#protagonists who have been through shit and choose hope my beloved

[maareyas]

Hikari Ku is making me feel. insane

he's a deposed prince he's a tank he's a heavy hitter he's a shounen protagonist put in a more mature setting he has some dark entity telling him to kill he's super polite he's EVERYTHING

[teashadephoenix]

11 Questions

I got tagged by @pomegranate-belle <3 I'm sorry this took for fucking ever?!!??

I’ll tag @lioness--hart @fox-in-the-library and @whitegodiva if you guys want to do it? And anybody else, obvi <3

1. How long have you been writing?

Actually sitting down to type stories out? Eight years old. I've been making shit up since I could talk. I have it on good authority I am entertaining to listen to.

2. What are the major themes of your current wip(s)? LONG ANSWER

omg I really dont know. I spent several hours over several days banging on this question in my head both in front of the computer and away from it only to come to the horrified realisation that I Don't Know. *gay panic*

I know the things I like to write about. I like to write about free exchange of culture, of mutual respect and fraternity with your fellow humans (which leads to themes of unity, unconditional love not only of people but of the world, and the gray area of what it means to protect those things without giving in to hate, indifference and intolerance. THE GRAY AREA IS WHERE I THRIVE.)

I like to write about intergenerational relationships (which leads to themes of obsolescence, changing of the guard, and how people, in general, not individuals, never really change. Like, there's For a Good Time graffiti on the walls at Pompeii. That is HILARIOUS.)

I write a lot about family, both born and found. (Everybody has a place and everybody is loved.) I write about mental illness and being queer (which all by itself leads to themes of not knowing your place in the world even if you have one. Frequently comes up against the previously mentioned theme)

So yeah. I don't know. My big WIP, the Aalee Rise series, is about a young woman on the cusp of adulthood going out into the world for the first time. It's her idealism vs reality. The other main characters in that cast are all foils re: various facets of societal structure and ideologies. One challenges her idea of government, another her idea of religion. She falls in love, her loyalties to her brother and parents are tested, she makes mistakes, she fights monsters and saves the world. A lot.

tldr; It's my sandbox and I just wanted to build castles in it. I don't really know if the castles will mean anything when I'm done. I hope they do.

3. What do you want people to take away from your story once they’ve read it?

My greatest ambition is that I could ever write a hero as beloved as the heroes I read about growing up, figures that reminds not to give up hope, to get back up when we're down, that the dark times ahead of us will come to pass.

At best, if I've done that, I'll be ecstatic and satisfied.

At worst, as long as you had a good time, if you didn't throw the book across the room in disgust, I'll take it.

4. Would you be excited if people write fanfiction about your wip(s)?

YAAAAS. I would literally never read it because Im terrified of accidentally absorbing someone's ideas and making them my own bc Christ alive that's a legal nightmare, but yes that would make my life.

And you can have my firstborn if you send me fanart.

5. What’s your go-to writing beverage?

Tea. Really strong and sweet. I make a fresh quart each morning and usually go through it by the end of day.

6. Who is your favorite oc? Tell me about them!

OMG ALL OF MY CHILDREN ARE PRECIOUS. (it's Aalee.)

Aalee Dering is the eighteen-year-old protagonist of my Aalee Rise series.  When we meet her in volume one (Worldwalk) she and her twin brother are setting off on their coming-of-age journey around the country. Her people, the Noruahai, have defended humanity for generations from unearthly creatures called asmic, and if she wants to become a licensed Marshal like her famous mother (and wow, she really, really does) she'll have to prove herself on her Worldwalk.

Aalee thinks with her heart first and always. She loves beautiful things, and all things are beautiful to her. She's quick to cry and struggles with anger, as well as distraction; she has trouble keeping focus. Good for getting into trouble. Not so good when it comes to being a responsible adult.

It would probably be easier if she wasn't of two minds on every single decision she has to make. She empathises with everyone, which can be paralysing-- how can she fight someone whose point of view she gets?

7. Do you feel that mistakes are important learning tools in the writing journey?

Mistakes are learning tools of life, darling. In writing they generally aren't the types that will destroy friendships, health, financial status, etc, which means they're generally easier to bounce back from. Unless you commit career suicide in some way...

8. Rank your ocs by their capability in a footchase (either running after or from smth, your choice)

1. Fall from the Aalee Rise series. He's a complicated human. Without getting into the context of the world he's from, he's hard to explain; but the short version is he's half-ghost so he can basically turn himself into the wind.

2. Rosie Frey from Color of the Stars but only when she's a lion. In her human form she's pretty normal.

3. Lynn Blythe (or any of the other vampires) from Echoes of Eden, because they're cheating cheaterfaces who use mystical vampy powers to be stronger and faster than humans

4. Sendmarshal Henley from the Aalee Rise series. Probably the fastest regular human. Imagine the most beautiful, tall, leggy black woman you can, all lean muscle and elegant grace, and now imagine her scooping you up and zipping out of danger with an easy smile on her face... *fans self* I stan.

5. When running headlong into danger to save someone? Aalee Dering. When running away? Frustratingly, satirically slow. She's one of those idiot heroes who stops to make sure everyone got away okay so Fall's always running back to grab her ("MOVE, IDIOT" "But that little old lady--" "FIRE-BREATHING MONSTERS. MOVE.")

9. Does your wip have romance? tell me about it!! if not tell me about a friendship/important relationship in your wip!! MORE LENGTHY BLAH

Relationships are the driving force of my writing. How one loves or is loved by other people, how they relate and engage with others, is how one grows, in real life and in fiction. There are a number of relationships in all my series that I'm fond of for various reasons. (For instance, even though she cannot STAND him, I'm eager af to write Eden and Lynn's relationship in Echoes of Eden because of how complicated it is.)

And as a rule all of my characters are queer or questioning unless otherwise stated, and I ship everybody with basically everybody else, and almost everybody has a love story in their history. (at least, their parents certainly do because I am a gross vile romantic and these fuckers came from somewhere.)

That having been said, for the sake of brevity I'll stick with Aalee Rise and limit myself to the Big Three: Aalee and her brother Elles, Aalee and her best friend Norah, and Aalee and Fall.

FAMILY: Aalee and Elles are twins. Born together and never separated, which stands out in a world where families are broken up by chaotic circumstances and random death on a regular basis. Aalee is easily distracted and has difficulty communicating her thoughts, so she tends to act on impulse; Elles is forever the cool head and the hand grabbing her by the back of the shirt to stop her from walking into danger. And after eighteen years of this... he's tired of it. He loves his sister, but he longs to see the world on his own terms, walk his own path. And Aalee doesn't share that sentiment. Not only doesn't share it, but is blown away when it comes into play. Her partner in crime wants to break away, and she does not take it very well. The first volume (Worldwalk) explores how their relationship suffers, grows, and changes due to this break.

FRIEND: Aalee's best friend of ten years is Norah. They met as little girls in a monster-ravaged town; Norah was entertaining the youngest orphans with a story and Aalee joined in. The pair of them spent a long night keeping civilians from panicking while Marshals battled asmic beyond the walls of the bunker. They exchanged addresses and became penpals over the next few years, since both of their parents travelled and they were rarely in the same place at the same time. That changed suddenly when Norah lost her father. Since then, Norah's family and Aalee's have lived in the same town. Norah is her warm hand in the dark, her shoulder to cry on, the first person she tells any good news. for Norah, Aalee is the only person (at the beginning of the story, anyway) with whom she can be her real whole self. They love each other no matter what.

ROMANCE: And then there's Fall. Aalee meets Fall when she rescues him from being murdered in a back alley-- except, oops, turns out it was a sting operation to catch the killer because he's not actually the helpless filthy vagabond she assumed he was; he's actually a powerful Marshal who was on assignment. Stuck together for various reasons, he becomes a mentor to her on her worldwalk, while she blatantly digs into the mystery of who he is, which turns out to complicate their lives, the lives of their friends and families, randos they happens across, their enemies, and also God's. To say they fall in love with each other is an understatement of cosmic proportions. They choose each other.

10. Do you believe in the advice kill your darlings?

Yeah but I take the advice as intended; which is not, as most assume, kill your fave characters, but to get rid of that which does not work, even if you love it. That pearlescent line of dialogue, or that golden bit of allegory? Doesn't matter how much you love it and how proud of it you are, if it does. not. work. it HAS. TO. GO. (save it in a new file to reread when you feel down and scrap that shit from the main file.)

that said re: killing characters, in my youth I was very much of the George RedRum Martin camp of "KILL THEM ALL" but as Ive gotten older my main focal point has been "What purpose does their death serve?" Death is not the only sacrifice worth writing. So while I am not afraid to kill my characters, I do take the nature of their deaths in the writing very seriously. There has to be a point.

11. Do you prefer plotting or worldbuilding? Why?

WORLDBUILDING MANYEXCLAMATIONPOINTSGOHERE! Plotting is like the maths of writing. It's measurement, it's brickwork, it's demolition when the wall you put up last week is three feet too long and now you have to scrap it and start over. Vital. But not my favorite part.

Worldbuilding is the art. It's the music your OCs hum and the stories that they treasure and the faith that holds them up when the crap you throw at them might tear them down. It's the story behind the jacket they wear and it's the reason they nod to the altar when they enter a place of worship and it's the meaning of their names. It's the magic. How the world works, the little details that make it real to the reader because it's real for your characters, is my favorite part of writing.

