#it's not even blatant it's not preachy or anything

[beevean]

There are so many wonderful essays in the TCOAAL tag, about all the shades of fucked up that Andrew and Ashley are, but there is one thing that gnaws at me.

Where did Leyley learn all the stuff she says? Not only to swear, because that's something she could have picked up from older kids (or her own brother), but to call women "hussies" and "floozies"? Even Andy questions her, and doesn't get an answer.

That is very deep, ingrained internalized misogyny. Ever since she was a child, Leyley slutshamed with frightening ease. So much that when she hears that their parents have been befriending the neighbours, she calls them "a bunch of whores". (And I'm not even counting the voicemails she left to Julia in Andrew's dream, since we don't know what is reality and what is Andrew's subconscious)

Then you remember that she seems to view sex as transactional - as a way to gain food, money, Andrew if necessary. She's, of course, not above making jokes about banging her brother (if you give her the soda she wanted, she jokes about rewarding Andrew with her virginity), but she doesn't display the... genuine attraction Andrew seems to be harboring for her. It's a "might as well". It's a "yeah I'd do that". Sex is a way to get what she needs... which might be a reason she flips when she thinks that Andrew is getting it from someone else. Because if Andrew is getting what he wants from someone else, well, what is Ashley good for?

And then you remember how Mrs. Graves not only accuses Andrew of "fucking" Ashley (notice the wording, it's not "you two are fucking", he is fucking her - she has no agency, which is weird since Mrs. Graves is all to happy to blame everything on her "bad" daughter), but she seems to think this is the only reason Andrew could ever want to do anything for his sister. Keep in mind that she knows about the Nina incident. The idea that it might be related to Andrew's obedience doesn't cross her mind. She'd rather think that Ashley is manipulating Andrew through sex, and Andrew is such a horndog that he'd do anything for his sister's pussy. Because, well, isn't this what women and men do?

Mrs. Graves may be the dom to her spineless husband, but she sure has some... views on sexuality. Who seems to have been passed on to Leyley since she was very young. One can only imagine the stuff the kid has internalized.

[chesters-ocs]

it seems i like writing dialogue a lot. uh. lolzies

wc: 1k

The high priestess has almost become a regular in this universe. Enough that, when she decided to take a break and visit, an unfortunately familiar face sat down next to her on the part bench.

In her world of origin, the man besides her is a respected and adored god. One of sanctuary and the promise of safety, eyes eternally warm, with the touch so hot it feels like it melts away all troubles in an instant. Sometimes, it truly did, if you were lucky enough.

In her opinion, the male in front of her is a sorry excuse for a human being, and she almost pitied the god she oh-so dearly cherished, for being forced to have the same features as this... creature. This utter criminal scum with an ego the size of the sun.

His face did not belong on such a rat, she thought, before the, in her very biased opinion, vile man spoke to her, as he leaned back into the bench.

"Ugh, didn't know hallucinations could chase me trough universes," he complained.

She could smell the stench of blood and gunpowder radiating off the man from a mile away, but forced herself to at least attempt to remain civil.

"Vikram," she greeted quietly, keeping her eyes ahead, opting to focus on the way the wind rustled the leaves in the lush trees.

"It's Stone to you," he bit back, but to no avail. Mary was desensitized to his antics by now.

"Apologies."

"Whatever. Why are you here? I didn't even do anything that warrants a one-way trip back to my own, shit universe, and you both know it!"

"..."

"Great, miss old and wise one is giving me the silent treatment," he complained.

"It is not your business, but I am here for... Personal matters. Mother does not know I am here."

"... Mother? Wait, you don't mean... She is still alive here!? Oh, when I fucking get my hands on her-!" he growled, sitting upright, remembering the horror stories his late lover had told of his daughter's biological mother. Of what an absolute wicked creature she once was.

The priestess looks at him, confused, as she speaks: "No... My mother as in Lady Maecetis," she corrects, ignoring the obnoxiously loud huff of disappointment leaving the man.

"Really? That old hag? I don't know which is the worst of the two evils," he spat, distaste clear in his voice, and silenced the woman with a firm hand to her mouth before she could even argue back and defend the goddess' honor, "Oh and shut up, Beta I don't want to hear your preachy bullshit."

Mary would have bit him then and there for the blatant disrespect for her and her superior, but she held back, due to a single word, and just pulled back, swatting his hand away.

"What did you just call me?"

"Didn't call you shit, you little pest!" Vikram grunted, truly not even realizing what he did moments ago.

"... You think I'm your daughter."

It wasn't a question. Both of them, in that moment, understood it as a fact, and Vikram sighed, looking away from the priestess.

She politely ignored the tears threatening to spill from his eyes, as he started ranting, while wiping at his eyes with a dust stained sleeve, which served to aggravate the tears further.

"You look like her. You talk like her. You are everything she was robbed of. I cannot stand looking at you, but I love her too much to hate you. You, Beta, are my own personal hell."

Sure, Mary knew the version of her in his universe was long-gone, but she hadn't expected the grief to linger. The pain to keep bubbling and hissing within the man next to her.

The tiny priestess could swear up and down she detested this version of the man who provided her with solace and rest within his temple, but then her goddess would no doubt scold her for lying.

"You said... You hated my mother?" Mary asks, and Vikram looks at her from the corner of his eye with a clear frown.

With a sigh and a curt nod, he reaches for her hands, a silent order.

The woman does not protest, letting him hold one, as he inspects it, looking for the damage.

"... Hm. You got lucky, it seems. Open your mouth."

"What?"

"Just... Open it. Wider."

Following his lead, she does so, but the furrowing brow gives way to her clear confusion, as he leans in to inspect the sharp teeth.

"Fuck, you really have everything she did not have..." he sighs, dejected, and pulls back, just raising more questions in Mary's mind.

"Hah, you really don't know, huh," he asks rhetorically, before explaining it to the immortal, "When... you were little, your... father - Sylvester, was still married to your mother. She... hurt you. Irreparably. But you... You weren't. By some sick, stupid stroke of luck, you were safe. She-she was not!"

Mary is grateful that she had steeled herself beforehand, and did not flinch when his voice rose, simply listening to his frustrations. Her resolve ended when he abruptly hugged her, and she froze, tensing.

"It's not fair. It just is not fair!" He sobbed.

Feeling she should at least do something, she bit trough her biases and pulled out a handkerchief from her pockets, offering it to the godly lookalike.

"... Keep it."

She didn't speak as he took it, returning her attention back to the park.

This seemed to be like the one time that time was not on her side. Her "target", Martin was nearby, and the two happened to lock eyes, as he smiled and waved.

She had been wanting to speak to the ex-god for weeks, and their schedules just not allowed for it to come into fruition.

"Uhm.. I.. I gotta go," she excused herself, eagerly meeting the other, leaving Vikram behind.

He couldn't help but to stare at the piece oe fabric and just feel pity for himself, as he was once again left to rot alone. But for some reason, this one hurt just a little more than it should.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

https://x.com/gueenca/status/1758343243522363617?s=46

I came across this BTS cover by that group you like and I’m very surprised by how much I liked it. I had no idea they could sing like that. It’s probably the best BTS cover I’ve ever heard so I thought you might love it. 💜

*

Ask 2: BPP Enhypen covered a BTS song! Have you heard it?? I know you’re big on them lol. I think they did good. Lowkey it’s interesting to see the different in how armys are treating someone covering them compared to how Shawols treated TXT covering Taemin. Given the reputation armys have compared to Shawols all I can do is remember your posts and laugh a bit. Maybe I’m too petty but 🤥

Sorry ignore my pettiness BPP. It’s hard to ignore when it’s blatant how the ‘mature’ fandom acts compared to the ‘worst’ fandom when it comes to covers. I wanted to tell you about the Enhypen one bc I know you like them 😅

***

Your link, anon in ask 1.

Listen, those are my boys fr. Enhypen has the goods. They’ve just got it. And I think anybody following 4th gen boy groups knows it, which is why they are treated the way they are by k-pop stans (and it’s been like this since their debut).

Anyway, I checked out the quote tweets on the link you sent and I’m happy to see the reception from ARMYs towards them is overwhelmingly positive. It’s hard to imagine it being anything else tbh, given how good the remake sounds. I especially love how Enha didn’t even try to copy the original. I probably would’ve hated the cover if that’s the route they took. Instead, the cover sounds inspired by BTS but very much Enha’s own flavour.

Anon in ask 2, I’ve already talked a lot about how certain fandom behaviours actually started from the older Big 3 fandoms, the so-called mature ones now. Granted, these behaviours aren’t unique to them, they aren’t even all that unique to k-pop, but like I said, anybody who has been here long enough has seen enough to smell the bullshit from a mile away.

But, not to be too preachy, I really hope you try not to get sucked into comparisons like that though. It’s a very slippery slope to becoming a shooter, or basically someone who loses sight of why they are here, which should be to support the people/groups you actually like.

For me, those groups are BTS, and to lesser degrees Enhypen, NewJeans, BOYNEXTDOOR, and P1Harmony. Thanks for thinking of me and sending the link. :)

[arijensineink]

Author Ask Tag Game

@axl-ul put up an open tag for this and I love these questions so I'm going to do it. Make sure to go read their answers because they were truly beautiful and inspiring <3333 Here's the linky.

