus some other misc characterizations that make you tilt your head and go "Wait, what about Leah made you want to write Annabeth this way?" and concerns about it leaning into stereotypes. (It's also strange, because in the show Sally is MUCH more aggressive and less maternal, and this is painted like it's supposed to be a girlboss thing cause her being too soft and motherly was too weak or something? But now book Annabeth is now being described as all soft and maternal??? What. What is happening.)

Another conversation that i had with my therapist (cause we talk about pjo a lot lol) and later repeated and discussed more with other folks on discord more specifically regarding the show was a lot of discussion about the casting. Particularly casting choices and how the writing either is refusing to take casting into consideration to respectfully approach how things would be changed to avoid problems or are actively changing the script for characters in a way that is potentially if not downright offensive. Clarisse is the number one example i bring up because a lot of people say that the reason a plus sized actress wasn't cast for her was to avoid the "fat bully" trope. The thing is, there is ALSO a POC bully trope that is just as bad if not worse, so if they were actually taking offensive tropes into consideration one would expect them to avoid that too (especially since Percy was cast as a pasty white boy - which just makes it all look worse)? (Also other plus-sized characters like Dionysus and Gabe were also cast as skinny, same with Tyson. So it just seems like they don't want to cast plus-sized actors either.)

But also they're rewriting stuff that actively puts the casting decisions into worse tropes. Like hey, why is Percy (a white guy) the one who knows the "real" versions of all these myths and is expositioning them to Annabeth (a black girl), who in the books is supposed to know more than him? Why does he know better than her for some reason and have to guide her? Why is Percy teaching Annabeth about pop culture and how to be a kid? Not to mention stuff like the show constantly encouraging the viewer to doubt or distrust characters like Grover and Clarisse and Annabeth as red herrings as to who the traitor is. Plus there's no adjustments to stuff from the books like Annabeth initially being somewhat aggressive/antagonistic towards Percy, or Clarisse's aggression and bullying towards Percy to try and circumvent those being bad tropes in the contexts of the casting.

And there's an ongoing trend of characters who are antagonistic towards Percy in the books being divided into two groups: those who continue to be antagonistic towards Percy in the show, or those who are tweaked to suddenly become kinda silly-goofy and significantly less threatening. Gabe, Dionysus, Ares, and Hades are all examples of characters that should be antagonistic towards Percy but are softened SIGNIFICANTLY and played for laughs in the show. Echidna is played as a twist antagonist because she initially because she approaches the kids as very sweet and helpful. And they're all cast as white! Meanwhile other characters like Clarisse, Luke, Zeus, etc, are still antagonistic towards Percy (plus also like Annabeth initially and again, Grover being painted as a major red herring). Plus some new additions like Hermes, Mr. Lin Manuel Miranda himself, being wholly introduced into the plot when he's not supposed to appear until book 2, and all he does is sabotage the quest. Like, it's weird! That's a weird writing decision!!!! I get wanting to get that sweet sweet LMM cameo money, but, why is Hermes an antagonist here???????? he's not even supposed to be here yet!.

We also have stuff like Poseidon (who, like many of the god/major kid pairings so far seems to have been cast to match each other appearance-wise) saving the day for Percy and being this weirdly good dad, versus the books where we get the iconic "I am sorry you were born" line and Percy and Poseidon's tension is part of their arcs. Notably, Poseidon does this by ceding to Zeus, who is actively about to start a war. While Gabe is rewritten to be a total loser, Sally is MUCH more aggressive and her yelling and screaming at young Percy is supposed to be sympathetic for some reason? If Gabe were acting like Sally does in the show, he would actually be significantly more like his book counterpart! The show is making active decisions to paint these characters the way they do!

Admittedly, part of it may just be they got overzealous with their casting (not inherently a bad thing! diverse casting is good!) and then proceeded to not consider how that casting affects the way the characters are perceived. It also doesn't bode well for certain guesses we can make going further into the show - Thalia is very at odds with Percy initially. She's a very aggressive character. They fight a lot! Also Annabeth's description already implies that they're tweaking Thalia's character to be more "tough love" versus the books where she's significantly more of a bleeding heart when she first meets Annabeth. Like, I'm very happy about Thalia's casting, her actress seems amazing, but also I'm VERY concerned with how they're going to approach her character to make sure it doesn't end up wildly offensive. Athena is similar - we can guess based on casting decisions so far that they're going to try and cast Athena as similar in appearance to Annabeth/Leah. The show has already painted Athena has antagonistic and uncaring towards her daughter. If projected trends continue, these things are not gonna be great.

And the show does seem to rarely want to engage with these topics - like the scene with the cop in the train. You can tell what they wanted to address by having Annabeth be the one to confront him. The thing is they were too cowardly to actually have that conversation! They paint the kids as being unreasonable and getting unnecessarily upset when they aren't directly being accused of destroying a room, therein painting the cop as the one in the right in that situation. The implication seems to be a little bit they were going for "Oh, this is Annabeth's hubris getting them into trouble" but. that's such a bad way to do it! That's like the worst way you could have done it! (This is also a trend in books from HoO onwards, more or less - Rick tries to engage with certain topics, often using characters of specific demographics, and then proceeds to do a really bad job of it.)

