#she's one of those people who is very easy to talk to and likeable

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Ya Boy Kongming!

General of the Three Kingdoms, famous military strategist Kongming met his demise in the Battle of Wuzhang Plains in 234. On his deathbed, he wishes that his next life would be in a peaceful place, free from bloodshed... and was sent straight to modern Japan, appearing in the middle of a costume party for Halloween in the club district of Tokyo. The partygoers lure him to a nightclub, where he meets an aspiring singer, and his second life begins.

It would be easy to play with the "fish out of water" aspect of the premise. With nearly 1,800 years between his death and reappearance (can you call it a rebirth if he just manifests wholly as an adult?), the differences between Kongming's culture of origin and modern Shibuya make this essentially a reverse isekai despite taking place all in the same world.

However, the series sidesteps those expectations in the first episode. Yes, Kongming is somewhat confused when he figures out what happened—having appeared in Shibuya on Halloween, he first assumes he's in Hell, and it's not until the next morning that he figures out he's not—but he grasps both his situation and many aspects of modern life quickly. Even quicker, he declares he will be a strategist for an aspiring singer who blew him away the night before.

While the singer, Eiko, is its emotional heart, the show hinges on Kongming's strategies: getting Eiko's music in front of people, avoid traps set by competing music acts in the form of simultaneously-scheduled concerts or unideal locations, etc. He is very fun to watch: cunning, steadfastly polite, wholeheartedly believing in his cause, and 100% not lying about who he is.

That last point adds humor to the show, because modern humans understandably do not think "the guy wearing Three Kingdoms-era cosplay who knows a ton about that era is actually an ancient Chinese strategist," they think "this guy sure knows his stuff and is dedicated to the bit," though there are times when characters definitely consider whether he's telling the truth. Ultimately, it's hard to tell to what degree the main characters believe (or not) if Kongming is who he says he is—personally, I think several appear to waver between believing—but that's not the point of the show.

The point is, despite the fantastic (in the sense of fantasy) premise, Kongming is a strategist, and strategize he will: no longer for bloody warfare, but instead for music. How can Eiko, who touched his heart, reach a wider audience than her nightclub?

The series wouldn't work without Eiko, and she's a likeable heroine, trying to balance her goals and passion in music with the realities of needing money in adult life. She has a good voice—I enjoyed the music in this series, the EDM fitting nicely in the setting—and isn't a one-dimensional, happy-go-lucky idol like I might've feared upon hearing the show's premise.

The expanded cast is good, too, from the bar owner (an enthusiastic fan of the Three Kingdoms era delighted to have in Kongming someone who can actually talk about it, yet still a business-savvy character) to rap battler Kabetaijin to a variety of music industry-connected folks.

Verdict

English dub? Yes, with well-fitting voices. Songs are left undubbed (though subtitled).

Visuals: Modern, shiny, and colorful!

Worth watching? Yes. It has a very fun premise—ancient military strategist now working as small-time EDM musician manager—that never loses its playfulness, while also staying away from slapstick by keeping Eiko and her struggles in the spotlight. The balance is done well, holding your attention throughout, leaving you wondering both whatEiko will do, and what Kongming will come up with.

Also, it has just the catchiest opening theme song.

Where to watch (USA, June 2025): HiDive, Hulu, Blu-ray

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

[galvanizedfriend]

hi friend <3 How are you?

This might sound weird, but sometimes I watch 1 or 2 clips of TO while reading TW, just to have a clearer picture of each character (especially those like Freya, Vincent and Marcel who never showed up on Tvd) and also to see what you changed from the Story.

Now, call me biased, but to this day I don't understand how your version is 100x more emotional and logical than the actual show 😭😭

An entire team of people who do scripts and directories for A LIVING somehow can't reach the level of your fanfiction. Granted, they give you a very big base to work with, but still.

I watched the clip where Klaus talked to Hayley right before going to Hope, just to see what she said, since they have a different dynamic than Klaroline (both in canon and TW) and i was SO disappointed 😭😭😭

"you were her fairy tale prince, you have a lot to live up to"

AND THAT'S IT?? THAT'S YOU WAY OF HELPING??? GIRL 😭 Honestly, the only cute thing I saw was the flashback of Vincent and Eva at the start!

that's what they mean when they say that curiosity kills the cat, I guess.

Anyway, all of this rumble just to say that you do a spectacular work, and you manage to make likeable, interesting, and logical even the worst kind of shit. You're a gift to this fandom!

have a good one, love u xoxo

Hi, friend! ✨ Sorry it took me a lil to answer this, I wanted to have proper time. 😊

This is so nice of you to say. 🥹 Whenever I get a stupid message about how it's basically the same thing as TO, objectively I know it isn't because I know how much work I put into it, but there's always that little voice of impostor syndrome whispering in my head. You have no idea how it brightens my day to read messages like this. Especially since you went back to rewatch the show!

That chapter in particular has a hell of a lot of stuff that was nowhere near the episode. It took me forever to get the vibes right because I wanted to change how a lot of things were portrayed, which requires a series of nuanced shifts that might seem simple but are not that easy to get right, especially to someone like me, not a native speaker 😂 Sometimes the words just refuse to come. 🥲 But this sums up what I have been trying to do from the very start. I keep the plot points (most of them, anyway), but that doesn't mean the story is the same because so much of the context is changed, there are so many scenes that aren't on the show, which creates major differences in how the characters relate to one another. I wanted to give to give depth to this fucking show, make things make sense and, above all, create a version of TO that would've kept me entertained and interested.

I could honestly write a whole ass essay about this chapter 😂 It's long as hell and I have feelings about it lol But just wanted to thank you for your very kind words ❤️ Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone still interested and enjoying this story or if I'm mostly just writing to get it out of my own system, but messages like this are a boost in confidence. 🥰🫶

[m00nqvv]

| Average Group |

Masterlist

A/N:This is for my smau I��m making it fem reader x Yu Jimin (Karina) so stay tuned if you want to see also I will most likely do updates asap so yeah byeee.

Also I was going to add Eunchae but there’s no more colours 😰 Ik it sounds stupid but I NEED THE COLOURS 😭😭.

Your friendgroup consisted of 7 people you, Kim Chaewon, Miyawaki Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Nakamura Kazuha, Jang Wonyoung and Shin Ryujin.

Each one of you had different qualities for your friend group for example you were the more introverted person and mainly focused on studies rather than popularity or gaining more friends over the two terms you’d already had at school however Ryujin was the complete opposite to you, she had lots of popularity and was friends or knew basically everyone in the school which was daunting to you at first but she had always been in your friend group so it’s not like she just left you all.

Well those were both of your opposing personalities but the rest of your group have their own personalities so we’ll get into that now:

Chaewon

Chaewon is more of a leader type in your friend group she isn’t controlling or believing that she owns the friend group or anything but she’s someone that your friends and you have all found comfort in relying on or always being there for you all to go to her for advice and also she was genuinely a caring person.

People know her because of her spot in student council and her fiery personality really points her out to people making her more noticeable but she’s never scared to talk about what she thinks is right and stick to it (P.S high key gets her friends out of trouble a lot)

She has her anger issues but she is a very caring person overall when she gets angry though it’s quite scary the only person to really calm her down was her closest friend that she had known since childhood, Sakura she had to admit she was attracted to her just a bit but we won’t get into that for now just give her some time and she’ll open up more to the thought of liking her best friend.

Sakura

Sakura was a Japanese girl who had moved to Korea at a very young age, she was about 5 when she had moved here and went into nursery being a bit wary but Chaewon had helped her through it and they became best friends after that never being separated from eachother, now Sakura tried to get thoughts of liking her best friend away from her head but she just couldn’t especially not after her hair cut to a Bob it really made her realise how inlove she was with her (ME TO ME TO GIRL) but she still can’t come to terms with it.

She is more like a mother figure in the group obviously being in the same year as you all but she’s somebody who can comfort and calm your friends and you easily and she is always able to help in a situation whenever as she is known to be a kind person everybody knows she is very kind she is well known but not popular like that.

