#it's like one (not minor but small overall) plot point but it's a necessary one and i'm just going [WIDE EYES] at the document

[whoslaurapalmer]

very [eyes emoji] at sunny fic right now bc. oh things are Taking Shape Over Here

[time-travelling-chaos]

Ok. So we need to talk about what Neil Gaiman said about Good Omens S3:

I'm very curious of who could be coming back, here is my opinion about it (based only on my small analysis and hopes) for the S1 characters:

Humans:

Anathema and Newt: I think this one is a given. S1 ends with both of them buring the second volume of Agnes Nutters' prophecies, it's some big foreshadowing and I don't think it would make sense for it to be completely ignored, and if we want that to be used, we need those two characters to be back. So I'd say a good 80-90% chance of seeing them again.

Agnes Nutters: In a similar fashion, it would make sense to see Agnes again in flashbacks, especially as we don't know much about the second volume of prophecies, but I think it would be a little less necessary for the storytelling as a lot of her life has already been explored in S1. Maybe something like a 70% or 80% chance, as this also depends on whether we will see Anathema and Newt or not.

Adam: Once more it would make sense for him to be back. He was the Antichirst, and still seems to hold some power, so he could be an important ally during the second coming. I could picture the story without him, but I think it would be more interresting for him to be back. Probably a 80% chance as well.

Madame Tracy and Sergeant Shadwell: This one is a bit more complex. I don't think that their presence is important for the story, but it could be? And for me a lot of the main characters from S1 have good reasons to come back on S3, so if most come back except for those two, it could be weird. But their story was over, so it would not be a problem to not have them here. Overall, I think it's less certain to see them, but maybe having a small cameo of the two of them without much details or impact in the story. Probably around 40-50% chance of seeing them.

Warlock: And here I have a problem. I'd love to see him back, because he was the starting point of the story, and because I love him and he went through a lot and he deserve better, but I just... don't really see it? He doesn't really fit in story, doesn't know much about it, so I'm struggling to see what role he could have. The only thing that gives me some hope here, is the fact that in the show, he doesn't have an actual ending and is just let there at the fields of Meggido witbout any further explanation which doesn't feel like a proper conclusion. Here my heart make my want to say 70% chance, but honestly, it's probably more around 50%.

The them: I do believe it would be a bit weird to see Adam alone without his friends, which give them quite a good chance of coming back as well. However, they don't have as much impact on the story and were pretty minor characters in the TV show, plus, as some time has passed between the two seasons, there would be in their late-teens/ early adulthood, meaning that it is not unlikely that they don't see each other as much anymore. Will they be mentionned if Adam comes back? Very probably. But will they come back in the show? I'd say there's around a 60-70% chance.

Arthur and Deidre Young: I honestly don't see them coming back. They were here mostly to introduce Adam's character as a child, but here, he will be a young adult, so not necessarly living with his parents anymore. Plus I don't really see what role they could have in the S3 plot. Still, it's not impossible that they will have a few scenes with Adam so probably around 30% chance.

The Dowlings: We barely saw them in S1 so I don't see why they would come back in S3, as they had no major role and were mostly the absent parents. Still, if we see Warlock again, they could come back along him for some continuity. Probably 10-20% chance.

Sister Mary Loquacious: another character that I don't see coming back. The actress plays Nina, which I'm pretty sure will be in S3, so having her play two different roles seems unlikely. Plus, that character was not that much present in S1, so I don't think she'll be there. Still, we never know, so I'd say 10% chance.

Lesley (and maybe his wife): this is such a minor character, so it is not so important for him to be coming back, and I'd actually be quite surprised to see him. But still, as Neil Gaiman mentionned characters that we don't expect coming back, I have the feeling that it could be one of the characters he was refering to, so I think his chances are a little bit higher than for some others, around 40%.

Angels and Demons

Aziraphale and Crowley: Do I even have to say it? 99.999%. (The 0.001%, with probably more zeros than that, being the non nigligible chance that the S3 gets cancelled for some reason and Neil Gaiman is unable to publish a book to finish the story and us being left only with the special spoilers.)

Metatron: Yes. There is absolutely no reason for him not to come back as he is a huge part of the plot for now. 99%

Hastur/Michael/Sandalphon/Uriel: Some of them will definitely comme back, but I am not sure all of them will. However, they don't really have enough plot elements for me to determine which is more or less likely to be back. I'd say a 95% chance we'll see some of them, probably 70-80% for each of them individualy. It might be a bit more for Sandalphon actually, as it would make sense to have the Sodom and Ghomorrah story.

Gabriel and Beelzebub: This one is a bit more complex actually. Their own story is complete, and they are banned from everywhere, which seems to make their comeback more complex. But if their story is complete, the one of Angels and Demons living together and loving each other, as well a defiying Heaven and Hell definitely isn't. My guess is that they will at least be mentionned and maybe have some scenes in the past, but in the present I'm less sure about it. 60-70%

Satan: I honestly do not see Satan coming back in the present, partly for technical reasons, partly because the plot will probably more be centered around Heaven (or an alliance between Heaven and Hell) against the Earth, and I really don't see how he could fit in that story, especially after being defeated(?) by Adam. However in the past? Yes absolutely. It makes sense for a lot of people that the Fall will be in the S3 and he was a major character of that story that would need to be included. So overall coming back in the show? 50-60%

Eric: I don't see why he would not come back? He is a pretty minor character, but he was there in both seasons (mostly for comedy) so I believe he will still be present in S3. Will he have a more important plot? I'd love to, especially as he is somewhat different from the other demons (asks a lot of questions for example) and seems a bit like Hell's counterpart to Muriel, but I have my doubts. But will he be there? Absolutely, 80-90% chance.

Others

Death: 90-95%. For that one, I'm not considering the story as much as what's behind it. Like, it would make sense in the story for Death to come back, but it also wouldn't be a large problem if he didn't. However, Good Omens is a story written by Neil Gaiman AND Terry Pratchett, and Death (even though the character is a bit different in the Discworld saga) is one of Terry Pratchett most famous characters. As one of the reason for which the Good Omens TV show has been produced was to respect Terry's wish and to pay him some kind of tribute, it seems logical that Neil will want to include this character in what is their very last work together.

The other Horespersons: As for Death, it would make sense for them to come back, but I don't see them as essential characters in the plot of S3. However, it was stated at the end of S1 when they were defeated by the thems that they were purely concepts and never far away, so it might be a good indication that they would take part once more in the apocalypse, even if simply in the background. 70%.

Jesus: Yes? The plot is going to include the Second Coming so it would require a strong explanation for him not to be present at all. 90-95%

God: God's voice was missing in S2 and present in S1, which can already bring some questions. However the S3 is the final chapter to that story, and will probably lead to Aziraphale and Crowley finally being allowed to live in peace, which requires to know the precise situation in Heaven and with God. I'm not sure if She will be actually present in the show, or simply narrating the story, or even simply being revealed as having left the whole of Creation alone, but a conclusion on that part seems necessary to have a proper - and peaceful - ending. 90-95%.

To be fair, it is a lot of wishful thinking here, but also, it would make sense for most of the characters to make a comeback (no matter how small) in the final season of Good Omens. But once again it's Good Omens. It's not predictable. Most things can happen and it would still make some kind of sense.

[gaybd1]

rating changes made in natla: episode 1

I wanna be clear that I overall enjoyed the series. Most things I had problems with were actually pretty minor.

Planning to attack the Earth Kingdom as a distraction from the Air Nomad genocide: kind of cool I guess but still a weird and random way to open a whole ass show with these randos. Maybe a good way to set up the White Lotus I guess. Cool excuse to see Sozin. Reaction: Neutral

Kyoshi narrating the introduction: Cool. Makes sense. We haven’t met Katara yet. Also cool that they didn’t stick to the original opening monologue bc that wouldn’t have fit as well actually. Reaction: Positive

Showing life in the Air Temple before it was attacked. I mean I get it. It shows Aang’s reaction with Gyatso and kind of leads us to understand where he comes from. It makes his loss hurt that much more. Reaction: Positive

Great Comet Festival: Obviously an excuse to get everyone together for the Genocide but cool I guess. Reaction: Neutral

Aang just going away to clear his head instead of running away from being the Avatar: I get it. It’s to make him seem more likable, not irresponsible. I really don’t care either way. Reaction: Neutral.

Showing the Air Nation genocide: It didn’t last too long and it wasn’t as terribly graphic as I thought it could be. It fit in with the tone and narrative. Did it add anything to the point that it seemed necessary? No. Reaction: Neutral.

Katara using the Fire Nation ship as a place to practice her bending? Badass. Reaction: Positive

Showing more of Sokka’s duties/leadership/burden around the SWT village: love it, delicious, I’m obsessed. Also leaning into Hakoda’s absence. Great. Reaction: Positive

Finding Aang for some random reason that isn’t Katara being pissed at Sokka’s sexism: Honestly I wasn’t bothered by this the first time around but now it’s clear to me this is the first in a long line of choices that make Katara’s character more boring and like. peaceful so. Reaction: Negative

Zuko’s fanatical journal and doodle wall: Love it. Super on brand. Reaction: Positive

Aang already having the bison whistle: whatever. Reaction: Neutral

The SWT having a longhouse: It’s a small change but I love how much more developed the set is… Reaction: Positive

Gran Gran doing the opening monologue from the original show: it fit but I’m sorry it was soooo cringe oh my god….. Reaction: Negative

Let me just mention this here but it’s kind of weird that Katara doesn’t mention her mother’s necklace in the whole show when it was so important to the plot of the original show??? Just another facet of her character ignored I guess. Reaction: Negative

The weird claw thing the Firebenders do: it’s ugly lol. Reaction: Negative

Iroh starting real early trying to convince Zuko his dad sucks: their relationship is so much cooler and better in this show and I can’t really explain it. But I like this and it fits. Reaction: Positive

Sokka’s real ass engineering and defensive skills on full display? Huge love. Reaction: Positive

That one boy close in age to Sokka. Why is he here? Wasn’t Sokka supposed to be the only one left? Glad he gets a boyfriend though. Reaction: Neutral

Iroh’s conversation with Aang on the Fire Nation ship: it’s whatever. An interesting choice to have him tip his hand so early. I have to believe there’s a reason for it and again it works with his overall narrative in the season. Reaction: Neutral

Not spending so much time at the Southern Air Temple… I get it, it was kind of the trade off for showing so much in the beginning. It’s fine, it works. Reaction: Neutral

Aang bringing himself out of the Avatar state by thinking about Gyatso/who he is/whatever, instead of Katara doing it: I get it, they seem to be wanting to cut out any overt Kataang stuff. Still, the relationships between our three main characters are just not nearly as tight in this version of the show and something like this might have saved it? Still, Aang crying in her arms afterward covers that a bit so. Reaction: Neutral

[luckystarchild]

We all know One Piece is absolutely PHENOMENAL, but nothing is perfect, so as a writer, what would you say is your biggest pet peeve or least favorite part of One Piece as a story?

My biggest issues with One Piece are largely the same issues I have with my own work. And that makes it hard to discuss because I am hyper-aware that these critiques either make me a hypocrite OR make it seem like I'm comparing myself to Oda, which is egotistical AF and equally as obnoxious. Either way, I'm screwed.

That being said...

Narrative bloat vs. subtle foreshadowing. The story is long. That length can put people off of the story and make it feel super bloated. It's a huge barrier to entry. Some stuff that takes place over just a few days in-universe takes hundreds of chapters to convey to the reader. And I'm sorry to say that some of it doesn't feel necessary to the story (here's lookin' at you, Thriller Bark) and can be a bit of a drag.

Some people defend the length and say everything matters and that even small details become relevant later, but IMO, those details/foreshadowing pieces are often delivered in such minor ways that you can't remember the foreshadowing when the plot actually, finally drops. The length of the story and the subtlety of the story are at odds, and that's sometimes a shame.

(Also, Oda did NOT plan everything in advance. He just didn't. Some things are missing foreshadowing that would've been there if he'd planned ahead. He absolutely capitalized on early plot points and expanded them later in the story, but that's not the same as foreshadowing or planning ahead. Oda is a great storyteller, but he isn't a god, and I wish people would recognize he's fallible and stop with this whole deification shit.)

(Also as a person who has an unfinished work over a million words long, and who takes many chapters to show a single day/hour, and who puts in TINY foreshadowing no one can remember after so many words, this is what makes me a hypocrite. Either that or I'm very self-aware. Either way... sorry lmao.)

The other issue I have is the handling of the story's characters, and this once again relates to the length of the story and the problems that length causes.

Much as I love the Straw Hats and think their backstories are all pretty epic, it feels like the characters get their Shining Moment in the Sun when those backstories are introduced before being pushed to the backseat for hundreds of chapters/entire arcs at a time. Then they get pulled forward again for a little while (Sanji in Whole Cake, for instance) before getting shoved into the background yet again to make one-off remarks here and there. It sometimes feels like they get more development in their backstories than they do in the actual narrative, which is... not great, in my opinion.