There are also some aspects that are just like - in the books, Luke being a middle-class blond-haired blue-eyed pretty white boy is relevant! Because the fact that he has privilege from that particularly in how he's perceived is part of how he came to where he is and why he acts the way he does. Percy not having those same privileges, and having aspects like constantly inherently being labeled as a trouble-maker just based on his atypical (neurodivergent) behavior and coming from a lower socioeconomical background play heavily into his character!!! Percy being both a poor and disabled kid (and implied potentially POC) plays DIRECTLY into why he feels so strongly about standing up for other disenfranchised kids (in SoM, explicitly including other disabled kids and kids of color). It directly relates to his experiences and standing up for kids who are like him because he didn't have that, versus Luke whose perceptions and goals are very self-oriented. Now, in the show, we've essentially swapped Percy and Luke's appearances, and that paints a very different narrative. And that's important to acknowledge!

[buckevantommy]

btw: shoutout to omitb for not only writing older characters but casting older actors to play those characters instead of trying to age them way up or way down. two old dudes front and centre (played by beloved veteren actors) with love interests their own age. ensemble cast of people in their 40s+ with body diversity too. friendships spanning 2 generations. celebrity cameos of ppl in their 50s+. i'd love to see more of this in hollywood.

[supernovasilence]

As we start getting more information on the new Narnia adaptation, I see people worrying it won't stay true to C. S. Lewis's vision. Now, as a white British man writing in the 1950s, if Lewis imagined POC characters in his books, it was as

*checks notes*

nobles and royals, leaders and officers, heroes and legends, friends and love interests and protagonists.

Caspian X is a main character in Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and the title character of Prince Caspian. He begins the story as a prince, and ends it taking his rightful place as "lawful King under [Peter] in Narnia both by [Peter's] gift and by the laws of the Telmarines" (Prince Caspian, chapter 13: The High King in Command). Caspian leads a war, overthrows a tyrant, and sails on a journey across the Eastern Ocean to save the lords who had been tricked into being lost at sea because they would have supported Caspian. Brave and loyal, he earns not one, but two, epithets through his actions: "Caspian the Seafarer" (The Silver Chair, chapter 12: The Queen of Underland"; the title is also used several times in The Last Battle) and "Caspian the Navigator" (The Silver Chair, chapter 16: The Healing of Harms").

He is also a Telmarine. The Great Lion himself explains what this means.

"You, Sir Caspian," said Aslan, "might have known that you could be no true King of Narnia unless, like the Kings of old, you were a son of Adam and came from the world of Adam's sons. And so you are. Many years ago in that world, in a deep sea of that world which is called the South Sea, a shipload of pirates were driven by storm on an island. And there they did as pirates would: killed the natives and took the native women for wives, and made palm wine, and drank and were drunk, and lay in the shade of the palm trees, and woke up and quarrelled, and sometimes killed one another. And in one of these frays six were put to flight by the rest and fled with their women into the centre of the island and up a mountain, and went, as they thought, into a cave to hide. But it was one of the magical places of that world, one of the chinks or chasms between that world and this. There were many chinks or chasms between worlds in old times, but they have grown rarer. This was one of the last: I do not say the last. And so they fell, or rose, or blundered, or dropped right through, and found themselves in this world, in the Land of Telmar which was then unpeopled." (Prince Caspian, chapter 15: Aslan Makes a Door in the Air)

Nowadays, we would say Caspian is Polynesian.

The Silver Chair features "the King's son of Narnia, Rilian, the only child of Caspian, Tenth of that name" (The Silver Chair, chapter 12: The Queen of Underland"). One of the protagonists of The Last Battle is Tirian, whose "great-grandfather's great-grandfather" was Rilian. Like Caspian, they are heroes and kings, and Telmarines of Polynesian descent. Caspian and Rilian had such golden reigns that Tirian remembers them, and specifics of their stories, hundreds of years later (The Last Battle, chapter 9: What Happened That Night).

Calormen is a large kingdom to the south of Narnia. While its origins are never given, both the text and the original illustrations (by Pauline Baynes, with input and approval from Lewis), clearly show it is based on the Middle East; its citizens are described as dark-skinned. Tarkheena is a Calormene title, the feminine version of Tarkaan, meaning "great lord", while Tisroc is the Calormene equivalent of king or emperor (The Horse and His Boy, chapter 1, How Shasta Set Out On His Travels).

One of the protagonists of The Horse and His Boy is "Aravis Tarkheena ... the only daughter of Kidrash Tarkaan, the son of Rishti Tarkaan, the son of Kidrash Tarkaan, the son of Ilsombreh Tisroc, the son of Ardeeb Tisroc who was descended in a right line from the god Tash. [Her] father is lord of the province of Calavar and is one who has the right of standing on his feet in his shoes before the face of the Tisroc himself (may he live for ever)" (The Horse and His Boy, chapter 3: At the Gates of Tashbaan). In the book, Aravis is brave, quick-thinking, and independent, with a strong character arc based around pride and generosity without ever losing her fierce spirit; afterwards, she marries another protagonist, Prince Cor, "and after King Lune's death they made a good King and Queen of Archenland and Ram the Great, the most famous of all the kings of Archenland, was their son" (The Horse and His Boy, chapter 15: Rabadash the Ridiculous).