And I will of course, use The Wolfena to answer these since it's my. most developed WIP.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it? I'm not into preachy stories, but The Wolfena has a very blatant anti-slavery, pro-autonomy message woven into it. Autonomy is all. This story is about finding your autonomy even in situations where you feel trapped or have no control over the world around you. I didn't choose it at all, but I once spoke to a highly accomplished author (sadly it was so long ago and I actually disliked the conversation a lot at the time, so I don't have her name). But she basically asked me "Why doesn't your book address slavery?" And I was so annoyed, because I was working on a different book that had little to do with the subject. But that question festered in my mind, and a few years later The Wolfena were born.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)? I've said this before, but The Hundred tv show and Ammonite by Nicola Griffith were highly formative to writing The Wolfena. I drew a huge amount of inspiration from all of the New England winters I've survived, as all of the characters grew up in a total ice-age. I really tried to capture both the wonder of spring and the barren hopelessness of winter.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person? Naxia wants to free all of the enslaved people in her nation even if she dies trying; Lariette just wants to free herself; Jimian wants to learn to be human again. I wouldn't say I'm trying to achieve anything with them, as they were all strong muses who guided me through the story, at times with minimal effort on my part. But, I do hope they help others understand that we are full of far more strength than we could ever imagine.

How many chapters is your story going to have? This is my shame. The Wolfena has a whopping 70+ chapters.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it? The Wolfena is a totally original story, at least I hope, hehe. My ultimate goal is to traditionally publish it, but we'll see where all the pieces fall.

When and why did you start writing? (Assuming this is in regards only to The Wolfena) I think I started writing this story somewhere around 2016? I had to write it to address that festering question about slavery, and also to work through my feelings about womanhood and gender as I became an adult.

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow? Well, I used up a lot of typing energy on these questions, so you can find engagement and encouragement over on Fighting For Writing <3

I follow mostly writers, so I'll tag to the best of my ability and leave it open as well for anyone who wants to participate! Firstly my goblins: @angelsofprey @regret-breathing @coffeewritesfiction @incorrectgoddessgang @minutiaewriter @sindellaos and @soupy8lowfish . Other people I see in my feed a lot are as follows: @quinnharperwrites @nanashi23 @readrenard @words-after-midnight and @marmeegle !!!! Of course there are many more, but I think I'm at my typing quota XD It's time for me to stretch and go drink some water!

Much love, bbys <3333 Please take care of yourselves!

[luminouslumity]

THOUGHTS ON: BARBENHEIMER

Finally got the chance to see both (specifically, Barbie, Oppenheimer, and then Barbie again) and I'm glad I did! Watching them back-to-back was certainly an experience and I'm not even joking when I say they really made me think about life and all that it entails.

As someone who grew up on the old animated Barbie movies, I had a lot of fun watching the new film, especially when it came to all the doll jokes and references had me laughing more than once (Magic Earring Ken, anyone?). Kinda mad they didn't have any references to the animated movies though, or at least none that I'd noticed.

Speaking of Ken, wasn't sure about him being the villain at first, but I can see what they were trying to do and I thought it worked pretty well all things considered, that Kens have just as much of a right to live alongside the Barbies as the Barbies do them and not just in the shadows of each other. If this film is anti anything, I'd say it's anti-Patriarchy as well as anti-Matriarchy. Preachy, sure, but understandable. Really, I'm more annoyed with how this apparently went over so many people's heads even with how blatant it was; seriously, President Barbie even says the message of the film after the Kens fail, so how anyone could've misinterpreted it is beyond me! The only thing that comes to mind is when the Narrator says that the Kens will be treated just as well as women are treated in the real world, and to be fair, that statement alone can be interpreted in a lot of ways depending on certain factors, but I don't know, I feel like that should be a wake-up call more than anything.

Barbie herself was also really interesting, though throughout the film, I found myself wondering if she was meant to be the Original Barbie with an upgraded look or just a random Barbie who's basically just an amalgamation of all the others (like she says, she's what everyone else thinks of when they think of the doll). Either way, this certainly adds a whole new layer to the relationship between her and Ken because keep in mind, when the film says that Ken was created for Barbie, they mean it literally.

Going into a bit of history here, Ken Carson was created in response to the backlash Barbie was facing two years after her own creation for the horrific crime of... *checks notes* being single. Since then, Ken has had a few jobs of his own, but it's still nothing compared to Barbie's—this even becomes a joke in the Life in the Dreamhouse series, where the Ken in that series worships the ground Barbie walks on. Probably literally. This man didn't even get his own car until 2012! Then there was the whole seven-year break-up incident because Ken apparently didn't want to put a ring on it (yeah, Barbie has in-universe lore and it goes hard!) so keeping all this in mind, it's no wonder Ken seems to be as attached to Barbie as he is in the film, all while also struggling with his own identity as an individual.

Yes, I probably am looking too deep into a children's film about dolls coming into the real world. This is my life now.

The Mattel scenes were definitely one of my favorite things about the film, especially with how dedicated the CEO is when it comes to his job and how he genuinely wants what he believes is best for everyone, but my favorite part are definitely the scenes with Ruth, which absolutely had me crying! And hey, glad to see I was at least partially right! She made an appearance, just not in the scene I thought it was going to be (also, apparently the sweet old lady on the bench isn't even Barbara, it's costume designer Ann Roth).

Narrators also tend to be hit-or-miss for me, but I thought it worked really well in this film! I especially loved how self-aware the story is and how if you're going to try and make Barbie look ugly, Margot Robbie isn't the way to go. And the cutaway to Depressed Barbie? Hilarious, but now I low-key want that to be a thing lol! And just the world in general was super fun!

Honestly, if I had any complaints about the film, it would absolutely be the pacing. Sasha in particular seemed largely unnecessary and her turnaround to at least tolerating Barbie happened way too quickly, even if she did only want to help for her mom's sake. It would've been nice if the film had had at least one or two scenes where she realizes that while the Barbie brand has its issues that deserve to be addressed, it's also not as bad as what she'd originally thought it to be. And also, it would've been great to just see more of this world in general; after all, Barbie and Ken only spend time in LA for less than a day, and even then, it's only for a few hours at most.

Basically, I wish the film had been longer, but what we got was still great.

As for Oppenheimer, I never really have much to say about biopics, but I love history in general and am always fascinated when it comes to warfare and all of the ethical questions that come with it. This is also the first Nolan film I've actually watched, so I knew this was going to be an interesting time, at least. Let me start by saying that the special effects with the bomb dropping and tense silence afterwards were beautifully done and I thought the use of black-and-white for some scenes and color for others was a really nice touch too, as well as the fact that the film went beyond just WWII and that we get to see Oppenheimer deal with the guilt he'd faced afterwards. I also always forget that Einstein would've still been alive during the time most of the film takes place, so his appearance was certainly a surprise, but a pleasant one nonetheless. I was also wondering in what context the "I am become Death" line would come up, so the fact that the film actually addresses that it comes from Sanskrit rather than suggesting it originated from Oppenheimer himself was such a great detail! Overall, a great film about a very complicated man!

[mostlygibberish]

I liked the part with the submerged rock.

Unbelievably bad in just about every regard. The only reason I believe humans wrote the script is because it predates Large Language Models by several years. Sir Billi is a series of barely connected and extremely baffling events happening to a bunch of hideous, gormless CGI monstrosities. 

A good third of the dialogue was incomprehensible, the plot barely existed, random moments of preachy after-school special dialogue were mixed in with blatant sexism and fart jokes, and at one point Sir Billi mumbled something about immigration being the cause of Scotland's problems, and I don't know if it was a joke or not. For some reason he had a talking goat companion that pissed itself within literally seconds of being introduced, and then this was never mentioned again.

At multiple points Sir Billi produced some magic healing water they never explained. A Russian submarine showed up for literally no reason. There was this one shot where the camera perfectly tracked a flying plane, and it looked more like the "cinematic" camera mode from Grand Theft Auto than anything that belongs in a movie.

The intro parodied a James Bond movie, as if we needed any more reminder how far Sean Connery had fallen. Why on earth would he come out of retirement for this? Did they have dirt on him, or had he just gone senile? It also ended with a musical number that was painful to sit through, even by Sir Billi standards. 

Almost indescribable. I don't know how or why this was made, but I enjoyed heckling it.

[thesoftboiledegg]

Overall, Full Meta Jackrick was decent. I liked it. It's not a personal favorite, but I won't mind it when I eventually rewatch the series. I just had the same problem with this episode that I did with the previous installment, Never Ricking Morty: it's not bad, but it's just...there? Meta episodes don't go anywhere because they CAN'T go anywhere. They're just twenty minutes of "Check it out, we're characters in a TV show!"

Still, I think this episode did a decent job of leaning into the meta without ruining the show. I was a little worried that Morty would realize that he's in a TV show and the entire universe would fall apart as he and Rick deconstruct everything, and then we'd have to act like nothing happened in the next episode. Luckily, Full Meta Jackrick didn't push the show's boundaries too far.