Example: It feels like Zoro hasn't had anything meaningful to do except fight since he was introduced. He gets some moments here and there (like in the chapter where "nothing happened"), but it's not substantial, and I truly feel like I don't know Zoro all that well even after all this time with him. And that's sad.

Also, the forays into the side characters in other crews are INTERESTING, sure, but sometimes they're just distracting and pointless. Example: Ace's big flashback with Oars Jr. stands out to me as tear-jerker-porn that didn't add much to the story overall. "But that's how he learned to make straw hats!!" I hear people screaming but--I don't actually give a shit how he learned to make them. I'm sorry. I just don't. Take out that whole thing. It's not needed. I simply do not care about the Oars Jr. and Ace friendship that is only relevant for 5 minutes before both of them die. Similarly, Ace also feels like a giant symbol and not a person. I was sad FOR LUFFY when he died, but I shed zero tears over his death itself.

Long story short: There's just not enough narrative to go around to develop EVERYONE properly, and I have New Character Fatigue, and I wish we'd stop meeting new people at this point. (Where TF is Smoker, I ask you? Please, I need him back, it's been like three arcs without him...)

Overall, I just wish the narrative would tighten up for the sake of the plot and the characters. The live action version actually does a good job of this, which I appreciate a TON.

And again, I recognize these same issues could be said of my own work, so go easy on those tomatoes you're getting ready to throw, please!

[danielstalter]

Stanger with My Face was more or less exactly what I expected from Lois Duncan. I really appreciate the way that she writes characters. All but one of the characters felt really well-developed. The story itself was a slow burn. There was a really creepy concept at the core of this book. All of these are things I typically love, but I still found myself struggling with this one at times. I was never bored or disengaged, but the slow pacing did become tedious after awhile. I should point out that this book is notably longer than your typical Fear Street or Point Horror. The small print at 240 pages would probably run close to 400 if printed like a typical YA book today. So when you take that into consideration alongside the pacing, you can see how someone who is used to breezing through these books might get a bit frustrated. Then there was the one character I took issue with, whom I will refrain from naming due to spoilers. This character had the unfortunate effect of making the main character seem more naive and oblivious than was necessary for the plot. It also made it way too easy for me to figure out what was really going on. I may not have guessed the specifics, but I accurately called a certain villain’s true motives very early on. Having a main character that doesn’t even have suspicions about the obvious was almost enough to take me out of the story. What kept me in was Lois Duncan’s attention to detail, the richness of the minor characters, and the excellent use of the setting to create isolation. Isolation is the key to great horror and she really nails that one. Overall, I liked it more than I didn’t. Even with all of the issues I had, Stranger with My Face was a solid read. Score: 3.5 For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog: https://www.danstalter.com/stranger-with-my-face/

[ariadnedelia]

Literally I know I’m a small blog with like. One popular zukka post but this has to be said

The white members of the tlh gang, specifically Matthew and Anna, for all that they are meant to be the ‘good white people’ for accepting cordelia into their circle, have not done a full scale analysis of their pre-conceived notions of race, their position in shadowhunter society as white people, and how they benefit british colonialism and white privilege.

No one come on this post with a comment about the times because if queer acceptance can exist, guess what? So can anti-racism and the conscious effort to unlearn prejudice.

I’m bringing this up because I’m becoming increasingly frustrated about Ariadne’s whitewashing/adoption by a family that was an authority figurehead in the society of a country actively colonizing her people, and the way Alastair’s internalized racism was treating as an angsty plot point, but apparently not worthy of telling from his point of view or making him an obvious Chief of Angst(tm) the way Matthew’s was, trivializing the inter-generational trauma of real people as compared to mythical creatures, and the overall way racism is briefly addressed as angst for a character of colour, but ultimately pushed to the background to make way for discussions of oppression against imaginary species, which I get is supposed to be a reference to real oppression, but it’s a poor one, and it’s not necessary when we can point to several instaces of racism among the Shadowhunter community,

I’ll start with the example that was, for me, the most obvious: Anna.

I’m aware that microaggressions like this were common, but as Cordelia’s reaction shows, they were still offensive- and again, given the high amount of queer acceptance, at least within this character group, and honestly the very fact that racism is bad and anti-racists existed, I will be judging EVERY white characters perception of race the way I would were this the modern day.

This is immediately brushed over and never addressed again, like Anna didn’t just admit to having prejudiced pre-conceived notions about non-white ethnicities? Microaggressions, prejudices and harmful pre-conceived notions of race aren’t one a million. If you have one, you most likely have another. The books treatment of Anna’s prejudice as at best, an honest mistake, and at worst, funny and quirky, implies racism is just a minor bump in the road you can quickly skip over- but considering whose writing this, it’s not surprising. 

THEN, shortly after discovering Alistair dyes his hair due to internalized racism:

WHAT?! THE FUCK?!

WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE IS THIS TO FINDING OUT SOMEONE WAS ON THE RECEIVING END OF RACISM?! HOW DO YOU SEE SOMEONE’S GENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND LIKEN IT TO BEING MADE FUN OF FOR BEING SMALL AS A CHILD?! IT’S LIKE IF ZUKO SAID ‘THAT’S ROUGH BUDDY’ TO SOKKA EXPLAINING HOW THE FIRE NATION MURDERED HIS MOM?!

And the way she cut off from what I guess we’re supposed to believe was a passionate speech challenging white supremacy and instead settled on refusing to sympathize with the pain of the person of colour? What the FUCK? I’m not justifying ANY of Alastair’s actions, but I literally Do Not Care what a person of colour did to you; if you see them on the receiving end of racist treatment, you empathize, because not doing so implies non-whites have to EARN not receiving racism.

I’d finally like to address Anna’s handling of Ariadne explaining her proposal.

I want to make it clear that out lesbians are not obligated to stay in relationships that are treated like a dirty secret, and Ariadne’s attempt to distract Anna from the situation, and honestly, her overall treatment of the engagement, was poor. However, Anna’s inability to understand why Ariadne may not be in the position to deny social cues sheds light on her white privilege and shows she doesn’t, fundamentally, understand what it must be like for Ariadne to be completely removed from her culture, in a white society where her proximity to whiteness ad adherence to white culture is the sole judge of whether she is worthy of occupying the same space as them- and henceforth makes no effort to try.

Anna fails to grasp that as a visible dark skinned girl, Ariadne is expected to live up to higher standards or expectations or she will not be accepted. Despite the time they were in, queerness was a option for Anna because she was white. It decidedly wasn’t for Ariadne. This is the typical failure of whiteness to acknowledge its privilege- not realising that being part of a generally ostracised race means you have to fight ten times harder to be just as good as a white person.

Anna doesn’t understand this, and she does’t make any effort to. I understand that resources on anti-racism were generally limited, but I’m going to take a leap of faith and assume Anna could do the math on her own and realize what it meant to be in three oppressed groups. 

So, on three occasions, Anna has displayed ignorance, prejudice, and a general lack of knowledge or a real attempt to study her white privilege. And I love her character! I really do. But we can’t gloss over this. Even if she isn’t throwing around slurs and refusing to talk to Cordelia because she’s brown, she’s still displayed a limited understanding of her white privilege and treated  her ignorance towards race as funny and quirky, and refused to sympathize with a man of colour- while not even knowing what he did to deserve to be antagonized.

I’m so tired at this point, but I’d like to go on record and say Oscar’s white supremacy was public knowledge even then, due to lack of criticism. Matthew’s continuous and uncritical support and admiration of him points to him not considering racism serious enough to denounce support of someone.(Also, the fact that Anna latched onto the first white feature she could find and decided that was the highlight of Ariadne’s looks? And how not once in the ENTIRE series can anyone be bothered to even give a shitty, ‘sorry we’re colonizing your country’? Writing Ariadne to be ADOPTED BY HER OPPRESSORS?)

Anyway, it was 1903. The tlh gang are probably SUPER ignorant of their place in the social hierarchy, their white privilege and their pre-conceived notions of race, and that is why I am now taking all white tlh characters with a pinch of salt.

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Watching Snyderverse Part 3 - Zack Snyder’s Justice League

After BvS, I was honestly not particularly looking forward to Justice League. For me, it was obvious that Snyder’s versions of these characters and his overall doom and gloom approach was not something I was particularly enjoying despite some promising elements in both MoS and BvS. Then we saw exactly how JL production went down. Despite the happy face they tried to paint, the fact that there was going to be a 2 hour mandate, the fact that Whedon basically reshot a bunch of Snyder’s film with the film being a mishmash of two directors who couldn’t be any more different in their sensibilities, and that that the actors, specifically Ben Affleck, looked like they couldn’t wait to be done with this movie and this role, made it obvious that the movie wasn’t going to turn out well. So my expectations were rock bottom for the theatrical cut. As it happens, that was a good thing. The theatrical cut of JL is a thoroughly unremarkable movie. I don’t abhor it but it is so obviously a patchwork job and a studio mandated film that there is no passion or vision in the movie at all. I mean, I didn’t like BvS much at all, but there was a vision there. Theatrical cut of JL seemed like a film that felt like WB just felt they had to put out there and then move on. And then years later, we get Zack Snyder’s full version of Justice League. I watched it in one sitting, which was maybe a mistake because it is heavy viewing for 4 hours. Without a doubt it is a better movie than the theatrical cut. Its a little tough to judge this film because this is no way a movie that would have been released theatrically. But its also impossible to judge on what it may have been if it was edited down to a 3 hour length. So best to just judge it on its own merits.

Firstly, the positives. This is definitely a more coherent and clear movie. The plot is not rushed and every sequence, be it a character moment or an action sequence, is fully realized without any weird edits. The film does have some more humor than the previous two Snyder films. Mainly courtesy of Ezra Miller and Jeremy Irons. And the humor is not awkward like in the theatrical cut. Ezra Miller in particular benefits from that because some of his cringey lines from the theatrical edition are cut. The special effects are largely impressive and definitely an improvement over the theatrical edition. On a character level, definitely Cyborg gets the most benefit out of all the characters. As we get a full and thorough backstory for him. We get insight into his relationship with both his parents. Steppenwolf also gets significantly more screen time and his motivations are definitely more clearly defined in the movie than in the theatrical. Miller and Momoa also get some more scenes to flesh out their individual characters. What does surprise me is that the film contains a lot of scenes which are essentially just alternate versions of scenes from the theatrical cut. The film isn’t radically different from the theatrical version, but the scenes included in this version feel a little more real. Like a scene with the entire League discussing Superman’s return in the theatrical cut made it obvious that the actors weren’t in the same room together, whereas the original scene in this movie has them clearly in the same physical space. The Superman scenes are also infinitely better without the CGI upper lip. Thankfully, Snyder doesn’t do what he did with the previous two movies and gives some breathing room between action sequences. Probably a bit too much time, but that’s better than no time at all. the tunnel action sequence and the climax set piece is definitely pretty cool. Flash actually having an active role in the climax was a big improvement. My favorite action sequence is still the Superman vs the League because it shows just how powerful Superman can be. Also, the color palette is a lot more consistent and better than the weird bright and red color palette that is used in the theatrical cut.

When it comes down to the performances from the cast, nobody really stands out. They are all fine, but unlike in BvS, where Affleck stood out. Everybody here is just motoring along. In the theatrical cut, Affleck looked completely checked out. I was hoping the original cut would beef up his performance. While it is slightly better, he’s still just a bit too restrained in the role and doesn’t leave the type of impression he left in BvS. Everyone is at their most dour self. Gal Gadot’s WW is more serious and therefore does not get to show her more radiant side in Patty Jenkins’ movies, Momoa is also similarly more dour and serious and not quite as fun as he was in Aquaman. Ray Fisher is decent but its a role that requires him to be very robotic for large chunks of the film. So its a little difficult to assess his performance. Cavill is in far too little of the movie to give much of a performance. He’s perfectly fine in the handful of scenes he has. Miller is probably the best of the lot, even though he’s still more Peter Parker than Barry Allen. Some of the supporting cast actually fare a little better. Irons is a delight whenever he’s on screen and Affleck is also at his best when they have scenes together. That dynamic works. Joe Morton is surprisingly affecting as Silas Stone, as is Billy Crudup in his brief scenes as Henry Allen. Its always nice to see more of Willem Dafoe, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, and JK Simmons. Simmons as Gordon was great casting and its a pity we won’t get to see more of him in that role. Amber Heard for some perplexing reason has a British accent in this film as Mera. Given Dafoe and Momoa both speak in their normal voices, that must have been a choice. It did feel a bit funny. Jared Leto and Jesse Eisenberg are back as Joker and Lex and neither of them particularly improve on their performances. I mean, they have a scene each so its no harm done, but the Joker scene particularly drags on for too long. Amy Adams has a small role and she does manage to make to get some emotion out of a handful of scenes.

