#overall i don't think your opinion is wrong. i'm more critic about the way disney is handling these franchises

[manny-jacinto]

nothing pushes my self esteem lower than your txt posts cause ill watch the mandalorian and have a great time and i like marvel movies too then ill come on here to see you say how everything about the episodes was bad and anyone who enjoys it is a stupid shitbrained idiot with bad taste and comparing it negatively to marvel cause everyone on tmblr hates marvel now.

but you make some of the most beautiful gifs on here so i still like following you for those.

wtf anon, i don't think i ever belittled someone bc they liked marvel (maybe some of my friends bc ik they don't even enjoy it so much so i kindly make fun of them)

i actually think it's great that you enjoy stuff. i personally am very critical of what i watch so that's why i kinda always criticise things. the thing about mando is that the episode is like good ya know? but if you compare this to the whole star wars thing and like the whole story of star wars then i think some stuff is lacking. and that's star wars fans for you. we love to bitch about stuff. do not take it personally. i'm also french so that doesn't help because we love to complain

at the end of the day it's just an opinion and most opinions are neither wrong or right. if you feel happy about your opinion then you shouldn't be affected by others!!!

if i make you so sad and hurt, please , unfollow me. it's not healthy. i have a very opinionated mind so if it makes you uncomfortable, please unfollow/block me. it's not worth your mental health i promise. a lot of people make better gifs than me and they don't say a single word soo i guess you'd be better with them!

[sendnotes]

books i read in april.

this is going to be my thing from now on. i'll compile a list of all the books i read in a month and share my thoughts on each one every end of the month.

just so you know, i'm a little forgetful, and i have a tendency to forget names, plots, and other details. i'm hoping that writing these will aid my memory in recalling how i felt about each novel.

you can also find me on goodreads

so, let’s begin, shall we?

101 essays that will change the way you think (wiest, brianna)

self-help book

this book got off to a good start! some of the essays written (or should i say a collection of articles originally published on the thoughtcatalog website) made me think and consider my outlook on life, love, and so on.

the title overstates the case though. when i think of an essay, i picture something more argumentative and philosophical. not to mention that the majority of the ideas in this book are redundant. it made it difficult to get through. nonetheless, i was able to get past it because there were so many fantastic concepts and topics discussed.

overall, it's an interesting & worthwhile read for those who enjoy thinking outside the box.i lost count of how many times this book gave me aha moments. i swear, most of the entries soothed my mind and provided a great pick-me-up when life seemed to be frustrating.

the midnight library (haig, matt)

science fiction, fantasy fiction, psychological fiction

regrets, self-remorse, what ifs, family approval, drugs, dreams, love, passion, hatred, death, afterlife, multiverses, quantum physics, and a plethora of possibilities packed into a 304-page book.

i'll be honest: this book is already on my list of favorites. i'm simply blown away by how well-crafted and diverse the entire story unfolded.

a sci-fi novel with a dash of fantasy and a smidgeon of philosophy. if that's your thing, you should give this book a shot.

the first few pages of the book gave me an impression and led me to surmise it was going to be a cheesy ass chick lit novel that i'd only read and find enjoyable in high school. i was completely off base. it proved to be very mature, full of lessons, but delivered in a fun and entertaining manner— exactly my cup of tea.

it reminded me of a disney pixar film called soul, in which the afterlife is depicted in vivid detail. they differ on so many levels, but they both imagine life after death for people who are unsure of their path, purpose, and passion.

every chapter served a significant concept, so this book is well-deserved of a 5-star rating!

norwegian wood (murakami, haruki)

fiction, romance novel, bildungsroman

as i read the book and neared the end, all i could think about was how this book became one of murakami's most popular and influential works.

murakami offers a sprawling glimpse into the lives of a group of severely damaged youths grappling with the realities of what emptiness entails. take what you will from it.

i know a lot of people like it, which is fine. but please keep in mind that this book hit me square in the gut. it alternated between making me angry, sad, annoyed, and disgusted almost constantly. there isn't much else.

