#welp there goes MY fucking plotline

[illegiblehandwriting1]

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT WAIT WAIT WAIT OH GOD THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS ARE SO FUCKING MUCH EBGRIHFOWSJAWHDEOISPIOHWDIJ

[mdhwrites]

Have you seen the leaked TOH pilot and pitch bible yet? IMO it’s crazy how most of it is better than the final product.

I have! And... I don't know if I entirely agree with that.

What I found most fascinating about it is that a lot of the contradictions and issues of scope with TOH that doomed it are still in the pitch bible itself. Just some quick examples of what I'm talking about: When talking about themes, they talk about Fantasy versus Reality but it's as shallow as it is in the show. After all, one of the episode concepts pitched within it features a plot that has Luz literally going "This is just like in my fanfiction!" and being better able to handle it because of that.

It builds up the emperor of the land and Belos (known as Oberon) when talking about them but NONE of the plotlines include Oberon in the episode pitches or even mention the coven system for that matter. They are still barely a thing to the show with the only episode concept about that part of the show being the one about William.

An utter lack of real stakes like how King has to face the deep crises of a decision of either being a lackey to the people he used to run with while also losing any chance to ever reclaim his lost power... Or he can save Eda and Luz and lose the chance to work with these people again. That's not really a compelling decision, is it?

The pitch also claims that the show will mostly be about Luz and Eda's relationship and how Luz's determination will push Eda to be a better person... And most of the episodes pitched are still not actually about the two spending time together. Just Eda making Luz upset so she goes off to do her own thing, just like the same problem as in the actual series.

You actually have MORE characters in this version which sucks harder for trying to narrow things down, especially since more of them are disconnected from each other than before. At least Boscha, unlike Pascha, has a connection to literally anyone in the main cast.

You also have stupidity with your magic still. "Look! I need to work hard to make small objects float!" And apparently that's enough to make all of Hexside lose their fucking minds. WHY!? In 90% of settings, that is as basic as the light spell Luz learns. It's why it's one of the first spells Harry learns.

Oh and let's not forget "Almost all known portals to the human realm have been severed" but apparently Amity has access to one of those known portals freely enough to attend two schools. It's a small thing but it would cause problems in theory.

BUT.

I will give credit to this: Luz is MUCH more compelling in this version. I think if there is something that is just unequivocally true, it's that. She is way less inoffensively nerdy, instead her interests being more upfront and troublesome, helping explain why that would be why she is rejected and not because, you know, she puts people in danger. Also her rise to power is just better.

Arguably, Luz in canon is a chosen one essentially from episode FOUR onwards. Now, this is up for debate but being given a power almost out of nowhere, with no training, that no one else has, is usually a sign of a chosen in a narrative. Episode 4 is when she gets the light glyph. She doesn't work for it, it's not a big character growth moment, etc. like that. She mostly just oops into it. Making it that Luz ACTUALLY has to work for her magic and the show actually has to explore how the magic works, making it so she has something to learn is just strictly better, especially for the concept of her learning to be a witch. Eda would actually be able to teach her something instead of shrugging and going "Welp, good luck!"

I will say that the bible does also lean more into an adventurous aspect though. This version of episodes would easily be more fantastical and include more magic in them which would help the Isles not feel so much like our realm. I will say the fact that there's also active anti-human prejudice also would be good because then Luz being human would, you know... Matter. Not that the Isles is really given a personality even here besides the oppression they're theoretically under. It's still a very generic fantasy setting.

A lot of the rest though? It's really not that unique or different from the show itself. Lilith is almost exactly the same, Tibbles is just Gus but a demon, there are slightly more restrictions on things like being human or magic but, you know, the show didn't care about its one law, why would it care about three? Even Amity, who does look better on here, is only because it's on paper. This is literally just Amity's pitch in S1 after all. All the reasons people loved Amity are here.

Conceptually it is fine but I am surprised about how not only this got picked up but also how it was greenlit so heavily as to get a pilot animatic, with voice acting, based on these concepts. There's just some very clear cleaning up that needs to be done, basic questions on its own setting and own logic that isn't even playing into the comedy/fantasy angles that could let you let it pass. It's not all of them or even the majority but a skeptical prereader could even raise these basic sorts of inconsistencies like the ones I brought up above. After all, this is half a season's worth of episodes pitched and a fifth of them are still going to Amity and more of them have Luz directly interacting with King than they do Eda.

