#so moral of the story i guess is that my sister should make all my wishes because apparently shes luckier than me lol

[electric-plants]

i just failed the 50/50 to qiqi for the first time and tbh it was kind of exciting just because of all the memes about it lol

[sailorspica]

dare i argue...

kenny has a very interesting, consistent morality that isn't all that aberrant compared to most of AoT's main cast.

he is our main source of ackerman lore, whose fallen status within the walls directly telegraphs the position of eldia in the larger world, so on closer inspection, kenny, levi, and mikasa are more than a bit analogous to grisha and the warriors. in kenny's case, i think most of the elder jaegers. hear me out:

my ongoing beef with the uprising arc anime adaptation includes this scene with kenny's grandfather. confoundingly, WIT cut significant length from grandpa's explanation about the ackermans' persecution at the hands of the MPs, but gave kenny a line that... is ghostwritten by zeke jaeger.

in the manga, kenny discouraged kuchel from carrying levi to term for reasons he doesn't verbalize (snk 65)

in the anime (aot 43), my subtitles say "I swear, ain't no point being born in a craphole world like this where there's not a single dream worth pursuing."

the dubbed line is "who'd want to be born into this piece of shit world anyway? there isn't a dream you could have worth suffering through it."

btw i think WIT giving kenny like, 5x more lines with the word "dream" is fucking cheesy and childish; i could see how this mindset is challenged immediately by carla in bystander, but does kenny have to be the one to say it? we get that from historia and alma and ymir already! plenty of characters express thoughts of regretting being born, but this and zeke's are particular to eldians and ackermans, not individuals

but what grandpa ackerman says about this "deal" between the ackerman patriarch and the crown echoes grisha and zeke's propaganda bedtime stories. the first generation born within the walls hoped that ignorance would spare future ackermans, and eldians left behind when the walls went up hoped compliance would save them from... paradise, conscription, what have you. historical omission and revision: neither fucking worked! that ackerman patriarch died pointlessly, every eldian sacrificed to marley's imperialism from foot soldiers in the trenches to the warriors and proto-warriors, ksaver's generation and older, died pointlessly.

much like the warriors, i don't think any of the above excuses or downplays kenny's wrongdoings, but contextualizes them:

he's a serial killer

as far as we know his Ripping was mostly MPs. as of this scene in ch. 65, the latest were lurking outside a dying old man's home, whether that means they monitored the eldest living ackerman closely, or they were there to jump kenny. point is, killing cops is uhhhhh cool. i don’t care he becomes one himself later. the old 2nd wave feminist adage of “the personal is political” applies to any gender, really, and we should all take police violence against vulnerable populations personally, so whether you frame kenny’s kill count before joining the MPs as self-defense or vengeance, there’s a net positive of fewer MPs terrorizing the streets of the interior and the underground.

he abandoned and/or abused levi

my guess is without his anime-only Zekeism™, kenny’s concern before levi's birth is more specific to kuchel’s circumstances, and also informs his abandonment:

raising a child would make kuchel’s life even more difficult;

the underground and moreover a brothel are no place to raise a child;

as his reaction to levi not knowing his last name goes, living as an ackerman is a curse unto itself (the zeke and ksaver conclusion), even if kenny’s relationship with uri has improved his circumstances;

my most charitable and extracanonical thought for this man is… i wonder what happened to his and kuchel’s own parents. how else do you lose track of your sister like this? did they feel abandoned themselves? did kenny already doubt kuchel would live long or be strong enough to protect a child (maternal mortality, which fellow MP nile dawk brings up in 108)? when he said “i’m not cut out to be some kid’s father,” did he also think that of kuchel? or did he think he also failed as an older brother—kenny and kuchel as grisha and faye...

we only get kenny’s POV of his time with levi, which lasts about five pages of chapter 69. my point is, levi whump revisionism tends to give him annie leonhart's canonical childhood, for which there is no evidence in chapter 69 or in bad boy.

of course, filling the blanks of kenny's pedagogy is grim, and popular fanon isn't unreasonable at all. there's no nonviolent way to teach violence, which kenny calls "the only tool he had" and likely thought of as the only thing he could offer levi. removing levi from the underground didn't seem to cross his mind, either, which could point to a pessimism that people kill people, above and below—the ackermans were wiped out on the surface, after all. but i actually find the understanding of their relationship to the royal family as feudal in the japanese sense helpful here: would bringing him along set levi's path for him, one in service to the reisses? cruel as it was, kenny guaranteed levi's freedom.

he's a cop

okay, this is where the manga gets a little ambiguous/inconsistent with chronology. when kenny gets the anti-personnel squad, he says he’s “never been part of the military before”—he’s actually following levi’s footsteps here, a criminal recruit far outclassing these graduates of the cadet corps. however, to historia, he identifies himself as part of the first interior squad in 845. the fuck?

what is more certain is after he meets uri and becomes his bodyguard 😏, he joins this "assembly" or "council" of nobles and wallists. "bodyguard" does not sound like a role in which kenny would wander the walls doing extrajudicial murder like sannes. when levi and hange interrogate sannes, he proudly lists his own resume (snk 55), which includes killing armin’s parents, erwin’s father, and historia’s mother (the 2nd worst thing to be in the walls is blond), so besides alma, kenny doesn't seem to be included in these panels of the first interior squad "bloodying [their] hands" for peace within the walls.

i think a reasonable conclusion is kenny joined the first interior squad after uri's death in 842, and this squad is so elusive as to be legendary to the average MP. there is probably some translation subtlety with "squad" and "section, " so my understanding is the anti-personnel squad is either part of the first interior squad, or an elite, separate but affiliated group much like levi's special operations squad.

i think of kenny in these three years as unmoored much like iseyama describes levi after shiganshina; the main thing guiding him seems to be his disdain for rod reiss, since he has no hard feeling against frieda. dare i say... rod is kenuri's zeke?

besides his worry for kuchel and debatable care for levi, kenny does, actually, express some of the humanitarianism that motivates his nephew, also in chapter 65 and also excluded from the anime adaptation:

"how much WE lost in those five years?! how many precious lives?!" "he don't give two shits about any of it! not his his family, not humanity, and certainly not you, historia!!

like, HELLO? who is he referring to? the residents of wall maria? the culling that killed armin's grandfather? historia's half-siblings? hell—trost and stohess, mere months ago? i think he's being genuine! this isn't a token, empty phrase, tugging at historia's heartstrings. a killer can value life, i don't think that's that crazy a thing to propose, least of all in attack on titan and least of all in the uprising arc where levi squad kills other humans (also all cops).

kenny's narration in chapter 69 and episode 47 revolves around power. his respect for uri starts from acknowledging him as "the strongest guy around," which echoes over the moment he abandons levi—he's done his level best to teach levi to be the strongest underground, and his philosophy of proving yourself to be the strongest or most powerful doesn't belie a sense of superiority over the weak or any desire to rule; it's the logical conclusion of the oppressed. he thinks of himself as strong, but doesn't call kuchel weak, and his use of "we"—he counts himself part of humanity. his later ambition to steal the founder... makes him more similar to erwin. he just wants the knowledge, the view from up there.

but i think kenny is a little dishonest in chapter 58 before one of levi's coldest "yeah"'s of all time:

i'll kill anyone if that's what it takes to get the job done. ya kill too when it benefits ya, right?

for both men, this object "you" is not themselves as individuals, despite their posturing. it could really, really be humanity, for all three ackermans. mikasa, ten chapters prior:

there are only so many lives i can value, and i decided who those people were six years ago, so you shouldn't try to ask for my pity. because right now, i don't have time to spare, or room in my heart.

and her series-long journey is excavating her heart for humanity. the common fandom complaint that she "only cares about eren" is, to me, similarly reductive as their view of kenny. characters can lie to themselves, or reveal they're more selfless than they thought.

in conclusion:

ACAB

WIT skipped a lot of exposition to animate an extra kenny-levi fight that doesn't even make sense spatially

of course he sucks! and so do the younger ackermans! but they all suck a lot less than they think they do

kenny is also historia's uncle by marriage, in my heart

someone draw him and zeke hanging out

[efadefoks]

I decided to put everyone into one post and to talk about some assosications I have with the characters and their cards

The Fool (Folly, mania, extravagance, intoxication, delirium, frenzy, bewrayment. [If the card is] Reversed: Negligence, absence, distribution, carelessness, apathy, nullity, vanity.) Of course it is Han Juwon in the begining if the story. "In many esoteric systems of tarot card interpretation, the Fool is interpreted as the protagonist of a story, and the Major Arcana are the path the Fool takes through the great mysteries of life." He is a Fool afterall: careless in his investigation, doesn't think about the people around him. He thinks he is the smartest guy in the room and the bestest boy in the area.