Yunjin

Yunjin is a American girl who had moved here when she was about 11 which was where she had met you and Kazuha, Kazuha and you were friends with Sakura and Chaewon but weren’t exactly a friend group at that point to be honest Yunjin was the one who brought you together to be a friend group and with her extroverted personality it was easy for her.

Yunjin is likeable and her outgoing personality definitely makes it easy for her to make friends anywhere she goes so she is quite popular but she isn’t as popular as her other friend Ryujin she’s just Someone people will easily go and befriend but don’t get her wrong if you have any problems or do anything to her friends she will cut you off or just be really rude towards you.

Kazuha

Kazuha is also a Japanese Girl however she moved a lot later in life than Sakura and she struggled with Korean however you were her first friend, you had learnt Japanese from your father as he was a traveler and knew many different languages before hand so he taught you many as well, you and Kazuha conversed in Japanese however you did help teach her Korean from time to time but she did study at home so you grew hopeful for her.

She had moved to your school about a month before Yunjin came to the school and you instantly clicked having matching personalities and both being introverted and quiet, you bonded over small things and because you could speak to her in Japanese she was a lot more comfortable talking to you rather than other students, after she had spoken to Sakura as well she was comfortable with her but she normally just stayed with you.

Wonyoung

Wonyoung is like the it Girl of the friend group she is from a rich family and is literally loaded but she cares more for small details and being perfect, wonyoung doesn’t spend thousands each day like you’d expect someone like her to but she prefers to perfect everything before she goes to buy anything new.

She has a specific aesthetic where only people that eye details can actually notice the difference between her clipping her hair the same way with a different clip and saying her outfit looks so much better so she likes to make sure that the people she hangs out with acknowledges her slight changes over all.

Although she seems like she’d be popular she actually has a specific circle she stays in and it includes your friend group and a few of her cheerleader friends from her cheer team (she’s captain) but she also keeps on trying to “fix” herself because of her blatantly obvious attraction to her co-captain Yujin.

[movedtonewblogcheckpinnedpost]

@billy-royalton Sorry, but I couldn't reply to your question directly for some reason... Gotta go right now, so I typed this in a hurry, hope there aren't many typos and it's easy to understand! Xo 💗

Short Answer: Yes and yes. I've read all of the books, including the crossovers with the Mayfair Witches and New Tales of the Vampires (Pandora and Vittorio, the Vampire). Here's what I can tell you about these novels and how I feel about them…

Merrick: It is the most important book among the three. There are very important events regarding Louis and Claudia. The show has adapted some of that already (him walking into the sun on 2x05), but there might be more as soon as season 3 arrives. There's also a lot of Merrick and David on it, though I don't know if they will be written into the show or not (and if they do, I don't know how it will be). The writing for Merrick has a number of racial stereotypes, offensive lines and I don't know how accurate Anne's portrayal of candomble and voodoo was (based on what I know about umbanda, the only thing I know she got right was the name of certain deities). However, I believe Merrick is a great character, I fell in love with her and she's one of my favorites. Her family is a long line of witches and I was extremely intrigued by them. I understand why some people couldn't like the book, though. Because whether Anne meant it or not, it was indeed offensive. Still, I don't believe that ever ruined Merrick as a character or her personality. She was super likeable and compelling. My problem was more with the way David and Aaron acted and talked about her than her own behavior, if that makes sense. For me, the downside of this volume was having David's POV (he is one of the weakest narrators, I wish it was MERRICK's so I could see more of her or Lestat's), little Lestat and no Armand (I ALWAYS want to see him).

Blackwood Farm: The only main character on this one is Lestat and he doesn't appear as much. The story is mostly about this new character named Quinn (and to some extent, Mona Mayfair). I enjoyed it, and it was really creative, peculiar and dark in some aspects. His narration is O.K. There were some scenes here and there that were compelling. And there was a character who was intersex/gender-fluid and used multiple pronouns called Petronia that I really loved, even though they were… Well, complicated. I don't wanna spoil those stuff for you, but I could still empathize with them a lot, because they had such a tragic story that I believe explained a lot of their actions, just like how I feel about Armand and Lestat.

Blood Canticle: It is another book where only Lestat, Quinn and Mona show up. Quinn falls more to the back on this one, while Lestat, Mona and Rowan Mayfair are more present in the narrative. The plot didn't make a lot of sense for me and Rowan is probably the only female I never cared about, even if her story was appealing. Because the way I felt about her was close to how I felt about Louis on Merrick, like, you're a relevant character and big, dark, tragic things happened to you… But I just don't care. I did love Mona and Lestat entertained me because there was a lot of humor from him too. There are parts that he is rambling about becoming a saint and it's ridiculous and hilarious, it was very Lestat of him and I was laughing out loud late at night. I also enjoyed Lestat and Mona together, they had sort of a sibling-like rivalry and their childish bickering entertained me. There were times that Mona humbled him and I was shocked that she actually went there and threw certain stuff on his face. I was like, NO, YOU DIDN'T? OMG! And that girl is joining Lestat and Armand in the BPD squad, she might actually be worse than them. Lestat complaining about her had me like, sweetie, the call is coming from inside the house. So, it wasn't brilliant, some stuff were weird and nonsensical, but it was fun. This is also the only crossover I found a physical copy of, the others I read on my mobile so I can't talk about their length, but this one didn't even have 300 pages. It was a fast read for most of the time.

Conclusion? They aren't on my top 4, but I didn't struggle with them as I did with Memnoch the Devil or even Interview With the Vampire (I only liked Claudia and Armand on it), for that matter. I believe Merrick and Blackwood Farm are better than Blood Canticle, but it's hard to quantify and qualify the novels outside of my top 4 (TVA, TVL, Prince Lestat, TQOTD). Some might be better than others, but the difference isn't as huge as it is with those four, they're way above the rest (but I also love Vittorio and Pandora, people sleep on them, but they would be tied as my top 5). They didn't give me a lot of goosebumps and didn't leave a huge impact on me, but were mostly fine and some scenes, characters and dynamics were interesting. They're not necessary to read, though, except for maybe Merrick, so you can skip at least 2/3 and be fine… So just figure out what works for you and you'll be alright. Anyway, I hope this amount of information works for you and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask away!

[f0point5]

i’m new on the formula one world and idk too much about it but i always see people talking about lando and not wanting him as a winner. can you explain me what’s the deal with that?

Well, I can only speak for myself.

There’s a lot of reasons people dislike Lando and personally I feel lately it’s become a bit of witch hunt and people are looking for reasons to hate him. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

Also, in my view, he’s very inarticulate and he doesn’t express himself well, which means it’s easy to take things he says out of context or misconstrue them if you’re already looking to not like him. He also doesn’t seem to think before he speaks and amongst a group of people who are expected to be a bit more measured in their responses, he stands out as someone who says some very out of pocket things.

However, speaking for myself, I really used to like Lando back when he was in the upper midfield. He still said some silly stuff and he was a bit petulant when things didn’t go his way but that’s who he is, and you don’t want to see 20 drivers with the same personality. He was also very talented, very funny, and seemed like a really sweet person. Since about the middle of last year when McLaren’s car actually got good, he got a bit of an attitude. All drivers have egos, and they need them, but Lando’s manifests in a way that I find distinctly unlikeable. And towards the end of last year he got a bit annoying. Then this year, it’s got worse. He plays the “woulda, shoulda, coulda” card constantly. “Should have won”, “should have got pole”…but didn’t. If my grandmother had wheels she would have been a bike. What is the use of saying you think you should have won? His air of entitlement is not a good combination with failing to capitalise on having the fastest car on the grid. I maintain that he’s probably a really sweet guy irl but I don’t think success brings out the best in him, or at least, not what I would consider to be his most likeable traits. And the more success he gets, the more unlikeable he becomes (to a subsection of people, not to everyone obviously). So I would just rather he not win.

But there’s more reasons that have nothing to do with Lando. Zak Brown is the whingiest, skeeviest, just all round ick of a butterball and I don’t want anything associated with him to succeed ever (his creepy obsession with Red Bull is weirded and sad, I don’t like how he talks about people, I don’t like how he talks to people, it doesn’t seem like he fosters positive working culture, and his vibes are just off).

