#the alien episodes are my favorite and i wish there were more of those and fewer of the ghost/spirit ones

[theborgqueen2]

I think the best thing about 'rewatching' voyager through the Delta flyers is them admitting to being huge jc shippers and them pointing out every little jc scene as a Moment™.

Robert being so into tom×belanna is so funny and I love it. I listened to their epsiode for 'drive' and they both didn't remember that's the Tom and belanna get marries epsiode??? Hilarious.

I looooove how he points out shots and camera moves and certain aspects I wouldn't pay attention to cause I'm dont know how to identify them. 'I wish we made that shot more dynamic'/'this is a one take btw' and I'm losing my mind yet again.

AND his favorite voyager episode is Workforce pt1. I can trust him with my life. (AND he was involved/directed resident alien???? I might love that guy????????)

was it really necessary to make a podcast just for those two to be nostalgic and have the wrong opinion occasionally? No it wasn't but I absolutely live for their "every time they have smoke on set its actually liquid nitrogen and it's so so cold" or "god these costumes were scratchy" cause yeah. They also mentioned a gag reel????!! And I need it??????

Also love how every time Beltran has a techno babble monolog they joke about his inability to remember those lines but knowing all of Shakespeare by heart.

I cant wait for them to shit on c7 tbh cause I'm confident now that they will find it as rushed and out of the blue as anyone I've spoken too.

[jone-slugger]

Wrote this for @voyagerweek! It's my favorite episode, Scientific Method :) You can also read it on AO3

A Vulcan Friendship

When she rings the chime to his quarters, Kathryn is uncharacteristically nervous. She shouldn’t be: this is Tuvok, after all. Her trusted advisor; her oldest friend on her ship; her Security chief, with thirteen department heads reporting to him. She cringes at her own words. They resound in her head as if she was saying them at that precise moment, angry, demanding. Crazed.

They haven’t really had the chance to talk about it. Sorting everything out and supervising the recovery of her crew has been her top priority.  

But she still remembers his words in her ready room when she told him she’d go to renaissance Tuscany to rest. I will join you for a glass of wine.

Of course, she hasn’t had time to go spend time in the holodeck. She isn’t even sure if he was serious in his offer of company.

Vulcans aren’t supposed to lie.

So she tells herself, and so she hopes, for she wouldn’t want anything to ruin her finest friendship aboard. Not even those aliens.

Tuvok appears at the other side of the door to his quarters, the purple lights illuminating half his face, his expression emotionless, as always.

She smiles.

“May I come in?”

“Of course, Captain”.

She follows him to his couch and sees the incense still burning on his table. It seems this experience has left everyone rattled. Even stoic Tuvok.

“Is there anything I can assist you with?” he asks, dutiful as ever. He doesn’t seem angry at her outburst in her ready room.

Vulcans aren’t supposed to feel.

That’s what her mind provides, but even she knows that’s not strictly true. They might not show emotions, or be governed by them, but Vulcans definitely feel. For a second, she wishes he were a Klingon. At least with them one could always know if something had offended them.

“I think I owe you a glass of wine in renaissance Siena?” there is a questioning tone in her suggestion, as if she were afraid of simply stating it—afraid that he might consider it an order, and not what it is: an attempt at mending anything that might have been broken during the silent alien invasion.

His eyebrow rises ever so slightly, as if wondering about her true motives.

“I merely suggested it, but it was not meant to be an obligation, Captain”.

“It’s no obligation. It’s an invitation. If you’d like to join me, I would be happy”. And grateful. And relieved.

“It would be an acceptable use of my time”, Tuvok agrees and a smile lightens up her face.

“Great! I’ll book a couple of hours on the holodeck”.

“I shall join you then”.

Kathryn nods, satisfied. There is not much else to discuss—not there, anyway. Thus, she walks out of his quarters, satisfied. Happier. Lighter.

-----------------------------------------------

Renaissance Siena is as beautiful as Kathryn remembers, and the inn she has been wanting to try for weeks does not disappoint. Tuvok joins her as soon as she calls for him, dressed in clothes of the era, and his characteristic neutral expression.

Wine soon starts flowing.

He drinks as much as her, but Vulcan physiology is stronger. She is tipsy faster than she thought she’d be. Maybe it’s time to stop drinking before she regrets it.

Or maybe she could have one more glass.

It’s the sweet, cozy haze of alcohol what makes her finally open up and tell him everything she’s been meaning to. Not that she couldn’t do it without the alcohol. But it definitely helps.

“Tuvok, I treated you quite badly th-the other day”, her words slur just a little, enough for him to close the bottle with a cork and give it to a waiter that walks behind her.

“You were being the subject of cruel experimentation, Captain. You were not yourself”.

“I feel miserable thinkinggg just how bad I treated you”.

“As I said, it was not your fault. I do not blame you for it”.

“Still. You didn’t deserve it. I knew better than that”. She tries to hug him, but he retreats, not completely comfortable with the display of tactile comfort.

He offers a hand, instead.

She squeezes it immediately, holding on to it like a lifeline. It is quite an important gesture for a Vulcan. Her friend. With his hand, he is wordlessly telling her that he is not angry, that she shouldn’t be too hard on herself, that this time she shouldn’t allow guilt to consume her. That everything is okay between the two of them.

“I’m rrrr-really sorry that I snapped at you”, she finally lands in her apology. “I hope you can forgive me. It was unprofessional of a cap'n.”

“There is nothing to forgive. And, as such, you should not concern yourself about it anymore”.

Tuvok stands up, and helps her follow suit.

“I believe you are quite intoxicated, Captain. I shall accompany you to your quarters”.

The suggestion seems acceptable, so she leans into his arm and allows him to lead the way.

“Tuvok… you’re my best friend”.

“I, too, share your sentiment, Captain”.

The hangover tomorrow is certainly going to be monumental, but today, at that very moment, Kathryn feels at peace.          

[asexual-spongebob]

HAPPY ONE YEAR ZADRVERSARY / IZ ANNIVERSARY TOOOO MEEEEE!!! (Also happy st Patrick’s day.)

The first photo is a lyric drawing of “I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both” by Jawbreaker :)

Long ass ramble below the cut! :3

Wow… I’ve been fixated on IZ and ZaDr for a year? That sounds krazy.

So, how did I get into IZ? Well, I had actually discovered the show’s existence when I was.. I want to say 9, maybe 10 years old? I had seen someone do a video essay on it and I became curious.

But, unfortunately I still had some internalized shit at that point. I told myself that I wasn’t allowed to watch “childish” media. But later that year I started watching the Disney renaissance films again or for the first time. And I I started watching animated films again.

and then, almost two summers ago, I got back into Spongebob. It was a childhood favorite of mine and I decided to revisit it. And, I then started revising other shows from my childhood, and watching shows I had never seen as a child but had wanted to watch.

And, Invader Zim was one of those shows. I had also been curious about Gir because of my love scene fashion and culture. But i didnt want to walk around wearing Gir merchandise without knowing anything about him, which is also why I watched it.

And, as soon as I started watching the first episode, i was mind blown. I had missed out on such a good show. I wish I had seen it sooner. It changed my brain chemistry to be honest.

And, as soon I started watching it jokingly started shipping Zim and Dib. My thought process was “what if I shipped to the two kids that hated each other.” As a joke. Mostly because I thought it’d be funny but also because wasn’t the biggest on enemies to lovers. Hell, even today enemies to lovers isn’t usually my first pick. I’m usually more of a friends to lovers and or grumpy x sunshine kind of guy. But, Zim and Dib are an exception.

The more I watched the show, the more fanfic I read, the more fanart I looked at. The less of a joke it became. By the time I watched the Halloween special, I was a full fledged shipper. And Zim saying “I’m not here because I like you, Dib! I’m just here for your filthy gargantuan head!” Certainly did not help.

After I watched most of the show and EtF I got the idea for WotS. And I wrote it. Because no one else was going to. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be as well received as it was. I honestly wasn’t sure what people were going to think, but I’m glad it all went nicely. I was also surprised people even like my portrayal of ZaDr, given that I typically portray them as sweet, textbook definition of tween/teenage puppy love. (Mostly because I just want them to be happy.)