The film has more than its fair share of issues. Firstly, it is just way, way too long. The pacing is glacially slow at times. And I mean that in the most literal manner. There is so much slow mo in this movie, its crazy. I swear, if you removed the slow motion, you might lose 20 minutes of the run time. Snyder is clearly in desperate need of an editor here. The film has the exact opposite problem of the theatrical cut. Whereas in the theatrical cut, it always felt that every scene was just edited a little too short, in this movie there are scenes that are going on for far too long. There are some very strange edits. Like an entire scene where women in the village are singing hyms when Arthur leaves and smelling his clothes. There is a meet cute between Iris and Barry which is completely unnecessary and is frankly slightly creepy where Barry is caressing her face while she is in the process of being thrown out of her car. Some music choices in these scenes are also a little bizarre. Everything involving the Martian Manhunter is not necessary. I mean, his involvement in a crucial Martha and Lois scene actually takes away from the emotion of that moment. And then he has a very tacked on final scene which is kind of awkward. The Knightmare scene also drags for a bit too long, especially given they are supposed to be in danger while being out in the open. We still have no more clarity as to why Bruce is having these visions. The slow pace does make things boring at times as well. While I am glad that Cyborg’s backstory gets beefed up, there is a bit too much of Cyborg being angry at his father. After a while, it gets monotonous. The film takes too long to get the team together and the first JL action sequence doesn’t happen until over 2 hours into the movie. The film should have spent a bit more time with the team interacting with one another. That’s what made the Avengers movies work and some of the best parts of this movie are also the team together. There are some Snyder tone deaf moments as per usual. While WW’s entry action sequence is very cool, I do find it funny that they have her comforting a girl and the girl wanting to be just like her after she basically obliterates the terrorist into dust. Given her abilities shown in that sequence, there is no reason she wouldn’t have been able to disable him. But instead she just obliterates him. Its all very Snyder. I do also have to wonder about that sequence. I still don’t get exactly how terrorists feel that blowing up a few city blocks will bring down the modern age. I thought this was a weird Whedon thing but it turns out to be a weird Snyder thing. Also, for all the hype about the black suit Superman, its really nothing more than an aesthetic choice for no rhyme or reason. I honestly prefer the Blue and Red if the black suit doesn’t have a point, like the restorative factor from the comics. Also, for all the blame people put on Whedon about the skimpy outfits on Amazons and the weird backside shots of WW, turns out they were all Snyder. There are a few select things that the Whedon cut did slightly better. For example, there is no real major debate or conflict within the team other than minor objections from Arthur over the implications of using the mother box to bring back Superman. Also, a sequence in the theatrical cut where Bruce admits that Clark was more human that he was, is a better version of a similar scene in this movie. Also, while not perfectly executed, the theatrical cut did acknowledge that Bruce was a human fighting amongst superpowered individuals. Also, most importantly, while Steppenwolf is an improvement over the theatrical cut, this is still a movie where the plot involves a villain trying to find three boxes. Steppenwolf is still pretty boring and the main story is not interesting at all. The Darkseid angle of this story is also overhyped since he’s barely in the film. 

In the end, it feels that there is a pretty decent 3 hour movie hidden in an ok but dragged out 4 hour film. I’m glad the Snyder fans got to see it. I have had my issues with Snyder’s vision. While I feel he has grand ambitions and a sense of scale and scope, he hasn’t really got the sense of story and script to really make it work to a degree where the audience at large would appreciate it. I have seen his old storyboards and read his recent interviews about what he was going to do. It sounds very grand and very cool, but with a big potential of being a gigantic mess. Who knows what will happen in the future but at least it right now seems that they are moving on from Snyder’s vision. For this film, I am right now landing at about a 6/10, which is the highest mark out of all the Snyder DC movies. I’ve only watched it once and watching it again is a big endeavor so I won’t do it anytime soon, but maybe revisiting it will make me either like it more or less.

[razieltwelve]

Sheep Dragon Developer Notes #3 – Word Length From Draft To Draft

Drafting is a process that varies markedly from author to author. Some authors only ever need two or three drafts to arrive at the final version of a story. Some may need more than a dozen. Often, it will depend on the story itself. Some stories are easier to write than others and will require less drafts to get right. Others are very tricky, which necessitates more revision and drafting. What I’d like to talk about today, however, is how the word count can change dramatically from the first draft to the final published version. Keep in mind, however, that the drafting process I’ll be describing is the one I use. What works for you might well be different, and if you’ve found something that works stick with it. As with the other parts of this series, there will be spoilers for The Sheep Dragon, but I’ll be hiding them being a ‘read more’ line.

When it comes to drafting, I like to think of my very first draft as a skeleton draft. It’s basically there to make sure that all of the pieces of the story fit together and that there isn’t anything hideously wrong with it to begin with. Essentially, it’s the ‘bones’ of the story. When writing a skeleton draft, my main focus is on getting down all of the major plot points and character interactions. Things like humour, expositional depth, and so on are often not included at this stage. Basically, the purpose of a skeleton draft is to make sure that the story can even work in the first place because there’s nothing worse than writing twenty thousand words of painstakingly perfected prose only to realise that you have to scrap it all because the idea doesn’t work.

Yeah. I’ve been there, and it is not pleasant.

The second draft is where more of the ‘meat’ of the story is added. Things like humour, proper descriptions, dialogue, and so on all begin to make their appearance here. Obviously, they’re still in quite a rough state, but this is where the story starts to become recognisable. A reader might struggle to recognise the first (skeleton draft) next to the published version. The second draft should be recognisable, albeit very rough.

The third and fourth drafts (if necessary) are where the polish really starts getting applied. This is where all of the fun stuff gets added. All of the humour is generally present at this point, and all of the descriptions and dialogue are fleshed out. It’s all about taking something that was very rough and honing it to produce the best story possible. Of particular concern in the later drafts once the plot, characters, and dialogue have all been sorted out is ensuring that the story reads well. By this, I mean that the story should read smoothly and naturally, so that a reader won’t have to slog through it. This is where small changes to improve pacing and flow really become important. There also aren’t any major plot changes at this stage. Everything of that nature should have been sorted out earlier. The last draft with any substantial changes is what I like to call the final draft because nothing big is going to change from then on.

The published draft is the version that gets published. It might vary from the final draft, but only in very minor ways. For example, sentences might get tidied up, and a paragraph might get trimmed here or there. But the differences are very small. Nothing substantial gets changed at this point because it should all have been addressed earlier.

Now, how long are these different kinds of drafts? Like I’ve said, this is the kind of thing that varies markedly from one writer to the next. For me, however, the first (skeleton) draft is far shorter than the published draft. In fact, it’s not unusual for it to more than double, perhaps even triple, in size. How much gets added is often a function of how much revision was required or how much of the story relies on dialogue, character interaction, and other things not easily captured in the very rough first draft. Below, I’ll be talking about this in the context of The Sheep Dragon.

The Sheep Dragon is made up fourteen stories. Below, I’ve listed each of them with how many words each version was going from first draft => second draft => third draft => final draft => published draft.

The Convention

8080 => 11178 => 21414 => 24149 => 23897

Fairy Tale

8045 => 13635 => 19328 => 21281 => 21117

The Sheep Dragon

11016 => 18008 => 23520 => 23807 => 23504

It Takes a Village

8046 => 11611 => 16516 => 17265 => 17144

The Coven Conundrum

8020 => 12004 => 13582 => 15006 => 14894

Academy Days

9098 => 12701 => 15040 => 16772 => 16598

No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded

8008 => 11145 => 16531 => 18500 => 18356

The Prodigy

8081 => 17025 => 22515 => 29236 => 29065

The Invasion

9036 => 14710 => 17001 => 20619 => 20385

It’s All About Collaboration

8060 => 12011 => 14023 => 16890 => 16619

The Worrier

8146 => 10914 => 13501 => 15699 => 15632

A Young Dragon’s Hoard

8080 => 12005 => 13560 => 14859 => 14648

Jungle Safari

8225 => 11009 => 13097 => 16064 => 15832

Fashion and Sensibilities

10108 => 14055 => 16375 => 20814 => 20664

As you can see, every single story experienced a substantial increase in length, with most of them roughly doubling in size. This just goes to show much of a story can be removed if all you care about are the bare bones of the plot and the character interactions. However, few stories are enjoyable if you strip them down to the bare bones. Instead, it’s all of the extra stuff that makes a story fun. Humour, rich descriptions, fun character interactions, engaging dialogue – all of these add length and depth to a story.

In some cases, though, how much got added was a function of things going (or not going) to plan. A Young Dragon’s Hoard was one of the stories that went almost perfectly to plan from how I first conceived it to how it ended up being written. As such, the story doesn’t even in double in length. In contrast, The Prodigy required a lot of additional scenes, planning, and revision before I was happy with it, so it’s not surprising it almost quadrupled in size.

One thing to note is that each draft often takes a similar amount of time to write despite the later drafts being far longer. This is because fixing or improving something is generally far easier than coming up with it in the first place. Indeed, the published draft is often the quickest to write because there are really only minor changes being made whereas the jump from the first to the second draft is often the most demanding since that’s where the big shift from a bare bones story to one with more depth occurs.

Overall, the first draft measured in at 120,000 words. The published version comes in at around 268,000 words. The story more than doubled in length from the first draft to the published version, a huge increase. However, the extra words are where so much of the story’s appeal comes from. The first draft is kind of the ‘summarised version’ whereas the published version is, well, the one the reader gets to actually enjoy with it sounding like an encyclopaedia.

In any case, drafting can be a pretty time consuming process. However, it’s a critically important part of producing a good story. My preference is to start off with something rough and simple before honing and adding to it to eventually produce the published version. That might add a lot of words, but I also think it adds a lot of quality.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

[moriganstrongheart]

On Firefly, Mediocrity and Problematic Media

When I first set to writing this, I intended to write a review of Firefly. I had recently rewatched Firefly and its tie-in, semi-sequel movie Serenity with my fiancée, and I wanted to express my thoughts on it. But I put the original first draft aside after writing two sentences and did not revisit it until months later. By then, I found I was no longer interested in reviewing Firefly, opting to explore issues of underlying misogyny and mediocrity in media instead. I think that Joss Whedon’s work is a good case study for these problems, as he exists simultaneously as a folk hero of sorts when it comes to speculative fiction, and as the harbinger of the now divisive Marvel Cinematic Universe. And Firefly being so beloved by its fans, I think it's worth diving deep into its problems to illustrate my points.

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate Firefly’s problems is in how it appeals to its fans. While I find the character interactions the best aspect of the show, I’m sure that quite a few fans—primarily young, white males—are attracted to the space western setting of the show and all the trappings that come with it. The Verse is filled with guns, alcohol, rape, savages and prostitutes—everything a new frontier needs, or so I expect is the intent. I don’t think these are ever the focus of the show, nor are they something Whedon ever places on a pedestal as ideals to strive for. But they are a part of the worldbuilding, and so were included with intent. There has been a debate for several years among fans of speculative fiction on whether worlds inspired by historical periods or specific cultures should include these so-called “less favourable” aspects of that period or culture, or if the speculative nature of the fiction should allow for their exclusion. I want to make it clear that I am in the second camp; I don’t believe that just because a fantasy world is set in a medieval time period that women shouldn’t be allowed to be knights, or that aliens or people of colour have to necessarily be slaves in a colonial space opera. It is speculative fiction after all, and we are under no obligation to hold ourselves to any supposed cultural or historical accuracy.

This is, of course, ignoring the fact that the cultural and historical accuracies being strived for have flawed origins, having been decided by academics with their own bias, or even maybe their own agenda. I would make further arguments that historical fiction and literature are themselves often coloured by the author’s intent, and so certain aspects are accentuated while others are ignored or downplayed in order to tell a specific story—often to the detriment of minority groups. It’s impossible to divorce bias from one’s work, no matter how objective the work claims to be. This has been proven time and again, evidenced by the revision of textbooks throughout the years.

Regardless, counter arguments to the exclusion of “less favourable” elements are normally that doing so waters down the source material, diminishing its authenticity and, more interestingly, it represents a disagreeable emotional sensitivity on the part of the opposition. This point of view assumes that the opposition is averse to certain perceived realities in the world, and that the narrative they want to ascribe themselves to would be unrealistic and, as such, not entertaining. In reality, all parties are involved in some form of escapism. The outcry for realism is a smokescreen for the desire to keep a specific form of escapism, one which can only be described as a violent, misogynistic power fantasy. The source of this outcry—again, predominantly young white males—sees the inclusion of bigotry and sexual violence as essential to their viewing experience, as they take enjoyment out of them. That isn’t to say that having violence, sexual themes or social inequality don’t have a place in fiction; they just need to have a purpose. Without purpose, they are only there to service the twisted fantasies of the target audience.