There's a final thing I have to bring up due to it being why I think the show changed so drastically from this pitch bible to its final form: This is way more complicated. TOH already has extremely decompressed storytelling and too many elements working in tandem. Meanwhile, every character is MORE complicated in this one and less connected to each other, necessitating that each, except maybe Eda, will take more time to get through their stuff. The writing team either had to sharpen how much they could do in an episode or simplify and congregate elements. We see this a LOOOOT in S2A, especially Escaping Expulsion, where it seems the writers went "Even with three whole seasons planned, we don't have enough time to do everything we want to, the way we like to, so we need to start cutting and simplifying even more than before."

One example of this that's really easy: In the pitch bible, Willow is a random witch who lives near Eda. Well that means she'll likely either take time out of a couple episodes as she's introduced or take up an entire episode just for herself. Tibbles is also just on their own, like in the show. Introducing both of these characters is not really an option. However, put them both into Hexside and suddenly you can introduce three characters at the same time organically, like we saw with I Was a Teenage Abomination.

Luz just being gifted magic is another element to this. Her having to actually experiment for every spell and having to have a real system to her spells limits what she can do but also means spending a LOT more time on her magic. You can't just have a flower open up and give her the glyph of the day as easily, nor have her be able to throw her spells around as she wants. Making it so she just needs reams of paper and/or a marker makes it a lot easier and simpler to have her start casting magic.

This version of TOH would have SHATTERED under its own scope while the current version mostly bends and cracks from it. However, if people do use this to go "FUCK DISNEY EVEN HARDER!" I won't be surprised. Grand scope ALWAYS looks better on paper than it does in action. It sounds epic and multi-faceted and complex. The problem is that it still has to fit its format and it is MUCH harder to execute on than a more simple concept.

There's a reason the only perfect project is the one you never do because you can promise the world without ever having to deliver. So, while it's nice to see an earlier version, I am by no means going to say this would have been a better version of TOH.

======+++++======

Sorry for anyone hoping for a link to the pitch bible btw. I just don't have one as I got given it as a document.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[colekinnie-4life]

Ranking Ninjago Seasons Pt 1 (F and D Tier)

Part 2…

Yeah, I’m doing this.

Why? I’m bored as shit and also I just reread a post that was ranking Ninjago seasons, so why not?

And the title of “Worst Ninjago Season in my Opinion” goes to….

Rebooted!

I hate this season.

It’s. So. Fucking. Boring.

Barely anything happens at all! In the 8 episode runtime, which makes this the second shortest Ninjago season from the Wilfilm era.

Ok first, positives.

Pixane is cute and Zane’s sacrifice was done excellently. His character is also made a bit better, which I appreciate.

Uh- we get 3 minutes of Lava interactions.

Welp time for my negatives!

This season takes forever to go anywhere, like I said. Then once they deal with the Overlord in the Digiverse, erm actually that did jack shit and he’s still alive by the way! Pythor just ate him!

(Now that I’m typing this out I sound crazy)

Lloyd and Garmadon’s story is done decently, sure, but Lloyd is a complete egotistical moron throughout the whole thing.

“Oh I’m the Golden Ninja I can do anything! I’m God himself!”

Sure he had the powers of God and he “destroyed” the Overlord in season 2, which kinda justifies his behavior, but he’s so annoying and unbearable to watch.

Sensei Garmadon is good. Nothing else to say about that plot line.

Time for the worse plot line, aka the stuff the main ninja are doing.

Honestly I barely remember what they were trying to do because of how forgettable this season is. I’m pretty sure that they’re just screwing around trying to get the Overlord out of the computers and keeping Lloyd away from him, but that’s all I remember besides…

THE LOVE TRIANGLE.

OH MY JOHN SPINJITZU.

I DESPISE THIS PLOTLINE WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING.

THIS. THIS IS THE MAIN REASON I HATE REBOOTED.

It ruins Nya’s character, makes Jay unlikeable for this season, season 4 and the beginning of season 6, and Cole- I mean Cole’s not all that innocent but he’s just kinda standing in the middle of all this. His character doesn’t go through the meatgrinder of character assassination.

Nya’s whole character in the past 2 seasons was being an independent girlboss who did whatever the fuck she wanted.

But the second that a computer AI tells her “you should like Cole instead of Jay!”, she decides that “I’m gonna listen to a computer despite the fact I’ve been dating Jay for 2 seasons now!”

She and Cole have no chemistry whatsoever. In season 1, Cole said he wished he had a sister like her, clearly only seeing her as a friend.