The Lovers. Here I decided to interpret it in the most literal way. But the card itself provides quite a nice explanation too. "6. THE LOVERS.—Attraction, love, beauty, trials overcome. Reversed: Failure, foolish designs. Another account speaks of marriage frustrated and contrarieties of all kinds." I really love the ending. The whole reunion thing is straight out of the romance story. That's why I chose this image to represent this card. The moment of piece at last.

The Hermit. When I first thought about this collage idea I was absolutly sure who should represent this card. "9. THE HERMIT. Prudence, circumspection; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption. Reversed: Concealment, disguise, policy fear, unreasoned caution."

The High Priestess. Oh Jihwa my beloved. There were several posts about her recently. She is a wonderful character. "Secrets, mystery, the future as yet unrevealed; the woman who interests the Querent, if male; the Querent herself, if female; silence, tenacity; mystery, wisdom, science. Reversed: Passion, moral or physical ardor, conceit, surface knowledge." Tell me this is not about her, I'll wait.

The Sun. The Moon. The Star. I thought it would be really symbolic to choose three young (and dead) characters to represent this cards. (of course, LDS is alive and old now but I think we can considr his younger self to be buried somewhere really deep in his mind. He wasn't the same person he'd been before his sister disappearance). Another thoought that I had in mind while making these three pieces was that scene from the first episode. The dialogue with Mother and her friend. "You are so lucky to have your daughter. Such a pity the God decided to balance it with your son." How almost everyone thought that Lee Yuyeon was a blessing and her brother - just a delinquent.

19.THE SUN.—Material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment. Reversed: The same in a lesser sense.

18.THE MOON--Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error. Reversed: Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.

17.THE STAR.--Hope and bright prospects, Reversed: Loss, theft, privation, abandonment; another reading says: arrogance, haughtiness, impotence.

Kang Minjeong is a little star flickered out too soon.

The Magician. "Tarot experts have defined the Magician in association with the Fool". "While the upright Magician represents potential and tapping into one's talents, the reversed Magician's potential and talents are unfocused and unmanifested."

The Strength. One of my favourite cards and my favourite brave girl. I need to come clean I am not a fan of a lor of women portrayals in asian culture. But Yoo Jaeyi just stole my heart. She is kind, she is angry, she is loving, she is grieving. She is real. She is her own person. I love this image of her. "8. FORTITUDE.—Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honours. Reversed: Despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, sometimes even disgrace."

The Devil. Do I even need to explain myself? Well probably yes. Another candidate for this card was you guessed it - Han Kihwan. But after some thinking I finally decided on this one. "15. THE DEVIL.—Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality; that which is predestined but is not for this reason evil. Reversed: Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness." While Juwon's father is the evil person and the real villain of the story I do consider Kang Jinmuk the Devil.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

PJO TV SHOW (and book) SPOILERS beneath cut!!!!!

What follows is simply a bunch of my nonsensical responses to the first 2 episodes in no particular order; I really cannot explain that any other way I’m afraid

“Whose side are you on?” “Hers, always. She’s my little sister” JUST RIP OUT MY HEART WHY DON’T YOU

Mythomagic. Mythomagic. Mythomagic.

Sally saying not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster - THE FORESHADOWING??? THE REFERENCE TO BOOKS THAT ARENT EVEN BEING ADAPTED YET IM LOSING MY MIND - Also, the justice for Medusa in this was absolutely gorgeous and so well done because it didn’t black and white anyone as just a hero or just a villain but very well highlighted the woven and layered morality of a very complex web of stories, personally I’m mostly a Medusa defender but give me a good quality, well written Perseus retelling and you could probably convince me otherwise I think the point of many of these stories is that there is never a true victor and nothing is ever as easy to understand as a hero and a monster. I’m getting distracted now but hey let’s keep going, I really love Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes, which very strongly labels Perseus as the monster and Medusa as the victim, but I also think there is an argument that Danaë’s plight was diminished/overlooked in it and I would be open to hearing opposing views on that. Since I’m in this tangent I should add I don’t study classics I am just a fan, so I’m not the expert and would generally expect others to know more than me so get it out there I’m eager to learn. Anyway, Percy Jackson (sorry for the tangent)

Percy saying he thinks he’s made real friends I WANT TO CRY

They softened Gabe up quite a bit, or at least I thought they did maybe you guys think otherwise, but I wonder how his death will come across in this case(????)

I actually really like that they had Annabeth clock who Percy’s father was and push him into the water instead of it being Clarisse shoving him into the creek and stumbling upon it by accident, because it really heightened that idea of her being six steps ahead

I think the conflict between Grover and Percy was interesting and I’m intrigued as to how easily it’s resolved with the quest coming up, and on that point am I right that Sally making Grover swear to protect Percy was a new addition? Because I’m guessing that if the conflict between them is still heightened then that’s going to be the logical reason Grover uses to get into the quest, but also they made a big deal out of that and I kept expecting her to request he swear it on the Styx but she didn’t, I wonder if it was meant to be implied (?) or maybe I’m just reading into it

There was less Annabeth screen time than I was expecting but every second she was on screen was PERFECTION

The casting could literally l not have been better I love them all omg

I was kind of surprised they didn’t confirm Percy’s dyslexia and ADHD in the first episode and instead had Luke mention it because I always thought that Percy had already been diagnosed long beforw he call to camp but maybe I misremembered that (?)

THE D’ANGELO REFERENCE YES - like I know it wasn’t about them but it has to be intentional right?

The blink and you miss it Kane Chronicles reference amused me I haven’t actually read all of the Kane Chronicles yet but I really should

WAS THAT BLACKJACK!!!!!??????

I’m guessing that mechanical monster Percy saw out the window was reference to the bulls in book three sorry I can’t remember what they’re called, and with that the doodles in his notebook YES!!! I noticed a cyclops, Medusa, the minatour, and what I think might have been the hydra but I haven’t rewatched yet so stay tuned for possible correction on that lol

I love camp so much! The cabins are incredible and the interior of the Hermes is so much nicer than I imagined whilst still maintaining a kind of overcrowded atmosphere, I love it.

“You are Poseidon’s son” “I am Sally Jackson’s son” y’all don’t understand I almost screamed oh my good lord yes yes yes yes yes

Also, sassy Percy

[magicalgirlsirin]

hi rly enjoyed ur post on elysian realm! ik ur a new fan (i am too) but i heard that before retcon, elysia was a lot more morally gray. would you happen to know how exactly?? im rly curious bc i think it would be a severe improvement obviously. we deserve complex women who do wrongs

So when I say retcon in relation to the elyrealm arc it's less so "things they changed because of the story evolving and wanting to expand previously established events" and more "things they straight up forgot about in service of making Elysia a herrscher". It's not like hi3 is a stranger to retcons though?

For example, Durandal being the "original" Kiana is a retcon. The fact that our Kiana was a clone remained the same, but it's clear from older story stuff (iirc it's Everlasting Memory/Theresa's chronicle set?; second eruption manga doesn't focus on the Kiana part) that Durandal wasn't originally there. Otto refers to Kiana as K-423, and that Theresa needs to retrieve her, which implies that Theresa knows it's not Siegfried and Cecilia's kid, but her distress remains the same. The later game retcon by Thus Spoke Apocalypse is that OG!Kiana and Siegfried were going to go retrieve K-423, but OG!Kiana ended up injured and so Siegfried only left with K-423. And if you're confused then so am I because the details don't really super line up with the presentation, but it's like, fine, because at the end of the day the current writing intention and trajectory is for Durandal and Kiana to be sisters, and to both be Siegfried's daughters.

Anyways, for Elysia, a lot of her retcons occur in a very rapid pace from the first realm chapter set to Elysium Everlasting. Like I mentioned in my last post, the herrscher reveal is nonsense just going off of basic information like the fact she received MANTIS surgery like all the other Flame Chasers. However, there are other plot threads that are completely dropped for the sake of making Elysia a very special good girl who you should love because she's so nice and never did anything bad.