For an example that brings us back to Firefly, it never really feels like Irana’s career as a courtesan serves any other purposes than as an excuse for partial nudity, sex scenes and for Malcolm to call her “whore” on the regular. There are times where her position as a high-ranking courtesan opens doors for the Firefly crew, but this is a contrivance of how courtesans work within the Verse, and not a part of the skillset she has accrued to become a courtesan. The only true exception to this—that I can remember—is her role in grooming the magistrate’s son in the episode Jaynestown, which directly affects the primary conflict. Apart from this instance, none of her meaningful contributions to the plot necessitate her being a courtesan. She could have just as easily been someone with social or political clout. However, this wouldn’t have allowed for her to be the ship’s prostitute, there only to drive Malcolm up the wall and have someone he could call “whore” without guilt. As such, it became necessary for Whedon to not only make her a sex worker, but to create an entire system around her which would give her importance to the plot. In essence, he wanted his cake and eat it too. It’s disappointing, as the idea of having a sex worker being an important member of the main cast is interesting enough as a concept to explore. Ideally, this person would be treated with respect by others for their work, and their value should come from them as a person, not from a fabricated social status.

As a side note, I acknowledge that most people in the show respect Inara, but it is because of her fabricated social status and not because of who she is as a person. The only people who respect her for who she is and what she does are women and the one person of colour on the crew.

There are a lot of other small decisions within Firefly that show Whedon’s intent, such as the characterizations of River’s mental illness and Jayne as a character. I can’t help but wonder if Firefly were produced today on HBO or Netflix, if the showrunners would have allowed the inclusion of far more sexual violence and bigotry in hopes of attracting a larger audience. Because while we have collectively become much more cognizant of issues like diversity and the portrayal of women in media, shows with portrayals of sexual violence and bigotry tend to perform better overall. Unfortunately, the vocal minority shouting their preferences on social media only helps to reinforce this trend.

However, I don’t want to make the wrong impression. Sexism, racism, violence and bigotry are not the focus during Firefly’s runtime. In fact, Whedon generally does a good job of representing healthy relationships, strong female characters and positive representation of people of colour. For example, Zoe and Wash’s relationship is very admirable, and Kaylee is perhaps the best character on the show. The problems exist beneath the surface, informing everything from story conflicts to character motivations. Whedon comes off as a guy just wanting to have some fun, someone who is cool and trendy, just rude enough to be interesting, but knowing where to draw the line. Really though, he’s just the best of a bad lot within the entertainment industry. A lot who are, unsurprisingly, white men catering to their younger selves.

As a white man myself, I am constantly checking myself and the works I create to ensure I am providing a compelling story while avoiding trappings indicative of a male power fantasy. Because of the environment I grew up in, it can be easy to rely on tired old tropes instead of thinking of meaningful and interesting things to write. Does that mean that catering to the needs of a diverse audience is too difficult, and as such, is detrimental to the creative process? I don’t believe so, despite what many may believe. If anything, it forces writers to think of novel, more captivating stories that don’t rely on tropes and power fantasies to work. I believe that the reason people have become so weary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and similar works is because they all rely on a power fantasy to function. I myself have grown tired of seeing the same story over and over, and it is only in the last decade that I realized the reason for this is that most people behind the works I consume are—again—white males catering to their younger selves.

This has led me to question if it’s right for me to have my voice heard at all. Would I not just be another straight, white male entering a space already filled with the same? Perhaps, but I don’t think the intent of fostering diversity in media is to exclude white people. In fact, if people like Whedon were the worst in terms of what white males have to offer the entertainment industry, I think we’d be in a better place. The problem is that the majority of the media we consume today is problematic and doesn’t allow for any variance from what’s trending among a young white male audience. All I can do is hope that shows like Firefly can be used as a learning experience for creating more compelling and varied stories. Stories should rely on interesting characters, worlds and the interactions in between them to be entertaining, and not on fulfilling the twisted power fantasy of the audience under the guise of realism.

[hanbereviews]

Mineo Enomoto Route Review

Our first review will be of Collar x Malice, an otome game released to the PSVita that was ported to Switch after the announcement of the vita’s imminent death. It’s pretty much universally recommended when asking for a list of otome games that are plot heavy whilst still having endearing characters that make you care about them. So let’s see if that’s true!

For a brief summary, Collar x Malice follows our heroine Ichika Hoshino who is a policewoman in Shinjuku. After being attacked during a patrol she has a collar placed around her neck with deadly poison in it. She finds out that the attackers are connected to an organization called Adonis, who are perpetrators of the “X-day” incidents. A list of monthly crimes where they judge supposed criminals. Hoshino is taken in by five former police officers who each quit their positions for different reasons and have decided to investigate Adonis independently. After playing through the common route, you can select to be the “partner” of one of these officers.

I’m going to preface this that with my being Black I’m not too geeked with the heavy involvement of police within this narrative. However the game plays so much like a traditional murder mystery and the plot itself is so outlandish that I never felt uncomfortable enough to tune out. So with that said, let’s get into Enomoto’s route! For my criteria please refer to this post. 

Characterization

Enomoto’s character is actually the most stable and consistent throughout his entire route. When you meet him your impression is lovable idiot, and he kind of stays that way. This isn’t to say he’s purely incompetent, there are a lot of times that this trope is very overdone in a way where the male character is so horribly stupid you don’t exactly know how he got in the position he did. But Enomoto has a degree of intelligence to him that at least proves he knows what he’s doing. 

That said, he does have a lot more idiot moments relative to anyone else. It’s actually not as frustrating as one would think, even if you dislike his particular type of character. The narrative does a good job of making him endearing whilst not overdoing it so he seems one note. 

Other than that, he’s got absurdly strong morals that are never really compromised throughout the story. Everything he does lines up with what he says, and he never really has any moments where he contradicts himself. There are a couple moments where it seems like it, but in my opinion there’s not much tension in them. I found myself thinking, “oh man another situation where Enomoto might do something questionable. What’s the writer gonna come up with to make him avoid doing that.” This is not to say he had to do anything morally ambiguous for things to be interesting. Rather the drama came less from his internal conflict and more from outside sources.

This is not to say there was no internal conflict, as the first half of the route has heavily to do with the fact he’s made no progress in his investigation. Characters harp on him repeatedly for that, and he takes an appropriate amount of time to unpack that issue without it being magically solved. Of course Hoshino is there to help every step of the way, but she does it in a way that’s thankfully not the invasive fix-it heroine type a lot of otome games use.

Hoshino herself was kind of a polarizing character for me. Whilst she had many investigative and bright moments there are times she came off very oddly like a doormat. This is mostly a gripe with the conversations she’d have with her brother. He was very frequently unnecessarily rude to her, and while I don’t think it was necessary to be rude back she just does...Nothing. Except have an internal monologue which I didn’t find very effective. The game does a very poor job in explaining her family situation in regards to her younger brother in a way that justifies his clearly misdirected anger. 

Even when their relationship is being repaired, it takes a completely external event to get them to be honest with each other. It felt cheap, because they never really sat down and had a true heart to heart. Regardless, when Hoshino and her brother begin getting along their interactions are incredibly funny and have you coming back for more. So he’s not a bad character by any means.

Now we move onto the villains. We will start with the sub antagonist of the route, and not so coincidentally the killer in Enomoto’s case. I think they were...A bit of a letdown. I’m not sure what impression the game was attempting to give me, be it someone who just had a target of obsession and was just generic otherwise or something else. But I never really felt anything for this character. They show up incredibly late relative to when they reveal that they have something to do with Enomoto’s case, and their characterization is sub par. The only reason I can remember them so well is because their design is completely ridiculous and ripped any tension a certain event could’ve had out of it. It’s a shame, because I loved their design, it just felt very wasted in not making a complete character.

Now the main villain is...Actually done decently. He serves as a foil to Enomoto in the most blatant way possible. Essentially being the antithesis to his morals. The problem, I think, is that he never really genuinely makes Enomoto question himself. The narrative always sets him up to be pretty much universally in the wrong. So there’s no ambiguity in what he’s doing, and makes this more of a hero/villain story than anything else. 

Plot Relevance

This is where my main criticism of this route crops up and where you can see that this is clearly a giant introduction to the game. We don’t get many insights into Adonis as an organization, in fact they don’t really do much of anything in Enomoto’s route. The killer in his investigation is someone that is completely unrelated to Adonis outside of accepting a job from them, and a plot device conveniently keeps us from even interrogating them. Not to mention again that their design is so utterly ridiculous that you just can’t take any scenes involving them seriously.

However they aren’t the main villain. So this main villain must be connected to Adonis somehow right? No, actually he isn’t. Once again he has a rather vague connection to the organization at hand, that is to say he isn’t even a member. The villains in Enomoto’s route thus deal more with his personal character moments than the game’s greater plot. This was a point of frustration to me because I hate, hate, hate when otome does this. If I have a favorite picked out, I feel as if I should at least get some glance into the whole point I’m playing this game by playing their route. I’m not asking for different interpretations of the same events, but at least prove this character has some shred of importance aside from being boyfriend material. This is especially a pain point due to the fact that Adonis being an organization is definitely implied to have more than one member. Why did Enomoto not have one assigned to him? 

Character Interaction

This is actually a high point in the route. Enomoto and Hoshino have a wealth of interactions with the other former officers as well as Hoshino’s friends in the police itself. You never really feel like they’re isolated from the rest of the world. While the majority of their scenes are with each other, they’re always talking to someone else by the next scene. There’s always a different conversation to be had and that makes things feel really alive in the world itself.

A small criticism is that a lot of Hoshino’s conversations with the former officers outside of plot details, without Enomoto kind of boils down to “Oh man I totally wish I could get with you. Too bad you’re Enomoto’s partner.” Maybe I’m in the minority, but I do wish she could’ve formed a bit more genuine bonds as friends with the other prospective men. It would’ve made things feel more realistic considering they were all in this together. However I do enjoy how consistent their characters were and being able to see them onscreen. A personal pet peeve of mine is the heroine and her boyfriend being completely cut off from talking to other men because she’s “his” and the game wants to make that clear.

Final Thoughts

Overall I really liked Enomoto’s route, and him as a person. He’s got a pretty significant spot in my personal route rankings and I just love love love his personality. In terms of a numbered rating?

I’d give this an 8/10. I was never really bored and that’s a good thing.

[adamrevi3ws]

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (The Snyder Cut)

The so-called “Snyder Cut” of Justice League (2017) is finally out, and I have seen it!

For those of you that haven’t been constantly harangued by its online presence, Justice League had a very messy behind-the-scenes, hindered by a lot of studio meddling and the fact that its original director, Zack Snyder, left mid-production due to studio conflicts and a massive family tragedy. Snyder was replaced by the now-infamous Joss Whedon, who conducted several reshoots and was later accused of workplace misconduct and harassment, especially from the actor who played Cyborg, Ray Fisher. Many have attributed the problems with the theatrical cut to its behind the scenes chaos, and this theory, combined with the fact that other movies by Snyder have been vastly improved by their director’s cuts (see: Batman v Superman), has caused outcry from a very small but loud group of fans, demanding Snyder’s version of the movie. This basically started right after the movie itself came out, and confused many due to the……mixed… opinions on Snyder’s directing, but somehow WB caved in and gave Snyder an absurd amount of money to finish post-production and film a new scene or two, finally releasing a full four-hour director’s cut on HBO MAX this past Thursday.

Although I had some intense skepticism, I think the hype was overall worth it. Yes, I’m biased because I initially liked the movie in its crappier form, and also generally liked Snyder’s first DC movie, Man of Steel, but trust me on this one. The directing is overall a massive improvement, and unlike the original, it doesn’t look so damn ugly. The CGI is actually finished, and it has this rough and detailed quality that reminds me of the visuals from Man of Steel. Another improvement from the theatrical version is the humor, which feels much drier and thinly spread out (and less sexist), therefore giving its funny moments a lot more value. I think one of the BIGGEST improvements of the film is its character work, delivering much better pathos and characterization. While it’s no Logan, the Snyder Cut delivers some level of heart and soul to an otherwise soulless genre. I think the biggest example of this is with Cyborg, where in the original film he was in maybe two scenes, but in the Snyder Cut, he has a very fleshed out and detailed character arc. It’s very easy to understand why Ray Fisher hates Whedon and WB so much. Even without god knows how much of a toxic environment he had to deal with, literally most of the scenes he got to actually act got cut out of the original movie. This and his extended edition for Batman v Superman are only further proof that Snyder excels when he’s able to add in all the scenes and details otherwise removed by the studio, allowing his movies to be so much more coherent, compelling, and fleshed out. With this extra space, he even gets to go all out with this Chekov’s gun mentality, in which many major details and minor plot points brought up, in the beginning, are often referenced or in some way resolved in the end. Even though I nearly forgot about half of these, it’s a very rewarding experience for attentive viewers. Speaking of attention to detail, Snyder’s greater room to breathe allows him to have the film organically connect to and reference other DC movies, cementing its role in the universe and smoothing out any plotholes of the original. He even adds in a couple of extra DC characters and references to the universe, so you got to admit, this man loves comics, even if you don’t think it’s for the right reasons. This love is exactly why the Snyder cut excels, finally allowing the director to bring his grandiose and mythological vision of the DC universe to the small (but intended for big) screen. Oh, and the scenes with Darkseid are pretty cool.

