#which is why ive put off reading the trilogy. thought I’d feel the same but instead everything clicked

[velvetjune]

it took an embarrassingly long time for me to realize that the book annihilation was going to be nothing like the movie

[the-apocryphal-one]

Illuminae, Writing Styles, and Some Final Thoughts

 Disclaimer: This is not meant as an insult either author! They both put out an amazing series and I love it. I just wanted to make an observation that may or may not be wrong and offer my thoughts on how I’d have preferred some things be handled.

I shouldn’t have to say unmarked spoilers before the cut, but you never know.

---------

So last week I discovered this series and loved it to bits. Naturally, I went to check out what else the authors have written, together and independently, because I can’t get enough of having my heart dragged across a cheese grater. While I was looking through Jay Kristoff’s website, one thing caught my eye:

“He does not believe in happy endings.”

And suddenly, things clicked. I sometimes felt there was a sense of disconnect in Illuminae, and this is why. It’s their two styles clashing. Now, I haven’t read anything else from them yet, but on his website, Kristoff admits LifeL1k3 and the Aurora Style are dark--and Nevernight and Empire of the Vampire are darker. I don’t think it’s presumptuous to say that he likes writing heavy material, or that the darker parts of Illuminae are from him.

Looking at Amie Kaufman’s books, they’re lighter in comparison. Epic adventures and romances, which are in no way inferior to dark stories. Notably, The Starbound Trilogy has a basic structure that’s a spitting image of Illuminae’s. A trilogy, with each book following a different set of protagonists, but still tying together into an overarching plot. The protagonists from the previous books will appear, and the new ones will hook up with each other. And I was like ‘oh, so that part of Illuminae was her’.

This ‘interwoven’ style worked wonderfully in the first two books, but by the third...by the third, I didn’t care about the new protagonists. I felt I could predict how it would go: they would hate each other, they would be thrown together by circumstance, they would almost die, they would actually be alive, they would live happily ever after. Why get invested? Especially when I have much less time to connect with them than the previous four (six counting AIDAN and Ella)? And beat for beat, I was right.

Speaking of, AIDAN had to be all Kristoff. He said AIDAN was his favorite character to write and he’s very different in tone from the rest of the cast, so I’d bet he handled him. It also explains why his ‘enemies to friends to ???’ with Kady stands out compared to the other relationships; it builds over three books instead of being wrapped up in one.

Ignoring how I feel about the relationships themselves, I think it would have been better if Asha and Rhys got the third book all to themselves and the climax was a fourth. I’d have missed the cast I was familiar with and been excited by any small mentions/cameos, like in Gemina, but I wouldn’t have felt impatient whenever the newcomers were on screen. Kady, Ezra, AIDAN, Hanna, Nik, and Ella just had so much going on and I cared about them way more than the newbies. I think trying to have the climax and introduce new players at the same time was to Asha and Rhys’s detriment.

So onto my other big criticism with Obsidio: it’s ending.

To be blunt: I think it was out of place. Not the part about BeiTech getting their just desserts, the part where all the protagonists come out alive and all their relationships work out.

(This excludes AIDAN again; he gets stuck drifting in the network watching the love of his life be happy without him. But, deciding that he should just stay away feels like a culmination of his character arc: emotionally destroying, but fitting.)

Obsidio opens with Hanna saying “not all of us made it off Kerenza IV”. When the author makes the decision to have that be in the opening, they create expectations in the reader. So when everyone makes it off Kerenza IV...the reader feels cheated. I love happy endings, but they need to feel earned, not granted as a cop-out. There are too many fake-outs for the leads in the series, and after a while, they stopped working, because I stopped expecting them to stick. And I think Obsidio’s ending was Kaufman’s input, too--because Kristoff “does not believe in happy endings”.

I feel like if Kristoff had been the sole author of Illuminae, Ezra would have stayed dead after the first book, Rhys would have betrayed Asha for real and died, Kady and AIDAN would still end up as they were in canon, and Nik and Hanna would survive but their romance wouldn’t.

...Of course, if Kristoff was the sole author of Illuminae, we might not have gotten the other five characters (or at least, not the way we did, with them as main characters). And losing Nik, Hanna, and Ella would be a tragedy.

That said, the first two are still things I think should have happened. 

Like, my thinking Ezra should have stayed dead has nothing to do with him as a character or shipping preferences. I like Ezra. He’s a big sweetie. A good guy. I thought he and Kady had genuine chemistry, probably the most out of all the love stories—Asha and Rhys haven’t seen each other in years, and Nik and Hanna have known each other for a couple of days (though granted, that is mentioned).

I digress. Ezra really charmed me. And to learn that AIDAN had been impersonating him for half the book and he was actually dead? Was heart-breaking. I was speechless. Blown away. Killing off the YA love interest is one thing, but killing him off and having the antagonist pretend to be him is another entirely. I’d never seen it before. So for him to suddenly be alive at the end of Illuminae, in a way that wasn’t really foreshadowed…it lessened the impact. He didn’t have much to do in Gemina and struggled to compete with the other seven main characters for screentime in Obsidio, which didn’t help things. So yeah, I would rather he stay dead (sorry Ezra).

Rhys and Asha, I’ve already covered as “I don’t care because I know how your story will go and reading it takes me away from the characters I do care about”. Asha’s sisterly/motherly relationship with Katya was far better in my opinion. Her relationship with Rhys ending in blood and betrayal would have been the one thing to make it interesting to me. Barring that, again, they would have benefited from more time they didn’t have to share with the established characters.

Nik and Hanna are in this realm of ‘cute enough’. It makes me happy they worked out, but I wouldn’t be sad if they broke up. It would have been a price I’d paid to get a more tonally-appropriate ending. What I really would have been upset about was if the trio of them and Ella as platonic, ass-kicking buddies was destroyed.

I said I’m pretty happy with where AIDAN and Kady ended up, as a pair and as individuals, and that’s true. That said, I still want to see Kady hunt down his digital ass and drag it back as the culmination of her half of the relationship. There was a distinct lack of closure on that part.

(I guess there’s a chance Kady and AIDAN would have died at the end of Illuminae as well, with just Kristoff in charge, but the last two books would have needed serious rewrites. Actually, the entire premise would need to be rewritten since Kady’s the one gathering those data files. So they probably would have survived, nvm.)

tl;dr--the best relationships were platonic and the best romance was the one that never took off, because the endings for the actual romances were jarring with the series overall, and that’s a byproduct of having two authors with different styles.

[chaseyesterdays]

So this is probably a tad late but I realized you are probably the biggest Star Wars fan I follow (okay maybe not probably) but I want your opinion on TLJ and to an extent TFW, like you honest impression and opinion. I have no problem asking off anon/sending a message if you’ve got some opinions™️, just state so.

Hi Anon! I’m perfectly comfortable answering anonymous messages or carrying on conversations via DM, so however you feel most comfortable is fine by me! I do have A LOT of opinions though and I’m probably not going to remember half of them for this post, so if there’s anything you want me to elaborate on or any other questions you may have, feel free to ask me however you like!

(I’m putting this under a cut because holy crap, this went on so much longer than I ever thought it would.)

