#not saying cringy but???? the version of that for uncomfortable idk

[chaotic-history]

On a certain level it makes me uncomfortable, but "it makes me uncomfortable" isn't a valid reason by itself to say something is morally wrong, and if the people are dead or if the fic is somewhere where you'd have to be actively looking to find it, then no harm's being done and I can't find anything morally reprehensible with it. Most writing that's done about historical figures isn't writing they consented to, some of it is negative, revealing about their private life, speculative, for entertainment, partially fictionalized, etc.

On the surface level, is there really a difference conceptually between the character of Jefferson in Hamilton the musical and the Miku Binder one? Both are fictionalized versions of a real person that are transformative in similar ways: drastically changing his personality to better fit the narrative, making him part of a marginalized group to subvert traditional narratives and try to make him better represent the group of people whom the art is being made for (and both kinda fall short of that in certain ways), etc. The difference is that one is Good Art and one is weird and cringy and Bad Art.

And it's not entirely comfortable for me to try and dissect why Miku makes me genuinely uncomfortable-- moreso than just an "I don't like this art very much; it's not to my taste," but an "ew whoever made this is a fucking weirdo degenerate".

Idk. I feel like if it's not hurting anyone (and disrespecting the dead isn't harm; they're presumably not around to read it), then I probably shouldn't be calling art immoral on the basis that it makes me uncomfortable.

a genuine question since I’ve seen this being debated a lot

feel free to give your reasons / thoughts on this but please also remember to respect other people’s opinions

[sweet--escape17]

If you don't know how to respond to compliments I have hard time articulating my admiration.

Yes, the Pattinson's one. It looked so epic, that's bc spandex suits don't rock unless they're Spiderman's, there's something cringy about an epic superhero fighting in spandex. Steve's suit in CA TWS too rocked bc it wasn't anymore like a Halloween costume. Idk how to describe them, maybe a "militarized" version, a more serious and giving agent of an organization in the case of Steve's. Add in there too the Ninja's costumes. You saw how Pattinson's one had a lot of " pockets" for ammo. Sorry to say this but to me, Nat is more resourceful than him ( do you remember her fights vs WS & Antonia's taskmaster, it was amusing bc she was bringing things out of her secret inventory, both times in civilian clothes) that's why I see that her combat suit should have visible infinite pockets and cool functions. I want her suit to be a mini version of Tony's armor, infinite functions but not of metal.

Apart from the suit, what other weapons would go so hard with her, perso, the batons were functional not epic, the widow bites are cool but they're tamed, they need epicification to be metal same with the guns

Nat's suit was uncomfortable looking. I feel like she has friction burn at some point. I don't like it when they make a woman character armor/suits that show's more skin for it to be more sexier for male audience.. Like, woman can be sexy wearing a full armor, and they are way more attractive to be honest. 

And yes, it would be more realistic if we saw her wearing suits that has more tactical pocket/bag(?) Nat has more ways to disable enemies because she has more things that she can whip out her body. (She's a spy and she needs to look like she's not) But I'm talking about in a battle.. Can you imagine how cool it would be if you see her wearing an armor that speaks, "I have more toys that can kill you"? 

I remember her on Infinity War she used taser. Oh man. I mean she's trying..

Her fight scene with the taskmaster, how she *swosh* that sword? She can handle any weapons so I think anything will be good but she's great at hand to hand combat and they show it more than she handles weapon(?) But I know her batons can clasp together to make a bo-staff thingy. And that's her signature weapon plus her glock. So idk, what do you think can be her other weapon?

[ii-zi]

In theory I like the idea of therapy bc, as it's so easy to see the second you “step” into this blog, I always have so much to say and can keep going for ages lol (edit: as shown under the cut).

But when I actually need active help or get the opportunity to get help, I can never get a single word out. I used to be The Kid who knocked on doors for others, spoke with the adults for the flock of 30-40 children of my class that would follow behind me whenever it happened, etc. But ever since what I personally call “gaining sentience” happened back in the transitional period from the end of middle school to the beginning of high school, I get so much stage fright I completely “blank out” and my brain and body go into autopilot.

And it used to be such a foreign concept to me: in theory I understood it, but I could not not the life of me put myself in their shoes.

I'd give presentations for fun, jump immediately at the chance of being the first one just so I could have as much time as I could to speak, etc. Yet once I started high school I gradually became more and more terrified of stepping up to participate, etc. I had my first solo presentation (with an already teacher-revised script, formal clothing, etc) on my second year, and the second I stepped up I was already stepping down. I gave the entire presentation and remember not a single thing. My classmates said nothing and clapped normally, but I could tell they noticed something was off, yet the only comment I got out of them was that i looked “sort of absent”, so I don't even have an idea of what happens “outside” when it happens.

I'm not completely clueless, however, and it just occurred to me that, just as the stutter I developed around the time, it's connected to me slowly becoming more and more self conscious about not only my self image but also my speech, since if i have clear memories is of how often everyone around me remarked how “unbelievably fast” I spoke, to the point teachers would ask this one classmate (who I'm guessing could keep up pretty easily bc he was a musician?) to "translate" whenever I went too fast, so they could understand me without making me repeat myself (which obviously bothered me bc I had so much to say lol).

This bad habit never really disappeared, but it's instead hampered by how bad my stutter gets when I speed up at all lol, so it's not usually a problem, unless I'm with someone I'm immensely comfortable with and I just speed thru the stutter, knowing they'll understand me.

And I honestly think both how I spoke so fast and how I stutter nowadays contribute to the sort of like? “pet/creature” sort of view/idea of me people have? I've obviously never had a person come and say it to my face, but I'm not clueless, and I've spend so long actively studying people's reactions and public behaviors (only way I can have an idea of how it's "right" to behave lol), and I can see how they look at me as if I was a toddler babbling who thinks they know everything there is to know but it's just babbling nonsense, or like a sort of funny looking dog that regardless of what it does it makes you laugh just because.

And frankly? It wouldn't even bother me, if the fact that people clearly see me like that didn't contribute to neither my pain nor any of my problems ever being taken seriously.

They all feel the right to react accordingly to my wrongdoings when any of them are of any inconvenience for them, yet not of my problems are big enough because to them it's akin to when the funny dog gets his tail stuck on the fence, and you wanted to help him, really! But by the time you could stop laughing the dog already got itself out, so no biggie, right? Just keep going

And this is all the sort of stuff I'd love to say to the therapist! But there's so much I can never get myself to find a single place to start from, an argumentative line to keep up with, or even identify the "problem" I'm supposed to be complaining about.

And I find it kind of funny, but also kind of silly, how easy it flows for me when it comes to writing here as if I was chatting! Like I know people may read it or not, maybe leave a like, may think a while about it, and then keep going with their lives; and there's just something so familiar, so comforting on it?

Like, my problems are heard. No, there's no "solution" offered, but I already knew there wasn't gonna be one! Because it's not as if I never tried to find one! But here there's noone who'll come, to my tumblr out of all places, to pretend and fix it all by giving me little tasks or motivational speeches.

Sometimes I do get your regular one or two people who approach me really concerned for this persone they know solely as a concept. And these people always offer such sincere words of encouragement, such a natural feeling worry, that I genuinely cannot help but feel better thanks to it.

And I can't explain! I could, if I were to stop and actually analyze it, but there's not even a need for it. It's strange, and I wouldn't have it any other way, how legitimately nice it is to just drop any worry or stray thought into the void knowing that, regardless of what happens after, there's not actual consequence to expect, no way any of it would have a palpable negative impact, not even on myself.

[heliosoll]

Hello, I’ve just come across your account and I did ask this question to 1 other blog but they didn’t seem to really understand my question and i think they are uncomfortable with this kind of talk.

My boyfriend has a small yk, his penis size(ITS SO CRINGY THE WORD PENIS BUT INDONT KNOW HOW ELSE TO EXPLAIN) , if I manifest that he has always been big and not insecure from since he grew up, would that Make me shallow?

He’s insecure about it but anyhow I want him to not be insecure and be of average size (lol talking about this making even me uncomfortable so I apologise) and I just feel scared that it might change him as a person, idk. Sorry it’s a dilemma, yk things like that you can’t talk with people in person and especially not about manifestation. Sorry again I feel very embarrassed.

I mean, do you consider that shallow? Are you changing his size because of what you want or what he wants? Could you also manifest that he doesn't feel insecure with a smaller penis or would that be undesirable for you? Are you aware that you can still have pleasurable sex with a smaller dick?

Anyway, how "shallow" it is really depends on you babe! If you're only changing him because of your own desires and not taking his feelings into account then... yeah I'd say that's pretty shallow. But if you're doing this because he's insecure and you just want to be with a version of your man that isn't, that's okay to me. I'd also recommend manifesting that he knows how to use it because if he doesn't it can hurt a lot.

It definitely won't change him as a person! Do people who manifest their desired faces change as a person? No? Then why would he! He'll still be the same person just with a bigger shlongyblongyripropjongy

[anxiety-banana]

I’m going through my google drive (bc google’s being a butt and telling me i don’t have space-), which I’ve had for five years. Now, for some context, I don’t like just about anything I wrote before 2020. That leaves three years of cringy writing projects, audio files, and old photos. And much, much, more.

(keep in mind, most everything I wrote as a middle schooler I shared with my friends. They got to experience e v e r y t h i n g)

Here’s the running list of freaky things I’ve found:

-A Spiderman fic I wrote before I knew what fanfiction was

-Not one, not two, but three writing assignments where I had to write about my favorite book character. They’re all about Hermione, and they’re all hilariously terrible (I think I gave @ashgryff​ a heart attack when i showed them to her)

-My first self insert/projection story! The main character “Carrie” was discovered for her singing and guitar playing when she was twenty five, by playing in a cafe in her hometown.

-4000 words of an end of the world story where the main character’s love interest was the immortal brother of her adoptive father. don’t ask.