[About Betrayal 1 - Chapter 2]

[About Betrayal 2 - Chapter 2]

Elysia the traitor plot is something I was, well not hopeful for (a friend had already warned me that the game wouldn't do anything interesting with it] but I still ended up mulling it over a lot because it was such an interesting hinge piece for her initial presentation.

What stands out to me is the phrasing. Kevin says she never endangered humanity even if she was a traitor. Kevin says that Elysia made a decision. This implies agency, like Elysia was actively choosing to do something dangerous for the sake of the Flame Chasers. However, if Elysia was a herrscher from the beginning, then none of this makes sense. She doesn't choose to be a herrscher if she was one from the beginning, so why even make it seem like her betrayal was her choice at all?

[Traitor - Chapter 1]

It doesn't stop there though. Mobius' active disdain implies that whatever choice Elysia made, it was enough to make Mobius of all people consider her a lost cause. Mobius, who body mods and injects honkai energy into anyone with a pulse (hyperbole) to try and make humanity last just the slightest bit longer.

[Traitor - Chapter 1]

Mobius wants us to doubt Elysia's intentions. If you go through all their shared information, you'll find that the worst Elysia really does is just... coerce Mobi to wear pink dresses, and while that is obnoxious, it wouldn't warrant utter contempt for Elysia as a person.

There's actually a lot of stray text that implies there's something wrong about Elysia's existence, which I guess in generous terms could be interpreted as setup for the herrscher reveal? But it just feels like it's just there to add to the mystery that won't go anywhere.

[The Blind Spot - Recollection]

This right here nags at me. Deeply so. Elysia isn't so much a character as much as she is just a concept, the idea of a story that could be told. Not even in the canon-compliant weird endgame hook meta-textual breakout in Transcending Finality about the power of stories... Although, there's a way to introduce it here and tie it to Elysia to give some semblance of connectivity.

I went this long without actually giving my thoughts on how to make Elysia's writing good though. Disclaimer for clarity sake I know not everyone will agree with the changes I want to make and I'm also not claiming to be a more skilled writer than anyone in the hi3 team, they're all people with enough talent to be employed by the company.

That out of the way.

This isn't so much about making Elysia morally grey as much as it is about giving her an emotional core, because right now she's pretty hollow. Rather than a pristine girl who never did anything wrong, I'd rather cast her as a romantic, tragic heroine who would move heaven and fate just to seem noble.

Elysia was born human. Maybe she loved stories, and how they transported her to far off places, far far far away from the tiny town she was growing up in. When she was old enough, she traveled the world. Honkai descends. Because she was a globe trotter she ended up connected to many people, and was given the chance to join the MOTH organization. She gets MANTIS surgery. As the number of soon-to-be Flame Chasers grow, discussion begins about if the strength of the soldiers is enough.

'Maybe, if I had power comparable to a herrscher, we could fight with less casualties.'

She doesn't say this out loud, of course. It's a dangerous thought, a line that shouldn't be crossed. But she's curious. She breaks into Mobius' lab [Miss Pink Spy - Pristine Memory] to find the information she wants. Mobius figures out her intentions and warns Elysia off. It's not even in consideration, so keep whatever plan you have in mind off the table before you do something irreversible.

Mobius thought that Elysia gave up on the plan after the seventh erruption. The haunted look behind Kevin's eyes, the sadness creasing Elysia's face, all of it makes it seem like a simple consideration forgotten by the sands of time.

Elysia doesn't have a discipline. She told Dr. Mei it wasn't needed since her combat performance was well above standard margins anyways. (She is on par with Kevin in strength, after all.) At least, we all thought she didn't. A deal is made with Aponia.

Aponia, Aponia, apostle of fate, I offer you my 'humanity' to become a 'story'.

Elysia cannot receive any more disciplines. The target has to be "human". Elysia as a story, unchanging, pristine, capable of remaining as she is without blemish, can reach out and become a herrscher while remaining herself. She's desperate. She wants to help. She reaches into the deep, the start of the universe, and gathers the power. She names it Origin, since it's something she found at the source.

She's a herrscher.

Herrschers are an enemy of humanity.

Kevin runs her through with Shamash.

Elysia is still herself though, talking like she would as usual.

-Oh Kevin, I wanted to know if your tears would freeze, but I was hoping it wouldn't be like this. They're so warm, though. Thank you for crying for me.

-I see no herrscher here, just... the flame chaser, bearing the signet of ego.

The Elysian Realm keeps a secret. Aponia keeps it, the fact that Elysia gave up her humanity. The final banquet? A polite way to refer to Elysia's own demise.

It's sad, isn't it? That strength she wanted to give fell right through her fingers. Her own undoing, the desperate plan of a foolish girl who wanted to be a hero, but only ending up as a villain to oppose. It's so much more meaningful, then, that Elysia's gift, the power of sapience, is kept on to the next cycle of humanity. Held again, the power of ego, of humans, to someone with a kind heart to move beyond the past she's trapped in. Thank you, Raiden Mei, for carrying on the ideals of the thirteen trailblazers, the moths who chase the flame.

so anyways yeah i think elysia couldve been interesting whos to say

[vivalavi-daa]

Fav 2022 K-Dramas/Movies

1. My Liberation Notes

About: Three siblings, exhausted by the monotony of day to day adulthood, seek to find fulfillment and freedom from their unremarkable lives

Honestly, no one did it like My Liberation Notes. The way they captured the mundane lives of adults, the longing for happiness, freedom, and the loneliness of it all. The way they depicted all that through raw lines, monologues, and even silence that gave even deeper meanings. To say I love this show is an understatement 🥺

2. Extraordinary Attorney Woo

About: Woo Young Woo, a woman on the spectrum that tackles challenges as a newbie at a top law firm

This show is popular for a reason. It has everything you could ask for in a kdrama: feel good vibes, heartwarming stories, heart-fluttering love, found family, and interesting characters (with brilliant acting). Although we couldn't expect Woo Young Woo to be representative for all people with autism (since autism is considered as a spectrum), but I love the way her portrayal in this show was educative while also really fun to watch 🤍

3. Twenty Five Twenty One

About: In a time where dreams seem out of reach, a teen fencer pursues her ambitions and meets a hardworking young man who seeks to rebuilds his life.

Couldn't express how much it's comforting to watch the two main characters build connection in the pursuit of happiness. The fact that these two people share different perspectives in life (one was hopeful & optimistic, while the other one was realistic) was its charm. Not to mention the growing bond of the friendship between them and their friends. Together, they make every scene seemed refreshing and entertaining to watch. It was truly an uplifting youth show that brightened last year's atmosphere ✨

4. Alchemy of Souls

About: A powerful sorceress in a blind woman's body encounters a man from a prestigious family, who wants her help to change his destiny.

Love, love the world building of this one! Also, the gripping love stories that took "I'll love every version of you" seriously 🥺. It was captivating how observant every characters in this show were & the way they unfold the stories. Even the action scenes portrayed like an art. Therefore, even though it has many episodes with long duration, I wasn't bored at all.

5. Little Women

About: Three sisters become embroiled in a major incident and face off against the wealthiest family in the nation

The fact that two of my fave actresses (Nam jihyun & Kim goeun) casted in one kdrama was such a dream!! It's a women centric kdrama i could say, from the way the main characters, writer, & director are all women <3. I love that it has such morally grey characters and a story that's full of intriguing misteries. It kept me on the edge of my seat.

6. 20th Century Girl

About: A teen girl has her eyes set on a boy for her lovesick best friend. However, things become complicated when she falls in love and is forced to choose between love and friendship

A heartening youth stories that every fan of 2521 should watch! Again, the plot seemed cliche but it still managed to enthralled you with sweet & fun interactions between the main characters, their growing romance, and what comes for them in the future. It was a rollercoaster of emotion but I really enjoyed it to end <3

7. Business Proposal

About: Hari, a regular employee, shows up to a blind date in disguise of her rich friend to scare him away. Things go awry when he turns out to be her CEO and makes a proposal.

Normally, a kdrama with a cliche plot and some cringe lines wasn't my piece of cake. But Business Proposal is something else I guess. It managed to make even the cliche plot entertaining to watch, still. I didn't expect that I'd laugh this much while watching this show, but I did. Their actings were so fun to watch and it's such a light kdrama that i enjoyed to watch.