[gaynoctgar]

Thoughts about Prompto’s arc in “Brotherhood”

The real title, for now, is something like “Prompto being formerly fat was not even remotely necessary and was offensively handled” or “Haley rants about Brotherhood because it’s so fatphobic”

TW: eating disorders, fatphobia.  

It’s also incredibly long, but I really want to share my thoughts.

Update: 10-4-2018: inspired by comments and tags, I added more examples of dialogue that exemplifies the problem

Update: 22-4-2018: accounting for the new “official profiles”...it got worse, everyone.

Oh Prompto.  Prompto Argentum.  My beloved, sweet, beautiful bi boy who could have had a much more satisfying arc.  They really tried, didn’t they?  They tried to give you a touching backstory and instead exposed their fatphobia.  And as for the bi part, well, that’s another essay in and of itself....stay tuned everyone. 

Yes, this is one of those posts.  That’s why I put all of this under a “Keep reading.”  It’s just something that has been subtly bothering me for a long time and I thought I’d give this short essay format a try.  There will be a TL;DR at the end, I suppose, but please read through this if you are interested in this aspect that I feel is both underexplored and overexploited about my most favorite character in anything ever.

A bit about myself before we begin: I am rather chubby.  I’m 5’4” (162cm) and 220 lbs (100 kg), and I have struggled off and on with eating disorders since I was in high school.  I do realize this makes me “obese,” but this essay isn’t about that.  Rather, it is about how fatness and obesity is often portrayed in media as a character flaw, or something to overcome, and my own feelings about why this is harmful. To be clear, I want to make two major points with this: 1) Prompto being “formerly fat” is not something that was even remotely necessary for his character arc and its inclusion and resolution are nothing short of fatphobic and; 2) the fact that Prompto receives his character development via losing weight in Brotherhood is emblematic of every problem I have with how media chooses to include fat people.

These points are incredibly intertwined, so let’s start by exploring what was intended by the episode.  I want to be clear and demonstrate that I fully understand what the episode intended to show, and I will continue to acknowledge what the likely intent was.  This essay/rant is critiquing the execution.

If the point of Brotherhood was to suggest that Prompto had a lonely childhood until he met Noctis, that’s great!  I understand that that’s what Brotherhood was showing.  HOWEVER. I have been sickened, from the moment I saw his episode, with how his journey to lose weight was correlated with his journey to “be good enough” to be Noct’s friend.  Let me be clear.  I understand that we are supposed to interpret this as a character flaw on Prompto’s part, and we see in the gayest scene the rooftop motel scene that losing weight did not resolve Prompto’s self-confidence.  I know that.  What I am saying is that him losing weight was in no was necessary to include, at least not in the way that they did.  There are some ugly implicit implications here, not least of which is that eating nothing but salads is, I would argue, just as unhealthy as what he was doing before. The show treats it as a positive good that Prompto appears to be starving himself and thinking obsessively about losing weight, and that is what I am taking issue with.

I, personally, detest the “formerly fat” trope and all its incarnations.  Wouldn’t it simply have been enough to say that Prompto was painfully shy (he was) and very lonely (he was)?  Why do these feelings have to be justified via his body?  Was there no other way you could justify Prompto simply being too shy to talk to Noct? Noct’s the prince, Prompto is a commoner who feels that he’s nothing particularly special…would this not have been enough?  Doing it the way that they did implies that being fat is a moral and character flaw that needs to be corrected in order for you to be seen as a hero. That is what I am taking issue with.

And yes, I realize that the “weight loss journey” is jump-started by the fact that babby Noct says “heavy…” when trying to help Prompto to his feet.  Believe me, I understand first-hand how much that hurts. I faced many similar instances in my own life.  I can’t blame him for saying it, he’s a kid, but I do want to point out that Noct never apologizes for this.  You could say “he didn’t realize he was wrong” but maybe you could have had a scene where Noct wonders why the cute boy with the camera is avoiding him, and Ignis can say something like “well, did you do or say anything that might have upset him?” and Noct can actually apologize for hurting Prompto’s feelings.  This is not unreasonable to expect.  When I was a kid and people were avoiding me, my mom always asked me to think back on why that might be.  It’s part of growing up and learning that your words and actions have consequences.

TO BE FAIR: I do think the motel scene was an attempt to rectify all of this in the game.  While Prompto formerly being fat is not explicitly mentioned, he is mortified that Noct remembers him back in elementary school.  Now, I love Noct, but he’s stupid sometimes, and not very intuitive. This is, however, in his character, and I will allow it because the very next thing he says is “You should have said something sooner.”  This shows Prompto (and the audience) that Noct doesn’t give two shits about how Prompto looks, now or ever, and I am happy that this was included.  However, there is no given reason behind why Noct couldn’t simply talk to Prompto himself beforehand.  Like I said, Noct is an idiot, and also a lot more shy and awkward than he lets on. But this moment was sweet between them, even if you don’t ship promptis, and I do think it is fair to mention it.

However, coupling all of this with the fact that the “character sheets” show us that Prompto does, canonically, have a fear of gaining weight, as well as these little snippets of dialogue…

Prompto: Hey, let’s hit up the Crow’s Nest!

Ignis: If you wish to put on weight? Certainly.

Prompto: *sighs* Yeah, I know…

(I swear to god every time I get this dialogue I SCREAM at Ignis, how is this even remotely okay to say to your friend who you damn well know has problems with his weight and there’s no way you don’t know this--)

EDIT: The addition of this quote is based on the tags from @gentiuna, I knew I was forgetting something!

Noct: Why is your face so fat?

Prompto: I’m NOT fat!!

(I swear to Jesus you’re on thin fucking ice with me Noct, that’s not even remotely funny and you need a time out to think about what you’ve done--)

This one I have only gotten once in my ~400 hrs of play but I swear I didn’t make it up; if anyone finds the specific words, I will correct it:

Ignis: talks about food and how it’s “anything your heart wants” or something

Prompto: Yeah, it’s the wanting that’s the problem.

I think this was intended to be a nod to Brotherhood but (and @bernielu can back me up on this) I SCREAMED when I heard it. How is that REMOTELY okay?  Nobody even REACTS to this, or asks if Prompto is okay, or ask him why the FUCK he would say that.  

This is when it becomes pertinent, I think, to discuss my own experience with eating disorders.  I have wonderful friends and family, and I’m well on the road to recovery, but back when I was in high school, I just straight up wouldn’t bring food to lunch.  Retroactively, I realize they all brought extra, hoping I would get just hungry enough to pick at the scraps (I usually did), and that was their way of helping me and showing me that they cared.  It can be hard to want food sometimes.  As offensive as I find its inclusion, I do think that’s an accurate way of representing how it can feel: you know that food is good, and you know that you are hungry, but it’s wanting to eat it that’s a problem.  Here’s my issue: that should have raised everyone’s red flags, and the fact that nobody, NOT EVEN NOCT, WHO WE CAN EXPECT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS, says ANYTHING about this, and the game writes it off as another one of its Infamous Banters ™….it’s not looking great.  It’s not looking like representation, to me.  It’s looking like erasure and fatphobia.  

Babby Prompto is supposed to be viewed with pity but also, I think, with disdain: by the audience and by Prompto himself.  I’ve noticed in many fics that the fans like to almost romanticize this aspect of him, and explore that he has an eating disorder which is…I don’t’ like it because most of these fics come to the same conclusion: Prompto ends up skinny anyway and it’s just a quirk about him.  This is what I meant when I said that I feel this is overexploited, earlier in the essay, but also underdeveloped in the sense that they basically, in my opinion, show this as something that Prompto had to “get over” to be a real protagonist. They don’t go into how fucked up Prompto’s psyche must be from this.  It’s just kinda…ignored.  

UPDATE 22-4-2018: I’ve got to get this off my chest, the new “Official Works Profile” for Prompto made all of this worse.  It literally outright states that, after rescuing Pryna, Prompto “decided “to become the right sort of person for a Prince” and worked to change himself. It also refers to Prompto having a “pudgy youth” as if that were a bad thing.  It also says “Incidentally, Prompto’s photography hobby developed when he was dieting and took photos to record his weight loss progress.” Not gonna lie, this one made me physically ill.  There was literally no reason for that other than to imply that being fat is somehow immoral.  Why is Prompto’s “personal resolve” equated to losing weight? Why couldn’t it simply have been to be more outgoing? I’m fucking ANGRY, I’m done being polite about this.

My solution, then? Well, one of two things: 1) don’t make Prompto fat to justify his bad childhood if you know you’re just gonna make him thin and completely ignore that he was ever different, which is my preferred solution, or 2) have at least one character be bigger and that’s just how they are and it’s not made into a plot point or anything.  

A final note: I KNOW people can and do drop tremendous amounts of weight, and I want to be clear that I am not suggesting this is bad or that people shouldn’t do it.  A person’s weight and their relationship to it is their own business, and as long as people have a healthy relationship with their body, I’m not one to judge.  I know that we are supposed to see Prompto’s weight loss as heroic and a strong example of his dedication to Noctis.  And sure, we get that.  But maybe I have convinced you that the development we get comes at the cost of fatphobia, at least in terms of how it was portrayed here.

TL;DR: Prompto didn’t need to be fat to develop his character, and its inclusion and treatment in the narrative of Brotherhood suggest an uncomfortable degree of fatphobia.