-An audio recording of me, singing Into The Unknown, in the echoey stairway of my old house

-A document titled “Butterfly”, with the only content being a recipe for waffles

-A picture of me and my kindergarten teacher. I look incredibly uncomfortable.

-A legend of Zelda fanfiction my friend wrote (and he tole ME fanfiction was lame. there’s ten thousand words of that thing written, with a full book cover)

-My library’s employee dress code (I worked there over the summer) that I typed up in thirty seconds flat while my supervisor was out of the room because I realized I didn’t have it

-Chords and lyrics to two separate Studio C sketches (and yes i can play and sing the entirety of “Everything Sounds Nicer When You Sing”)

-My weird, confusing version of Kung Fu Panda, but human, and I basically made myself into the main character. I had an obsession with injuring my favorite characters in 2018 too!

-Merlin fanfiction! An unfortunate amount of Merlin fanfiction. I had a celebrity crush on Colin Morgan, what can I say (can’t say i’m completely over it but shhhh 🤫)

-A retelling of the Myth Of King Arthur and Merlin, where Merlin is actually Meril, and a woman??.

-A story I basically mooched off of Pinterest, changed a few things, then showed to my dad to get him off my back about wanting to see what I wrote. He still thinks I wrote it

-2019′s failed NaNoWriMo that has the single best piece of writing I’ve ever done, surrounded by three thousand words of stuff I hate

-The Phoenician alphabet key

-Every photo taken for my sixth grade photography class. Every. Single. Photo.

-A photo I found of someone’s grave who had my name. Loving wife and mother!

-Three installations of the podcast I “was going to start” in seventh grade

-So much bad poetry

-Psalm 150, typed out in that font that makes it easier for someone with dyslexia to read (??? idk either)

-A short story I wrote about me and my friend going on a road trip when we were eighteen. I entered it in a writing contest. It didn’t win.

-A musical I wrote. I didn’t get past page three, but I wrote two songs for it!

-A story with multiple characters telling stories from first person, and each character had a different font. Each time the story switched to a different person, it switched fonts (Characters included Ariel, Georgia, Indie, and Garamond, aka Gary)

-An empty document, titled “Comedy Sketch Idea (don’t forget)”. Well, I forgot, little me

-A few instalments of a show, where my friend and I would record ourselves as if we were these wacky, radio show hosts. We all had different names and they were all hilariously wacky. I’m never getting rid of those files, ever

-A rip off of Death In Paradise, the main detective being a woman in her twenties, blind, with a guide dog. I was obsessed with two things in seventh grade: Murder Mysteries, and Molly Burke.

-A really depressing story I wrote about having an ED

-MORE sixth grade photography

-An untitled document with nothing but the line “What must I do to show this pain”

-An untitled document with nothing but the line “The brunette looked a little dazed walking into” (no, the sentence wasn’t finished)

-An untitled document with nothing but the line “We were tired of being feared.”

-At least three blank, untitled documents.

I deleted SO many things and I still only got less than ten percent more space 

-_-

But this list was fun at least!

[bisluthq]

Not to stay on this topic but I think I should add my feelings as well since I have been holding them in. Nat, we get it the Ashley Graham stunt was cringy and embarrassing and Kaydom’s version of Karlie isn’t true at all. But sometimes it gets uncomfortable because you sometimes will entertain the idea that Karlie and Taylor hooked up and may have had something messy and that Karlie has bottom energy then in the other breath say that Karlie has such aggressively straight girl vibes and say it in such a judgy way that I feel like I can almost see you rolling your eyes.I don’t think you even realize how that may come across to femmes who face erasure all the time even though you’re a femme yourself. Maybe it’s because of how you feel about Karlie. It’s like sometimes I would be ready to laugh along with you about how this girl is soo straight and then some of your points are things I also do and it’s like ohhh. I mean I want to laugh at straight girl stereotypes too. Some stereotypes can be fun & harmless like how you pointed out that article about bisexuals not sitting well in chairs - at least I think that was you- but the things you point out about Karlie don’t even sound like really widely held stereotypes or not any I’ve heard except for the movie night girl kiss. Then other takes are not funny for me because I’m a lesbian and find myself relating to certain things probably because I behave in a way that people might view as very girly girl. Then it seems like you think she couldn’t be some version of queer and also love Josh with her entire being as well and want to do everything to be with him and that feels problematic as well. I feel like if you knew me and all the stupid stuff I did just to be with my girlfriend you’d call me a golden retriever too. And maybe this rant is less about you and more about how I feel like somewhere along the line society seems to have decided that being a girly girl is uncool, annoying and demeaning. It’s like you’re not the right type of girl if you love pink, played with barbies till you were 12 and love love and definitely - you automatically belong to the dumb blonde category- and you are most definitely not the right type of lesbian or sapphic. No one takes you seriously in the community or anywhere else if you’re a certain type of femme. Even if you have a whole girlfriend. I still have family members who will gossip and have no shame in telling me to my face that they’re just waiting for the day I finish experimenting and laugh like we’re all in on the same joke. I could be out with my girlfriend at a bar and men will still try to flirt with me even after I point out that we’re a couple. I’ve been in queer spaces and felt like an alien and a complete outsider. You’re not feminist enough if you’re a girly girl who cares about appearing attractive. Heaven forbid you’re a girly girl and in love. I feel like I’m very much the type of girl that would get called a pick me girl. Hence why I hate the whole she’s such a pick me girl statements. I haven’t seen you saying it, this is just something I observe in general. For me, it’s like aren’t all types of women and individuals valid? I call myself a feminist but I feel like there are people out there who’d look at me and roll their eyes. And that’s for almost everything about me.

I hear you - and other anons on this - and I agree I wasn’t right.

Like you say to me it was mostly comedy, partly genuine annoyance at Karlie (which is just a personal thing), and a HUGE dose of “what the fuck were Kays on when they made up boyfriend Karlie!???!!!??”

But I hear that it hurt people and there’s a really good take by Bill Hader which I always apply to stuff like this. He said “I’m never interested in upsetting anybody” and like... idk that’s my rule on playing shit for laughs.

So to me it was funny specifically because this woman had this reputation of being Klossanova able to derobe women with a glance or whatever but like irl she was a sweet, kind, peppy, nerdy, energetic golden retriever (/affectionate).

What I didn’t think through tho was in laughing at what she actually was relative to what she’d been sold as to me - and to many others - I was making people who relate to her feel bad about themselves.

And the thing is there’s nothing wrong with relating to her.

And I shouldn’t have made people feel like there is.

Again, Karlie is most likely someone who identifies straight (whether she is or isn’t) based on how she has positioned herself publicly with relation to the community. She hasn’t been confusing like Taylor and her “our pride” shit - like Kar is very straightforwardly an ally.

However, many people anywhere from Kinsey 1 to 6 act like her.

And those people are queer enough and aren’t bad or embarrassing and shouldn’t be made to feel that way.

So I unreservedly apologize for hurting y’all.

And I promise to do better.

When I talk to Kar’s girly stereotypes it will be in a positive way, designed to make anyone - queer or straight - who shares those traits feel good about themselves.

Again, I’m sorry and I really appreciate everyone taking the time to share this stuff with me.

[britishchick09]

the best and worst books i read in school!

ever since 5th grade, i’ve been reading novels in school. with the end of high school looming (and today being the last day of classes), i’ve decided to list the ultimate show stoppers and the bird droppers. let’s begin! :D

the best of 5th grade- maniac magee! i don’t remember much about it besides the twinkie things (which actually exist at walmart!) and shipping maniac and the girl character. my 5th grade teacher reading it made it so much better :D we also read ‘chains’, which is about a slave girl names isabel going to freedom. it’s a very powerful book and the sequel, ‘forge’, which is about a freed soldier boy named curzon, is just as amazing! ‘esperanza rising’, the story of a girl named esperanza who moves from mexico to california during the great depression, is pretty great too from what i remember!

the worst of 5th grade- idk what else we read in 5th grade besides those three (technically four) books. it could’ve been an iconic book year! (it was already an iconic school year)

the best of 6th grade- drums, girls and dangerous pies! it’s an interesting story of a high schooler named steve dealing with a crush and his little brother’s cancer, yet there’s actually a happy ending! the end is really iconic since steve says ‘i-’ to his brother jeff and it’s clearly ‘i love you’ but it cuts off! bonus points to ‘the cay’, a story of a boy named phillip who ends up on a raft with a man named timothy and a cat named stew cat. it’s a neat adventure and timothy saying ‘malar!’ is an earworm of a phrase

the worst of 6th grade- HOLY FRICK ‘THE HATCHET’ IS THE MOST BORING BOOK EVER WRITTEN!!! it’s about this kid who gets stranded in the forest and there’s this skunk pal, so you’d think it would be like ‘the cay’ BUT IT’S NOT IT’S SO FREAKING DULL OMG!!!! bonus points to ‘the gadget’ which starts out cool BUT THEN THE MAIN CHARACTER(also called steve!)’S FRIEND ALEXI TURNS OUT TO BE A SPY AND TRIES STABBING HIM LIKE WOAH THESE KIDS ARE ELEVEN YEARS OLD STOP DOING THAT WTF!!!! if you thought the double digit chapter was bad... oh boy! also ‘boy in the striped pajamas’ was good but very depressing! :(

the best of 7th grade- tom sawyer! this is about a boy and his southern adventures. it was a great story, but the movie is one of my fave live action movies ever!! they say the book is better than the movie but the movie is miles better and it’s so cute!!! bonus points to ‘the giver’, which is about a boy named jonas who meets an old man who shows him life in a better world (and there’s a baby). jonas and the giver were very sweet together and i love how jonas and the baby escape their dystopian society at the end!

the worst of 7th grade- call of the wild! it’s about a sled dog named buck who goes on a wild adventure in the arctic. it’s not a bad book, but the movie was so cheesy and it focused on the humans WHY THO???