Addition: Fav K-Drama (Not Released in 2022) that I've Watched Last Year

Prison Playbook

About: a legendary Korean baseball player whose life change after he chases a man who harasses his sister and finds himself spending a year in prison.

This is such a gem for a slice of life genre! From the director of Hospital Playlist & Reply series, you could expect some heartwarming feels coming from every characters' background stories. Despite the serious & harsh life we could thought of from prison life, this kdrama have many comical scenes, a series of roommates bickering, & such a moving found family. I wish the director would make more of these 🥺🤍

K-Drama Recommendations: 8/?

[rolotouto]

Lost Stories 2024 New Year's Event

I got 2024 New Year's Lelouch because, after watching the event, I suspected he might mention Rolo in his lines, and he does indeed! Lelouch: Tomorrow, Nunnally, Rolo, and I are planning to spend time together as siblings, just the three of us. It feels like a dream to be able to spend time peacefully like this... As you might guess, the story of the New Year's event (not voiced, so I'll post screenshots from here on) is in fact a dream that Mario/Maya has, where, among other things, Nunnally and Rolo are both siblings to Lelouch. Although Mario/Maya's brain didn't fix Rolo's antagonistic attitude towards him/her...

Rolo (to Mario): You are inconveniencing others by standing in the middle of the path like this. How about being a little more considerate?

Nunnally: Oh, Rolo, come on, speaking like that again... I always tell you you shouldn't do that.

Rolo: But Nunnally, this guy is the one who... Like in every other instance where Rolo and Nunnally have interacted, they address each other without suffixes, so they seem to treat each other as equals rather than one of them clearly being the older sibling. Also, Rolo referred to Mario as "koitsu", which is openly disrespectful, especially since Mario is older... The reason Mario is standing there dumbfounded is that he still hasn't realized that he's dreaming. He is confused after seeing Britannians and the Black Knights working together, and also when he meets Rolo and Nunnally with one another:

Lelouch: Mm? They are my little sister and my little brother. Isn't it obvious for them to be together? Mario: Your little sister and little brother... I guess there's nothing wrong, right... Why did I think it was strange...? Sorry for saying something weird all of a sudden...

Nunnally: Fufu, you're an odd one, Mario-san. (TN: Uses my username rather than Mario)

Rolo: He was already odd before... Lelouch: Hahaha, you're being called out, Mario. Mario: Ahaha... You got me. Then Mario wants to understand what's going on with some new event at Ashford, but the bell indicates that they need to go to class.

Lelouch (to Mario): I'll explain later. Rolo, take Nunnally to the classroom.

Rolo: Yeah, got it, Brother. Let's go, Nunnally.

Nunnally: Yes, please, Rolo. Brother, Mario-san, see you later.

Lelouch: Yeah. See you later, you two. After this scene, the characters teach Mario about the event. It seems that there's going to be a competition to decide the future of Ashford Academy. And there are three teams, each with different members and intentions for the kind of school life Ashford Academy should promote: ・Suzaku's WHITE team (Suzaku, Nunnally, Savitri, Anya, Schnee): "Disciplined school life with a focus on morals" ・Kallen's CRIMSOM team (Kallen, Rivalz, Benio, Gino, Shirley): "Energetic school life with a focus on passion" ・Lelouch's BLACK team (Lelouch, Rolo, Ledo, Milly, Nina,): "A free school life with a focus on individuality"

They will play different games, and Mario will join a different team each round. The first round is a karuta game where you need to guess a country after hearing a hint. At first, it seems like Nunnally's team will win (but Kallen's, the team Mario is part of this round, does):

Rolo: They are strong, huh? Nunnally and the others.

Lelouch: As expected of my little sister. To think that she would remember all the kaminoku... (TN: A karuta term) The next game is hagoita doubles, which is more or less similar to badminton, and where Suzaku's physical strength makes his team win (Mario was also part of the winning team this time). Rolo has to make his snarky comment against Suzaku too:

Ledo: One more point and it will be match point. What could we do?

Rolo: There's no point in asking. Nothing can be done against that monster. So they apologize to Lelouch for losing, but he understands the situation:

Ledo: My apologies. We couldn't win against Lord Kururugi after all.

Rolo: Sorry, brother.

Lelouch: It can't be helped. Kallen is about the only one who could compete head to head against Suzaku. The next game is about flying kites, and Lelouch asks Mario, who is on his team now, to control the kite.

Lelouch: So I leave the 3rd event, High Altitude Kite Battle, to you.

Mario: But I'm lost… What even is that? The "High Altitude Something"…

Rolo: It's the High Altitude Kite Battle. You don't even know something like that?

Mario: I don't think you'd usually know, though... Milly and Ledo explain that the objective is to cut the opponent's kite string.

Mario: Ah, so it's fighting kites. (TN: "Kenkadako," which is an existing word, unlike the fancy term Lelouch used)

Rolo: No. It's High Altitude Kite Battle.

Mario: Why is Rolo so fixated on such a strange thing... A-anyway, in a nutshell, I have to win at the fighting kites, right? I think Rolo is being pedantic about the term just to go against Mario or maybe to defend the term Lelouch used. Maybe he's jealous because Lelouch entrusted the game to Mario? The dialogues don't point the reason out explicitly, though! By the way, it's mentioned that Milly drew the design of the kite, which is Zero's mask, and Rolo says "I also helped paint it".

Well, since Mario wins, there's yet another tiebreaker round which involves KMFs and where everyone ends up having to work together, until Mario wakes up from the dream. I don't think the rest of Rolo's lines are all that interesting, so I'll stop the translation here. You can probably find videos of the whole event if you search for its name: 三色志開幕！~新しい朝に願いを新たに~

As I mentioned last time, Turns 12&13 should arrive in a couple weeks, and I assume that, afterwards, together with Turns 14&15, it will be the moment to release a new Rolo alt with his plugsuit version (other characters have their plugsuit version as separate units too). Hope my sakuradite is enough for then...

[accirax]

For some stupid reason tumblr isn't letting me post a reply to this post so I'm leaving it here instead:

About the staff stories tier list - Really? It's kinda the opposite for me. By that I mean Jensen's backstory ep is the best one imo and at the top of the list. Krystal's was also pretty good so it gets 2nd, even though I still hate her (seriously, am I the only one who gets legitimately confused when people in or outside the show talk about how she's "changed"? When Oliver said that I just mentally laughed because... Since when??? And how??? in WHAT way!?? Sure she may be softer to the people closest to her but she's still a bossy, b*tchy, sadistic @$$hole who only cares about what gets the best ratings for her show at the cost of the players' physical & mental safety) (*sighs* sorry for that random mini rant..) And Derek & Trevor's and Marcus & Nina's tank at the bottom, in that order.

Also- you don't like dogs..? 😟 Guess that's the end of this friendship then... (Haha, jk, jk! (mostly..))

For Jensen’s episode, I just think that, if you DON’T lean on the crutch of “people will instinctively care about these dogs because they think that they’re cute,” there isn’t much incentive to get invested in the story.

The hosts’ stories have more of an “in” due to being more connected to the show itself (which, as fans, we SHOULD all care about). They also deal with questions that I think are more directly raised by the story itself— we’ve heard a lot about Kris McLane (or however you spell that) already, and I always wondered how Derek and Trevor became such close friends despite their opposite personalities. Marcus and Nina’s story is also more of a natural story question (“what the hell is Nina”), and, even if you don’t instinctively care about the father/daughter bond, there’s a supernatural hook to make up for that. Even if the answers provided in these episodes weren’t always excellent, they were at least episodes that I felt had a reason for existing.

Meanwhile, Jensen’s episode stars a character we’ve never seen before (the wolf cub), a character we’ve never seen before (Jensen’s sister), and a character with a whole four minutes of screen time who we haven’t seen for two whole seasons, if you watch chronologically (Jensen himself). The question raised isn’t anything as specific as “whose name was carved on to Jensen’s knife” (because we’d never seen it before) or “why was Jensen so mean to people but so nice to dogs” (because he had never been seen with a dog before), and therefore can only be the vague “so what WAS this guy’s deal?”