Luckily in canon he was just confused by all the attention and didn’t actually like her. But still, the whole “don’t tell Jay” thing makes me mad, and Cole rarely makes me mad.

Jay, oh my gosh.

He’s not as bad as Nya but he’s still thrown into the meatgrinder of character assassination.

The second that Pixal says that Nya’s perfect match is Cole, he immediately pins the blame on him and tackles him to the ground for no reason. Cole was only fighting back for self defense.

As Tom Critic put it:

“WHY IS THIS COLE’S FAULT?!!”

He and Cole’s beef is so dumb. And Nya ain’t making it any better.

“This macho stuff is making you both look like fools!”

EVEN THOUGH ITS YOUR FAULT THEY’RE FIGHTING IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE YOU LISTENED TO A FUCKING COMPUTER YOU BITCH-

*ahem ahem*

What else is there to hate about this plot line?

How about the fact that it goes absolutely nowhere? There was no point for adding this. Absolutely no reason besides the fact that Jay, Cole, and Nya don’t get anything to do this season.

EVEN THOUGH KAI DOESNT GET ANYTHING EITHER!

He’s shown to hate futuristic technology and that’s literally the only thing he gets this season! So what’s the point of the love triangle to get them to do something?

Oh yeah! There is no point!

Back to Kai. All he gets to do is flirt with a random girl at a gas station and get tied to a rocket.

Oh yeah he got tied to a rocket ship. That doesn't sound traumatizing whatsoever/sarc.

Waking up after being knocked out for who knows how long and finding out you're tied up underneath a rocket ship that could set off at any time, burning you to a crisp in one big firey explosion.

That totally wouldn't scar you for life.

Ok back to a positive, aka Zane's sacrifice.

Some people say the saddest part of Zane's death was the fact that Nya gave Cole a hug afterwards and Jay looks sad, but that's not the saddest part to me.

The saddest part was right before he died, when everyone is crying out at him to stop.

More specifically, when Kai cries out:

"LET GO OF HIM ZANE! WHAT IS HE DOING?!"

The way that Vincent Tong voiced that scene literally brings tears to my eyes and shivers down my spine every time. He poured so much energy into that oh my gosh.

Alright, no more complaining about this season before this becomes a 27 page essay. Next!

Crystallized…

WAIT WRONG POSTER-

Ok, there we go!

Yeah, Crystallized sucks in my opinion. Bite me.

I’m not like Crusty783 where I hate this season with every fiber of my being, but I still don’t like it that much.

First part was decent, ig. The Skybound callback with the whole fugitive storyline was a nice idea, and the ninja actually committing a crime instead of being framed was cool.

Nya could’ve come back a little later than 6 episodes after turning into water, but oh well. At least she’ll add something to the plot later, right?

…right?

(We’ll get back to that…)

Fugidove is the bane of my existence. He’s. So. Annoying. Just. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.

I mean he’s supposed to be annoying and I get that but still. He’s a worse character than Dareth and I hate Dareth with all of my being so that shows how bad of a character Fugi-Dick is.

Dareth is fine this season ig. He’s actually not an idiot during the court case and doesn’t try to bust the ninja out of jail using a cake.

What else is there in part 1?

Mr. Kabuki Mask was a neat idea. If he wasn’t Harumi then I’d actually like him. But unfortunately, it was Harumi.

I didn’t like her before she died, what makes you think I’ll like her now, ninjago writers?

Alright, since barely anything happens in part 1, time for part 2.

Oh my gosh this is the main reason I don’t like Crystallized.

This season is the embodiment of the meatgrinder of character assassination I talked about. Everyone gets butchered.

Ok not everyone. Kai, Jay, and Cole mostly stay the same. To be fair they don’t really do anything though-

Lloyd is no longer Lloyd. He is La-Lloyd, as Knightly called him after s8 (I don’t see what his problem is with Lloyd in season 8). He has the “Harumi you don’t have to do this”-itus, meanwhile when it comes to Garmadon who is TRYING TO BE A BETTER PERSON AND BECAME A GOOD GUY, he shuts him down because “you’re an Oni, and Oni are incapable of caring”.

(Even though Mystaké existed and she fucking died to save your life but ok La-Lloyd, sure.)

Like he thinks that Harumi, the girl that gave him PTSD for 4 seasons in a row before this, has a better chance of becoming a better person than his father, someone who is clearly becoming a better person and is actually trying to be nice to you now? Puh-lease.

