#Fitz defender 4 life

[the-soul-detectives]

My honest reaction:

[thesoulfromhms2]

SO *YOU* WERE THE FITZ 11 YESR OLD HATE NOW CHANGED I KEPT ON SEEING BEFORE I STARTED FOLLOWING YOU.

people asked for more of my insulting annotations from when I was eleven, here they are!

And then an honorable mention because I have no idea what I was trying to say-

Like wtf does that mean?? I need to have a conversation with eleven year old me smh

[crunchyspaghetti]

I’m so interested to know how other people perceive the team and Daisy’s arc in the beginning of season 4. I feel like I’ve seen a lot more of the “I’ll never forgive the team for how they treated her in S4” sentiment recently, which is interesting because I’ve never taken that perception away from that storyline at all.

Did the team say or do hurtful things? Yes, for sure. (I usually see the aforementioned comment on videos on that one scene with Daisy, Mack and Fitz)

But does Daisy also do and say hurtful things? I honestly think so.

That’s what makes that part of the season so phenomenal to watch, story wise. There is not black and white, good or bad, there just is. That is the reality of grief, that is the reality of mental health struggles, that is life.

There are no “right” answers when coping with the impossible, honestly. I think there are healthy and unhealthy ways to handle things, sure, but it’s not really a moral issue, on its face.

I mean, between the team and Daisy there are some rough interactions. Fitz is certainly a little hypocritical when he’s criticizing how Daisy handles things, given that he wouldn’t have reacted well if it had been Jemma. But He has been there for Daisy, up until this point at least, with Ward, her powers, they’ve been through a tremendous amount together. He feels abandoned and, yeah, he’s expressing it in a less than ideal way. But he cares. You know he cares about her. He and Mack wouldn’t be so angry if they didn’t care.

Mack is upset when he finds out Yo-Yo’s stealing the bone pills for her because 1) he’s been lied to for months, and 2) more importantly, it makes it seem that Daisy doesn’t trust him enough to directly come to him for help. That’s the thing. He would’ve helped her, probably given her anything she needed medically. She never needed to get Yo-Yo to steal any of it. It’s frustrating, it hurts. Mack is genuinely a deeply loving person, you know it’s killing him to not be able to get through to her.

Everyone on that team wants to help her, more than anything. They are begging her to let them in. I mean, lest we forget Coulson gave up his fucking job, in part, to keep chasing any lead he has on her.

When blaming the team for the rockiness at the beginning of season 4, you’re completely ignoring the fact that Daisy is actively running from them the entire time. She doesn’t want them to find her, and I really get it, honestly I do. I deal with things the way she does, radio silence, isolation, running away, being avoidant, self destruction, etc, etc.

Who could blame her, honestly? The anger and the self hatred and the guilt and the grief. Lord knows I’d take off, shut myself out. How do you even begin to manage that kind of pain, especially when it’s still fresh?

Well, you manage it any way that you can. For Daisy that means trying to atone for all of the pain she caused, which, are also things that caused her pain. Especially at the beginning of the season, it doesn’t matter how much she’s told that she is forgiven. Lincoln was at peace with his decision to sacrifice himself, Mack forgave her for hurting him while she was under the influence of Hive. Nobody is directly blaming her, except for herself. To try to heal from the pain she is in, would mean being able to extend herself grace, mercy. The only person who needs to forgive her, is herself. And she just- can’t.

She believes that all she does is hurt the people around her, which is what she is grasping onto to justify hurting herself. The hard truth of living that way is that when you’re stuck in your own, self harm, self hatred, shame-spiral is that you are the only person who can break out of it.

That’s a huge part about what I love about the storytelling of this arc. It’s genuinely some of the best mental health representation I’ve seen in a show like this.

Obviously, mental illness is not your fault. Being stuck in a bad place is not your fault. Daisy is not at fault for her grief. Her descent into isolation and a self-hatred, suicidal, shame-spiral does not in any way mean that she is a bad person. But there’s only so much another person can do when it comes to a battle that is completely contained within your own brain.

The team never stopped caring about her. Coulson, May, and Yo-Yo, specifically, never gave up on her. That’s important. She would’ve most likely been dead if they had stopped giving a shit about her. That’s significant.

But they’re not mind readers.

To go back to the scene with Mack and Fitz too. I think that scene is really important because it’s Daisy being confronted with the reality that her actions, her running away, isolating herself, really is hurting the people that love and care about her. She runs away to protect them from that very reality, of course, but how could they know that?

She doesn’t want them to care, and she hopes that if she just pushes them hard enough, if she bares her metaphorical fangs, they’ll stop. She’s accepted being alone, she’s accepted her own self destruction, because even if it hurts them at first, even if she’s absolutely miserable, they’ll be safe. Inside, she’s unwilling to admit that she needs them, and she’s acting in a way that allows her to avoid the cognitive dissonance of her actions (i.e. yo-yo stealing the pills they’d willingly give her if she asked).

But the fact that she’s hurting them doesn’t push them away. It just makes everything hurt more for everyone. She wants to embody that hurt, she’s cannibalizing her self to try to take on that pain but it doesn’t make anything better.