If you stuck around for the whole thing, thank you so much for reading my thoughts.  It’s something that has been bubbling up in me for months, and now I am finally able to put it in words. <3

[shaanks]

jjk!! (for the fandom ask) c:

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most):

Listen 2 me. Gojo Satoru and Fushiguro Megumi my absolute BELOVEDS. I love love love Yuji he is Best Boy and the protagonist of my heart, Nanamin has grown on me like a fungus, Sukuna is the meanest fattest most spoiled housecat on earth, Nobara and Maki are very Gender and very Married, like...nobody is doing characterization like Gege not a fucking soul, but..........Gojo and Megumi.

Like, it's hard not to love Gojo even if all you're taking in is the surface behaviours. He is caring, energetic, enthusiastic, he cares about his students, he wants to find a way to make the world better that actually addresses its current problems, and lasts, he's so beautiful it hurts...

but it's the underlying tragedy of him that kicks me in the gut every time. In a lot of ways, he was never really given the opportunity to be a child, he was always balanced so precariously on pedestals he didn't choose, by adults who wanted him for his power and didn't care for the human parts, and while sure...and yet he still always chose the world. Even after it showed him how ugly it was and how little it cared, he still chose good, and he keeps choosing it, and everything he's been through adds such a poignant layer to how protective he is of his students' childhoods.

And Megumi, who was never really a child either, not with the disappearance of his of his parents, or their apathy towards him beforehand. He struggled with so much anger and directionlessness, and yet he's another one that chooses good at every opportunity, despite what he thinks of himself. He has the gentlest heart, and while he keeps it hidden a lot of the time, if you've gained his trust he just. Opens like a flower. I love them both.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped):

I wanna choose Gumi again bc his hair is very Shaped and Like That, and I do get like. Agitated when anything bad happens to him, but I think I'm actually gonna pick Yuji for this. Not bc he's traditionally scrunkly, he's not hes absolutely stunning at all times, but he can, will, and DOES just stagger out of the physical realm at the slightest inconvenience. Sensei can't teach you the bankai on day 1 of training? Turn into a wrinkled piece of paper immediately. Concerned about your next month's itinerary? Become a Meow Meow complete with like whiskers. He folds his whole body up or just like turns low-res 18 times an episode and he's also just the sweetest baby so yes. Yuji.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave):

Ijichi, did y'all know he's like 24 or something ridiculous, he's so stressed out he looks like he's in his 40s. He's got the deeply undesirably task of having to report to both Gojo AND the higher ups, and he's honestly just trying his best in the dumbest situations for a non-combatant to be in. My heart goes out to the guy, I really hope the pay is outstanding and he's able to take vacation time without getting like, mobbed.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week):

Junpei's momma!! :(((((((( I think all told she had like 2 minutes of screen time but she was so cool, and so smart and supportive, and its rare (both in media and IRL tbh) to find a parent that just...genuinely gives a shit about their kid. and is willing to meet them where they are, instead of projecting their own desires onto them. She was just really good, and it sucks so badly what happens to her.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave):

This is another one where I wanna say Megumi (even tho he's not any of the words listed above) bc right up until he decides he's gonna go apeshit on a special grade he just. gets his ass handed to him like 8 times a week. I think the actual poorest lil meow meow of the series so far really is Junpei though. He was just some kid, who happened to go to the same school as like 8 different violent sociopaths who beat his ass constantly, and when someone was finally able to DO something definitive about said bullies, he ran right into their arms looking for safety and companionship...with quite possibly the worst person to ever exist. He just didn't have the experience or the boundaries necessary to see Mahito for what he was until it was way way way too late to stop what was coming, and just. There was nowhere else in the narrative for him to run. his whole arc was just the "kick the puppy" trope and it hurts every time.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason):

I wanna bother Sukuna all day long but I don't think I'm gonna put him in the horse plinko yet (bc then I'd also have to put Yuji in the horse plinko and I'd rather die) but do you know who can def go into the horse plinko? on his way to superhell? MAHITO. Slam DUNKED into the plinko machine, and Gakuganji, and Kenjaku!Getou. I think roughing them up in there for a few rounds is a good appetizer for the main course, which is...

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell):

Mahito, Gakuganji, Kenjaku!Getou.

Mahito because he's just the nastiest little dude. he's SHAPED like a scrunkle but he lacks any and all redeeming qualities of one, he's just a horrible guy that deep down in his heart of hearts...is worse. just. jail for 10,000 years and then superhell forever.

Gakuganji because he's a slimy, self-serving coward that not once but TWICE so far in canon has used his power to attempt to assassinate ACTUAL CHILDREN because he'd much rather see kids die than have anyone or anything threaten the power structures that benefit and enrich him, and if it wasn't Gojo's actual birthright I'd love to twist his fugly head off with my bare hands.

Kenjaku!Getou is, among other things, a sexual predator, and for that alone he deserves to be fucking vaporized, but even beyond that literally everything that's happened, at least to Yuji's group but maybe to like everyone we're aware of is part of some twisted 12D chess game he's been playing with himself for like 500 years and I am very very very very ready to see him get demolished.

***

Thank you for the ask bby, ILY times a million!!

[abitterlifethroughcinema]

A RETURN OF SORTS…!

BCN FILM FESTIVAL 2020

WOKE! Film Previews  

by Lucas Avram Cavazos

Guess who's back? I hope this finds you, my lovelies, strong and moving from surviving to thriving. The last time I graced these pages directly and not just via tagged social media samo-samo, a new year was dawning, I was pumped with 2020 vision, and my mom was still alive. Fast forward six months and Lawd knows, our world has seen a global pandemic rip through our continents and our homes, opening eyes and forcing many of us to turn brave new corners showing new mirrors revealing new truths. Again, I hope all is well.

We all have certainly had loads of time to become streaming magnates, and I don't know about you, but between Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Movistar, and HBO Go, there has been a love fest of cinema, docs, series catch-ups and horror nights in my home, so it's made working through this brave, new world quite more palatable. Catalonia's first taste of cinematic normalcy came over the last week as the BCN Film Fest braved the coronavirus restrictions and heralded its fourth annual incarnation, providing a broad spectrum of a host of genres, industry and celebrity sightings, with all films gravitating toward those loved subjects of history and literature. Let's take a peek at some upcoming films that made their Spanish or Catalan, some even European, debuts here in BCN this past week. We’ll start with three of them.

Firstly, we commence with director Matteo Garrone and his glorious retelling of Pinocchio, based on the beloved classic by Carlo Collodi nearly 140 years ago. Starring none other than Roberto Benigni as Geppetto and the cutest of newcomers in pure fantasy wooden form is little Federico Ielapi as Pinocchio. Far be it from me to deny the Disney gods their due but I'm going to trust this version to be much more accurate to the original...full stop. From a few moments in, the sheer silliness of Begnini is so on point that it is instantly impossible to not feel for him as he lovingly constructs his little puppet out of what turns out to be a huge, magic log of wood. What he produces is a rapscallion little tyke that we know as Pinocchio, and he is not a mere simple little fellow. In fact, he's a right louse at times, obstinate and daring but still ever so tied to his human father. His daring nature throws him into the midst of a traveling puppet circus, only to find him then taking an adventure to get back to his dad. What he and his counterparts, found and befriended along the way, help show is that we are usually just trying to get back to the essence of who we are in some form or fashion. Some years ago, Benigni actually created his own interpretation of this dear fable, and it was widely panned. If this was a form of redemption with director Garrone at the helm, mission accomplished. The film won 15 awards at this year's David Di Donatello Awards and swept it clean and is currently, slowly drawing more audiences to the box office till. Maybe not for the youngest but what a great family film. ###-1/2

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, based on the novel Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl by Judith Kerr, is masterfully and evocatively served to us in emotional beauty by director Caroline Link, who gave us Exit Marrakech a few years ago. Taking the essence of nostalgia and turning it WAY up, Link and her perfectly cast actors serve us a brutally honest and semi-autobiographical telling of the life of author Judith Kerr, acclaimed German-born British illustrator and writer. Starting in Berlin, Germany 1933, just as Hitler's new forces are commencing their triumph after many a year in German politics, we see a well-known and well-to-do family of German-Jewish heritage quite aware that their opposed and vocal views of the National Socialists will soon force them to flee to Switzerland, before making it to Paris, and then eventually winding up in England. The film chronicles these times over a span of two years. The title is derived from the protagonist Anna Kemper's (the spectacular young actress Riva Krymalowski) need to choose only one plush toy to take before their lives as refugees begin, and she decides to leave her wee rabbit behind in the belief that her dear housekeeper will forward it on to her when able. What grips you is the way director Link draws out the pure nature of a young sister and brother team as they move from proud upper middle-class intelligentsia life to one of glorified refugees. All involved are uniquely aware that they are documenting truth in the face of an ever-increasing fear as Nazi takeover grows stronger. But beyond that, it becomes powerfully moving to watch the manner in which their parents make their harsh reality an adventure-of-sorts for the two young Kemper children. Winsome yet profound, emotional and yet quite comical as well, this is a wonderful piece of historical cinema and well worth the time. ####