this book should come with a warning: "this is not a good place to start if you're new to murakami's works. this is not a representative of murakami's brilliance."

fist and foremost, the characters in this book are all repulsive.

toru watanabe was a fuckboy and a softboy rolled into one. what could possibly be worse than that? he'd have as many casual sexual partners as he could while also buttering a girl up by appealing to her emotions and displaying a "sensitive" and "vulnerable" side.

this book was made even more depressing by the fact that each female character was needy, weak, dysfunctional, and dependent. since they're all the same, i'm not going to go over each of these female characters one by one. you already get the idea.

reiko ishida, imo, was one of the best rendered sections of the novel. most likely because she had a better grasp on her emotions and goals than the still seeking youths... until, *spoiler alert* she wanted to do it with toru as well. a big disappointment.

to summarize, this book is primarily concerned with two topics: sex and death.

hidden meanings are everywhere, but when you get to the core, that's all that remains.

the four agreements: a practical guide to personal freedom (ruiz, miguel)

self-help book

first agreement ⏤ be impeccable with your word

this essentially means that you should not spew gossip or use words to harm others. because words have tremendous power and can cause significant harm. you are not only negatively affecting others with your hateful and thoughtless words, but you are also hurting yourself. this is something with which i generally agree. how i see it, when people are unhappy with themselves, they turn to others to make themselves feel better. as a result, they gossip about others in order to divert attention away from themselves.

second agreement ���don't take anything personally

alright. sure. don't let what others say about you bother you. it has everything to do with them and nothing to do with you. well, i don't entirely agree, but i think it's a fantastic idea in general. however, achieving this goal will be extremely difficult. i believe it would take a lot of practice to reach this level of zen. plus, i honestly believe that other people's opinions still matter because they keep you in check. the best advice is to not be swayed by these opinions, but to consider why they were expressed in the first place. see what you can do to improve yourself from there. sure, it can be difficult to deal with; after all, no one likes being told they're wrong or whatnot. but it's not all bad news because you can sometimes use criticism and judgment to give you a competitive edge. i mean- don't you think hearing someone else's point of view is also an opportunity to learn and progress? ruiz should have stressed that it's not just about "not taking it personally because you know you're not that person," but also about not retaliating with an extreme knee-jerk reaction even if you believe you're being unfairly criticized.

third agreement ⏤ don't make assumptions

this is a real eye-opener for me. i've noticed that whenever i become enraged by someone's words, it's usually due to my tendency to assume. personally, i can't help but make assumptions. i don't know what other people's motivations are, and i can't help but draw conclusions based on the information i have. even if the other person had no intention of causing me harm, it's too late. the thought has become ingrained in my mind, and i never ask for clarification out of pride or fear of appearing overly sensitive.

fourth agreement ⏤ always do your best

this section did not seem particularly useful to me. i mean, aren't we all reminded of this all the time? this section is filled with sloppy writing, in my opinion. as if he badly wanted to finish the book and impulsively thought: "okay, fourth agreement: always do your best. that should suffice. lmao"

overall opinion: the third agreement was my favorite, but the rest were a no-go. don't get me wrong, i appreciated his ideas, but i've heard them all a hundred times before. basically, the book's sole takeaway is that we are all suffering in some way in our daily lives, and we are all dealing with different issues. regardless, we all need to be kinder and gentler to ourselves and others.

the song of achilles (miller, madeline)

romance novel, historical Fiction, war story

i'll keep it short and sweet:

i really wouldn't have had this book any other way. miller's writing is breathtaking, so rich and full of lovely detail. it's incredibly a unique concept to me that authors are rewriting such ancient history and stories to make them lgbt+!

some suggest it's tedious, but i disagree. it isn't slow; rather, it is just right.