But generally McLaren have not been gracious about their success so naturally people don’t want to see them keep succeeding.

Again, this is all just my opinion, but this the general gist of why people would prefer Lando didn’t win. (As I said, there’s other people who just hate him because he’s rich or he dares some girl they don’t like or whatever but those people are Parasocial crazies)

[harrykim]

Books read this week

I've been reading a lot so I felt like doing a small breakdown for the books I've read in the past week:

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban: F/F victorian romance, sweet but nothing special. Chapters flip between the two girls, Beth and Gwen; Gwen is the far more interesting one but Beth is likeable enough (just not that interesting); Beth's mother and Gwen's father are also more interesting — they were previously interested in each other, back before they both married, though they're now both widowed. Beth and her mother are on a time limit to have Beth married as they're losing their home to Beth's uncle and don't have much wealth. Gwen on the other hand has pretty much no interest in marriage. Predictably the girls fall for each other. Doesn't get that deep on social commentary but it isn't devoid of it either. As said, it's sweet, and the epilogue even sets up the M/M romance sequel, which I probably won't read but who knows. 3/5.

Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis; loved it. Scifi about a fancy spaceship hotel called the Abeona, though by the time of the story it's seen better days. If you're here for fast paced, action focused plot you should skip this one, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to say. Takes place over a pretty short but unspecified period of time. The chapters are each focused on a character, either a staff member or guest of the hotel, as the storyline happens usually in the background. Each chapter typically goes through a small period of time on the ships journey and flashbacks to their lives. Each chapter is interspersed with 'Lamplighter Dispatches'; the Lamplighter is an anonymous figure sending out criticism and even secrets of the Empire, including the secret to the Emperors 500 year lifespan; both the anti imperial movement and the government have tracked the Lamplighter to the Abeona. The Abeona is a ship that typically the not truly wealthy, but those who wish to seem so patronise, a false luxury seen in the wear on the ship from it's heyday decades ago, and the staff are often people who have left their old lives behind; their flashbacks typically show issues within the Empire, justifying why they end up where they have. The time passage does jump around a little though I didn't find it remotely confusing frankly, it was easy to follow and very clear when things took place in a sequential order from a previous chapter; though this could've been strengthened as the chapters of part 3 do make it feel like the passage of time is something to keep an eye on, whereas previous do not. So again, personally loved it but obviously it won't be for everyone. Could do with a better title, also I don't think the goodreads summary is that good, but it's not a big deal to me. 5/5.

Accidentally in Love with my Best Friend's Brother by Abby Greyson: Romance. In name only because it's fucking terrible don't waste your time even if you like the tropes, those being; fake dating, best friends brother (duh), bullshit nothing rivalry, uh football?, rip off gossip girl with an 'everyone in the whole town ships it but they're oblivious'. I don't understand that last one at all, she's a fucking primary school teacher why would anyone give a fuck about her. None of the characters exist outside the romance in any way. Now this is typical of many romances but it was particularly bad here because it tried to pretend any of them had lives. Their character traits were Smart and Orphan for her and Football for him. Not even going to dignify them with their names. They also just develop whole complexes that never before and never truly will affect their character or personality in any way. Horrific and overly repeated jokes, like I'm talking 5 times a chapter, and the chapters are SHORT. The book literally ends with an 'and everyone clapped' part. Well, before the married with 2 kids epilogue. The writing is also just not good lol. Minus one million/5.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau: Cute, sweet. Fake dating that doesn't feel drawn out and fanfictiony. Emily is great, and her relationship with Mark is nice; he could be more developed but honestly the best part of the book is Emily's relationship to her mother, who's been trying to set her up with Mark for years; this is why the fake dating happens. Emily feels guilt over not living up to her parents expectations, while also feeling disrespected as an adult, being a published author who also works as a barista and tutor to pay the bills, and lives with a roommate, all at 33. Meanwhile her 4 sisters are all married and have more 'respectable' and stable professions, and children too. The writing does feel a bit... it falls into making Emily a bit too 'relatable' with how often she gets mad at bait twitter articles about millennials being entitled or whatever, which is fine a few times but would feel more justified if it leaned into the authors needing a social media presence to sell their books, but Emily only really occasionally takes photos of her food to post and that's about it, which is fine on it's own but I do think it could've made the aforementioned social media reflections work better. 4/5.

[ehlnofay]

ask meme!! (sorry these are not in list order 😭)

for Arabella: 🙂🎨🔮🧸🤝

AND. for Efri: 🐾🎁🔮♦️🍳

for arabella:

🙂: What are three of their personality traits that others would generally consider positive? this is a very interesting question, because I think generally character flaws are neutral traits gone too far and arabella doesn't do anything by halves... arabella is a very charismatic person and easy to get along with when she wants to be, which makes her likeable. she is undeniably courageous and copes well in dangerous circumstances, so she's a good person to have around in dire straits (providing she's not the thing causing them). as unreliable as she can be she is almost never motivated by malice; fundamentally she would rather help people than hurt them, and will gladly go out of her way to do so (if she feels like it; and as long as it doesn't conflict with her self-interest.) 🎨: What is their color scheme? Or at least colors you associate them with? I associate her mostly with red - I think in part because it's so bright and bold and just suits her well, and partly because I think it's one of the most accessible types of pigments in green pact valenwood. when I draw her I tend to use blue as well, for contrast, and because I think for her it represents luxury - since in valenwood it's only available as a mineral pigment, which is more expensive and difficult to acquire than animal-derived dyes like cochineal. 🔮: If they were to feature in the art of a tarot card, which one would it be and why? the tower. arabella shies away from stability; she's become most comfortable in upheaval. she is an unforeseen catastrophe. plus the imagery is cool 🧸: What was their favorite childhood toy and why? I think she had one of those whistles that's shaped and kind of sounds like a bird. carried it in her pocket everywhere for a few years. thought it was hysterical to blow it at surprising and inopportune moments 🤝: How do they express platonic affection? When does an acquaintance become a friend for them? hmm... I don't think arabella draws a great distinction between an acquaintance and a friend. she's a) a very social person, b) used to moving around a lot, and c) used to just lying about everything all the time. circumstances have not historically lent themselves to close and honest relationships, so anyone who she has fun talking to is a friend in her book. there's a much wider gap between a friend and someone she would be willing to put herself in the not-fun kind of danger for or be at all honest with (things she ranks on Exactly The Same Level) - she's very chummy with brynjolf from day one but it takes months and a strong external incentive to tell him anything about the reasons she acts like she does, and even then she can only manage it if they both pretend that's not what she's talking about. (she's ridiculous. I love her so much.) she's very physically affectionate regardless - enjoys touching her friends in the manner of a sibling trying to be irritating - but is mindful of their comfort and is rarely the first to initiate contact.

for efri:

🐾: How do they feel about animals? Do they have/want any pets? Do they have a favorite animal? efri's primary experience with animals is of course her old herd of goats. they were livestock, not pets, so she never developed any specific attachments to any one or the other of them, but she viewed the herd as a single unit as a sort of companion and still thinks of them fondly after she leaves them in a cave. she thinks animals in general are very cool but doesn't particularly want the responsibility of a pet. her favourite animal is whichever one is currently in her line of sight 🎁: If they needed to give a friend a gift, how would they go about choosing one? Would they buy it, make it, or do something else? Would others consider them good at gift-giving? she might be more likely to buy if she had money and access to more interesting shops, but generally when efri gives gifts they are found or made; she gives jouane flowers, sissel one of her twin brooches, kazari a cool blue rock (looks nice on a shelf). she is very good at gift giving if you are the kind of person who likes a cool blue rock, but as a child with no money she doesn't have any way to give you much else 🔮: If they were to feature in the art of a tarot card, which one would it be and why? knight of wands!! its associations with impulse and adventure are very fitting, efri can very easily see herself as a knight-adjacent figure, and it has a STICK ♦️: Are there any motifs you associate with them? What do those motifs represent thematically? since I'm still figuring out efri's storyline it's hard to say... one that I would say is her light. earlier on in her story there's this whole scattered narrative using magic light as representative of freedom/happiness/self-sufficiency (without the counterdepencence) which I like a lot and which might develop further as the storyline unfolds 🍳: Are they good at cooking? Do they like to? Why and how did they learn to cook, or, if they didn't, why didn't they? efri's cooked for herself for a while now. she's not good at following recipes but she enjoys improvising meals and seeing what she can come up with. when she's travelling with kazari and sissel, she's usually the one trying to figure out how to change up the fish they've caught from the creek to make it a bit more exciting; she's delighted to learn from the cooking of the khajiiti caravan afterwards

[foxymoxynoona]

I loved that recent reader's review of Amended. I love this story so much and she did such a great job of highlighting so many of the reasons why and my favorite scenes too.