the best of 8th grade- the outsiders! it’s about a greaser named ponyboy who runs away with his friend johnny after johnnycake kills a soc named bob. pb and the other greasers were such great characters and the story was so interesting! i also liked how the story is set in tulsa, where my grandpa lived. the outsiders fandom is a lot of fun and i’m so glad the story became one of my faves! :D bonus points go to ‘the diary of anne frank’, which we only read the play, so i sought out the whole book and wow anne’s story is so tragic and inspiring! more bonus points to ‘the good earth’, which is about a man in china and has an awesome movie to it (despite having white actors) and ‘twelfth night’, which is a funny shakespeare play about a girl named viola who disguses herself as a man named cesario. it’s full of romance, laughter and a hot feste singing voice (in the 1987 audiobook at least). and olivia is definitely bi ;)

the worst of 8th grade- animal farm! it’s about an orwell dystopian society (hmm...) but in a barn with animals. it’s not bad, but many of the animals were jerks except old major and the 1999 movie we watched was so cringy! (and the beasts of england song was changed which wasn’t cool)

the best of 9th grade-  the odyssey! it’s the ancient greek story of odysseus, a soldier who goes on an epic adventure to get home. the book was alright, but the movie was awesome and the movie ‘o brother where art thou’ (which is based on the story) is really great too! harrison burgeron, a dystopian society with a bad boi, was awesome too because i remember seeing the short film of it in 7th grade. ‘to kill a mockingbird’, which is about a girl named scout living in the segregated south, is really great as well! i loved how it was set in the 30s and scout was so much fun! (i’m a bit bummed at how we didn’t get to see the movie tho). ‘romeo and juliet’ is shakespeare’s most iconic work, being a tale of two star crossed lovers in fair verona. i really enjoyed the story(not the d jokes tho) and it inspired me to write a story set in 1596 (when the play was made)! i take back what i said about 5th grade being iconic 9TH GRADE WAS SO ICONIC YAS!!!!!

the worst of 9th grade- the scarlet ibis! it’s about a boy who takes care of his sick brother named doobie and tries to make him ‘normal’. it’s sweet how the iris symbolizes the brother, but how they die at the end is so sad! ‘the sniper’ wasn’t that good but the plot twist of the sniper guy shooting his brother was neat (also the ‘romeo + juliet’ movie wasn’t that good besides mercutio)

the best of 10th grade- a thousand splendid suns! the most recent book i’ve read, it’s about two women named mariam and laila who live in the afghanistan as the taliban take over. their story is so inspiring and i love how laila was able to be happy after all the horrifying things she went through with rasheed. mariam sacrificing herself for laila by killing rasheed was very powerful and i wish the stage version had her in it. bonus points go to ‘lord of the flies’! a group of boys are stranded on an island and there’s much boy chaos involved. it’s a great story and the fandom was too!

the worst of 10th grade- where are you going where have you been! this is about a girl named colleen who meets a guy named arnold friend. he’s very creepy and it’s an uncomfortable story to read (even more than rasheed!). equal bonus points to ‘the red bow’, a confusing story of a dead girl, a dog and red bows that i still don’t understand!

the best of 11th grade- the crucible! it’s about a girl named abigail who gets swept up in the salam witch trials. it’s a fascinating story with real life elements (rip giles) and the movie was pretty good. ‘the great gatsby’ was also a great story about how the roaring 20s wasn’t as fun as it seemed through the story of gatsby, all told through the eyes of nick

the worst of 11th grade- into the wild! this is a study sync thing, but we did a lot of those compared to novels. it’s about chris mccandles, a guy who tried surviving in a van in alaska and died, making a terribly tragic tale. ‘an incident at owl creek’ was ok but the best part was the plot twist of the guy running to his wife and being hung right before he can touch her (we saw the twilight zone ep instead of reading it and the twist was *chef’s kiss*)

the best of 12th grade- 1984!!! it’s the story of a dreamer named winston, who lives in the dystopian world of oceania. he meets a girl named julia and the two have a secret love affair, but they soon find out that no one is safe under the eye of bb. it’s terrifying tale that’s a bit depressing, but there are so many little moments that make me smile and the movie is even better. winston is relatable in some ways, julia is awesome and julston is a pretty great ship! it’s a big improvement over animal farm and it’s definitely my favorite adult story. bonus points go to ‘rime of the ancient mariner’, which is about an old sailor recounting his unfortunate journey at sea. the mariner telling his story to a random wedding guest was funny and it was an adventure like the odyssey! another round of bonus points to ‘beowulf’, an ancient norse tale of a warrior who fights a monster named grendel. the parts of the 2007 movie we saw sucked, but the story was really cool! wiglaf gets a shout out because he’s the best warrior :) another half bonus point to ‘hunger games’, which we saw the movie of. it’s about a girl named katniss who competes in a competition called the hunger games, which makes for a thrilling adventure!

the worst of 12th grade- hamlet! all of what we read this year was really good, but someone had to be last. this shakespearean tale is of hamlet, a prince who seeks revenge >:) it’s an ok story and i like the ghost dad!

now for my all time favorites! (and least faves)

the worst of the worst- the hatchet, the red bow, where are you going where have you been and the gadget

the best of the best!- 1984, the outsiders, a thousand splendid suns,  the diary of anne frank, the odyssey, romeo and juliet, to kill a mockingbird, twelfth night, harrison burgeron, rime of the ancient mariner and the good earth (along with the tom sawyer/1984 movies and hunger games)

good or bad, the books i read throughout school were amazing and i can’t wait to see what college brings! :D

[tackypies]

cw and tw list for agartha

the next epic of remnant will be agartha. agartha is the black sheep even with the JPN fandom because of the questionable handling of its themes, its subject matter, and etc. this is a section-by-section list detailing the potentially upsetting and triggering content, to ensure that you have a safe experience

if you are uncomfortable with rape and transphobic themes, i strongly suggest you read this list beneath the cut.

what’s wrong with agartha? it’s a misogynistic “women enslave men/women take revenge on men” storyline written from a highly fetishistic perspective and has the most transphobic scenes in the game

what’s the deal with the sudden shift in tone? E.O.R was a chance for a single writer on the f/go writing team to handle an entire “singularity” by themselves. they were responsible for writing all the scenes, with the details run by nasu to ensure that nothing contradicted the worldbuilding. save for the CCC event, which was written by nasu, we don’t know the specific writer behind each E.O.R., so we can’t say for certain who was behind agartha’s. i, for one, don’t take any of the characterization of beginning-/mid-agartha as canon bc fuck that noise

i’ve received some information from @the-grand-order that indicates minase was likely involved in the writing. please see the note at the bottom of the cut for an updated version of this post to reblog.

does agartha’s writing predict fgo’s future handling of these issues? no. no other event or chapter focuses on gender and sex so heavily. (save for the ooku event, but that event handles the topic of sex WAY better than agartha.) in fact, the writers have been careful to try and redeem characterizations from agartha, as seen by caster of nightless city’s interlude. it wasn’t a very well-received storyline overall :/

how accurate is this list? i’m going off of detailed summaries of the story, so this may not be perfect. this is an overview of the most egregious parts of the story and things may be changed with the NA translation. i don’t have high hopes. consider this a general guideline and, if in doubt, please ask a capable friend to check for you

if i’ve made any mistakes or have left anything out, please let me know and i’ll update it accordingly!

cw and tw list beneath the cut. warning for rape, transphobia, sexual harrassment, misgendering, pedophilia, suicidal ideation

Another Note: i’ve removed the warnings stating that astolfo is misgendered as he/she due to the fact that astolfo uses he/she/they freely as his pronouns. please see this reblog for more information. thank you

Section One: -transphobic comment by guda, referring to d’eon as “male”

Section Three: -explicit discussion of sexual slavery and gangrape throughout the section

Section Four: -reference to sexual slavery throughout the section

Section Five: -sexual harassment and threats of rape throughout the section -explicit references of sexual slavery and rape throughout the section -extreme transphobia towards d’eon and astolfo, where the pirates fetishize their nb identities -astolfo makes a sexual comment towards young fergus

Section Six: -explicit rape scene at the beginning of the section -torture and physical abuse of slaves -discussion of raping a slave -reference to sexual slavery -astolfo makes a sexual comment towards young fergus -dahut threatens to rape guda -assassin of nightless city makes a sexual comment towards guda (”Oh, or perhaps you would prefer being called Onii-chan like before?“)

Section Eight: -guda makes a comment about not minding if astolfo and d’eon stripped in front of them (idk what category this falls under but it’s kinda ick) -transphobic scene where mash asks guda if they’ve checked for d’eon’s “real” gender, and the camera zooms in on d’eon’s chest -da vinci, guda, and mash make sexual jokes about fergus in front of young fergus -guda makes a pedophilia joke -reference to sexual slavery and rape

Section Nine: -da vinci makes a rape joke -caster of nightless city implies she would perform sex on young fergus to survive

Section Ten: -berserker of el dorado explicitly discusses sexual slavery and threatens to sexually enslave the men throughout the section Section Eleven: -mash implies that astolfo may sexually harass/molest guda

Section Twelve: -dahut makes sexual advances towards guda and co.

Section Fourteen: -long discussion of slavery, frequent references to slavery (not sexual this time, thank god) and of colonization

Section Fifteen: -reference to fergus raping women -reference to caster of nightless city’s sexual abuse

Section Sixteen: -suicidal ideation is expressed -mention of slavery/colonization -young fergus makes sexual comments/advances towards caster of nightless city throughout the section -this isn’t really a trigger warning, just a general warning that young fergus’ entire damn speech is full of cringy gender essentialist comments like “Fergus says that if [Caster of Nightless City] had a nice man whom she fell in love with by her side, along with a beloved child, perhaps she would have no time for fearing death at all. He thinks that she can’t deny it.”