Okay, first off: I think TFA had great potential as a film. ( I know you asked more specifically about TLJ, but I feel like I have to start at the beginning to get my thoughts semi-in-order. TFA introduced what could have been very interesting characters: a female orphan scavenger Force sensitive, a POC stormtrooper raised from birth for destruction but with a kind heart that ultimately guides him, a hotshot pilot with a gentle soul and a desire to do the right thing while remaining loyal to whom and what he believes in – even a female stormtrooper captain who could have had such a great backstory if they’d just let her. I can’t demonize TFA too much on not developing these characters because it’s the first installment in the saga, but still, where TFA failed is in its progression of the characters. I can almost forgive Rey’s overt Force abilities in the fight with Kylo Ren because yeah, we’ve seen the same with Luke on a slightly smaller scale, but it still felt a little bit jerky to me in terms of flow. Finn and Poe fared better in my opinion, but only because I felt like this new trilogy would give each of the new trio a movie in which to shine: TFA would be Rey’s and Finn and Poe would have what became TLJ and Episode IX to be more of the focal characters.

But here’s where I have issues with TFA. First, the movie was just a remake of A New Hope with different characters. I get that JJ Abrams was trying to appeal to the original fans while still providing that same magic to bring in the younger generations, but sheesh, the whole plot is essentially recycled with a few things moved around order-wise. Desert planet that isn’t Tatooine but looks like it, jungle planet that isn’t Yavin IV but looks similar, a “Death Star” that isn’t a Death Star but is essentially a Death Star, the death of a wise old mentor… There was literally no originality. I think JJ let his fears of fucking up the saga get the better of him, so he was too afraid to branch out and make the movie really great. He could have used similar elements and plot points as an homage to the first movie while still providing his own take on modernizing the film, or placing different characters as the focal point. In the end, even though I cried like four times watching it because Han Solo was one of my favorite characters and didn’t deserve to go out like that, I can’t rag on JJ too hard for TFA. He tried, but he fell flat on some things, and ultimately his treatment of an Original Trilogy character opened the door for some atrocities to be committed down the road.

And speaking of atrocities, that leads me to TLJ. Now, I’ll be honest here, I’ve only seen the movie once and fucking refuse to watch it again, but I’ve read a lot of other people’s reactions to it and examined some articles/YouTube videos explaining why everybody else thinks it’s such a bad movie, so I’ll call on what I remember for now and if anything else comes up in the future, I’ll let you know. But I’ll start here and now by saying that the reason TLJ was a failure from the start falls directly on the shoulders of Rian Johnson. Rian Fucking Johnson, Mr. Hubris, who literally said he set out to make a movie that destroyed fan expectations and worked to keep them guessing (if I remember correctly – like I said, I’ve sworn off TLJ content for awhile now just to keep my blood from boiling). The direction Rian took TLJ made no fucking sense and completely torpedoed the outline that JJ had for the movie, derailing the trilogy as a whole just because Rian wanted to be the smug, smart asshole who knew better than anybody what was gonna happen. As a result, the movie is full of plot holes and directionless actions and flat dialogue and ridiculous characterizations, and it’s not just a failure as a Star Wars film, it’s a failure as a movie in general because the plot simply doesn’t hold water. It’s literally a low-speed car chase with some cool effects that made half of its characters either useless, annoying, OOC, or redundant. It’s bad. My creative writing professors aren’t even dead yet, but if I’d turned in that script for one of my classes, they’d be rolling in their graves. (Did I mention I studied writing, grammar, composition, storytelling, character building and plot development for four years in college and make my living as a writer now? Trust me, I know my shit.)

First off, one of the biggest failings Rian Johnson had aside from the general plot was mistreatment of characters. The POC characters Finn, Poe, and Rose bore the brunt of that because Rian wouldn’t know how to write good POC characters if they literally smacked him in the face – hell, even the best of us white people are still learning. But Poe was reduced to an angry Latino stereotype, which made absolutely no sense considering his actions and attitude in TFA. He trusted Leia and the Resistance leaders and followed them because he respected them, not because he was blinded by them or whatever else anyone can try to insinuate. Admittedly he’s right to question Holdo because her actions make no sense and there’s literally nO REASON FOR HER NOT TO TELL HIM WHAT’S GOING ON, but he wouldn’t just fly off the handle and stage a mutiny like that. He would have talked to Leia about it repeatedly, talked to Holdo and others repeatedly, and Leia would have made Holdo see sense if she was in character AND SHE NEVER WOULD HAVE FUCKING STUNNED POE.

Ahem.

Finn and Rose’s storyline is harder for me to remember because I hated that cantina sidequest thing so much, but what I do remember is feeling like Finn wasn’t even the same person (he wasn’t, because Rian Johnson killed him and put someone else in his place) and Rose was just redundant because it felt like she was created to be a love interest so Finn would be with someone other than Rey (again, I’m fine with platonic best friend relationships, but considering the fact that Finn/Rey would be a biracial relationship and the big ship R*eylo is founded on a whiny white man literally abusing the female protagonist, it just seems like a blatant attempt to undermine the POC characters and relationships in the film). Now let me be clear: what happened to Finn and Rose is not the actors’ faults, as they were at the mercy of Rian Fucking Johnson, and it isn’t the characters’ faults that they’re so weak. That’s all on bad writing and Rian Johnson, and I’m in no way blaming anyone but him for destroying them. (Also, I don’t want Finn to die at all, but having Rose save him from sacrificing himself just so she could kiss him and declare love for him and keep fans guessing again is just…so bad, Rian. Why won’t you let your characters make sense.)

And then there’s Rey. If I’m remembering correctly, both Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill said they didn’t get back into character for TLJ because the characters they played, Rey and Luke, weren’t even the same characters in this film, and whoo boy, does it show. First off, I hate this term, but Rey was essentially a Mary Sue in this film. She had pretty much no training with Luke but somehow managed to be an amazing Force user anyway?? Look, I’m a naturally talented singer, but I didn’t just get good because of that, I got good because I worked hard and studied technique and worked with instructors who helped me take my natural talent and channel it and refine it into something better. That’s what Luke should have done. That’s what Rey should have gotten. But neither of them were in character so of course we didn’t get that. Instead, we got an angry, sullen Luke who tried to murder his nephew in his sleep, which NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED BECAUSE HE SAW ENOUGH GOOD IN DARTH VADER NOT TO MURDER HIM SO WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE DO IT TO HIS NEPHEW, HIS SISTER’S ONLY CHILD. No sense people. No sense.

Rey being a nobody is a controversial point because some people love the fact that a great Jedi can be anyone at all. I get that. But what those people don’t realize is that the Skywalker line came from a slave woman. She was a “nobody” in the grand scheme of things – no disrespect to Shmi Skywalker, who was a powerful woman and a goddess in her own right. Making Rey a Skywalker (either from Luke’s line or Leia’s) does not diminish the “nobody” thing. In fact, it’s the only thing that makes sense, because that lightsaber belongs to the Skywalker line and it wouldn’t just call out to anybody – my creative writing professors would have shot that shit down in a heartbeat. So I think Rey will actually end up being someone with a connection to the Skywalkers; some people theorized that “The Chosen One,” AKA Anakin born of midichlorians, could be almost an avatar-like thing, or Rey could be a reincarnation of Anakin if she’s not a Skywalker/Solo somehow. Kinda farfetched, but no less farfetched than the rest of this fucking movie, so whatever.

Tying Rey and Kylo together could have been so interesting if Rey was his sister. I loved the idea that Rey and Kylo were both Solo children of the Skywalker bloodline, representing the Light and Dark sides of the Force and proving that ultimately, the balance between Dark and Light is what defeats true evil and restores balance to the galaxy (after all, balance is not the absence of dark or light, but an equal ratio of it, and I firmly believe that being a Jedi should not be banishing all the darkness in you, but simply controlling it and centering yourself on the balance between love and passion and anger and pain). It would have made such a good story for Kylo Ren to be a double agent or a legitimately brainwashed young man struggling to do what he thinks is right and being misled but still using his gifts to support balance once he realizes he’s been led astray. Instead, we got literally the worst villain ever: he’s not intimidating, he’s whiny, he pitches temper tantrums, he’s selfish, he’s abusive, he’s impulsive… The writers can’t figure out what they want with him, because they’ve worked so hard to make us sympathize with him and like him and set him up like a misunderstood kid, but then they go and have him make the conscious choice to be evil but still be all those “good” things? It makes no sense. His character progression is all over the place because Rian can’t write and the Kylo he created is not even the same character as JJ put in TFA. And as a result, we now have just about canon proof that Rian wanted R*eylo, which is just another glorified abusive relationship that “stans” keep romanticizing. Gag me with a spoon. I’m done.

