#for the better i think

[zedortoo]

Haven’t forgotten my pt sona… that ugly mug will be burned into my retinas forever

Vicky - @gongustheawsome01

Cj- @oddpizza

[npdlangley]

it hurts

[kate-apologist]

🔥 For the Masquerade series

so this has....apparently become a hot take in the recent times but

i think that disliking the masquerade series for its tone is something that is perfectly acceptable, even if said person is in love with the locked tomb.

i've seen bits of this debate here and there, and while i understand where the baru defenders are coming from, i sympathize more with the locked tomb people (and not just because i love the locked tomb!)

i baru post a lot. i've answered an ask about baru where the person asked me to give a recommendation for it based on liking the locked tomb. i gave my honest opinion there, and in tags elsewhere: recommending these series next to each other without appropriately warning the reader about the darker tone, themes, and narrative of baru is not only rude, it's negligent.

while i understand that tone does not a book make, it is also vital to a narrative, and i believe that baru and tlt differ greatly in tone, and that should be disclosed from the outset.

i don't have the post saved (and if i did, i wouldn't want to specifically call someone out anyway) but i saw someone sarcastically saying that "of course tone is more important than the similarities on a narrative level" (not a direct quote), as if tlt and baru are really that similar on a narrative level.

these are, of course, my opinions but i don't think they're similar narratively unless you count the most basic premise of "queer protagonist against imperialism". here's the thing (at the risk of being wrong on the internet)

The locked tomb is not focused solely on the Empire at a systemic level until bits of the second book and more dominantly the third book. Are there elements early on? yes. are they in your face, immediately relevant or a key aspect of the narrative, especially on a first read through? no! Baru kicks off with it. tlt's empire is not graphically homophobic. Baru's is, and it is fundamental to both her character and pieces of the narrative.

They're similar in the chivalrous figure dying at the end of the first book, they're similar in the weird brain stuff, in some of the weird bits, but at a fundamental level, Muir and Dickinson are telling stories of empire in different ways at different levels. Baru hates the Empire from the outset, is constantly working against it while she's working for it. Harrow and Gideon are not like this from the outset, and because those are the central characters for the opening two books, not the BoE, not the other Lyctors, it does change the narrative. resistance to the mechanisms of empire in tlt is not the focus from the outset (but definitely becomes more important as the larger story unfolds and we move outside the bubble of the nine houses)!

I understand the urge to defend Baru when people from the locked tomb fandom do read it on recommendation of it being similar to tlt and end up disliking it for how dark it is. i understand wanting the narrative to be spread despite how graphic it is, partially because that is the reality for a lot of people. i wholly acknowledge i'm speaking from a place of privilege in terms of violent homophobia like baru faces and as an american in a world that has been colonized by america and other wealthy nations, so i cannot fully identify with baru as a protagonist or those who associate on a deep level with her. if you do, i'm not saying that's bad or that you shouldn't recommend the book! i do, but i do so always with the caveat that it's dark and graphic and that the narrative is heavily centered in this darkness.

i think the masquerade series is a valuable series, but i think recommending it to locked tomb enjoyers and expecting them to love it because they love the locked tomb (and especially the critique of colonization that muir is building) or hounding on locked tomb enjoyers for not liking baru because of how graphic and violent it is can be uncomfortable and potentially triggering for a lot of people. tone is not everything, but it is key to enjoyment, and questioning why books are lumped together the way they are can be beneficial.

i remember finishing tyrant and reading the author's note dickinson left, where they state they're not sure when they'll finish the fourth book because the series is draining to write. i remember sympathizing to that, because reading it is draining. i mowed through the locked tomb books in a matter of days. each baru book took me months. the depth of the locked tomb is there i'm not saying it isn't, but baru's is like a painfully gaping wound from the outset, where tlt keeps it hidden until near the end of the first book

i'll end here by saying that both of these series are dear to my heart, and both sit in my top five favorite series of all time. i understand the urge to defend baru, who feels like an underdog compared to the largely more popular tlt, i tend to do it all the time. i do think, though, the conversation surrounding these two series and how they relate to each other can be better and more productive, and generally more generative in discussions of current advertising practices of "book similar to x book, so you'll like book!"

[hiddensquid13]

It's My birthday!!!! Yippee!

[itoshi-s]

i HATE being stressed w work like .. it’s not even like i’m doin anything hard n straining emotionally but sometimes the smallest things are blown out of proportion

[ceaselessbasher]

I swear to god one of these days were going to see a video of Amaury Guichon and he's going to be making some wings and they are going to look dope as hell, the detail of each feather will be breathtaking, he'll spray paint them to perfection, but as the video goes on, he's not building any sort of winged creature, just the wings. And then there's a human-sized harness (also made of chocolate, somehow, he can do it). And he's attaching the wings to the harness. And he's putting the harness on and he demonstrates how he can flap the wings. And then he'll be off. Out the window and up and up and up. And we'll be looking at the livestream (it's a livestream now) and we'll scream "No, Amaury, the sun! It's going to melt the wings!". But he knows this already. And he is free.

[foxgirltail]

Internet users: I'm not going to drink cocacola products anymore because they used AI in their marketing!

Cocacola, regularly (source):

Update to this post! Cocacola is now a bds boycott target, which is even more reason to boycott!

Death squad source link as text:

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/colombian-union-suing-coca-cola-in-death-squad-case/

BDS source link as text:

https://bdsmovement.net/news/coca-cola-quenching-israel%E2%80%99s-genocidal-soldiers%E2%80%99-thirst

[macbethz]

Well I like it but it’s not very well written. Also it’s a visual mess. The plot doesnt make any sense and the creators suck and its politics oscillate from mildly problematic to frankly baffling. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. However. the character

[starridge]

puppet hour was brutal

[artsymeeshee]

Felt a need to draw hugs (thinking about sea grunks has made me extra emotional :’))

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[rainboas]

my upstairs neighbor is so loud and annoying and all he does is yell and play video games but right now he's explaining the civil war and like the entire history of slavery and the prison industrial complex to some guy in overwatch voice chat so

[stemmmm]

more people gotta try this shit where bill has not improved and will not change but he's just chilling so its fine probably. its great

[junglejim4322]

do you think a 5'4 and 6'2 height difference is predatory?

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[whatsorryiwasntlistening]

being a writer is so wild. Like I could make Shrek and Captain America kiss if I wanted

[hinamie]

10 years later