#read in class

[ahsokalegend]

One of my favorite choices the Apothecary Diaries made was making the Emperor a “normal guy” (as far as I know as an anime-only). He’s not evil. He’s not hindering Mao Mao’s journey. He respects the concubines.

If anything his lack of autonomy and presence as the most powerful person in the country further enhances the show’s themes of working within the confines of class and gender inequality.

The previous emperor was a horrible, horrible pervert. Okay, then this emperor only weds women of age… Until he’s forced to take his father’s precious wife due to politics. The current emperor reasonably avoids her.

Eunuchs exist? Bam! now the surgery is outlawed, but this will create a reduction in male labor around the palace.

The emperor clearly favors few women. Well, now he must recognize a concubine with a powerful politician father playing the system.

He supports Mao Mao toeing the line of social expectations for women, but hasn’t removed the law against women preparing medicine. It makes one think, if he wanted to, could he make the change at all? For every two steps forward, he’s forced to take one step back.

In this universe even the Emperor is limited by social pressure and the expectations of his station. His life and that of his children is out of his control, and if that isn’t such a compelling piece of world building I don’t know what is.

If that’s how the author twists the narrative of the Emperor you better believe her female characters dealing with women’s issues in this society are even better written.

[wordwings]

*kicks down your door* It might seem like a plot hole that no one thought about the possibility of Dracula being invited into the asylum by Renfield (or any other patient) but actually it speaks to the way Renfield’s personhood is being denied mainly by Jack Seward, but also the rest of the crew in part through their reliance on Seward’s expertise. Which also ties into the way they have decided to shut out Mina at the very same time. It literally just did not occur to them that the patients living in the same building as them would have any claim to the residency that allows someone to grant the permission a vampire needs to enter a home. But of course the asylum is the patients’ home just as much as it is Jack’s! They live there! In short this fatal blow dealt to the heroes at this crucial juncture comes about through both their sexism and their ableism. Good night. *puts your door back on its hinges again and leaves*

[enduracarrotchips]

dear reader by @heavilycaffeinatedsblog

[marigoldbaker]

another cool thing is when you devour a book over the course of a handful of hours and it fucks you up and you just have to lie on the couch feeling like your brain went swimming for too long & only just came up from under the water. art is so good

[orpheus-has-lyreizz]

AU where paris is just a little less of a dumbass

[fairsweetlonging]

feel like we don't talk enough about the fact that shen qingqiu was fully prepared to die in the invasion of cang qiong to save his disciples, and not just in terms of without-a-cure. when he challenged sha hualing to a palm strike, he expected to die, his exact thoughts were "with this one strike, he'd ensure there were no winners", and he went in expecting his body to self destruct before liu qingge showed up.

it's such an important piece of characterization because shen yuan is often ranting in his head about "surviving at any cost" and "cheating his way out of it", but when he's actually faced with any kind of danger, his very first reaction is to protect the people around him with his life, without hesitation.

[bone-yarddz]

Audio books but it’s Michael Sheen reading books as Aziraphale and sometimes you hear David Tennant shouting something obnoxious as Crowley.

[ghostember]

heres some gouache sardines

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was forced to read a Donald Trump autobiography for one of my college courses. It was just the plot of Boss Baby. He thought nobody would notice. 

[trickstersaint]

i want to introduce you all to a project that is very close to my heart... or lack of one. anyway. for anyone who has ever wanted to play a poem. i'd like you to meet aromanticism

(link opens itch.io - she'll run on html in your browser! please be nice to her!)

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

*glancing back at my childhood in the rearview mirror* and what the FUCK was up with my mom always signing me up for Activities

[baba-is-blog]

YOU IS TAKE LITERARY ANALYSIS CLASS

BABA IS BEG

[meltinii]

hualian fits!

[daily-snufkin]

🌿 DAY 21

Yoinks

[cataplat]

rare wholesome disco moment

[morganbritton132]

Anyways, Steve loses his hearing in the fight with Billy and Tommy secretly teaches himself sign language in case Steve ever wants to talk to him again.