#incoherent review

[thebibliosphere]

Callout post for @a-kind-of-merry-war and the Mills & Boon marketing team for trying to make me choose between Raff and Penn in Emma/Merry's debut novel, One Night in Hartswood, a queer medieval romance, when my ADHD, bisexual ass has never committed to making a decision in my life, and I'm sure as shit not about to start now because I love them both, your honor.

I love them both so much.

More coherent words to follow when I've actually sat down and processed this because I'm currently in that stage when you've just finished a book, and you don't know what to do with your life anymore.

This was so much fun. Really gorgeous prose. Reads like comfort fanfic even while you're screaming at the pages. I am absolutely going to order myself a hardcover copy from the UK, as us plebians in the US don't seem to be getting one. (Yet.) UK release date Jan 19th, 20223. The US release seems to be in November (according to Amazon, at least). All the pre-order links are up above, along with some more info and tropes, but I'll link them again here.

I am going to lie down. Maybe scream into my pillow for a bit.

Additional image ID under the tags due to length and post accessibility.

Image ID: A series of three images collected into a collage. In the top image, we are shown the purple spine of a book that reads "One Night in Hartswood" by Emma Denny in a sunset gradient of colors.

The bottom images showcase the two sides of the book cover, which is rendered with a watercolor texture background in yellow, orange, and pink, bordered by lilac and dark purple trees with leaves falling to the ground.

This arc copy of the book depicts the main character, Penn, on the back of the book, cast in the same dark purple silhouette as the trees. He is sitting on the ground under a tree, head bowed with one arm resting on his knee. Above his head, the name “Penn” is written in a purple gilded font. Underneath is the hashtag #PennHasMyHeart.

The right side image depicts the front cover where the other main character, Raff, is rendered similarly but with his head uplifted and a dandelion flower blowing away in his fingers. Above him is his name in the same gilded font, and beneath him is the hashtag #RaffHasMyHeart.

[theamazingstories]

RETRO REVIEW - JOHN DIES AT THE END and Other Stuff (SPOILERS)

Figure 1 – John (Rob Mayes) and David (Chase Williamson) There are so many genre (and near-genre) movies coming out every year that it’s easy to miss a good one. That’s my excuse for missing 2013’s John Dies at the End, from a book by Jason Pargin writing as David Wong. Pargin/Wong also wrote the screenplay with director Don Coscarelli. Anyway, I missed it, and I think it might end up being one…

[adri-doodles]

Fanart for @naffeclipse’s Sleuth Jesters AU! Featuring mob moss Eclipse and Detective Sun and Moon. I didn’t have any particular idea for when in the series these take place, so they’re just… miscellaneous, I guess. Could be post-AU. Could be an in-between.

You can read it here on AO3! I’d suggest checking it out, it’s really well written :D

Detective AU originally created by @starlightcloudbaby/@sunnys-aesthetics (url change I think)

[iamthepulta]

*stares at 30 reblogs of "deep down you want to bite someone with 100% power just once"*

*writes: "m00t is reincarnated crocodile (beloved)" on notepad*

[13lizardsinatrenchcoat]

Nothing I can say about Dunya has not already been said better by Hanif Abdurraqib in this article .

I highly recommend reading it in full, even if the Mustafa is unfamiliar to you. The mastery that both he and Mr. Abdurraqib have over language makes the interview itself a poignant mediation on art and class and race and music and war and and and and.

Dunya is probably my album of the year, and I'll steal a quote from the article here to tell you why:

"Perhaps the miracle of Dunya is how it moves with a spirit of vibrant protection, the miraculous ability to hold, in your palm, an entire city and everyone you have ever loved and who has poured into it – to draw people close and say can you believe THIS?"

I'll end this with a reminder that the proceeds from Mustafa's music video for Gaza Is Calling go to the PCRF and that the song is an excellent entry point for his music.