This storyline is not a case of right and wrong, if anything it’s an antithesis to it. It’s about how the ambiguity of life and grief and mental health are like tangled strings, messy and knotted, it’s about the love and effort and dedication it takes to hang on to/fight your way back to the people that love you, it’s about the strength it takes to carry on and forgive yourself, and, as May tells Daisy once she comes back, it’s about that: “you can’t choose who cares about you”.

[the-soul-detectives]

"I'm not standing still, I am laying in wait"

[jamiedc-they-them]

Marvel Master list

Ava Starr

Not you (platonic)

Bobbi Morse

Breaking Point

Sibling Duty 2.5

Being the SHIELD Ladies' best friend

Bobbi, Hunter, and the team helping you after a nightmare

Bucky Barnes

Own it (Platonic)

Carol Danvers

The Time You Have Left (Platonic)

Impact (Platonic)

Carol helping you with your emotions as she gets her memories back (Platonic)

R&R Part 1 Part 2

Cassie Lang

Happiness (Platonic/Familial)

Daisy Johnson

Moving on

The Void

Bonds That Never Die

Who you used to, and still can, be

The Loyal Sidekick

Choices Not Made

Proof Not Necessary

Sibling Duty Series: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Before and After; After and Before

Control Z

The Past That Bled Into The Present

The Little Things

Being May's daughter and an older sister to Daisy

Love, Hate, Acceptance, and the in-between

Sell and Repurchase

Daisy being a protective older sister

Being the youngest and Daisy helping you after a mission gone wrong

A helping hand or three

Clean Slate

Legacies and the people behind them Part 1 Part 2

Remember that time you scared me?

Being Daisy's best friend and May being your SO

The Way Things Moved On

Daisy and Jemma, your sisters, helping you through a depressive episode

BUS Team helping with your sleeping disorder

Forgive and Forget what happened in another time

The BUS Team celebrating your birthday

Ward capturing you and trying to turn you to his side

I got you

Daisy and the team helping you with your passive suicidal thoughts

Daisy trying to help with your troubled blood family

Being Jemma and Daisy's sister, and getting hurt

The SHIELD team saving you from the Watchdogs

Daisy and Fitzsimmons helping you when you discover your powers

SHIELD team finding you and your shadow self fighting as you try to seal the fear dimension

Getting injured on your first SHIELD mission

Healing and Time

A Spy’s goodbye, for now

Defending Skye when she gets her powers

Gwen Stacy

Family, no matter where what

Jemma Simmons

Being the SHIELD Ladies' best friend

A helping hand, or three (Platonic)

On Your Mind (Platonic) 1 2

Daisy and Jemma, your sisters, helping you through a depressive episode

BUS Team helping with your sleeping disorder

The BUS team celebrating your birthday

Jemma helping you after a mission gone wrong (Platonic)

Coming out to Jemma and Fitz as Asexual

Being Jemma and Daisy's sister, and getting hurt

Going to Maveth instead of Jemma

The SHIELD team saving you from the Watchdogs

Daisy and Fitzsimmons helping you when you discover your powers

Getting injured on your first SHIELD mission

Kate Bishop

Being Clint’s oldest child who survived the blip and being an older sibling to Kate

Being Kate’s Adopted Younger Sibling

Being Kate's younger sister, who is taken to the red room, being close to Yelena and Natasha, and reuniting with Kate

Leo Fitz

Being his sibling

A helping hand, or three (Platonic)

BUS Team helping with your sleeping disorder

The BUS team celebrating your birthday

Coming out to Jemma and Fitz as Asexual

The SHIELD team saving you from the Watchdogs

Leo Fitz helping you with your suicidal ideation

Daisy and Fitzsimmons helping you when you discover your powers

Being a big brother to you and helping with a panic attack

Forgive and forget what happened in another time

Melinda May

May helps you come to terms with your powers

Being Daisy's best friend and May being you SO

Being May's Daughter and an older sister to Daisy

May comforting you, Ward's twin, about his betrayal

The SHIELD team saving you from the Watchdogs

May comforting you after the HYDRA uprising (Platonic)

May helping you through your first mission

Rise Together (Platonic)

Cycle of life (platonic)

Natasha Romanoff

Forgive me, little sister (Platonic)

Sister, Dearest (Platonic)

Yelena and Natasha helping you find your blood parents (Platonic)

[the-soul-detectives]

HE WOULD ABSOLUTELY KILL IN 80S FASHION.

Fitz vacker sketchbook page....

[doe-earth-n]

Episodes recommended for Defenders Chronicles Highlander.

@james5-doe @novemberhope @a-shiva and others who are interested.