And then I wrote my other AU’s, like Invader Tak. Which I had a lotta fun working on :) I had fun exploring tak and gaz specifically. I also wrote it because I knew no one else was going to write something TaGr centric, so did it myself. :) and honestly, that’s how most of my AU’s have been born. Because no one else had written anything like them before.

And then I worked a bit on some other smaller projects before working on my current project/fic A.K.A Aliens Exist, or A.E for short. Which is essentially “Invader Zim but if it’d been written by me.” Which includes what changes I would’ve made, my hcs etc. and canon ZaDr is one of those things. Like, one of the premises for it is “What if ZaDr was canon?”. So yeah. And it’s coming along quite nicely! :D I have a good chunk of it planned out and such, and I’ve also written a good chunk of it. Especially the later chapters which are pretty lore heavy. (They also include some crazy plot twists!)

But, anyway. I’m so glad I watched this show and started shipping this ship. I’ve made so many friends because of it and I think that’s really cool. I hope that it’ll continue to be a comfort ship for years to come!

Anyway, happy ZaDrversary to me! :3

[pinky-the-fantastic]

Lucky Day

(Spoiler-free review first) This episode was very interesting. It definitely wasn't the kind of episode one might expect, but I still enjoyed the commentary it presented.

Alright, spoiler time everyone!

Right at the start of the episode, I really thought this was not going to be a Doctor-light episode. The shot of the London Eye from that specific perspective just gave me nostalgia for "Rose" from 2005 with my favorite 9th Doctor :))

It was nice to see Ruby again! I thought it was good to bring up how much the adventures impacted Ruby after the Doctor left because that doesn't get brought up as much as it should in the show. At the very end of the 13th Doctor's run that was focused on but a lot of those companions have not shown up with UNIT since then.

Conrad (a little bit like Al actually) seemed fine at first, and I was slightly confused because I thought the one UNIT worker was Conrad because they just look similar. I was also a bit surprised that the episode got very romance-y for a little while. And I knew that the world still saw the Cybermen back in 2007 and 2016, and the alien ship in 2006, and all the other things; but it was weird to remember once Ruby was - on a live podcast - admitting that aliens were real. Ruby's Gran did also kind of warn us about Conrad because she told Ruby that his friends seemed off, and both we and Ruby should have listened to her! Conrad is SUCH A JERK. All of the friends too! I guess it is good to showcase characters like Conrad and Al, because people like them are the villains of the real world.

Conrad's whole campaign is so stupid but the episode uses it to comment on how lies are so easily spread on the internet. It's a little like Dot and Bubble. Conrad's way of acting where he just doesn't ever stop doubting himself is a one that I've seen in the past and I guess for me it's validating for the show to be using these types of bullies as episode-spanning villains. And a guy like Conrad armed with a gun is a thing that only someone like the Doctor could solve. I just wish Conrad would have learned a lesson.

The confrontation with the Doctor was SO COOL. I want to see more scenes where the Doctor fights people with their words because Ncuti Gatwa plays it SO WELL. I love him, he might be one of my favorite doctors. That scene almost felt like something from a 12th Doctor episode.

I really don't quite understand why it's called Lucky Day. I also found this episode to seem to me like an inverse version of Love & Monsters

With Mrs. Flood (perhaps The Governor???) showing up at the end to release Conrad and the reports of both Millie Gibson and Varada Sethu playing companions in this season, I have a feeling Ruby will return in the next few episodes to fight of the eventual big bag.

Anyways, thank you for reading and expect another one of these next week!

[xylathesilkwing]

played the Time-Breaker DLC! confusing and both enlightening experience- spoilers under the cut below! It is my feverish ramblings and not professional at all, enjoy

-SAM LAAAAKE I thought you were evil Mr Lake but I only had you for a moment I miss you come back

-JESSEEEE JESSEE jessse hi. hi Jesse (insane)

-no fr though Petri Alanko confirmed that the music that plays during Tim (Shawn?? Jack?? I’m gonna say Tim) and Jesse’s introduction was supposed to be a 1:1 recreation of the music that plays in Quantum Break with Jack and Beth, and I just think that’s neat (going feral)

-the insane scribbling on the whiteboard in the trailer resembles the scribbling the real (original? currently dark place) Tim’s notes:

and since I think it’s confirmed that the DLC episodes are just attempts at Alan Wake trying to escape the dark place, did he see the OG notes and go “oh yeah, I could probably write something with that”? Did he predict what Tim would write that without ever meeting him? Is the multiverse real??

-also, “red headed woman” in both images. obviously in the DLC it’s Jesse, and probably is the same in the actual game (especially with the polyhedrons) but it’d be so cool if he also remembered Beth or those other versions he had seen

-this image alone down below?? listing off names??

obviously we’ve got Jesse, plus Dylan (Faden? possibly her brother?) and someone named Savage, but we’ve also got Lisa, Elisa and Liz being nicknames for Elisabet/related to it. Just sayinnn Beth could be part of that tooo (delusional) (hasn’t finished quantum break yet)

-anyways we continue

-the ocean view hotel is so freaky cool in this world??? The clocks leading you to different rooms, the FBC being present and posting notes on doors and cannonly being there, plus the ENEMIES? I’m afraid of the shadows in Alan Wake’s playthrough but these were also pretty freaky

-JESSEEE I’m sorry I’m just genuinely so insane about her im glad she returned

-while I can’t remember the name of the place she works for, i find it pretty funny she still works for a concealed/unknown agency involved with secret forces. went from supernatural events to the multiverse girl

-the time-sea-whatever outside?? insane. cool. wicked awesome

-“and another version of me got super powers” and it’s her lifting a forklift!! Love the control references, especially the Alien Guardian Angel one.

-“as you say, characters in a video game” METAA

-okay I had to put this here but Tim/Jesse shippers.. I see you. like I’m an avid Jessily shipper but genuinely I see the appeal

LIKE? Obviously this is most likely an homage to the fan theories of Jesse and Tim being echoes of Beth and Jack, but it’s also so interesting Alan-wake wise. I could probably make a separate post for this but like- imagine you’re Jesse and you’re seeing all these versions of a man some variant of you loved die gruesome deaths, and you’re feeling these feelings that aren’t actually /yours/, it’s. I’m insane it’s so freaky and cool and sad and ARGH

And for Tim!! your other versions were trying to find this girl and when you get there you realize that the feelings you feel for her aren’t actually yours either! just some version of you and some version of her that probably didn’t work out! I’m gonna go insane!

-the arcade game sequence was INSANE and I love it so much. I wish we saw more of that universe

-the universe with all the empty time-core-thingies?? insane, freaky, perfect.

-THE VOID? THE TEXT?

-okay so I might be weird for this but instead of thinking about The Master of Many Worlds I thought about the red headed woman I’m so sorry. definitely got caught off track but the way her name is LIS like the names list?? and she’s a DANCER? <—— I’m a dancer

-it was so freaky when all the text and numbers turned into Alan Wake at his desk?? but also so meta and cool?? insane DLC

-awesome DLC! North Star is my favorite so far but tbh this one was super meta I loved it

[stitchwraith-stingers]

3, 10, and 22 if you don’t mind :3 it can be any fandom, whichever you think will be easier when answering it !!