Polish director Agnieszka Holland is not a stranger to reproducing works of literature for the big screen… think The Secret Garden and Washington Square as examples. Her latest work takes on a subject that even I, as a history tutor, was not even aware of, frankly. Mr. Jones is based on the true events documenting Welshman Gareth Jones, who stumbled onto a sickening truth. Played by James Norton with odd anxiety (known for playing the imprisoned psychopath on Happy Valley), Jones is also an adviser to David Lloyd George, the former British Prime Minister, so he actually has some wee access to intelligence and as the film is set in the early 30s, his furtive and somewhat intense nature makes him a bit of someone to ignore amongst others of his ilk. But since he had the chance to interview the Führer Hitler whilst travelling, he knows damn well that the Germans want war, and he becomes hellbent to interview Stalin, and so he travels to Moscow, kicking it indie journo-style. What then happens is a side trip to Ukraine, where he becomes aware of and documents the ‘Holodomor,’ (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor), the mighty famine that hit Ukraine from 1932 to damn near ’34. It is reported that nearly four million people died and NOT because of natural causes but due to a deliberate starvation policy, enforced by Stalin. He forced Ukrainians and other workers to cull grain, then sell and distribute it for the most money possible, while waging mass assault, deportation, even execution if any worker flouted the norms. The scenes depicted at this point are incredibly hard to watch, but what makes it even sicker is the way Stalin continues to be lauded by many today and that no one believed Jones when he finally got back to Moscow and the UK. Even George Orwell makes himself known within the film, but that pales in comparison to the heinous truths that the last part of the film brings with it. From passing a dead body on a Ukranian train platform to a scene in which a baby, still alive and crying but aside its dead and frozen parent, is tossed onto a cart with the already deceased, Fighting the inevitable I suppose…but then there’s the horrifying cannabalism scene. It matters not…Holland makes it brutal so we learn about what truly happened. The New York Times correspondent in Moscow, Walter Duranty, played eerily by Peter Sarsgaard to shit-ass perfection, poo-poos the mere notions brought up by Jones, and what is more, the same continues to be said about the atrocities that took place over those two-plus years. Mr. Jones horrifies you into needing to know more. Start with that wikipedia link and then find this film soon in theatres! ###-1/2

[thornswithroses]

2016 Books I’ve Read

I had been hoping to read more books last year, but I am relieved to have made it halfway to my reading goals. It is a lot better than it was back in 2015. 

Real Murders (Aurora Teagarden, book #1) by Charlaine Harris

I actually enjoy Harris’ other mysteries more than I do the Sookie Stackhouse series. And I’m glad I only bothered with one of the Stackhouse books, considering that I hear how disappointing the last book ended. It does not help that the True Blood series left a bad taste my mouth after how they end Tara. The Harper Connelly books are actually my favorites, but the Teagarden ones may soon prove to be my second. I like Aurora Teagarden, I like how as ridiculous and delightfully flowery of a name she has, she is a grounded person.

Harris likes to describe the clothing her protagonists wear or want, and while I usually enjoy that aspect of writing, it is rather amusing when Harris does it. Namely, because the clothes she describes sound rather dated and probably would be more suited to someone in their sixties rather than their late twenties. 

The writing is sparse but absorbing, and Harris has a flair for a comfortable Agatha Christie likability in most of her works. This is no exception that.

Would recommend: a cozy but gripping reading to relax at night with.

Ash by Malinda Lo

I found myself so frustrated for sweet Ash. I never really appreciated how much the original Cinderella had to overcome until reading this book. Even her beloved father talked over the healing women of their original village, including Ash’s mother. Isobel is one of my most hated characters this year, for how she abuses Ash. And how much of pain Ash goes through could have been avoided if she had been listened to. 

I am usually leery of love triangles where the queer girl has to choose between a man or a woman. I’m bisexual, and I am very much aware that a queer woman is not less queer for wanting to be with a man. However, we cannot argue that heterosexual relationships are prioritized over homosexual ones. We cannot claim that bisexuality is not often dismissed as a curiosity by writers, most especially by male ones. It is 2017, and this shit still occurs. We cannot argue that female sexuality and relationships with women, be they romantic or platonic, are often dismissed in media. 

That said, I knew Malinda Lo was not going to fail me with how she handled Ash’s bisexuality. I used to follow Malinda Lo’s writings on AfterEllen in my Baby Feminist Years, and I do not regret that. She is a phenomenal writer, whether she writes in fiction or nonfiction. 

Ash’s relationships to Sidhean and Kaisa are different but special in her life. With Kaisa, their relationship has the delectability of apples, a tenderness and subtle warmth that is not written enough for gay relationships. With Sidhean, there is a tension for forbidden lust and the gradual trust they grow for one another. 

The ending is satisfying, but that is all I will give to you. I urge you to read this book, especially as it comes from an author that actually actively works with diversifying young adult literature to the best she can. 

Would recommend: a thoughtful, lyrical novel about a girl that overcomes obstacles to find love and her own independence. 

Mary Reilly by Valerie Marin

This is the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as seen through the eyes of Mary Reilly, a loyal, hardworking house-maid for the doctor. The book is written as if it were from Mary’s own journaling. 

I like the protagonist. Usually, when the perspectives of fringe characters are written about how they view a famed character, they simplify too many matters.

With Mary, yes, she is enamored but misguided by Dr. Jekyll’s supposed virtues, but as the novella goes on, as palpable as the sexual tension gets between them, she is not shy about pointing out the classism he and the world have on her, at least to herself. 

The book also has her deal with the abuses she undergone as a child from her father’s hands. I will not give spoilers away, but it is rather satisfying how she comes to terms with her abuse after attending a funeral (and, no, it’s not her abuser’s funeral.)

I like the different relationships she has with her fellow servants and how we see the grit of her daily duties. As I said before, the sexual tension between Mary and Dr. Jekyll is deliciously intense. It also helps that they are both shown to genuinely care about each other, adding a certain sweetness to the star-crossed quality of their relationship. 

And when the book wants to be chilling, it does indeed do that.

Would recommend: for all your fun, gothy indulgences!

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

An underrated epic fantasy that seems to understand that the quiet moments of a person’s life is just as important as the high-paced ones. The narration written uniquely, there’s a story-within-a-story with yet another one hidden somewhere under there. 

I enjoy reading older, isolated, world-weary Kvothe and how that contrasts with him telling his story of a younger, bright-eyed him that wants to learn and wants to avenge his loved ones. 

The book is a big one, and it is filled to the brim of so many conflicts and adventures. The humor is vibrant as red, the constant worry of poverty always hitting close to home for me, and his friendships and rivalries with everyone makes one feel invigorating. Oh, believe me, there is plenty of darker aspects to this story, and plenty of moments where I had to take a break from reading because it hurt too much at times. But Rothfuss seems to have the instinctual sense of when enough is enough, unlike the likes of George R.R. Martin and Joss Whedon.

Sometimes I got annoyed with how it felt like the author’s own feelings spilled somewhere. I thought the book could get too dismissive of the beliefs of the rural villages, and, believe me, I hate the concept of a sweet, harmless small town, especially when it mostly features white people. I’m no Stars Hollow fangirl, but my issue is rather it does not look at it through a nuanced lens.

All in all, what issues I have are little compared to so many factors that had me enjoy this book.

Would recommend: for people looking for a rich narrative that carves out many emotions from you, especially if you’re looking for an elaborate fantasy.

Decreation by Anne Carson

I am going to be real with you.

There are a lot of elements to this book that have flown over my head. 

Decreation holds so many references and vocabulary that had me searching all sorts of sources to understand. 

I have been interested in reading Anne Carson since seeing so many snippets of her words around.  It's possibly odd to say that being confused by the book and having to do research to know it makes me enjoy "Decreation" very much. I like books that force me to think. I like books that have the sort of lines that ring well together like a series of synchronizing bells. Anne Carson has an enthralling mind, and I look forward to reading more of her work. If you want to read a challenging book with prose and poetry that is clean and shining like knives, this is the book for you

Would recommend: for people looking for something that makes them want to ponder and to be lulled by the beauty of how words are arranged.

The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black

When it comes to short story collections, let's face it, there are going to be stories that you adored, stories you're indifferent to, and stories you just really, really, really hate. For most of the stories in this collection, I enjoyed them immensely. I remember when I read Holly Black's first novel, Tithe, I was absorbed by the lush prose. I can only describe it as like a spiderweb, how it shimmered and ensnared. I am crestfallen that she has simplified that style over the years, I wish YA authors can trust their readers, especially the teenage ones, into appreciating descriptive prose. One of the reasons why I moved from YA literature to adult fiction by the time I was sixteen was because I got tired of the simple style of writing. I wanted to challenge myself more, and I wanted to appreciate the art of language. I still do. Holly Black's style is still not how it was in her Tithe days, but the stories are still written in an eye-catching way. Maybe not like a spiderweb, but surely as the sheen of water. My favorites were: "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" is about vampire towns, need I say more? "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" had an interesting take of becoming a wolf where it is a flower instead of a bloody chomp that turns you. I will admit I have always had a soft spot for beautiful things that cause horror. "The Night Market" was a delightful romance with a Filipino girl with a port stain birthmark on her face that has an elf in a tree enamored with her, much to her surprise and frustration. It was entertaining to see their dynamic of challenging and outwitting one another, especially over the girl's sister's safety. "The Dog King" was with wolves in a castle, literally and metaphorically. "The Coat of Stars" was about a gay man rescuing his lost love, with the bonus of costume porn. "The Land of Heart's Desire" had me the excellent opportunity of reuniting with beloved characters from Black's Modern Faerie Tales series. The last story, "The Poison Eaters," I love the unique narration, the way the girl that was a weapon became a strategist for revenge. The stories I disliked were few and far. "A Reversal of Fortune" had an endearing pit bull dog, but that's all the positivity I can give it. The story's concept sounded good--a girl challenges the Devil to save her pet's life--but written in such a weak and juvenile way that was also, to put it bluntly, gross. "Virgin" also had an interesting concept but I feel this had the potential to have been expanded more, whether novel-length or just a longer short story. "In Vodka Veritas" went too far into the silly route for me, especially for an interesting concept as having a Bacchanal in a high school prom. The narrator was also annoying as fuck. "Paper Cuts Scissors" should have expanded the characters more, it was a shallow little story. "Going Ironside" was hard to follow and it had a good concept but a lukewarm execution.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The Goblin Emperor is a political fantasy that is loving and hopeful and does not move through violence necessarily so much as surviving the eyes and gossip of a land that does not always see half-Goblins like Maia in high regards. I like my prickly books; I appreciate the blood and the lust and the anger, and all the other juicy bits of a harrowing plot. Believe me, I do. However, I honestly find the politics here and in the Kushiel's Legacy far more engrossing than in famous works such as Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Maia is proof that having a genuinely sweet personality does not make one a dull protagonist. He is an underdog and coming from an abusive home life will certainly have readers already feeling protective of him. The biggest charm out of Maia however, is how Maia uses his goodness and need for survival to be calculating as Maia moves into the Emperor role. He's calculating how good his ruling should be. That is striking to me. He holds similar characteristics to one of my favorite fantasy characters, Sansa Stark. The characters surrounding him, all differing arrays of morals, are also striking. His bodyguards that are quite the sun-and-moon pair in demeanor and strength, his loyal assistant, his fiance, a passionate warrior girl. All in all, this was a satisfying read and one that I will enjoy rereading again and again. 