Lasaraleen Tarkheena plays a supporting role in The Horse and His Boy. Aravis's friend, she is earnest, friendly, and loyal, risking herself to help Aravis even when she can't see the appeal in Aravis's chosen life. (The Horse and His Boy, chapter 7: Aravis in Tashbaan; chapter 9: Across the Desert)

Emeth is a minor character in The Last Battle. A Calormene officer, he is brave, pious, and honorable; he is also courteous, well-spoken, and learned, quoting "the poets" (The Last Battle, chapter 10: Who Will Go Into the Stable; chapter 14: Night Falls on Narnia; chapter 15: Further Up and Further In).

As for other characters, there is very little in the books indicating they are of one ethnicity or another. Cor is explicitly stated to be "white and fair", because he has to be; it is a plot point (The Horse and His Boy, chapter 1: How Shasta Set Out on His Travels). Jadis is repeatedly described as very pale as a way to indicate how strange and otherworldly she looks (The Magician's Nephew, chapter 13: An Unexpected Meeting; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, chapter 3: Edmund and the Wardrobe). Many characters have minimal or no physical description. Lewis's writing style leaves a great deal to imagination; a clear image of all the characters simply cannot be formed from textual evidence alone.

What can be said is that a truly book-accurate adaptation of Narnia, as envisioned by C. S. Lewis, will have a diverse cast.

[griem]

ijbol idk man releasing screenshots of very polarizing things said in a private discord server between friends in a public "callout" post is #the most #tumblrific thing ive ever seen LOL.

#opinion 😱 in tags

[ellenhuttereborn]

every single one of Elijah’s love interests are incredibly hot and badass woman, and that’s just what happens when you’re the sexiest man in the entire tvdu

[izzysheavingbosom]

I know that OFMD has a lot of people who are new to fandom, but nothing drives it home like seeing people earnestly insist it's the Ed and Stede show.

Yes, they're the main characters.

Yes, their relationship is the core of the show.

But that does not mean the other characters are NPCs who don't matter. Jim has their own subplot where they choose hope and Oluwande and later on Archie over revenge! Lucius goes through trauma and tries to cope with that! Izzy goes from an asshole focused on his captain to less of an asshole who protects his crew!

Our Flag Means Death has a very strong ensemble with lots of fun and interesting major and minor characters, so of course there'll be people whose fave is Calico Jack or Izzy or Jim or Evelyn over Ed or Stede. That is perfectly normal and happens in every fandom.

Star Wars fandom, for example, saw Ice Cream Maker Guy run in the background of one scene and now he's got a backstory and a name.

You are not doing fandom wrong by preferring minor or major characters over a main character.

You are doing fandom wrong by insisting everyone has to like the main characters best and prioritise them over all the other characters.

[icedsodapop]

Okay, biased Martha Jones stan here but like, it just doesnt make sense to me that Donna would name her daughter Rose when it's literally established in Donna's companion era that she and Martha got along fabulously when they met each other while Donna and Rose were polite acquaintances at best, abrasive at worst?? Did rtd forget about this?

Oh and there's also the slight issue of Donna having her memories as a companion erased, no biggie.

[prince-liest]

I’m reading Witch King by Martha Wells, and now that I have read more than one (1) series by this author, I have been suddenly brained with a two-by-four sharpied over with “realizing that I really enjoy novels by Martha Wells because they live in the specific niche created by the intersection of casually and thoroughly queer casts and non-romance storylines”

I am as ever a sucker for non-human main characters struggling with their very human feelings, which is why I jumped on Witch King the moment I saw “the author of Murderbot wrote another book with a main character that’s non-human,” but I live in this dichotomy where I can really enjoy reading queer romances but I don’t really identify with non-ace characters (which is not actually something I figured out how to differentiate until I was Last Week Years Old). so there are lots of books out there that I enjoy reading but it’s comparatively rare for me to read something that feels like it was written For Me and Martha Wells does that very well

anyway, give me more ace it-pronouns human-spliced robot main characters and people-eating demons who consider rank over gender when finding new bodies to inhabit

[theothermaidoftarth]

From Rick Riodran himself (via Goodreads):

[obisamya]

4-5-1 Season 3, Episode 3 TED LASSO (2020-2023)

[isa-ah]

my name is earl is probably one of the best shows ever made. it's funny and hopeful and brings a lot of light and love to white trash who've only ever seen ourselves depicted in really ugly and cruel ways. also earls hot and joys hot and darnels hot and catalinas hot and the very first episode is about earl tackling his internalized homophobia & becoming a supportive ally so like. What Else Could You Want?

[u3pxx]

i want to have the time and energy again to draw more complicated illustrations. i want to draw drawings within drawings. i want to spend hours on carefully inking, i want to enjoy the rendering process. i want to go bonkers on a piece. hello, can anyone hear m