3 - screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

"anemone is so dogshit because she became mean for some reason" ohh so close, thats a kid who was kept close by her mom all her life and got manipulated by an old guy and was scared of her own powers, honorable mention to "hazels mom is a therapist she shouldve talked to him in the finale"

10 - worst part of fanon

i cant explain it, like, how bizzare it is?? like looking at fanon discussions is so fascinting because half of the time its like being smashed in the face by a bookshelf

the rampant misogyny is one thing i talk abt often, but theres stuff like how people will bend over backwards and you look at the canon and its just so drastically different from whatever the media is, also how suddenly people just cant some up with bullshit for some characters but then others who are cardboard boxes theres 5 billion pages of yaoi in fanworks of them, like what the hell is stopping is my question

(i understand ppl who want peri to be this badass who adopts dev and everything is great and i get the appeal i also love me some found family dynamics, however to me it just sometimes feels kinda forced? not saying you cant do that its just i dont think that peri would snap at dale and hate him directly, theres probably other stuff similar to this that ive seen in works but i cant recall, this was more common during 2014-2019 though)

also just how ship focused it is, now idk if im one to say this i love me some pairs i had a huge deviantart stamp collection that was half my page of ones i liked and i still do, however theyre so wildly out of character or its so obvious to see which ones people ONLY like for a ship and not outside their own character (stares directly at hazel)

theres probably more im missing but its 4 am rn, just the way they handle characters speicifcally and how wrong they can be even if something directly happened into the camara is soooo ????/

22 - your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i cant rlly think of anythin new so ill repeat the answer i gave to the same question like acouple of months ago

i think the fop fandom can benefit from like, paying attention to the random worldbuilding????

theres atleast 4 different ways faries power the source to their magic and if 1 is dimished so are the rest like christmas lights, theres a substitute teacher whos a pretty gnarly fairy hunter (with a published book series), theres an entire country that appeared in the middle of america the contitnent that will dissapear, theres probably afew people timmy wished up that were on the run up untill he lost his fae which ment those people dissapeared, the grim reaper works in a fairy pet shop, crocker and the princible apparently had a thing going on??? betty and gray which im still mad they dropped after 4 episodes, chloe is all almost most of the time and even when her parnts come by theyre still jackasses enough to tell her to stop having fun, KEVIN CROCKER?? WHO I LOVE BUT IS SUCH A BIZZARE INCLUSION, anti cosmo and head pixie have (implied) raised a baby themselves?, the (not rlly) alien princess mark was supposed to marry who hunted him for sport for what i assume is months, veronicas whole identity crisis spheal, a fairy actress died on stage with such an ugly outfit that not even one person watched the damn movie after that, walking dino electrician, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH A ANIMATRONIC AND A GUY ON THE STREET ARE BUDDYS AND THEYRE LIKE A BUTCH NONBINARY LESBIAN PUNK FURRY AND A CISHET GUY IN HIS MID 50S, aliens that exist on earth plotline for the 2nd time, theres two mother natures and while yeah they couldve retconned one of them ive decided are wives, THE WELLS' LANDLORDS ARE WERIDO END OF THE EARTH DUDES AND THE PARENTS GET ALONG BUT THEIR KIDS DONT WHY HAVENT I SEEN ANYTHING ABT THIS

[thegeminisage]

star trek update time! last night we watched ds9's "vortex" and "battle lines." mwah. every day i wish tng's pussy could pop like ds9's does.

vortex (ds9):

ANOTHER ODO EPISODE! was i not JUST saying i wish he had more to do

i really really really liked this one...i love that odo has such a strong sense of right and wrong. it would be wrong to take this's guy stone. it would be wrong to release a prisoner he was duty-bound to transport. it would also be wrong to orphan this man's daughter. he has a strict moral code, but it's his own moral code, not starfleet's.

AND it affects the people around him. that guy was totally gonna leave odo for dead and then changed his mind. LOVE that <3

obviously it's sad that this guy is lying, but it's only season 1...AND we got an official species name and a semi-alive stone odo can call "cousin" which is both sad and kind of funny

i liked how when odo wanted answers he went to quark and was threatening and quark was like brushing him off like girl i don't know ANYTHING til he saw odo was serious and then he also got serious. quark isn't always my favorite character bc i dont like the ferengi BUT i DO really like the way he can shift his energy to match the situation instead of remaining rigid - like getting scared when finding out his friends were his game pieces.

some of the alien's digs were sooo mean. my favorite was "THEY (the other changelings) don't keep a humanoid form." really speaks to odo feeling outside of his own community...which means now of course that he's my favoritest specialest little guy. where's that post about star trek characters with autism...he can join the autism gang with spock and data. i think when we get to the end of s1 i'll be ready to do a character rank.

battle lines (ds9):

THIS ONE FUCKED! before getting into the big obvious stuff i actually liked the minor character work it did for bashir - he volunteers to go because "its a slow day 😇" and then proves useful at both flying and repairing the ship, and EVEN got a few rare noncomedic moments in. as much as i love to giggle at this guy i really appreciate they gave him some serious stuff - both wondering if it was ethical to help these people die and then being absolutely disgusted when the folks in question wanted to turn his idea into a weapon for slaughter.

talking to these people is like TALKING TO A WALL. no wonder kira wanted to distance herself from them...and no wonder she recognized herself in them. this whole sitch was practically designed to trigger her ptsd. i love what a great actress she is - she wasn't just crying on cue, she was sobbing with like spit and everything, which is gross, but god damn

more o'brien this episode though imho still not enough. i wanted him to have more stuff to do on ds9. give him something to do!!!

i really really like kai opaka...i'm glad she's not Dead dead but she might as well be. i feel like she's the only kind of person who could get through to those people.

i like where they rolled credits bc it made both of us go DAMN HOLY SHIT aloud but i also wonder what will happen when they go back without the prophet...feels like there'll be hell to pay

TONIGHT, hopefully: tng's "the chase" and ds9's "the storyteller"

[humaninpogresss77]

23.5 องศาที่โลกเอียง Episode 06

Well this episode wasn't the apocalyptic thing the name was expecting it to be, but Ongsa's actions really made it seem that way.

I really like that even Sun took this in a better way that any human being would, Ongsa's actions were still present them as wrong.

Actually, Sun took this as a way to keep Ongsa in her life because she was still connecting with her, but in no moment she commented or praised Ongsa for what was done. Romcoms tend to do that and is something that I don't like.

About her anger, I wonder how many episodes are still there, because is possible that she is ok now, controlling her anger but that could come later in any of their problems in the future. Hoping to see this development in future episodes.

BUT, I am going to call bullshit to she show. Do you expect me to believe that lesbian Disaster Ongsa had her crush Sun sleeping in her room, even inches to her and she was really just gonna sleep so candy and if nothing happened? not in a sexual way but she would be flustered at least. I do liked that at the end was Sun the one checking Ongsa sleeping(that sounds bad is very cute actually).

Now my favorite part of the, is Alyin and Alyin and Luna.

Is interesting how much Alyin has grown into caring been part of everything with so little given. At the start of the show she didn't even cared that much for her cousins, but she is now part of the squad, meddling to help her cousin, caring for her, texting Sun and calling her human friend. That doesn't come only for Luna but for herself and how Ongsa and Ongsa's friends has include her and shown her appreciation.

Now, I understand that Luna and Alyin are the side ship but I really wish we have a little more for them. There has been multiple moments in episodes before that we have a linger of their thing but I wished we could follow them more(like Alyin asking Ongsa about aliens hearts but we couldn't follow because we had to focus on Ongsa, and is not bad I do love that part I just wish we have more from there).

I like to point out something I haven't notice point out before, but Luna is catching in her own actions. Yes, she is extremely smooth in her words but the first times she was saying those things to Alyin, she was just smooth with a smile in her face; but both in episode 05 and in this one, she seem to be shy before saying things(like in episode 05 started looking to their joined fingers before saying the things and blushing smiling to her own words).

So yeah is not just Alyin catching feelings for Luna's actions but I am pretty sure Luna is realizing of the things she is saying sound flirty.

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

Judging Doctor Who: Eleventh Doctor

Disclaimer: This is all in good fun and I don't take fandom serious

Good episodes I like

The Eleventh Hour - I hate the time cracks arc, but if you just focus on the plot itself the escaped shapeshifter prisoner thing is fun

The Beast Below - It's so sad!! And Liz 10 is hot and badass and a good person but not, which is my favorite type of lady

Victory of the Daleks - A delightfully classic dalek plot

Amy's Choice - Basically another au-type episode and it's fun. And also reveals the Doctor's deep self hatred!

Vincent and the Doctor - Yes everyone likes this one. But it is impressive. It manages to be both heartbreaking and have scenes of him fighting an invisible creature!