But yeah, I thought this episode was a little...pointless? It avoided cliches for the most part, but it also didn't say anything new. It wasn't a groundbreaking deconstruction of Rick and Morty or TV shows as a whole. It was just another take on the "Rick knows that he's in a TV show" concept, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it left me going "What was the point of that?"

The episode looked like it might have an anti-capitalist message with the Rick plushies, but that didn't really go anywhere, either. However, that might be a good thing--a preachy statement would've weighed down the episode even if I agree with it.

Full Meta Jackrick had a little more substance than Never Ricking Morty because at least we watched "our" Rick and Morty go on an adventure. I enjoyed watching an episode with just the two of them again. Their dynamic is brilliant--EVERYTHING that Rick and Morty do together is entertaining.

The first half of season six was great, but the episodes felt a little "off" because Morty didn't have much to do in most of them. Now, he's finally stepping back into the protagonist role.

Bringing back Story Lord (and Jesus) and writing a follow-up to Never Ricking Morty in general is a little gutsy and unexpected, which I can respect. Did anyone think that we'd ever hear anything about that train again? Never Ricking Morty isn't particularly loved or reviled--it's just an experimental episode that we probably would've forgotten about if it didn't foreshadow the season five Birdrick reveal.

For me, Full Meta Jackrick is a slightly better version of Never Ricking Morty because it's canon and has a more cohesive storyline. Full Meta Jackrick, like all of season six, also has great callbacks to the first couple of seasons. They never feel pandering or like they're trying to trigger your nostalgia--instead, they poke fun at the series itself and show you that the writers really care about this universe.

I also thought that this might've been the funniest episode of the season. Gotta be honest, guys--I normally roll my eyes when people say "Rick and Morty isn't funny anymore blah blah," but season six is the first season where I'm like "Yeah, the jokes haven't been great." But this episode had a lot of funny lines.

We did get some great character moments with Rick and Morty. Rick's still Rick: he's lazy, crabby, selfish and rude. But he's gentler with Morty, too. He treats him like a person and partner (in crime) instead of hoarsely shouting at him. He looks out for him and gives him his lab coat when they're freezing--boy, THAT'S been a fandom staple for nearly a decade.

This might be a stretch, but the scene in the garage caught my attention, too. Rick gently turns on Morty's goggles for him--you know, like an actual grandfather--instead of telling him to do it and then yelling that he's too slow or whatever.

This is seriously the fanservice season. Rick in a suit and tie yet again, Rick draping his lab coat over a shivering Morty, Rick tearing off his clothes to reveal that he's jacked underneath (I guess he's still working on those abs? lol.) The new writers' influence is so blatant, and I don't think most of us are complaining.

And we saw Rick's favorite thing yet again: crystals. 💎✨ (Well, ore.) Someone needs to give him $100 and cut him loose in a New Age store for a couple of hours.

I also want to note how much I love Justin Roiland's voice acting. Rick's voice is so complex and reflects his character development brilliantly. I hate how people dismiss Justin Roiland as a shouty guy who burps and yells into the microphone. Honestly, I don't hear Justin Roiland at all when Rick speaks--I just hear Rick.

Overall, Full Meta Jackrick was a decent return to the show after the six-week break. Those "Rick is a nihilist" YouTube videos need to go away forever because this episode's theme could have been "Nothing matters, we're just cartoon characters, blah blah," but it wasn't. Instead, Rick tells Morty that his life matters, and he looks at the audience as he says it.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis is a series that looks at villains across various media in the hopes of coming to something of a consensus on the overall quality of the character. Are they performed well? Do they enrich the narrative? Are their motives fleshed out? Are they voiced by Tim Curry and thus a sex icon? 

There are a lot of important questions that I look into, but ultimately, Psycho Analysis boils down to asking one simple little question: How bad can a character be?

Thankfully, there’s one villain who decided to answer that question for me... in song form.

Psycho Analysis: The Once-ler

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Yeah, I’m finally talking about everyone’s favorite greedy bastard who, back in some of the darkest days of Tumblr history, ended up being the premier sexyman on the website. People were thirsting over this twiggy weirdo, acting as if he were God’s gift to women and shipping him with alternate versions of himself. Much like the movie he’s from, he is now incredibly hard to take seriously.

But hey, speaking of alternate versions of himself, I’m going to be covering him from the original book and the animated short film as well. Might as well just knock it all out of the park at once, right? Now let’s see how ba-a-a-ad this guy can be.

Motivation/Goals: The Once-ler is all about biggering. He’s making thneeds (things that everyone needs) and he is gonna stop at nothing to craft these things. Not even the power of the Lorax, Danny DeVito or otherwise, is going to stay his hand from getting that sweet, soft Truffula fluff to make his wares. This is ultimately a little unrealistic, at least for the Illumination version; if Danny DeVito asked me not to do something, I’d listen, no questions asked.

Performance: In the animated special, Bob Holt does double duty, as he is portraying both Once-ler and the title character. It works really well for what they’re going for, and the double casting is interesting because it highlights the ultimate role of the Lorax as the Once-ler’s conscience given form.

In the film, Ed Helms portrays the Once-ler, and he’s fine. He’s certainly better casting than Audrey, but that’s not particularly saying much considering that’s a non-singing Taylor Swift (when Cats is able to utilize Taylor Swift better than your musical, you know there’s trouble). I don’t know, Ed Helms is fun and all, but I’m just not sure his take on the Once-ler is all too compelling overall.

Final Fate: In the original book and the special, the Once-ler wins… but even he realizes it’s a terrible, pointless victory, and all he has achieved is ruin, his family leaving him, his business ultimately collapsing, and the environment permanently damaged. He’s left as a miserable, jaded hermit, broken by the bleak consequences his greedy actions have sown upon the world and only able to tell his story and pass on the last Truffula seed in the hopes that maybe, maybe someday the trees can regrow and the Lorax will return. The Illumination version follows this but then tacks on a happy ending  where the Lorax and Once-ler reunite because as we know ambiguity and bittersweet endings cannot exist in children’s films.

Best Scene: Obviously it’s the scene where he shakes his ass to seduce Jack Frost, in one of the greatest gay romances ever put to film.

Joking aside, it is undoubtedly his villain song. It has become such a meme, but real talk? “How Bad Can I Be” slaps. This is a really good song, probably too good for the movie but you know what, I’ll take it.

Best Quote: HOW BA-A-A-AD CAN I BE? Yes, I’m using a line from his villain song. Sue me.

Final Thoughts & Score: What can one really say about the movie version of the Once-ler that hasn’t already been run into the ground? Well, how about… He’s not too bad, honestly? Like, yes, he has next to nothing to do with his book counterpart and they really go way too far into trying to make a capitalist pig sympathetic… but the animated special from the 70s did that too. I think the Once-ler honestly works better when there is a dash of complexity to him and he isn’t just a simple-minded Captain Planet villain.

Of course, the issue here is that the 70s version took a simpler approach, kind of less is more. The 70s Once-ler brings up some valid points to the Lorax about his work, and the Lorax can’t help but agree that there’s no easy answer while also stressing that the environmental devastation is still really, really bad. It works, it feels complex, and it arguably helps the ultimate point that we need to protect the environment better than even the book did (and I love the book, don’t get me wrong, but its take on the Once-ler is a bit too simple for its own good; it almost runs into the Femme Fatale problem by being a bit too much of a strawman). The movie version has a bit too much going on, especially with his family. His family are much more blatantly evil, greedy, and manipulative, but they’re relegated to the background for much of the film and don’t effect things all that much. The whole narrative would have been infinitely stronger if they were the greater scope villains behind Once-ler and were who needed to be defeated and maybe taught a lesson, but instead they are ignored in favor of someone I’ll address very shortly.

All of this leaves movie Once-ler feeling extremely disjointed, but not irredeemably so. As I said before, his villain song is unironically awesome, and as lame as it is compared to the more haunting, contemplative ending of the book and the special, I’m not so much of a curmudgeon that I didn’t at least smile when he finally reconciled with the Lorax. Ultimately though, him being memed to death really didn’t help his case, but it means I’m not giving the movie version anything less than a 3/10. He might in fact be the best “so bad it’s good” villain ever, or at least up there. He’s just so undeniably enjoyable even if the narrative isn’t making him as complex as it thinks it is. The animated special version gets a 9/10, the book version is a 7/10, and the Once-ler’s family gets a 5/10 for being an interesting concept they sadly do little with, which will now be elaborated on as I follow up on the foreshadowing from the last paragraph...

Psycho Analysis: Aloysius O’Hare

Remember how I said the Once-ler’s family gets ignored in favor of someone else? Here he is, Aloysius O’Hare, one of the absolute lamest villains ever put to screen.

Motivation/Goals: He’s greedy. That’s it. I’m not kidding. He’s just a cartoonish caricature of a rich person, which still makes him a realistic portayal but also makes him boring as sin compared to the wacky dude with a big musical number about how bad he can be.