[space-writes]

yeah yeah, tropes and blurbs and summaries are all good, but how about some Obedience testimonials instead?

[ID - a collection of screenshotted comments, full ID in alt text]

many of these are courtesy of #1 cheerleader @foxboyclit and if you see yourself, know i am ever grateful for the support.

and the yelling. especially the yelling

[shenlis-spear]

THE LEGEND OF SHEN LI 与凤行, 2024

⇢ starring: zhao liying, lin gengxin

If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. (I'm talking about The Legend of Shen Li)

Let me preface this by saying I'm biased. And it's been a million years since I tried to put my thoughts into writing so this is gonna be all over the place and long-winded. And probably wouldn't make any sense. So here it goes.

I really enjoyed The Legend of Shen Li. Do I love it? With all my charred heart. Do I think it's the best drama this year? It's still April. It's hard to say. Are Shen Li and Xing Zhi the best power couple? This shouldn't even be a debate.

Honestly, I didn't even plan to chase this drama while it's ongoing because I binge watching drama is what I enjoy best. However, I was bored. And The Legend of Shen Li's trailer looked interesting. And my heart still needs healing from the mess of an ending that is Princess Agents. I needed closure. So I started watching the drama, and boy oh boy did it drag me down one hell of a roller coaster ride of emotions every single night. (No, I'm not complaining.)

However, before I talk about the things that I really loved about the drama, I have some things to say about the stuff that kind of irked me. Because no drama is perfect (unless it's Nirvana in Fire).

So let me get started on the things that I feel like the drama could've done better.

Musical scoring - the OST's? Chef's kiss. However, they way they're putting music on the scenes are a hit and miss. Most of the time it just distracts me from the scene and I just get bored with the mv-ish scene. I wish cdramas especially custom ones would stop this. I don't need 5 mins of the leads staring at each other in all angles accompanied by a really nice song. I'm here to watch a drama. Although, I kinda did get used to it in the latter episodes (specifically ep35-38) because I definitely needed a minute or two to process the emotions.

The progression of the story - One thing. I'm confused. Not to the point that "I don't understand the plot confusing" but still confusing nonetheless. There was no consistency in the scenes and the dialogues. (Ex fishing village). There was no flow. I feel like someone messed up the storyboard and when they edited the scenes they were also confused. Or maybe this is the issue of the translation of the dialogue? I don't even know. Still, I definitely think this part could've been done better.

The internal monologues - sigh when I said the thing I love most in dramas are their dialogues I don't mean what's happening in The Legend of Shen Li. The characters just talk (or think?) too damn much I can't keep up. They're supposed to be the characters whom their actions should tell the story but the way they're narrating the whole plot to me is just so jarring. Am I watching a drama or listening to an audiobook? Sometimes I can't tell. I wish they'd tone it down but it just got worse with the later episodes.

The camera - this is just me being nitpicky but there are some random camera angles especially the spinning ones that probably is supposed to make the scene dramatic but all it did was make me wanna vomit.

This is not in any way, shape, or form hating on the drama because I genuinely enjoyed it. I've deluded myself into waiting for a Princess Agents S2 but I got a better deal and had Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin to reunite in a new project which is better in my opinion because Princess Agents is a hot mess. There was really no saving that one.

So moving on to the things I like! But like, where do I even start?

First of all, Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin. Chemistry so good, they had to be casted in another drama. Everything about them was just so perfect for the drama and the role. Could not ask for a more perfect casting than them. The 7 year wait was almost worth it.

The WOMEN! - so much room for improvement regarding the characters but I loved that the women were not treated as damsels who always needed saving. I have to say 5 1/2 braincells were working throughout the drama, 2 from Shen Li, 1 from You Lan, 1 from Jin Niang Zi and 1 from Shen Mu Yue (1/2 from Xing Zhi because he's too unbothered if it's not related to Shen Li).