Despite these clear improvements, the movie itself is still pretty flawed and makes a lot of clear sacrifices for its improvements. The first one I’d like to point out is its lack of filter. It doesn’t really justify its four-hour runtime, and while a lot of the newer scenes are necessary, a good amount feels like they go on for a bit too long and could be trimmed down a bit. The first half of the film is the biggest culprit in this, taking a bit too much time for setup and having a lot of scenes that felt like they didn’t even need to be in a specific order. While the film benefits a lot from adding, idk, nearly every scene they filmed, that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any discretion whatsoever when it comes to editing down its content. The movie really should have been three or three and a half hours instead of a full four, because it was very easy for me to space out in this. I definitely recommend watching it more like a show than a movie, since it’s conveniently divided into “chapters” anyways. Much of my other gripes are pretty standard aspects of Snyder’s work in the DC universe and others, such as the fact that it sacrifices the color of the original for something more detailed yet… monotone (it’s almost all in this sleek, charcoal shade), the fact that Superman is a bit more of an asshole than he should, and weird soundtrack choices. Finally, the ending is a bit strange and also kind of drags, where it would be much more fitting for its final scenes to be separated into a post-credits sequence, but alas, I don’t know if that works as well in streaming.

Even though it’s definitely still a flawed product, I have reached the conclusion that the Snyder Cut was very much worth making, and definitely worth watching, if you can stomach a four-hour superhero movie. I give it a 7.9/10.

[alextriestowritestuff]

Mark of Athena Re-read

Hey guys! If you’ve been keeping up with my last couple of posts, you’ll know I’ve been re-reading the Heroes of Olympus (HoO) series by Rick Riordan, starting with the Son of Neptune. If you want to my thoughts on it (spoilers included) and my background with the series, click here. I made a little bit of rant post about my feelings about the HoO series overall so far and you can find that here! This post will be about the Mark of Athena (MoA) and as always, spoilers abound.

Soooo y’all...I think this book is worse than the Lost Hero. I feel so bad for saying that bc I hated tLH (Like I’d give that book 2 stars) but god, this was so bad. No wonder I forgot what happened when I originally read it. Before I get into it, I will say I’m usually not negative in my ‘reviews’-I’ll give credit where it’s due (I did that in tSoN with Hazel and Frank who weren’t really my fav characters to start with) but this book has very little redeemable aspects imo. So I’ll start with the thing I was most irritated about: Piper.

Piper...Piper...Piper. Gods, none of her chapters ever passed the Bechdel test. I DESPISE her and I hated every single one of her chapters. With characters like Frank, I admitted that sometimes his chapters were a bit boring but I never hated the guy’s narration. Piper, however, is an insecure hypocrite. Let me show you.

So at one point, Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel meet up with Aphrodite. The POV is Annabeth’s and while Aphrodite is talking to them, it seems like Piper is just embarrassed to have her around. 

“Mother!” Piper said. “You’re embarrassing me.” “Well, I don’t see why,” the goddess said. “Just because you don’t appreciate my fashion tips, Piper, doesn’t mean the others won’t. I could do a quick makeover for Annabeth and Hazel, perhaps silk ball gowns like mine—” “Mother!” 

And a few lines later she says again “ ‘Mother, Piper said, “is there a reason you’re here?’” (30). 

Okay so someone tell me why this girl says 10 pages later “But also, Piper was secretly hurt not to have her mother to herself. Aphrodite had barely looked at her. She hadn’t said a word about Jason. She hadn’t bothered explaining her conversation with Reyna at all. It was almost as if Aphrodite no longer found Piper interesting. Piper had gotten her guy. Now it was up to her to make things work, and Aphrodite had moved on to newer gossip as easily as she might toss out an old copy of a tabloid magazine” (40). LIKE GIRL MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Do you want your mom’s attention or not? But I’m highkey interested in what Aphrodite said to Reyna tho.

Let’s talk about Reyna for a second. First off, I feel so bad for her?? Percy turned her down-fine, he has a gf. Then I thought Jason had feelings for her but he says this in MoA, page 19: “It’s just…I never felt that way toward Reyna,” Jason said, “so I didn’t think about its making you uncomfortable. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Pipes”. Like damn can Reyna get any love?? I get that he doesn’t like her anymore since he met Piper but to have never liked her? That’s rough. And notice how this quote is from page 19, but again on p. 40, Piper is still so insecure in their relationship. I don’t she’s listened to a word he said at all. Then towards the end of the book, she says oh I love you but she literally didn’t know the man’s age prior to that. Like what?? Did they even kiss this book? I think like once lmao. Also speaking of the birthday thing, Piper says this while she waits for Jason to blow out his birthday candles.

“Well?” she urged. “Blow out the candles.”

Jason did. Piper wondered if he’d made a wish—hopefully that he and Piper would survive this quest and stay together forever. She decided not to ask him. She didn’t want to jinx that wish, and she definitely didn’t want to find out that he’d wished for something different. 

Me @ Jason: This your girl? Come get her. Because Imma hurt her feelings. What do you mean you want him to wish to stay together forever? He should wish for Gaea to you know die so everyone can be safe. If I ever met Piper in person, I’d fight her. ON SIGHT. 

In a related note, I’ve got nothing to say about Jason. He was fine. He passed out alot during this book, didn’t do much for how hyped his powers are supposed to be. I will say when he and Percy were possessed and they fought each other, Percy totally won that fight. He knocked Jason the hell out and was about to end his whole career until Piper got Blackjack to knock him out. But overall, I think Jason’s rather bland and him and Piper have NO chemistry. But I don’t think he deserves insecure Piper as a girlfriend. She’s a whole ass child of Aphrodite and she’s worried about her relationship...let me move on.

My main issue with the book lies in the structure and plot. The previous two books had 3 narrators and each set of trio had a specific prophecy assigned to them-i.e: Percy, Hazel and Frank had to free death, retrieve the eagle. The prophecies are a catalyst to get them to go on the quest. And then obviously, we have the overarching prophecy of the seven that will come to fruition in small chunks until the last book of the series. That’s fine. So the issue with MoA is that now Rick is handling seven characters + Coach Hedge (like why was he necessary??). He has 4 POVs which threw me the hell off bc we had 3 in the previous two books and honestly, I think we could’ve gone without one of them (Percy’s actually). As a writer, it’s hard to balance multiple characters in the same setting constantly. If they have a conversation, one or two of them will have less lines because other characters have already said them. Therefore to give everyone adequate ‘screen time’, Rick had to separate them by keeping groups of three or two on their own side quest. As a result, however, reading the book felt like I was being brake checked constantly. Ex-We follow Percy, Frank, and Hedge to an Aquarium then we follow Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper to meet Aphrodite, then they encounter the Romans, then Piper and Jason meet Hercules and get the horn and so on. Like they’re constantly shifting and doing stuff but not going as a group so it feels like I’m constantly trying to catch up. There’s too many pit stops for my liking. And I deadass have no idea what most of it had to with the MoA prophecy. 

This disjointed-ness is what makes me rate it lower than tLH. Because while I didn’t like Piper or Jason in that book, it was still cohesive. There was a plot and it was followed. Another reason I might feel this way toward MoA is because Rick has a formula and it’s starting to be predictable. Think about the original Greek myths-there’s one main demigod like Hercules, there’s a quest, there’s godly interference so it makes sense the the PJO/HoO characters have the same thing. But all this talking to gods (esp gods we’ve already met like Aphrodite) is taking up so much space and slowing the plot. It also didn’t help that the minor villians in this book are all unlikeable?? All they did was talk. Otis and Ephialtes. Porchy and Keto. Arachane. All they did was talk. Here’s how to defeat a PJO/HoO villain: con them to help you/let you go or fight them. That’s it. 

This book is where I started to really regret reading the series. Like I was just over it. The plot was somehow slow and all over the place at the same time. The last couple of chapters were good because I was like finally, something relevant to the prophecy is happening. 

Let me leave you guys with some positives about this book though:

1. Annabeth’s POV. What a gal. When she faces Arachane, Annabeth mentions that she doesn’t have an active power like the other Seven but she has her intelligence. And I’m like yes girl, you are brave and everything I want to be. I would read the PJO series from her POV over this series.

2. Percabeth. They kept promising to come back to each other and my heart melted. Percy was so worried about letting her go follow the Mark but he knew it’s what she had to do and he let her go. And ugh, them falling got me all over again. And like just their chemistry is off the charts. Piper and Jason could never. 

3.  Percy’s comments about Luke. Percy realizes that he’s around Luke’s age when Luke went all ‘Gods are bad, their children are pawns’ and like I get chills from reading that passage because you can tell Percy’s tired. He can’t have a life because of these quests, he’s constantly moments away from dying. He never really got a chance to be a teenager. And I get he wants to help people and keep the world from being taken over by bad guys but he’s also human. He’s seen demigods die...he’s traumatized. Like Percy, I really understand Luke better now (right idea, wrong execution) and l see how tired Percy is. 

4. The Leo/Hazel/Frank disaster of a love triangle. Like I’ve mentioned before, I want Hazel, a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD child, to be left the hell alone when it comes to romance. But because Uncle Rick insists on pairing up everyone, I have to oblige. So here I am. The amount of times I cackled at Frank and Leo’s digs at each other is astronomical. Like shots were fired, no one held back. I was like is this even MG/lower end of YA anymore with all this salt?? Over the years I’ve been spoiled about the series so I know that Leo somehow ends up with Calypso so I know nothing will come out of the love triangle (and it seems to be wrapping up bc Leo and Frank complimented each other’s abilities toward the end there) but passive aggressive-ness was peak. 

5. Every single conversation between Reyna and Annabeth. Like two powerhouses talking about wanting to save their camps and the world. I loved it. Hands down. I hope they can be friends when this is all over. 

6. And lastly, the reunion of Percabeth. The Judo flip. The fact that Percy talked about having a future with her. 

Thanks for reading if you made it down here and I’ll see you guys in a couple of days with my House of Hades update. This book and the one after it I’m reading for the first time ever so I’m going in semi blind (like I said, I know some spoilers). I’m currently on chapter 2 or 3 of that and ermm, it was a weak intro but I’ll keep going :) rooting for Percabeth to make it through. 

[wehavethoughts]

Six of Crows Review!

Six of Crows

By: Leigh Bardugo

YA Fantasy Novel

Henry Hold & Company, 2015

Rating: 4.5/5 Waves

Summary: Six rag-tag teens are offered the job of a lifetime: more money than they know what to do with and all they have to do is spring a scientist from the most heavily fortified prison in the world. A daring adventure filled with magic, love and betrayal. 

The review CONTAINS (mild) spoilers for the novel Six of Crows.

Content Warning for Six of Crows: Blood, Violence, Death, Forced Prostitution (mentioned), Fantasy Racism, Sexism, Slavery/Indentured Servitude

“No Mourners. No Funerals.” – All of these wonderful characters right before they do something insane.

I can’t tell you how refreshing it was for me to pick this book up and read in three days. It’s been years since I’ve found a book that I simply could not put down. From the writing style to the pacing to the clever characters, this book had everything I didn’t know I needed. Before I dive into why this book knocked my socks off, I want to give a shout out to the several friends who recommended this book to me over the years (you know who you are). You were right! I loved it <3

Aside from how highly recommended this book was, I knew pretty early on that this book was a great fit for me. The first clue was that there are not one, but two maps in the front. I might be the only one, but a good map to start off my fantasy book always puts me in a very good mood. In my version of the book, the maps are illustrated by Keith Thompson and they are beautiful. The detail and imagination that went into these maps, particularly the Ice Court schematic really allowed me to immerse myself in the story, especially since one of the characters actually sketches the Ice Court in the novel. It is so easy to imagine Wylan hunched over a piece of parchment drawing this spectacular map.

My second clue that I would love this book was that it is a heist novel. In fact, knowing that this book was about a fantasy heist was at least half the reason I decided to read it, and Bardugo did not disappoint. What I find to be most compelling about this heist story is how she lays out the mission as nearly impossible, but never gives the reader a reason to doubt the characters’ resolve. Sure this heist seems insane and doomed to fail, but our faith in the characters keeps the reader invested. Bardugo also did a great job with her foreshadowing. The plot twists and the way the characters solved their problems, while surprising, always made sense in hindsight. There were never any instances where I felt like Bardugo used her magic system to ‘cheat’ the character’s out of a bad situation or where the characters were just so clever there was no way I could have ever guessed what they were going to do. The book kept me on my toes, but it never made me feel stupid.

As I mentioned in my About Page, I love me a good magic system, and Bardugo delivers fun and vibrant magic with clear rules and expectations that just beg to be broken. She also does a great job integrating the magic into a world that feels complex and expansive. This world has both a history and a future in a way that makes me feel like the author put a lot of good work in and loves this world as much as I do. My favorite detail is how Bardugo used language and language barriers in the story. The main cast are from different countries within this world and logically speak different languages, though fortunately most are multilingual. I just love the little details like how Wylan speaks schoolroom Fjerdan because he learned it from his tutors and how Matthias only just learned Kerch during his time in prison. It gives the world a fun realistic dimension.