Season 1:

The Gathering (how it all begins)

Family Tree (a bit of Richie's backstory)

Free Fall (one of two episodes that set up my ongoing M rated story "Beginning of a New Life", Felicia Martins appears )

Band of Brothers (available on YouTube)

Lady and the Tiger (Amanda, Tori's teacher, debuts)

The Hunters (the debut of Horton, a fierce enemy of MacLeod)

Season 2:

The Watchers (introduction of Joe Dawson and the Watchers)

Turnabout (Charlie Desalvo debuts)

The Darkness (Game changer episode; Richie becomes immortal)

An Eye for an Eye (Richie gets training from Duncan)

Under Color of Authority (Richie's first Quickening)

Unholy Alliance (good episode)

Legacy (Amanda and the loss of her teacher Rebecca)

Prodigal Son (Richie and Duncan moments)

Counterfeit (Official end of Horton, Fake Tessa)

Season 3:

Line of Fire (reminder: Immortals can't have children; good flashback for Duncan)

The Lamb (Kenny, child immortal debuts)

The Cross of St. Antoine (Joe sings; Amanda and Duncan, too)

Obsession (the other episode that sets up "Beginning of a New Life", David Keogh appears, note: Earth N has this episode set before "Line of Fire" contrary to regular canon)

Shadows (a dark episode)

Song of the Executioner (Kalas debuts)

Star Crossed (Fitz dies thanks to Kalas)

Methos (available on Archive mainly; debut of an iconic character)

Take Back the Night

Testimony

Finale (Kalas finally meets his end; part one is on YT, not Archive but you can catch part 2 on Archive)

Season 4 (you'll have to rely on Archive mostly from this point forward because the uploader on YouTube has the episodes of Season 4, onwards either incomplete or missing):

Brothers in Arms

The Innocent

Leader of the Pack (Tessa flashbacks ish)

Double Eagle

Reunion (a backstory with Amanda and the brat Kenny)

Reluctant Heroes (available on YT, not on Archive)

Chivalry

The Blitz

Something Wicked (Dark Quickening)

Deliverance

Mesthulea's Gift

The Immortal Cimoli

Season 5 (if you watch these on Archive, you'll have to see them under another name):

Prophecy (available on YT; file name - One Minute to Midnight)

End of Innocence (available on YT; file name - Prophecy)

Haunted (file name - Money No Object)

The Messenger (file name - Little Tin God)

Comes a Horsemen (file name The Valkyrie)

Revelation 6:8 (file name - Comes a Horsemen)

The Ransom of Richard Redstone (available on YT, file name - Revelation 6:8)

Season 6 (this is where things go downhill):

Sins of the Father (Alex Raven, audition episode #1)

Patient Number 7 (Kyra, audition episode #2)

Justice (Katya, audition episode #3)

Deadly Exposure (Reagan Cole, who's teacher is also Amanda, audition episode #4)

Two of Hearts (Katherine, audition episode #5, my favorite and she's played by Claudia Christian and she's going to be Kristina Graf's teacher in Earth N)

Indiscretions (Joe's daughter Amy, not to be confused with Amy O' Connor)

To Be (first of two part finale)

Not to Be (the second of the two part series finale, Available on YT, not Archive)

Now, it's your call if you want to watch Archangel (the episode that upset many Highlander fans, including myself, hence Clan Denial, albeit I'm borderline denial; file name is Forgive Us Our Trepass) as well as Avatar and Armageddon, brace yourself. You might as well since it might be Earth N canon, but not in regards to Richie's fate in the episodes.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Pitch for an Agents of SHIELD Disney+ revival/reboot:

MAIN STORY

In 2024, the countries of the world agree to revive a form of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Even though the HYDRA uprising is still fresh in everyone’s minds, the world agrees that an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. is needed in order to deal with large-scale threats such as Ultron and Thanos. This new S.H.I.E.L.D. serves as a counterpart to S.W.O.R.D.; while S.W.O.R.D. deals cosmic threats, S.H.I.E.L.D. deals with Earth-based threats. 

In Glasgow, CIP Joseph Chapman (codename: Union Jack) singlehandedly foils a Flag-Smasher terrorist attack, managing to save several Scottish MPs who were the target of the attack. 

In Wakanda, CIA officer Clay Quartermain successfully negotiates the release of several CIA agents that were caught trying to illegally enter Wakanda.

In Sokovia, Captain Laynia Petrova (codename: Darkstar) successfully defends the capital building from an attack organized by the supporters of the exiled royal family (Zemo and the Maximoff twins were supporters of the crown).

Based on these acts of heroism, all three individuals are recommended by their respective governments to join S.H.I.E.L.D.. Their first mission; hunt down the the far-right terrorist known as “Sin”, who has rebuilt HYDRA from the ground up. To accomplish this mission, Joseph, Clay, and Laynia are assigned to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best field agent; Commander Daisy Johnson (codename: Quake).

SIDE NOTES

1) In case it wasn’t obvious, this AOS reboot is tonally different from the original show. It’s much closer in tone to shows like BBC’s Bodyguard, 24, and Homeland. I also took inspiration from movies like 13 Hours, Black Hawk Down, Zero Dark Thirty, and the Bourne trilogy. 

2) Chloe Bennet reprises her role as Daisy Johnson. However, instead of being the protagonist, she’s the veteran agent mentoring the rookie agents in the life of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Basically...Daisy has become Phil Coulson.