And I know that’s a lot of talking about what the situation was going IN to the episode as opposed to the content of the episode itself. I’m just trying to illustrate my point that, given my pretty reasonable lack of interest in the episode’s premise (for the reasons above), without an instinctive care for dogs, I found no reason to get invested in the pretty cliche storyline. Giving Jensen the exact same soft side as resident grouch Karol did not invest me in his story. Hence, I was bored for pretty much the entire episode (other than the part where his sister died, which while entertaining also felt out of place with the tone of the show), and didn’t enjoy it much.

That being said, liking a cliche story isn’t at all a moral failing. I like watching ranking videos on YouTube, and someone who grew up watching many of the Disney direct to video sequels, I’ve watched several videos of people offering their thoughts on them. And, every time, I disagree with their placement of The Little Mermaid 3: Ariel’s Beginning. Everybody always says that it’s “just mermaid Footloose,” and had no reason for existing. Well, guess what? I’ve never seen Footloose! So, to me, it’s just a fun (if unrealistic) story about banning art that manages to persist anyways. Thus, I understand the urge to defend stories that you like that others call cliched.

(That’s my tangent of the post, lol.)

As for the “not liking dogs” thing, I grew up next to some really mean dogs who would bark and growl at my sister and I. I used to be afraid of dogs to the level where, if I was at a park and an unleashed dog was running around, I would climb on top of a picnic table and cry. After my family got some cats, my fear diminished as I realized that cats and dogs really weren’t that different, so if I wasn’t afraid of cats, I shouldn’t be afraid of dogs.

However, due to my rocky start with dogs, I find it difficult to feel anything regarding dogs above a neutral. Like, if someone shows me a picture of their dog, I can acknowledge that it’s objectively a cute dog and say “aww, that’s nice!”, but I don’t really feel any desire to pet it or coo at it like I would a cat. And I’m still a little afraid of big dogs 😅

Hopefully that’s a sufficient answer ^-^

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

Trey: *Trying to explain Riddle is that way because of his mom*

Me: Give me a minute as I pull up my ‘Trauma Doesn’t Excuse Sh*t Behavior’ PowerPoint.

Say it with me, everyone: an explanation is not an excuse 😊

You know, the other day I was watching one of Ryan George's Pitch Meetings and when Producer Guy asked Writer Guy how the audience would root for the villain of the franchise and the response was "he's handsome" which basically explains most people's reactions to fictional men.

Prepare for incoming rant that has little to do with the ask

This probably might come as a shock because one of the main appeal of twst would be the whole villainous aspect/Disney Villain fanbase but I don't really like villains that much, at least, not romantically. Like don't get me wrong, I think that they're incredible characters and it would be so fun to sit down with one and have a conversation with one. Villain songs are so fun (I was literally singing ‘This Day Aria’ to myself the other day I haven’t heard that song in like a decade) and you can tell that that characters like Scar or Hades or Shere Khan or Jafar or Maleficent are having so much fun being deliciously evil and even the more serious, complex ones like Loki or Frollo are fun to pick apart so yeah I understand the hype. I just always rooted for the heroes and I guess heroic characters have always been more my type.

My mother absolutely loves Erik Destler and is forever salty that Christine chose Raoul (despite my many many attempts at arguing why Raoulstine is the superior couple - smol primary school me could not understand why my mum liked the chandelier dropper and was deeply concerned), my best friend has been in love with Heathcliffe since we were eleven, and my little sister has literally told me that her type of fictional men are the toxic red flags (not exactly word for word but she did explain why she likes bad boys over good boys when I was complaining about how my type (wholesome soft boys) always get sidelined for the arrogant, snarky bad boys - we're also very diametrically opposed on our views of friends to lovers (my s++ tier all time favourite and her loathing) vs enemies to lovers (I can't really stand it - Pride and Prejudice is the only exception - and that's literally all she consumes) so that might also be a reason).

Like, I understand the appeal of a Byronic hero (Mr Darcy has far too much power) - a closed off, broody man that hates everything but you? And will burn down the world to keep you warm? I can respect that there are people who dig that. But their not really for me.

The mild bout of insanity thirteen year old me had where I spent two months attracted to Edward Rochester is an outlier and should not have been counted (though that was during my wattpad phase so...)

But I can admit that I have yet to shake off my feelings for Dr Henry Jekyll, Victor Frankenstein and Dorian Gray (though to be fair, Mr Gabriel John Utterson the lawyer and cinnamon roll artist boy Basil Hallward do own my heart). And yes, Jeremy Jordan did make me question my morality as he did make my feelings for Light Yagami be too positive to be sane for a brief moment (Touta Matsuda is still my man, don't worry). But apart from them, literally all of my faves are what you'd call your traditional, morally upright heroes.

Basically what I'm saying is that my perception might be skewed because I've never had the whole 'villains are cooler' mindset when it came to stories. Yes, I love the villains as characters but I always liked their heroic foils more (goodness is just so attractive to me). You get lots of amazing heroic protagonists that have horribly tragic backstories and they're the ones I always fall for because the idea of being a kind sweetheart despite the world being anything but is just *chef's kiss* that's a kind of strength that's so swoon-worthy.

I guess that's why it's harder for me to look past the characters' actions in twst is because, well, they chose to do everything they did. They made a conscious choice to be terrible, despite understanding the consequences. Riddle may have been brainwashed into becoming a tyrant by his mother but he still admitted that he knew he was being horrible - he understands the concept of morality, of good and bad, and he willingly and deliberately did everything he did.

I suppose this text post I found on Pinterest would explain my point better:

[atticoratticus]

DISCUSSIONS OF THE JJK MANGA

Okay so I just got fully caught up in the jjk manga after binging all 220~ chapters in the span of a couple days. I went in knowing some stuff about the characters, nothing major, but enough to set up some expectations for the story

All I'm gonna say is that those expectations were absolutely SMASHED. The action is intense, the development is amazing, the characters are well written, the story is very well paced, and the antagonists are EXCELLENT.

Speaking of antagonists, I love Mahito. He very quickly rocketed to becoming my favorite character in the entire series. He does a bunch of fucked up shit and it's awesome, because he's so blatantly evil that anything else would be disappointing. Yes he kills some very popular characters, but it simply wouldn't be in character for him to just let them live. He's consistent while still being unpredictable. Every panel he was in, I knew shit was going to do down and that it was going to be a hell of a time reading it.

Geto (well, I guess I should say Kenjaku) is amazing too. I love how he's both manipulative and also very clear in his intentions. He offers a more deliberate approach to the antagonists of the series, being more meticulous in how he goes about tackling his plans. Learning bits and pieces about him and his motives as the story progresses is so much fun, because it leaves you guessing how he's going to go about making his goals a reality (and holy shit, I did not expect for him to rope in foreign militaries into making his goals happen.)

Of course I have to sing praises for the main characters as well, because they make the story what it is. Itadori is put into such an interesting position from the start, both by being thrust into the world of sorcerers and purely by being Sukunas vessel. The way he matures throughout the story is such a gradual change that feels so natural, and it's something I love to see. He's not a static character - he's always striving to improve and get shit done and it's amazing.

Megumi is incredibly interesting to me. From the start you kind of expect him to take the path of the classic troubled anti-hero (think Itachi or maybe even Sasuke), but as you get to know him as a character it becomes apparent that he adverts all of those expectations. He's not afraid to kill people if he needs to, but he doesn't revel in it. It's a necessary evil, and his view on morality is incredibly interesting. He's not explicitly good, but he's extremely far from bad as well. His mental turmoil when faced with the threat of his sister being killed for something she had nothing to do with was heartbreaking, and seeing how all of his effort amounts to practically nothing when faced with her death is as soul shattering for the reader as it is for him (especially seeing as his body was the one used to kill her).

Gojo is a character I probably knew the most about going into the series. Hes THE character in jjk, and it's hard not know who he is if you're even a bit active in the modern animanga community. But even then I feel like his character is very easily misread by many people. He's seen as this childish guy with a god complex by many people who either haven't gotten far into the series are aren't bothered to take a deeper look into why he is the way he is. Especially in the chapters looking back on his past with Geto, it's interesting to look at the parallels between how he acts in the current timeliness and how Geto acted before he became an antagonist. He's grows very subtly throughout the series while still staying very similar to how he was at the start, and that isn't a bad thing at all.

