#make it a good overall book
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i have... a penchant... for getting really into books which are out of print. not cause they’re like first editions or collectibles or whatever the fuck (i went to an antique book show recently and was SO pissed there was like 50 Alice in Wonderlands, but no 1900 printed french books you couldn’t even find in pdfs online... in fact, no foreign language books at all what the fuck :c... and 2 gone with the winds, 50 lord of the rings... like i get it, the target audience of an antique show is maybe? idk people collecting expensive books? but for me? the point was to find out of print old books that may never have been digitized. thank the universe for archive.org there’s so many 1800s learn japanese, 1900s learn chinese books with different versions of romanization and then later different amounts of character simplification, theres the ‘nature method’ textbooks that i’ve only seen back in print very recently and only for a few languages and probably only cause nerds like me can’t shut up about them, there’s so many BOOKS i’m into that just... :c good fucking luck finding them if not for the kind efforts of archivists or random chance)
#rant#like. god even kamikaze girls??? a RECENT novel. a novel with a MOVIE#and its like... seems to have only had one print run or whatever#u can find it used. sometimes. thats it#and like ive been trying to find novalas other novels? hhaha i cant even find them used. they're out of stock.#and then like. there's this AMAZING japanese book called Japanese in 40 Hours.#a HERO made a video series of the chapters on youtube i recommend looking at it. and its on archive.org thank fuck#but its basically i think the BEST sparksnotes basic primer for western speakers to begin learning japanese#its quick. it gives a solid foundation of grammar and word endings before throwing u into kana. and its faster paced then a LOT of modern#books ive used.#theres a chinese book called Chinese Grammar by the Nature Method.#i believe the author is Thimm. it was published in like 1929. it is all#traditional characters. its like 300 very compact pages. its a very beautiful small book.#it has a HUGE hanzi dictionary in the back. it is THOROUGH in its grammar explanations and SO easy to understand.#its my favorite chinese grammar book by far. and the sheer VOLUME of words in it#make it a good overall book#not just for grammar but also words. the only weird thing is the old romanization system but once u recognize the hanzi u can#match them to modern pinyin you know better. and just? it is SUCH a good book#even with the outdated bits (like NIN used a lot and le pronounced liao in a lot of spots we'd now use le)#and its out of print. its another book i think i found on archive.org then wanted a print copy of
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the feeling of being watched or followed
#REALLY GOOD MENTAL IMAGE FROM TBOB. smiles#gravity falls#ford pines#the book of bill#book of bill spoilers#book of bill#id in alt text#I THOUGHT. the book was pretty good. Really cool read overall.#The um. Some of the fandom reactions to stuff in it is what's making me 😟☹️#ANYWAY . This is from an aggie it's like whatever#if u tag this w anything close 2 b/llford you're on thin fucking ice gtfo
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#mine#doctor who#dwedit#david tennant#catherine tate#hi friends i haven't made gifs in a few days#very tiring week#i took my class on a field trip yesterday and it went well overall#but it was very exhausting!!!!#AND THEN i find out that report cards are due next week#and i haven't started on them yet yayyyy........ D:#so that's what i'll be doing all weekend sigh#i want to make faster progress on this book i'm reading#but it's been very slow going because whenever i try to read at bedtime#i fall asleep almost instantly because i'm so tired#so i'm gonna go try to read now!!! good night!!!!
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BNHA Ch. 429
So, I guess Toga is dead, and people are losing it.
I get why people liked her--she was actually queer, being pan/bisexual. She was representation for them and that's rare in shonen manga. But here's the thing--she was bad representation at best and insulting at worst. Nor do I think she was made queer because Hori really wanted to represent a queer girl. Himiko was always the author's poorly hidden fetish--she just was. She liked girls as much as boys because Hori wanted to draw a girl touching sexually on another girl. You can see this in how he draws her and Ochako in solo pics together.
I mean, people seem to understand this when it comes to Momo and her outfit being overly sexual or that both Himiko and Hagakure's Quirks either leave them naked or they have to be naked to use them. These are excuses to draw girls in a sexual manner. Himiko being into other girls is the same thing and that's the kindest interpretation.
Given how Himiko acts and her Quirk being heavily coded sexual desire, and therefore her use of it against someone unwilling being sexual assault, it could just being playing into harmful stereotypes of predatory gays.