Also, who the fuck was Snoke? How was he so powerful? Where did he come from? How did he brainwash Kylo? Who trained him or how did he learn all he knew? How could he see everything and sense everything but not hear, see, or feel Kylo moving the lightsaber? Why were he and Phasma completely nerfed and killed out of nowhere with absolutely no character development or reason for dying? The world may never know.

And here’s where I get really angry: the sheer disrespect for the Original Trilogy characters. Harrison was ready to retire as Han, and I can understand that – I don’t like how Han went out, but I can almost forgive that because I don’t want the actors to be miserable. But what they did to Luke and Leia is unforgivable. Straight up, point blank. Luke Skywalker would never try to murder his nephew in his sleep. Leia would never stun Poe or send her son away or be a terrible, absentee parent. Luke would never be the person he was in that movie, because even in the depths of despair, Luke chose good, chose to see the good in others. He and Leia never gave up hope or belief that good would always triumph over evil. The Luke I saw in TLJ had none of that, and Mark Hamill himself said it wasn’t Luke, it was “Jake Skywalker” or some other nonsense. Mark is a genuinely kind and accepting person, so if you manage to make him angry about a character he’s played for more than thirty years, you’ve fucked up big time, and Rian Johnson did just that. And what’s worse, there was no reason for Luke to die aside from the fact that he just wasn’t convenient for the writers to consider anymore. Han’s death happened to let Harrison retire, but Luke’s was just to get the old generation out so Kathleen Kennedy and the other Powers That Be could do whatever they wanted in the Star Wars universe and milk that cash cow for all it’s worth. Now that Carrie’s gone, all real ties to the Lucasverse are gone, and I’m not convinced they weren’t going to kill Leia off anyway for the reasons I stated above. The blatant disrespect of that, of destroying characters I’ve loved my whole life, who literally kept me alive when nothing else did… It’s unforgivable. I wept like I lost loved ones watching Luke and Han die, and I refuse to do it again.

And here’s what it all comes down to for me: hope. Star Wars was founded on hope. The whole franchise was created in the wake of the Vietnam War when everyone needed something good to believe in, a clear divide between good and evil where good won simply because it was willing to fight for what it believed in, support others, love others, do the right thing. Even when the chips were down and everything was at its darkest in ESB, they always had hope, and in the end, hope won out. There are literally documentaries out there and books written about the success of Star Wars and the fact that hope is its literal cornerstone. The sequel trilogy destroyed all of that. There is no hope anymore. The Resistance is pretty much decimated at the end of TLJ, and at the hands of a government (not even a government??) that rose up out of nothing and destroyed like twelve planets with a flick of a switch and blew billions of people away (and of course we never hear another word about that because that can’t be important at all). Everyone is dying. There are no ships left. There are no forces – less than 100 people made it off that salt planet whose name escapes me and I don’t care enough to look up, and it might have been less than 50. There is no chance that the Resistance can rise up out of nothing and overcome that. Considering how far Rian derailed the progression of the trilogy as a whole, I don’t know how on earth JJ can come back and fix it with literally nothing on his side – all for the sake of shock factor (I swear, I shake my fist at Rian Johnson in my head at least once a day). I know the modern trend is to shoot for gritty, hopeless, “realistic” films because that’s what the current mood is in this country and around the world, but that’s not what Star Wars is about. That’s never been what Star Wars is about. The whole story was built on the foundation of hope, that good could rise and triumph over evil, and there’s simply no room for that in this sequel trilogy. Essentially, the sequel trilogy has failed because it destroyed what makes Star Wars “Star Wars” at its core, and for that, I will never forgive it. The prequels may have been dark, but they exist to show that while the good can fall, ultimately, they can rise again even if in the smallest of ways. “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” The narrative is so convoluted and misconstrued in the sequel trilogy, and it will never be able to find that same foundation of hope again because Disney fucked up. As I said in 2017, “Star Wars is dead. Long live Star Wars.” So I’ll stick to my Original Trilogy and remember the good things that kept me going, the characters and actors that saved my life and made me realize that even in the face of darkness, hope and love can overcome all. That’s Star Wars to me. Honestly, that’s what Rogue One delivered, and if you take anything out of this, it’s that Rogue One is the only Star Wars thing Disney did right. But the sequel trilogy isn’t Star Wars, it isn’t even halfway decent storytelling, and I hope that on the day I die Rian Johnson and everyone responsible for TLJ can lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time.

I probably left a lot out because I have so many feelings on this matter, and this response is like encyclopedia-long as is, but it’s the truth of what I feel, and I really hope I shed some light on the topic for you (probably way too much light, but I digress). Thank you for caring about my opinions Anon! I really appreciate you giving me the opportunity to put my thoughts down, and if you managed to make it to the end of this ridiculous post, just know that my inbox and my asks are always open for any clarification or fandom-screaming or thoughts in general. Have an amazing day, and as some people whom I love very dearly used to say, “May the Force be with you. Always.”

[laniakeabooks]

January Wrap Up

I read 11 books in January which is a personal record. I’ve included the synopsis pulled directly from Goodreads and my (short) thoughts on the book. If you’d like a longer review of any of the books I read this month, feel free to request it!

The Innocence Treatment by Ari Goelman - ⭐⭐⭐

Lauren has a disorder that makes her believe everything her friends tell her--and she believes everyone is her friend. Her innocence puts her at constant risk, so when she gets the opportunity to have an operation to correct her condition, she seizes it. But after the surgery, Lauren is changed. Is she a paranoid lunatic with violent tendencies? Or a clear-eyed observer of the world who does what needs to be done?

Told in journal entries and therapy session transcripts, The Innocence Treatment is a collection of Lauren's papers, annotated by her sister long after the events of the novel. A compelling YA debut thriller that is part speculative fiction and part shocking tell-all of genetic engineering and government secrets, Lauren's story is ultimately an electrifying, propulsive, and spine-tingling read.

 Nothing I found particularly impressive… it had potential but didn’t quite meet it.

 The Memory Book by Lara Avery - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 Sammie was always a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as humanly possible. Nothing will stand in her way--not even a rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly start to steal her memories and then her health. What she needs is a new plan.

So the Memory Book is born: Sammie's notes to her future self, a document of moments great and small. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime crush, Stuart--a brilliant young writer who is home for the summer. And where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood best friend, Cooper, and even take some of the blame for the fight that ended their friendship.

Through a mix of heartfelt journal entries, mementos, and guest posts from friends and family, readers will fall in love with Sammie, a brave and remarkable girl who learns to live and love life fully, even though it's not the life she planned.

 I am shocked. I never expected to like a contemporary this much... especially "sick-lit" or whatever people are calling it. Maybe it was because I found a lot of what Sammie said to be so relatable, or maybe because NPC is exactly the type of disease I'd like to research in my future. Maybe it's because one of my greatest fears is getting dementia and losing my memory.

Whatever it was, I hope I can find it again in another book.