I have reread Amended dozens of times now because it is my ultimate comfort story, and I will note that one of my favorite parts about rereading it is that on second read, my perspective of Isabella's behavior in those early chapters totally changed.

On first read, I definitely struggled to understand why she was being so thorny and reluctant and why Jungkook was so patient through all of that. But after understanding the story completely and reading the two flashback chapters towards the end of the book, my mindset totally changed and I was 100% supportive of her early doubts about Jungkook and about him needing to really work to earn back her trust and love.

I also think it made me question some of my own internalized misogyny. There were definite moments at the beginning of Amended when I first read it where I was like why is she being such a bitch? Why is he putting up with this? And it's interesting that when the shoe was on the other foot in some of your other stories like Meadow and Lowlander, I thought Jungkook was being a huge dick, but it felt like okay that's a normal journey for a man to have to learn how to process his emotions and I was more forgiving and patient with his character growth. I love a story that makes me think twice about why I react to characters in certain ways too!

I definitely recommend anyone who is a fan of Amended to come back and reread the story a second time, it truly puts a fresh perspective on the story.

I love this so much because that was completely a thing I was exploring within myself when I started the story! I wanted to write a woman who I felt some discomfort with, or disagreement with about her choices, and explore that double standard with male behavior/expectations. I don't say that to mean this story is some profound ANSWER, but it was really valuable to me as a person and as a writer to not set out to make her "likeable" --but then over time she became extremely likeable to me, and it was interesting to see at what point that changed for me AND for readers, or for some readers it never did!

After I finished, I think I had put a post on here talking more in-depth about that exploration into internalized misogyny and how it played a role in Amended, and how I shifted further away from that as time went on and she became so more of a person than an idea. My own critique is that if I had really wanted that to be a defining theme of the story, I would have given her less "reason" to be the way she was, because it makes it too easy to "explain away" her struggles or the things viewed as unacceptable, rather than recognizing her as a person with her own views and beliefs and behaviors that may just not conform to society's expectation of proper behavior for a woman. But watching people compare JK's behavior and growth (which largely happened pre-story) and Isabella's was incredibly interesting for me.

Your comment comparing her to male characters in my other stories is just so astute, and it's something I have watched with interest behind the scenes. The reader response to Isabella was so interestingly different in many ways from reader response to Meadow JK or Sugar Fairy JK or Lowlander JK or even prickly puppy Sea of Indigo JK. There's overlap of course, it's not like anyone was ever like "wow Meadow JK what an angel in those early days, huh?" LOL. And also response to her was different compared to other female characters who struggle with trauma or self-doubt or prickliness, like Mishka and Sasha and even Y/N in Sea of Indigo! In a way, the growth of those jK's was all very simple and straight-forward and readers accepted it much more quickly than they did Isabella's, which was more emotional and muddled.

I just have really enjoyed watching it all, but also writing it and exploring it in myself, and I hope to continue to force myself to confront my own biases and hangup to grow both as a writer and a person.

[sansloii]

Meta + enemy (Andris)

Andris isn't someone that typically likes to make enemies, especially in the workplace. He has some bite to him but if he's being perfectly honest with himself, biting is a hassle and it can potentially lead to a lot more trouble than he's willing to deal with at a given moemnt. That, and the man is a people pleaser.... so the first instinct, for him, isn't to.... show anyone who's boss or anything like that ( because people should know that much already ). It's to make himself likeable — it's to shmooze and maybe be a bit of a kiss ass if he feels like sweetening the interaction a little more. of course, it's not like... people aren't able to see right through Andris, because those tendencies are amplified when he knows it's going to benefit him and that he's going to get something out of it. it's not overly done or saturated with fake kindness or a "customer service" act ( thought, he'll call it that ) — it's him being personable. It's him being relatable. It's him dressing down a little bit and, you know... pretending that in that moment, he isn't just doing it to make you soften up a lil bit and be a little bit more open to talking with him.

now that said, we're under no impression here that Andy's lil facade is impenetrable. it's not easy to tell when on/off but if you've got like... a seasoned bullshit detector, you should be able to tell when Andris is on/off day-to-day or at least have some idea. And you'll realize how much Andris is "on" when he's interacting with others...even with people that he gets along with ( at work and sometimes... not at work ). *That's* what usually makes people side-eye him and that constant knowledge — that constant awareness that Mr.Jansone--is just....putting this carefully curated, only slightly flawed first foot forward and nothing else :)

now... this isn't enough to make enemies out of someone and andris usually is pretty good about minimally engaging with people that *know* he's like this and will probably give him shit for it ( for example, Joseph — although Joseph is just very judgemental and doesn't really say anything ). where that rears its ugly head is Andris' penchant for being condescending and using rhetoric that intentionally can piss people off. to illustrate this easier, we're going to also use dakota's manner of being condescending because they approach it in two different ways. say we have someone who... they feel is saying things that are untrue about some sort of deal or contract or prior discussion during a meeting. it's clear that both sides are in a little bit of a disagreement of what the actual truth is and thus, we have this dilemma.

first we have dakota.

she will say something to the effect of "Actually, what we discusssed and what you're saying now are two different things. I'm not sure where your version of events are coming from but it's clear that you need something clarified for you. Isn't that right?"

next is andris. he will respond with something to the effect of "I don't recall that being apart of our previous discussions and it seems we're on two, vastly different pages. If you'd like, I'm more than willing to go over the facts of your situation with you so no one here is confused about where you stand."

dakota is very direct and speaking in general plain terms. she's not pleased, the recalled event is wrong, and she will clarify it for them. andris is still direct but the tone of his words is softer and said person must be confused, must need his "help" to fully understand things, needs him to be but a humble person guiding them... despite the fact that in both cases, they are calling the other person incompetent at best. it's that type of terminology that really needles its way under some people's skin and given that Andris has to do that anyway with his subordinates, he just keeps it on if you just so happen to be someone he really doesn't like and can probably get away with talking as such to. like dakota, he talks down to people. and, for someone in his position, that can earn him a bit of a reputation.

@royaletiquette | send META + a word, name, or phrase for a headcanon

[reni-reads]

Reni Reviews

Pretty Little Liars 1 - Unschuldig by Sara Shepard

Finished: 22nd March, 2025

Genre: YA Mystery

May be for you if you like: Gossip Girl, One of Us Is Lying, character-driven stories, messy main characters, teen dramas, mysteries, multiple POV

Content Warning: Depiction of ED, mention of SH, homophobia

Synopsis

Behind perfectly styled outfits and Gucci sunglasses, the people of Rosewood hide their dirty secrets.

Alison, Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna are Rosewood's IT-clique who rule 7th grade until Alison, leader of the group, goes missing. Three years later, the remaining girls have grown apart and coped with Alison's death in different ways.

Then, suddenly, they receive messages by a stalker called A., threatening to reveal their worst secrets - secrets only Alison knew! Does that mean that, after all this time, Alison is back?

Review

Aaaah, "Pretty Little Liars", my ultimate guilty pleasure series lol. I know it's problematic (but not as much as the TV series okay?!) and over the top, but sometimes you just gotta relax and enjoy some drama, which this series delivers perfectly. Please note that this is not the first time I've read these novels, so I might compare it to previous reading experiences, especially when talking about the characters. I'm posting the German covers because that is the version I'm currenly reading.