The Lodger - fun and silly, a nice breather

A Christmas Carol - very clever and sweet, wonderful use of time travel. And there's flying fish that like singing!

The Curse of the Black Spot - A nice monster of the week with no real monster! And historical pirates became space pirates!

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People - yes I hate this arc too, but the self-contained plot here is actually a fun who gets to be a person one

The Girl Who Waited - I think this is the only episode where Amy has enough character for be to like her. Plus it's another (horrifying) what if story!

The God Complex - Creepy and fun. I loved seeing all the fears, and the mystery was interesting

Closing Time - A fun and silly enough adventure that I don't mind the cybermen

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe - Sweet and magical, and I liked that the adult got to go on the Narnia adventure

Asylum of the Daleks - Good dalek episode, good (first?) use of the dead humanoid dalek slaves, excellent heartbreaking reveal that their new friend is no longer human, and I love the daleks all just forgetting him

The Snowmen - Very nice creepy but silly monsters, and at this point the Clara mystery was intriguing

Rings of Akhaten - SO all around beautiful, and I also love the inclusion of a rare multi-alien gathering. There should be more of those

The Crimson Horror - Vastra my beloved! And also this was an interesting mystery, and the Doctor isn't even in most of it, but I just love too many aspects to name! It's very good!

The Day of the Doctor - Do I necessarily love this answer to the Time War? No. Do I understand it? Yes, because at this point they were stuck with it and this gives them an opening for Gallifrey to still exist (they squandered it but that's beside the point). Besides, the episode itself is great fun (the Doctor never gets along with himself!)

Bad episodes I like

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone - Yeah further lore made the angels less interesting, and the story didn't make sense. But I enjoyed it! And River is there!

Night Terrors - THIS story would have been perfect if they hadn't made the logic circular (all this is happening because the kid is scared he'll get sent away, but they only discussed that because of these problems). But it's still fun

Hide - I'm sorry, the Doctor does not consult random ghost hunting psychics. However. The answer of a time traveler moving wrong through time was great fun

Good episodes I don't like

The Vampires of Venice - pretty typically goofy, but I didn't enjoy it that much. Maybe because of Amy and Rory

The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood - Again, it's fine but I was kind of bored. And wish if they were going to bring back Silurians they'd let them stay

The Doctor's Wife - well written and all, but I found it uninteresting

A Town Called Mercy - Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I don't have much interest in the wild west

The Bells of Saint John - It was fine, and as a monster of the week actually fun, but I didn't love it as Clara's intro

Cold War - This falls under the genre of running around a small trapped ship that I just don't like

Bad episodes I don't like

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang - What the hell was this?? Everything about it was convoluted, poorly executed, and uninteresting

The Impossible Astronaut/The Day of the Moon - I actually like the Silence, but the plot itself is just so convoluted and bad

A Good Man Goes to War - No. Just no to everything about this.

Let's Kill Hitler - The robot ship thing is fun and there's like one funny joke, but the rest of it is so terrible

The Wedding of River Song - All of time happening at once is kind of fun, but not enough to make up for (1) the ridiculous to begin with plot, (2) the way they absolutely cheat in a way that should not work, and (3) the implication that they never REALLY got married

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Just feels like a bunch of different things randomly thrown together

Journey to the Center of the TARDIS - A little too nonsensical for me

Nightmare in Silver - Both too busy and also boring

The Name of the Doctor - A disappointing answer to an actually compelling mystery

The Time of the Doctor - Disappointing use of Gallifrey, and really no reason he should be able to physically age

[mooncaps]

^ My initial reaction to the events of The Giggle.

I'm trying not to be too thrown by the absurdity of it, because really the whole show is absurd. The idea of a time traveling phone box that's bigger on the inside and an alien that can regenerate so new actors can play the same character is pretty ridiculous. I'm just used to it because the show's been doing it for 60 years, I've been watching the show for 16 years, and I had an understanding that those concepts were part of it.

Bi-generation isn't really any more absurd; it's just new. So I'm trying not to get too stuck on that.

And I like David Tennant, Ten was my favorite Doctor, so I don't mind the idea of the door being open for him. I'm not entirely clear on whether we'll be seeing any more of him on screen, or if he's just getting his happy ending, but it feels like a big thing to introduce if he's just going to be shelved. (At the very least, they've left open room for Big Finish to tell stories.) Much as I like him, if Tennant occasionally pops up, then I think it will feel a bit like stunt-casting and pandering, even if I'm the one being pandered to.

Ever since Power of the Doctor, I've been hoping that Tennant's return would be setting up a tie-in to Tom Baker's cameo in Day of the Doctor. With his retirement starting, maybe he'll go on to revisit some more old favorite faces and become a curator. I'd be down for that as an interesting story. Though I worry that it, or any other storyline they do with the bi-generation, could distract from Ncuti's introduction and establishing his presence as The Doctor.

I'm left to wonder if they're not confident that fans will stick around for Ncuti so they want to keep people on the hook for David. I'm also not sure how I feel about giving Ncuti the unconventional introduction. Maybe it'll prove to be the right fit for him. I guess time will tell on that front.

One thing about these specials is that they didn't feel much like events to me. Day of the Doctor, Power of the Doctor, and even Journey's End felt more like special events. These three mostly just felt like regular episodes. The Giggle came closest to feeling like an event. Although the regeneration (bi-generation) felt like an underwhelming moment, narratively. And we all know RTD and Murray Gold are capable of delivering emotionally resonant scenes. I feel like Ncuti's very sudden introduction so far lacks weight compared to most of the others. None of the new Doctors ever get much in their first scene, but they come in as part of a big emotional moment. I don't think I like that Ncuti didn't really get that. Hopefully his first proper story can give him more of a chance to make an impact. That's always where a new Doctor really gets to establish theirself.

And I guess we sort of got the new Doctor in the old Doctor's outfit this time. Though I find it frustrating that RTD is fine with having Ncuti run around in his underpants, but felt like putting David in Jodie's outfit would've been "taking the mickey."

I probably need more time to sit with the new ideas and get used to them. I'm someone who very much enjoyed the Timeless Child story (and wished they did more with it,) so I know I can get into new concepts shaking up the lore, but this seems like it's gonna take a bit more time for me to adjust to.

[sirellas]

prodigy s2 thoughts after watching the whole thing. got kinda long :/

good: i love solum and the vau nakat. they were the shining light of this season. i wish there had been more. i was prepared to be meh on their storyline which was also gwyn's, just because last season was kind of meh - a recycle of that aos movie plot with the sole survivor who comes back to genocide the federation, etc etc. but this season added so much needed depth and interesting visuals! that planet is so cool!

GWYNDALA! her story and her arc this season!!! very good. child of a destroyed world who goes back in time to save them, only to find her time nemesis already there poisoning their minds against her because she's an outsider to her own people! girl what!!! and she meets her pre-evil dad who has a man bun!! and she goes through a sacred ritual to prove she belongs there and be able to save them but she can't even speak the language!!! she is probably one of my top favorite new trek characters, no joke. her being captain at the end felt earned and GOOD (i mean yeah silly too. these are criminal children who have never read a starfleet manual lol why are they getting their own starfleet ship)

on the flip side, i hate dal <3 truly the purple jack crusher.

not good: solum was at the beginning for an episode or two, and at the end for a bit. the in between episodes lacked a lot of direction from beginning to get to the end. very walkabout way when they're supposed to be solving the universe's time existence or something. i really think they found starfleet too soon in this show. they needed more time to develop as characters before the introduction of real federation people and places that are already well known to the viewer. i just found it boring when almost every "new" thing they encountered was actually just a callback to another show. prodigy has some really interesting new ideas in the context of trek but they're so few that they get overshadowed by the nostalgia bait.

not good, but to be expected [SIGH]: it's nostalgia bait but it's also new trek canon compliance bait. episode 20 of this season was basically just a prologue for picard.

okay another good thing because i told myself not to be too negative: such a pretty show omg. the landscapes of alien worlds and the space shots and the cool new aliens and monsters!!! literally this is the highlight of this show. it's so creative with alien worlds in a way other trek that's not animated can't be, but with more care for details and beauty than tas or lwd.