 Vox by Christina Dalcher - ⭐⭐

 Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice

 Uh, yeah, not impressed. Disappointed. Annoyed. It felt like Dalcher was trying too hard and was clearly ridding on the coattails of The Handmaid’s Tale’s recent re-emergence.

Also, the narrator on the audiobook and pronounce Wernicke’s area which just grated on my nerves and honestly pissed me off.

 First We Were IV by Alexandra Sirowy - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 It started for pranks, fun, and forever memories.

A secret society – for the four of us.

The rules: Never lie. Never tell. Love each other.

We made the pledge and danced under the blood moon on the meteorite in the orchard. In the spot we found the dead girl five years earlier. And discovered the ancient drawings way before that.

Nothing could break the four of us apart – I thought.

But then, others wanted in. Our seaside town had secrets. History.

We wanted revenge.

We broke the rules. We lied. We told. We loved each other too much, not enough, and in ways we weren’t supposed to.

Our invention ratcheted out of control.

What started as a secret society, ended as justice. Revenge. Death. Rebellion.

 Wooooowwwww... I am starting off this year with some pretty good reads. Granted, I read probably 3/4 of this one in emerge on my birthday after having twisted my knee skiing the day before...

This book didn't take the path I thought it would. It just felt like the climax and conclusion occurred in the same paragraph? I don't know maybe that's just me...

I'd love to see this as a TV show (maybe Netflix since they tend to do a rocking job).

 Day 21 by Cass Morgan - ⭐⭐⭐

 It's been 21 days since the hundred landed on Earth. They're the only humans to set foot on the planet in centuries...or so they thought. Facing an unknown enemy, Wells attempts to keep the group together. Clarke strikes out for Mount Weather, in search of other Colonists, while Bellamy is determined to rescue his sister, no matter the cost. And back on the ship, Glass faces an unthinkable choice between the love of her life and life itself.

In this pulse-pounding sequel to Kass Morgan's The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. And the hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can -- together.

 I still much prefer the Netflix adaptation. Although I enjoy this recovering from an apocalyptic event storyline the books take, I find that they lack the action that I love so much in the show… not to mention that my favourite characters don’t exist.

 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

 Be prepared for a spoiled, bratty, unlikable main character. If you can’t stand characters like this, then I suggest avoiding this read, especially since we are trapped in her head (1st person narration) for the duration of the book. However, Lexi does have a great character arc, so if you are able to tolerate her for the first half of the book, you’ll actually start to like her.

Another contemporary I really enjoyed… not sure if this is because I’m not as picky when it comes to my favourite and least favourite genres anymore, but then again it my just be that I stumbled across two contemporaries that suited my fancy this month.

 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity amongst the stars. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth – with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.

Their only communication with each other is via email – and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit across space. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.

But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?

Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone . . .

 Okay. First of all, the UK paperback cover is gorgeous. This would have one hundred percent been a cover buy if the synopsis hadn’t also intrigued me.

I went in thinking that it would be a space-based romance, but boy was I wrong. And good thing too. I’m not a huge fan of romance (more like I tolerate it for a good plot), and this book did not focus of the blooming romance as much as I thought it would.

Space, suspense, beautiful cover? Sign me up!

 Crash by Lisa McMann - ⭐⭐⭐

 Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.

What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.

The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

In this riveting start to a gripping trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.

 Not bad but not amazing either. It’s your typical psychic teen struggling with her newly found gifts and trying to prevent a tragedy. I’ll continue on with the trilogy since I have the bind up, they’re quick reads, and they’re a good distraction from my stressful studies… so basically just what I need.

 Bang by Lisa McMann - ⭐⭐⭐

 Jules should be happy. She saved a lot of people’s lives and she’s finally with Sawyer, pretty much the guy of her dreams. But the nightmare’s not over, because she somehow managed to pass the psycho vision stuff to Sawyer. Excellent.

Feeling responsible for what he’s going through and knowing that people’s lives are at stake, Jules is determined to help him figure it all out. But Sawyer’s vision is so awful he can barely describe it, much less make sense of it. All he can tell her is there’s a gun, and eleven ear-splitting shots. Bang.

Jules and Sawyer have to work out the details fast, because the visions are getting worse and that means only one thing: time is running out. But every clue they see takes them down the wrong path. If they can’t prevent the vision from happening, lives will be lost. And they may be among the casualties…

 This second book in the Visions series took an interesting turn on the whole psychic thing, but a lot of the book was spent going back and forth between “No I don’t want to do this” to “Yes I’m in” and “No I don’t want to help” to, again… “Yes I’m in” which was kind of a drag.

 Number of Pages Read: 3438

Average Rating: 3.5

Favourite Book of the Month: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

The cover, the space adventure, the thriller-type aspect to the plot… everything I love all in one.

Least Favourite Book of the Month: Vox by Christina Dalcher

I was just… really disappointed.

  Keep up with me on Goodreads!  (https://www.goodreads.com/LaniakeaBooks)

[bryyo-data]

Hunters, and how to make it better

I've been replaying Metroid Prime Hunters because it's a game I have a lot of nostalgia for, even if it isn't exactly a great Metroid game. There's a lot I still like about the game, not limited to the hunter concepts, atmosphere and music, but there's also a lot left to be desired. Just for fun, I've been thinking of ways one could spruce up the game and make it more appealing to fans of the traditional Metroid formula.

I'm inclined to say the game was designed to be simple, with evident focus on making a good multiplayer (arguably the one point they really succeeded on) and no real care put into the single player campaign. My train of thought is based around improving the single player storyline- though I'm not a game developer and I'm sure a professional could do much better than me.

The Hunters

I'm going to start off with the hunters because they are such an integral part of the game, to the point that they're literally in the title. The premise is incredibly cool- six enemy hunters, of varying backgrounds and moralities, have picked up the same signal as you and are now on the path to claim the Ultimate Power for one reason or another. In Hunters, Samus has to make her way through the Alimbic Cluster, occasionally encountering a hunter in either a scripted event (first-time meeting per each Hunter) or a random miniboss fight (one of the six hunters, in one of a set of specific rooms). If the hunter kills Samus, they take one of the octoliths she has collected, and she has to track them down to get it back.

Realistically, even if the rest of the story was mediocre, the hunters should've been the shining stars and had the effort put into them. In practice, they're not that exciting. They're generally not too hard to defeat, which I might expect on a first encounter, but they're actually easier the second time around when they SHOULD be more difficult. It should feel like they're hunting you for octoliths just as hard as you'd be hunting them if they had one. Some smarter AI might do wonders for them, because with their limited difficulty you're not actually that likely to ever get killed by them and need to go on a hunt.

The hunters have cool designs, but battle tactics aside, they're incredibly generic. In Corruption you don't spend too much time getting to know your fellow hunters but you still get the measure of their personalities and grow quite fond of them, and feel sad when you have to destroy them. In Hunters, the hunters are just time-consuming obstacles as much as a Guardian or something else.

They were scarier in Breath of the Wild.

With such varied personalities, some character interactions or indications of their motives and moralities might go a long way. No speech required- they could speak through actions. Like maybe have Trace, being the sneaky-sneaky stealth hunter he is, wait for you then lock you in with a bunch of enemies while he claims the prize at the other side. Whereas Sylux or Weavel might give in to vengeance and knock a bunch of things out for the sake of getting to kill you personally.

Not only would it be interesting to see more of their interactions with Samus, but with the environment too. These hunters are presumably picking up the lore as they go along, and supposedly finding their way to the octoliths. Some might realise Samus is doing well, and wait for her to beat the bosses so they can steal octoliths from her when she's worn out post-boss. Maybe some are actually competent enough to find artifacts or even octoliths for themselves.