Shen Li - might not be the best female character in cdramaland but I think she can hold her own place. She's stubborn, a bit reckless but she's loyal and righteous. She's a strong woman without being a stereotypical cold and ruthless strong woman. Shen Li is a strong woman at the same time also a mad woman in love. She does not have to be one or the other. The more I write this the more I'm falling in love with her character. You just don't find a character like her. She is Shen Li. A capable general. A strong leader. An empathetic comrade. A respectful student. A woman in love. She is not just one of them but all of them.

Lin Gengxin is pretty believable playing as an ancient god. He has that air around him that screams your highness. He played the lofty and aloof Xing Zhi to perfection.

And what can I even say about Zhao Liying? As always miss ma'am played Shen Li perfectly. Whimsical, stubborn, in love and devasted in love, you can feel all those emotions just watching her eyes.

It has angst but not too much that we as viewers would spend multiple episodes pulling out hair of frustration about the misunderstandings and accidental killings. (Not a shade to any specific drama but just to the xanxia genre in general). It has the perfect balance of angst, romance and comedy. You laugh, cry and giggle all in one episode. The comic relief scenes are naturally funny and doesn't feel forced. Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin's comedic timing are 👌.

The conflict was handled maturely and the confession was direct but still heart fluttering. Throughout the drama, they both got their heads perfectly placed on their shoulders.

The last episode! Let us talk about the last episode because when has a drama provided that kind of fan service just making one whole episode of shenanigans and fluff. After going through the angst, the reward that is the last episode is just too good and definitely worth all the tears.

Also, can we talk about Dong Jie's guest role? I know miss ma'am is good but when I tell you I cried for a minute because of her story arc? Just hands up and mic drop. So so good!

Now that all of these are out of my system, hopefully I can move on to the next obsession, whatever that may be. I'll still probably watch episode 39 on a daily basis though. It's just too enjoyable and it makes my day. Will probably, revisit this "review" in the future and update it because I'm aware that at this point it's not making a lot of sense.

RATING: 9/10 REWATCH VALUE: 10/10 definitely would watch again! ACTING: 10/10 CATEGORY: GUILTY PLEASURE

[sensiblethingtodo]

WOMAN OF THE HOUR WAS SO GOOD. IM SO PROUD OF ANNA KENDRICK😭😭😭

[areseebee]

how do you like Thomas Hamilton and do you think the ending is real?

i was just thinking about this when falling asleep last night lol.

my thoughts are: i think silver killed flint on skeleton island, that it was premeditated and the story of flint in savannah was intentionally constructed by silver and jack to mitigate rebellion. i think that silver's re-telling of it to madi and how artificial it feels, and how silver relies on the semantics of "unmaking" flint to counter madi's accusation of killing flint reinforces this. i think madi, like the audience, chooses what to believe in order to move forward. and i think silver asking for her belief so that they can move forward together reifies that which he has just tried to kill in flint - asking for the belief of a lie to further a selfish (if sympathetic) end.

and yet! i keep going to back to the foundational logic of the show: if you don't see the body, then they're not dead. i would love to believe that's true for flint, but, in the context of flint's possible-but-unseen death, i see this less as proof that flint is alive more than i see it as the show using its own form and logic to introduce metatextual questions and, in a way, break the fourth wall: the story asking us to decide what we think is real, and then each of us creating our own meaning from that.

so, for me, ultimately there's what i want to be real (flint alive and kicking it with his boyfriend on a farm in savannah) and what i think is more likely real (flint dead and buried at sea, living on as legend instead of as a threat or a martyr). and, in the spirit of black sails, i'm not sure that what i want to be real and what i think is real are totally mutually exclusive. or, put a different way, i feel like i can hold both possible endings and find more truth and richness in both possibilities existing together.

do i think flint was reunited with thomas hamilton? yes, i think he was, i'm just not convinced it was while either of them were alive.