UPDATE: i’ve been informed that it’s highly likely that minase, one of the writers of prisma illya, was the writer. his name is credited as the creator of four main characters in agartha. again, a big thank you to @the-grand-order for their help!

i strongly recommend that you separate the content from the author when it comes to berserker of el dorado, caster of nightless city, rider of resistance and assassin of nightless city. all of them have received interludes written by different authors since agartha’s release, and caster of nightless city as well as berserker of el dorado have been included in various events to be given better characterization. if you wind up loving the characters, go ahead and love them. they’re your children now. fuck minase :^)

please reblog the updated version here.

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam Austin season 2, episode 1 reaction

Finally, Skam Austin returns, this time without Julie Andem behind the wheel. Honestly, no matter your opinion on this version of Skam, I’m actually quite curious as to where they’re going with this. Noorhelm, American-style? In the #MeToo era??? Will this season be a pleasant surprise and a sensitive rewrite of the original season, or will it just raise my blood pressure? 

Episode 1

Clip 1 - Less dance, more cupcakes please

Big establishing shots of Austin and Bouldin High, a “national outstanding high school” according to a banner. Abby talking a selfie with her girls. Tyler and his boyfriend sloppily kissing??? Congrats on being the first gay couple to get the S2 opening clip makeouts! Also, just gotta say, nice that a gay couple can engage in the same PDA as a straight pairing at a high school in a red state, although Austin’s less conservative than a lot of Texas.

Megan and Grace observe the makeout, as well as Shay sitting by herself on the stairs. Megan feels bad for Shay. When Grace asks why, Megan says she’d feel bad if Grace had a boyfriend. HMMM FORESHADOWING. Also, gay. Megan, the solution is to go be Shay’s girlfriend so she’s not alone. (For real, I have kinda mixed feelings on Megan and Shay actually getting together, because while I love their longing looks and hand holding, Shay betrayed Megan’s confidence in a huge way that would require tons of effort to repair the relationship, and I can only really buy it during a Shay season where there’s lots of focus on them. And I think it’s more likely they’ll give Shay an Even who’s brand new. But I wouldn’t object if there was a good story arc for Megan and Shay!)

Grace thinks Tyler’s boyfriend has a long tongue, Megan thinks Marlon’s is longer ��� well, that statement feels loaded. Like, we-won’t-need-Jonas’-Blue-Monday-power-walk kinda loaded.

Megan and Shay exchange an awkward wave. Almost a year later and things still aren’t normal, I guess. Shay fucked it up. 

Josefina has tried to do her own hijab, I guess? Zoya helps her do it properly. It’s really cute. Jo is my MVP of this show. I adore her. They need to make sure to do Shay and Zoya seasons on time so we can squeeze in a Jo season before they graduate.

Kelsey runs up. She made it onto the Kittens! I guess that’s one way to not have a dance team anymore. Some of the Kittens got busted for cheating on tests and got kicked off the team and L M A O obviously this wasn’t planned but I love this development happening now with the college admissions cheating scandal featuring Felicity Huffman and Aunt Becky.

Jo wants to tattoo Kelsey’s eyebrows, continuing the thread of her using Kelsey’s face as her cosmetic guinea pig from the first season.

Kelsey is excited because she can be on both the Kittens and the girl squad dance team. LMAO, so that WAS a thing. Did they actually dance??? It sounds like it. Apparently the team unofficially disbanded when Grace stopped going to the games and parties to focus on the school newspaper.

But I do love Grace being on the school paper; I worked for my campus newspaper so I am unreasonably excited to see where that goes. I’m assuming Noora’s Constitution Day article will become a column that Grace/(Daniel) writes for the newspaper?

Grace says she loves working at the newspaper and Kelsey tries to guilt her because it’s junior year and it’s the year colleges look at, you need to have extracurriculars. You can’t just be good, you have to be amazing. Well, that’s true, junior year is a big deal and the pressure to have a million extracurriculars is real. But lmao, newspaper is an extracurricular, as Grace points out. Kelsey thinks Grace needs more than “repetitive feminist essays” and OK, rude, and I also feel personally attacked. But if you’re going to get on Grace’s ass, Kelsey then what are your other “amazing” extracurriculars? By the same logic, wouldn’t you need more than dance teams? (I should not expect logic from Kelsey when it comes to dance teams, I know. Or Daniel.)

Jo gives this conversation the attention it deserves, which is minimal, because she has a cupcake. Her priorities are accurate. She says it’s the best cupcake in Austin so her search is over. Lmao, that Instagram content paid off. Now she should take on her quest for other top desserts. Megan can assist her in finding the best smoothie in Austin.

They’re talking about spring break. Kelsey needs to get her body ready, a hint toward her body image issues and concerns over her weight. Then Daniel’s voice comes out of nowhere to tell Grace that juniors can’t park in the senior lot. Grace says it’s not a big deal, Daniel says it is. Zoya, BLESS HER, is like, “So what are you going to do? Kick our ass?” YESSSSSSS someone besides Grace is not taking Daniel’s shit. 

It is downright uncomfortable how much Kelsey is trying to cozy up to Daniel playing hall monitor and how Daniel just ignores her when she’s right there to flirt with Grace. He says he hasn’t seen Grace in a while. At first I thought they did have their infamous date during the long hiatus - can you imagine not including that scene in a Noorhelm remake - but as it turns out, it still hasn’t happened. He asks about Grace’s boyfriend, and Kelsey blows Grace’s cover by saying Grace doesn’t have a boyfriend. Grace tries to save it by saying it’s her ex. So that’s how she got Daniel off her back. You know, if you lie about a fake boyfriend, that should be a giant clue to back off, dude. But instead Daniel knows she’s single so you know he’s gonna go after Grace again.

Kelsey tells Daniel she’s a Kitten and wants to take a pic with him. God, this is cringe-worthy. Someone stop Kelsey from doing anything. Ever. And it is so deeply awkward how the girls just stop and watch as Kelsey snaps some selfies of her with Daniel. In front of Grace.

Something super interesting in the comments: a few people commented how it didn’t feel like a Julie Andem clip. I assume people who recognize Julie Andem by name are fairly involved in the fandom, but I’m not sure how widespread the knowledge of Julie’s departure was. I wonder if they guessed it on their own.

Clip 2 - First rule of being an Eskild: never lock your door

Grace is cutting up vegetables for dinner. And dancing. I like they had her do this, it’s goofy and humanizing, and in line with her characterization from season 1. Noora would sing to Justin Bieber, Grace loves dancing like a fool. The irony of course being that Grace doesn’t give a fuck about the dance team, lol. She dances for herself and HERSELF ONLY (and sometimes Megan, when Megan needs a pick-me-up).

She talks to Megan, who is with Marlon. Megan told Marlon about what happened with Grace and Daniel, so errrr, thanks Megan? But Grace says she’s going to tell Kelsey everything, presumably about her and Daniel’s deal, so Daniel won’t have anything over her head. Daniel holding something over Grace’s head? Grace thinking Daniel might tell Kelsey something incriminating? Trust is an essential foundation of a relationship, just saying. 

Megan asks Marlon for his opinion and this dude clearly could not give a single shit about Grace and Daniel and Kelsey, he just says that if a girl isn’t into you, you just leave her alone. Not looking at the phone (and Grace) at all, just giving Megan some Looks, in my opinion. Based on later clips where he’s got a new girl, I think he’s trying to communicate that he no longer has feelings for Megan, but that Megan keeps hanging around and clinging to him. That would go along with Megan not getting it and saying maybe the guy doesn’t want to be left alone, showing she doesn’t get it (right after Marlon says “I don’t see why he doesn’t get that”). Also Marlon seems to be checking his phone during this chat so he’s not fully invested - my mind went to Jonas looking up other girls with Eva during the original version of this clip.

I will say, good on Marlon for knowing to leave girls alone if they don’t want you. Which is more than I can say for some characters in the Skam universe. Marlon’s probably my least favorite Jonas so this is a point in his favor, even if it is a low bar, lol. 

But also IDK if he’s being Woke or if he’s just swapping out Daniel and Grace for him and Megan and hoping Meg gets the picture.

Megan thinks Grace doesn’t want to be left alone and Grace goes into a rant about how Daniel isn’t her type, he’s not smart, doesn’t read, needs to check his white male privilege etc. Tbh it’s kinda cringy and on the nose in execution, like all of that is true and they’re solid reasons for Grace to not want Daniel, but I feel like they’re just stacking up ideas to be debunked about him. We’ll probably learn that Daniel is actually some sensitive dude who reads books and has political opinions and is a secret genius or whatever.

Grace notices her pasta is gone and waltzes into her cousin Eve’s room while Eve is engaged in some foreplay with her lady guest. Gee, Grace, that’s awfully bold considering you didn’t know what state of undress they’d be in. At least their underwear is still on … and Eve’s shoes … why does she have shoes on?? 

Anyway, LESBIAN ESKILD. Eve immediately establishes that she is some sort of hipster artist and kicks out Grace so she can go back to hooking up with her girl.

Daniel texts Grace that she’s cute when she gets caught, and thanks her for sending him her class notes when he was in the hospital. What was he in the hospital for? I don’t think that was stated on SM, or did I just miss it? (It’s on the Bouldin Beat Instagram: he had a football injury.) Grace said there’s no need to thank her because the teacher asked her to. He makes a joke abut football players not being able to read, which makes Grace smile, so you know ... she’s not so opposed to him as she lets on. But then he suggests they hang out tomorrow and her amusement fades, because that’s pushing things too far. We end before Grace answers.

Clip 3 - Why are we still talking about Daniel? Zoya’s words, not mine

They’re at SXSW for Marlon’s show. The banner says SX Sessions. I was confused as to why Marlon’s garage band would be playing here but looking at the banner for the event, I see something about all Austin bands, so if it’s an event featuring local talent, it makes more sense as to why Clout is playing.

A girl is talking to Marlon. Grace notices and seems to check in with Megan. Who does look great, by the way, in her leather jacket, her peer-reviewed ensemble. Megan’s still hung up on Marlon after almost a year, it seems. But also … lol, barely anyone wants them back together. They’re one of the least popular Eva/Jonas pairings. Possibly the least.