The Story

is actually pretty intriguing and well-executed for a YA book series. The concept of having the most popular girl disappear, but her memories and actions still impact the main characters, is great!

The story is rather slow-paced as the first book mainly introduces its main characters and the topics of the series - it's all basically just a setup for future events. The story begins with a flashback to the time before Ali went missing - and it does actually feel pretty nostalgic and 7th grade-ish, and sets up the characters and atmosphere perfectly. After that we jump into the present and follow each girl through her first week in Rosewood. They all do quite some shitty things and subsequently get reprimated by the mysterious A, who threatens to reveal their secrets from the past as well as their current messes. Some believe it must be a returned Alison, but it remains unclear who A is, and the girls aren't too bothered by them until the very end, when it's revealed that there's practically no chance of A being Alison. So it all remains quite mysterious until the end - and the end is quite dramatic and the first PANG in the series!

Of course, the main mysteries are: 1) What happened to Alison? and 2) Who is A? And having read the books already, I obviously know the answers to those questions, which makes me appreciate all the little clues and hints all the more!

The Characters

are, honestly, not (always) good people, which I love! I lowkey hated how the TV adaptation made them all likeable, innocent victims, because they aren't! These girls are absolutely messy, and it's actually a huge point of the story, which is about (deserved?) retribution. I think that approach is pretty bold for a YA series, which is a genre that usually shies away from morally grey characters. Furthermore, they are all unique personalities so it's easy to relate to at least one of them - I think everyone has their favorite "liar" and I'm no exception. So anyway, let's talk about them in more detail, shall we?

I'll start with Emily Fields because, to be honest, I care about her the least - I still love her though! She's the most grounded and sweet of the girls. She's a prized swimmer who questions if she really wants to swim - and her feelings for certain people. She took Alison's disappearance the hardest and it's portrayed amazingly by her still having a lot of the things from three years ago and being the most emotional about it still. Her secret is that she's a lesbian, which has probably the biggest probable repercussions for her, and I do feel bad for her because she honestly is the person who doesn't deserve to be tortured like that.

Next up is Aria Montgomery, the artsy girl who used to be a known eccentric and somewhat of an outsider before Alison took her in. She moved away shortly after Alison had disappeared, and we meet her on her first day back in Rosewood. She has the least knowledge of current events, so she's the exposition character, which was pretty smart writing. She has a unique style and interests - she loves knitting, art and literature. She's honestly also a bit pretentious and "not like other girls"-y but she gets a pass because that's just the way of coping with being an outsider. This attitude is also her downfall though because it leads her into the arms of her damn English teacher because "all the other boys are immature" like girl STOP IT! Her family life is also quite messy because her dad cheated with a student (see the pattern) and Aria is unsure whether she should tell her mom or not. Poor girl has a lot going on.

Hanna Marin is the most interesting character for me personally. Hanna was the group's resident fat girl who ate to cope with her parents' divorce, and Alison taunted her for it. After Alison's disappearance, Hanna and her new best friend Mona turned from "fat losers", but actually lovable and sweet girls, into the new IT (and mean-) girls. Hanna achieved her transformation by engaging in ED behavior, which is the secret A blackmails her with. Hanna is the one who worries the most about her reputation and her image, and she's honestly a bitch at first. When I read the book first at 12, I could heavily relate to the "before"-Hanna a lot, as I was a fat, insecure loser girl, and I used to understand but resent present-day Hanna. Now, having "transformed" myself (into a thin, "conventionally attractive" but still loser-ish person lol) by similar means, I have a new appreciation for Hanna and her struggles. I'd go as far as to say that she's my new favorite character, taking over...

... Spencer Hastings, my previous favorite character. Spencer is a stuck-up, prissy overachiever who absolutely resents coming in second in anything. Her fiercely competitive nature is worst with Alison and her older sister Melissa, who is the family's golden child. Spencer can never quite reach the level of perfection as Melissa, so she takes revenge by stealing Melissa's boyfriends - which is the secret A blackmails her with. I could always relate to Spencer's desire to be perfect and living in her sister's shadow (though I couldn't relate to the boyfriend stealing lol). After Alison disappeared, Spencer also developed OCD, which is a thing I've struggled with since childhood, so I still relate to her a lot.

So yeah, those are the protagonists, whom I will reference as "The Liars" from now on. As I said, I like that they are very flawed people who actually do mess up a lot in the books, and I will forever be salty about the whitewashing that happened in the adaptation (apart from Spencer, who was still a mess, and brilliantly portrayed by Troian Bellisario, I might add).

What I like the absolute most is that their respective developments from their "pre-Ali"-selves to their "Ali-phase" of being best friends, to their "post-Ali" selves and growing apart feels extremely realistic. Some of them show signs of wishing to reconnect, but they are very set in their current lives and all riddled with guilt, grief and other inner conflicts that prevent them from moving on from Alison as well as from rekindling their friendship. Their entire dynamic just feels entirely organic and I'm a fan!

The side characters are also all pretty interesting and dynamic. With family dynamics we have Emily's very suburban, conservative but tight-knit family, Aria's eccentric art family (and Mike, her all-American younger brother), Hanna's ambitious and neglectful mom and her dead-beat dad, and finally Spencer's type A family. We also have different friendship and relationship dynamics, with the main duos being the messy relationships between Spencer/Wren and Aria/Ezra, and the friendships between Hanna/Mona and Emily/Maya, as well as some other interactions.

Special shoutout to Alison DiLaurentis, who disappeared three years ago and STILL haunts the main characters and all of Rosewood. She's like a phantom, always there and yet absent. I love the power she still has over everyone.

Similarly, I love the elusive A, who is basically absent from the story apart from their messages.

I could honestly rave about the characters forever, but I'll just end it here and say that I love the cast in its entirety.

The Worldbuilding

is pretty nice and cleverly chosen! We're in Rosewood, an extremely affluent suburb in Pennsylvania. Everyone is rich, everyone is beautfiul, everyone is perfect - and everyone hides a secret. It's a bit cliché, but it absolutely works. Them all being rich and perfect is a plausible explanation for A being so dangerous to them - reputation is everything in Rosewood, after all. So it all works really well.

Final Thoughts

Yeah okay I'm raving about these books too much. They hold a very special place in my heart, so I'm obviously biased, but I will say: As a YA mystery, they are very well crafted. The writing style is funny and witty, so it's all around entertaining. Even if they have their flaws, these books are iconic for reason. I look forward to reading the next ones, and I might do read along for the next few volumes!

Rating: 🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁

Plot and Storylines: 🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁

Characters and Relationships: 🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁

Writing Style and Narration: 🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁

Setting and Worldbuilding: 🧁🧁🧁🧁

Entertainment: 🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁

Other Titles in the Series

Pretty Little Liars 2 - Makellos (Flawless)

Pretty Little Liars 3 - Vollkommen (Perfect)

Pretty Little Liars 4 - Unvergleichlich (Unbelievable)

Pretty Little Liars 5 - Teuflisch (Wicked)

Pretty Little Liars 6 - Mörderisch (Killer)

Pretty Little Liars 7 - Herzlos (Heartless)

Pretty Little Liars 8 - Vogelfrei (Wanted)

[monasatlantis]

Fields of Mistria - Frist impression Review

So on an impuls (as per usual XD) I bought the early access Version of Fields of Mistria and played it for like 13 hours and through almost two seasons and I am quite quick in my progression thanks to... uh... some... unorthodox ways to get through the freaking mine *achem* and thus I feel like I can already write a "First impression review" for this game in its early access phase. Bear in mind that there will be a full review out eventually after the game has entered its alpha stage and is mostly complete - which will likely not be before 2025.

OBVIOUSLY, there are SPOILERS for this game, so you have been warned!

The art style is a bit old-school-Anime and people my age will likely be reminded of the Anime "Nadia the secret of Blue Water" and might be reminded of some of the Animes characters when looking at the characters of those games. Which is by no means a bad thing. I think younger players or those who have never seen the anime will obviously not notice anyway. I just found it worth mentioning. (For my personally its fun, because while I love Nadia the Anime, I hate Nadia the character and there is a character in this game that looks somewhat like her and whenever I talk to her I am torn between thinking she is pretty and wanting to say "urg" every time I interact with her XD) Overall I do think the artstyle is likeable for everyone who does not mind the Anime-Character-Look. Animals are very cute by the way ♥ (BTW... its just a small thing but it looks like the characters change their outfits every season and I think its a nice detail.)