Would recommend: if you love character-driven stories set in a lush, intricately-woven setting with one of the most likable protagonists around. 

Carpathia by Cecilia Woloch

Woloch writes of moving, of grief, of love, all with great aplomb. There is a birdlike quality to her words as she talks about her father, his death, love, of moving across so many landscapes. Her poems have the serenity of the color blue. I cannot wait to see read more from her. 

Would recommend: if you want to be lulled by beautiful wording and imagery.

The Divinity Student by Michael Cisco

This book is like reading one long hallucination. The surrealism is everywhere, the horror underlying everything. The imagery is haunting in the best of ways, it feels like smoke clinging to your clothes. There is no logic to this story. You just cannot make sense of it. There is a reason why Cisco is often compared to Franz Kafka.

Would recommend: if you want to pore over surrealism and odd imagery rather than a particular plot. 

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

One of the most satisfying fantasies I have read the past few years. Novik knows how to make twists and she knows how to make those twists flow right. While I could feel old-school sort of fantasy as a backbone to this story, it still stands all on its own. The characters were vivid in their personalities.

Sometimes I had frustrations with Agnieszka, with how much she fussed over dealing with fancy indulgences. There is nothing wrong with her for preferring a rural, simpler life, but it felt tacked-on too often. At least it is not as bad as Hunger Games, where the bad guys in that story enjoyed to opulent, feminine indulgences that had something of a homophobic coding too. 

I do adore how Agnieszka’s clumsiness is not made to be endearing, but a human flaw. I wish to have seen more of her friendship with Kasia and see her relationship with the Dragon get developed more but all in all, it was enjoyable. 

The magic system was also beautifully envisioned and executed. 

Would recommend: character-driven, brilliant world-building, and unique storytelling.

Batgirl, Volume 1: The Darkest Reflection by Gail Simone

I hate the new 52. I hate most of it. I'm probably not going to read most titles from DC for a while. I am still not forgiving them for that hot topic nightmare that is Harley Quinn's makeover. I also have a small confession to make.

As a child, I was not that interested in Batgirl. I liked her enough on the Adam West show. I thought it was fantastic that she was a librarian. I thought Yvonne Craig was lovely. Other than that depiction, I barely gave thought to Barbara Gordon. 

With DC animation, my holy trinity of favorite female characters was Huntress (Bertinelli), Wonder Woman, and Catwoman. In recent years, especially with the passing of Craig, I've come to appreciate her more, value her character, her relationships with others, her strong will, her kindness, her flaws, her mistakes. Gail Simone actually made her a whole person to me when she was Oracle. And while I am still pissed that she is not that anymore, Simone's writing had me cheer for Barbara in getting back out onto the streets. This volume shows the ups and downs of her friendships to people she has known for a long time, the tentative friendship with her roommate that has the potential to expand a lot deeper, and above all, her relationship with both her parents. It always annoyed me when superhero stories got with the Disney Parent Problem, where there was only one parent active in the protagonist's life and how that was most often the father. Here, we see Barbara's mother and how their relationship is broken, and you feel for both of them. You want to be angry with Barbara's mom for leaving the family, but you also empathize her efforts into healing that rift, especially how they're not quite satisfied; no doubt there is a deeper story about why exactly she left. You understand Barbara's hurt but you also know she's not one to deal with emotions, including bitterness, well, and she is not above pettiness and evasiveness. I really look forward to where this goes in the next volumes.

Would recommend: for long-time Batgirl fans and for those interested in getting to know her more.

Ms. Marvel, Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

Kamala Khan has to be one of the sweetest characters I ever had the fortune of reading. She’s awkward, silly, earnest, and good-intentioned.

Some of the dialogue does feel stilted. I am guessing because Wilson is still trying to balance showing real-life issues while telling a story. I know people had issues with how static her family feels at the moment, although from what I’ve seen, they do develop well as the series goes on.

Would recommend: a fun, charismatic read that personally makes me think back to watching favorite Saturday morning cartoons.

[alethiometry]

kassandra, connor, edward

answered edward here! 😊

First impression

kassandra: loved loved LOOOOOVED her from the start! i saw a couple screenshots in a polygon review before i bought the game and thought she was just the prettiest damn jock i’d ever laid eyes on... and she still is. and from the very first line of the game (leonidas prologue notwithstanding) - the cyclops’ thugs yelling “HEY! SHITFACE!” to her while she’s just vibing on her roof - i was in looooooveeeee. her Scrappy Punk Energy is impeccable.

connor: i actually was kind of ambivalent towards him in the beginning! this was ofc coming off the way-too-long-and-boring haytham sequences, so although i was impatient to get to connor, i was also a little annoyed that there STILL seemed to be so much story before we could run around and be assassin-y. so although i liked him, it was hard not to be annoyed at the slow start of his story. i think it took until like sequence 5 or something for him to get a hidden blade. which, considering there’s only about 12 sequences in ac3, was kind of annoying.

Impression now

kassandra: i still adore her, but for even more reasons! i will never not love the feisty misthios with the conflict deescalation skills of a molotov cocktail side of her, but equally i love her devotion to her family in the main storyline, her justified rage and love for her son in the legacy of the first blade dlc, and even her exhaustion but eventual commitment to her (awful, no-good, horrible) destiny in the fate of atlantis dlc. it’s a little difficult to characterize kassandra definitively, because i think her development/arc is far more loosely constructed than other assassin’s creed protagonists, but in general she is presented as somebody who is humorous and loving and cocky and formidable and charismatic, and doesn’t buckle under the weight of all the responsibility she has taken on, or that has been thrust upon her. she rises to every challenge thrown in her way and comes out of it more resilient and always with that sardonic twinkle in her eye and a smartass comment at the tip of her tongue.

connor: WE STAN A CHARACTER WHO NEVER LOSES HOPE EVEN IN THE FACE OF LOSING HIS MOTHER, HIS HOME, HIS BEST FRIEND, HIS FATHER, HIS PEOPLE, AND HIS MENTOR. WE STAN A CHARACTER WHO SURROUNDS HIMSELF WITH PEOPLE HE LOVES AND WHO LOVE HIM IN RETURN, WHO DOES EVERYTHING FOR OTHER PEOPLE OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF HIS HEART AND BECAUSE IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, WHO DEFENDS THOSE WHO CAN’T DEFEND THEMSELVES. WE STAN A CHARACTER WHO, WHEN BETRAYED BY PEOPLE HE THOUGHT WERE ALLIES TO HIS CAUSE, SEVERS HIS TIES WITH THEM BUT RATHER THAN SUCCUMBING TO CYNICISM CONTINUES TO DO GOOD AND FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND FREEDOM FOR EVERYONE. WE STAN A CHARACTER WHO IS ANGRY AND STUBBORN AND CONFRONTATIONAL AND BRUTALLY EFFICIENT AT TAKING DOWN HIS ENEMIES, BUT IS ALSO BLUNT AND HONEST AND SELFLESS AND KIND AND COMPASSIONATE AND UNWAVERINGLY LOYAL TO HIS LOVED ONES.

Favorite moment

kassandra: i can’t just choose one are you fucking kidding me they’re all so good she is so good she is perfect and has literally never done anything wrong ever in her life and we know this and we love her

but her monologue/voiceover to elpidios at the end of legacy of the first blade as she sends him away for his own protection always breaks my fucking heart so maybe let’s go with that 😭

connor: there are once again so many to choose from, but if i had to pick just one... i’m really feeling that haytham-washington-connor scene rn. where haytham exposes that washington was behind the shelling of connor’s village and the death of his mother - clearly with the goal of getting connor to turn on the revolutionaries and see the world for the twisted, cynical place that haytham sees it as (he even says as much in his journal in ac forsaken). but instead of taking the bait, connor responds in his own way: he shows that he is not blind to the fact that washington has been using him this whole time, but also that he knows that haytham is trying to do just the same thing to him now. he immediately recognizes that haytham was waiting to spring this information on him and calls him out on it, and reminds both haytham and washington that he is not stupid, that his loyalty is borne out of his sense of right and wrong rather than naivete, and that his people come first. his people ALWAYS come first.

and maybe i’m just a sucker for monologues but the ac forsaken monologue that was recorded but never added into the game for some unknown godforsaken bullshit reason was so so so fucking good and if it had been included in the game i am sure it would be my favorite. “FOR AT MY SIDE WALKS HOPE??????????? T H A T  IS MY COMPROMISE???????????/” ✨🔥😲🌟🙌 ⁉ ⭐💯🙏‼😭👏😭🔥✨ BITCH WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!