As a queer person myself I just found Toga insulting. She was designed to be overly sexual and give the male author a female character that he could draw being suggestive with his other female characters. When he did flesh out her character, her backstory was eventually the trope/fear of straight people, that gay people will be so overcome with their lust that they end up sexually assaulting them.
In the end Ochako accepts this part of Toga and says she'll giver her blood forever, but as much as a lot of readers took that that as some deep lesbian confession, for me it really fell flat. Hori never really gave any of the main kids time to actually learn about their villain or show how that changed their minds toward them. Shoto only works because Touya is his brother (even though he admits he barely remembers him). But Ochako goes from not thinking of Toga at all pre-first war, to one thought about her during her speech, to suddenly caring about her so much she--given how Toga's quirk is coded, is willing to essentially fulfill Toga's kink for the rest of their lives.
It's weird and it comes out of nowhere. It's made even stranger because Toga doesn't actually change or show remorse for anything she did, which included personally hunting and murdering people before she joined the LOV. None of the death and destruction she is also partially responsible for is brought up either, something that Ochako was rightfully upset about during the first war when less people and property had been destroyed. Ochako just accepts everything about her suddenly and her past serious crimes are forgotten so they can cuddle and cry.
Am I shocked Toga died--a little. I didn't think Hori would have the guts to kill off a young girl character, especially one that he clearly got a lot of joy drawing in sexy poses. But at the same time, once he killed off Shigaraki and ended Touya's story with his slow death, I'm not surprised he went the same route with Toga.
This isn't Naruto--Hori isn't really kind to characters that do something wrong, especially if they don't try and change. Enji, Bakugo, Hawks, and Aoyama all sort of got punished for what they did. Enji is the worst off, being permanently crippled, missing an arm and burned everywhere. Bakugo's hand is damaged, his heart weaker, plus he feels bad that Izuku lost his Quirk so they can't compete the same way he wanted them to. Aoyama, despite doing way less wrong and even helping his class during the forest raid, still leaves school because he doesn't feel he earned being there yet. Hawks lost his Quirk and even though him running the HPSC could be seen as good for him, Hawks always wanted a break, but now he has one of the most time consuming and stressful jobs out there.
So, if this is what characters who actively did good things and even changed and fought to be better get, what would characters who never changed and never did anything positive for anyone but their friends/themselves get?
Before the last Arc started, when so many people said the LoV were 100% going to be redeemed I had doubts and always thought it wouldn't make sense with how the story presented redemption or treated other non-LoV villains in the past. That if the main LoV did get some happy ending where they were bffs with the main cast it would clash with how other characters had been treated.
That doesn't mean that I think how Shigaraki, Toga, and Touya ended up in the manga was well done. I think their endings fit far better then a last minute redemption would have, but at the same time you can feel how rushed everything has been since the end of the first war arc. Hori was done with this story months if not years ago, yet he was contractually obligated to finish it. Because of that I think he left out as much as possible. As much as I think he's written some pretty obsessive stuff, particularly towards women, I can't really fully blame him cutting corners or the story being shit at the end.
We know Manga authors, particularly those that work with Jump are treated like shit. That they suffer incredibly long hours at times not even getting to go home for days. We've gotten messages for Hori saying he's sick quite a few times. On top of that, weekly story telling is not a great way to tell a cohesive narrative. Ideas probably change week to week or at least month to month and you can't go back and change the last chapter no matter how much you need or want to. Then you remember he also gave a lot of ideas to the people who made the movies, which would also change his plans for how he wanted the main story to go.
The story is bad--it has been for a while, but I think a lot of people put their hopes on their favorite characters getting a happy ending, even when there were signs that probably wasn't going to be the case. I know how much it sucks when a character you love gets a shitty ending (Stain was my fav, but he got an absolute dogshit ending) but at least, knowing what I know about the industry I can't really blame Hori the way I see some other people doing. Criticize it, sure, but saying Hori hates his readers or is horrible writer isn't true. BNHA was popular for a reason--he's great with characters and the beginning of the story had some great pacing. We'll never know, but I wouldn't be surprised if BNHA could have been amazing if Hori had been treated better and the story hadn't needed a chapter every week.
If anything BNHA has taught me how much a story suffers when authors/artists are treated like crap and forced to work past burnout.