3) Iain De Caestecker makes a guest appearance as Leo Fitz. He is the Scottish MP who recommended CIP Joseph Chapman to S.H.I.E.L.D.. It’s briefly mentioned that Fitz became a politician because he was unhappy with how the United Kingdom was handling the Snap crisis, echoing the reasons why Karli Morgenthau started the Flag-Smashers in the first place.

4) “Sin” is the MCU version of Sinthea Schmidt, Red Skull’s daughter. But for the sake of the timeline, her backstory is changed to being Red Skull’s granddaughter (or great-granddaughter).

5) Daniel Sousa and Kora are briefly alluded to in the series. This is mainly for logistical reasons since it’d be difficult to explain their existence to the casual MCU viewer. Let’s just say that Daisy mentions having a boyfriend and a sister and that they’re busy with work. 

6) Henry Simmons reprises his role as Director Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie. Since this is a soft reboot, he’s simply introduced as the director of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. without mentioning any of the events of AOS in order to avoid confusing casual viewers. 

CASTING THE NEW CHARACTERS

1) Jack Lowden as CIP Joseph Chapman (Union Jack) 

2) Chris Webster as CIA officer Clay Quartermain 

3) Izabella Miko as Captain Laynia Petrova (Darkstar) 

4) Diane Kruger as Sinthea Schmidt (Sin) 

[tryalittlejoytomorrow]

Get To Know Me: Friendships

tagged by the lovely @winterlovesong1 thank you!! 💜

rules: name at least five platonic relationships you love, each from a different fandom.

1) The Crows (aka My Crows) / Six of Crows & Sab

It's the found family of it all for me, but mostly the fact that every relationship within that group is iconic af. Don't get me started about Kaz and Nina being the absolute best worsties. Don't talk to me about Jesper and Inej. Wylan and Matthias being the newbies judging the crows until they realize these are the best companions they could ever hope for. Inej and Nina and all their small rescues. Matthias begrudgingly learning to respect and admire Kaz. Jesper and Nina. Wylan worrying about Inej and deciding to stay until they get her back. Kaz and Jesper being brothers. I love all of my crows and I love how much they all love one another. They are simply perfect, I'll take no criticism about this

2) Lucy/George/Lockwood / Lockwood & Co

Ding ding ding, found family my beloved strikes again. What's better than living with your partner and technically your boss and risking your life with them every day? Nothing, that's what. I simply adore trios in general and it's such a delicate balance to write, but this trio is perfect. Each of them believes themselves to be the normal one bringing balance to the other two and I adore that because they each bring something very specific to the table: Lucy, with her emotional maturity and intelligence; Lockwood and his bravery and skillful leadership; George with his cleverness and his humor. They're best friends and they're a family and George will be best man at their wedding and godfather to their daughter and still their friendship will never waver.

3) Alex Stern & Pamela Dawes / Ninth House

My girls!!! My beautiful badass baby girls. If Ninth House made me love them, then Hell Bent made me go 'this is my ride or die favorite friendship'. Literally Dawes is Sunshine and Alex Midnight Rain and I love them. The love is so potent!!! They think they're opposites at first but truly they're both made of steel.

4) The Bus Kids: fitzskimmons / Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

God, I miss my tiny babies!!! I just adore these three together but also the duos within the trio. Inseparable fitzsimmons even without the romantic aspect, fresh out of the Academy, one brain, one heart; Jemma and Skye ("I already have one sister and her name is Jemma Simmons"), Fitz and Daisy when she feels like her entire world is falling apart and he's the one reminding her that who she is is perfect and doesn't need fixing. My most special children.

5) Weller & Patterson / Blindspot

I just love the big brother/little sister vibe between these two. It's another example of found family, no surprise there, but I think that out of all the relationships, this is the one that stuck the most with me over the years. It's the little things: how much he believes in her, how small she looks in his arms, how fierce and feral she is to defend him. Guess I'm gonna have to rewatch the whole show now and get back in that spiral.

tagging @flythesail @sunshineandsciencebabies @katherineebishop

[jackiietaylor]

1 & 3 & 4 for aos? :)

thanks for asking :)

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

honestly? i personally don't really see the appeal in fitzsimmons or philinda. for fitzsimmons, don't get me wrong, i completely understand why people do like them and why they are so popular, i just never felt the same. first of all, the whole "the universe wants to keep us apart" thing got old soooo fast. it was one thing in season 3 when jemma got taken to maveth, but it happened at least once a season after that and it was just boring. second, they became the worst versions of themselves once they got together. fitz was just unnecessarily selfish way too many times for me, especially considering most of the time he was risking daisys life, and jemmas entire characterization ended up revolving around fitz rather than her own personal growth (i mean, once you're defending your husband torturing your best friend you've kinda hit rock bottom) and philinda, idk. i liked them as friends a lot, especially since they had been friends so long and they really didnt get together until right before he did and because he was dying. honestly think I would've liked it more if coulson had stayed dead after s5 because the idea of a "will they, won't they" ship ending at "they won't" kinda kills it