Idea for a story

kassandra: i basically stuffed all my angsty kassandra ideas into one wip that i���m not sure if i’ll ever finish but love to daydream about. obviously endgame kassidas because, like, that’s my brand, but i also want to take the time to explore her relationship with natakas the way that ubisoft sure as shit fucking didn’t. it’s kind of an amphipolis fix-it and a legacy of the first blade fix-it all in one, if i can ever manage that. probably the most ambitious wip i’ve ever attempted. oh, and also she gets to raise her goddamn son and doesn’t get saddled with any of that keeper-of-memories bullshit. so in a way it’s just a fix-it for the entire goddamn game because kassandra deserved SO much better and i’ll never not be mad about it.

connor: in continuing the tradition of haytham leaving his journal for connor, i think it would be neat if connor kept a journal for io:nhiote. and i’ve rambled before about a connor sequel but you know what the more i talk about it the more i can maybe will it into existence. i think it would be neat if it was framed in a epistolic way where connor is preserving their family’s legacy as he discovers more and more about edward’s life, writing it all down for his daughter, similar to the way revelations was told through ezio’s letters to claudia. it would start in 1791 with connor traveling to the caribbean to aid the haitian brotherhood in the revolution, and it would take him all across the islands - to cuba, to new providence, to jamaica, to greater inagua. to all the places where edward had been. maybe there would be scraps of journals or message bottles with edward’s memories in them? and when the revolution has been won and connor has learned all he can about edward’s life, he travels to england to visit edward and tessa’s graves and to meet his last living relative: his aunt jenny. she’s old and dying at this point but she’s back at the kenway manor in queen anne’s square and after a little bit of trepidation (and maybe he shows her haytham’s journal or his hidden blade as proof that he’s not just some random dude) she lets him in. she tells him about her life and about haytham as a child, and the more she talks the more at peace she seems to be, and connor smiles and takes her hand and thanks her for letting him in, and she passes away quietly and painlessly. and the last thing he does in england before he heads back to his own family is visit his father’s childhood bedroom. he sees the same edward-ghost (like the altair-ghost at the beginning of acr) that he’s been following through animus-memory or eagle vision or whatever: only this time, it’s not some deep insight into assassin-ing or anything like that. all he sees is edward tucking haytham into bed on the night of his tenth birthday. UBISOFT FUCKING HIRE ME.

i also wouldn’t be opposed to a meet-cute type story for how connor meets his future wife, although it’s a story i would prefer someone else to write (to my exacting specifications ofc lol), rather than write it myself.

Unpopular opinion

kassandra: idk how popular/unpopular this is but i did find myself choosing a lot of the meaner dialogue options because although i think she does have a kind heart and feels genuine compassion for people, i think she is by nature a very blunt and often harsh person. i mentioned in the edward post that i think he and kass are kindred spirits, by which i mean i think they both have rough-and-tumble exteriors that they present to the world, and hold their loyalties and loved ones very close to their heart. they’re both exuberant and extroverted people who thrive as mercenaries but in their most vulnerable moments strive for something more long-lasting and stable and quiet. but where i think they differ is that kassandra is... just a little meaner/more abrasive?

connor: i don’t think i have any? i genuinely can’t think of any right now. connor is perfect and everyone knows it. nothing but respect to the king.

Favorite relationship

kassandra: romantically, obiviously it’s brasidas and/or roxana. i don’t think i need to go more into that. battle couples my beloveds 😍😘🥰

platonically, i of course love her relationship with her family. i would kill to have more endgame content with any surviving family members. i’d love a scene between kass and deimos and nikolaos, and a scene between kass and stentor and deimos. there is so much potential there and the game is so goddamn anticlimactic. and while i understand that some of that is because it’s already a long damn game and it’s difficult to program so many branching narratives and storylines and endings, i also... idk i just wish there was deeper relationship-building in the game

connor: i shipped him with miriam for a hot second until that french dude came along and swept her off her feet 😅 but mostly, as with edward, i don’t really him him romantically with anybody because i know he gets hitched later on in life and we don’t know anything about his wife. besides, there’s not a lot of hot singles in his area (rip). and he even says himself that he’s too busy to settle down just yet.

non-romantically, my favorite relationship/interaction is connor and haytham. they’re such a hot mess and i love it. i love how at odds they are ideologically, and yet despite the constant bickering and snapping at each other they still manage to work well enough together. and the fact that haytham can’t even define how he feels about the son he didn’t know he had and who seems to reject him at every turn, while connor continues to hold out hope that he can reconcile with his father.... but they’re both too goddamn stubborn to voice it... i should be angry with These Idiot Men for bottling up their feelings like this, but with these two, i get it. i get why they are the way they are, and i’m just here for the ride. they’re not passive-aggressive about it (well - haytham kinda is), they’re just aggressive. and i love that. the scene on the rooftop where haytham tells him “the only different - the only difference between myself and those you aid, is that i do not feign affection” is SO good. (i almost listed it as my favorite scene but i think i like the washington scene better bc it’s more indicative of connor’s character, whereas this one is more indicative of haytham’s)

Favorite headcanon

kassandra: can barely cook. it just wasn’t something myrrine taught her growing up, because as spartan nobles/royalty they probably had helots doing the cookiing (i think there’s at least one helot you see in one of the family flashback scenes), and she would have been way more interested in combat training with nikolaos anyway. and by the time she’s on kephallonia, i highly doubt markos would know how to cook much more than just the bare minimum for them to both survive. and she wouldn’t have access to the meats and spices that she probably grew up eating in sparta - just bread and cheeses, and fish if she can catch them. simple stuff that she can either prepare fairly easily, or that she can steal. essentially, my headcanon is that kassandra can prepare food just enough that she can feed herself (and eventually phoibe). but if you gave her like a chicken or a pig or some other animal and said “make it tasty” she would have no fucking clue what to do.

connor: i like to think that after achilles’ passing, he started taking in stray animals. the mansion is so big and lonely when it’s just him; he’s always lived in close quarters with other people, and as introverted as he is i think the solitude of the empty mansion is just way too fucking bleak. so obviously the solution is that he just starts bringing strays home. maybe it starts with an injured critter that he nurses back to health, or a dog or a cat that keeps following him around when he’s in boston/nyc. but much like how eivor eventually winds up with like 80 pets inside the longhouse, i like to imagine that at some point there’s like 3 dogs, and 2 cats that curl up in/around his bed at night, birds that repeatedly come and nest in the beams of the mansion roof year after year, deer that come by and nibble at the weeds/bushes by the cliffs, because connor may or may not go to great lengths to ensure that their favorite nibblin’ plants grow there year-round.

send me a character!

[theconservativebrief]

There’s a reason movies employ costume designers, why celebrities hire stylists, and why you changed outfits no fewer than three times before your last promising first date — fashion choices broadcast nuanced details about a person’s identity and personality.

The same, of course, holds true for fictional characters in novels. The choices that authors make about apparel and accessories can bring a character to life, or they can push fiction into fantasy. Remember when Carrie Bradshaw picked apart Jack Berger’s novel because he dressed his character in a then-unfashionable scrunchie? Select the right pieces and your character will feel real; select the wrong ones and readers won’t believe a word.

Scrunchies aside, stylistic choices have turned so many moments from capital-L Literature into memorable scenes. In Gone With the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara whipped up an iconic gown out of green curtains during the poverty-stricken days of Reconstruction, when she couldn’t afford to purchase a dress. In Jane Eyre, the protagonist refuses to wear the brightly colored silk and satin gowns Mr. Rochester offers her in favor of the drab dresses she feels are more appropriate for her position as a governess. In The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood immediately divulges by page three that she rushed over to Bloomingdale’s on her lunch break to purchase black patent leather shoes with a matching belt and handbag to prepare for her summer of working at a magazine in New York — that’s how important her accessories are to her. And who can forget The Great Gatsby’s Jay manically tossing up shirts, or American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman reciting a list of designers and brand names with the reverence usually reserved for church?

If these scenes seem particularly vivid to you, it might be because each of these classics has been adapted onscreen, as so many best-sellers are (including two of the books below). That creates further opportunity for these looks to come to life.

I asked the authors of five buzzy novels to select one important look they’ve created for a specific character and dissect what the ensemble means to the character. How does she choose to dress herself, and what does that signify about who she is? The outfits themselves vary wildly from a disheveled 1940s ostrich feather ball gown to a worn-out Lilly Pulitzer tank top, but each author emphasized the same point: Their choices were intentional. Nothing was accidental or poorly thought-out. One author went on an online shopping frenzy to dress her character for a wedding; another even brought in an outside stylist to ensure the clothes were up to date.

The next time you pick up a novel, pay special attention to what each character wears — every outfit is a road map of their values, tastes, history, and insecurities. Below, five authors reveal how they use fashion as a tool in fiction.