Sukuna, similar to Mahito, is very blatantly evil. I mean, how could he not be. He doesn't show up a lot like I thought he would, but when he does it always leaves a hell of an impact. He acts for himself and himself alone, but he isn't unaware of the people/curses around him. We've seen very little about his past, and honestly I'm so pumped to see a bit more into what shaped him into how he is in the current point of the series. Him switching into Megumis body was such an adrenaline filled moment for me, because holy SHIT things are getting serious. You're reminded just how much of an enigma Itadori is, because up until that point you're used to Sukuna not being able to take control of his body as he pleases. But now? Megumi is practically powerless now that Sukuna took control of his body.

I have a lot more thoughts on the characters and just the story in general, but that's just my impressions right now dhajdjjdj

Didn't expect to write that much tbh

[crispofftheblock]

Throwback to the time my sister wanted to paint my little brother's nails and my mother's current husband threw a fit.

For reference, my little brother is 10 years younger than me, my sister is 3 years older. At the time, I was 12, my sister was 15, my brother was 3.

Now, C*rt isn't the father to any of us. He's some skank my mom picked up because her last flame (the father of my brother) was in prison and she's codependent.

C*rt is sterile. His peepee doesn't work and his fishies don't go swim swim. This is something he has very big sad sensitive man feelings about.

So one day my sister was painting her nails and my 3yo brother wanted his done too because little kids be like "older sibling is doing something? I want to also do that thing"

So, my sister was like sure!

But C*rt threw a GIANT fucking fit about it saying that he'd never allow "his" son to paint his nails bEcAUsE ThATS GaYyY!!1!

He asked my sister

"Are you going to paint your kids' nails? Even if they're boys?"

To which she said "lol yeah probably"

So our sweet darling empathetic and understanding perfectly mentally stable moms-husband said "Well your kids are going to be gay!"

Now, this is around the time I had just come out as a lesbian because back in 2009 in suburban white northern Utah, I had no idea that being trans was something I could even be. All you had was Gay(bad) or Normal(good).

But my big sister had my back from the very beginning. So when C*rt said this to her, her IMMEDIATE response was:

"At least I can have kids!"

I don't remember much after that but loud cowboy boots stomping down the back steps and the door slamming. We didn't see C*rt for a couple hours after that.

(You might be wondering: where was my mom during all of this? Why, where she always is. Hiding away in her bedroom because she can't ever stand up for her own fucking kids unless it publicly makes her look like a decent mother to strangers)

Fast forward 15 years. I'm happily trans. My sister is bisexual as fuck, and my little brother just now today told me he now has a boyfriend that he's super happy with.

Guess you didn't get all the precious little perfect white Bible Babies you wanted, eh, mah?

Anyway, TL;DR my sister is a fucking badass (and a ridiculously talented and creative artist and you should give her a follow over at @krowkeeper). And I've never been more proud of the siblings I got stuck with.

Moral of the story: make your broken family into kintsugi art.

Thanks for reading.

[litcityblues]

May The Force Be Just Kind Of Okay With You

Two things can be true at the same time: I think The Acolyte probably deserved another season to find its feet a bit and it was also frustrating, dreary, and kind of a chore to watch- which is never something you want your viewer to think.

Full credit to this show, it passed my personal Star Wars test: we didn't see Tattooine anyone with the last name 'Skywalker' and, come to think of it, other than Coruscant, we were on all new planets that we had never seen before.

It also has a strong opener: we see Carrie Ann-Moss (Jedi Master Indara) gets confronted by an as yet unknown assailant and, shockingly, she is killed. Initially, I had a strong visceral reaction to this-- how are you going to take Carrie Ann-Moss, Trinity from The Matrix, who generally seems to be badass in whatever role I've seen her in and kill her character in the first ten minutes of your show? It came very close to making me DNF this show right then and there, but happily, she gets more screen time in flashbacks.

Gradually, we find out the story. The assassin is identified as Osha Aniseya (Amandla Stenburg) and the Jedi are sent to track her down. She is working as a mechanic on a ship and denies involvement, but they want to take her back to Coruscant anyway-- which she isn't a fan of, because she used to be a Padawan, she left the Jedi order.

16 years before, Jedi- including Indara, had found her and her sister Mae on the planet Brendock and, realizing that they are both force-sensitive, they requested to test both girls Mae wants to stay behind but Osha wants to be a Jedi-- one thing (we find out what exactly goes down by the end) leads to another and there's a fire, everyone is killed, Mae is presumed dead except-- not so much. Mae is alive, well, and working for a mysterious master who has her hunting down the Jedi responsible for the death of her family.

Enter Osha's former master, Sol (Lee Jung-Jae) who assembles a team- including Osha to go and track Mae down. Unfortunately, she kills another Jedi master and then sets off to find the final Master along with The Stranger (Manny Jacinto) who is the apprentice of someone else-- we don't know who exactly, of course, but the internet is generally of the mind it was supposed to be Darth Plagueis.

In the end, the acolyte isn't who you expect it to be and we're left with a tantalizing glimpse of Yoda (I'm assuming) before the show closes on what was supposed to be a cliffhanger but turned out to be the series finale.

Here's the thing: I think this was a really great idea that just wasn't executed all that well. I can't exactly put my finger on where they screwed up, but I think we should have spent more time with the Jedi and their internal politics rather than the force witches who sing and create clones? Two people? They're the same person somehow? The show isn't quite clear on that last part. They get lost in the Force Witch thing and then when they come back to start getting interested in these four Jedi and what exactly they covered up sixteen years ago, it's just kind of too late.

I know there were some internet toxic fan types that absolutely lost their fucking minds about the Force Witch thing. But here's the deal: that wasn't all that interesting. This show is set 100 years before The Phantom Menace. The Jedi are at the height of their powers, guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy, and yet... sometimes... they fuck up. They cover shit up. They wind up in morally questionable situations. What do they do about it? Who is this random Senator that gets introduced at the end?

'Someone is murdering Jedi' should have been the starting point for this show. They should have mined that and stuck with the mystery and kept us guessing. They should have upped the politics of it so we can understand why the Jedi are popular, but they have their detractors as well.

Overall: There was the framework for a really good show here and parts of this aren't bad, but parts of this... were just largely okay and honestly, my general feeling is... 'Meh.' I should be a good Tumblrian and attach an image to this post to make it look purty, but having seen the show, I just can't be bothered to do so. I am indifferent to The Acolyte. You should be too. My Grade: ** out of ****

[pumpkinnning]

Horror(ish) books I've read so far this year :

The Lost Village, Camilla Sten : 7.5/10 Documentary crew goes to isolated Swedish village where everyone mysteriously disappeared 50 yrs ago to investigate. Great tense atmosphere, broke my heart, I felt so much for the characters, loved the complex take on female solidarity and understanding btw mentally ill characters. Some nonsensical character decisions and plot explanations, esp at the end. Horrors of ableism, hive minds, the scapegoating of difference and cult dynamics (although that last bit felt thinner than the rest).

Black Sheep, Rachel Harrison : 6.5/10 Daughter returns to culty family she escaped from for her sister's wedding. A bit forgettable, and slow in the middle, but the ending has some great oomf and imagery. The horror is about charismatic parents you can't help but be compelled by even when you know they're abusive and awful, and what it takes to break away from that.

Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Cañas : 7.5/10 Dramatic love story between childhood sweethearts separated by class and tragedy, in 1846 Mexico, on a backdrop of war against the US and vampires. Very compelling worldbuilding, the romantic plot felt a bit cliche but I was so sold on it - one of them learning the other isn't dead after grieving for a decade and imagery of love as haunting was gorgeous. The horror aspect feels underused, this is more of a spooky romance. The horror is about class differences, authoritarian familes but most of all colonialism and white supremacy.

Gallows Hill, Darcy Coates : 7/10. MC inherits estranged parents' winery and estate when they die, the place is very very cursed. Tense as fuck through most of it, the action and vibes really worked for me, a few amazingly sinister yet heartbreaking bits. I grew up near a winery and the whole process was always spooky to me so the setting was great. Characters are underdeveloped. Effective overall and I really liked the poetic justice of the ending. The horror is about family secrets, the dehumanization of poor people and how greed perpetuates misery.