Kelsey is still talking about Daniel because he texted her and invited them to Penetrator Jo’s beach house for spring break. Grace is like mmmm … that sounds far away. I mean, would you want to be in her shoes, stuck at a beach house with the guy who won’t take no for an answer, where people will be drinking, where you probably couldn’t relax and even go swimming because that dude is definitely going to be looking at you in your swimsuit? Megan tries to help Grace by saying Marlon invited them all to a party. Josefina wants to go to be around mostly naked guys while they are also mostly naked. Kelsey and Zoya do not seem to be happy with the mostly naked part. Grace is like, we can just stay at my place and bake cookies instead! That would be my preferred option.

Kelsey wants some quality time with Daniel (is any time with Daniel quality time)and guilts Grace into going. I love that she’s like “We can talk about the dance team in the car” as if that would make Grace want to go. Grace reluctantly agrees and Kelsey tells Daniel the good news. He responds right away. He also texts Grace right away that they’ll be hanging out. No one notices the suspicious timing of the texts.

Kelsey wants to know if Daniel might like her, Zoya wants to know why we’re still talking about Daniel. THANK YOU. Megan goes off to talk to Marlon and block that girl from getting too close to him, like she literally squeezes between them. Zoya lays out what a rude ass Daniel was to Kelsey and Kelsey is like, but he genuinely apologized!!! And she’s a Kitten now!!! Kelsey loves how direct Daniel is and how he knows what he wants. Yeahhhh, about that. He does go after what/who he wants. It’s just not you.

Also, lol, they conveniently didn’t have to film an actual concert for this scene. 

Clip 4 - Newspaper time!!!

Grace is doing newspaper stuff at school with a guy (Nic) and Poonam. Poonam!!!!  That girl spoke her first line and I remembered how much I enjoyed her overachieving ridiculousness.

Kelsey texts the girls that she had a dream where Daniel asked her to prom. She was wearing her Kittens uniform in the cafeteria and Daniel came up, knelt, and offered a dozen roses. Lol, I don’t think Daniel would do that shit even if he did like Kelsey. But also … Kelsey. Dear. You’re so embarrassing. Being a Kitten is not going to make you a Daniel magnet.

They talk about the launch, so I guess the newspaper is a new thing? Or they’re adding a new feature? Poonam is nervous about the launch and what people will think of her. Grace says she doesn’t care what people think of her. (Or so she thinks ... I think Grace certainly wants people to think she doesn’t care and that she’s strong and independent, for example.) Poonam says if it fails she’ll pretend not to know Grace. Lmao, classic Poonam.

Grace slides over to Nic, the dude who’s there. According to the Bouldin Beat Instagram, he’s the cartoonist for the paper, but their conversation makes me think he does some graphics design, too. He’s listening to a Hamilton mixtape. Grace didn’t know he likes Hamilton, so she obviously didn’t see that Bouldin Beat IG post where it says Nic has the Hamilton soundtrack on heavy rotation. She brings up that her friend Kelsey likes the Hamilton mixtape. (I’m sorry but LMAO, because on the one hand I do find that totally believable, but on the other hand, my God, imagine someone with Kelsey’s level of racial sensitivity being a Hamilton fan.) Nick knows Kelsey and thinks she’s funny. So I think either he’s going to be the Magnus, maybe, as far as being Kelsey’s eventual love interest (although ... lol, see above comment about Kelsey’s level of racial sensitivity), or Grace will see him as a potential love interest for Kelsey and try to hook them up to get Kelsey’s mind off Daniel.

Shay comes in. It is instantly awkward. Grace: “I like your hair.” Shay: “It’s not real.” Lmao. I missed you, too.

However! In the most depressing development ever, Shay is here to see Nic. He gets up and kisses her on the mouth. It is bleak. Shay looks so not enthusiastic. She was staring at Grace in a pretty hard way, too, what’s that about? Did she know Grace saw her texts and showed them to Megan?

Shay’s “BYE” is passive-aggressive as hell. Grace sits there in shock as Poonam is like, they seem like a cute couple. LMAO GOD.

Just throwing this out there: best acted scene of the season so far, however brief. The power of La’keisha Slade.

Anyway. NOOOOOOO. Shayyyyyyy. It’s not unexpected, considering the trajectory of the Isak character in S2, but I thought, since Shay seemed to have an awareness of her sexuality at the end of S1 - she knows she likes girls and she was OK with telling Tyler about it - that maybe we could skip this stage. There’s something really dark about this, too, because Tyler is out there making out with dudes, it’s not like she thinks her friend group is completely homophobic (and yes, people can view gay guys and lesbians differently and have varying levels of acceptance, but I doubt that’s the case with Shay’s friends) so it’s not just about putting up a show for her friends.

What does Tyler think about Shay dating a guy? He’s not the nicest guy overall but he does care about Shay, and he knows she likes girls, possibly that she likes only girls depending on what she told him in the past. Now I’m wondering if Shay started dating Nic in part because Tyler has his boyfriend now, and Shay presumably feels like she’s left out, as Megan said. Damn. Shay needs a hug in any case.

Clip 5 - Cookie baking

Grace’s J. Didion (as in writer Joan Didion) sweatshirt is a nice touch and exactly the kind of thing I think her character would wear.

I enjoy Eve on principle because lesbian Eskild fuck yeah, but I also feel like her delivery is very ... TV-ish. Like someone who has watched a lot of teen dramas and is channeling the same flow/energy of how those shows present dialogue. I don’t think she’s bad, it’s not that, it’s just more when watching this show I feel like I am watching a typical scripted TV show rather than the very natural Skam style - not just with Eve, a lot of the show, even compared to the first season. I just thought of it with Even because when she entered here, it felt more like a wacky TV neighbor kinda entrance, like she was Kramer or something. Is that because Julie isn’t working on the show anymore?

Anyway, Eve tells Grace about some girl who is lighting dildos on fire and that’s the real story here, I want the clip about the dildo pyre.

Eve sees a text from Daniel on Grace’s phone and says he sounds like a blast. I refuse to believe this lesbian would be impressed by Daniel in the fucking slightest.

He did send a cute dog picture to Grace so that’s one thing he has going for him. Grace has a cute dog, too. If their romance was just them walking their dogs, I could warm up to that. Gradually.

Grace says Daniel is some stuck-up asshole and Eve looks him up on her phone, saying she knows him. His brother was in her grade, a wild athlete who broke records, and his sister had some tragedy attached to her. The mention of tragedy gives Grace pause.

Actually, a point in Skam Austin’s favor: if they talk about toxic masculinity and rape culture in high school/college athletics and how jocks are favored and get let off the hook for heinous actions, that would be extremely culturally relevant. I mean, a football player in Texas? Treated like a god. And there have been some high profile rape cases involving athletes. Daniel’s brother has likely graduated and gone on to college, maybe playing college football if he was that good, but it would be a way to make the S2 sexual assault storyline even more suited to American culture.

Clip 6 - Daniel’s going to be on Investigation Discovery one day, mark my words

The girls are at Grace’s house. They must have had a sleepover. There’s a nice nod to OG when the girls mention using a Ouija board the night before. So I guess we’re not getting that cabin episode (understandable because American school timelines would not allow for it, probably). Jo was afraid the ghosts tried to pluck her unibrow. NOOOOO GHOSTS, LEAVE IT ALONE. IT’S MAGNIFICENT.

Grace comes out with nachos and offers them to the girls. Kelsey looks at that plate and is like, shoot, I can’t do cheese, or chips, or beans. And I know this is Kelsey and she has an eating disorder, but like … people have legit problems with cheese and beans, lol. To her credit, Grace doesn’t make Kelsey eat the nachos or call her out. She offers to make Kelsey a kale salad or a turkey wrap, but Kelsey shuts that down, too. (She was also doing jumping jacks while the other girls were reminiscing about ghosts, just saying.)

Megan is upset because Marlon left her on read, probably because he has that new girl, not that Megan knows yet, and Daniel is texting Grace about when she’s leaving. Daniel then texts Kelsey the same thing. Grace texts Daniel to stop using Kelsey to get to her. Daniel is like, wouldn’t have to if you’d answer me! Grace says he’s messed up. I mean, yeah. He is messed up. Grace doesn’t owe him a response, sorry. 

While the other girls are talking, Kelsey mentions that she didn’t pack a swimsuit because she doesn’t like swimming, while Jo says Kelsey loves swimming, so another hint about Kelsey’s body image problems.

Daniel tries to call Grace and she declines the call, so then of course he immediately calls Kelsey. Oh my God, it IS messed up for him to do this. It’s so damn manipulative! (I know this all happened in Skam but we get to live this mess all over again, yayyyy.) And of course Kelsey is excited, but then he wants to talk to Grace. Ughhhh.

Daniel says Grace is messed up, and he knows what he’s doing is also messed up, but they had a deal. Oh my God. YOU NEVER OWE SOMEONE A FUCKING DATE. This is such a dangerous idea! You should always be able to back out of a romantic commitment! If Grace had been like “I will buy you something off the Taco Bell value menu if you apologize to Kelsey” and Daniel was calling Grace to be like “I want my fucking cheesy rice and bean burrito already” then I would find that more sympathetic than this. But dating is something you should NEVER have to set in stone, sorry, and I think this is where some of the split comes between Daniel/William defenders and his haters, because some people think a deal is a deal and some people (like me) think a date should not be ironclad under any circumstances. That mentality contributes to rape culture. (The disconnect between S2′s sexual assault storyline and William’s behavior is wild, tbh. But this is discourse that has been hashed out a million times already.)

Daniel whines that he apologized to Kelsey almost a year ago and that Grace made up an imaginary boyfriend so she didn’t have to hold up her end. No, actually Grace making up a fake boyfriend is what women do to get men off their backs because said men will not leave them alone and it’s a sad fact of life. Because men respect other men’s “claim” on their property (aka women) more than women’s ability to say no.