Half the fun of zipping through the rollicking family drama of Crazy Rich Asians is the fashion. Kevin Kwan makes it clear that among certain circles in upper-crust Asian society, you’re only worth as much as the labels you choose to wear — and the tackiest thing you can do is to dress above your station. “When I write all my characters, I really imagine from head to toe every single thing they’re wearing,” Kwan says. “If I didn’t already know the piece, I would scour the internet, looking at collections and creating outfits for the characters.”

Astrid Leong in her VBH earrings.

Crazy Rich Asians follows Rachel Chu, an American-born professor, who travels to Asia to meet her boyfriend Nick Young’s astronomically wealthy family for the first time. Astrid Leong is Nick’s beloved cousin; she’s a stay-at-home wife and mother, as well as a fashion icon among the elite. She flies to Paris every season for custom couture and had a close friendship with Yves Saint Laurent (RIP), but she’s not afraid to wear a dress off the rack from Zara … as long as it’s styled just so with museum-quality Etruscan bangles.

“Astrid is very much inspired by one person,” Kwan says; he tried to recreate her style for the book. “Astrid sees dressing as her only form of artistic expression. She lives in this very cloistered world where she has to put the right foot forward at all times. Fashion, for her, is a way of being rebellious, and it’s a way of asserting her own creative expression into her life.”

Kwan discovered this Alexis Mabille white peasant blouse back in 2010 and was inspired to dress Astrid in it for a Friday night dinner at her grandmother’s house, where a more relaxed outfit would make sense. She’s dressed down in order to detract attention from her new VBH earrings — a splurge that would make her slightly less wealthy husband uncomfortable. “She pairs the earrings with something that’s just kind of more fun and casual so the earrings look like costume jewelry,” Kwan notes.

While writing the next books in the trilogy, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems, Kwan turned to Cleo Davis-Urman, now the Fashion Director of Saks Fifth Avenue, to source apparel and accessories for his characters. “I was so frantically busy trying to meet my deadlines that her help in keeping up to date on the latest fashions was invaluable,” he says.

Crazy Rich Asians hit theaters this summer, with costumes by Mary Vogt (her past projects include Hocus Pocus and Men in Black). Kwan says that Vogt often mirrored exact outfits from the book, like Araminta Lee’s gold jumpsuit at her bachelorette party and the beige linen suit Nick wears to greet Rachel at Tyersall Park for the first time.

Social Creature is what would happen if an overgrown Eloise at the Plaza had a wardrobe full of stained vintage dresses and an eccentric pack of friends — and if she wound up dead. The glamorous thriller follows Louise Wilson, a mousy underachiever whose life changes overnight when she meets Lavinia Williams, a madcap bombshell who frolics at the opera, trades witty barbs at secret bookstores, and dances at a stand-in for the McKittrick Hotel.

“My vision for Lavinia is the little kid who goes into her parents’ wardrobe and comes out wearing everything,” Tara Isabella Burton (a staff writer at Vox) says. She swathes herself in vintage from the 1920s through the ’50s, but she doesn’t have the self-care skills required to preserve her delicate clothes. “She definitely leaves her clothes rumpled in a pile on her floor when she stumbles home drunk. She does not fold things neatly. She is constantly drinking and spilling shit,” Burton adds. From afar, thanks to her class privilege and sheer force of personality, Lavinia succeeds in looking like an effortless sylph. But up close, she’s a mess.

Lavinia with her gorgeous dress caught on a door.

She comes from a wealthy family and veers wildly between using her money to attract and keep friends and feeling self-conscious about her background. She’s likely to spend hundreds at a curated vintage store but lie and say she found a dress at a thrift shop for $5. “It’s very much in the Upper East Side, WASP-y vein to downplay and be like, ‘Oh, this old thing? It was on sale! Of course I didn’t pay for it!’” says Burton.

The first time readers meet Lavinia, she flies into the brownstone she shares with her teen sister, Cordelia, at 6 am. Louise, Cordelia’s SAT tutor, has been up all night waiting for Lavinia to come home to pay her. Lavinia accidentally slams the door on the ostrich feather hem of her 1940s ball gown and sheds feathers everywhere she walks, like an injured bird. Louise is able to mend the dress for her, which sparks the beginning of their dangerously codependent friendship.

At the New York launch party for Social Creature, Burton wore a similar ostrich feather gown in pale pink. She says she didn’t intend to match Lavinia but liked that the gown “felt very Social Creature.” She also Sharpied on a “More Poetry!!!” arm tattoo, like the ones Louise and Lavinia get together in the book. At the party, Burton’s fake tattoo smudged off onto her dress, and she dabbed out the stain with a wet napkin. Unlike her character, she could take care of her vintage duds.

Imagine this: You get stuck in an elevator with your dream guy. He invites you to be his plus one to his ex’s wedding, less than 48 hours away. That’s the meet-cute that kicks off The Wedding Date. To dress Alexa Monroe and the other characters in the book, Jasmine Guillory thought carefully about how their wardrobes would function practically in their lives.

Alexa in her red dress.

Alexa is the chief of staff for the mayor of Berkeley, and her wardrobe is mostly work clothes. She opts for colorful shift dresses and blazers from department stores; she’s a little preppy and likes J.Crew. She’d love to wear a Theory suit, but she’s busty, so blazers don’t always fit her the way she’d hope. For the past few weddings she’s attended, she’s either been a bridesmaid or done Rent the Runway, so she has to scramble for something to wear. She summons her best friend Maddie, a stylist, for a day of shopping.

“I did a lot of mock online shopping for what Alexa would wear to this wedding,” Guillory says. “I wanted her to feel like the star version of herself, like she has a glow about her the whole night.” Guillory — or Maddie — ultimately selects a red fit-and-flare cocktail dress with a low neckline. The cut of the dress was intentional; Guillory wanted Alexa to be able to wear it without Spanx underneath, in case she happened to later undress in front of her wedding date, Drew Nichols. Instead, she would be able to wear the dress with a pretty, sexy bra and panty set.

For Alexa, the dress inspires a serious confidence boost. “Normally, she would think, ‘Oh, a guy like this would not be interested in me,’” Guillory explains. “But with that dress on, she feels like Cinderella. … It’s kind of a magic dress and a magic night, so she might as well flirt with the hot guy. Why not?”

High school freshman Chloe Sayers can fit in with anyone in her small New Hampshire town: She looks like a popular kid, dreams of life as an artist, and is best friends with misfit Jon Bronson, who’s secretly in love with her. Jon is kidnapped, only to mysteriously return four years later with no recollection of what has happened and with strange powers that threaten those around him. Meanwhile, in Providence, Rhode Island, Detective Charles “Eggs” DeBenedictus is investigating a string of seemingly healthy young people who keep dropping dead. The genre-bending novel follows their three separate but interconnected lives.

Chloe in her casual hometown outfit.

More than a decade later, Chloe is a hotshot New York artist whose portraits of Jon have made her a star. She’s been deeply uncomfortable dressing up ever since her high school prom, when she wore a revealing dress she didn’t like. Typically, she’s in paint-splattered cutoffs and big, old T-shirts — easy pieces to throw on when she’s making art. She’s keenly aware that setting and context matter: When she’s back home in New Hampshire, god forbid she dress up and offend people’s casual sensibilities; when she’s out in New York with her Entourage-loving financier fiancé, she knows to dress for his newly urban tastes, even though he’s from her small New England hometown too. “She wishes she didn’t care so much, but she does,” Caroline Kepnes explains.

The morning after her big engagement party in her hometown, Chloe is getting dressed to reunite with Jon. At first, she chooses a little pink dress, but she knows her fiancé’s family would sneer and call her overdressed. Instead, she throws on an old Lilly Pulitzer tank top and denim cutoffs. Her fiancé’s sister-in-law sneers, anyway. “Chloe doesn’t wear Lilly in New York,” Kepnes explains. “She wears it in Nashua to fuck with her would-be sisters-in-law who read Lilly as, ‘So you think you’re better than me, huh?’”

As a teenager, in the wake of Jon’s disappearance, Kepnes says Chloe’s “whole identity was constantly nitpicked and torn apart, so she’s more relaxed. She’s like, ‘No matter what I do, they’re going to say something, so I’m just going to wear what I wear.’” Depending on whom you ask, a classically printed Lilly tank top is either obnoxiously preppy or sweetly nostalgic; for Chloe, in this moment, it’s a form of expression and rebellion.

Lara Jean Song Covey is the 16-year-old protagonist of Jenny Han’s trilogy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (the Netflix adaptation came out this August). A true romantic, she writes letters to every boy she’s ever had feelings for and stashes them away in a teal hatbox given to her by her late mother. When the letters accidentally get sent to each boy in question, well, Lara Jean’s life quickly gets pretty interesting.

Lara Jean in her iconic knee socks and cardigan.

“Her look is 1960s retro meets 1990s meets Asian streetwear,” Han says. “It’s aspirationally romantic schoolgirl, and as an introverted person, it’s her way to express herself.” Lara Jean draws inspiration from Asian fashion blogs, wears clothes that her aunt sends her from Korea, and likes to shop at vintage stores. Han referenced the movie Clueless and Korean fast fashion from sites like Stylenanda to develop Lara Jean’s style. She gave her three recurring style signatures: a hair bow, a heart-shaped locket, and knee socks.