Oh yeah, Harumi!

She got shoved into the character assassination blender before being put into the meat grinder. Her character is 100% ruined because of the Overlord saying she has feelings for La-Lloyd.

*inhale*

NO SHE FUCKING DOESN’T!

THAT WAS THE PART OF HER CHARACTER THAT MADE HER SO GOOD IN SEASONS 8-9! SHE DIDNT GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT LLOYD SHE WAS JUST USING HIM GAHHHHHHHH-

Alright, who else is there?

Oh yeah, Nya! What’s she up to after being water for a full year?

Absolutely nothing. Like she does jackshit besides be a Samurai X themed taxi.

Yes I stole that line from Crusty783.

Her and Kai, her BROTHER, have one single interaction this whole season after she was gone for a year. The show only focuses on Jaya angst because we need more of that shoved down our throats! Seasons 6, 9, and 14 (Seabound, don’t @ me) weren’t enough, we need MORE!

Zane.

Return of the Ice Emperor makes me want to shove my head into a meatgrinder.

I fucking loathe this episode.

With a title like that, you’d think they’d give him some trauma/PTSD when it comes to the fact that he, y’know, COMMITTED GENOCIDE FOR 60 YEARS??

But no. Zane gets taken apart for the 10485792742874387492749273947482773747374387447th time and he acts like the Ice Emperor because this show treats trauma like a joke most of the time.

The whole “emotionless arc” from part 1 was decent ig. He was pretty funny when he was talking like a toaster, and the moment when he starts screeching when he turns on his emotions for 2 seconds was funny.

The Benefit of Grief was a good episode. Sally was a bit annoying but eh whatever. Dareth didn’t get on my nerves for once and Hot Dog McFiddlesticks or whatever his name was was really entertaining.

Ok, one more point to make about Crystallized, that’s the villain.

Say hello to the Crystal King!

Oh? What’s that? He’s not a new villain? What do you mean-

It’s the fucking Overlord. Again. This is the 3rd time he’s reappeared, just let him die already!

I hate the Overlord. He’s such a nothing burger of a villain. His entire motivation is just “I’m evil and dark so I make everyone else evil and dark.”

I get he’s the embodiment of evil but give him some personality, oh my gosh.

Make it so he likes seeing people in pain. Have him laugh whenever someone got turned into a crystal zombie or something, idk!

That’s how he is in my Golden Hope au. Sure that’s not canon, obviously, but I wanted to give him *some* personality besides “me evil.”

Ok, is there anything about this season that I like besides Benefit of Grief?

Actually, yes!

SAFE HAVEN IS THE BEST EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SEASON.

LAVA NATION UNITE!!

The whole thing is just Kai being a bisexual disaster. I love it so much.

It gives us this screenshot, which gives enough context tbh:

It’s just “GAH I LOVE THEM SO MUCH” for 11 minutes, and that’s basically it.

The episode gives Skylor some character, hallelujah. Last couple of seasons she’s been in did not do her any justice.

Pythor was funny. And he gave us the scene of:

“Ninja~ where are you?”

“We’re over here!”

So yeah, Safe Haven is the best episode ever. Ok, not the best episode of all time, but it’s definitely a personal favorite of mine, solely for all the Lava brainrot I get to indulge in.

(Fun fact: Cole was originally going to say that Kai was handsome when he was acting all loopy. I hate homophobes.)

What else is there in this season-?

Ronin’s return was nice. Glad he went back to his previous personality rather than being a full time criminal like he was in The Island. I get that he’s like “I do whatever the fuck I want” most of the time, but he doesn’t give off the vibes of using the criminals he’s hired to catch just to swindle a bunch of islanders.

Alright, that’s it for Crystallized.

Next!

Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitzu: Fire Chapter

Yeah I’m considering this a separate season for this tier list. Bite me.

This is the main reason why (mostly) everyone hates season 11, you cannot convince me otherwise.

Nothing. Happens.

The main reasons for why I hate certain Ninjago seasons is because they’re boring/assassinate characters.

The latter doesn’t happen, thank the FSM, but the first point still stands.

Assphera is a dumb villain. Only redeeming quality about her is the joke where she screams “REVENGE” every two seconds in the most ear-splitting voice ever.

Props to her voice actress, RIP.

Anyways, back to the actual season.

Like I said, nothing happens in the beginning. Just 4 or 5 episodes of the ninja dicking around looking for something to do, then they free Assphera from her pyramid and then finally, they start doing shit.