Daniel sounds like a goddamn serial killer when he’s all “just keep your word and go on a date with me.” Grace sounds downright defeated when she agrees. And of course when Grace hands the phone back to Kelsey, Daniel cancels on them for the beach house. Jesus, so we didn’t even get cute girl squad beach antics? Boooooo.

And actually, how shitty is it that he uninvited them to the beach house? I get that William uninvited them to the party, too, but that was just a party. These girls got packed and ready to drive several hours to a beach house, like imagine if they were on the road when Daniel called, or if they’d already spent money on gas and other stuff for a beach trip, or canceled other Spring Break plans with their families or friends to go hang out with these dudes. Beach house was a bigger time/money commitment for them than just a party, and he uninvited them (via a completely obvious lie that he took no effort to hide on social media) just because he got his date out of Grace. Selfish as hell, dude.

Jo complains that there’s too much girl juice happening and not enough sausage, and Megan is like, “You had sausage this morning.” Lmao. Literally all of these girls should embrace the “girl juice” because there is not a single viable male option so far. Nic from the newspaper seems nice but he’s bearding for Shay at the moment.

Good closing song, though (“Nail in My Coffin” by The Kills).

One of the best things about Skam Austin are the comments, and this clip did not disappoint. Some of the highest-rated comments were things like (paraphrased):

“Daniel is being manipulative” 

“Grace doesn’t owe Daniel anything” 

“you can see the fear in Grace’s eyes when she’s talking to Daniel on the phone, red flag” 

“Daniel sounds like he’s threatening her life”

And my utter favorite comment from this clip, verbatim: “daniel reminds me of those guys in criminal minds who call people on the phone and tell them what to do otherwise someone they love will die - aka a creep lmao”

Social Media/General Comments:

I don’t know what the big holdup was with S2 - probably having to do with Julie’s departure - but it was a big mistake to wait so long, imo. I don’t think it was great for building fan momentum, although I notice that the first full episode of S2 has more views already than some of the episodes from last season that have been out for almost a year (not sure if Facebook was hyping this season or not like they did with the series premiere). They’ve also minimized time for future seasons. We can get Shay and Zoya seasons if they get one in for this fall and next spring, provided the show is renewed for those, obviously.

Anyway, Julie’s no longer the director. The director is Phillip J. Bartell, who has a pretty interesting track record: he was the editor on To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Dear White People (both film and TV series), and G.B.F. Feels like a decent background for someone to take on Skam; he has experience with teen films and with more diverse fare than just straight white people. He also edited a shit ton of low-budget gay films, most notably the Eating Out series, including directing and writing Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds, and I have to include this excerpt from the Wikipedia plot synopsis: The five then start scheming to out Jacob, the closeted leader of the ex-gay ministry, to his mother by tricking him to have sex with Octavio, another member of the ministry, in a portable toilet on wheels. Jacob finally comes out to his mother (after he inadvertently ejaculates on her coat as his sexuality is revealed), and flees with Octavio. 

I did get more of a traditional teen drama vibe from this episode, and I do already miss Julie’s style of filmmaking: it was one of the best things Skam Austin had going for it. However, I’m going to give the sloppy seconds guy a shot. Although admittedly, this season of all seasons is one where I’m most apprehensive about handing the material over to a male director, no matter his track record. (Then again, a woman created Noorhelm in the first place, soooooo.)

I feel like Skam Austin more than other remakes has a large percentage of the viewers who watch the whole episodes rather than the clips, or who don’t understand the real time structure (correct me if other remakes have drastically more viewers for the full episodes than the clips). Each clip is flooded with comments telling the show to make the episodes longer or asking where the rest of the episode is. Tbh I find that really interesting because no doubt Facebook wants Skam Austin to be the hip new way to consume media in real time (I mean, assuming you have not seen the original show) but a large portion of the audience does not want to consume the show this way, lmao. And a lot of them cannot figure out how to watch the show! I blame some of that on the confusing Facebook video format, like the original Skam website felt so clean and easy to follow compared to Facebook’s ... everything.

Prior to the season’s start, there was a lot of SM stuff that set up stuff for this season, such as Jo’s epic quest for the best cupcake, Daniel’s car, the Kitten scandal, Abby is dating some football dude who’s one of Daniel’s friends, etc.

They made a point of it being Daniel’s birthday and him turning 18, I wonder if that will be relevant to the plot at all? Because now he’s legally an adult. Maybe if he beats the crap out of someone, like with the Yakuza guys, it’ll matter because he’ll be charged as an adult vs as a juvenile.

Abby’s new football player boyfriend is named Hunter. He has his own Instagram. I’m not sure why so much focus on this guy? I have nothing against him, just not sure why he of all people has an Instagram, compared to like Poonam or another supporting character. Would he be the Niko character since we already know Daniel has a brother? I guess maybe Daniel could hypothetically get in a fight with him over some Yakuza dude? Will Hunter end up dating one of the girl squad instead of Abby? Or does he not have much of a role except to be another of Daniel and Pen Jo’s social circle, lol?

Some information from the Bouldin Beat Instagram: 

Grace is a staff writer, Poonam is a researcher (???? do they mean copy editor? if she’s researching stuff wouldn’t she just be a staff writer since ... they all do research ...) and Nic is a cartoonist. And Poonam’s full name is Poonam Para, love me that alliteration. (There’s also a Sullivan Smith and a John Jackson.)

Poonam does write the advice column. She manages to include a reference to Frozen in at least one piece of advice, to no one’s surprise, lmao. 

In between reminding students about the 2018 midterms and an active shooter drill, the newspaper took the time to do the most important piece of all, Who Knows Daniel Williamson The Best.

His favorite movie is Dumb and Dumber which is not so subtly a connection to Grace’s IG name (Mary Swanson is a character from that film). So either it’s a thing they genuinely have in common, or he’s been trying to get on Grace’s good side. Or I guess he stalked her, watched the movie, and legit enjoyed it as Isak did with Romeo + Juliet for Even.

Penetrator Jo knows Daniel the best out of those questioned. Hunter does not know Daniel that well. Foreshadowing? Hunter’s a fake friend?

There are lots of horoscopes but I don’t know how to connect them to the characters since I don’t think we know their birthdays.Oh, except Daniel’s a Pisces, but I don’t know if him being so sensitive and “feeling all the feels” fits his personality that well.

The girls took part in the climate strike on March 15 and I do like the show acknowledging youth activism. I’m not sure it’ll play a huge role in the show itself, although frankly it would be a huge missed opportunity to ignore #MeToo considering the content of this season (based on the original).

Meg posted a pic of her with Grace captioned “me and wifey” and I don’t even ship them compared to other Eva/Noora pairings, but that’s just cruel.

There’s a text message and it confused me at first because Daniel says he apologized to Kelsey, and my eyes had glazed over that it was from last June, at the end of season 1. We get a rare glimpse into older texts that happened during a prior season - usually don’t see that with Skams, letting us see what was happening when the previous POV character couldn’t see it.

Anyway, back in the day, Daniel invited Grace for a picnic, she called him a cliche, they bantered, but it seems like she was a little torn about not being into him. He told her he apologized to Kelsey. Eleven days later he asks about their date and Grace says she’s in Dallas all summer and he says that wasn’t part of the deal. She asks if he seriously needs a date as incentive for baseline human decency, GOD, THANK YOU. A Noora finally said it. (Or at this point, it might not be the only Noora who said this. I’m still elated that Grace did.)

In September he texts her “shame about that boyfriend” so either she had a real BF and broke up with him at some point, or she just lied about it. I think it’s possible she said she had someone in Dallas which would be an easy way to keep up the lie. The “my girlfriend who lives in Canada” of Texas. And so that brings us up to now, where he notes she got caught and asks her out again. Daniel, fucking LISTEN to what she said about baseline human decency.

The girls’ group chat is Los Losers, an obvious reference to OG Skam’s girl squad. I got nostalgic as hell reading that, it was a sweet gesture.

I mentioned above that they didn’t stage the actual concert from Clout, which on a practical level I completely understand. But in-universe, it’s pretty far-fetched that there were no concert pics or videos from any of the characters on social media. I guess one of the hazards of Skam’s realism and social media format is that sometimes realism is too expensive to film, lol.

Daniel, Pen Jo, and their crew were all about the beach/spring break selfies this week so LMAO at how people were expecting the girl squad to chill at the beach later and just … that didn’t pan out.

Instead of going to the boys’ beach house, the girls did sheet masks, which is way more fun and also yields terrifying pictures.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[atheistjw]

Okay so I have been reblogging a lot and not posting anything because I don't really have anything to add but I started writting a cliche romantic story thats kinda super cheesy and dumb but I still want to share 😂. This is the latest and least cringiest version (although pretty cringy still) that I wrote about a year ago. I want to continue but IDK. I'm too lazy. Its about a gay JW kid who's non JW friend comes out. It's filled with gay characters because I was influenced by the too many BL dramas I have watched. Judge all you want 😂😂😂. Also covered the last part because it was kind of an idea of where I wanted the story to go. Sorry in advance for the horrible writing. Also if you can't read my handwriting I typed it below the pictures.

"Chris"

My earphones are in but they are just there to stop him from talking to me. I walk a little faster. Which I realize right away is the wrong move.

"CHRIS! I know you can hear me you dick."

I stop, close my eyes, and turn around. I look down at my shoes. All the guys are filing past us looking at us. For a moment he stays quiet. When everyone leaves he steps closer. My breath catches and I want to take a step back. He's too close. But the feeling of wanting him near is much stronger. I can smell his soft cologne and feel a bit of heat radiate from him.

"Chris," he says softly, all my resolve leaves me. "I'm sorry I called you a dick."

I look up surprised. He's looking at me concerned. I can't look away from his eyes. They instantly help me feel more relaxed.

I sigh. "No. Don't be sorry I was being a dick."

He smiles. I smile back but I feel like it's more of a grimace. He seems to notice right away. Of course he does.