The socks have become such a fixture among fans, Han says, that readers often wear them to book signings as a tribute to the character. “Her style came together in a way that made sense to me because of her romantic nature, her fascination with the past, and her idea of what love looks like,” she says.

This outfit is something Lara Jean wears for a regular day at school. It also appears in the final scene in the movie. “I had extensive conversations with the producers in regard to Lara Jean’s style,” Han says. “I sent them mood boards.” This particular silhouette — a button-down with a short skirt — is used frequently.

Ultimately, Lara Jean’s look is also somewhat influenced by Han’s personal tastes. “It’s very similar to my style,” she says.

Original Source -> How do you choose an outfit for a fictional character? 5 authors explain.

via The Conservative Brief

[gaykamukura]

2-10, 15-20, 26-29, 31-33, 37, 45-48, 51, 52, 59, 60, 63, 67-73, 81, 97, 99, 100

puttin under a read more cause it got long snksnksnskn

2. Favourite protagonist?

i’m gunna be real, i like playing as hajime a lot plus theres some moments where he’s being ridiculous and you’re powerless to stop it so you’re just there, face in your hands, losing your shit snickering.

3. Favourite antagonistic character?

points at my url gently...i know i’m an izuru kinnie but i think he has a lot of nuance espec cause he can fit an antagonist role while still being generally neutral on the havoc he wreaks

4. Favourite character?

i’m very bad at choosing but taka was my first fave and the first character i ever grew attached to that was ripped from me so i’m gonna say taka

5. Best girl?

hina, sakura, ibuki, peko, miu!!! i think my “type” is the girls who are either super stoic or super energetic pffft

6. Best boy?

i already talked abt taka earlier so kazuichi and leon are my beloved weenies

7. Favourite class trial from all the games?

the last class trial in the first game where you as makoto get to earn the title ultimate hope and the mastermind is finally revealed after the 20+ hours of grief and struggle you’ve just been put through and you get that satisfying ending of the mastermind paying for their crimes and everyone getting to go free is just...so good and so climactic i adore it

8. Least favourite character?

if i was in a room and my choices were to delete hifumi yamada from existence and die or survive while having hifumi yamada remain in this world i would choose to sacrifice myself

9. Least favourite class trial?

probably the second one in the first game, because it had all the things i was upset with. the way the genocide jack/jill and toko situation was handled was awful even with it taken in consideration that the game usually uses very trope-y characters, and the whooole thing with chihiro is uncomfortable for the entire trial, and then it all ends with an execution where if you think about it too much it makes your stomach whirl

10. What would be your Ultimate Title?

hmmm something like ultimate tarot card reader or ultimate divination/psychic maybe!!!

15. Your absolute OTP?

oh god i ship everything...i like komahina a lot though even tho i have another handful of ships for hajime

16. Your absolute BROTP?

fuyuhiko and nagito obviously

17. Do you have an OT3? Which one?

none that i can think of rn even tho i’m definitely open to a lot of them...i support gundham dating both sonia and kazuichi while sonia and kazuichi are best friends tho

18. Favourite rare ship?

i’m rly fond of fuyuhiko/nekomaru [hikomaru???] and kamuegi

19. Who do you think is an underrated character?

i feel like toko doesn’t get nearly enough love oh my gosh...i see her dismissed as an accessory to byakuya or “the girl w the serial killer” so often and it makes me so upset...also mukuro generally gets outright ignored even though there’s a lot to her

20.  Who do you think is an overrated character?

i feel like i see a lot of stuff for mikan everywhere??? but i...don’t like her that much. her personality kinda feels like the same thing all the time, under the despair disease she feels like junko 2 electric boogaloo or tsumugi the squeakquel, and her execution was underwhelming. and she also killed ibuki, the best gal :(

26. Favourite execution?

oh god definitely leon’s. the first execution of the first game and it goes hard as hell. it’s one of the few if only times you see red blood in the game, he goes out kicking and screaming in a way that you have to feel sorry for him. it’s an unbelievable way to start off the game and really encapsulates all of the wild ride danganronpa is gonna put you in for.

27. Least favourite execution?

as i said before, mikan’s was...underwhelming. as the ultimate nurse who spent her life being a doormat only to kill out of love, there’s an amazing amount of executions and ideas that would have been full of nuance and really interesting but instead she just gets blasted into fucking orbit

28. Favourite unused execution?

oh god i love byakuya’s unused execution because it’s one of those executions that focuses less on the character’s talent and more on the character’s fear. when you realize what byakuya’s future could have been, pretty much complete estrangement from the family and having to build up everything on his own with the fear of poverty constantly looming.

plus the fact that he fights because he could have condemned his half-siblings to that fate only for he, himself, to lose in a killing game and die thinking he was a disgrace is so painful. not to mention the execution itself is a slow and painful death.

it’s so brutal, so focused on breaking every fear and effort of the character, that i think it’s one of those executions that would come to mind whenever you wanted a picture definition for “despair”.

29. Which character should survived in your opinion?

leon kuwata should have lived...he was talented but he was still a normal-ish boy who couldve kept everyone at their wits in the killing game by reminding them what was waiting for them out there. lots of others but i’ve been thinking of baseball husband lately

31. Is there a character you think who shouldn’t have survived but did?

i love yasuhiro that weed smoking boy but he was too dumb to live

32. Least favourite protagonist?

uhhh hmmm i like all of them but kaede had the least screentime so she’s a protagonist where her personality isn’t 100% crystal-clear so. i GUESS

33. Character with the best clothing?

i want chiaki’s hoodie and backpack and LOOK more than i want to breathe oxygen. junko also has a fucking aesthetic

37. Favourite minor character? 

taichi fujisaki i guess??? programmer dad

45. Unpopular opinion?

i dunno what other people think of this because i haven’t heard anything about it, but the closing argument minigame was better in sdr1

46. Unpopular headcanon?

i think genocide jack/jill is nonbinary but i’ve never seen anybody else who has the same headcanon

47. A headcanon you have about a character?

one of my long-time headcanons is that makoto is trans...yeet

48. Favourite OST?

danganronpa 2 has bop after bop. miss monomi’s practice lesson? bop. all the execution themes? bops. ikoroshia and ekoroshia? bops. i am constantly jamming the fuck out in this game

51. Character you thought you were gonna dislike but loved in the end?

i thought i was always gonna hate hiyoko and yeah she does have flaws but i actually like her a lot more than i used to

52. Character you thought you would like but disliked in the end?

thought korekiyo was gonna be a cool dude who was a lil weird and emo but still fun. boy was i wrong. im stealing him from spiky chunky until they learn to stop it

59. Favourite moment?

again, the final trial in the first game is fucking amazing, but also the final trial in the second game with hajime and chiaki plus all the izuru stuff and all the messages there r just. good as hell aaah

60. Saddest moment?

all of chapter 2 in sdr2 was painful. mahiru, who was a force of good, dies, the trial is difficult, the twilight syndrome murder case is terrifying, hiyoko is mourning and you have to spit it right back in her face for awhile that she’s the prime suspect...

and then the only reward you get for finding the real killer is feeling guilty as the tears run and then your final reward is getting to watch as one of your friends dies while the other gets mortally injured and barely survives and then only a bit of gametime later attempts suicide in front of you. it is blow after blow w/o breaks

63. Describe Kyoko Kirigiri in 3 words! 

lovely detective lady

67. Which character would you never want to meet in real life?

hifumi because i would be wearing an anime tshirt cause im a fucking weeb and then he’d be an incel while i suffered just trying to buy a lifetime supply of panda candy from hot topic

68. Which character would you like to meet in real life?

kazuichi cause he seems p chill and like the type of person you could just hang out with or have a chat with casually and not have to worry about first impressions and stuff like that

69. Choose one character which you would take with you on a trip.

70. Character you would have a sleepover with?

chiaki because we’re both super sleepy but we could also play a bunch of games together and then pass out together with a bunch of snacks

71. Character you can relate to?

sorry to be kinnie on main but izuru, i relate to that feeling of always excelling at everything you do and as a result being constantly bored, so whether what happens is good or bad doesn’t matter so long as it’s interesting

72. Character you can relate to but you dislike them?

kokichi, again being kinnie on main but while i relate i dislike it because it’s a reminder of my tendency to lie to others and to myself for any number of purposes

73. Character who deserved better?

[sniffles softly] taka. also keebo. toko too tbh

81. Could you be the Ultimate Lucky Student? 

probably??? my luck varies from being unbelievably good and unbelievably bad so hey

97. Overrated ship which is your NOTP? 

toko/byakuya for sure. i don’t like the it(tm)

99. Your absolute NOTP?

junko being shipped with anyone but especially with the sdr2 cast because it is gross. let the sdr2 cast do the right thing and get to pull a knife on junko instead

100. Opinion on all the Protagonists!

makoto: a boy who has a mouth and must scream. he’s not having a good time but hes trying his best

hajime: a good, refined boy. he knows how to say and spell big words like antidisestablishmentarianism, or however that goddamn word is spelled. the most paranoid boy

komaru: a good gal, a lil anxious but very strong and ready to kick ass. a funky little lesbian

toko: a blessed gal who needs more appreciation. her time as a protagonist is extremely gay, meaning she is also a funky little lesbian.

kaede: she doesn’t have much screen time but i appreciate her. she’s nice to people and confident whereas everyone else in this series is nervous

shuichi: nervous and emo, shuichi truly represents teenage america in the years 2007-2012, possibly 2013. i adore him