#bnha 429#bnha spoilers#bnha critical#bnha#idk i just feel bad for the guy#i think he's sexist as shit#but no one deserves to work under such bad conditions#and frankly idk how any weekly story turns out any good#especially when its gone on for so many years#like when you think about it the chapters aren't even real full chapters#they're like half or even a quarter of a chapter that you'd find in a book or monthly manga#of course you're your going to have an incoherent story when you write like that#I mean the only other thing written like that are some fanfictions#and those authors can and often do go back and edit things#heck I've seen some that go on hiatus with the specific purpose of overhauling the entire backlog of chapters to make it a better overall#and I think part of why BNHA is perhaps worse then other weekly shonen is because he had a lot he wanted to say#on top of trying to find things that kept him invested in a story he clearly was tired of writing#I mean Lady Nagnat is great example#he watched a movie and thought the female assassin character was cool and it got him excited to draw/write#so he shoehorned in this character that was really only there because she made the story more fun for him to write and draw for a while#like American comics aren't great either when it comes to consistency or coherent plots sometimes#but I do wonder if BNHA might have been better if Hori could have left a story bible and basic outlines of what his plans were#and then someone else could have worked on it instead#because he really didn't seem very into by the end of the first war arc#like I think he wished that had been the end#but it wasn't and he was really tired and burned out#and probably already working on fumes
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this series is so long that theres time for incredibly written and beautiful character arcs to take place. the problem is that everytime there is one, shannon reverses it for petty drama that no one cares about.
#YES THIS IS ABOUT STINA AND FITZ#i am the number 1 stellarlune hater sorry guys#actually no im not even sorry fuck that book#awful awful awful#if i could change one thing about keeper i would just. erase the entire book from canon.#the good bits we got were nothing compared to the overall awfulness#maybe one day ill reread it and make a slideshow on why it fucking sucks#kotlc
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rick riordan dickriders on here will be like "why are you complaining about the pjo tv show, go watch the movies and see what a bad adaptation really looks like" ok well listen to the musical watch it on youtube and see what a good adaptation looks like bitch. it can be done. as a fucking stage musical. what did that 15 million per episode do for disney that chris mccarell couldn't
#this is such a mean post from someone who does genuinely like the show I'm sorry#like there are aspects I really love!! and aspects I really don't!! which makes it mid for me#but I do genuinely like it overall. at least enough to continue watching#it's just that I see sooooo many people who seem to have this attitude like you can't critique it at all??#and their arguments are usually just. “movies were worse” (so we'll take anything now as long as it's not that?)#or “rick was involved in the writing” (<- NOTTT guaranteed to be a good thing lmao)#anyway it's pissing me off. I'm gonna bitch. “if you like the books so much read the books” I WAS PROMISED A BOOK ADAPTATION#AM I WRONG FOR COMPLAINING WHEN I DON'T GET WHAT I WAS PROMISED#“oh but changes are okay as long as it preserves the spirit of the books” since when was the *spirit* of the books a FUCKING BORE🤨#also the cast doesn't deserve this. stick leah and aryan and walker in a better show#pjo#pjo tv show#pjo disney+#percy jackson#percy jackon and the olympians#the lightning thief musical#anyway all this to say some of the changes and choices are Actually Bad and it won't kill you to admit that I think#rereading this post in the drafts and editing before posting when I was handwringing about how mean it was bitch this is mild
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Okay!! Done with The Count of Monte Cristo. That was a ride. I did not enjoy the ending in itself much. The final chapter felt a bit disjointed and while I can understand Edmond was trying to teach Morrel and Valentine a lesson that's more important than any treasure, I think keeping them apart was unnecessarily convoluted and, frankly, cruel, especially keeping Valentine in the dark about her family's demise.
That being said, compared to the 2024 movie, which was my gateway into the book (spoilers for the movie ahead):
I still think it was very well adapted and I generally enjoy the changes made.
In particular, Benedetto/Cavalcanti's storyline in the movie works wonderfully and his relationship to both Eugénie and Haydée was cute. I do prefer this Cavalcanti over book!Cavalcanti because he feels more rounded. However, the movie cannot top Villefort's demise in the book. It's extremely good and heart wrenching.
The movie utilizes Albert and Haydée in the end in a vaguely similar way to Morrels and Valentine in the book, which was appreciated. They close the circle their literal or adoptive parents started and Edmond sails off on his own and I think there's a lot of beauty in that too.