Music is okay for a cozy farming game. Obviously, there are no banger songs, but there is also no music that gets annoying after playing on a loop for a while, as far as I can say after spending hours in the mine or on my farm or exploring the map.

The game mechanics are similar to most cozy farming games. Which makes it easy to understand and makes it so that you don't take long to get into the game. You have tutorials for almost everything which you can actually skip if you want, which I found really nice. Something that surprised me but is actually nice for quality of live is that you do not have to refill your freaking watering can. I hated this so much in previous farming games. I get that it is realistic but so damn annoying. I prefer how Fields of Mistria does it and hope they will not change it in a future update OR will make it optional. Otherwise its the usual same old, same old. Plant crops, water crops, harvest crops, sell or cook crops. Same for fruit trees and most other stuff. Animals make babies by giving a male AND a female heart cookies when they have reached at least two hearts, this way apparently you can breed unique colors. I just got my first egg for breeding, so I can not tell you the details. But what I can tell you is that you can NOT buy the pink cow from the opening-screen, so it must be one you breed. I am still working on this at the moment. What is kind of "new" or is not available in all farming games is that you can give your Animals accessories AND toys. My cows play ball in a sandpit and my chickens are going up and down a... uh... what is it called in English? I forgot. But you get my point, right? Its really cute! I hope they will add more in later releases of the game. I would love to see my chicken on a swing or something XD They do feed from grass that is growing outside. You do not have to plant it yourself. But if you feel like your running low on it, you certainly can. Food for Animals CAN be bought or be randomly obtained by cutting grass. There are different feed for the different kind of Animals. Weed, grass, stones and trees randomly reappear on your farm, so you should not run out of materials. If you do... you find plenty of tries on the map that regrow almost immediately. And if you are short on stone, you find some laying around on the map but the easiest way to get plenty of them is by getting into the mine.

The map of this game is big, but not too big. You can easily spend a day running around gathering flowers, herbs, bugs and doing some digging for artifacts and the likes. Some random fruiet trees are standing around here and there too. Some areas are only accessible with stronger tools or after finishing story-missions tho. But the map looks very fitting to the games title. It looks like there are ruins of old castles and stuff like that standing everywhere and I hope most of them will be relevant to the story eventually or give you access to new places on the map. There are also occasional springs with healing water or statues or the likes of that, that give you something after some sort of sacrifice - no your not sacrificing your chickens, don't worry, you give away money or stone or stuff like that, so don't worry! XD - like there is a well that gives you recipes if you give it some money.

Speaking of which... there is no learning by doing it seems. You need recipes to cook. Some easy ones you will get for free tho, when shipping certain ingredients. AND what I really like is, while you do not have anything at the start on your farm to cook yourself, do woodwork or smithing yourself the game allows you to use the facilities in the city. So you an cook at the inn, smith at the smithies and do woodwork in 2 possible locations, including the carpenters house. Really neat. It helps you too not feel like rushing thing so you can buy that stuff for yourself and still makes it possible to get a copper axe and an iron hoe without having to buy them for a lack of any smithing-place at your farm. And YES you can actually create the stuff yourself. And its not even an upgrade and its also not limited. You can produce like 5 copper hoes and then seel 4 of them for a very good price while also selling your old hoe as it gets not replaced. I got a shitload of money when I replayed my copper tools with iron tools and then sold the copper tools. So if you like the mine, this might be your way to gain money. There is a catch to that tho, which is that processing anything (that includes making cheese out of milk) is taking a shitload of time and when you are finished your day will be mostly over. You can shorten that time by a bit -we get to that in a moment - but it still takes quite some time. ALSO if you want to build a barn or a coop, you will only buy the blueprints and you have to buy them again and again and again whenever you want to build a new one. After having the blueprints you place them on a free space on your farm and then you gather the material until you can finish the building. It has is good sides and its bad sides, I guess. Overall I don't mind it but I was surprised at first.

There is a magical aspect in the game. You will learn spells eventually and you will earn points by doing daily farmer-stuff that will allow you to "buy" perks like that smiting doesn't take as much time anymore, or crops randomly giving you seeds when watering them. Most of it is really helpful but if you like it a bit harder you do not have to use it. But I would seriously recommend it.

Now lets talk about the plot for a moment. Obviously there is some stuff still missing but let me tell you, you will be quite busy with it for the first months. There are multiple story requests that ask you for lets say preparing a bridge or selling crops for emergency rations. As the farmer, you got your land for free, but let me tell you that you will have to pay them back a lot while fulfilling the story missions. In money and materials. However, it makes it so that you almost always have a goal in sight. I would recommend tho making sure you prioritize the right thing. There is no rush with those main story missions. Sometimes the benefits outweigh the price, like with the update for the general store, but other times you could use the money and materials for other stuff that will help you gather more income which also will help you on the long run with the story-missions. A lot of stuff by the way happens in the mines and requires you to revisit the mines a few times to get what you need to explore them further so if you are like me and not a big fan of mines in ANY farming game, you might have to rethink if you want this game OR at least how you approached the mines. You can not just get yourself a sword but also armor that helps you with the monsters in the mine. Gathering the materials for it may take a while tho, so your progress will be slower. But this IS a cozy farming game. So there is no real rush. Go at your own pace and make the best out of it. HOWEVER if you want to advance the story avoiding the mines is literally impossible. So keep that in mind, if you ever want to buy the game.

Now to the NPCs and Loveinterests. The town isn't overly big, but is filled enough to not feel empty. All characters have their own character and quirks and interests and feel alive and interesting. The bachelors and bachelorette can not be married yet. So far, you can only get them to four hearts. You get an heart event every two hearts or so. Once again, its a wild mix of different characters and you can take your pic. For some people it might also be important to know that there are people of color in this game and among the bachelors and bachelorettes. And... somehow... you maybe... can... date a Dragon? ^^' I have no idea, but there is a dragon statue on your farm that talks to you and stuff and it actually has a heart. You can not give it gifts yet or anything but as they say there are still 2 more bachelors missing (we have 10 at the moment) there is a good chance he will be one of them. We will see eventually. As there is no real progress yet for the dating part of the game I wasn't paying much attention to it but I did "accidentally" (as in I was not planning to have a heart event with that guy, but he was the first one who had two hearts by only just talking...) triggered the first (two hearts) heart event for the merchant and I can not exactly tell you what I think about it. We barely interacted with him. So... uh... we will see I guess ^^'

Thats it for now.

First impression is good. So far 8 out of 10 points and I am looking forward to the Alpha release some day.

[faerune]

🖊 + tess. i’d love to hear about her platonic relationships with the other survivors <3

Tess has a pretty close relationship with all of the survivors and no matter the individual differences really considers them family. She'd do anything for them.

Glenn: Like I mentioned before, the pair of them are incredibly close! Tess considers him like a little brother and they are honestly best friends. His death absolutely devastates Tess and she feels like she failed him.

Michonne: I feel like the two of them have similar temperaments though Michonne sometimes has to ground her especially during moments where Tess' drive to protect those around her leads her into some pretty bad places. They're both intelligent well-educated women and they both have a similar sense of humor too!

Rick: These two are super close! They're around the same age (I believe if my memory serves me) and both kind of start the apocalypse with the okay this isn't going to break me or make me into a different person mindset. Meanwhile like nine seasons later lmao...(they still keep their core values I think, they just moreso adjusted to a different world to keep the people they love alive). Alongside Daryl and Michonne, Tess is one of the people who Rick would entrust the group with if he was gone. He also is incredibly grateful to her as Tess is separated with Judith during S4 and she did everything she could to keep the little girl alive.

Carol: They both struggle with the same sort of violence and anger towards those who threaten the group. And they both deal with the morality of it in similar ways. They regret, they're in pain but Carol isolates herself and tries to stop it while Tess accepts it as something she needs to do. These two are really close tbh.