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

i don't think ive ever unfollowed someone over an opinion on aos? maybe once? but i usually check before i follow to make sure

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?*

again, i really don't care for fitzsimmons 😶 i think they were so much better both as individuals and as a duo when they were just friends and them becoming a couple ruined that specific dynamic

[semper-legens]

12. Royal Assassin, by Robin Hobb

Owned: Yes Page count: 648  My summary: Fitz is growing up, but with age comes uncertainty and danger. The Forged ones batter the coasts of the kingdom, the king is slowly dying, and his heir is run ragged with defending the realm. Not helping matters is the king’s youngest son, who seems to have it in for Fitz. But what will Fitz sacrifice to see the kingdom safe? My rating: 4/5  

Book two of the Farseer trilogy! Yep, I got all three of these, and it turned out to be a good idea, because I’m really enjoying them. Gotta love a bit of low fantasy. Well, I say ‘a bit’, the page counts for these novels are large. And yet, they feel well-paced, without a bit of wasted space. I never felt as though this book was a slog to get through; rather, I enjoyed every second. This book is big and complicated and nuanced and I’m not going to be able to talk about every single aspect of it - still, let’s dig in!

Checking in with Fitz, he’s older now, and his life is considerably worse. A huge theme with Fitz’s arc in this book is duty versus his own needs, and that’s encapsulated in his relationship to Molly, his childhood sweetheart. Poor Molly’s fallen on some hardships, and is a servant in the palace now; Fitz wants a relationship with her, but his own dubious status within the royal hierarchy makes it difficult, not to mention his own flaws versus Molly’s trauma. And it ends badly! Molly ends up leaving him just before his life goes really downhill, and he ends up losing everything because of his devotion to his duty over his personal life, even knowing that he is sacrificing himself for the cause and absolutely hating every second of how he is being used. At the same time, we see his defiance - he bonds with a wolf despite everyone telling him how bad the Wit is, and carries on with Molly against his better judgement.

On the other hand, we see a very good reason why he is willing to give everything up. Verity is very much my ideal of a male fantasy character - a self-sacrificing sad boy! Love that archetype. Verity makes some abjectly terrible decisions and ends up disappearing halfway through the narrative to chase some quasi-mystical people that might be able to save the realm. But enough about him, let’s talk Queen Of My Heart Kettricken. She married Verity at the end of the last book, and comes from a mountain community where being the ruler means sacrifice - literally, the ruler is called the Sacrifice - and she more than lives up to that ideal. She is relentless, constant in trying to do what is right against the court’s social mores, but she is a person too. Verity neglects her, and she is sad about it. She seeks Fitz’s friendship because she has few people she can truly trust. It’s heartbreaking, but at the same time she is such a strong character.

Who else? I love the Fool a lot, the ambiguously-autistic prophetic sarcastic bastard (er, non-literal) is totally my jam. King Shrewd’s slow decline into dementia is absolutely crushing, and also a really interesting depiction of what it might be like to have that sort of degenerative condition in a historical fantasy setting. Regal is a shit and I hate him. Burrich also fulfils the sad boy criteria of being my boy. I find myself without much else to say about this book specifically - in the tradition of middle books in a trilogy, there’s a lot of setting up to be done for the next book, and it feels particularly transitional. But I still really want to dig into the next one, and that can only commend it.

Next up, some horror short stories, as I dive back into the world of Junji Ito.

[beeblackburn]

The Anti-TBR Tag

I was tagged by @books-and-doodles! Thank you! And poor you, for I am a long-winded bastard.

1. A popular book EVERYONE loves that you have no interest in reading?

On general principle, I feel like the really popular stuff (Twilight, Throne of Glass, Divergent, The Mortal Instruments) ends up being stuff I’m inherently not going to be attracted to and some of them have their own hatedoms going on, so going after them in detail would be punching down (though I don’t particular like any of the above). So I’m going to try to go off the beaten path with these seven:

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab = nothing against her personally, though I heard her The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was baaaaad, but apparently, she’s similar to Sanderson in the magic system being better than the characterization and I heard her writing’s got a white faux-female empowerment sort of thing going that I’m growing increasingly... discontent of by itself. I might try it out later, but I also got hundreds of books to drill through first and I’m in no rush.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo = I’ve been increasingly getting the sense that Six of Crows was a flash in the pan, Bardugo’s style more defined by fun than genuine substance. And given a rather scathing review that points out unearned shifts in characterization, lackluster supporting cast, and two really uncomfortable exploitative sexual assault fantasy scenes (one of which was underaged!), I’m gonna say no.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik = I generally like Novik! She’s a very solid writer to me and I’ve bought most of her books, so this is purely me not taking to the Wizarding School genre. Sorry, Novik, "a twisted, super dark, super modern, female-led Harry Potter" isn’t the selling point it once was, and even then, I probably wouldn’t have taken to it. Especially when I’ve already got The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan to read.