Hands down the best thing about this story is the characters. Usually at this point in the review I have to sigh and tell you that it was a fun book but the diversity was lacking. Fortunately for us Bardugo gives us a beautifully diverse cast of well rounded and compelling characters. Of the six main cast, only one is an able-bodied straight white man (I am making some assumptions about Matthias’ sexuality so you will have to forgive me) and in an age where I am still reeling from the Avenger’s lineup this crew was a breath of fresh air. Every single character comes out of the gate interesting, three-dimensional and just a delight to read. This book is constructed so that every chapter we switch point of view and I found myself excited to see how each character thought and reacted to the wild situations they ended up in. Also, the way Bardugo gets the reader to care deeply for her characters does a fantastic job in creating high stakes with real tension. I found myself holding my breath and flipping pages with much more force than necessary during some high stress scenes. Even the characters that were clearly not good people had me checking my moral compass from time to time and cheering for them anyway.   

I think it’s also important to include how much I liked the writing style of this novel. Everything I listed above wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable if the flow and pacing of the writing were not enjoyable to me. This novel is written in a fairly typical YA style of fantasy, fast pace and dialogue heavy, which I loved. There was enough description that I never felt lost, but I also never got bogged down in details I didn’t care about. Bardugo also made a fun choice to break the book up into six parts and at the end of each part there are two full black pages with the part title. The first couple times I mostly ignored it, but when a character is in physical danger and you flip the page and it’s just black! That is a great use of your physical medium! I got chills.

I have one nit-pick that didn’t deeply affect this book’s rating, but could be a deal-breaker for other readers. First of all, this novel is the first in a duology and it does not stand on its own as a story. While the main conflict does get resolved, another plot starts in the last couple chapters and the story does not end at the end of the book. It is clear that a single story has been broken into two books and it came as a shock to me. Fortunately, unlike the poor suckers who read this when it came out in 2015 and had to wait a whole year for the sequel, I only have to wait about a week for my library to have it available. Still for people who want a stand alone book or enjoy when all of the books in a series have a neat and tidy ending, this is not the book for you.

The two things keeping this book from a perfect score were the fantasy racism and how the women were framed in this world. I am using the term ‘fantasy racism’ because there is systemic oppression in this fantasy world and that systemic oppression is a clear metaphor for real-life racism, but in the story the minority group is the one with magical powers and not an ethnic minority. Generally, I think this author did a good job at showing the damage institutionalized racism can do to specific countries and the world as a whole. What I did not enjoy was the sub-plot of one of the main cast (Matthias), who was a member of the highly bigoted ruling class of the most racist nation in this fantasy world, overcoming his racism not through critical thinking or learning to understand the value of lives that are different from his own, but rather because he fell in love. I am open to the idea of racists learning to respect the cultures they were prejudiced against and when done right can be a very powerful thing, but when romance is the key motivator it feels very hollow. Also I have trouble conceptualizing a woman of the minority group falling in love with someone who is literally a part of the military death squad in charge of hunting down her people (Nina I know he’s hot, but what the hell?). Either way, the idea of reforming a racist with the power of love is not a trope I enjoy in my media.

The second thing keeping this book from a perfect score is the treatment of the women characters. One thing I noticed early on is that nearly all of the women characters had been forced (either financially or physically) into prostitution or slavery. It makes the reader think that in this fantasy world the only places to find women are the brothels or in chains. This world is vibrant and full of so many interesting things and people, yet for women the world seems so very limited. I found myself disappointed that even in a novel written by a woman, a well loved character is described during the climax as ‘a  half-naked girl in shreds of teal chiffon’. To be fair, I have read fantasy books that have done their women characters much, much dirtier, but it’s unnecessary and exhausting. I notice it even in small doses and I’m sick of it. Fortunately, neither of these issues I had with the novel got a ton of page-time and there was always something else going on that I could focus on, like the strong female friendships and the brilliant disabled protagonist.

Tldr; Overall, best book I’ve read in a long time. I couldn’t give it a 5/5 because of some issues in how the fantasy racism and women were handled, but I would still highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes fantasy stories, diverse characters and/or a really good heist. 

~TideMod

[strwbrryeos]

Algea’s Nest (M)

summary; They don't know how they got there. Jin thinks something went wrong at the Jump Point. Namjoon doesn't really care. All he knows is that it's his job as captain and leader to protect his crewmates/bondmates, and he will get them home.

genre; sci-fi au, space au, smut, heavy angst

pairing; space captain!namjoon x space crew!everyone

contains; riding, blowjob, handjob, cum swallowing, pet names, bangtan are so in love with each other, I mean so in love, they’re soulmates, uh improper space-y terminology I'm sure, dark ending, disturbing themes, minor psychological horror aspects

A/N; I purposefully left out some tags plus the specific au of this fic because it would give away a major plot element! Overall I don’t think it’s that bad, but I can’t speak for everyone so just please be careful and take care of yourself! 

Namjoon wakes last.

The voices in his head are far and distant, and he can feel someone trying to pull him out of his daze. Everything seems to be going in slow motion, sounds muffled and lights blurred.

But then he hears a distinctly recognizable voice say, “Gently now,” and he starts to remember who he is and where he’s supposed to be. 

“Careful, he’s still coming off the effects of the tank.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I got it,” says someone else, and though Namjoon can’t quite place it, he knows well enough to scoff at the tone. 

“Disrespectful,” he mutters, and that earns him a laugh from somewhere. 

“Even with tank sickness he knows you’re a brat, Kook.” 

Kook. That’s a name he knows.

“Maybe I should just put him back under.”

“Brat!” 

“Come on, baby,” Jin whispers. “We’re here.” 

Namjoon’s eyes open slowly, the light pouring in, and Jin stands in front of him, kind face leaning in to give him a kiss. “Jin…” Namjoon breathes.

“That’s me. Are you okay?” 

Namjoon nods. “Dizzy.” 

“Yeah, I know. Jimin’s having trouble coming off of it too. You’ll be okay soon.” 

“Where is he?”

“Over here.”

Namjoon looks up to find a sickly looking Jimin waving at him from the crew seats. Taehyung is cupping his face sweetly, no doubt trying to ease the pain for him. Not much any doctor can do about tank sickness, though. 

“Come on,” Taehyung says with a wave of his hand. “I need to check you out too.”

“Can’t check me out from there?” 

Taehyung rolls his eyes, and Namjoon can hear Jin snicker behind him. “Can you not flirt for once and come over here so you don’t die?”

“I’m not gonna die. Just have a headache.” 

Namjoon sits beside Jimin anyway, letting Taehyung examine the both of them thoroughly. Eventually Taehyung shrugs and sighs, and he puts his medical kit away. “Drink this,” he says, handing the both of them a vial of blue liquid. “You’ll be better in an hour or two.”

Namjoon and Jimin drink it obediently. 

“Okay.” Namjoon stands a little faster than necessary, earning an annoyed huff from Taehyung. He sways, but that doesn’t stop him. “Let’s get to work.” 

“Uh, about that…” 

“What?”

Jin looks at him from across the ship with worry, sharing mysterious glances with the rest of his crewmates. 

“What?” he repeats. 

“I’ll get Yoongi,” Jin replies cryptically, and suddenly Namjoon is nervous that something has gone terribly wrong.

When Yoongi and Jin return, he comes to find out that, well, something is terribly wrong. 

“We ended up off course.”

“Huh?”

“We’re in the Ater Sector. Near the Balvora System.” 

Namjoon blinks. Then it hits him. 

“What?” 

“It’ll be alright―”

“How the fuck did this happen? Balvora? How did we end up here? How the fuck is this alright?”

“Look, I know, but something must’ve gone wrong with at the Jump Point―”

“There’s no way. Sure, the jumps may get us off by a few systems, but light years? We’re on the other side of the fucking galaxy!”

Jin takes a step forward, his boots clanking on the metal of the ship. He reaches a comforting hand out to Namjoon and begs him to calm down and listen. 

“I know,” he says soothingly, “but shit happens. This isn’t unheard of, is it?” 

“I have never heard of it,” Jimin supplies helpfully. 

Jin sends him a scathing look, and Jimin ducks behind Jungkook. Namjoon sits on a passenger bench, his knees weak from stress. This is his crew. His mates. It’s his job to keep them safe. And now what?

Jin―who he swears his able to read his mind―pulls him into a tight embrace. “It’ll be okay,” he whispers. “I know we might not have a lot going for us, but we have each other, and we’ve always managed to get through, haven’t we?” 

Namjoon nods. Jin is right. They’ve gotten through some weird, terrible stuff. They can get through this. 

“And it’s not so bad,” Jungkook says. “We’ve got plenty of food and water reserves, and we’ve got the best damn captain to lead us back to civilization.”

Namjoon laughs and opens his arms, beckoning Jungkook in for a much needed hug. Jungkook’s eyes light up, and he takes the opportunity gleefully, falling right into his arms. “I love you,” Namjoon mutters into his neck, and he can feel Jungkook’s heart race just a bit faster. 

Noise from the pit door capture his attention, and he sees Hoseok walking in looking a little distressed. “Bad news,” he says, and Namjoon’s not sure how much more bad news he can take in such a short span of time.

“We’ve got damage to the hull and engine bay. It’ll take me some time to fix it.” 

“I can help you,” Jungkook chimes in.

Hoseok nods. “And Jungkook can help me. But with the two of us, and possibly Yoongi”―Yoongi shakes his head with a hard no―“it’ll still take a while.” 

“Then I’ve got good news for all of you!” Jin exclaims, standing up from his sit beside Namjoon. “I’m pretty sure there’s a repair station around here.” 

“...well that’s convenient.”  

“Isn’t it?” 

“Yoongi, go check.”

Yoongi obeys, heading to the center console to examine the sector map. The hologram lights up with different shades of blue and orange, giving everyone a perfect display of their whereabouts. There’s not much―a lone checking station, and of course the Balvora System, but even that’s small. But not too far from them is indeed a repair station. 

“Who is it that said Jin is always right?”

“Me,” Jin answers. “You’re welcome.”

“Hoseok,” Namjoon says, Jungkook still cuddled tightly in his arms, “do you think you can get us there?” 

Hoseok shrugs. “Probably. You’re gonna have to let my sidekick go, though.” 

“Sidekick? Really?”

“Come on. I’ll suck your dick later as a thank you.”

That gets Jungkook moving, and he’s breaking himself out of Namjoon’s arms. 

“Inappropriate, guys,” Yoongi says, but that only earns him a, “You can join too!” from Jungkook, and the two of them are disappearing. 

“I hate them,” he mutters.

“It’s okay, Yoon. We know you don’t.” 

The ship starts to rock under them, and Namjoon feels kind of stupid for not realizing that they have been stationary for all this time. He’s just so used to assuming that, well, if they’re floating around in space, they should be moving. The ship lurches, and Namjoon stumbles, but pretty soon it’s moving fairly consistently. 

The repair station comes into view far faster than he anticipated, and Namjoon double checks the map. He supposes he misread the coordinates because sure enough, it lines up, and Jungkook and Hoseok are calling for them to strap in. They release a beam to the station, and once they’re all secured, it starts pulling them in.

“Welcome, Ship: Bangtan. Captain: Kim Namjoon,” says an automated voice, “to Sector: Ater. Repair Station ID: 061313. Please wait until transport is secured before exiting.” 

There’s a pause, a rattle, and the sway of the ship as it settles.

“Transport secured.”

Hoseok and Jungkook are the first ones out of their seats, their buckles hitting the ship with a loud, metal-on-metal clang. “Come on. Wanna get out of here.” 

“Running isn’t going to make the ship fix itself any faster.”

“I know, Jin, but maybe it’ll get me there faster so I can fix the ship.”

“Man,” Taehyung says as they watch the two exit, “he gets cranky when we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere.”

“You say it like we took a wrong turn.”

“I mean, technically speaking, we did, didn’t we?” 

Yoongi stares at Taehyung a few seconds before pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t you need to go resupply your stuff or something?”

“Oh yeah!”  Taehyung says and dashes away. 

Namjoon stands, patting Yoongi on the shoulder. “C’mon. Why don’t you get off and cool down a bit?”

“I have work to do.”

“Yoongi…”

“Well the ship’s not gonna reroute itself, is it?”

Namjoon follows Yoongi to the cockpit as he begins tracing the flight pattern. “Yoon…” he starts gently.

“Don’t. This is on me, okay? And I’ll fix it.” 

“Don’t do that to yourself.” Namjoon slides into the seat next to him. “No one could’ve expected this.” 

“It shouldn’t have happened at all, Joon,” Yoongi replies sternly, his eyes fixed with rapt attention on the symbols that appear rapidly before him. Namjoon can’t decipher any of them. “I’m in charge of navigations. I was supposed to make sure we got where we were going. And I didn’t. Who else can you blame?”