bad: the humanoid character animation is very bad. when people say prodigy's animation is bad, this is what they mean. which is a shame because it's such a beautifully animated show for everything besides normal people lol. another reason i think they should have spent more time away from the federation in s1 is because their human models are so bad!!! this show relies on a lot of character speech, closeup dramatic moments. and it's bad. i'm so sorry to invoke st*r w*rs in this write up but they were making 3d cartoons in 2014 with better character animation than this.

wonderful: maj'el the azula-coded vulcan hotshot pilot who makes out vulcan sloppy style with the they/them non-corporeal being

very bad: jack crusher.

bummer: wesley, beverly, jack crusher reuinion in meh animation. it's disheartening!!! those people deserve better (not jack) than this.

bummer, continued: sooo many good character moments in this show. but the character animation is bad. i love the vau nakat because they move within the limitations of this animation style because they didn't exist before, so it feels like a natural part of them. same with the other new elements designed for this show. THOSE are the characters and story elements that should be focused on, not these random starfleet people that die left and right. seriously i think all of chakotay's crew and most of janeway's just die. or get erased from time.

i've complained enough about chakotay already but one last time: why do we keep trying to make chakotay work. why do we keep trying to make robert beltran work. one is founded on racist stereotypes and the other is just a fascist. chakotay doesn't have to be here!

saw someone else say they should have dropped 5 episodes at a time and yeah. dropping 20 at once sets it up for failure tbh. i mean this whole season was obviously set up for failure, but i think its only shot is longevity among fans. which i don't see happening really. and telling people to watch it in rude guilt-y ways like i see dominating the prodigy tag on here isn't going to cut it tbh.

i think ultimately my issues with prodigy are the same with as most new trek. they present some hit-or-miss fucked up ideas they don't seem to fully understand, and then sandwich them between super heartfelt toxic positivity "we can achieve anything if we try hard enough and also love our friends enough" messages. star trek needs strong character-driven plots and intense acting to make their weird stories work and that's still prodigy's weak point.

the tragedy is i think this show WANTS to focus on the aliens and the new things it introduces instead of the nostalgia bait, but it has to sell out and put janeway in a tanktop to get adult fans interested, the same fans who yell at everyone to watch this show or else. this season would have been better with more time spent on solum, more time developing the individual characters new to this show, and less federation.

overall rating of prodigy s2: still better than any season of picard. and very pretty.

[spoonietimelordy]

Hey I'm old asf and have only seen up to the Peter Capaldi debut, nothing past that and I'm a basic bitch who favorite doctors are the 10th and 11th shshfs, but I wanted to know your thoughts on two of my favorite moments because I haven't thought about doctor who in such a long time and you resparked something in me!

I think the two episodes I still remember to this day and have stuck with me were silence in the library because of the sheer terror it gave me(I still get nervous seeing two shadows sbdjsnd ) and the rings of akhatan purely for the 11th doctors speech, that shits fuckin beautiful, that speech is still single handedly my favorite scene in any show or movie and I dont remember half of the show itself, that specific speech is just so raw and powerful

I hope you know I'm gonna be rewatching this amazing show and probably work up to the latest episodes entirely because of you!

Hi!

First, this made my day 💕 and I'm really glad that you're gonna rewatch everything ^^.

Those 2 episodes are absolutely fantastic. Silence in the library made me afraid of my shadows for years after it aired! And it's also the introduction of one of my favourite Doctor Who Character, River Song. Something I find interesting is that at first you could only watched the episode from the point of view of the doctor but now that we've seen all of River's story, we can only watch it from her point of view. We went from meeting this strange woman who sacrificed herself to save the doctor, and being intrigued by her. What we thought was what the doctor was thinking. To now knowing everything about her and the way she thinks and feels, we're seeing the doctor not recognising her and we can feel her pain about it, and st the end when she sacrifices herself we see the doctor's distress from her point of view, we know, we get her. Like, the shift in pov is so cool.

The ring of Akhaten is what I wish more episodes would be. Not storywise, no. It's a beautiful story, but it's not what I'm gonna focus on here. What I truly love about it is the number of species we're seeing. And they're just living their life, yes they're here for a specific event, but they're still random people who are aliens. It decenters humans from being the neutral elements. Those aliens are not here to hurt anyone; they're just here. And I know the reason it's not done more is because of money and time. That's a lot of prosthetics to apply! But it just feels magical to look at this market, you feel so small.

And yes that speech is just one of the most memorable one of the whole show for me too!

[nebulouscoffee]

For the ship ask game: Worf/Bashir; Deanna/K'Ehleyr; The O'Brien's/Data; Kasidy Yates/Ro Laren!

Ooooh thanks for all these interesting picks!! (What I'm learning is, either you guys are just extremely good at coming up with ships, or I am a chaotic multishipper who will ship literally anything fhjdskhjfs)

Worf/Julian Bashir- ship it

What made you ship it?

That dart board scene from Way of the Warrior. I didn't even particularly want to ship it, I just have eyes😂

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Yes, Worf's canonical opinion of Julian is "He is a child who plays with toys", but I actually think- if the right situations arose and he got to see Julian as more than just "arrogant chatterbox" and "guy who still has feelings for Jadzia"- Worf would realise to his horror that Julian has a LOT of qualities he's consistently been shown to admire, even some he wishes he could exhibit so readily, like the fearless opposition of authority figures (remember the TNG s4 finale when the Klingon High Council asked Worf to kill that kid saying it was "the Klingon way" and he said "but it is not MY way"? Julian does this kind of thing all the time lol! And with little to no hesitation. Worf is rarely around to witness it, but it's so funny to imagine him being caught off-guard like 👀... girl that honour tho👀 👀)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Idk if it's unpopular necessarily, but I love putting Worf in polycules and I disagree that he's too monogamous to make it work! I think Worf gets jealous and possessive when someone he's agreed to a monogamous relationship with starts flirting with other people, but if these were always the terms right from the beginning, he'd honour them. Anyway I enjoy a LOT of Worf polycules haha, but the ones that involve Julian are Worf/Dax/Bashir, Worf/Dax/Sisko/Bashir, and (my new personal favourite) Worf/Martok/Garak/Bashir. (Mutual who infected me with that last one, thank you, you know who you are😂)

Deanna Troi/K'Ehleyr- ship it

What made you ship it?

TROI: I didn't know it was possible for a human and a Klingon to produce a child.  K'EHLEYR: Actually, the DNA is compatible, with a fair amount of help. Rather like my parents.  TROI: I know exactly what you mean. My father was human and my mother is a Betazoid.  K'EHLEYR: Really? It was the other way around for me. My mother was human. You must've grown up like I did, trapped between cultures.  TROI: I never felt trapped. I tried to experience the richness and diversity of the two worlds.  K'EHLEYR: Perhaps you got the best of each. Myself, I think I got the worst of each.  TROI: Oh, I doubt that. 

The first time I watched this, I took Deanna's comment at face value- but, both earlier and later episodes explicitly state that Deanna often felt out of place on Betazed, & her sheer discomfort every time Lwaxana comes on board (especially with the way she talks telepathically, which Deanna considers "rude") suggests that she isn't being completely honest here. Which is fascinating! (Truly, having 90s Trek women blorbos is taking inconsistencies and building elaborate webs of explanatory insecurities lmaoo)

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I am a sucker for alien cultures and worldbuilding and the internal worlds of characters who inhabit and oscillate between those worlds, & I've noticed most of the ships I think about a lot are either human/alien or alien/alien (I can project way more easily onto those haha). So Deanna/K'Ehleyr is a goldmine in that regard

(Also, I just love dynamics where a "tough" character has a surprising amount of respect for a softer, more empathetic character)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't know the prevailing opinions on this ship, so I shall once again invoke the Worf Polycule Rule and say K'Ehleyr should have lived and been a recurring character and Deanna's "we hook up every time you're on board the Enterprise" and she and Worf would still have needed Deanna's help raising Alexander S5 onwards so this eventually would've led to Worf/Troi/K'Ehleyr

Miles O'Brien/Keiko Ishikawa/Data- ship it

What made you ship it?