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson = I’ve got mixed feelings on Mistborn looking back: it’s hardly the worst of his oeuvre (Elantris is that and was admittedly his first book) and The Final Empire took a few narrative risks that I admire, I also found the resulting books a tad juvenile and I don’t take to steampunk, genre-wise. I’m not even that much of a Sanderson fan, so I’d rather just read the summary for all I care.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher = given what I’ve been told about The Dresden Files’ lessening of noir roots past the first few books, how it later became more flashy-and-bang magical, and how it’s pretty sexist early on (and from what I’ve been told, doubled down on it later on and having worse treatments of its female characters), I’m in no particular rush to read them. The urban fantasy genre on them only turns me off more.

The Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss = hahaha, I’m sorry, I did read The Name of the Wind, and read select parts of The Wise Man’s Fear, but everyone, instead of waiting and devoting your time for this book to come, I would suggest reading Fitz, Who Is Actually Good and Can Wring More than Disgust and an Eye-Roll out of You in Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings, given she is far better at characterization than Rothfuss.

Anything by Paul Krueger, Sam Sykes, and Myke Cole = fuck all three of these men and the idea that I’ll pay for their stuff. While I can’t demand any of you not buy from them and I’ll hardly claim to be a saint in terms of ethics, purchase-wise, I would beseech you all please don’t buy from these three authors who have a history of inappropriateness.

2. A classic book (or author) you don’t have an interest in reading?

Charles Dickens = look, I know his word count is padded because of serial installments back then, but I’m sorry, I wasn’t that impressed by the child-sanitized versions of Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. They were easily some of the most boring of out of the child-sanitized classics I read. It was the pictures that kept me going and barely at that. No thanks.

Emily Brontë =  look, if I wanted shitty people being shitty to each other, I’d much rather read Joe Abercrombie because at least I’ll get some intentional dark comedy out of dumb shitheads being terrible to each other (Best Served Cold comes to mind). And I know we’re not meant to like these self-destructive people, but I’d rather not hate everyone that much.

Alexander Dumas = Three Musketeers really didn’t age well, just from the TV Tropes page and I’m not really looking forward to an adventure that goes out of its way to valorize its protagonists being adventurous assholes who dueled, drank, and womanized harder than anyone else and we should commend that because they were men. Ugh.

3. An author you have read a couple of books from & have decided their books are not for you?

Leigh Bardugo = like I said, I feel like Six of Crows (and Crooked Kingdom, to a lesser extent) was a flash in the pan and she’s been increasingly running on fumes ever since then. Good and fun with a decent eye for characterization, but hardly revolutionary, considering how I think Crooked Kingdom isn’t quite as good as Six of Crows, and the less said about Shadow and Bone, the better.

Neil Gaiman = I’ve read some of his stuff (and I didn’t quite see the hype over his writing, but liked it decently enough) but having heard that, in his Sandman run, he wrote in a transwoman solely to get killed for an emotional ending and how he defended that choice for awhile left a battery acid taste for me to read more. He’s a formative part of people’s childhoods, so I don’t blame anyone for being fans, he’s just not for me.

Steven Erikson = really nothing against the dude, I’m sure he's probably a decent guy, but I didn’t take to Gardens of the Moon at all and skimming Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice (which were admittedly better) made me realize its prose was something I would need a hard and sharp shovel to crack through, and the darting around of many, many POVs made me feel not invested in anyone.

4. A genre you have no interest in OR a genre you tried to get into & couldn’t?

I’ll answer both because I have the time:

I’m not interested in romance, mostly because it’s an entire genre built around the build-up. It’s usually the story about the beginning of a relationship, not the relationship itself. I’d genuinely like to read about the story of a romance that doesn’t stop shortly after the hook-up or before the honeymoon period ends. The City Watch parts of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan and The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold all have romantic elements that are relatively undrenched in melodrama or frills, but none of them are pure romances, which is a huge problem. I can take romantic subplots in fantasy, but I can’t take the genre as-is.

Urban fantasy is a genre I’m not against having my mind changed on liking, but right now, I generally find it insipid, a shortcut to good world-building, short on great characterization, and an excuse to lampshade and pretense to being above fantastical clichés in a tongue-in-cheek attitude while still committing to them. I do genuinely like Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch, but that’s really the concession I can give the entirety of the genre. I took a crack at Rick Riordan and Cassandra Clare’s stuff, but it didn’t feel like my sort of thing. Again, would like to be convinced, but I’d much rather read a domestic or slice-of-life fantasy set in a more overtly fantasy world than the urban one. 

Also, sci-fi, but I’m trying again with the Wormwood trilogy by Tade Thompson, An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, and either the Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie, or the Teixcalaan trilogy by Arkady Martine. I snoozed through Azimov’s Foundation and generally bored myself of hard sci-fi books, so I’m hoping contemporary sci-fi changes my mind on the entire genre.

5. A book you have bought but will never read?

A book I personally bought? Honestly, Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell. No particular reason, I just bought it at a closing-down sale at a branch of my bookstore on the cheap because the cover looked nice and didn’t really take to its blurb. I heard good things though, so if anyone else wants to read it...