Imagine situations like this: you stumble upon a boss portal with no artifacts in place. You get two, have to pass by the portal again, and surprise surprise- three artifacts already? Then you get shot in the back and frozen in place by Noxus; he knew you were coming and he'll be damned if you're getting that octolith before he does.

Presumably the game wants to ensure all the Hunters are your potential foes right up until the very end, but it might be interesting to see some of them actually take sides with Samus, if only temporarily. Spire and Noxus are arguably the "good guys" and if there was more in-game indication of their personalities, it would add a layer of depth in that you, a fellow "good guy" can pity their cause but still have to do your job- even if it means defeating them in the process. Maybe in places such as the very final level, there's room for one of them or even one of the "bad guys" to choose to help Samus- like shooting someone else to spare her from trouble once they realise she's doing the right thing, or something like that.

On that note, it would be interesting if we actually learned anything at all about these six hunters, since they're such noteworthy enemies. In the Prime trilogy, arguably the most significant and omnipresent enemies are the Space Pirates, and we learn LOADS about them and their thoughts through log scans.

It would be interesting if the other Hunters left similar things- at the very least, the option to stumble across their ships and read their last recorded logs, with their thoughts and feelings and a taste of their personalities. Perhaps new logs are added after their first encounter with Samus. The ships would also be a more sensible place to get hold of their signature weapons, rather than finding them across the Alimbic Cluster with no real explanation as to why they are there.

Overall, the Hunters represent a lot of missed potential, and I probably haven't covered it all, but as the titular characters they should have posed more of a threat while being more interesting and getting the player more invested in them.

Level design

Hunters is an incredibly linear game. It's not quite on Other M's level, and at least offers times when several planets are open to you and you have to go investigate a few before finding the right way. But the quest to find artifacts and octoliths is very straightforward, especially since the hunters etc. only provide generic battles and don't really change your environment or get in your way. A few more scripted events with the hunters nudging you off-course could've done some good. But with so few branching or interconnected areas, that isn't necessarily possible on the map as it stands.

I'm pretty sure the developers have actually confirmed by now- if it wasn't obvious already- that the game's single player was an afterthought to the multiplayer, and the room designs are all based on various repurposed multiplayer stages. In all fairness, it could be worse, and offers many points where you can encounter the other hunters and have a good fight. But it does lead to a very linear path back-and-forth to the boss portals. This does little for exploration, which is one of the Metroid franchise's core aspects.

Even in Fusion, where Adam pretty much told you where to go, there was exploration to be done and hidden places and items to find. In Hunters, the items are not incredibly well hidden, nor are there many of them at all, so the item hunt that has been a significant part of almost every Metroid game is non-existent. Typically you explore until you find an item which allows you to access a few more areas you couldn't get to before, opening up the ways to new items and bosses and such, but the capacity for this is limited here. You don't pick up power-ups as you would traditionally, and if it weren't for the weapon-specific force fields you need to destroy with the new beams you pick up, there's nothing really out of access to you from beginning to end. You can reach every ledge with your jump, go into hot areas with your varia suit, boost past instant-kill pistons with your boost ball, all without having the challenge of finding the relevant pickups first.

On the subject of the weapons, they come to very little use aside from some enemies with weaknesses, some buttons that need to be laser-sniped by the imperialist, and the aforementioned force fields. Maybe this is a minor gripe, but it would be cool if their uses were a bit more varied, like having to melt stuff with the Magmaul, energize or drain things with the Shock Coil, freeze a path with the Judicator etc.

Guard nodes: harder to beat than the actual bosses.

Overall in terms of level design I'd rearrange the linear paths to interconnect different rooms and make a less easy start-to-boss route, requiring the player to actually try and fail to get past certain rooms due to available power-ups (I guess this is attempted with the force fields and coloured doors but they just block you out of rooms altogether). I'd also try to add in more pickups, hiding them in new places- some of which are more easy and obvious, others which are hidden and hard, and require newly acquired skills to reach.

I will say this, the actual visual design of the worlds isn't badly done at all. It may not be as gloriously detailed as Tallon IV or Aether due to the graphics of the DS, but it's nonetheless quite nice to look at and does quite well with what it has. There is undoubtedly a scary abandoned atmosphere (that was one of the things that drew me into the game when I was a kid). It does well with what graphics it has.

I’m writing at 3am, so this thing genuinely has more brainpower than me.

Bosses

If Hunters weren't repetitive enough as it were, the bosses are literally copied and pasted onto every planet and space station four times over. This infamous fact is an obvious relic of lazy, last-minute single player campaign design. The bosses as they are aren't particularly impressive either- it would be fine if the first Cretaphid and first Slench were kept in place, but the second and third and fourth of each of those are just underwhelming in both their repetitiveness and their continually unimpressive tactics.

First thing I'd do, tear out 6 of the bosses and replace them with something new and interesting. At the very LEAST, have four boss types total and use each boss twice, but the same two bosses four times over is a bit much. Ideally each boss room would have a new and increasingly difficult boss, offering new challenges and new ways to utilise your newfound weapons aside from "this boss has a weakness to X weapon". This would be the perfect time to show off the secondary effects of your beams, like the Judicator's freezing or the Volt Driver's disruptive effects.

What I would do is pile together all copies of each Cretaphid and each Slench. Normally, the first Cretaphid gets down to 2/3 health and its lasers go a row lower, which isn't the most challenging change. So, I'd have the Cretaphid get to 2/3 health and then start using green blobs. Gets down to 1/3, starts using blobs AND lasers. Instead of spreading these abilities across four Cretaphids desperately trying to make each one seem different and advanced from the rest, have them all be stages of the same boss, allowing that boss to get slightly more challenging during the one fight and not needing to repeat it four times over!

(It doesn't need to be super hard anyway, it's only the first major boss of the game.)

Same with the Slench- 3/4 health it detaches from the wall, 2/4 health it starts doing the charge attack, 1/4 health it rolls around on the floor (and its patterns aren't so darn predictable while it's doing so). Something like that. Then we don't need a whole four of them, and the other six bosses can be brand new mechanoids which get more challenging as time goes along.

Kinda going back to a previous section here, but maybe since they're one of the most important things in the game, have the other Hunters intrude on the boss fights. Perhaps you could have an encounter where somebody else fills out the portal before you, and when you get in there you find a Hunter- maybe even one picked randomly by the game- who is fighting the boss but just can't beat it.

There's a variety of scenarios you could get out of this, which could help to show off the personalities of the Hunters. E.g. one might team up with you but get defeated at the end. One might team up with you, only to battle you for the octolith afterwards. If its your last octolith, one might actually just say "here, you take that, I'm done" and let you have it. Maybe one chickens out once you turn up, and they may or may not hang around outside the boss portal to grab you.

One final thing I think I'd do is make the Stronghold Void a more interesting place. Each one is ever-so-slightly visually different, to reflect the planet or station you came from, but they're all basically the same short, straight path down to the boss room. Personally I'd design them more like Leviathans, with a room or two between you and the boss, and the need to use a few of your newest power-ups to get to it.

As a side note, the cutscenes before and after bosses can go- though if they had eight different bosses, having the pre-boss cutscenes wouldn't be so bad since they could be a cool way to show off each new boss. The after-boss cutscenes are usually just the boss exploding, and you get that anyway when the screen whites out once you land the final blow, so unless something more significant can happen I would personally skip those cutscenes and go straight to getting the octolith. If there's gonna be cutscenes, save them for something else, probably something involving the other hunters.