Performance: Rob Riggle does a decent job, but there’s really not much for him to work with here. This character is a cardboard cutout who exists to be as cartoonishly greedy and evil as possible with no nuance so the kids know who to root against and so that Once-ler doesn’t look bad in comparison.

Final Fate: Look, he’s a blatantly evil corporate villain in a kid’s movie about the environment. Of course he gets defeated and everyone turns on him. What’s especially funny though is that, on the brink of learning his lesson, he rejects any form of redemption and just goes whole hog on being a villain.

Best Scene: I will absolutely give him this: in the face of his ultimate defeat, after having the virtues of trees sung to him and the entire town turning on him, he for a moment contemplates turning over a new leaf… and then absolutely rejects the thought and instead decides being evil is just too much fun, at which point he tries to get everyone back on his side by seeing a funny little song about death while wavedashing. If more shitty villains did this, I don’t think there would be shitty villains.

Best Quote: LET IT DIE, LET IT DIE, LET IT SHRIVEL UP AND DIE! Yes I’m quoting a song again.

Final Thoughts & Score: Look, I’m not gonna mine words here: O’Hare sucks. Big time. He is a prime example of why The Lorax failed as an adaptation. In a story that is dealing with a moral grayness with no easy answers, O’Hare is just a big, blatant target, a dark shade of black in terms of black-and-white morality. He’s like a reject Captain Planet villain with Edna Mode’s haircut.

The movie would have been infinitely better if, instead of him, the Once-ler’s family were in control of the town, and they needed to learn the lesson about saving the trees instead of simply vanishing from the story. They were shown to be overbearing, manipulative, and greedy, and they had a much more personal connection with Once-ler being, you know, his actual family. The fact they abandon him and never really get any sort of comeuppance despite being perhaps the most evil people in the move, egging on Once-ler and taking full advantage of him, makes O’Hare all the more egregious, because there could have been some strong thematic elements that would have tied the film together and made it come off as much less preachy and more nuanced.

But we don’t live in a world where that happened, we live in a world where we got O’Hare. Aside from some genuine hilarity from him at the end, O’Hare really adds very little to the film. I gotta give him a 2/10, but I will say he’s a lot closer to a 3 than he is to a 1; there’s no denying his absolute rejection of learning a moral is absolutely hilarious. I love when villains do that. It’s just a shame those funny moments are wrapped up in something monumentally unimpressive.

[pastelwitchling]

Let me preface this by saying; I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to talk about this episode because it was a really hard one for me. Not because I didn’t like the story, or because as an Alex stan I was disappointed -- I wasn’t actually, I was overjoyed at the episode, and I’ll get into that more in a second. But it was a very hard episode simply because of the song that played at the end. That song is called Hurricane by Fleurie, and I know that because I know all the songs that were played in Shadowhunters’ most important moments. Hurricane was played in the season 2 finale in a very tragic and beautiful scene, and to hear it again....

Thankfully, I feel a lot better now, the next morning, and I realized that I had to talk about this episode for two big reasons; Alex and Isobel. Lily had said she hoped the episode would start a discussion, and I didn’t want to just avoid it because it’s a touchy subject. I didn’t want to let her down. I’m a woman, part of a minority that also thinks it has the right to make rules about a woman’s body, so I’ll start off with Isobel’s story because I have a lot to say about Alex and Michael and Malex.

I’ll make it simple. I was really hoping Isobel would get an abortion, that they wouldn’t force her into it because it’s a baby and it’s inside her. I think some lines were a little... they just didn’t fit the story, and it became obvious that it was a little preachy, but with the current condition and men thinking they have any sort of right to make rules about a woman’s body, then preachy is okay right now. I think Lily was absolutely brilliant, I cried with her when she cried for Max (how beautiful and phenomenal was he? My future husband, right there), I was proud of the way she got rid of Sheriff Valenti (what a nuisance that woman was, I hated her), and despite Isobel’s strengths, she really showed her vulnerability so beautifully. She was phenomenal, I was very proud of her, and I’m so happy we’re done with this ridiculous pregnancy story.

Now, onto Malex. For Alex, I loved the episode. He was brilliant, he was phenomenal, his chemistry with everyone was, again, magical. I feel like there’s this idea a lot of people have right now that Alex is happy to see his father suffer and die, but... I’m sorry, I just can’t see him satisfied with that at all. People said that when Jesse started convulsing last episode, Alex didn’t care, but I thought it was obvious that he had cared a lot. I felt he was conflicted, not pleased, and afraid at the same time of what might happen to him.

Don’t get me wrong, Alex was definitely manipulating him, using mind tricks to get Jesse to apply more morphine, to get him talking, and everything he told him about “good American soldiers” (I was laughing so hard, my brilliant genius) was utter crap... but I also felt his apology in the beginning was genuine. Not because Alex felt he needed to apologize or because he was so abused that he didn’t know any better, or anything like that -- look at 1x08. Alex doesn’t feel bad about hurting his father. But I do think that Alex apologized because he was just sorry that it had to come to this. That things between them had gotten so bad that Jesse was now lying in a hospital bed with tubes stuck to him. The apology was nothing to do with Jesse’s character, but with Alex’s. He’s a good man, he doesn’t want to see his father lying there pumping morphine into his veins (well, he does want it, he tricked him into it, but not to see him in such a pathetic state). I think his anger that’s been culminating has made him think he wants it, and that’s where the conflict comes in. Deep down, Alex knows he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, not even Jesse. Also, Jesse's smile when he was talking to Alex, when he asked not to hear about Michael. Personally, it only confirmed what I already knew about Jesse, which is that he loves Alex (in his own twisted, psychotic way), and he wants Alex to want to be part of the family, he wants Alex to be at his side. That doesn’t mean Alex should be, but it’s what Jesse so clearly wants.

I love the back and forth between Michael and Alex, I love the way they can talk to each other. People are so annoyed by the “tortured lust to ‘sup, bro” part, and I’m just -- I don’t get it? I thought it was hilarious, I laugh every time I think about it. I understand that some of you may think Michael is reducing their relationship to sex, but... essentially, that’s what it was. Tyler said so himself at comic-con! He said, they already know they like to sleep together, but do they like each other? The whole point of this friendship, or whatever they’re trying to do but clearly can’t because they love each other too much, is figure out if they can love each other beyond the, as Michael put it, epic sex. If they can be friends. I am overjoyed at how well they can work off each other when they’re not trying to devour each other’s faces (which I am also overjoyed at seeing), how much they clearly love each other.

When Michael came out at the end, asking Alex where he was going? Everyone is talking about the symbolism behind “I thought that we were done.” “No.” And I love that beyond words, but what really caught me was the desperation in Michael’s voice. It’s like he saw Alex out his window, starting to leave, and came rushing out to stop him. It wasn’t like Michael stepped out, noticed Alex wasn’t in his seat, and casually looked around for him. He full-on stormed out of his airstream, almost afraid as he asked Alex where he was going. It was perfect. I want to see more of that, that blatant desperation for Alex not to go. I think the dynamic between those two has been phenomenal this season so far, and I absolutely can’t wait for next week’s episode. Michael actually thanked Alex, without being forced to. I don’t want to speculate about Forrest or Michael’s jealousy, I don’t want to say anything until I’ve seen it. (Hopefully, I’ll have the Sense and Sensibility au to keep me busy.)

This is the biggest point I wanted to get to. Some Alex stans are saying that it’s really hard to be an Alex stan, and I totally get it! No one is acknowledging his feelings, no one is even mentioning his name when he’s not in a scene, his so-called friends talk about and to Michael as if Alex never existed, and it makes me physically ill. It pisses me off to no end... but Alex is still more than his relationship with Michael. He’s not simply what he is to Michael, he’s an Air Force Captain, with his own team, he’s a genius who knows how to manipulate when needed, he’s a good man with a good heart, and who hopefully to the gods will get a phenomenal love interest. He’s beautiful, he’s brilliant, he’s magical, and to see him bear this repulsive m*luca crap (seriously, I won’t be able to stand the sight of Maria until it’s over) with the grace of a true Ravenclaw, as heartbreaking as it is, it’s also wonderful because Alex isn’t pining miserably, he’s not curled in on himself, waiting for Michael to love him. He’s moving forward, he’s staying strong even when it hurts like hell. What’s more courageous and beautiful than that?

If this episode proved anything to me, it’s these three things; Lily Cowles is my eternal spring goddess and I’m in love with her, the chemistry between Michael and Alex in a simple -- as Michael put it -- ‘sup, bro is stronger than a sex scene between that joke of a relationship with Maria, and Alex is -- without a doubt -- a true hero that the great Stan Lee would’ve been proud of.

[flatsuke]

Thoughts on Yosuke’s S3

Spoilers below so read at your own risk:  

Damn, I normally don’t do this but hoo boy this story 👀

I usually try to be open-minded with Voltage stories especially since 1) they have a very specific time frame for their stories (10-13 eps), 2) they’re meant to be character-driven not plot-driven, and 3) they’re otome games, not feature-length films. In that sense, my expectations are usually pretty low and I’m easy enough to impress.

But man, his S3 gave me a lot of mixed feelings.