I tag @vera-dauriac, @xserpx, @autoapocrypha, @kateofthecanals, @turtle-paced, @insecticidalfeminism, @secretlyatargaryen, @helix-eagle-hourglass-nebula, @xillionart, @jovolovo and whoever else that is following me and wishes to do this tag (I’d like to read your posts, so please tag me! :D)

[the-soul-detectives]

HIS FRIENDS SHIT TALK HIM 😞😞😞☹️☹️☹️ HE DESERVES NONE OF THAT

@axyer ok now angst about thiz thought Fitz defender

it's kind of fitting how fitz is such a controversial character in the fandom because that's kind of how i think he is in the actual lost cities

people probably say the same kind of hateful things about him there, except he can actually see and read and react to it.

[colossalsummer]

KOTLC book one READ ALONG part 1 of 5

I read the first Keeper of the Lost Cities book and annotated every page. Here are the highlights. (Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5)

Chapter 1

He didn’t seem to realize that unless the giant dinosaur replicas came to life and started eating people, no one cared. Me, the resident paleontology nut: Shut up Sophie I care 

Fitz: "Tell me something. Do you really think that’s what they look like? It’s a little absurd, isn’t it?" Please make a good dinosaur reconstruction I’m begging you

Chapter 2

Fitz’s body broke her fall as she landed across his chest. Sophie: And that’s how I met your father

Chapter 3

What was he going to do, whisk her away to some magic elf land?

Fitz: “All of the Lost Cities are real–but not how you picture them, I’m sure.” OOOOHHH that’s the name of… the book… I see now

Humans broke the law all the time. We’re wild rowdy boys we’ll mess u up

Fitz: “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Who came up with that?” Sophie: “Uh, Albert Einstein.” Fitz: “Huh. Never heard of him. But he was wrong.”

Fitz: “The slowest elf can still trump a human—even one with no proper education.” Kinda racist of you but go off I guess

Chapter 4

Sophie: “Then why are we hiding?” Fitz: “We’re dressed like humans. Humans are forbidden in the lost cities—especially here, in Lumenaria…” You’re on some kind of government mission, don’t you have a hall pass

Sophie opened her mouth to defend her race, but she could see Fitz’s point. War, crime, famine—humans had a lot of problems. OH like elves don’t have problems

Sophie: “But… I’ve been hearing thoughts since I was five.” “Five?” Lol knock him down a peg

Fitz: “You heard me?” Sophie: “Was I not supposed to?” Fitz: “No one else can.” OH HO HO

Sophie: “How will I find you?” Fitz: “Don’t worry, I’ll find you.” Not creepy

Chapter 5

She tugged out an eyelash. Not healthy

Okay. If she’s an elf is she not like… ‘Well my parents must be part elf at least.’ Like why would you not immediately be like ‘Um are we elves?’

You could be normal, like your sister. OOF DIRECT HIT

No one understood how she and Sophie could be sisters—especially Sophie. Even their parents wondered about it in their thoughts.

The silverware slipped through Sophie’s fingers. Whoop there it is

And if they weren’t her family… who was? How are her parents confused about this

Sophie: “Was I adopted?” Thank you

Her mom laughed as her mind flashed back to the twelve hours of very painful labor she’d endured. Okaaay

Did they get magically parasitized? Like a cuckoo bird?

Chapter 6

Is Forkle a magical protector? Somebody around here is.

Suspicious Stranger, Definitely Not An Elf: “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to carry her back to my sister’s house. It’s just a few blocks away, and she seems to like you better than she likes me.” RED FLAG RED FLAG

Sure hope Forkle isn’t gonna die…

Sophie: “How am I supposed to trust you when you won’t even tell me anything?” Yeah thanks, this

She gestured to the tree, but there was no one around. No thoughts nearby, either. - Did she imagine it? You saw a boy disappear once, just go with your gut baby

*Fitz ganks Sophie from school to whisk her to elf land* Can’t you wait until lunch or a free period and make up an excuse like an orthodontist appointment or something

Chapter 7

Alden: “I see Fitz wasn’t kidding about the brown eyes. Most unusual.” You as racist as your son? Let’s find out

“Humans,” Alden muttered. I see

Alden: “Kidnapping is a human crime. I’ve never heard of an elf even considering such a thing, much less trying it. What made you think it was one of us?” Of course not we’re perfect whomp whomp

Alden: “We would never have servants. The gnomes choose to live with us because it’s safer in our world. And they help in our gardens because they enjoy it. We’re privileged to have them.” Don’t come at me with that self righteousness, it was a legitimate question all things considered

…everything she’d seen in the elvin world spoke of wealth. Girl you know there’s an underbelly

As Sophie met his cold gaze, she could see what Alden meant about Bronte being hard to impress.

Sophie: “Sorry, I was surprised by your ears.” LOL this must be rude as heck, like, ‘you’re so wrinkly.’