Maggie: Isn't as close to Maggie initially as some of the others but Tess really likes her and thinks she's good for Glenn. Eventually, the pair form their own kind of familial love towards each other particularly after Glenn is killed. Tess is incredibly protective over both Maggie and Hershel as she feels she owes it to Glenn.

Carl: He calls her Aunt Tess eventually. Tess would do anything to protect that little man.

Judith: See above, also calls her Aunt Tess. They have a special bond.

Rosita: They don't have too much in common with each other but they quite like each other. It's one of those things where I don't think they'd be friends in a non-outbreak AU but being thrown together made them realize they like each other.

Negan: Hates him. Will never forgive him. Forbids him from coming anywhere close to her children.

[uinferno]

One thing I think some manga readers need to chill out on is the compulsive need to point out that Makima is the villain, especially when talking to anime-onlies and those who've fallen for her shit. Like, maybe you were able to catch on from the word go, but not everyone will and the way the narrative treats her, it's certainly intended to be a plot twist.

I also think by just painting her in broadstrokes as evil through and through with no reason to be likeable ultimately detracts from her character and the narrative of CSM. Makima is a manipulator. Making people like her is her whole thing and it works. With only what was shown of her in the anime adaptation, she has a lot going for her. In other stories, she would have been the polite but haughty kuudere love interest.

Within the episodes shown her most in-your-face negative trait is threatening to kill Denji. However, even when it's written out explicitly, she does it in such a manner that makes it easy for those who've already fallen for her shtick to write off. She always separates the action from her, or uses innuendo when talking about it. Like it's a bureaucratic decision made by her bosses, or some advice from the vets, or how she's never the one who would go through with it, but one of her subordinates. She says it in such a tongue and cheek manner that she has the plausible deniability that she's joking even when she isn't. This isn't to mention that every named character has threatened Denji's life from Aki to Power to Kobeni to Himeno. Threatening to kill Denji is just what people do apparently, not to excuse her but to just point out that it's not the most effective litmus on good vs evil in this setting.

Everything she does is laced with formality and delicacy. From genuinely harmless actions to straight up sexually assaulting Denji. What makes this so effective is how little effort or threats it takes to get people to do what she wants.

Which brings me to the big thing about her character: She is very rarely wrong. The entire speech about sexual intimacy having a greater impact when you're close to your partner and know them on a deep, personal level? She's correct about that! Or maybe when she helps Denji after he got drunk on Himeno vomit by giving him the candy, telling him that even if bad things happen, he will experience so much that they'll ultimately become footnotes in his life. Genuine wisdom. There's even her conversation with the Yakuza about how they're so far up their own ass as they rule Japan's underground while self absorbed that they're the "necessary evil," which albeit hypocritical still isn't wrong. Her little convo on the train about preferring to eat alone and hating dealing with her bosses. The movie date where she says that even if you find only one good movie, it makes watching all of the bads one worth it.

She's not never wrong, but the best lies are built on truths. As one of the few characters in the cast who has any semblance of understanding what the fuck is going on and as practically human pure devil, this all comes together to make it her the perfect manipulator. Anime-onlies will fall for it. When I read the manga, I fell for it. Even after I was clocked in on her doing something terrible from a random redditor's comment on fanart.

What makes Makima such a good villain and such a good representation for abusers is that she makes it very easy for many people to like her. Maybe not everyone, but more than enough. Many abusers aren't some shriveled bitter curs that release nonstop toxicity, they'd fool far less people that way. The best ones are those that make people go "How could they be abusive, they're so nice?"

You don't have to like her. It's probably a good thing you don't actually. She's not a good person, and if people are clearly excusing her bullshit even after reading the manga, go ahead and call it out, but also, let new viewers be wrong. Let them be tricked. Maybe it will reveal some things to them about themselves.

[alwaysspeakshermind]

What do you think about Star Crossed Lover strategy on 74th The Hunger Games?

Who did invent it?

Who benefited from it?

Thank you

@curiousnonny

As a reader who couldn't help strategizing along with Katniss the second I started reading, the SCL strategy wasn't an idea that even crossed my mind, but I personally think it's brilliant. Like Haymitch kept trying to explain to Katniss, the point of the interviews are basically to sell yourself to the crowd...yes, the scores are a big deal, but since nobody except the Gamemakers knows WHY the tributes are getting those scores, the audience's first chance to get a feel for who they want to bet on happens when they "meet" the tributes. And as everyone who's ever watched a reality show knows, the way you set yourself apart from the competition is by being memorable...not necessarily skilled, not necessarily likeable, not necessarily enviable, but MEMORABLE.

(Ex.: whether we're talking The Bachelor, American Idol, The Voice, X Factor, Top Model, Survivor etc., there's always those contestants who you meet in the first round and then promptly forget about, because there's nothing about them that sticks out...you don't love them, you don't hate them, you don't think "Oh wow, he's really handsome" or "Oh wow, her voice is incredible" or "OH, she's the girl who showed up in the unicorn head/that's the guy who brought the creepy puppet," or "Oh, she's the one who wants to win for her grandmother." You just...forget them. They blend in. And while that's not a huge thing in a tv show that gives you the chance to come back, in a televised fight to the death where a sponsor's gift can literally make or break your survival, blending in is NOT the route you want to go.)

The SCL strategy is great because it makes K&P instantly relatable, it makes them tragic figures rather than just two more tributes headed to their probable deaths (something the Capitol crowd is all too accustomed to seeing), and it's new. They haven't seen that before, and it makes a buzz (think about how people react nowadays to the announcement that two celebrities they already were interested in are dating, and multiply that by about a thousand). Katniss and Peeta can't both win, but their lives/chances to be together can be prolonged with...*trumpet fanfare* SPONSOR GIFTS! WOOHOO! And in the Capitol, where life is a lot easier than anywhere else in the world, it's an easy enough story to believe, so it practically guarantees extra sponsors.

Now, in terms of who invented it/benefitted from it? I submit below this particular passage from one of my favorite scenes that I wish the film had portrayed more accurately:

Peeta has only just stepped from his car when I slam my palms into his chest. He loses his balance and crashes into an ugly urn filled with fake flowers. The urn tips and shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces. Peeta lands in the shards, and blood immediately flows from his hands.

"What was that for?" he says, aghast.

"You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!" I shout at him.

"What's going on?" says Effie, a note of hysteria in her voice. "Did you fall?"

"After she shoved me," says Peeta as Effie and Cinna help him up.

Haymitch turns on me. "Shoved him?"

"This was your idea, wasn't it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?" I answer.

"It was my idea," says Peeta, wincing as he pulls spikes of pottery from his palms. "Haymitch just helped me with it."

"Yes, Haymitch is very helpful. To you!" I say.

"You are a fool," Haymitch says in disgust. "Do you think he hurt you? That boy just gave you something you could never achieve on your own."

"He made me look weak!" I say.

"He made you look desirable! And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" says Haymitch.

"But we're not star-crossed lovers!" I say.

Haymitch grabs my shoulders and pins me against the wall. "Who cares? It's all a big show. It's all how you're perceived. The most I could say about you after your interview was that you were nice enough, although that in itself was a small miracle. Now I can say you're a heartbreaker. Oh, oh, oh, how the boys back home fall longingly at your feet. Which do you think will get you more sponsors?"

The mastermind? Peeta.

But the aider and abettor? Definitely Haymitch.

And in terms of beneficiaries, it's both Katniss and Peeta, because even though the strategy causes them a lot of issues later on, it's ultimately the thing that helps them survive, whether you're looking at it from the angle of the Games or afterward, when the Capitol becomes the immediate threat but they at least are able to face it together.

[rusty-clock]

Rapunzel is not responsible for Varian's villain arc

Hear me out.

I'm the first person to admit Rapunzel in the show is not perfect (and lets be honest: often not even likeable) person. The show tries very hard to make her one, but fails miserably.

Let's see things in the show's point of view first.