Story and Final Boss

I'm gonna go ahead and say that while the story is totally a Prime rehash, I actually kinda like it. Yeah, fundamentally it's the same eldritch-abomination-crashed-into-our-planet-and-now-we're-all-dead. But there's something I find incredibly scary about the idea of Gorea, in a way. Based on the lore scans you get in game, it's clearly meant to be a REALLY overpowered big bad, even if the actual boss fight doesn't live up to the reputation.

The sense I get from the lore scans is that the Alimbic people were not quite like the Chozo or Luminoth- they're not all peaceful or wise. They're arrogant bastards who thought they were the best at everything until something very big came and knocked them down a peg or two, and wiped out their galaxy-spanning civilisation in the process. They repeatedly go on about how much their pride cost them, and that kinda ties into the hunters as well.

The lessons learned by the Alimbic people are ones the Hunters can take from. They conquered the whole Tetra galaxy with their supposedly unstoppable military force, like the greedy Kriken Empire from which Trace hails. But their pride was their downfall. They thought they were the best, their morals superior to all else, like Noxus and the Vhozon. But for all their faith in themselves, they lost the battle against Gorea. The last Alimbics desperately sought to save their kind, just as Spire seeks the Ultimate Power to save his. And Spire, like the rest, is falling into a trap- a lie put out by Gorea to lead to them to his prison so they can free him.

I think I would still centre the story around the hunters, with less focus on the Alimbic people than, say, Prime gives to its Chozo. But it would be interesting to see those hunters pick up the lore as Samus does and react to it. Perhaps have Spire give up on getting an artifact, and you wonder "why is that?" so you scan around expecting some kind of invisible force field but instead find a lore snippet left by one of the last Alimbics, telling of how they gave up trying to save their people and sacrificed themselves so they could protect other races in other galaxies from Gorea's path of destruction (or if you don't care about lore, you never have to load up the scan visor, just snag that artifact and be on your way.)

Some hunters won't learn, but maybe it will be their downfall. Maybe it is all their downfalls, that they refuse to learn and still go in search of this ultimate power on the Oubliette ship- meanwhile Samus knows what's up and instead of seeking the Ultimate Power, by the time she reaches the endgame she's just here to wreck Gorea's shit and make sure the other idiots don't unleash hell on the entire universe.

Maybe this next bit belongs in the previous section, but I'd have Gorea be a genuinely threatening last boss. I can kinda see why they went with the one-beam-at-a-time thing because the beams are literally the only power-ups in the entire game, but it still makes for an uninteresting fight. I did like the prophecy thing though, that was neat.

The first boss of Metroid Prime is scarier than the last boss of Hunters. What happened to “orgies of annihilation” Gorea?

Gorea can start out a little weak- it's fine, he's been stuck to this "seal sphere" for around two thousand years or so. But as the battle progresses, he needs to break through the walls, metaphorically and literally if needs be (think AM2R's Metroid Queen.) He needs to shape-shift, become a bit more unpredictable, get further and further away from the starting point as you desperately fight to contain him while he ploughs though the prison ship. He needs to be a boss as threatening as the Emperor Ing or worse, something that obviously wants to consume and destroy. You need to feel like you are the last line of defence between Gorea, cancerous swallower of galactic civilisations, and everything you care about protecting.

I think there needs to be an explanation for the Omega Cannon, too. It's clearly useful against Gorea, so why didn't the Alimbics use it? When you pick it up, you're told the consequences are too dire. So those consequences need to be seen. Maybe start out having it damage you when you use it, requiring skill to not kill yourself in the process (as long as it doesn't make the game unbeatable, it would have to be balanced well enough to seem powerful without being horrible to use.) Maybe the consequence is that it downright destroys the Alimbic Cluster- unfortunate for all the wildlife, but there were no Alimbic people left there anyway, and so the loss is arguably not as great as it would've been back in the day.

Alternatively, you being Samus Aran, you save the Alimbic Cluster by transporting the Oubliette ship back into the Infinity Void and then running back to your ship before the traditional endgame countdown finishes. Yay for you! You and your fellow hunters escape, possibly having gained a strange sense of camaraderie with all of them except for Sylux who you still need to hate for the purposes of Metroid Prime 4, and the universe is totally safe from Gorea because you annihilated him with a fate more brutal than even Phaaze got inflicted upon it. Also, if you have one endgame escape sequence you could cut out all the other post-boss escape sequences, which are kinda repetitive and annoying anyway.

Overall

On the whole, Hunters isn't necessarily a good game, but it's not an awfully bad one either. Everything I've covered above could make the game a lot cooler, but I'm not surprised that none of it was included in the game itself, because the game was basically designed around the multiplayer. If for some reason they ever remade Hunters, I'd hope to see at least some of the things I've brought up, or else any other good ideas that can spice the game up and bring it a little closer to the normal Metroid formula, gameplay-wise.

Personally, I still like Hunters a lot. Maybe that's nostalgia, maybe it's because I love the atmosphere and music a lot (as I've probably already said a few times) and maybe it's because I have a big imagination and can picture things as being better than they are, even if they aren't represented that way in-game. I can fully understand why many people have a neutral-to-hatred attitude towards the game. I didn't even mention the godawful hand-cramping control scheme which needs a SERIOUS revamp. But Hunters has the bare bones of a potentially fantastic concept for a Metroid game, and an improved version of it- one which treats the eponymous hunters much better for a start- could bring something brand new and brilliant to the table.

[tayegi]

im crying not only bc of your amazing writing, but bc i was scrolling thru my dashboard and i saw you answering all these asks about new rules and i’m so dump thinking that you set up new rules or sthg, i didn’t understand it so i read all those asks and fucking spoiled myself kmp, but on another note yOU FUCKING ROCK OMG NEW RULES IS SO AMAZING I LOVE IT 💘💘💘

Anonymous said:I'M LOVING NEW RULES SO MUCH just wanted to show my support. i love your writing in general don't get me wrong but new rules is messing with my heart and it's amazing

Anonymous said:Hi! I just read both parts for "New Rules" and I loved them! If this goes in the same direction as Dua Lipa sings (I guess it will) it sounds like it'll be very interesting. I love how everyone in the story is human, not just good or bad, you know? 90% of fics would've made Mijoo the stereotypical barbie bitch, but you didn't and I was pleasantly surprised! I also feel very identified with the OC. I really want her to open up and discover who JK really is, whoever that is. Keep up the good work!

jabaelashit said:Hey! i already wrote you a message on one of your posts but i just wanted to say that i am feeling so skabakks right now, I can't stop thinking about new rules and i'm torn between crying or crying but w angsty. I hope oc learns her worth and can understand she's just as amazing as mijoo, even better if we're talking about morals but oh well people fuck up:( I'm glad she forgave her but I hope she distances from her cause that gurl ain't having the same respect for the friendship as oc/1

jabaelashit said:and i also hope she gets to tell jimin her feelings not to like make him break stuff w mijoo, but to let him know she hadnt seen the note and to release some pressure and feelings cause oc bottles up so much and i just want to go and hug her and don't leave her until she understands shes fucking badass and cool and that the way she thinks is 👏👏👏 lu you've made me feel such a diverse amount of emotions i don't know what to do w myself anymore, your writing is amazing! love love loove you❣/2

Anonymous said:Hey!!:) idk if this is the right place to send compliments cause im really new to tumblr but THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR FICS. Tbh I'd buy it if you published a physical compilation;)

Anonymous said:Wow for the longest time I was searching your old username; idek why cause I’ve known you changed your username and have been keeping up to date with you LMAO this is what being sick and delirious does to me. ANYWAYS! Hope you’re not too down with the crazy anons your story is great and I’m thankful for the dynamic characterizations you create! It makes it so much more interesting cause you create many characters with depth!!