I disagree that the changes made to Haydée's character in the movie reinforce the orientalism. The movie did not even try suppressing (or addressing) the orientalism, I do agree with that, and believe things could have been handled better. But Haydée's seduction game is entirely premeditated. She's not alluring as a walking oriental femme fatale, she is rather explicitly made to look that way. She and the count play with that as part of the trap they are laying for Albert. This mirrors Cavalcanti's trap too. It is similar to the way "Sinbad the Sailor" metaphorically seduces Franz d'Épinay in the book when they first met. I'm not saying it was perfect though. I'd say the orientalism in regards to Haydee has more to do with casting choices, costumes and treatment of her background than with the narrative use made of her in the movie. Sorry, but revenge-seeking willing to seduce her way to her goals movie!Haydée that still has a filialish role to the Count is definitely more appealing to me than submissive (literally a slave), love-sick book!Haydée who most of the time only waits and pines. She does testify against Fernando on her own accord and free will and shows an absolutely amazing strength and I love book!Haydée for that but it's not often that she gets to shine like she deserves.
Making Edmond and Fernando childhood friends is actually good, I loved that! But making the Mondegos an already affluent and well positioned family by the beginning and making Mercedes/Edmond lowkey forbidden because of class difference was not so good. One of the most interesting things in the book is getting to see just how much their status improves -with Edmond being the price to pay.
The movie does go much easier on Mercedes, WHICH SHE DESERVES. The aspect of her being "unfaithful" is moderately prominent in Edmond's discourse in the book, even if Edmond tells her to her face she's a saint. Given her ending, I think the book narratively does punish her for that so-called infidelity which I personally believe to be absolutely unfair but. 19th century right.
Other book things I prefer over the movie: Fernando's ending. The final battle was super fun to watch but sorry. Fernando offing himself because his family left him adds a whole other layer of tragedy and gives him a sort of redeeming quality (even if in the book they don't really put it this way). In the movie he has no redeeming quality lol
Also. I get why Noirtier was not much there. Same happens with the Morrels and Valentine. But Noirtier is one of the characters from the book that fascinate me the most so I'll miss him
#laura reads#the count of monte cristo#what. a. ride. some parts were ok and a few were even a bit dull or felt overlong (seriously too many poisonings) but the good moments#were GREAT and the overall arc ties very well together and of course it's very long so a lot of tkme to breathe#tbh it was like reading/listening to a telenovela#dumas. had you been born like 150 years later... he'd be making either prestige tv or longest melodramas you can think of but#any of them would blow your mind away. that man was born to be a movie director how can i make this point better understood#also. book edmond was comparatively softer on fcking DANGLARS than on Mercedes. like I don't think he meant to but he's always quoting her#infidelity like dude. I'm not saying this to be mean but FOURTEEN YEARS AWAY edmond with no news that you were even alive!!! be serious
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Books of 2023. VILLAINS by V. E. Schwab.
Time for a NaNo Prep Reread! I love Victor and this vicious little family with my whole chest. This'll be my second time rereading VICIOUS, but only my first time rereading VENGEFUL.
#books of 2023#villains#vicious#vengeful#ve schwab#books#book photography#seriously i love these so much#shades of magic was good but vicious as my heart lol#vicious held up on the first reread a few years ago so im excited to dissect it for the Revenge Arc this time#i feel vaguely bad because i remember nothing about marcella but. tbf. how could i when victor and sydney and mitch are RIGHT there#also this is just. so much better. than hench....#i finished hench at three o'clock this morning just to be Done#the pacing was Messy™ and it didn't get better#definitely brutal and fucked up (that body horror at the end was epic actually) but. overall mediocre for me....#parts did make me laugh and i'm love the spreadsheets take but. i couldn't get over the pacing#WHICH AGAIN I KNOW IS RICH COMING FROM ME#sigh#anyway i read the first scene this afternoon but now i'm gonna watch nate wreaking havoc in heist fambly while my laundry goes#and THEN bedtime reading
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https://www.tumblr.com/freaky-flawless/758894466381840384/what-did-book-clawd-do-and-which-book-are-you?source=share
I was looking at the post you reblogged about someone calling Clawd annoying and you said , “Book Clawd can choke” in one of the replies.
It might be an old reply though
Ohhhh yes.