From Below, Darcy Coates : 5/10. Documentary crew goes to film the wreck of a Titanic-like cruise ship that sunk mysteriously a century ago, but sinister shit is afoot. Great set up and tension up until half of the novel, but then when the source of the horror is revealed, it just becomes a slog of repetitive action. Explanation felt incomplete, source of the horror in the plot (worker exploitation) and the horror mostly shown on page (deep sea scary brrrrr) somehow feel mismatched and it doesn't land. Underdeveloped characters, the most interesting character's story is only revealed at the end and not properly explored. Lots of potential but disappointing.

House of Hunger, Alexis Henderson : 7.5/10. In order to escape the slums, MC becomes the 'bloodmaid' of distant reclusive noblewoman. Inspired by Countess Bathory but make it Gothic/sapphic/vampiric (ish). Great setting and set up but became a little bit underwhelming at the middle point, feel like the author held back on going as fully bonkers as she should have, still pretty awesome. The horrors are about abusive relationships, power imbalances, exploitation, racism, and the way rich people dehumanize those who work for them and literally consume their life force.

Night's Edge, Liz Kerin : 7/10. MC spent most of her life completely isolated in order to take care of her mother, a vampire that she feeds with her blood. Very realistic, powerful depiction of codependent relationships and the horror of parentalized childhood ; also a metaphor for drug addiction and how it can be enabled by loved ones. The sapphic love interest was kind of annoying and felt very manic pixie dream girl vibes (although I guess that was part of the point, and they had some sweet moments). Overall incredibly draining to read, points for psychological and moral complexity, but the individuation journey of the MC felt less convincing - I didn't like that it was carried almost entirely by the romance - so I was fucking depressed at the end. But yeah personally triggering lmfao.

A House with Good Bones, T Kingfisher : 6.5/10. MC returns to her mom's home during a lull in her job as a paleoentomologist and starts to worry she's unwell ; then there are swarms of ladybugs in the house and jars of teeth buried among the roses, and her evil grandma might be haunting the place. I liked the MC but her very millenial quirky self deprecating voice got a little annoying at times, and it's a drag in places. The overall plot concept is very interesting but somehow it didn't fully land ; the monsters are very scary at first but their origins were so ridiculous it killed the vibe for me and the end felt silly. Good sendup of fatphobia. Horrors of conformism, neglectful egocentric fathers, white hegemonic femininity and...??? yeah the end lost me a bit. Also i do NOT vibe with the author's insistance that roses are evil.

Overall - good decent batch although I didn't feel really wowed by any of them, which is frustrating. I'm having a 💀 horror year 💀 so I absolutely want to be wowed - please send recs if you have any !

I'm trying to figure out what I think makes good horror - from these I feel like a lot of horror authors underestimate the importance of emotional character development and weight. AND i feel like you have to know what the core horror of your story is and radiate it through the entire story, slowly drawing the reader to it right from the start ; it's not easy knowing when to bring pathos, when to build up tension and when to do temporary relief/sweetness ; if you get the rhythm wrong you can easily kill the tension or end up with something underbaked.

[lexo-is-pesto]

Somebody should make a Midsommar au of Murder Drones...

Hear me out!

(Spoilers for midsommar)

Dani would obviously be Uzi. Isolated, alone, insecure, and suseptible to a cult >:]

I know we all love our boy but let's face it, there's no "good" characters in this movie so N's Gonna be Pelle I'm so sorry. He's seemingly kind, cares about uzis problems really makes her feel like hes listening and there to comfort her. He also just so happens to be in love with uzi and accidentally leads her boyfriend and his friends to an insane cult where everyone except uzi dies and she becomes part of the cult... whoopsies ^^,(Maybe n would think he's doing the right thing for uzi idk)

Thad is gonna be Christian. Again I'm so sorry to Thad fans and especially to anyone who ships him with uzi but I can't really see Thad as being what uzi would need in a partner. In this au, thads a bit of an airhead and genuienly forgets things which frustrates Uzi, especially when they become big things like birthdays and anniversaries. He also thinks shes overreacting to most of the time, shes kinda clingy, and really they just want to break up with eachother :T

Josh is Doll. She's very focused on the cult itself to the point where she gives up her morals and humanity in the quest for knowledge. She's also very aware of the issues between Thad and uzi but quite frankly doesn't care enough to do or say anything. She's just her for her thesis man =\

Lizzy is Mark. I don't have much of a reason for this one. She wants Thad to break up with uzi because she doesn't like her? Idk she doesn't do much in the story besides disrespect the cult which I feel fits her character. the misogyny not so much so uh yeah that would get cut I think

That's it for the main group!

Next, V is Ingimar. HA HA that's right the cultists are gonna be the disassemblers and absolute solver users >:D Anyway she's aggressive towards N because he brought a lot more and "better" people for the cult than she did. Aka he had a better hunt and V WILL be holding a grudge till she dies

Connie and Simon are Rebecca and Darren because I said so. Moving on

J is ulf. Just like in the show, J is entirely loyal to the leader and beliefs that the cult holds. This causes her to act out when anyone (especially disrespectful ones like lizzy) oversteps their boundaries. Think of the ancestral tree scene. That's her.

And that's about it for the major characters.

Some more minor ones;

Cyn would probably be Maja as much as her whole plot makes me uncomfortable, the idea is she's young and foolish wich fits cyns whole little sister vibe (omg I'm gonna BARF)

Since uzis parents don't play a huge roll in the story besides to be um dead I guess. I'd say nori and khan should be the elders in the Ättestupa scene

The friends uzi makes in the cult could be literally anyone. maybe alice and beu Tessa as a drone? Other background workers we know the names of?

Not sure who I'd pick to be Terri...

That's about all the ideas I had for this au, I rewatched the movie recently so kinda just mooshed my 2 brainworms together. I thought it was pretty interesting tho so I'm throwing this out in case anyone wants to use it. Feel free to!

Peace and love md community ✌️

[blueamphibians]

My moms brand of homophobia is the only kind i will ever accept. Its so weirdly wholesome.

Despite her being hardcore christian, she actually never bought up LGBTQ stuff to me and my sister--not in the "its taboo" way, but in the "i am more focused on instilling proper morals in my children and LGBTQ stuff isn't even on my radar."

So obv that meant i had a super positive exposure to it when i found out, because no-one had ever told me it was bad. I found out gay people existed and went "makes sense" and moved on yk?

But back to her homophobia: She lives by a very strong rule of "its not my place to judge them, it's gods," so while she does think being LGBTQ is against the bible, she also doesn't think its her place to comment.

She DOES however think that its her place to be gracious to everybody because God is going to judge HER too, at the end. So this brings me to my favorite story ab her, right.

So our country is VERY conservative to the point where being LGBTQ can get you quietly fired or in extreme cases deported. The place she works regularly flies in staff from abroad though, and they're usually highly LGBTQ-friendly.

So my mom comes home one day, more stressed than usual, and i ask her whats up. And she goes "I had to warn one of the abroad staff not to talk about gender studies with the locals here", and i got prissy and went "why? because its wrong?" and she looked at me and went "No, because they're being nice to his face but what if they go and say something behind his back?"

Like her first instinct was to protect this man who didn't realize just what the environment here was like. And then she drove him around the city trying to help him find a touristy gift for his husband and even suggested different places to try even though she didn't have too.

Like sure my mom is homophobic but her morals clash so STRONGLY with the ideas of hate that she ends up being an ally. I lowkey came out to her one day by going "what would you do if i liked girls"

and she said "well. Id be sad because its wrong and I want you to go to heaven."

and i said "but how would you treat my wife? would you be nice to her?"

and she went "well, yes, of course--" and i went "what if i don't think its wrong?" and she went "well i cant force you but id like if you read the bible more :("

its worth noting that she was so uncomfortable during this conversation, which was so surreal for her, that she started cry laughing in the coffee shop because i was being really intense.

My mother is homophobic but shes also tolerant and so fucking kind and yk those are the kinds of people i can coexist with. She's the kind of person to see a gay coworker get fired and get upset, not because he's gay, but because her workplace had the audacity to fire somebody so experienced.

All this to say: I love my mom.

Side note, my roommate is homophobic (i don't blame her, and its not like shes doing harm) and I'm actually really open to being friends with her because shes kind as fuck and tactful. So yeah, its nice to coexist i guess

EDIT: also. My mom is like, really bad at being homophobic. Like she "knows" its wrong, but she gets really confused when she tries to explain why. And she doesn't actually...do anything homophobic. She sees men in heavy makeup and goes "wow....his eyeshadow is so good..." and then Side Eyes Me

idk. Shes a really good person. The only people I've seen her go "they should be harmed" about is like, r*pists and shit. Doubling down: I love my mom.