I get that the premise of KOP in general is the slow process of healing from emotional scars, and I think Yosuke’s S1 did a good job tackling the topic, especially from MC’s perspective. She was emotionally hurt from her husband’s betrayal and she became reluctant to open up to anyone because of that. S1 (and S2 by extension) had Yosuke be there for her to help her heal, albeit slowly. The execution of the premise was pretty solid, and even if there were moments when I felt like the story seemed preachy/moralistic (more on this later), it was still enjoyable to me imo.

S3 shifted its focus from MC to Yosuke, and damn I was really expecting a lot especially since Yosuke was written to be the darkest among the four love interests. I was hoping for more insight into his backstory and the reason why he became the manipulative, conniving ball of issues he is today. I also wanted to see how he and MC’s dynamic would move forward from here.

Sadly, I was a clown for expecting too much.

Essentially, the plot is that Yosuke tries to reconnect with his family (his stepmom, specifically), but his trauma with being unable to eat homemade food is his biggest obstacle. His stepmom, Sumire, is known for making homemade food, and Yosuke forces himself to eat it out of politeness (with him getting sick afterwards). The conflict in the story was that Yosuke didn’t want to show MC how “weak” he was every time he’d eat homemade food, so he’d hide away instead of confiding in her. 

Drama happens, and essentially the reason why Yosuke has a hard time eating homemade food is because.....his stepmom never seasoned his food the way he liked it. Apparently, Yosuke never communicated this to his stepmom, and she in turn never asked him about it, so it snowballed into a big misunderstanding between the both of them.

Now, I understand that trauma is complex and can come from virtually anything and anywhere, but the way they handled Yosuke’s issues really fell flat to me. I honestly thought his story would’ve been darker (Yosuke was poisoned, starved, etc.), but to have all his characterization built on a misunderstanding over seasoning? I try to suspend my disbelief with Voltage stories, but even I have a limit to how far I can go. 

It really didn’t help that MC essentially forced him to get over his trauma. In the story, MC felt alienated at the fact that Yosuke didn’t completely open up to her in spite of all the time they spent together. It’s understandable that she’d feel hurt at being shut out, but the way they wrote her this season really made me 👀. In order to have Yosuke heal from his trauma, she basically tricked Yosuke into eating homemade food that wasn’t hers. Granted, Yosuke knew about it and ate the food anyway (and passed out after eating it), but goddamn man. It took a long time for MC to heal from her emotional scars, and she even admits that she’s not completely healed yet.....so I’m just ???? at why the writers would make her rush through Yosuke’s healing. 

While she did acknowledge that doing that was a huge dick move, I’m really iffy about two things, specifically 1) how easily Yosuke forgave her for it and 2) how his trauma healed from that One incident. I mean, I understand that Yosuke loves her and that MC’s intentions were to help him, but holy shit, forcing someone to get over their trauma through tricking them into exposure therapy (at least, I think that was what MC was aiming for)? Damn. I guess Yosuke really loves MC that much, but still....

Also, I understand that the story was only 10 episodes, but Yosuke’s trauma automatically healing right after MC did that? Really??? I know that people heal at their own pace, but I think the pacing here made no sense at all because this was Yosuke’s lifelong trauma. 

I’ve always had beef with KOP for being preachy, but this takes it to the next level. From the get-go, the game promotes not-so-subtle messages about how to have a healthy relationship with your partner, how to heal from emotional scars, and how to open up others. They’re very blatant about it, and I can see why, but man Yosuke’s S3 really gives off an unfortunate message: namely, that you have to get over your trauma so your partner isn’t unhappy, and that hiding it from them is bad because it means you’re lying to them.

Yikes.

Maybe I’m being too nitpicky, maybe I interpreted the story the wrong way, or maybe there was something I missed, but man, this really disappointed me since Yosuke’s my favorite KOP boy. 

Still, the story wasn’t all bad, though. The smut was extra detailed and that art was once again phenomenal. Yosuke and MC’s lighthearted banter was also really precious to read. I just wish that the writers would’ve put a little more thought into his plot.

[brainbuffering]

They say that there has never been a greater time to be a Nerd. Marvel Movies rule the box office, indie comics are getting full multi series tv shows, Star Wars is back on the big screen, and even Dungeons and Dragons, has become mainstream! With BAFTA and Emmy Award Winners gracing our tables to roll dice and act out fantasy adventures.

Yet at the exact same moment Nerds are told to celebrate, there are those amongst us who have aren’t even invited to the party, those with photosensitivity. It is well known that movie theatres had to provide warnings for the Incredibles 2 because it triggered seizures. Yet it wasn’t the only film that year to do so! It was just the most well recorded. Into The Spider-Verse proclaimed that “Anybody Can Wear The Mask” and yet if you spoke to a photosensitive person they’d tell you that the information for that never came across, since the opening sequence featured so many flashing lights that it practically took them by the arm and threw them out of the cinema by force. And if they managed survived the opening then there were plenty of other strobe affects used throughout the movie to trap down those last bloody blighters who thought they might still be able to enjoy the film!

Other Top Nerd Hits from the last year to feature heavy strobing effects include: Aquaman, Umbrella Academy, Titans, Captain Marvel, Avengers Endgame… essentially every major superhero franchise out there has a big sign on it saying “Photosensitive Folks Back The F Off”. And let’s not even go there with Video Games, I’ve already had to block most company’s twitters because their promotional tweets contain video adverts that make my brain hurt.

Yet, it isn’t all doom and gloom (or should that be brightly lit and causing fits?) in the Nerd World. As I mentioned, live streamed DnD is now a thing! Where you can watch amazing actors pour their hearts and souls into a world of magic and without having to fear for your health from watching it. They’ve become one of the few safe havens on the internet. Some even have comic books out there now, which are proving to be a massive (yes Jody massive) success even outside their existing communities!  

And that’s where this blog post comes in. I am, will full blatant honesty, now talking directly to the wonderful people at Critical Role. Hello! I do hope you’re reading this, you may remember me as That Girl With The Weird Laugh At The Live Show Who Was Totally Not A Chair Travis Thanks For That. Aside from weird laugh, depression, chronic jaw pain and an inability to watch Marvel Endgame without crying, I am also Epileptic, and whilst I personally am not especially photosensitive, there are PLENTY of Critters who are.

After watching the advert again for fully funded animation series, it occured to me that suddenly there may well become a version of Vox Machina that I have to warn people not to watch. The last safe haven on the internet for the photosensitive could very well all go to bust with the casting of just one spell…

The very thought of it breaks my heart. So I feel I have to say something, and it is best to say it now before anything else gets made. Never before have i trusted a company more than to actually listen to me when I say: Please, I beg you on hand and knee, please do not use flashing lights in your new series.

By this I mean:

Please keep the number of flashing lights per second as low as you can. In extreme cases, seizure trigger occurs with 3 - 60 flashes per second, but the more standard rate is 5 - 30 flashes per second.

Please make sure to include a warning before an aired episode if there is going to be flashing lights, and since this is also going to be streamed online, time stamps can be given so as people can skip those scenes, or know to turn away.

Please keep in mind why you are including strobe light effects, and if they actually help tell your story, or is it just for show? Are there other ways you can tell this part of the narrative without resulting to strobe effects? This may require some more creative thinking on the part of the animators, but that’s all part of the challenge of creating a tv series, right? Regardless, you have to way up: Would you rather you got 10 seconds of animation that had flashing images, or would you rather trigger a seizure in someone? These are the questions you need to ask yourself, and I beg you to please do just that because God Knows none of the major animation companies are doing it.

I can go into more technical information here, but I fear it would just come off as overly complicated and kind of preachy.

So instead, I am going to link you to the Ofcom* guidelines on flashing images for television. These can be found on pages 18 - 21 and details everything from frame rates to screen sizes: 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/104657/Section-2-Guidance-Notes.pdf

Following the infamous Pokemon Incident, TV Tokyo also implemented guidelines for their animation so as not to cause anymore seizures as a result of their shows! You can find an english translation of those guidelines here:

https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/kouhou/guideenglish.htm

The Epilepsy Foundation and Epilepsy Action are also both excellent sources should you wish to learn more about photosensitive epilepsy, or any kind of epilepsy for that matter!

And whilst all of this has a focus towards photosensitive epilepsy, please remember that not there are a wide range of other photosensitive conditions out there! And by keeping these things in mind, we can maintain a diverse and welcoming community that is unprecedented within other fandoms. 

A final big thank you to @justepilepsy for providing me with sources and information! They wrote their dissertation on flashing lights in animation, and are in general just a Top Notch Person worth checking out <3

Stay turnt, and don’t forget to love one another,

Anna M.

*Ofcom is the Office for Communications, the UK Government approved regulatory for broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industry within the UK.

[akocomyk]

Twenty-eight books read in 2019.  Sixteen longlisted books.  One person who wastes his time writing sh*t as if they really matter.

Here it is.  The best books I read in the past year.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The unfortunate books that I had to let go since I only had ten spots to fill.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (2017)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (1934)

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (2017)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926)

Bird by Bird by Anne Lammott (1994)

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (2014)

*Ratings range from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

10th Place

56 by Bob Ong (2018)

Rating: 4.300

Bob Ong makes a comeback on my list with his latest novel.  His other book, Si, ranked 10th last 2015.  This is the second time a Filipino book enters the list and is also the second nonfiction book ever—after Into the Wild last 2016.