I'm gonna be honest- I had never even thought about this before today, so it was in fact this ask that made me ship it. Thanks!😂

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Well, it allows me to reinterpret a lot of the early Miles/Keiko content in a less "traditional married couple" way, which- as presented on the show, always felt a bit dated for the 24th century lol.

Okay, I'm thinking... We know Keiko was Data's friend first, and it was him who introduced her to Miles, right? So what if she and him originally met because Data was experimenting with having a love life and Keiko saw his profile on Enterprise-D Tinder or whatever and thought "hey, that sweet android man from the arboretum! Why not?" And they ended up making dinner in each other's quarters, infodumping about plants, having sex a few times, no strings attached (I genuinely feel like Keiko would be one of the least weird people about Data's whole No Emotions thing). Meanwhile Miles is grumbling in Ten Forward after a music recital that his life is sort of at a standstill, and he's a bit lonely, he just wants someone to come home to- and Data (the only person listening, naturally, which leads to a one night stand lol) suddenly has the thought- why not set him up with Keiko? And thus- the iconic, infamous, two-show-spanning O'Brien polycule begins.😂 (Jokes aside, Data probably steps out of this arrangement after a bit, once he realises they are deeply in love and headed towards an eventual marriage-with-children situation, and that's how he ends up giving Keiko away at the wedding)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Are there even... opinions on this one? I guess I could voice what is perhaps an unpopular opinion about Data, which is- I don't actually think he and Geordi ever slept together at any point during TNG. To me, they are one of those "they've never kissed but they are married" situations- like they are way too dependant on each other to risk their friendship like that! I do think Data could've been hooking up with more people than shown in canon, but it was always arrangements like this- ones he could end at any point with minimum damage and no hurt feelings. Geordi is much too close to him for this; but being the O'Briens' third from time to time? Definitely could happen

Kasidy Yates/Ro Laren- ship it

What made you ship it?

Writing a fic about them! (It is one of the many, many Fully Written Fics I Cannot Post, and I am so annoyed with myself hahaha)

What are your favorite things about the ship?

[spoilers for DS9: For The Cause and TNG: Preemptive Strike below]

They are both so unapologetic about their Maquis collaborations it makes me insane! Like, when Ben finds out, Kasidy is sorry about the lying to him part- but the show never makes her realise she was wrong to help those people, or even apologise to him. Same with Ro- when she betrays the crew, Riker just sort of understands (and doesn't even seem that surprised when she turns her phaser on him!) She regrets having to let them down, but not what she felt she had to do for the Maquis (and the Bajorans in it). It's really fun to imagine their paths crossing at some point- maybe Ro was captured by Starfleet and they end up in the same prison after 'FTC'; maybe Kasidy and Ben just never fully rekindle their relationship (not even necessarily because of her betrayal, there's also her clear disapproval of his actions in 'Rapture' and 'TDDUP' to consider) and she finds a much freer existence in the Maquis with Ro? (Breaks my Sisko/Kasidy heart a little, but still. It's interesting🥲) Of course, if we want a less messy more wholesome alternative, she and Ro only meet post-canon - Ro's lost her Maquis family and wants to help deliver aid to the Bajoran diaspora & victims of the Dominion War, Kasidy's trying to pick her life back up after Ben left her. They go on to have many adventures together in their freighter🥰

(The freedom they could give each other to be unrepentant about their criminal behaviour, basically! Literal #BeGayDoCrime ship)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Despite everything I said above, I think they would actually have their fair share of disagreements. They're both in so much pain! Maybe Kasidy wants to deliver supplies to the civilians suffering on Cardassia Prime, and Ro isn't happy about it. Maybe Ro tries to comfort her with the idea that Ben's still around as a borhya, and it massively backfires. Maybe Kasidy finds Ro's guilt over letting Picard down grating, maybe she projects some of her anger at Ben onto Ro. They'd probably have a lot of weirdly cutting guilt-trippy arguments and passive aggressive makeup sex. But they would still give each other the space to talk, and cry, and like, be angry

[sculptural-renaissance]

SGU Week Day 4 (oh are we still doing this): Favorite shi

Eli and Ginn were precious, and it's criminal that we didn't get more of them. C r i m i n a l . To say nothing of that double-fridging (that they did twice... ffs).

I like to think that Ginn would be all in for going to earth, and she eventually gets her wish after her file is removed from quarantine (with a sweet clone body grown from DNA harvested from her old clothes, which were initially saved to be backup clothing for some of the ladies on board Destiny, but later saved for cloning purposes [yes I'm aware this means her body would have been buried in some state of undress, but it was off camera anyway so it's fiiiiiiiine]).

Y'all say what y'all like about Family Guy, but the cutaways have tons of cultural references (I am frequently "Peter Griffin Explains the Joke when I watch with my husband). My thought is that Eli shows Ginn episodes of Family Guy to teach her about earth, which you can imagine leads to some pretty ridiculous misunderstandings.

Please do not enjoy this excerpt from The Eli Wallace Guide to Getting a Cute and Smart 3D Girlfriend

A while back, whilst hunting for meme fodder, I found a mean article written back around when SGU was airing. The gist of it was basically that Ginn was too "pretty" for Eli, and that a "schlubby" guy like him didn't deserve to be with someone conventionally attractive. Idk, maybe I'm old, but I think they're around the same level of cuteness. Also, bear in mind that in the past, having some extra weight was considered a sign of wealth and a positive trait. Eli's body type could easily be a selling point for Ginn, who is apparently interested enough in leaving the Space Cartel that she's willing to risk her life for it. To her, Eli is sweet, smart, cute, and her ticket to a life so cushy that luxuries she can't even imagine are considered commonplace. He's the entire package. 🧡

Look, I'm not creative. This is verbatim from Family Guy, but it's funny as hell, so it's going in the post.

This is Vital Information, mainly because Eli is definitely dragging her to a comic con at the first opportunity. God, imagine being an alien and going to a con, and it looks no different from that trading post you used to go to every month

Gotta learn about Halloween, AKA the best holiday! I do wonder what kind of holiday celebrations they might try to have on the Destiny in some hypothetical future where they can get supplies from earth, especially with all those Lucian Alliance members from various other planets. Obviously not something worth showing in a show that was mainly focused on survival, but it's a fun idea for fics.

And yes, at this point, Family Guy is the only TV show Ginn knows, except for the ones they mention on the show.

Please enjoy the references to Mean Girls and Parks & Rec.

Apparently raisins are a universal constant, too, which is good because I love them and will tolerate no raisin-slander on my page

"Shut up, Eli, you don't have a band." Fr tho "Spaceship Full of Bees" is an awesome band name

This is actually one of the shorter "episodes" I've done, in which Dale gets the bright idea to keep bees on a spaceship. I looked it up, and you can't keep honeybees inside, not even in a greenhouse, because they need more space than that to roam around. Maybe they could genetically engineer some that are suitable for pollinating weird space plants on a starship. No way will that hilariously backfire. Ginn is clearly familiar with the steroid bees, so she will probably think they're normal.

Dale's other idea is to get chickens. Maybe they can get some domestic space quail instead. They're smaller.

"So after we finished Family Guy, we watched some of The Cleveland Show. Then, when I took her to the zoo, she threw a beer into the bear enclosure, and that's how we both got lifetime bans from The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo."

But yeah imagine learning all this random pop culture info from some raunchy cartoon so you can fit in on an alien planet, but no one bothers telling you that the second-most common pet on that planet can't talk. Good luck to everyone when Ginn meets a parrot...

[bogleech]

Still wish it hadnt though, that's gotta be my least favorite genre there is.

My original post said I thought it would be interesting if we were "one of" the "more" horrifying alien races.

This meant I would like it if we qualified as "MONSTER OF THE WEEK" fodder, not the "big bads" of a setting.

It would be cool if we were one of those rando creepy species an alien Star Trek features for like one episode. The special powers I named in the OP were suggestions for the *one* rare property that might make us one of those spooky monsters or troublesome secondary villains.