The show admits freely that Rapunzel does some things wrong. She gives Varian a promise she can't keep. She even feels guilt because of the black rocks. The show frames it to look like she is made to do difficult but understandable choice: the promise she gave to Varian or her kingdom. It is easy to understand why she chooses the kingdom's safety . And later, when Varian asks for help, she gives it. His betrayal afterwards is his own doing and makes him a villain. And even after he kidnaps her mom and tries to destroy them all with his automatons she still shows kindness and asks her father not to be too hard on him.

Now lets look at this in different perspective.

Like its been pointed out many times, Rapunzel could have done so many things differently. Sure she couldn't have gone with Varian during the blizzard but she surely shouldn't have let him being dragged out. And after the blizzard is over her first thought is not Varian but an art block. That's not what a responsible adult does when a child has begged for their help during a deadly storm. Granted, she does think Varian, even talks about him with Eugene but she still doesn't do anything before Varian actively asks for help. Even then she only agrees to help when its Corona which is in danger, not Varian's dad.

What especially bothers me is this picture.

This is not a face of somebody who made terrible mistakes which ruined somebody's life. This is not look of sadness and remorse. It's a "I fought a villain and won and now it's time for a new adventure" face.

Maybe I'm being harsh but that look just bugs me so much. She shouldn't look like that after fighting against a friend turned to villain.

So why do I think Rapunzel is not responsible for Varian's villain arc?

This is Rapunzel's 19th birthday. She has been out of her tower a bit over an year. A bit over an year to learn how to function on society.

Most likely when Rapunzel was a child and a teenager, she spent lots of time alone with only Pascal as a company. And you know what that means?

She was never wrong.

Of course she had Gothel who belittled and insulted her, but she wasn't around so often. That meant Rapunzel never had to face the humiliating fact that she could be wrong or do mistakes so...she didn't.

Chameleons are great and all but you don't really need to care about their opinions that much.

And then Eugene and everything happened and suddenly this girl raised in isolation is a princess in a kingdom where a tailor can be thrown to stockades because ripping the king's robes.

You see where I'm going?

The only people in the show really disliking Rapunzel are Cass and Monty. Cass often defies Rapunzel but she too gets trapped to Rapunzel's manipulation and guilt-tripping in Beginnings.

Monty is surprisingly wholesome and the show rather surprisingly doesn't force him to be a part of Raps' fan club. But he is not around enough to actually make any difference.

Remembering all this, is not a miracle Rapunzel makes those mistakes she does with Varian. She has never been forced to accept responsibility, nor has she ever really been wrong and suffered consequences for that. And the worst thing is that nobody really allows her to do that.

To be honest (and this is painful to say) the persons behind Varian's downfall are Cass and Eugene.

Eugene puts Rapunzel on pedestal. He doesn't allow her any mistakes, not even when she could learn from them. When he realizes Monty doesn't like her, he immediately tries to make it look like Monty is wrong there.

When it comes to Varian, Eugene barely even glances at Quirin's paralyzed form in amber and doesn't spare any thought to Varian. Instead he focuses on comforting Rapunzel who is completely safe at that moment.

And then Cass, who is dreaming to be a guard, stands still and watches a child being dragged out by said guards -and doesn't bat an eye. Later she just like Eugene, completely forgets Varian until she gets the slightest hint he could be a threat and rushes to arrest him without any real evidence.

Cass and Eugene are both adults. They did not grow up in a tower. Unlike Rapunzel, they have no excuse for their behavior and they should face consequences for their actions. Rapunzel can be cut some slack because she really shouldn't have been in the situation where she was and she did her best with her limited experience. That doesn't mean she wasn't wrong or that she shouldn't have done more, but she wasn't the only one responsible.

So, in conclusion, the whole mess with Varian wasn't all Rapunzel's fault. The blame falls to Eugene and Cass

Thank you coming to my rant talk!

[adelaidedrubman]

Vampire, succubus, Raven, and monster for Jessie?

THANK YOU LYDIA these were really fun ones to answer for her:3 sorry for the long answers.

VAMPIRE - Be honest, do they have any secret addictions or deeply hidden vices?

i don’t think any of jessie’s vices are particularly hidden except in as much as she’s a private person generally, and those that are hidden tend to be so more in terms of degree or specifics than the vice itself being something she doesn’t claim. she’s openly a drinker, but perhaps isn’t so forthcoming about the occasions she drinks her feelings to the point of overindulgence. she’s very open to the point of being crude about sex in the abstract, but less so about, well.

is being addicted to psychosexual mind games a thing? she should be addicted to shutting the fuck up.

SUCCUBUS - What is their best asset when it comes to manipulating other people? Money, connections, sex, words, etc?

she would very adamantly claim she’s simply not manipulative and is a very honest person. and i would say that paradoxically her greatest asset in manipulating others is her apparent blunt frankness and lack of social graces. most people tend to assume given the uh, general unpleasantness, that she certainly must not be consciously doing anything to influence others in her favor. she gives the impression that she’s incapable of filtering herself at all, let alone speaking strategically for the sake of manipulation. but contrary to what anyone in universe would think, she does pay attention to how others react to her and is actually to some degree capable of tailoring her behavior to maximize how likeable or sympathetic she is in a situation when there’s something she wants. (i would say she’s at least successfully manipulated tracey, whitehorse, and jerome before. and, well... other parties don’t really count, too easy.)

i also think a lot of her manipulation skill lies in the sort of casual, jovial attitude. girl who skirts through every situation via jester’s privilege, if she pisses you off oh hey whoa she was just joking, what you can’t take a joke? sorry she was trying to be friends, she’s just a little awkward and misses social and emotional cues. (she’s seeing she’s perceiving she knows the patterns she knows everything there is to know about them.) plus it’s one of her primary means of deflection, which she relies on a lot to control her conversations and the flow of information between her and others. (all this being said, she does also have genuine impulse control issues and manipulation is not always something she’s able to keep up even when she knows what she should be doing to accomplish it.)

so i guess tl;dr: probably words? she doesn’t hold a lot of outright social power in most situations, nothing along the lines of money or connections to help her out. but she does manage to talk (and nonverbally communicate, a lot of this relies on an intangible aura) her way through situations and control impressions. (said in understanding she doesn’t always want to be liked, necessarily.)

RAVEN - What sad song, poem or sonnet would they be associated with?

god, i would say the beast in me by johnny cash for reasons i’ve discussed somewhat at length before. (the beast in her has literally had to learn to live with pain... sad!) but for a fresh answer i would also add you’ll never leave harlan alive by darrell scott. while jessie has technically left her (harlan adjacent) hometown in eastern kentucky, she still feels unwillingly tied to it, and condemned by an inability to escape her station captured in the song. and also, equally, still surrounded by the ruin left in the wake of macrosocial forces she can’t control or always name but is intimately affected by. she’s left harlan alive but she hasn’t really left harlan alive, y’know?

MONSTER - When they look at the world what is the first thing they see and hate?

complacency towards injustice for the sake of maintaining social pleasantries and order. it’s the earliest thing she remembers feeling truly indignant about as a child: growing up in a small community that outwardly boasted its tight-knit (read: intrusive) knowledge of its members’ business and valuing of family structure was a form of kindness, and growing disillusioned at a very young age with the realization this did nothing to actually protect the vulnerable members of the community but instead lead to a valuing of social norms and the vague appearance of “nice, happy (conventional) family” that was exactly the kind of misplaced priority that allowed her father to get away with abusing her mother without consequence. she quickly intuited that everyone’s proclaimed ideals were more about maintaining an image than actually caring for the people who need it, and it made her furious. she hates phonies

she continues to feel disdain for outward niceties over substance into adulthood as a result. (hence the aforementioned unpleasantness.) which does genuinely protect her against manipulation at times — you cannot Act Nice enough for her to not see through. ...but it also puts her at risk for other forms of manipulation (john’s “stay just hostile enough she doesn’t actually realize she’s being friendly with you” advice unfortunately spot on; local man actually knows what he’s talking about for the first time in his life, heartbreaking) and makes her overcorrect so that she reads actual kindness as Some Kinda Fucked Up Love Bombing (see: her biting jerome’s head off and having a temper tantrum because he made an effort to spare her feelings).