Namjoon sighs, eyes turning briefly to look out the front window. The stars are distant, but they still dot the universe beautifully. There’s a colorful nebula painting the expanse of darkness, and Namjoon is always taken aback at how magnificent space truly is.

“You can blame me,” he says, eyes still trained on the vastness before him. “It’s my job to check and double check. To make sure everything is in order. To make sure my crewmates are safe.” 

“Joon―”

“To make sure my loved ones are safe.” 

Namjoon offers him a sad smile and leans in to kiss him. It’s short but powerful, and the two break away only to press their foreheads together in a moment of closeness.

“I’m sorry,” Namjoon whispers.

“Me too.”

“We’ll be okay.”

“I know.”

Their moment is interrupted by the approaching steps of Jin, his footfalls echoing loudly around the ship. “Everything okay in here?”

“Never been better,” Yoongi replies sorely. 

Jin scoffs. “C’mon. You need to eat.”

“Not hungry,” they reply simultaneously, and Jin gives them the scariest look. More frightening than finding out they were floating around in space, honestly. 

“I will force this down your throats myself. Come on.” 

Yoongi and Namjoon exchange a look before heaving themselves out of their seats as if Jin were physically pulling them along. They talk hurriedly and hushed, blatantly ignoring the way Jin tries to steer the topic onto anything else. They’ve only just made it into the cafeteria of the repair station when Jin finally says, “I will murder both of you. You can be stressed, but for the sake of everyone else, especially the young ones, please chill out with the doomsday talk.”

Yoongi and Namjoon frown but nod, knowing full well that he’s right. “Sorry, Jin. Are they doing okay?”

“Do you think they’re doing okay? Jungkook’s probably doing the best, but only because he has stuff to do with Hoseok. You left the other two hanging and I can only do so much.” 

Namjoon lets out another tired sigh. Jin’s right (as always). He’s supposed to be the face, the leader. He’s supposed to guide his mates through times like these. 

“Ah, fuck. You’re right. I should’ve―”

“Nope,” Yoongi says, cutting him off quickly.

“But I―”

“What did you just tell me, huh? This is a team effort, okay? You’re not in this alone, Joon. We love you.” 

Namjoon nods. “I love you too.”

“C’mon,” Jin says. “They’re waiting.”

Jin takes them both by the hand and leads them to the table where the rest of the crew awaits. The cafeteria is empty save for them, white tables and tiles looking industrial and eerie, and Namjoon’s not used to such an abandoned station. Guess that’s how it is on the edge of the universe. 

“Hey, baby,” Namjoon greets, slipping his arm over Taehyung’s shoulder as Yoongi does the same to Jimin. “How’re you holding up?”

Taehyung shrugs and scoots closer to his side.

“What’s for dinner?”

“Whatever we want,” Hoseok says. “There’s a whole army of bored kitchen bots that are dying to make a feast.”

Jungkook grins. “I’m okay with a feast.”

“That’s ‘cause your stomach is bottomless, sweetie.”

Beeping and rattling erupts from the kitchen, and Namjoon watches as robots bustle around, preparing whatever recipes have been stored into their hard drive. No doubt Hoseok asked for a round of everything. They move in perfect sync, and it isn’t long before food is being placed in front of the seven men. It’s the only hint of color in the otherwise monochrome room, and Namjoon might have some philosophical remark to say about it if he weren’t so damn hungry.

The food is good, though there’s a metallic-y taste underneath it―a certain un-foodlike quality that stings Namjoon’s taste buds, but he boils it down to expired food packets in a wasting station. There’s probably very little restocking around here. 

Once everyone has had their fill, Jin mentions that they should start looking into the accommodation rooms. He’s met with brief resistance by Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok―all of whom want to continue working―but they’re rebutted by logical arguments and pouty faces. (“Please?” Jimin whined. “We just want you all to take a rest.”) 

The rooms are luxurious and spacious, perfect for a group of seven. It’s convenient, Namjoon thinks, but most accommodation rooms are stupidly large anyway because stations are usually overcrowded and far larger crews are expected to share a bed.

The rest of the crew is a bit more upbeat than Namjoon would have predicted. Taehyung is humming pleasantly as he changes, and Jungkook is harmonizing with him from the bathroom. Hoseok is laughing loudly at Jin’s plethora of terrible jokes, and even Yoongi―who’s notorious for his seriousness in even the most light-hearted situations―is cracking a smile. It’s odd, considering their predicament, but Namjoon can’t help but feel at ease. Yes, everything about their situation is a little worse than awful, but when they’re together, Namjoon doesn’t really mind at all. 

Granted, as leader and captain, there’s still a nagging fear in him―a worry about what his next move is―but the rest of them are quick to sniff it out, and they’re all eagerly comforting him before he really has time to get inside his own head. 

“Joonie,” Taehyung croons sweetly, peppering his face with the softest of kisses (that’s one of the things Namjoon loves most about Tae; he’s all tactile comfort and it never fails to make him smile), “all this worrying is going to leave a permanent crease in your forehead.” 

“Sorry. You know me. I think worrying is one of my defining traits.” 

“Concerned,” Jungkook corrects. “But you don’t always have to worry so hard.”

"How can I not?”

“Because, despite where we are, we’re safe,” Jin says. “You’re safe.”

“And, speaking objectively, of course,” Yoongi adds, “you did your job just fine, and you still are.” 

A warm, hazy feeling fills Namjoon’s heart at his mates’ reassuring words. We’re safe, and that’s all that matters.

“It’s okay, love,” Jin sings, mouth on his neck. Namjoon’s skin lights up.

“Relax, Joon,” Jungkook says as he straddles him. “Let us take care of you.” 

“But Kook―”

“Please?”

He gives him the cutest pout, big, brown eyes staring into his soul, and, really, who is Namjoon to say no?

“O-Okay,” he breathes. 

There are two many hands on him, and he doesn’t know where to look, so he shuts his eyes instead, focusing on the sensations. The way his arm tingles under Jimin’s loving strokes. The way his face heats up as Hoseok whispers a mix of sweet nothings and dirty profanities in his ear. The way his dick starts to harden under the careful rolling of Jungkook’s hips. 

His clothes start to come off―by who’s doing he’s not sure. All he knows is that his stomach is doing somersaults at so much skin-on-skin contact, and Namjoon is way too weak for this.

“Namjoon,” Hoseok says, his voice soft in his ear, “feeling good?” 

“Y-Yeah. Very.”

“You’re about to feel a lot better, I promise.”

“W-Wha―oh.”

Namjoon knows his mates so well, and he’s been with them enough times to know that that’s definitely Jimin’s lips around him right now (when did they even get his boxers off?). Jimin sucks slow and steady, not a little bit rushed or frantic, his actions focused solely on Namjoon’s pleasure. 

His hands reach out, burying themselves in Jimin’s soft head of hair. Jimin preens, eager to please, and picks up his pace just a little more. It’s wet, and he’s drooling when he comes up for air, but Namjoon wouldn’t have it any other way. He beckons Jimin in for a quick kiss, his free hand giving him a few thankful strokes on his neglected cock. Jimin whines, and his head falls onto Namjoon’s chest, breathing heavily. 

Namjoon’s chest rumbles with laughter, and he strokes Jimin’s head lovingly until he’s able to get back up. “Love you,” Jimin whispers against his mouth.

Namjoon means to respond, really, but suddenly there’s an overwhelming tightness enveloping him, and he’s looking over Jimin’s shoulder to see a very messy looking Jungkook sinking onto him. He swears they’ll make him lose his mind.

Jimin rolls off of him, scooped up by Hoseok, and Namjoon has free access to grip Jungkook’s thighs tightly. “J-Joon…” he moans. “Feels good…” 

“Yeah, me too, baby. You’re doing so good like that.”

Jungkook blushes at the praise, driven to work harder. “Am I good?” he asks, voice strained with pleasure.

“So good,” Namjoon says, like it’s only the two of them in the room. “My best boy.” 

"Namjoon!”

Jungkook rides him harder, egged on by Namjoon’s compliments and teasing hands from elsewhere. Someone tries to touch his cock―Jungkook’s the prettiest when he cums―but he bats them away, saying, “No! Wanna… fuck―Wanna cum from just his cock,” and of course he’s met with more praise because he really is their best boy. 

“Wanna see you cry, Jungkookie,” Jimin says. “You’re so pretty.” 

“S-Stop. I’m gonna―”

Yoongi likes the game, and he gives Jungkook’s nipples a few harsh pinches. “You’re making Joonie feel so good, baby. You’re such a good boy.” 

“I’m, I’m―” 

“You can cum, baby.”

Jungkook does, his eyes rolling back into his head as he falls apart on Namjoon’s chest. They kiss him sweetly, coddling him until he’s resting soundly on the pillow beside Jin.

Their attention turns back to Namjoon soon after. He’s still hard, and this is about him, isn’t it?

“It’s my turn,” Jimin whines, already climbing on top of him. “Feel so empty.” 

“You’re gonna be the death of me, baby.”

Jimin’s absolutely wicked, they all know, and only gives him a mischievous glance. “That’s part of the fun, daddy.” 

“Jimin…” 

As Jimin lines up, Hoseok brings a slender finger to Namjoon’s lips. He strokes him softly before asking, “Can I fuck your mouth, baby?”

Namjoon doesn’t even consider saying no. He opens up his mouth without so much as another word, tongue hanging out in wait. 

“You’re so good.” 

(Namjoon likes the praise too.) 

Hoseok gently fucks his mouth as Jimin fucks down onto him, and Namjoon is so full of pleasure it’s dreamlike. He always feels good with them, but for some reason he feels especially good today. Maybe he’s high on endorphins. Maybe he’s high on them.

Jimin rides him hard, whining like he’s unable to stop. Taehyung is beside him, licking his ear and saying who-knows-what to him, but it’s enough to have him trembling on Namjoon. Jimin takes one hand and wraps it around Taehyung’s cock, fisting him at the same rate he’s riding Namjoon.

The sensations are too much, and Namjoon can feel himself succumbing to the approaching apex of pleasure. He pulls off of Hoseok’s cock to take a breath and says, “Gonna cum.”

Hoseok caresses his head lovingly. “Cum, baby. But you gotta finish what you started.” 

Namjoon nods, opening his mouth wide to let Hoseok back in. Hoseok grips his hair a little roughly, starting to thrust into him. Namjoon whines, trying his best to hold off, but it’s not happening. He chokes around Hoseok as he climaxes, pumping Jimin full of cum.

Jimin doubles over, collapsing on top of him as he orgasms, Taehyung following close behind. Hoseok doesn’t stop thrusting into him, the sight of three of his bondmates orgasming just drive him closer. “Gonna cum,” he says, and Namjoon pulls his closer. “Fuck.” 

“Shit, that was good,” Jin says from the other side of the bed. Yoongi hums in agreement, looking very content in Jin’s lap. 

“Did you…” Namjoon trails off, voice hoarse from Hoseok’s punishing pace. 

“Don’t worry, baby. Yoongi and I couldn’t wait for you to finish. It was just too good a show.” 

Yoongi stretches, almost catlike, and curls up beside Jungkook. “Very good.” 

Jin and Hoseok take turns cleaning everybody up, and they fit easily under the covers, Namjoon squished in the middle. He feels the gentle lull of sleep pulling him under, so he says, “I love you,” to no one in particular while he still has the chance. 

Namjoon dreams of his mates, as he normally does, his heart full of warmth and love. The bond within him hums happily, just as pleased to imagine Jimin singing while he’s wrapped up in Jin’s arms at home. Or how Yoongi and Taehyung look when they’re bickering over dinner in the kitchen. He dreams of Jungkook’s laugh when he beats everyone at video games. He dreams  of the several times Hoseok has tried to teach him how to dance, but Namjoon has absolutely no rhythm, and he’ll never learn. 

But then his dreams start to morph―a darker tone framing the outlines of his slumber. Something pulls deep inside him, something that screams at him that it’s all wrong. It’s all terribly wrong. 

There’s pain, nothing but immense, abhorrent pain, running through his veins and down through his very soul. He hears the screams of his mates, but he can’t see them, and though he tries to call out for them, his voice is muffled.

Something within him breaks―a wretched feeling that threatens to turn him inside out. He searches for them, but there’s nothing there. It’s so dark, so cold, so empty. In the entire known universe, Namjoon feels nothing but pure loneliness, like someone replaced his heart with a black hole. 

His eyes shoot open, mind racing and heart pumping. He looks around frantically only to see all six of his bondmates sleeping peacefully beside him, but that broken feeling inside him remains. If anything, it gets stronger, more violent as he looks at them. He smothers the urge to throw up. 

“W-What… What’s happening?” he asks to the darkness. He climbs out of bed, distraught, his legs feeling thin and weak. 

“Namjoon? Are you okay?” Jin’s groggy voice says from the bed, and Namjoon presses himself against the room’s wall in fear, the bond in him telling him that that is not Jin. Jin. Jin. Where is Jin?

“I… Who are you?”

“What are you talking about, love? It’s me.”