A setting where we're the entire universes Supermen sounds terrible to me.

It’s funny how science fiction universes so often treat humans as a boring, default everyman species or even the weakest and dumbest.

I want to see a sci fi universe where we’re actually considered one of the more hideous and terrifying species.

How do we know our saliva and skin oils wouldn’t be ultra-corrosive to most other sapient races? What if we actually have the strongest vocal chords and can paralyze or kill the inhabitants of other worlds just by screaming at them? What if most sentient life in the universe turns out to be vegetable-like and lives in fear of us rare “animal” races who can move so quickly and chew shit up with our teeth?

Like that old story “they’re made of meat,” only we’re scarier.

[moondal514]

Reading Recap April 2025

I’m back on my Greek mythology retellings bullshit it seems, to middling results. I also tried to branch out and read stuff from genres I don’t usually read, and immediately remembered why I don’t usually go near them 😂. I did, however, read and really love some other stuff that’s been on my tbr for a while, so I’m happy that at least some of the things I read this month lived up to the hype

Bright Air Black, David Vann

I heard this is the only good Medea retelling out there, and while I can’t speak for that, as this is the first Medea retelling I’ve read, I did find this book fascinating and I liked it a lot. Vann’s prose here is phenomenal, almost hypnotic and mesmerizing in its lyricism and just gorgeous overall. His take on Medea is brutal, almost too brutal as the book did get a little too gory for my tastes. Definitely one of the better Greek mythology retellings out there

The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood

I wanted to like this one so badly, I really did, but unfortunately all I could see is the ways in which it could be great but falls short. I’m sorry but I don’t think it’s very feminist to be claiming to be telling the story of the murdered maids and then grouping them all together into a chorus with the characterization of cardboard, not even affording them separate personalities or anything. Which is sad because I think the idea of the dead maids being a chorus that haunts Penelope and torments Odysseus is really cool, but I’m so dissatisfied with how it’s executed here (but I suppose I shouldn’t have expected otherwise from the quintessential white feminist writer). I don’t know, I just came away from this book feeling very whatever about it, which is not how I want to feel about a Penelope retelling

Amulet: Prince of the Elves, Kazu Kibuishi

Even though I know I’ve read this volume before, I really remember very little about it 😂. Which is weird because I actually remembered the earlier volumes quite well. I still find the pacing way too fast but I’m loving all the lore drops in this volume. I’m a big fan of the giant robots and I’m kind of sad they don’t really get to shine, but I assume that’s for later episodes

Amulet: Escape From Lucien, Kazu Kibuishi

I’m feeling meh about this volume overall, like the plot isn’t really compelling me much (there is a reason why I stopped keeping up with this series in high school 😔). But I have to say the art is particularly gorgeous here, like those pages of Lucien’s underground city are stunning, and I’m happy to see the return of the house robot

Amulet: Firelight, Kazu Kibuishi

I think this is finally completely new territory for me in this series. This is my first time reading this volume. I don’t know how to feel about things moving into space or that the ultimate big bads are apparently imperialistic genocidal aliens, but I am a fan of the spaceship designs. I also like how we are coming full circle with things that were introduced in the first volume and I’m happy to see that the dead dad got a little bit unfridged

Amulet: Supernova, Kazu Kibuishi

I have to say I really don’t like the change in the art style of how the characters are drawn here. It’s so Steven Universe and I’m not a fan (they babygirlified Trellis I can’t believe it 😂). I still don’t know how to feel about the story moving to space and I’m kind of disappointed by how meh the designs are for the giant space robots. With that said, this is probably one of my favorite volumes. There are a lot of really good scenes that hit hard and I am a big fan of Emily’s power-ups

Amulet: Waverider, Kazu Kibuishi

The last volume! I didn’t love the ending honestly, it felt rushed, but I’m emotional about it anyways. Reading this whole series was really a nostalgic ride. I do wish it had been completed when I was in elementary school, I definitely would’ve enjoyed it more when I was 10 rather than now in my twenties, but I had fun anyways

Under the Pendulum Sun, Jeanette Ng

Something funny about this book: as I started reading it, I thought to myself “either I’ve been hanging out in The Devil Judge fandom too much or Ng doesn’t know how to write a sibling relationship because why am I getting the feeling that Catherine wants to fuck her brother” and then after about 100 pages, I paused and went to check the trigger warnings for this book out of curiosity and sure enough, incest was right there lmao. While I do fear I don’t know enough about Christianity to fully understand the theological aspects of this book, I still enjoyed it a lot. It’s very gothic in the best way. You got your creepy house, your incestuous siblings, the overall vibe of uneasiness and mystery that slowly unfolds, and the story itself feels so claustrophobic in a way I really like. This is the first book I’ve read with a fae setting that I can remember liking this much. This is definitely going on the list of my favorite gothic books

Saving Fish From Drowning, Amy Tan

I have mixed feelings about Amy Tan books but my mom has been bothering me about reading this book for years, so I finally decided to check it out. And I mean, it is quite funny. Tan has managed to write some of the most obnoxious rich American tourists I’ve ever come across in any piece of media in my life (White Lotus who lmao). But god how this book dragged on. It was way longer than it needed to be and I absolutely hated the very last chapter. I so badly wish Tan had gone the dark comedy survival horror route instead of the saccharine movie end credits-style happy ending

Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo

After years of being a fake fan and running around reading fic for this fandom, I’m finally actually reading the books (though I must admit the reason why I held out so long on reading them is because middle school me hated Shadow and Bone that much lol). I definitely missed the window of when I would’ve enjoyed this book the most (middle school) but better late than never and I did still enjoy it a lot. The Crows are really some of the most compelling characters ever (I mean I was out here reading 600k word fics about them without even reading the source material for a reason 😂). They’re just so electric and so fun and I’m in love with them

Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo

I was already spoiled about the major events in this duology, since I’ve been a fake part of this fandom and reading fic in it for years 😂, but it’s amazing still how hard they hit reading them from the original source. Like I knew these events were coming, but I still wasn’t ready for the emotional devastation of actually reading them, especially the ones in this book in particular. The Crows are somehow even more compelling in this sequel, which I didn’t think was possible. The character dynamics are really just soooo good, I could read them bantering all day. Bardugo has really created some of the characters of all time. I’m really sad actually that I hated Shadow and Bone so much because it’s deprived me of all the years I could’ve spent loving this series for real

Ripe, Sarah Rose Etter

It is my impression that this must be what Severance is like lol. This was a recommendation from my literary magazine’s holiday book swap. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I read it at a different stage of my life because wow it depressed me so much. I love the atmosphere of this book a lot, I can only describe it as “creeping.” However, this is a me problem, but I couldn’t help but notice a lot of similarities between this book and the show Silicon Valley, and so a lot of it I couldn’t take seriously. I also can’t help but think that it might have worked better as a short story because a lot of it felt frustratingly repetitive. At some point I was just like “yes I get it, late-stage capitalism makes every aspect of life terrible, corporate culture is hell, adulting fucking sucks, start-ups are cults, and there’s something deeply wrong with San Francisco people, can we move on please?” I will say though, I like the structure of the book a lot and the writing style is quite compelling, so many kudos to Etter for that

Roxana, Kin trans. Radish

I don’t usually go for het dark romance isekai webnovels, but I was told there was femdom so I was curious. The reason why this sort of thing isn’t usually my genre of choice is because I never can see the point of making the story an isekai. I genuinely don’t think a single thing about the plot would have changed if Roxana was just a very precocious child and plotting revenge at age 12. This story seemed like it was primed to do something along the lines of Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System and do some meta-commentary on its genre, but unfortunately that wasn’t the story the writer wanted to tell. I’ll be real, I checked out of everything that wasn’t femdom shit and I hated the Mary Sue treatment Roxana seemed to get from everyone (but well, I know that type of thing is typical in this kind of story). This just served as a reminder to me as to why I don’t usually read this genre 😂

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, Roberto Calasso trans. Tim Parks