Anonymous said:Can I please just have your writing talent? The OC is just so real, and that moment when she's deciding what to do with Mijoo, and what she actually says at the end.... I can't actually put my thoughts into words. I'm legit stunned by the sheer amount of emotions I felt reading the second chapter. I genuinely adore the banter between JK and OC, I personally prefer people to be more direct with what they want, so I already appreciate them, but also Jimin's convo with OC... (1/2)

Anonymous said:Jimin's convo with OC... Idk about these other anons going off on Mijoo, I was more thinking 'why didn't Jimin chase the note?' and then he would have had his answer then and there. But that might have just been me... And also, thinking back to it now, when JK said 'I need you' and OC repeated it back to him like super softly, like she was surprised oh god, okay, my heart is breaking even more for OC now, idk if I'm reading too much into it. I love you Lu, I hope you're well, and happy! (2/2)

Anonymous said:I love your fics so much!! The sass is real esp with jungkook 😂

Anonymous said:Anyways do ya thang hunny ✨ Keep wrecking me with your writings 💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨😩

Anonymous said:Read part 1 of New Rules and was like yeah thisll be fun, I'll have a great time. Then I read part 2 and ended up shedding some real tears at the end?!?! LU WHAT THE...... But really though its so nice to read a fic where the OC values friendship. The idea that its always girls against girls makes me sad.. we should be sticking together!!

Anonymous said:so... surprise surprise, dis gon be about new rules 😂 but I really wanted to thank you for adding so much of the oc's inner dialogue, and making her such a character in the first place. a lot of fics do not portray ocs with more defeatist attitudes, but yours does and I was glad, because I could finally relate to a fic :) also, coming back to the inner dialogue thing, it was so in depth that i could really feel what the oc was feeling, what she was going through. it was amazing ❤️ thank you!

Anonymous said:Man this is one hell of a good fic i’m highly anticipating the next chapter!!! Even though it seems like traditional frat fuckboy x ‘i hate frat bois but ye i’d fuck u’ type of girl it still is in a way a little different i just can’t quite catch how but nonetheless it’s amazing!!! Keep up the good work babe

oceanjoon said:ok so ur newest fic new rules literally is so real n relatable !! like honestly i understand seeking physical comfort in people u dont care about wen u r feeling down/insecure to validate urself n it just rlly hit home

kyarybunny said:Lu. At this point I have so many compliments to give you I can't really form it all properly. But I really am enjoying New Rules and this plot you're breathing life into! It's a different facet of your writing and I love how you can interpret every character's actions in a few different ways. Thank you for continuing to write and I hope you enjoy writing as much as we do reading/analyzing.

Anonymous said:Istg when I read the new chapter of New Rules I clenched my fist like that Arthur meme when it came up to the part about mijoo and the note. Girl got me heated lol. As usual, your works do not disappoint! I love your wittiness and how it shines in your writing. The remarks and dialogue in all of your series really proves your talent. You’re truly a gem amongst fanfic writers 💕☺️📢

Anonymous said:i was happily reblogging a few things on my dash and ch1 of new rules just came and i started reading WHERE THE FUCK DID I GET MY ASS INTO???!!!???!?! IT'S FUCKING AMAZING i don't know why i didn't start reading before. don't you ever dare stop writting, you're such a good writter and i enjoy your works very very much

Anonymous said:OC DESERVES HAPINESS JUST AS MUCH AS MIJOO. OC SHOULDVE PUT HERSELF AND HER HAPPINESS BEFORE HER FRIEND'S BECAUSE SHE IS TOO GOOD FOR ALL OF THEM DJFJFJ i hope one day jimin finds out about her feelings :(

Anonymous said:new rules just keeps getting better and better 😻😻

Anonymous said:Wow.. Okay.. I do believe chapter 2 of New Rules has officially ruined me. My heart was actually beating so fast through out the whole chapter, and it's still racing now too. I've thought this multiple times while reading your fics, but you're writing really is incredible. Your characters and the way you describe their emotions is so unbelievably relatable that the reader can't help but be sucked in. I always find myself becoming invested in your characters! Thank you for all the adventures!

Anonymous said:I felt so bad for the OC this chapter ;.; If I were in her position, I'd probably do the same since causing a scene is yes, immature and not worth the energy. But, if i could be a character in New Rules I'd probably be the other best friend who'll be like "guurl, confront her ass it isnt an excuse just because she's your friend." All in all I see the OC as the kind of person who'll go out of their way to care for someone to the point of disregarding their own feelings, which is unhealthy :( (1)

Anonymous said:(2) but thats what makes her such a relatable character. I really, really like that in your OCs. This is probably the second OC i emotionally relate to, first is Copper Girl. But yeah I'm just distracting myself from assignments lol this series is amazing and just you are amazing Lu!!!! ily!!!!! PS. Jungkook is still agsjshskll he's cocky but with OC he's quite vulnerable. I wonder why? Is it just a front or does he have other intentions?

Anonymous said:alternative ending to new rules: mijoo and mc are over their respective boys, does not bother to get into any messy scenarios like that ever again, love each other and support each other and is forever the friendship that everyone envies anD I HATE THIS SITUATION SO MUCH GODDAMMIT LU!!! UR REALLY TRYING TO TEAR MY HEART APART!!

marchxseptember said:OH MY GOD CHAPTER TWO IS UP. I HAD A FEELING SO I HAD TO CHCK UR ACC AND I WAS RIGHT. BRB GONNA READ

marchxseptember said:AND THE PLOT THICKENS. I JIST FINISHED READING CH. 2 AND I AM FUCKED UP. I HAD A THEORY BEFORE BUT NOW I HAVE LIKE 2 MORE IM CONFUSED. I LOVED IT SOOO MUCH. AND I HATE MIJOO NOW. I CANT WAITT TO SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN. THIS WAS SO GOOD LU.

omg the amount of response ive gotten for new rules is unbelievable. I dont think ppl were even this into equilibrium. the last time u guys acted like this was during the golden boy trilogy and it really feels so good to have this again.

thank you all for your thoughtful messages and for giving this ridiculous little fic a chance. I love you all

[mathematicianadda]

More Great Ways to Annoy a Mathematician

Which Ratio is Truly Golden?

I find it troubling that the golden ratio has so little in common with the golden rule.

Like, if you did unto others 1.618 times what you’d have them do unto you, then we’d all wind up exhausted.

And if you’re only doing 1/1.618 times unto them, then isn’t that a bit lazy?

  A Puzzle About Rates

I’ve always enjoyed those puzzles like, “If 3 chickens can lay 3 eggs in 3 days, then how long will it take 100 chickens to lay 100 eggs?” They’re counter-intuitive (e.g., in my example, each chicken lays 1 egg per 3 days, so the answer is also 3 days), yet deal only with simple constant rates.

So what if the rates weren’t constant? Like in, say, a bureaucracy, where 20 times more people will accomplish only 1/20th as much?

(Sorry for putting the answer upside down. It reads: “Please complete the attached form (Z302: Aggregate Task Completion Rate Information Request) and we’ll process your inquiry in 4-6 weeks.”)

  In this case, “a mathematician” refers specifically to Matt Parker, whose excellent book Humble Pi discusses the first two of these mistakes.

  The Asymptote of Happiness

Lots of poets have found asymptotes a convenient literary symbol – the idea of eternal striving is a resonant one (even beyond the eternal striving of the struggling algebra student).

  I love me some Raymond Smullyan.

Sorry again for putting the answer upside down. I dunno why I thought that was a clever idea. Mostly just forces you to turn off the auto-rotate setting on your phone.