[shouts-into-the-void]

Beauty and Beast adaptation where in the end, the beast's appearance doesn't change back, because the real monstrous thing that is fixed through finding true love is his horrible personality

[sscrambledmeggss]

thinking about how when i first read trc i disliked gansey because he is actually so much like me LMAOOO

[rainswhenyourehere]

wicked was so gay

[parkeryangs]

@falloutcoys CHANCE/MIKE THOUGHTS !!! :]

the thing about chance/mike is that they're the best and worst parts of each other. they're both too curious for their own good, and while their other relationships balance that self-destruction, they revel in it. this wordless thing happening between them is just a new kind of trouble that moves quick and fast until they're both drowning in thoughtless touches and shared bottles of whiskey and sneaking out of obv like they're fifteen years old and too clever for their own good and ready to fight the world even if they'll lose.

it's not good for them and they know it but that's what makes it intoxicating!! mike's existence is a scorch mark through time and chance doesn't even care about getting burned now. any cost seems worth it when they're looking back with smiles on their faces, because everything is so uncertain all of the time. chance could be dead in an hour and mike could never have existed and they need this because there is a certain safety in the danger.

chance doesn't have to slow down, when mike is there. he's always been a runner, jumping from one moment to the next because slowing down means really feeling and that scares him more than anything. he's haunted and he gets the bitter-tongued sort of angry when he's sad and scared and cornered like an animal, with that sickly-sweet bite of regret in the back of his throat. maybe he never should've gotten involved at all but now they're both running and he doesn't have to slow down, so tangled up it's hard to tell the start from the end these days.

and mike's guilt doesn't feel so heavy when he's with chance. he's got the world on his shoulders most days, the responsibility of hundreds of lifetimes and people he has to protect. chance is a breath of fresh air, the calm before the storm, even if they both know at the end of the day it won't ever work, not really. it's easier to be friends, and it wouldn't hurt so much when mike falls for edgar and chance almost wishes he was the one with ocean water in his lungs, but clever as they both are they were never smart about one another, chasing devastation like it might save them if they just hold on tight enough.

here's the og post i wrote about them on my other blog, for anyone thats curious!

[newbieineverything]

Platonic Soulmates AU pt2

Prev || Next

"Marco finally!” Thatch whined, such a drama queen, "What took you so long?"

"Ace took another mission this morning yoi," Marco sighed, "had to make sure he took his meds with him this time."

Thatch became serious at this, the kid is really worrying his older brothers.

"This is the third one this month."

"Yeah."

"And you weren't able to get anything out of him?"

"No, you?”

"Nothing," he sighed "He rarely comes to the kitchen anymore, doesn't raid the pantry or join me & Haruta for our latest pranks."

"I can't believe I'm not grateful for that yoi, but the kid is rarely at game nights except when Deuce drags him there and when I see him he is either alone or with Kotatsu." Marco rubbed his face, exhausted just by thinking about it "and he is avoiding me now, he knows he should have gotten his new med supply from me and he's avoiding me, god at this point I just hope he takes them even if he won't talk."

"Dammit!” Thatch yelled covering his face "What happened!? What did we do!? Why did he just start hiding our Jolly Roger? How did we hurt him? It has been going on for more than a month and it's getting worse!”

"Thatch calm down yoi," He's tired, they're both tired but-"I know you're worried, we both are but shouting won't solve this, you know Deuce said it's not us and that it's a bad time for Ace."

"I know!" Thatch took a deep breath "...I know Marco, but what can we do now? We didn't pry and waited like he said but Ace isn't getting better!"

"Yeah I know yoi, honestly I don't think even he thought it would continue for this long that's why I talked to him, he said that he'll try one more time when Ace returns, if it doesn't work he'll involve us."

"...."

"What?"

"You couldn't have led with that?"

[chibishortdeath]

So I saw the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie and I’ve been thinking about it and game to movie/tv adaptations in general, so I guess a review and some general thoughts on it d(^^ ).