In his latest release, Ong returns to the writing style that made him famous— reminiscent of his earlier books like ABNKKBSNPLAko.  56 is like a 300-page commentary or editorial about the issues of the present Filipino generation.

Other readers have found the book a little too preachy.  I find it enlightening as it serves as a wake-up call to the Filipinos who are turning their blindsides to the harsh realities of our nation.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

9th Place

Mga Kirot ng Kapalaran (Kikomachine Komix blg. 11) by Manix Abrera (2015)

Rating: 4.445

This is a long-overdue recognition to my favorite comic strip artist (Fun Fact: I met him quite a few times already).  For many years, I've ignored the chance to even put his works in the list of contenders.  I'm not throwing it away again.  Now, I have my first book to enter the top 10 classified under comics and graphic novels.

In this collection of strips by Manix Abrera, his work remains as humorous and as satirically laughable as the first time I saw his comic. Themes have changed to reflect the new trends and issues of our present society.

For as long as Manix draws and publishes his work, I will continue to read them as I know he gives an intellectual yet amusing input to our society's problems.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

8th Place

Mga Batang Poz by Segundo Matias, Jr. (2018)

Rating: 4.450

“Beautiful and relevant, but not flawless,” this is what I said on my review for this YA novel.

Mga Batang Poz is the third Filipino book on this list.  Having three books on the list is a first.  Furthermore, this is also the first time in four years that a Filipino book enters the list.

As previously mentioned, I have certain problems with regard to the overarching narrative of the novel.  I wish that Matias could’ve written something more elaborate or something that doesn’t feel forced.

Nevertheless, the book accomplishes its goal of being a story that advocates HIV awareness, especially towards the youth.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

7th Place

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (2012)

Rating: 4.485

In this book, you'll see both the cruelty and the compassion of humanity through the eyes of a gorilla named Ivan who is the narrator of the story.

Ivan is based on a real-life gorilla who was being used as a live animal attraction in Zoo Atlanta.

It is quite obvious that the book is meant for a younger audience, but despite this, I know anyone of any age will be able to appreciate it.  Ivan is a gorilla after all, and I think the simplicity of how it was written suits his character, making the tone of the story more natural.

Overall, it was very touching.  Although it mirrors pretty much what happened to the real-life Ivan, it efficiently delivers its message for animal welfare.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

6th Place

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939)

Rating: 4.525

This is a mystery novel filled with suspense and everything that'll make you love and hate it at the same time.  The horror it gives chills you to the bone for every page you turn.

Agatha Christie is insane—and I mean that in a good way.  The plot was so well-thought out that even when nearing at the end, I had no clue who the culprit was.  When it was revealed to me, I was like, “Yeah.  That makes absolute f*cking sense.”

For a book that has ten major characters, it does well in handling them.  You know when a piece of literature is brilliantly made when even if its length isn’t considerably long, it doesn’t sacrifice the characters’ backgrounds and the narrative of the story.

Despite the novel’s inhumane and despicable acts, it also addresses issues about criminal injustices that are still prevalent today.  In our country alone, criminals—corrupt officials, master drug dealers, rapists, murderers—are still roaming around the streets, evading the consequences of their actions.   At times when the law is not enforced properly, people resort to their own type of justice.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

5th Place

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018)

Rating: 4.590

In this debut novel by Adib Khorram, the titular character Darius suffers from clinical depression.  Also, he's a Star Trek and Lord of the Rings fan.

This book demonstrates the fact that real depression is not simply cured by positive reinforcement and bible verses—as what most overly religious people think.

The novel highlights Darius' relationship with the other characters—most especially with Sohrab.  It shows how he copes up with them while he struggles with his mental disorder.

There are also subtle hints of homosexuality, which added to the overall tension of the story since the main characters are Muslims.  It wasn't blatant but it was obviously present—in the right and necessary amount.

To me, this is a spiritual brother of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz—one of my favorite books.  It gave me the same feeling of awe, beautiful pain, and joyful nostalgia. There were parts that broke my heart—I was ugly crying while riding a bus—and by the end, I was a complete mess, although I'm utterly happy.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

4th Place

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan (2017)

Rating: 4.595

What I love most about this book is how it was written.  Instead of being in paragraphs, it was written in verses—like poetry.  I thought it was creative and oddly fitting for the story.

Even though there are more blank spaces on the pages than letters, those words are enough to draw me into the story.

The novel is about Ed whose brother was up on death row.  I found myself rooting for him, and I was hoping similarly to how he was hoping in the story.  When the end came, I couldn't help myself from closing my eyes.

The narrative was fairly simple, it matches the way it was written.  The characters—although few and also written with the utmost simplicity—feel so human and are not flat, cardboard cutouts.

In the light of all the flawed justice systems and abuses of law enforcers not just in America but everywhere else in the world, it's good to find a book that's bold enough to address such issues and an author who's brave enough to write them.

Lots of murderers are on the loose, yet there are innocent people being slaughtered for crimes they didn't commit.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

3rd Place

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (2018)

Rating: 4.605

Just when you thought Angie Thomas couldn't write anything as good as The Hate U Give (THUG), she gives us this.  If it's not better, then it sure is as brilliant as her debut novel.

This is Thomas' second consecutive year in my list, with THUG bagging the top plum last year.

The novel is proof of Thomas’s writing prowess.  It successfully immersed me into the life of her protagonist, a life filled with hope, angst, and ambition.  And the dialogue… Especially the rap battles.  They were amazing.  Seeing as Thomas herself was a rapper, you can feel the ingenuity in her words.

Moreso, this is one book that we really need in our present times.  It reflects all of my sentiments regarding social media and how it can make or break a person.  And how much the oppressed and marginalized communities lack representation, and how they are still subject to much prejudice.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

2nd Place

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2007)

Rating: 4.680

This beautiful novel demonstrates the horror of domestic violence towards women.  It also provides a glimpse of the people and culture of Afghanistan during the times of war.

I'm in love with how Khaled Hosseini's characters flesh out from the pages.  You'd love them.  You'd care for them.  Their agony becomes yours.  Their pain drips out from the corners of the books as your tears trail down your cheeks.

And on their sweet, small victories, you'd give a sigh of relief as the anxiety is slowly drained from your body.

In the two years that I've read a book by Hosseini, it didn't fail to shatter my heart. The Kite Runner ranked first in my 2017 list, and now this. If ever get to read another one of his books, I've no doubt it will also be a contender for that year's list.

━━━━ ☆ ━━━━

1st Place

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman (2018)

Rating: 4.765

This book is also up on my shelf for the best sequels ever—be it for any medium.

I read this earlier this year and it remained unbeatable until 2019 ended.

This is the second book in Neal Shusterman's Arc of a Scythe trilogy, the sequel to Scythe—which placed 3rd in my 2017 list.

Growth and expansion. These are the things I love about the sequel.  Ronan and Citra, the two main protagonists of the trilogy, are older, wiser, and better people, despite the fact that they're teenagers.  You can feel their struggles with their respective endeavors.

Also, the universe is bigger.  The Arc of Scythe novels feature a world where death does not exist and everyone is biologically immortal.  In order to balance the earth’s population, there are these so-called Scythes whose life-long job is to assassinate anyone they choose.

In this sequel, you get to know more about the mechanisms of their world.  There’s a new main character, Grayson, who takes you deeper and gives you a view of what it's like to live as a normal human.

The book deals with the adverse effects of the ways power-hungry people want to achieve their ambitions.

But that's not why I went gaga after reading the book.

IT.  WAS.  EPIC.  The plot twists within the plot twists.  The narrative.  And the ending.  My god, that ending.  I COULD HEAR MY SILENT SCREAMS.  After the last page, the only thing I thought of was, "GIVE ME THE THIRD BOOK RIGHT NOW!"

Thunderhead isn’t flawless, but it’s a very fine piece of literature that I recommend to anyone who loves to read.

• • • • •

I hope I won't regret putting Thunderhead in first place after a few years.  I regret giving the top spot to I'll Give You the Sun last 2016.  After pondering about the books I've read in the past years, I've found that Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See is one remarkable and memorable book, and the one I should've given the highest honors.

Books with relevant themes dominated my shelf but the book that won my heart was the one with intricate plots and a phenomenal ending.  It feels weird but I hope for the best.

Happy New Year, everyone!

[netbug009]

What are your thoughts on the Pixar Sparkshorts? (They just posted one of them today!)

FUNNY YOU ASK I LITERALLY JUST WATCHED THAT

HOLY CRAP

Pixar just.... went right for the jugular right off the bat. They said SparkShorts was going to be about allowing more creators to have voices in their studio and Perl is very blatantly tackling the glass ceiling dude-bro culture women in animation have been griping about for ages. It manages to both be very blatant about this and yet also has a universal message about how allowing more kinds of people into the conversation can benefit any group. A bit preachy, perhaps, but seeing how long this has been an issue I’m guessing it’s about time someone really address the elephant in the room.