I was referring to the Lisi Harrison books!
The third one has a focus on Clawdeen, and in it we see him and Draculaura get together and it seems pretty cute and sweet, and all around he's fine character wise, with the caveat that he's kinda sexist. Tbh the book portrays that as being a commonality in werewolf culture (which is....infuriating) But in the fourth one, which focuses on Draculaura, the two are actively dating and he suuuucks.
He's portrayed as being too embarrassed to be seen with her in front of his friends, so every time the two are together, it's just him brushing her off. Meanwhile she's going through a wicked hard time, because Dracula also sucks in that book and puts a shit ton of pressure on her. And book Draculaura is such a sweetheart, and kind of a pushover, so it's extra hard to read.
So yeah...book Clawd (and Dracula) can still choke lol.
#monster high#monster high novels#monster high lisi harrison#i'm still a stan for that series as it was my intro to mh and i was already a fan of another one of lisi harrison's book series#but i will never claim that they're particularly good#i think the first two are def worth reading if you wanna see a different take on the world#but the third and fourth suck and the series ending is rushed and doesn't even really make sense#and overall its so outdated....cleo unironically compares her father to trump lol#clawdeen's characterization isn't great either kinda falls into the aggressive black girl stereotype#while also not explicitly describing her as a black girl its weird#and its the only instance where frankie is an actual homewrecker#ask#its been a while since ive read them now...might be time for my annual reread
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Im-
I just finished the final book of the Earthsea Cycle and oh my god. There are no words to describe that ending or how well it fit. It settled so perfectly and so neatly. It went exactly where it meant to go and no I do not have the words to describe what exactly that intent or path was just that it existed.
Genuinely, the Earthsea Cycle is one of my all time favorite series. It's just so curious and so deep but also not at the same time. The lessons of the series are so fantastic and ones that I believe are impactful no matter your age. The exploration of being a woman in a world dominated by men is incredible in this series as well as the process of finding your place in the world and sometimes acknowledging that it isn't what you thought it'd be.
Each book I love more than the last. The Other Wind is so damn good. I love Alder as a character. I love Irian. I love Azver. I love the Kargish princess and her own character development. Lebannenn's character growth as well. Like just. It's so incredible. It also makes me appreciate Tales from Earthsea more because it's shocking how much each of those short stories truly contribute to the world building and conclusion of the series.
The way the story just slowly built up to the events of The Other Wind is also just incredible considering the time between the books being published especially in the second half of the series. The consistency is incredible and you really don't actually know where it is all going until the end yet everything pays off still.
Just god. I love it so much.
#im#my rambles#my ramblings#earthsea#earthsea cycle#the other wind#god this world genuinely took me by surprise in so many good ways#i love a good book where you have an idea of where its going but not exactly the details#the payoff of this series is not one I expected in the slightest but it was so worth it#i genuinely cant get over how surprisingly important every book and story told is to the overall world#things you wrote off as small details swing back around in the best way possible#god im making myself insane about my own thoughts lol#ursula k le guin is an incredible author and if you read the earthsea cycle get the copies with the afterwords because they add and help#the afterwords give interesting insight to the thought process and intentions of the story that really help the reader understand it more
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i only just found your au and i need everyone to have a happy ending so badly im gonna cry ;-; sally is gonna be so freakin upset when she wakes up for real and sees she decimated barnaby.