"Please, Ryan told me that even though everyone in your religion stopped talking to him, you didn't care. You were okay with him being gay."

I look away when he mentions Ryan.

"I love you Chris."

But not the same way I love you.

"Please, you are my closest friend. Accept who I am."

I look up at him.

"I do accept you but..."

"What?"

"Nothing. I just think Ryan is too old for you."

Alex laughs. " Ryan is 20. I'm 17. He's a goodie 2 pants about following the law. Don't worry. We're not doing anything until I'm of age. In like a few months."

This is one fact I would rather not like to be reminded of.

Ryan. Likeable enough. Except I feel he purposefully tries to rubbing the fact that he's gay at the hall. Great for him. Not so much for me. I have to pretend I don't approve of his "lifestyle." He says he's okay. He understands I can't as well speak my mind yet. But I am not okay with it. I want to be able to be me and not say that I think that those who feel the same way I do are evil. Because I am not evil. My love for Alex isn't evil.

I hug Alex. He hugs back with the usual familiarity. I bury my face into his neck as he strokes my hair.

"Alex," I say, "Why didn't you tell me before?" Why haven't I told him? Because my feelings would be obvious. That's why.

He looks a bit uncomfortable at the question.

"Well...umm..."

"Don't worry. It wasn't a question I should've asked."

He smiles at me. "Thank you," he says.

[evenstevensranked]

#48: Season 2, Episode 8 - “Head Games”

Twitty becomes the star pitcher of LJH’s baseball team! He’s loving it until Louis starts to put pressure on him to win all the time. Elsewhere, Ren tries to sit next to Bobby Deaver on the bus come hell or high water.

But, I’m pretty sure the one thing everyone remembers from this episode is:

(^ I cannot find the source of that gif for the life of me. So, if it’s yours... I’m sorry. Tell me and I’ll credit you!)

This one opens at the baseball field! Kinda refreshing. And guess who the announcer is?! It’s ARTIE RYAN!!! Played by Jerry Messing from Freaks and Geeks. This marks his first appearance in my countdown! He’s basically this overweight and sort of apathetic character, who dishes out some hilariously dry humor. He’s unfortunately only in five episodes over the course of the series. Then again, maybe that’s a good thing. It’s never fun when a character actor is overused and subsequently goes stale... (*cough* Beans *cough*) 

What a guy!

LJH isn’t doing too hot with the current pitcher they have out on the mound. Louis is there with a radar gun, checking the pitcher’s speed and hanging around Coach Tugnut. When Tugnut asks where he got the radar gun Louis says: “Got it at a police auction. I would’ve got the jaws of life, it just didn’t fit on my bike.” He also rags on the pitcher saying “My grandma can throw a ball of yarn faster.” Idk why, but I kind of like these lines. They’re clearly pre-written and therefore feel a little cheesy as opposed to some gems we get from Shia improvising. But, there aren’t many other stand-out lines in this one. So, they’ll have to suffice. This pitcher really is doing a crap job though, so they switch him out for Twitty. Something that stands out to me is that Twitty is chilling in the dugout prior to this reading some giant book? Like? Is that supposed to be a joke? It just seems out of character. He should be sitting there — not paying attention, listening to music on his headphones and playing air-guitar or something. Not reading freaking War and Peace.

So... I looked closely. That is a fictional book called “The Brains of Men and Women.” What the heck.

Twitty gets up to pitch for the first time that season and rox everyone’s sox off. (Yeah, I said that.) His stellar performance helps lead LJH to a victory! Artie initially introduced him by saying “Alan throws right, bats left, and lives around the corner from Del’s Pizzeria” which is fantastic. Fun fact: Just because I’m weird, I decided to look up Del’s Pizzeria… and it’s a real family owned and operated restaurant that opened in 1973! AND it’s actually in California! Granted, it’s 4 hours outside of Sacramento… so, if we’re thinking within the shows universe - that’d be a bit of a commute every day for a middle schooler lol. BUT STILL!!! I bet one of the writers or someone involved actually lived around there. Little things like that make me happy.  

Ren and Bobby talk in the hallway and it’s extremely awkward. Ren brings up Canada and how their system of government is similar to America’s. I can’t. To be fair, they haven’t become “official” yet. That actually happens in the following episode! But, I honestly think Ren and Bobby are so uncomfortable to watch sometimes because they simply don’t belong togetherrrrr! (I think I’ve made it clear who I prefer for her.) Well.. that, and they’re in Junior High. Everything about middle school relationships is awkward and I gotta admit again that the Ren/Bobby stuff portrays that pretty accurately. Ruby tells Ren to not say a word the next time they talk and let Bobby take control. Kinda awful advice and gives me Poor Unfortunate Souls vibes… but ok. It works, though! Bobby invites Ren to sit next to him on the bus for their upcoming field trip. Something that bothered me: Ren’s so excited about the invitation that she moves a guy away from his locker to scream into it. The only issue is that it’s HER LOCKER. There’s a crapton of other lockers the extra could’ve used!!

Her locker seen in Season 1. 

The “random guy’s” locker she screamed into. 

Twitty’s super happy about pitching so well. He’s the new star player! Tawny asks “Twitty, how does it feel to be the new sports hero? I mean, not that I’m into sports or anything. I actually find it to be a waste of the human spirit.” I relate to that so much, tbh. But, yeah. It’s all fine and dandy until Louis starts telling Twitty that everything’s different now. That the entire school is counting on him to win all of their games. And here we get one of the most iconic lines of the whole series. Louis explains, “You’re the closer, the man! THE BIG POPPA WITH THE BIG MOPPA!!!!!” (the first gif.) I was so unsure of where to rank this episode, solely because of how memorable this line is. But, one great line doesn’t exactly save this episode from being a little flat otherwise. I had my mom watch it with me today for an outside opinion and she was like “Dang, this one is boring.” Sooo. Yeah.

Anyway, Louis really gets inside Twitty’s head and he starts freaking out during their next game. He’s sweating like a pig and can’t think straight. We see Twitty imagine Louis’ face on the baseball he’s holding, repeating the Big Poppa line. It’s honestly so hilarious seeing Shia’s face on a baseball like that I really cannot handle it. It’s something else that made me want to rank this higher.

Twitty took drugs before this game, right? 

Twitty pitches terribly and throws the ball pretty much everywhere but over the plate. He hits the peanut guy and Artie yells, “Oh! Right in the peanuts! That’s gotta hurt.” — A little cringy. But, Artie said it.. so, it’s ok. He also exclaims “Holy cow! Someone get me a hard hat!” when one of Twitty’s awful pitches knocks over the announcement speakers. I love it. LJH loses 29 to 2. Twitty blames Louis. After this, he starts choking at everyday things! Like pouring milk and putting on deodorant. Tawny and Louis go over to Twitty’s and try to snap him out of it. This is the one time ever in all 65 episodes that we get to see Twitty’s room! It’s on-point with his character, too. Kinda stoner-y, sporty, music-y, but also messy like a slightly neater version of Louis’ room. I like that they actually put thought into how it should look. When Tawny and Louis walk in, Twitty is lying on his bed all depressed. Louis tries to motivate him by screaming and clapping “Ya gotta get up! You got a game this afternoon. UP AND AT ‘EM! Up, up, up! Come on! Let’s get UP!” As if that’s gonna help someone who’s depressed. I love Shia so much.

The two try to help Twitty by giving him jellybeans when he thinks positively about pitching, and forcing him to smell Louis’ dirty socks when he has negative thoughts. At one point Tawny refers to the mound as “that stupid hill thingy.” I relate to her so much this episode. Their plan doesn’t work, so they call in Donnie for help. I really like Donnie. They bring him to Twitty’s room blindfolded and when they take it off he asks “…..where’s the surprise party?!” He’s so innocently dumb. It’s great. Once they fill him in on the situation, he recommends that Twitty relaxes at Big Al’s Spa — a place that once helped relieve him of sport-related stress.

Twitty’s room! (Guitars and surfboards not pictured, lol.)

There’s a 5 second bit I always liked where Louis grabs and eats a jellybean from Tawny and she just gives him this side eye. They’re so cute.

Nelson once again starts screwing things up for Ren. He sits next to her on the bus because according to his mother (and his hypochondria) that seat is the safest and he wants to live. He refuses to move. Wow. But, Ruby ain’t having it. She rearranges the ENTIRE BUS SEAT SCHEDULE in an elaborate plan just to ensure that Ren and Bobby sit together. 

What an inconvenience. 

The first time, something goes wrong and Ruby ends up next to Ren. This pisses me off. WHY COULDN’T SHE JUST SWITCH SEATS WITH BOBBY AFTER THAT?! It’s a very obvious and simple solution. But, no.. they just sit there looking at each other across the bus like “ugh, this is so difficult!1! This is like an impossible algebra problem… how will we ever solve it?! We’re worlds apart! :(“ 

So, instead of switching with Bobby.. She makes the entire bus swap seats again. Oh my god. This time Nelson ends up next to Ren, and Ruby ends up next to Bobby! SHE COULD EASILY JUST SWITCH SEATS WITH REN THIS TIME! But, they just helplessly stare at each other again. Seriously, how difficult is this?! Why couldn’t Ruby get it correct?! 

Thankfully, Nelson actually does something right and gets the brilliant idea to switch seats with Bobby! Wow! Genius! You could’ve done that the first time and saved everyone all the trouble. Jesus. So, yeah. Bobby and Ren get to sit together and they both admit that they get nervous around each other. Which is kind of cute I guess. Then Bobby says he “feels like a little kid again” because he used to get carsick when he was young. He proceeds to throw up into a backpack, lol. This guy is seriously not ~all that.~ Idk what Ren sees in him. He is literally so strange. Classically good looking, maybe. But there’s something off about his character. That’s the end of the subplot.