Fitz: “You eat animals?” That must be horrifying to him

“So, Sophie.” Bronte sneered her name like it bothered him to say it. “Alden tells me you’re a Telepath.” NYEHHH MISTER POTTER

Chapter 8

Bronte’s mind felt different than Fitz’s—somehow deeper. LOLLL NO THOUGHTS HEAD EMPTY

She screamed as the goblets shattered against the table and the chairs crashed to the floor, knocking Bronte flat on his back with a thunderous collision. TOUCHDOWN

“Our language is instinctive,” Alden said. “We speak from birth…” TALKING BABIES >:O

Alden: “…though to humans our language sounds like babbling.” So they’re all googoo gaga around this fancy table R/N

Sophie: “What’s a probe?” Fitz: “Just a different way to read your mind. It’s no big deal.” Just a thermometer that goes in your butt. No big deal.

Alden: “How would you like to see Atlantis?” I WOULD LIKE THAT VERY MUCH

Chapter 9

*reading the description of Atlantis* WHERE ARE THE CRAP CITIES. I KNOW YOU HAVE THEM.

She took a slow, deep breath, closed her eyes, and stepped off the edge, screaming the whole way down. Goodbye dignity miss you

…she launched out of the vortex onto an enormous sponge. It felt like being licked from head to toe by a pack of kittens… WHOA! Is this the flagella, or the spicules? I love that

A child strolled past with some kind of chicken-lizard hybrid on a leash. PLEASE BE A DINOSAUR PLEASE

“An eurypterid,” Alden explained, “A sea scorpion.” EEEEOOOEEE I LOVE IT

Chapter 10

Sophie: “I have a file?” *cough cough* surveillance state much

“Reading should be instinctive,” Alden admitted, “but maybe your human education affected you somehow…” School is brain poison, says the flat-earther’s dad

It would be so awful to be an advanced student and suddenly know nothing.

They turned down a narrow, quiet canal lined with purple trees with thick, broad leaves like kelp. Could it be prototaxite or am I dreaming?

Alden took a small, green cube from his pocket. Credit cards are better ‘cause they don’t hurt when you sit on em. Who’s the master race now?

Despite Fitz’s earlier assurances, she couldn’t help wondering if the probe would hurt. Or worse—what humiliating memories Quinlin would find. “Sure are a lot of boy bands in here…”

…Quinlin’s gaze settled on Sophie. “Brown eyes?” WOW not even gonna say hi first huh

“You lick it,” Fitz explained. “They need your DNA.” OH SO DNA ISN’T FAKE HUH FITZ

He licked a silver strip on the wall… LOL I’m CRYING there are other ways to get DNA you GUYS

Quinlin: “Was he…?” Alden: “An elf?”… “I doubt it.” Qinlin: “How can you be sure?” Why, my biases tell me so, my good man.

Alden: “Humans do so love their chemicals.” Says Mr. Big Brain over here lickin’ doorknobs

Alden, cont’d: “If they’re not lighting something on fire, they’re spilling oil into the ocean or blowing something up.” Okay that’s fair

If you want to see my notes for a specific page, send me a message and I’ll take a picture.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

[zeeboomblebee]

Top 10 Favorite Female Characters

Thanks for tagging me, @nazezdha321​!

I couldn’t help writing a small explanation as to why each of these gals resonates with me, so there’s that lol.

1. Daisy Johnson (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

She’s just badass in every way. I admire her strength and resilience against all the twisted and horrible things life has thrown at her.

2. Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Arguably the world’s best spy and ex-KGB assassin. Kick-butt Avenger too. What else is there to say?

3. Melinda May (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Strong, stoic, and fierce, how can you not fall in love with this badass agent?

4. Jemma Simmons (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Her knowledge and intelligence is nothing to be trifled with. And when she’s working with Fitz? Unstoppable team. No problem can’t be solved by those two. 

5. Katie “Pidge” Holt (Voltron: Legendary Defender) Wickedly smart and a tech genius. The only thing that might be sharper is her wit and sarcasm. Incredibly brave and bold too. How can you not fall in love with her?

6. Toph Beifong (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Loud, brash, resourceful, sarcastic, and more stubborn than the earth (and metal) that she bends, Toph is the polar opposite of everything the nobility she grew up in represents. She should never be underestimated, despite her small stature and blindness.

7. Wanda Maximoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Just... don’t mess with Wanda. She can get terrifying in less than a second. She’s suffered and lost more than pretty much anyone else on this list yet still keeps fighting.

8. Carol Danvers (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Many people hate the Captain Marvel movie, but honestly, it’s one of my favorites. There was something so infectious about Carol’s sassy, rebellious personality.

9. Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) True to her nickname, she’s always one to bounce back. She’s an incredible inhuman. (Still don’t understand her magical recovery at the end of AoS’s S7E8 episode though.)

10. Korra (Avatar: The Last Airbender) She’s dealt with a ton of trauma in the 3 years of being a fully fledged Avatar, but still found it within her to stubbornly continue to fight back. Her playful personality is fun to watch too.

I’ll just tag @aleksandrachaev​, but anyone is more than welcome to do this; all fandoms are welcome! :D

[the-soul-detectives]

NO.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THEM LIKE I DO.

FITZ AND KEEFE ARE PAYNELAND CODED.

YOU CAN'T EVEN COMPREHEND IT.

I'M GOING TO CHOKE MYSELF.