[hamliet]

Warning: Untamed spoilers!

Okay so, I finished the Untamed drama a couple of weeks ago, and I haven’t been able to think of much since. I loved it, but I also have issues with it (it’s probably because I tend to take this stuff wayyy too seriously, which I am sure you can tell by this very long message, lol). I want to read the novel, but I’m worried I will have the same issues and will be frustrated all over again. I came across your Tumblr and I wondered if you might have some insight?

The thing that worries me is the whole moral ambiguity theme and feeling conflicted about Wei Wuxian as a character. I’m kind of embarrassed to say this cause usually I’m the one arguing for more complex, multi-dimensional characters. Irl I’m always telling people to try to see things from someone else’s perspective, to think about the other side. So… I ought to like this… But I guess I was just really enjoying WWX as an uncomplicated hero/underdog, fighting against the man. I loved how self-sacrificing he was, how committed to doing the right thing no matter the cost. That kind of trope really gets me. It made me want to go protest in front of an oil company or something. I really had no clue that he was anything other than a simple good guy, except for Lan Zhan repeatedly warning him about using the black magic—which admittedly was kind of a red flag… (Whenever anyone says “I can control it! This extremely powerful weapon definitely won’t be used for evil!” that’s never a good sign.)

But, black magic aside, when his sister and Jin Zixuan died, I was really thrown off-balance. It really seemed like it was his fault (at least in part). I know the drama tried to blame everything on Jin Guangyao, but I’ve been told in the novel he’s more directly responsible, which honestly didn’t really surprise me, because blaming Jin Guangyao did seem kind of like an afterthought. It didn’t really fit the tone or theme of the story.

The thing is, having him (directly or indirectly) cause the deaths of two important main characters seems to imply that he had made some mistake—that we should be critical of him in some way. Or else, why would that have to happen? I know Chinese authors love angst, but if main characters have to die for the sake of drama, why not have them die at the hands of an obvious villain? The fact that WWX was involved in their deaths makes it seem like he did something wrong. But I didn’t really understand what. What exactly was his tragic flaw? That he was trying too hard to play hero? That he messed around with the dark magic and couldn’t control it? He was too proud, too overconfident? For me, the takeaway wasn’t really clear.  

As I said, I am okay with moral ambiguity. But WWX is different in that what is attractive about him IS his goodness, his selflessness, his willingness to sacrifice everything to do what is right. That’s why I loved him so much. But, by making him morally ambiguous, it kind of takes away from that. It almost seems like the author is criticizing those traits? Are those traits bad? I mean, I guess sometimes they can be. In my own life there are times I have tried to play hero, and as a result have screwed things up. But that seems like a surprising message for a drama like this. Or is it just that life is messy and even when you try to do the right thing sometimes it doesn’t work out? I didn't get the message.

And it was kind of painfully disappointing because I loved WWX so much! For his goodness. I almost feel more ready to forgive Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang for their crimes because, in some way, I don’t hold them to the same moral standard. Their goodness wasn’t what appealed to me about them. I feel like it’s very confusing to have a story all about moral ambiguity in a character who seems to be trying so hard to be good.

And then, when I talked to other Untamed/MDZS fans about this, and asked if the novel is more clear about this stuff than the drama, they were all like: “Oh, WWX is not morally ambiguous! He was just forced into a bad situation by the REAL bad guys! Only people who didn’t know him thought that he was morally ambiguous.”

Which just made me more confused. It’s like, if we are just supposed to love WWX and not feel conflicted at all about his actions, then why have him kill two main characters? And why keep hammering home the theme of moral ambiguity, which the drama did A LOT. (I mean they talked about it many times. It’s even in the lyrics to the song!)

And I was conflicted about WWX after the deaths. I felt like, after Jin Zixuan died, WWX should have realized his mistake for cultivating the black magic and have tried to get rid of it or something. But instead, he just goes back to argue with everyone and defend himself, starting the fight that eventually killed his sister. In the drama, he doesn’t really express regret about any of that, just sadness for what happened. He apologizes to Jin Ling for his comments about him lacking “maternal education,” but he doesn’t apologize for indirectly killing his father. It seems like the creators of the drama don’t really blame him either, and we are just supposed to blame the Jin clan and Jin Guangyao. But again, if we’re not supposed to blame him, why have him seem even partially responsible for those deaths? And why keep mentioning the theme of moral ambiguity?

I’m okay with redemption, but part of redemption is acknowledging that someone did something wrong. It seems like Untamed wants to have a story about redemption without actually recognizing his part in everything. Anyways, I know the drama really fell short in explaining a lot of things that were part of the novel. I wonder if you think the novel will explain everything clearly and all my concerns will turn out to be nothing? Or if the novel is similar enough that I might have the same reaction? I know I should just read it for myself, but it’s really long and I’m scared of disappointment 😅. I also told myself I would wait to read the novel until I deal with some things in real life, because I know that once I start reading I will not be able to think about anything else. As you can see, I am already not thinking about anything else and I should probably just read it, sighhh.

Anyways, thank you so much for kindly reading this very long rant. It is greatly appreciated. ❤❤

Hi! No worries about spoilers, I watched it long ago :D

In short: I think you would like the novel.

See, apparently protagonists aren't really allowed to be that morally complex or gray in the same way they can be in a novel, leading to all sorts of mishandlings and even fumblings of different elements of the adaptation. It comes across as contradictory in the drama because it is contradictory; they're telling you WWX is morally perfect, but he is demonstrably not, and fans of the drama kind of gobbled that up at the expense of the novel's characterization. Which is a shame, because the novel is so much more thematically rich. I mean, I think The Untamed adaptors did the best they could with the circumstances they had, but the novel is so much more complete and thematically tight, if that makes sense. (It's actually one of the few novels in existence that I can say truly milks every drop of potential from every possible character, situation, and theme.)

To kind of demonstrate what's different about the novel, I'll answer some more specific questions below:

why not have them die at the hands of an obvious villain?

So the funny thing is that the premise of the novel is that they are searching for a villain (because society is always searching for a villain), only to realize there is no villain at all. WWX is one of the few characters who truly realizes this in the end and has compassion for JGY. WWX is a good boy.

As I said, I am okay with moral ambiguity. But WWX is different in that what is attractive about him IS his goodness, his selflessness, his willingness to sacrifice everything to do what is right. That’s why I loved him so much

Alas, so this is where I'm going to try to explain that while it might sound like I'm saying the novel might be less appealing to you, I actually don't think it would be!

WWX is a complex character, and admittedly no one in the novel is black or white, good or bad. Yet, the traits of his commitment to doing what he thinks is right, as shown in the show, are still very present. WWX is very pure of heart in the novel; he just also is very human.

Honestly, I'd say that WWX is a perfect idealist in the novel. His ideals are good, too. There just sometimes are not good or right options to choose from because their world is so messed up (society is the real villain, so the villain is simultaneously everyone and no one); sometimes it's levels of wrong to choose from. Also, as an idealist, when his loved ones die because of him (which does happen even more directly in the novel than in the show), he sinks into despair and gives up on everything, even goodness, briefly, which is what leads to the massacre he's known for committing and also his own death. But when he wakes up resurrected as Mo Xuanyu and gets another chance, he's still idealistic and hopeful enough to take it; he's just a little wiser about his limits this time.

His goodness and his love with LWJ (a societally scandalous relationship) offer society a glimmer of hope to change the entire world from monster to human--that's the point of the novel! So if you think of him as a beacon of light, you're in luck.

“Oh, WWX is not morally ambiguous! He was just forced into a bad situation by the REAL bad guys! Only people who didn’t know him thought that he was morally ambiguous.” Which just made me more confused. It’s like, if we are just supposed to love WWX and not feel conflicted at all about his actions, then why have him kill two main characters?

Ex-frickin-actly. You can blame censorship for this!

It seems like Untamed wants to have a story about redemption without actually recognizing his part in everything.

Again, I applaud your point because this is exactly the thematic contradiction that the censorship created. Said contradiction doesn't exist in the novel.

Anyways, if you do end up reading it, I'd love to hear from you!