Anyway, it reads: “Ask anything. You should already know not to buy lowfat yogurt.”)

  Proving a New Theorem

Not that I’ve ever felt this myself. I’m just speculating.

  P-R-E-N-A-T-A-L

What is parenting, if not a neat LARP?

(LARP = Live-Action Role-Playing Game, for those of you with less geeky acumen than I anticipate my audience to have.)

By the way, my friend Rayleen once described to me a brilliant comic, where one person asks, “When’s the baby due?” and the other person is drawn with a small horizontal stick figure emerging from their stick torso. (See? It’s such a good comic, I can just describe it.)

  The Sales Pitch for Math

I think a lot about the different arguments for math, and the ways that they support or contradict each other. Is it a beautiful art? An urgent set of universal civic skills? Key preparation for technical professions?

The answer is yes to all three. But not for all math, and not all at once – and attempting to blend the purposes can lead to a muddle.

  The Meaning of “Let”

It’s always tickled me that the mathematician’s verb “let,” which sounds so chill and laissez-faire, is actually a binding command.

  “All Happy Families Are Alike; Every Unhappy Family is Unhappy In Its Own Way”

I wrote a bunch of these a few years ago. This one has the benefit of being true: all circles are geometrically similar, but not all ellipses are.

(The same is true, by the way, of parabolas and hyperbolas. The former are all the same basic shape, just zoomed in or zoomed out, whereas the latter constitute a whole family of different shapes.)

(Chew on that, Tolstoy.)

  The Court-Appointed Translator

I wrote this little dialogue after listening to a great episode of The Allusionist, before it turned out that Game of Thrones would suffer the worst collapse in storytelling that I have ever experienced.

Oh well!

As my wife said, “At least this way we’ll never have to bargain with our daughter about when she’s old enough to watch Game of Thrones. The ending is so bad, in 10 or 15 years no one will be watching it anymore.”

  Identity Politics

This is a really dumb pun.

Also one of the more popular cartoons in this list.

Go figure.

  Another Dumb Pun

This one is inspired by that time Malcolm Gladwell referred to eigenvectors as “igon vectors,” and Steven Pinker blasted him for it, at which point Gladwell blasted Pinker for something else, and eventually we all lost the thread and just went about our days.

And if you want more godawful matrix puns, I’ve got ’em.

  I don’t know what day you’re reading this, but guess what? It’s also a bad approximation of pi! So go ahead and celebrate!

(Though if you want some very clever alternative pi days, check out Evelyn Lamb’s page-a-day calendar, which includes a Pi Day each month, and not where you’d expect!)

  Uncountably Many Wishes

After I posted this, there was a bunch of discussion on Twitter about whether I’d mischaracterized the Axiom of Choice, which is totally possible, in which case, oops.

Also, some folks pointed out that it’s pretty greedy to wish for uncountably many wishes, when you could just as easily wish for countably many.

To which I say: What’s the point of a magic lamp, if not to have greed be your undoing?

  Maximization vs. Minimization

For lots of optimization problems, maximizing makes sense, but minimizing doesn’t. (Or vice versa.) An example: What’s the largest rectangle you can make from 4 feet of wire?

It’s the 1-by-1 square, with an area of 1 square foot.

But what’s the smallest rectangle you can make (in terms of area)? Well, you could make the 1.9999 by 0.0001 rectangle, which has a very tiny area…

Or you could make the 1.999999 by 0.000001 rectangle, which has an even smaller area…

Or the 1.99999999999999 by 0.000000000000001 rectangle, whose area is microscopic…

…and so on.

I hope that was worth it! And I suspect it wasn’t! Anyway, moving on.

  More thoughts here.

  The Villainous Mathematician Explains His Plan

Clearly this villain should be assigning more group work.

Anyway, I for one am curious to know how a complex-valued currency might work. I’d pay a hefty fee for an accountant or tax attorney who can turn imaginary assets into real ones, or real debts into imaginary ones.

  The Cat on the Bed

I found it very hard to draw a decent space-filling curve.

Also, to draw a decent cat.

  Only Slept Four Hours

This is how I feel about anyone who sleeps less than 7 hours in a given night.

  Axioms of Life

This is my version of that xkcd about kitties.

Also pretty well summarizes parenthood. I still enjoy a cerebral geek-out, as I always have; but I also really enjoy holding my daughter in my arms and calling her the world’s best monkey over and over.

  How Many Stars?

I would totally read a graphic novel about the dating life of Georg Cantor.

The problem is that no one is going to write this graphic novel except for me.

Oh well. I’m under contract for two more books at the moment, but after that will come TRANSFINITE LOVE: THE ROMANTIC ESCAPADES OF A SET THEORIST.

  Quick-Draw Answers

Drawn from an actual experience, in my first week teaching 7th grade. I hadn’t really figured out how to tee up a problem-solving experience yet.

  Twenty Questions

Drew this one for a Jim Propp essay. Recommended as always!

  A New Proof

A teaching friend of mine had a whole list of proofs that 1 = 0, which he busted out at various developmentally appropriate points in grades 6 through 12.

I love that. Curious how far you could get writing a book of proofs that 1 = 0, each introducing a key idea in mathematics…

Maybe that’ll be my next project after the George Cantor romance novel.

  E = mc

Philosophical question: Is this a pun?

The case against: “A pun is a joke that plays on words that sound similar but mean different things. This isn’t doing that.”

The case for: “A pun is a joke that plays on linguistic expressions with similar surface features, but different deep meanings. This is doing exactly that: the premise of the joke is that an exponent and a footnote are both denoted with a superscript, yet mean very different things.”

So I guess this has a deep resemblance to puns, but lacks a surface resemblance… which is itself, not very pun-like.

Ruling: Not a pun!

  “The Exception Proves the Rule”

I guess you hear this inane phrase less often these days. But there was a time, kiddos, when people could hear a devastating counterexample to what they were arguing, and then blithely say “the exception proves the rule” with a straight face.

  The Math Sequence

I’m pretty agnostic on the math sequence. But I have strong intuitions that Star Wars should be screened in the order: IV, V, I, II, III, VI, and so on. (I view the sequels as pretty optional. Prequels too, for that matter, but if you limit yourself to the original trilogy, it’s a boring problem.)

  The “Same” Age

A lot of people on Facebook seemed to read this as though the right-hand character was creeping on Ariana Grande. Not my intention at all! I just wanted to pick a mid-20s celebrity. Could’ve just as easily been Bieber.

(My primary association with Ariana Grande, by the way, is her performance in the short-lived bar mitzvah-themed Broadway musical Thirteen.)

  Lemniskate

I’m not sure there’s a joke here.

I’m fond of this drawing anyway.

  Linear Child

Michael Pershan, the internet’s most relentlessly analytical math educator, inexplicably loved this joke, so I call it a win.

Someone on social media speculated about the position by which this linear combination had been “conceived,” which I found quite vulgar and upsetting (but which I also sort of invited by drawing a comic about procreating vectors).

  If P, then Q

Where do we draw the line between logical succession, and outright stalking? I leave that to the courts.

  Loons and Lunes

Sometimes I just want to do a cute drawing that has no joke in it, okay?

  The Vertical Line Test

I’m actually skeptical that the phrase “vertical line test” has any value. To me it feels like a fancy name for a fact that doesn’t need a fancy name. And, as in the two-column-proof version of geometry, giving fancy names to facts that students should be reasoning out for themselves can become obfuscatory rather than clarifying.

  Whose Fractal is Whose?

Please join me in making “Patricia gasket” a thing! E.g., “Did you know Copley Square in Boston is the approximate shape of the mathematical figure known as a Patricia Gasket?”

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