I particularly love the fact that Pixar posted the short on their main channel without any warning that the short was adult-targeted. So many parents who just assume anything animated is for children are going to have a blast with that one when they put it on for little Timmy without even checking the summary first. Pixar kind of just flipped the bird at anybody who assumes the entire medium is a target demographic and the fallout is going to make for a wonderful discussion. 

[yakkety-yak-art]

Why Bioshock Infinite Wasn’t Working (for me)

As someone who loves the first and second games (the first largely for the story, the second largely for the gameplay and characters), I have really felt out of place in the fandom for just....not liking Infinite. Ever since it was released, people have been touting it around on a pedestal like it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but I just have never seen the appeal. Sure, it looks pretty, and there are some interesting parts, but it just never worked for me. And I figured out why. (Note: this is opinionated, so if you disagree and feel the need to respond, do so politely. I will be keeping this as fair as I can and there’s no need to be rude just because you disagree. If you like this game, that’s totally fine, and I can respect your opinion even though it doesn’t match up with mine! This is just my thoughts on the matter, and I am not the end all be all on the topic. You are free to feel however you wish about the game, and if you are more sensitive to criticism about things you like, feel free to just ignore this post!)

This game is a run-of-the-mill FPS with repetitive fights that traipses around in a facade of deep thoughts and hard-hitting hot takes. So many of the people praising this game praise it because the story is deep and riveting. to which I must eloquently say, “Nah.” The story is the equivalent of someone standing on a soapbox, gathering a crowd with the promise of a new concept no one has ever thought of before; something life-changing, something thought of only by a deep thinker; and this someone faces a crowd of Americans, waiting with bated breath to hear something they haven’t been aware of literally their whole lives, only to tell them in an extremely pretentious manner that, “America’s past was no fun :(.” 

No shit, Sherlock. 

The original Bioshocks dealt with things that will really always be topical: the implications and consequences of extreme capitalism and objectivism, and, conversely, extreme communism and mob mentality/hive mind-esque organizations; the importance of choice and the realization of people as individuals coming together being stronger and more unified than an echo-chamber group (yes, there’s a difference); the implications of moral decisions on the future for oneself and the entire world, and extremely beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking portrayals of the importance of platonic relations, found family, and positive bonds between parent and child (particularly fathers, which is refreshing and interesting, since a lot of dads don’t get a very good rep in media); the consequences of classism; finally, breaking free from the roles laid out and expected, and thinking freely (truly freely, not wrongfully convinced of free thinking when in reality the government is in control, seen with Atlas, Ryan, Lamb, etc. The games also give you extremely interesting moral decisions and topics; do you serve yourself, or sacrifice to save the children? Are you really any better than the splicers who were taken advantage of and left to rot, and while you must kill them to survive, are they still people? As you splice, do you become exactly what you are trying to save yourself and the few innocents of Rapture from?

These are all interesting and topical ideas to bring up. So what does Infinite have to share?

Racism is bad (an important topic, but handled poorly). Religion is also bad. Schrodinger’s cat, maybe? Infinite universes mean infinite possibilities!!! Except, no, not really. For a game that puts emphasis on infinite possibilities, it only really explores the same one. 

Firstly, “racism is bad/America is bad/religion is bad” is hardly a hot take, and they are portrayed in the most basic forms that they possibly could be. All the bad guys are racist to the extreme, the entire city is a haven of white supremacy, and basically all because of religion. The main villain only becomes the villain because he gets baptized. It’s extremely on the nose, with public humiliations/lynchings, and public worship of the dude who assassinated Lincoln. Not only does it seem, well, preachy, due to how on the nose it is, it’s not even interesting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s extremely important to discuss racism and xenophobia, especially as it occurred in the past, but because of the world they have set Infinite in, it comes across as implausible. Like, ok, fantasy world, but that’s just it: this is a fantasy. There could have been an amazing discussion on, not blanket “hurr durr institutionalized racism is bad”, but the society that Vigors, a majority working class of non-whites/immigrants, a search for utopia, and the extremes of religion AND science, paired with the idea of facades, would create. Why not have more of the public use Vigors? Like the Vox, in an attempt to gain more control and power? As Columbia had to travel from continent to continent, have the racism be always present but constantly hidden. Rather than public carnival games with racist caricatures, have a society that seems so perfect on the outside that it cannot possibly be. Everyone who is not white or is Jewish or Irish is always creepily smiling and re-asserting that they love their jobs, and their city. Perhaps one is seen speaking out, and they are quickly taken out. Uncovering an extremely unnerving facade like this proves the underlying corruption, power, and horror of the city a lot more than the extremely blatant examples in Infinite do. It’s like the difference between your teacher telling you people were racist in the past, and then reading something about how beautiful the world is and how nice the town they live in is in--only to then find a photo of the writer in a creepy black and white photo, smiling at the camera as they lynch someone--or even, being the subject in the photo who was lynched. It’s so creepy and obviously a lie, but unless you take the time to dig deeper, to find out why the writing had seemed so, well, strange or unrealistic, you could remain blissfully ignorant despite knowing something is wrong. That’s an interesting moral dilemma faced in everyday life. In Infinite, you can just kill them. Problem solved. In fact, it’s so easily solvable, apparently, that it makes you wonder why everyone else hasn’t done that already. It’s also extremely lazy to make all of your villains racist and all of the good guys totally not racist™ and just shoot everyone. I mean, really? they don’t even try to have a conflict of morality, like with Tenenbaum or Sinclair. It’s unrealistically black and white (ha), and because of this, predictable, lazy, and boring. Again, discussions of racism is not a bad thing--but it’s handled so poorly here that it’s almost like the story just stops to remind you that racism is bad, before continuing. 

The parts of the story that don’t deal with social issues are not any better. You can tell me all you want that the ending and the story are just sophisticated, and that I just didn’t get it, but to that I respond: maybe writing a story that has so many possible implications, endings, and theories that could all exist or not exist or sometimes maybe happen unless we were wrong about this one thing, in which case maybe not isn’t sophisticated, and is instead pretentious, lazy, and a lot fucking worse than you giving me a whole story with a jumping off point for my own ideas and conclusions about it’s implications. No, Infinite doesn’t do that. It’s so hackneyed, so convoluted, with it’s “infinite” lighthouses and “infinite” outcomes when in reality, no matter what, there’s just this one racist evil religious dude who is always religious and racist and evil. It could end, not in a “maybe it’s a Schrodinger’s cat?” cop out, but in one of those alternate outcomes (like, clearly alternate, not hinted at alternate), leaving the player with questions about the importance of decisions if there is always another place where the decision either was or wasn’t made, or whether or not the world should even be respected to the extent that it is when, with Elizabeth (and, in theory, her ability to create others with her powers), it is possible to just find a new world. Those are interesting, and also leave the player with some moral questions and debate topics, whereas the actual ending just sort of looks and sounds deep, but in reality is just a writer’s inability to live up to his own setup of the multiverse.

there are some other reasons, like how elizabeth’s powers seem really pointless as they are underutilized, how the game could have worked better if you played as her, how the game literally could’ve been standalone, seeing as it has nothing to do with Bioshock’s story except for Levine’s lazy attempt at “connecting” the two canons, but those are the big ones. All in all, I can’t like it because it has potential that was so ultimately wasted--it’s lazy in it’s story, in it’s tackling of social issues, and in it’s basic requirement at having anything to do with Bioshock, when it could have so easily been an amazing game, not only at the surface, but truly, as you dig deeper into the story. But I really, truly wish that I could love this game. It could’ve been great.

[terresdebrume]

So I've been idly following the third season of SKAM France, if only because gay characters are still a rarity in french media, especially gay characters who are the undeniable lead of a TV show. I don't know enough about the original series and other versions to comment on them objectively, but I've been trying to figure out what bothered me about Lucas' journey of Gay Epiphany and it turns out...well, it turns out it's the same thing that bothered me about Alec Lightwood's coming out storyline, which is the blatant erasure of homophobia in the world.

Now, let me get one thing clear: I like escapist fantasies. I like stories where the author takes a clear stance of 'I'm going to pretend homophobia doesn't exist so my characters can kiss and/or fuck in peace'. I enjoy these stories. I also enjoy stories where the author goes 'alright so homophobia is a thing but that particular character ain't having it'. These are cool too I like those a lot.

SKAM France isn't doing either of these things. What it is doing instead is have their lead character spend roughly half/a quarter of the season freak out about being gay, hesitate, be an ass to people because he's scared of himself and what people will think or do, have it so the girl he uses as a beard for a while is the first one to say he's gay (rather than him)...and then when he finally does come out and/or is outed by the aforementioned temporary beard (either her or his best friend it's unclear), we get one line about how 'homophobia exists' and then everything we see is people being Aggressively Okay with it. To name a few:

Two of his bros enter a contrived conversation about how they saw a gay bar and they should go visit and BTW why not go to pride and also lesbians are really really cool

One of the girls in his high school bursts through a conversation to ask if it's true he's gay and then squeals and hugs him

A girl who had previously gave homophobic lines apologizes to him

His best bro who, when the guy came out, up and left without explanation, comes back and apologizes bc he was just hurt the lead had waited so long to come out to him, and then apologizes for all the times he made homophobic joke and says he's sorry because 'he didn't know'

And you know it's super frustrating because like. On the one hand it's nice! Confettis and flowers! Hurray! But on the other hand, when you get the kind of setup we've had and then not only do you have zero onscreen homophobia but also everyone is Conspicuously Woke, it comes off as a) preachy and b) fake as fuck.