“N-No! You’re not… You’re not him! Who―What are you?”

“Namjoon, sweetie,” Jin, or, not-Jin, says, stepping closer to him.

"Don’t! You better tell me what’s going on right now!”

Not-Jin takes a deep breath. “It’ll be okay, Joon. I just need you to relax for me. Everything will be fine.” 

“Everything's not fine! Where is he? Where’s Jin? And where are the rest of them?”

“They’re right here, hon.”

Namjoon grows frantic, the wrongness inside him causing him to double over in pain. Jin rushes over to help, but Namjoon throws him off. “Tell me.”

Jin gives him a sad, desperate look. “I… I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? What’s going on? Where am I?”

“I told you at the beginning. You’re in the Ater Sector.”

“So? That means absolutely nothing to me! Where? How did I get here?”

“I didn’t lie to you. You’re in Ater Sector. Just a little farther than I let on.”

“How far?” Namjoon asks quietly.

Not-Jin pulls up a diagram of a map, the contents of the universe pouring into the room in colors of purple, white, and blue. “This is your home planet,” he says, pointing to a little green dot on the map. “And this”―he zooms out, farther and farther and farther until they’re not even in the same galaxy anymore, and Namjoon gasps―“is where we are.”

"H-How?”

“Like I said when you first got here. It’s an error with the Jump Point. Everyone who ends up here runs into the same error.” 

"You mean... there are others here?”

“There were.”

Namjoon gulps, the feeling inside him ready to swallow him. “Where are they?” 

“I’m not sure that’s an answer you’re ready to hear, Namjoon.” 

“You better fucking tell me right now,” Namjoon snarls. He lunges at Not-Jin before backing away, an agonizing sensation searing through his head. 

“You’re not ready!”

“I will be the judge of that!”

Not-Jin sighs deeply and shakes his head, tears beginning to slip down his face. “Please know that I’m sorry,” he says, and then his voice begins to morph into something else. It’s foreign and distorted, and it echoes all around him.

“I care for all those who end up here,” it says as the world beneath Namjoon begins to crumble. He looks at the bed and watches as his not-mates disappear, and the bed falls into a void below. 

The window cracks and shatters before him, and though he’s expecting the vaccum of space to suck him away, it never comes. Instead the decorations of stars and asteroids, nebulas and supernovas give way to an orange sky littered with strings and nets, all of it making a massive web that goes on for an eternity. Each net holds something―a ship. Namjoon looks down to find he’s standing on a net of his own, the ground beneath him soft and surreal.

He takes a few steps and turns around, heart in his throat. There is his ship―torn in half, only the front hull left. He lurches and falls with a thud, unable to make sense of what he’s seeing. 

“I’m sorry, Namjoon.”

“I-I―”

Namjoon chokes on his tears. Something terrible claws at his chest, threatening to rip him open from inside out. 

The hydraulic tanks are still there, but they’re terribly damaged. Half destroyed and crushed, and it’s with a wail that Namjoon sees that the only in-tact tank is his. He sits up on weak knees, trying his best to move forward because he has to see.

“Don’t,” says the voice. “Please.” 

“They’re―” 

Namjoon treads the first tank, and bile rises in his throat. He ducks away, unable to look further. “Jin ,” he cries, the only word he’s managed. “Oh god, oh god.” He moves to the next tank, even as the voice begs him not to. He has to see. He has to see with his own eyes. This can’t be real. It can’t. None of this is real. 

He wants none of it to be real. He needs it to be some terrible dream, but pain inside him lets him know that it’s reality. That they were subject to the error. That they crashed, and only he survived. Namjoon sobs into the void, voice crying out in anguish.

He cries for Jin, his first love, his rock. For Jimin, his angel. For Jungkook, his baby who never failed to make him laugh. He cries for Yoongi, his other half. He cries for Taehyung, for his eccentric and excitable ways, and he cries for Hoseok, his best friend. 

“I-It’s not… It’s not real!” he screams. “Give them back to me! Give them back!”

“I’m sorry, Namjoon.”

“No! No! Give them back to me! Who are you? Who even are you? Why did we end up here? This is your fault!” 

 “I’m Algea, and this is my Nest. I did not wish this upon you, I promise. I care for you.” 

Tears fall freely from Namjoon’s face, stinging the ground with pain and grief. His heart howls just as loudly as he does, yearning to see his bondmates just one more time. Just once.

“It’s okay. Just close your eyes. I’ll make it go away.”

Namjoon wakes up last. His head rings the way it does when he has a bad dream. Everything is blurry and muffled around him, and he can’t remember where he is.

“Gently now,” a sweet voice says. He knows that voice. He reaches out blindly, finding himself unable to open his eyes yet.

“Jin?”

“Careful, love. You’re still coming off the effects of the tank.”

“Ah, shit. My head really hurts.”

He hears Hoseok laugh. “The tank’ll do that to you. Don’t worry. Tae can check you out. He’s with Jimin right now.”

He smiles. “Where’s Kook? And Yoongi?”

“Right here, Joonie!” 

Namjoon opens his eyes slowly, blinking to reveal the two of them greeting him with easy smiles. “Where are we?”

“Well, about that…”

[aspoonofsugar]

Do you view mikasa as a badly written character ? I think I know your favourite character is levi but how do you view mikasa in comparison with other female characters of the story? Does mikasa's current state suggest that she might end up being a not so bad character afterall ?

Hello anon!

Mikasa is actually my favourite female character together with Historia. I think that other than the post I have linked to you, I have written other posts on the two of them and I have written several metas on Mikasa in general. If you are interested you can check her tag on my blog!

In short, I think Mikasa is not badly written at all and she has actually a very interesting arc even if we have to wait the end of the story to properly judge it.

I like Mikasa’s arc because it is an arc centered around her relationship with Eren, but it is not about her falling in love with him and progressively definying herself through him. If anything it is the opposite. At the beginning of the series she defines herself through her bond with Eren to the point that their relationship ends up representing everything to Mikasa. It even incorporates different kinds of bonds all together to the point that the exact nature of their bond becomes confused to Mikasa herself. Eren is Mikasa’s saviour, but also the one she has to save, he is her family, but also the person she has romantic feelings for and so on. Ironically, Mikasa putting her relationship with Eren on a pedestal ends up making things between them more difficult than necessary and it is shown that the more she grows as a person and she becomes independent the better her relationship with Eren becomes.

In short, Mikasa’s arc shows that a healthy relationship is not born by idolizing another person, but rather by becoming able to see all the sides of that person and by both accepting and criticizing them. It also shows that in order to develop healthy bonds a person must be independent and develop individually.

These are all themes I like a lot and they have all been shown pretty clearly in Mikasa’s arc imo.

I will quote a small part of what I have written in this meta, since I think it describes what I like about Mikasa’s arc pretty well:

In short Mikasa’s story starts with her being totally unable to face a traumatic loss and it is possible that it will end with her having become strong enough to actually let go (of Eren). It would be a beautiful way to end her arc imo because it would tie it back to her original trauma (her family being killed) and would solve it together with her relationship with Eren who firstly taught her that she could keep on living even without her loved ones.

As far as her comparison with other characters in general goes, I think Mikasa’s arc has been given decent focus even if I totally get the frustration of some readers. Snk has a lot of characters and pacing problems after all. This coupled with the monthly release might give the impression that Isayama has forgotten about a character, but I think this is only an impression and that the character arcs (especially those of the important characters) might work well enough when read all together. That said, we really have to see how the story ends before we can give a final judgement on the character arcs.

I would say that I think that Mikasa has more or less received the same amount of focus of Armin in the arcs up until the Uprising. In the Uprising both her and Armin have been left out of focus and in the Shiganshina arc Armin has received a major focus. As for the final arc, I think they have gone back at sharing the same amount of focus up until now, but I think Mikasa has received more build up (which makes sense because Armin has received a lot of build up in Shiganshina already).

As far as other female characters are concerned, I would not honestly know. I think that overall she has not been treated badly (and I also don’t think Isayama treats his male characters differently than his female ones tbh). Historia has had a great arc, but as for now she has been left out of focus for a long time and she is the protagonist of a much discussed plot-line. Ymir is a great character, but her death was not handled well. Annie is great, but her plot-line has been left up in the air for years even if it might luckily be solved soon. Sasha’s short arc was great and I think her death was handled fairly well, but she is a much minor character than Mikasa, so she received less focus. I think Gabi’s arc has been good up until now, but she has been in the series for just a few arcs, so it is normal that her story-line is not suffering so much for the pacing like other arcs are. Pieck is great, but she doesn’t really have an arc.

As you can see, each one of these arcs has great things and things which can be criticized and the same is true for the arcs of male characters.

Thank you for the ask!

[thebookbandwagon]

Nevernight book review

magical assassin school

adult/new adult fantasy with a main character who’s a 16-year-old girl (ignore Goodreads shelving it as YA – that’s just Goodreads being dumb  – the author’s confirmed it’s not YA, and for good reasons)

revenge

a snarky talking cat made out shadows

shadow magic, poison, face weaving, learning to use weapons

violence. so much violence

whole cast of stabby bastards who make allies, friends, and enemies out of each other

mix of dark themes, action, and competition. bits of humour are sprinkled in here and there

very unique writing style (fair warning: some people find it offputting)

[video book review + illustration]

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff is an adult/new adult fantasy story about 16-year-old Mia who’s seeking revenge on the ones responsible for what happened to her family. So she joins The Red Church, an elite training school for assassins.

But finding and joining the church isn’t the difficult part. In order to be a fully-fledged member, she needs to come first in one of the challenges each subject sets, and only then can she be initiated. The competition is tough. Incredibly tough. The Red Church has an astonishingly high mortality rate, and that’s not even when the students are murdering each other.

I’ve avoided reading this for some time because I’ve heard so much about it and didn’t want to set my expectations too high only to be disappointed, but then the book became available at my library and I took the opportunity to finally see what all the fuss was about.

The plot is a slow builder to start off with, every event and scene building and building until we reach the climax of the story and then there’s one hell of a payoff. It was one of the best endings I’ve read in a long long time and there were so many unexpected but satisfying callbacks to the beginning and previous events that made it feel very circular and tied the plot threads up exquisitely well, while at the same time leaving enough interest open for whatever happens in the rest of the trilogy. And the plot twist. I wish I could say more.

The characters were a lot of fun. There are a lot of side-characters so by the end I was struggling with some of the names, but still able to follow what was going on in the story. I wasn’t expecting the characters to be as witty as they were, but the humour never took over the darkness of the story, only providing a nice balance. There are lots of interesting dynamics between the characters who are all attempting to become initiates of The Red Church because they’re all in competition with each other, but alliances are often necessary to make and there’s this underlying awareness that the friendships and relationships they forge could all go out the window the moment they have to face off against each other. I don’t feel like it went into as much depth as it could with the side characters and their dynamics – that’s not to say that it did a poor job because it didn’t, that’s just to say I think there could have been a little more there without it slowing down the plot too much.

Here’s an example of some of the witty dialogue I was talking about:

“If I were going to name my blade,” Mia said thoughtfully, “I’d call it ‘Fluffy.'”

Tric snorted with laughter. “Fluffy?”

“Byss, yes,” the girl nodded. “Think of the terror you’d instill. Being bested by a foe wielding a sword called Souldrinker… that you could live with. Imagine the shame of having the piss smacked out of you by a blade called Fluffy.”

I enjoyed its use of tropes that seem like classics for the fantasy assassin school niche, but it also had lots of elements and details that made The Red Church feel unique.

The writing style seems to be the main reason people point to for why they didn’t enjoy this book. People who like very standardised writing styles that conform to sets of established rules might have a problem with how this is written. There are lots of sentences that feel spliced (eg/ ‘Mia tried to smile. Settled for shaking her head.’) and expect a fair amount of proclamations that begin with ‘O’. There were only one or two odd uses of figurative language that drew me out of the story because I couldn’t make sense of them (eg/ ‘his corpse beauty’) and there are some unusual dialects that appears within the dialogue. Most of the characters appear to have an American-sounding dialect, but there are occasional phrases and words mixed in that I found an odd combination alongside the Americanness (eg/ ‘aye’ and ‘lass’). Jay Kristoff also utilises footnotes, where he slips into the 3rd person omniscient perspective, and most of the more non-essential details about his worldbuilding appears in the footnotes at the end of each chapter, as well as some more witty observations about what our main character doesn’t know. The footnotes are great for people like me, who aren’t all that interested in extraneous worldbuilding stuff, since we can just skip them without it taking away from the story.

I found the writing style unusual but overall enjoyable. There were only a small number of minor things that didn’t 100% work for me, but at the same time I can see why people who are more strict about grammar use and stylisation might not like it.

Overall, I gave Nevernight 4.5/5 stars. It wasn’t a book I could read especially quickly, having to read in small chunks at a time, but it was one that easily maintained my interest throughout and felt so satisfying by the end. It was also my first Jay Kristoff book and I’ll have to read more by him in the future.