Twitty, Louis, Tawny and Donnie roll up to Big Al’s Spa and discover that it’s run down now and literally just a mud pit. You’re supposed to relax in the mud as if it’s a hot tub. No, thanks. Twitty really does not want to bathe in dirt either. But Louis says “Twitty, Donnie drove 50 miles… I’m spending $15… YOU’RE GETTIN’ IN THE STINKIN’ MUD!” I just love Shia’s shouty voice. Twitty gets in and they leave him there for an hour. He ends up taking a nap and wakes up super relaxed and refreshed… unfortunately, the mud hardened and he’s stuck.

I love Tawny’s outfit. I would wear that, honestly. I live in my Docs. Tawny is just me today. 

When Louis, Tawny and Donnie come back for him.. Twitty freaks out. He starts screaming “I’m trapped! I’m gonna be trapped here forever! And then I’m never gonna get to see my grandchildren!” Uh, Twitty… I’d be worried about not having your own kids first. It’s pretty funny, though. Twitty takes his anger and frustration out at Louis and yells “I swear to Bob, when I get out of here I’m gonna beat you up for a week!” …Excuse me? “I swear to Bob?!” Who is Bob??? Bob Marley? Bob the Builder? Bob Saget?!?! I mean really, “SWEAR TO BOB”?!?!?! Clearly, I’m assuming Disney can’t say “swear to god.” But, wow. They should’ve had him say something else in that case, because “swear to Bob” just sounds stupid.

Obviously, they’re able to dig Twitty out! As soon as he’s free, he starts throwing mud balls at Louis who hides behind a barrel that just so happens to have a target on it. Without noticing, Twitty hits the bullseye every time. In order to focus that anger during games, they put a picture of Louis inside the Catcher’s glove, haha. Hey, it works though! And according to Artie Ryan, “The Twitty-meister is back.”

It ends with Coach Tugnut relaxing at Big Al’s Spa, per Louis’ recommendation… Except he’s stuck in the hardened mud with no one to dig him out. Oops.

The end!

Like I said last week.. Season 2 is just kinda there. Episodes like this and the other Season 2 episodes that I’ve ranked already are examples of what I mean. There’s just a strange amount of slower, more forgettable episodes imo. Although “The big poppa with the big moppa” definitely helps this one stand out in people’s memories, I think. This one is also a Twitty plot basically! Which is kinda cool! But, ya know.. The show is called Even Stevens and he’s not a Stevens. So the episode as a whole feels a little off because of that. And Ren’s subplot is okay here. I definitely relate to wanting to sit next to your crush on the bus. Again, a very realistic Junior High situation. But, I swear to Bob… (whoever he is) the unnecessary seat rearranging gets on my last nerve!!!

Thanks again for reading! If you didn’t notice.. the blog is now evenstevensranked.com! Yay! :D

Feel free to follow on Twitter, Instagram, and give a like on Facebook! Just tryin’ to get the word out.

As usual, share your thoughts below! 

[itsclydebitches]

Soo like 6 days ago I started watching the Witcher stopped at ep 7 bought the Witcher 3 and have been playing it nonstop. The shows okay? I think? (From someone who only knows what the series is from a 4 hour critic video that I had no idea what was going on in BUT- the game is so funnnn. Like I barely know what’s going on, from that video and people discussing things online but WOW??? Like how was I not told about this shit earlier??? Dandelions realllllly icky thooo like I thought he’d be more fun and less “wow your straight fucking scum” but I mean at least he cares about his friends? Triss and yennifer are... Oof rough BUT I’m only just in the game, hope they’ll grow on me? Or change? But Ciri? Is adorable? Her parts are so fun to play her dodge is so fun.

The novels! Have You read them? Where does one get them lmao Ik they’re translated?

[old timey fisherman's voice] WE CAUGHT ANOTHER ONE, BOYS!

Ahhhh new Witcher 3 fan!! Congratulations, anon, you've unlocked my numerous Thoughts™ and Opinions™ on the matter that I am now going to dump on you in bullet point form. No spoilers though!

Okay, okay, yeah I like this game a totally normal amount. I've sunk at least 250 hours into it (so far) which might not be much compared to the Pro Gamers and whatnot, but it's an insane amount for someone like me who possesses the attention span of a goldfish. I don't do any of the same thing for 250 hours (except write things on tumblr, I guess)

I didn't know what was going on either when I first played. I didn't even have the show to sort of help me out, Witcher 3 was the first Witcher story I ever dove into. The great thing though is you can just... google stuff? See, idk if you've worked this out yet, but the games all take place post-book series. All the stuff in the series happened, then Witcher 1 starts with Geralt having amnesia, and everything else in the games is new content. Which means that though there's obviously a fair number of book spoilers throughout, it's pretty easy to google worldbuilding questions without getting game spoilers. So once I understood that I was able to supplement what I was getting via game osmosis with stuff like, "Who the fuck is Nilfgaard again and why does everyone hate them?" or "What did Triss do to Geralt?" without getting any quest-specific spoilers. Basic wiki articles with, "Such and such is related to such and such and once did This Thing" was super helpful.

Yeah, the show is just okay. I'm far less enamored with it a year later than I was at the start. I think I was trying to like it more than I actually did... Honestly, I'm actually somewhat wary of getting more seasons simply because of how TV shows tend to dominate fandoms. The Jaskier/Geralt dynamic is a perfect example: once the show does something, a very large portion of the fandom tends to take that as their preferred canon. Finding non-TV!Jaskier/Geralt content is more of a struggle now. Which isn't a bad thing, god knows I'm happy to have more Witcher content in general, it's just too bad that we have game and book dynamics that are, at least here on tumblr, largely overshadowed by the show. My fave in the whole franchise - Regis - is someone I'm particularly worried for because if the show does him dirty and the whole fandom takes that characterization as gospel, I may not recover lol.

Dandelion's characterization in Witcher 3 is, sadly, not what I'd hoped it would be. To my mind book!Dandelion is superior to both game!Dandelion and TV!Jaskier. It's his dynamic with Geralt that made me ship them in the first place. He does grow on you in the game though (or at least he did for me), but he's definitely presented as more annoying/inept/creepy than in the books. And don't even get me started on how they butchered that relationship in the show... Though I WILL say game!Dandelion remains pretty funny. There's one quest in particular that never fails to make me laugh. Also his fashion is on point for a flamboyant bard.

Oof Triss and Yen... beware, anon, that is THE debate in this fandom and the one you might want to steer clear of lol. Personally, I'm not a fan of either. Triss is fine, I guess, but not someone I really, actively like and Yennefer is... well. Let's just say if I could do away with any character it would be her. I absolutely despised her in the game, was told she was better in the books, started the books, hated her even more, tried to give her a chance in the TV show, and ended up hating her there too. I'm just not a Yen fan, at all, which basically makes me the black sheep of the Witcher fandom lol. You might warm to them though, the majority do, however, know that you don't have to romance either of them. My Geralt was quite happy being a single father to his amazing daughter Ciri :D

I've read the short story collections and read enough of the novels to realize it wasn't my cup of tea. Basically, there are two collections of interconnected tales as Geralt goes about his witchering and then a six book epic following the hansa and everything with Ciri. Personally, I couldn't get into the epic and dropped the novels early on. In my humble opinion Sapkowski, writing a character like Geralt, (much like Doyle writing Holmes) excels in the short story format and then struggles stylistically in novel form. I found his writing tedious, the themes not nearly as poignant (many outright uncomfortable), and the fact that Yen is a central part of the whole tale didn't help sell things for me. Reading a six book series where a good chunk is dedicated to the supposedly epic love story of a couple where you hate one half and find the whole relationship cringy (though not in a way the story is purposefully acknowledging)... doesn't make for great reading imo lol. But I want to emphasize that that's my take and god knows it's a minority one. Most fans adore the books - and I do heartily recommend the short stories - so definitely give them a shot for yourself some time.

They are indeed translated (I can't read a word of Polish lol) and are very easy to find in a bookstore, online seller, etc. The wiki article lists them all.

(Though know that you definitely can't download ebooks for free via the Z Library. Nope. Not possible. Don't know why I'm even getting your hopes up.)

Really though, Witcher 3 is my fave, hands down. Out of the books, the show, the other games... Witcher 3 is the version of Geralt and the world that I truly fell in love with. When people say "Witcher" that's the version of Witcher I'm eager to discuss. However, if you can stomach early 2000s games with pretty terrible graphics, I recommend trying Witcher 1 and 2 once you're finished (I was immediately ready for more gameplay content after I'd finished lol). Witcher 1 is, in many ways, a mess. God the combat system drove me nuts... BUT it has a strange charm that I, in all seriousness, really loved. Meanwhile, Witcher 2 (Assassins of Kings) is far stronger. You can easily see the building blocks of Witcher 3 in the narrative choices and worldbuilding. Plus, AoK has Iroveth who is just such a fun character. Wish he'd made it into Wild Hunt :(

Also the comics! I bought the omnibus a while back and didn't regret the purchase for a second. House of Glass (the first story run) also has one of the saddest Geralt moments for me. Just this single panel that lives in my head, rent free, making me Feel Things on occasion lol. There's a new run, Fading Memories, releasing this month (!!!) which I can't wait to get ahold of once the trade paperback is out.

Oh god I could ramble about Witcher 3 for ages but this is already getting so long. Do all the side quests! Return to places you've already been to for fun surprises! Replay decisions to see how differently things turn out! Play lots of Gwent! Enjoy the gorgeous landscapes! Be sure to get the amazing DLCs when you're finished! Play Hearts of Stone first because Blood and Wine has an ending-ending and I didn't realize that, so it was a little weird to get the emotional finish and then have like 10+ hours of gameplay left! Oh, and if you haven't figure it out already know that you can put points into any skill in the General Skills tab (you don't build on it like the fighting/signs/alchemy tabs) and I would snag the "Gourmet" ability ASAP because it has saved my ass so many times.

AND ENJOY PLAYING

I wish I could play it for the first time again, but diving back into more Blood and Wine tonight will have to do :D