Because, and maybe I'm just bitter bc that hasn't been my experience, but the real world doesn't work like that. Because even people who are genuinely cool with you being gay or Trans or bi or whatever you are will still say stupid shit sometimes. Because people don't just apologize for the homophobic and/or heteronormative stuff they said around you because most of the time, they don't even realize they have anything to apologize for.

Again, idk, maybe I'm just bitter and stuff but unlike the escape fantasies I mentioned above (that are, from what I've read, mostly written by queer people for queer people) this kind of storyline feels like it's written by straight people who either feel guilty and want to ease their conscience or don't realize that homophobia is more than people beating you up and haven't bothered with the research (or honesty?) to make it sound real.

And that, coming from a story that presents itself as realistic and/or sounding like the real world, annoys me quite a lot.

[thenightling]

Umm...  Uh...  Umm... uh... (The Dreaming related...)

I’m a little disappointed right now.  I’m trying to embrace the parts I like but I’m a nerd and I am compelled to whine about the parts that annoy me.  ‘Tis the nature of Nerdom.

  Warning, here there be ranting and it might be hyperbolic.  

Can someone else take over writing this thing, please?

I don’t know which is worse.  The poor characterization of the old Dreaming comics of the late 90s and early 2000s or the hamhanded allegories in the new The Dreaming.   Poor Merv is now literally a Straw Man about bigotry.  And the Lucien narrations aren’t... good...

I know everyone wants to bring their own flavor to The Sandman Universe and only Neil Gaiman can and will sound like Neil Gaiman but this doesn’t even feel like the characters.   This feels like a self-righteous Marvel comic from a year and a half ago...  And yes, I know that Vertigo is a division of DC, I’m just making the comparison. 

And why the Hell has poor Merv been turned into a thinly disguised Trump Supporter stereotype?  He was always an ass but he was an equal opportunity ass.  WHY would you even WANT to use the blue collar, pumpkin headed scarecrow as your bigot metaphor?  You just made a LITERAL strawman.  This is almost as bad (if not worse) than using Cain to represent misogyny.  

Much like a certain late 90s / early 2000s version of The Dreaming I sense no love for these characters.  It feels like resentment or a belief that they can be used to represent anything at all and to Hell with consistent characterization.  

The Dora-needs-sex scene in issue 1 of The Dreaming felt so pointless other than “Look at us! We have adult content!  Wheee!” It’s like counting all the F bombs in Spartacus: Blood and Sand and realizing most of them were used as filler and or just to remind you that you were watching Starz.

  Some dialogue is just unpleasant to read.  (“Get thee behind me, Creeper.”)   First, Dora, you were created in the 90s.   Creeper wasn’t the usual term in mid-90s. It was usually just creep. I guess she could have picked up on the word from a dreamer so it’s not that bad but she still dresses and wears her hair like the 1990s. 

 Also, Dora, you just slept with this demon and now you’re threatening to crush this being’s testicles for suggesting a bear (which is literally an extension of himself) take part and how dare he still be horny!  As gross as that is, you’re not dealing with a normal bear or normal place and this scene doesn’t “empower” me as a woman.  Anyone else feeling “empowered” by this?!?  Threatening a horny demon immediately after sex with him doesn’t give me a “girl power” feel.  Actually I was never a fan of that slogan because I remember when it was just a marketing gimmick for the Spice Girls.  I wish we had a better woman’s strength slogan.  

Another line that stands out was “Malignant penetration”.   

That was was such an inorganic and forced line, I groaned as soon as it appeared, knowing it was just there for innuendo.   What the Hell!?  This is lazy!  I expect better from The Sandman Universe. 

Way to phone-in witty suggestive dialogue...

 At least they know Brimstone smells like a fart...

Why is it every “empowered” female character has to be edgy, angry at authority, and with a chip on her shoulder now?  It’s turning into a tired cliche.   Do we need to be angry and resentful to be “empowered”?    I’m starting to hate that world, “Empowered.”   It feels contrived and when you sit and think about it, it has a pandering quality that suggests we had no power to begin with.  But that’s a tangent for another day.   

I’m also starting to get annoyed with being smacked in the face with constant reminders that Dora is “Different” and “Dora is special” and “Dreams aren’t supposed to be able to do that” ect...  How many times are you going to tell us how unique she is? 

Also this is getting so blatant.  Lookie, they’re still forming.  They need to be educated.  They’re innocent and still taking shape.  And they’re not really blank after all.   But they can barely speak the language.  And they’re being rounded up by someone who doesn’t care or understand them and kept in pens.  These are children in detention centers.  For God’s sake!

Merv is creating detention centers for children... 

And they are refugees that need sanctuary.  This isn’t symbolic.  This is blatant.  And I feel like I’m being treated like an idiot that is having every little metaphor (and it’s more allegory than metaphor) explained to me.    I don’t mind when writing can make me feel like an idiot (Like discovering the cat in Sandman: Overture was Desire all along) but I don’t like being treated like an idiot who needs everything explained to them.   

And I am dreading what they are going to do to our favorite Jack-o-Lantern and his personality for the October / Halloween issue.   

This is not Merv.   “Make The Dreaming great again” should NOT be a thing.   You have taken the blue collar construction worker type and turned him into an obnoxious allegory.  As I said, Merv was always an ass but he was OUR ass and he never acted quite like this.  This is one of those obnoxious over-the-top political statements that made me wander from Marvel and be embarrassed that I’m a liberal.   

This is also teetering on classism that the only character that can be classified as blue collar worker is the one being used as an ignorant bigot.   Merv had his likable moments in the original Sandman.  This is bordering on offensive.

Also, could someone kindly tell the new writer that unless Daniel manipulated the Griffon’s memory to make him think he was a gift from The Greeks, the Griffon is not of The Dreaming and there for should NOT be changed by the weirdness going on.  He was a gift from the Greeks.

At first I thought The Griffon looking like that was a result of the weirdness going on in The Dreaming and then I was like “Wait a second.  Either Daniel tricked the re-created Griffon into thinking he wasn’t of The Dreaming or he is, as The Wake told us, a gift from the Greek Gods.)

And now Daniel is being messed with and he’s not even in this!  Here, I’ll show you how...

Lucien, disguised as Daniel (and The Dream entities somehow fall for this...) tells Merv to teach The beings and to care for them.   And somehow this is supposed to be out-of-character for Daniel.   Uhh... Why? 

Why do people keep thinking Daniel is supposed to be cold?!    Daniel is supposed to be the warmer, kinder aspect of Dream. 

And yet, here’s Morpheus during his douchiest phase.

Why is it whenever someone other than Neil Gaiman writes Daniel he comes off colder and meaner than Morpheus at his darkest?    I wrote a post a while back explaining my theory as to why this happens but it still baffles me...

https://thenightling.tumblr.com/post/175624611158/theories-about-why-dc-writers-have-not-handled

WHY is the “Care for them” something he wouldn’t say, exactly?!

And poor Lucien.  The constant monologue is weird and yet people are acting like he’s always done this.  Uh... Since when?   It was Morpheus who did most of the narration in the early Sandman and in Sandman: Overture.    Granted there was the weird talk bubble in Dark Night’s metal that made Lucien’s text look like Morpheus’.  It’s enough to conceive a new and weird conspiracy theory.

I’m not really comfortable with poor Lucien’s forgetfulness.  I’m afraid that like the illegal immigration / refugee allegory in that this will be a poorly handled alzheimer's metaphor.      

Okay, I’ve bitched enough.  Now for things I actually like to try to make this post a little less angry and aggressive.  

I like that there’s something mysterious building but I’m afraid it’ll be a let down and something as mundane as Starro again...

I like that now there’s actually a reason Daniel isn’t intervening. 

I love the artwork.  

I haven’t entirely given up on Dora’s potential.   I’m still curious enough to want to know what’s going to happen. 

There are parts actually written well and interestingly, almost like Neil Gaiman, himself. 

And I am still glad that there is new Sandman content but this wasn’t a great first taste of The Dreaming.  I had liked The Sandman Universe 1 well enough but this (The Dreaming 1) ... not so much... 

Anyway, that’s my review of the new Dreaming comic.  Ultimately it wasn’t as good as I hoped and I’m not thrilled with the preachy feel of parts of it.  And Doria’s interesting quality from The Sandman Universe is starting to wane in favor of a cliche chip-on-her-shoulder “empowered” trope and that bugs me because I want to like her.

Anyway...  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O1hM-k3aUY

@deathlyendless @zalemoonshadow @sorry-for-the-chocolate  @endlessemptynight @minxymojo @vagaryhexxx @thejediviking @fortmarmorus @winterbirdybuddy  @treebrooke79