Obligatory I read a translation warning. Calasso makes a lot of interesting connections between various Greek myths and their different variations and presents some intriguing analyses. But this book reads like Calasso is doing the Pepe Silvia meme at the reader the whole time 😂. Some of the claims he makes are way too conspiracy theory-feeling for my liking. At some point I felt that there were way too many threads Calasso was trying to connect and I got bored

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, Anne Carson

I fear I don’t know enough about Marilyn Monroe to fully appreciate this script, but I still quite liked it. Anne Carson is a masterful writer and I really love this weaving together of the stories of an ancient and a more modern sex symbol. I felt like I was being punched in the face over and over again (complimentary). If I ever have the privilege of seeing this performed live, I may cry

To Paradise, Hanya Yanagihara

The last Yanagihara book I read left me…unsettled to put it lightly 😂, but I couldn’t resist the allure of an alternate history setting. Unfortunately, it was boring. The characters just had no life to them, I couldn’t care about them at all, and I was disappointed at how underutilized the alternate history setting of the first part was. It feels mean for me to call this book an airplane book because Yanagihara is a much higher quality writer than what you usually find in airport bookstores, but considering that I read most of it just because it was the only thing I had downloaded for the plane I was on…it’s an airplane book. The first two parts and the first few chapters of the third part had my eyes glazing over, but I must give kudos for the rest of the third part, which had me horrified in the excellent way that is Yanagihara’s exact appeal to me as a writer. But still, overall a disappointing read because I know Yanagihara can do so much better

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin

For all that I did enjoy reading this book, I think it suffers from the fact that it really wants to, and could be, a serious high quality fantasy novel, but in truth it’s a mid YA book. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s just not what I was expecting based on how much praise this series gets. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at how much focus was on Yeine’s Twilight-esque romance with Nahadoth. There are so many more interesting things going on in this universe (the whole concept is a god polycule’s messy breakup becomes the whole universe’s problem and results in gods being enslaved by a specific human family. Tell me more about that!) and it made me groan that I have to experience it through the very uncompelling and limiting eyes of Yeine. It’s a shame because the setting is fascinating and ripe for proper worldbuilding that unfortunately just isn’t there. I really do wish this was the kind of book that had enough complicated worldbuilding to warrant the appendix at the end

The Broken Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin

I do feel that this book is a massive improvement compared to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but once again the YA vibes hurt my enjoyment of this book. Oree is somehow even less compelling of a main character than Yeine. I was so bored by her that I found myself really missing Yeine despite Yeine being uncompelling to me too. I’m also starting to suspect that I want to add Jemisin to my list of fantasy writers that need to be banned from writing romance because god the romance in this book had me yawning. I would’ve much preferred more focus on the toxic god polycule. But again, the setting is absolutely fascinating and the gods themselves are the highlight of the series

The Kingdom of Gods, N. K. Jemisin

Definitely the best book in this series I think, just by virtue of Sieh being by far the strongest main character of the three books. But The Broken Earth trilogy might have set my expectations for Jemisin’s writing way too high because I was still disappointed. While I do appreciate how Sieh being the main character means that this book can focus more on the aspects of this world that interest me most, that is the gods and the nature of divinity of this universe in general, this series just can’t get away from its YA vibes. I think I would’ve been in love with this series had I read it in high school, but as an adult I can’t help but find it tedious. I don’t entirely understand how this series could have won so many awards, but I mean, I did have a fun reading it. A solidly ok read

The Awakened Kingdom, N. K. Jemisin

This was a fun little read. Shill is an entertaining narrator. But I can’t help but find the story kind of cheesy overall, so I just feel kind of whatever about it

I Kissed Shara Wheeler, Casey McQuiston

I must be honest, the reason that I read this book, despite it being very outside of my usual genres of choice, is because I saw a one star review of it that said (and I paraphrase), “this isn’t love, it’s obsession and very toxic” and my brain went “ooooo toxic yuri” lmao. Which I mean, that’s kind of what’s going on here, but also not really, and quite honestly I think this book would’ve been immensely better if it was a dark comedy instead of this condescending preachy bullshit. This book was entertaining at first, but then it got kind of annoying and stupid about halfway through. I found Chloe’s overall realization of “who knew that growing up queer in a conservative small Bible town can really *gasp* fuck you up” to be offensively condescending. But I guess I should acknowledge that I’m probably older than the intended audience of this book, so whatever

House of Names, Colm Tóibín

I don’t know why I keep trying to read Oresteia retellings when I’ve hated every one that I’ve tried. This one at least didn’t really specifically offend me, but it commits the sin of being incredibly boring. I think the biggest problem is that Tóibín has no real grasp of Clytemnestra because her point of view was so bland. There was zero emotion from her. Where is her rage and pain over her child’s death? It takes some real talent to make me find any story related to the Oresteia dull, but Tóibín manages it

An Exile Among Humanity, xinghedanta trans. selstarry

You might not expect problematic het omegaverse cnovel erotica to be something I usually read, and you would be correct lol, but the power seeing posts on my dash about a piece of media has on my curiosity is not to be underestimated 😂. I didn’t really care for most of the first half, but the second half intrigued me enough to read to the end. An…interesting read, just not really my thing

Shades in Shadow: An Inheritance Triptych, N. K. Jemisin

I actually enjoyed this short story collection more than the novels 😂. Part of this is because Nahadoth is a very mysterious character to me, so it was interesting to read both a story from his point of view. I also liked reading stories centering around Ahad and Glee too because it definitely felt like Jemisin had a lot more to say about them in The Kingdom of Gods that didn’t make it into that book. I’m starting to think I might have enjoyed this series more if it had been presented as a series of short stories from different characters’ point of view 😂

The Maimed, Herman Ungar trans. Kevin Blahut

I read this one because it was on The Atlantic’s list of most underrated books of all time and I was curious. Ordinarily the misogyny here in the portrayal of women in this book would insult me, but in this case I’m kind of too fascinated and disturbed by everything going on in this book to be insulted. Did I like it? No lol, but I could see why someone else more into this kind of thing would. Polzer is an interesting guy. I love how from page 1 you can tell that something is wrong with him (likely as a consequence of his abusive upbringing and a questionable childhood in general). A disturbing read but also fascinating in the way that watching a giant disgusting bug can be fascinating

Wolfsong, TJ Klune

Catching up on all the iconic queer fantasy book series that I missed in late high school/early college because I didn’t know that was a genre I liked yet 😂. I think I definitely missed the prime time of when I would have liked this book the most (high school me would’ve died over this book), but I still had lots of fun with it as an adult. I want it known that I would die for Ox and I also really want to take him to the beach. That is all

Ravensong, TJ Klune

Old man (well…middle-aged man lmao) yaoi ftw! I’m still having lots of fun with this series, but I have to say this book stressed me out so much, oh my god. The stakes just got raised so high I was almost scared to read what would happen next. Gordo is a very entertaining narrator. Top 10 anime characters of all time. I love his whole tsundere bit with how his inner monologue completely contradicts his dialogue and I loved how messy he and Mark are

Heartsong, TJ Klune

I keep describing books in this series as fun, but like I don’t really know how else to describe them 😂, and I for sure had the most fun with this book. Robbie Fontaine I love you and your stupid hipster fake glasses that have a sad backstory. I think this book is probably my favorite in the series. I love how the opening lulled me into thinking I knew what was going on, but then around Chapter 6 it hits me with what was actually happening. I love the way the memory magic briefly alluded to in the earlier books becomes extremely relevant in this book. It’s giving Peeta Mellark in Mockingjay (or maybe Winter Soldier? Either way I’m into it)

Brothersong, TJ Klune

Heartsong may be my favorite book in the series and Ox may be my favorite character, but Carter and Gavin are for sure my favorite couple (…tied with Gordo and Mark but whatever). This is one of those books that put me deep in my eldest sibling feels because wow did I ever feel so much empathy for Carter. God I’m internally sobbing so hard. What a fun read! I got a lot more emotionally invested in these characters than I expected to, but I love them so much. I’m so happy the Sprinto Slackers Server bullied me into reading this series