'cause at the end of the day, it's not about war, tragedy, or heroes - it's a slow-burning, organic love tale between two young men and their inevitable connection.

it's sad, tender, and painful, but in the best way possible.

circe (miller, madeline)

novel, historical fiction, fantasy fiction

"greek mythology, but with a feminist twist"?! sign me the hell up! this piqued my interest... only to leave me feeling completely let down. seriously now. circe was described as a "badass empowered woman," which was the single most compelling selling point for me, and thus the most wrenching disappointment, i must say.

sure, it demonstrated the value of feminine power, but it also did represent how this power can be a force of good or evil.

not to mention the fact that circe fucked a married man or two in this book- i mean- how is that an ~empowered woman~?

let's be clear right off the bat: madeline miller's follow-up to the song of achilles is epic in scope but not necessarily in execution. to me, this read more like a tedious island tale. regardless of how many five-star reviews this book has received... i just don't think it's well-deserved. don't get me wrong here. miller is a fantastic author with a lush writing! istg- i'm blown away by how beautifully she wrote and carefully chose her words. even the most mundane phrases were written poetically. after-all, it’s greek mythology. but how did she manage to make circe seem so... bland?

[lucy-and-rebecca]

I also find the "Thomas came after encanto" statement to be incorrect. He just gave his opinion on a movie. He pointed out a few things that he didn't like and said overall the movie wasn't bad. I don't see why people felt the need to compare encanto to miraculous.

For starters encanto is a disney film that has the budget of 120 mil at the bare minimum while miraculous is produced by zagtoons who can't be bothered to pay their voice actors that has the budget of 11 million (I'm assuming per season). It's also an episodic tv show. Like iwasbored said, the comparison between the two is fair.

One thing about his tweet I do remember is he wished to have the same level of technology as encanto to work with but I know everyone will very conveniently ignore that.

I haven't watched encanto mainly because I don't like stories where the main character is the only one without magic. Even if the story is good, it's not for me. Because of that I can't tell if the movie is good or bad. But I do know one thing. Anytime Disney has even a little bit of representation it's hailed as the best thing in the world. So that movies flaws get overshadowed. And so that a single tweet from a professional working in the field, who only ever talked about shortcomings he saw in the writing are seen as an attack. I've seen bad faith criticisms of encanto. It's your typical shit about wokeness and pushing agenda and is this movie really trying to tell our kids XYZ? Astruc only talked about writing and voice acting. Even if he's wrong how is that an attack on the movie? People thinking any criticisms of their movie is an attack on the movie is what disney wants. That's why they make a big deal out of the smallest of representation and their strategy is clearly working.

Because if Astruc said he didn't think the character arcs had a satisfactory conclusion you have two options. First and best is block him or ignore and move on. The second one that I don't really recommend because Twitter arguments are pointless is to elaborate why he is wrong and how the character arcs made perfect sense. A ton of miraculous sugar blogs make really good in-depth analysis of the character arcs in miraculous. But instead most people will simply attack miraculous insted of making a single valid point. Because disney has finally thrown """good representation""" in your face. It must be the most absolutely perfect thing in the world otherwise the disney overlords will never give you another """good representation"""". The fact that majority of the people make cheap arguments against miraculous insted of trying to explain why Astruc was wrong is proof that disney has successfully manipulated their fanbase.

Even if Astruc was wrong about everything he said and encanto is an absolutely flawless masterpiece that's better than miraculous in every way imaginable... that's nothing to write home about. Disney simply has more time and resources to perfect their work something that a relatively small french production will never be able to do, especially with its first real project. A Disney movie should be better than Miraculous. That's not something praiseworthy, it's a prerequisite.

At the end of the day the encanto thing is just another excuse to hate on Marinette.

When Thomas hated Encanto y'all didn't have to come after Marinette, y'all could've just made fun of his show but y'all chose to hate the main character, not even Thomas got the backlash that big. Every time I opened internet it was "Mirabel is so much better than Marinette", no wonder I don't want to watch that film, first y'all trash talk Frozen for it and then you cyber bully Marinette, no thank you. One toxic fandom is enough (I've already heard Enchanto fandom is problematic as it is). Just a little reminder how unfair the Internet is towards this little girl who deserves so much better. I agree what he said wasn't cool but what did Marinette ever do to you? Most of you didn't even watch Miraculous Ladybug but you had to be so cruel towards her.