oh, Barnaby already has his arm stitched back on when she wakes up! and really, even if he didn't, that'd be the Least of her worries. she wakes up into a Real nightmare - partially of her (unintentional) making
#happy endings... well... yes and no. depends on what act you look at#act one? no! actually things get So Much Worse in an entirely festive new way!#act two? eh! sorta! its more bittersweet than anything#act three and four blend into each other so much that three doesn't have an 'ending'#but the final act - act four... well. who's to say! im still workshopping what i want to happen#but i do know it's still gonna have at Least a bittersweet tinge to it#wh lights out au#rambles from the bog#there are consequences and not everyone Makes It. i dont like stories where everything wraps up perfectly fine#even if it hurts! i like it when things hurt in a good way. those stories where the ending is overall positive#but Enough Happened that its just... its an ache. looking at where someone used to be. you know?#my favorite shows and books and fics have ended with me smiling while sobbing bc it yes it Hurts but it was So Fucking Good#and while i wouldnt be able to handle rewatching/rereading due to Emotional Damage...#i think of them fondly and often and theyre Important to me#perfectly happy endings just rub me wrong. it always feels like there's something Missing despite it all being idyllic#i cant let my own stories - original or aus or whatever - have that kind of end#so if thats what people are hoping for! you've come to the wrong person and the wrong au!#i like to be kind but that rarely extends to my creative works!#i like it messy and painful and bittersweet and i like to be Ruthless with my creations with no compromise#sometimes characters need to fight. or leave. or die. or make serious mistakes. etc.#but anyway! anyway....#i will say that there isn't a happy ending for Everyone. and for others it's... complicated. again - bittersweet
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Okay so I'm generously calling this the Dandy Guardian AU until I think of a better name but essentially this is the rundown [had to put this under a cut because it got long WHOOPS]:
In the book version of events, Dandelion isn't present when Geralt is in Cintra and calls the Law of Surprise, but he does know about what happened. I can't recall if we ever see that convo in text or if it's just background knowledge but that's not important right now
When the Fall of Cintra happens, Dandelion already has his ear to the ground, the walls and the crowds to follow Nilfgaard's movements - Oxenfurt's bards are the best bet anyone has for gathering information about the invading armies because they are spread so wide around the continent and have so many connections
Dandelion's first thought is not to send word to Oxenfurt about Cintra's fall. His first thought is Geralt, and his blasted Child Surprise. He starts tracking his way to Cintra, hoping that he might be able to cross paths with Geralt in the surrounding territories to assure himself that his friend didn't get caught in the middle of that Fall
Meanwhile, Ciri knows she has to find a Witcher by the name of Geralt. She knows he is her destiny. She has no fucking idea where to start looking for him, but she's on the run from Nilfgaard, terrified and anxious and stressed, and in her bag, to her surprise, she finds a well worn copy of a hidden book of Dandelion's poems, all of which are to do with Geralt's adventures. Mousesack had given it to her in secret when she was six, and it had been one of her favourites ever since
She quite forgot she had it in her bag
Cirilla has no idea where to find Geralt. But Dandelion might. Dandelion, she thinks, is her best bet to track her own destiny
And of the two of them, Dandelion isn't a very hard man to find. His bright plumage and singing laughter leaves an easy trail of rumours and tracks to follow. Curiously, whenever she asks about where she might find him, people don't tend to question her. They look at her with sympathy - and sometimes pity - and ask if she has anyone else she can rely on
"No," says Ciri, sombre and trembling. "I only have him."
It's not a lie, exactly, and she's gotten quite good at hiding her aristocratic accent. They point her to when they last heard of his presence. They ask if she needs any help. She thanks them for it, because she is still polite, if angry and confused and oh-so-very lost, but she declines any further company
She goes on.
Every night, she opens up that little book of poems, and tries to imagine what the man described in them is like. It's the closest thing she has to knowing Geralt the Person rather than Geralt the Cursed Witcher
Cirilla is three weeks' worth of travel out from Cintra's borders when she finds Dandelion. It's a little more accurate to say she's dragged over to him - apparently, a blonde, freckle faced child asking about such a famous bard is a quick titter of gossip in the grapevine, and she quickly discovers why it is that nobody ever asked her why she wanted him, and always looked with sympathy or pity at her plight:
Dandelion's hair is blonde. Hers is paler than his own, but he is blonde, like her, and his eyes are bright and clear. His face, though worn and tired, is fair and freckled just like hers, and he is just as surprised as she is when she finds herself shoved in front of him and announced to be his "illegitimate daughter"
"Whoever you got unlucky enough to knock up," says the other minstrel who guided her, "the poor lass seems all alone now. From what I heard, you're the only thing she's got left in the world."
Whatever the minstrel says next is lost to her - for a few aching moments, Dandelion looks panicked. And then something shifts. His face softens. "You look dead on your feet, darling," he says. "Come on, lets get you upstairs and clean you up a bit."
Cirilla doesn't trust strangers. Oddly, Dandelion doesn't feel like one. Perhaps because she has spent so many nights reading his work. Or maybe it's because he's a friend of her destiny. Either way, she quietly follows him up to his room, and when the door is closed, he says, "You don't know where Geralt is, do you?"
Ciri does not.