⚠️FNAF MOVIE SPOILERS!!!⚠️

I liked the movie, it was fun. The creature shop did really well on the animatronics, and there were quite a few scenes that had me pretty shocked in a good way. Vanessa’s inclusion was actually kinda cool the way they did it and surprisingly I did end up liking the little sister character they added in. William Afton was the best part of the movie and I’m glad he was even though I kinda knew he would be lol. The spring lock scene was a bit toned down, but still cool as hell and I honestly didn’t expect them to put it in at all. The Matpat cameo and the Living Tombstone at the end were fucking wild and hella deserved tbh.

There were some things I’m still meh about though:

I didn’t like how Mike wasn’t really bothered by the animatronics very much at all. They were barely a threat to him. The scenes of the vandals getting attacked was pretty cool, but Mike, the night guard himself, is just kinda protected through the plot armor of his little sister and I guess sleeping on the job??? Sure he did get attacked by the ghosts of the children during a dream, BUT it’s kinda a major plot point that the possessed animatronics are slowly closing in on the night guard office and you have to keep them away, soooo yeahhhh. Like aw man where’s my scene of the night guard closing the doors and having to anxiously watch the cameras? Especially with the added horror that there’s his little sister there and he thinks they’ll hurt her! Those are some high stakes they could’ve had! And the scenes of the sister being friendly with the animatronics could’ve been way cooler if they had scenes of the animatronics being aggressive towards Mike to balance them. Where’s all the my paranoia the game centered around? The suspense, dread, panic? I just didn’t get those vibes from the movie very much, which is sad.

Some of the changes to Mike’s story were strange choices imo. Most fans will know that “Mike Schmidt” is like a pseudonym for Michael Afton, William Afton’s oldest son who is kinda trying to figure out the murder cases and shut all this down, I cannot explain the whole fnaf lore in one bullet point 💀 but it’s important. In the movie, it really kinda seems like they made Mike his own character with his own family and his own sad dead brother backstory. Which is weird to me, because I feel like the whole dreaming plot could’ve worked really well with Michael considering the events of FNAF 4. That game implies that some of the events are at least coma dream related with the IV bags that show up in the kid’s room and mini games, so it would’ve made sense that this ghost kid brother would be communicating through dreams. They could’ve had Michael keep trying to change those events and then remember towards the end that what really happened that day was he had accidentally killed his brother at this establishment and that’s why he had blocked the place and that yellow rabbit, ya know? This would’ve also been interesting considering that little sister character they added and how he’d then feel like he shouldn’t be the one to take care of her after he figures out what happened only to get that redemption later. Idk I just feel like the plot lines they were going for would’ve been cooler if they had maybe not outright said that he was Michael Afton yet, but implied it or kept the whole crying child backstory. They could still be setting this up for twist in a sequel though since Willam kinda stutters on his last name when they meet and they have this whole child custody plot going on, maybe they’ll make that foreshadowing for later when it’s revealed that Willam was divorced or something and that’s why Mike doesn’t know that’s his dad, but yeah idk.

I feel like it was generally watered down. I get that it was made with the idea that kids would be the main audience in mind, but I think a lot of the actual horror gets lost. I almost wanna see this series get an R rated movie someday in the future just to see a different take on it, especially the first game since the vibes and general horror are really at there best in the earlier games. They’re not the scariest games ever made or anything, but playing the first one again recently it still holds up tbh, especially in atmosphere.

No Phone Guy :’(. Not even playing on the tapes. Like they should’ve just kicked the whole nature sounds things and had Phone Guy play instead. One of my favorite characters in the series and they didn’t put him in alas (;_;).

There are things I’d change about it for sure, but I enjoyed it for what it was. It’s pretty damn cool getting to see a movie based on an indie game series like this, and what’s more one that seems to actually respect it.

Perfect? Not hardly. Pretty good? Yeah :). 7/10

[suburbias]

read normal people,,, have so many thoughts