Her lip trembles. Her shoulders shake. When she finally heaves a sob, Dandelion does not crowd her. But his hands are gentle when he moves her cloak from her shoulders. His voice is soft as he brushes her hair and hums a quiet song
Dandelion never met Pavetta in person. But he once saw her in a painting, and he's seen plenty of Calanthe's likeness over the years besides. Ciri looks a spitting image of them both. Privately, he's impressed at how well she could hide her accent. But she is still just a child, and Dandelion has much more experience with putting on such a performance. He's worn many a different mask with many a different voice over the years, and he had heard traces of her native Cintran beneath the roughness of her croak
Cirilla is alone. But she is also alive, and Dandelion knows, with a confidence born of years by Geralt's side, that his Witcher would never let himself die before finding this girl safe
When the morning comes, he begins to take her North
#the witcher books#dandy guardian AU#dandelion#cirilla fiona elen riannon#this is obviously just a drafted sort of outline to give The Overall Vibe Of The Thing#but there you have it! my idea for an AU where ciri finds our errant bard before she finds geralt#and the two of them travel together to find their misplaced witcher#she's already started using the name 'fiona' for herself btw#which is how she's introduced to dandelion#him picking up on her accent is bc we know he's good at this in canon!#he notices rience's accent in the midst of being tortured and if he can make note of something so innocuous during that#then I bet he's simply got an ear for picking up that sort of thing#also please imagine in this AU that ciri picks up dandelion's sweeping gestures and poetic speech patterns#she's imprinting on him to learn how to be a better actor :] surely this will not cause any problems down the line
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still haven't moved on from zane in this episode (aka I hit tag limit again and am unhappy about it)
#alek insanity#not gonna main tag this but prepare for a tiny rant#home is actually really good zane characterization and its super cool to me how it holds up to this day#s1 characterization is very specific to me because the behaviors displayed by the ninja there (mostly) isnt bc thats how they really are but#its due to societal pressure. cole originally being more 'stone faced tough guy' -> 'down to earth' -> 'really sensible easy to talk to guy'#is because hes always been a sensitive guy... but he felt he couldnt express that true version of himself. thats the whole thing behind his#true potential. jay going from s1 -> s6 -> now is less of societal pressure and more teenager figuring himself out but it still applies. ish#seeing how much the ninja have changed or grown from then to now is amazing because back then they all wore masks. they didnt know each#other all that well. but theyve gained that comfortability with each other and also have grown and matured as people#some seasons / eps characterization for certain people im not a fan of (lloyds random misogyny arc in s13) but i mean the overall trend here#and then there is zane. zane in home was pretty dead on to how he behaves now (at least... when it comes to his faults?) and i dont want to#say people skim over that but i am the sf proclaimed n1 s1e2 fan and overthink every scene. zane's early characterization is some of my fav#for him period. he also goes through a ton of traumatic stuff and a ton of bad writing bouts but why he acts so 'weird' or 'distant' has#always been a thread sewn in. he changed so much he stayed the same in a way... if that makes sense. -> ohhh the ninja get mail and he#doesnt? oh he has no family? he quite literally walks away from that situation. oh the ninja are yelling in his face and asking whats wrong#with him? he literally walks away from that situation. he says its to follow the falcon but seeing how he apologized to them by not only#baking a ton of pies (cough... the food fight is what led to him leaving at first) but he also found them a whole entire new house.#zane is unable to truly value what he does for others. insert him in s11 saying he 'tried' to fufill his goal of protecting others.#everything he has ever done still isnt good enough. then the ninja tried to apologize and he didnt really... let them.#that one post about characters putting on facades and that facade being how people really see them. even in fandom. thats zane to me#the guy who lies about being upset and avoids his problems ran away after being yelled at? and he said he wasnt really mad? that is a lie!!#him being a ~360 when it comes to his character development is neat to me because he never hid behind a mask in the same way the others did#cole wanting to seem tough vs being really soft? kai wanting approval so bad he starts being selfish? kai isnt selfish usually!#he is self centered but that is a whole different thing. just wanting to fit in and breaking free of that. zane's true potential came in the#form of 'i finally know why i am not normal' instead of 'i will be my true self'. zane never pretended to not be weird#(instert book) states he literally didnt know why people got mad at him. he just existed and it was 'wrong'. the mask he hid behind was#avoidance. he was pretty open about how he actually was (most of the time). when he was upset he would audibly sigh and walk away lol#but for him saying he wasnt upset / saddened by the ninja... it felt like a moment of selflessness. if that makes sense. he blamed himself#for the monestary burning down. so he didnt deserve the apologies (ish) in the virtues of spinjitzu zane is shown as the generous one iirc#he puts the needs of others over his own. he will bear whatever burden he needs if others are happy. at that same time he doesnt allow
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Yeah this is about right (as always my thoughts are in the tags so there's actually kei content there lmao)
#Hester I adore you they could never make me hate you. Seriously the first chapter in 6 (bad candy) is like my favourite opener#Kei they could NEVER EVER make me hate you. did nothing wrong ever. rhian when I CATCH you#its so funny how my two favourite characters just like. hate each other. like japeth literally kills him#sad cause they're so SIMILAR. theyre both victims of Dog Metaphor its so sad that kei does Not like japeth in the slightest#personally if they had a good long discussion about their emotions at like 3am they could've probably stopped TCY from happening#but alas. Aric. somehow its all his fault again. why do I have an aricposting tag but not a keiposting one.#Hester easily has the best overall characterisation arc I love love love the way soman writes her#I remember when I read 6 for the first time#before japeth insanity happened#I used to anticipate her chapters over like everyone else's. Hester the 1 lesbian in the series you are deeply loved#I could write whole essays about japeth and kei's characterisation it is so sad that soman forgets kei exists#like he's meant to be rhian's eagle. that's his job. that's what he's spent a Long Time anticipating becoming#but rhian refuses to acknowledge it. instead he calls Japeth his eagle in book 4's ending#He eventually falls in love with Sophie#he only ever cares about the crown#how he GETS to the crown#and bringing his mother back. he lies more than japeth#and never once does he get to be the eagle. There's only three spaces - lion/eagle/snake - and he doesn't get to be any of them#dont even get me started on how he dies. surrounded by white swans. being purely good#god rhian II try not to fuck EVERYTHING over challenge. and also Aric. its all arics fault as well#keiposting#japethposting#actually not really jposting. didn't do it that much#sge#tsfgae#school for good and evil#the school for good and evil#sfgae#the school of good and evil#as much as I adore Hester I dont think I will talk about her much in detail ever so no hesterposting yet
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and if i say i hate that one of the uh 5 mentions hel.aena has in f&b is about her being loved by the people in contrast to the public opinion of rhae.nyra at that point and her death sparking a riot only to have to watch her be attacked bc rhae.nyra is the only good queen allowed on the show
#hotd critical#* out of character: { dreamfyre stan }#the people not caring who's in the throne so long as their needs are met is a valid point to make#but i don't have to like the way it's done or the fact hel.aena literally got NOTHING from the book so far#nothing with dream.fyre#nothing from the coro.nation#b&c was. hm#and her grief is never truly addressed#and she can't be a well liked queen either bc that's for rhae.nyra only c':#not a bad episode overall but unfortunately i was upset jkandkjsndkjn#it's ok i feel ok i ranted about it for an hour with my cousin already akdsjnfkasjdnf#(i could go on for longer. i never shut up about characters i'm attached to especially when they're portrayed in some way i don't like)#after that she asked me about the end of the dance and was surprised to learn how long aeg.on lives. also lar.ys#we watch the show together#and she's team whichever characters she finds interesting or entertaining which currently means ae.gon is high on the list#anyways. i have Thoughts about show!hel.aena and few of them are good 🤷#none of this is a dig at rhae.nyra or those who like her btw#i just don't like how the show portrays her#and i don't like the changes it makes to other characters and situations to fit that
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@mischieffoal mad that they were there!!! i'm an extended editions hater
#less so for fellowship than the others#there are individual extended scenes that i like!! a few!! if i could make my own cut of the films#i might swap in a couple of the extended bits#but overall i am firmly on the side of THEY CUT THAT STUFF FOR A REASON#makes for a worse adaptation! dilutes the really good stuff! does horrible things to the pacing!!!#i don't mind that they exist but it's truly wild to me how they've like Supplanted the theatrical release as The Go-To LotR For LotR Nerds#something abt watching the extended editions just really activates the 'i wish i was reading the books instead' instinct for me#gay belligerence#i love dying on this hill also because i get to argue with haz about it. hi haz ily
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