Ok but this line from Lloyd made me laugh:

“Who opens a possibly cursed tomb without checking it out first?”

…you-?

The paperboy episode was- pointless. But it was still dumb fun ig 🤷🏼‍♀️

Snaketastrophe was a really funny episode. I actually like that one.

But that doesn’t mean I like the first couple of episodes.

Too many burp and fart jokes in the first episode, the second episode is just boring, same with all the other episodes about being stuck on a rock with Barney the Dinosaur Beetle.

Kai’s powerless arc was just a repeat of Lloyd’s powerless arc from season 9, but done worse imo.

(I mean Firemaker is one of the best ninjago episodes ever created besides Safe Haven but that’s not important rn)

Overall this half of the season is boring as shit and I just want to get to the ice chapter when ever I watch it.

Alright, that’s it for today!

Here’s the tier list so far:

Next part will be C and B tiers.

See you in 10 years when I make that/j

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

PN au: Juleka finds Chloé having a panic attack or smth at school in the bathrooms, and falls into one of her Panthera Noire emotional support routines

Chloé, immediately after realizing who she is after being calmed down, just pauses for a moment and goes "fuck. I only got 1 new friend instead of two, huh. welp, better start planning out excuses for you I guess..."

Juleka doesn't need the excuses, but gives the ones that are more general to Ladybug during patrol

Chloé hears a specific line she spent over 10 minutes making up get dropped by Marinette about 3 days after giving it to Juleka, and Chloé tells Juleka "If you've been sharing my writing with a friend, then it seems I've learned too much."

Bonus crack plotline: someone overhears this line and immediately asks them about it, and Chloé quickly bullshits that she writes LadyNoire fanfiction as a cover, and now has to start actually writing a ship she doesn't believe in (because identity shenanigans) and comes up with an actually solid story that LB and Panthera end up reading one night while fucking around after patrol.

Extra bonus crack plotline: LB then accuses Panthera of writing the story, because some of the excuses are the ones passed along from Chloé, word for word. Panthera now has to protect the secret that someone knows who she is, and ends up 'admitting' to writing it as a last-resort lie.

Later, Juleka is freaking out about how to tell Chloé that she accidentally stole the credit for her writing, While Plagg and Luka laugh their asses off at the mess that's been made.

BAHA nice

[anton-the-cock]

I wrote this post some time ago as a reply to someone and now I somehow want to post it again with some changes lol

TW: mentions of murder, referenced canon abuse and swearing

Let’s talk about redemption arcs and people’s overwhelming desire to punish fictional characters for what they did... Inspired by Endeavor hate ngl... I mostly speak about fictional charcters in this post so pllease, don’t go dumb and understand that fictional characters and irl people should be treated differently

I think sometimes people don`t understand why punishment exists in our society at all. Like, why couldn`t we just forgive? Why punishment is needed? Oh, I would like to talk about behavioural psychology, but it is kinda creepy so instead let`s remember what my teacher of LAWS said(idk what you call it in your bitchass America)

Punishment basically serves two functions:

Preventative (show others and a person that they can’t just get away with their deeds). Like, if you knew that there are no negative consequences, wouldn`t you do it? Wouldn`t you kill the old lady?

Correction and all work with a person in general (for example, you can be forced to go through some psychological help)

Also, I lied there’s one more: compensation. Like, if you stole something, then bring money back, you little shit. Or pay for therapy for your victim

So when we put it into stories and so popular nowadays redemption arcs (which I fucking adore if they are done correctly) we have 4 points out of this 3 cause the first one can be put into two

Character is punished to show others that this is not something you should do (it’s a kinda societal thing and has nothing to do with character in particular. This point in general is not interesting because it doesn’t drives changes in person by itself)

Character is punished so he himself would think twice before doing this shit again (we can’t know if person’s remorse is genuine so it’s better to simply scare them. But I can allow skipping this point if person’s remorse is clealy shown to be genuine and we as readers understand that. That’s probably the big distinction we, as readers, should see: while irl we never know persons true motives, work of fiction can provide them to us clearly)

Character changes and understands what is wrong in what he has done (the part of redemption we all love and enjoy)

Characters work hard to correct or atone for their mistakes

As we can see first two bullets has nothing to do with character development and serve for the purpose of maintaining order. The third one IS a character development and the last one is what makes people actually forgive horrible actions and not go ape shit I guess. But for some of us nothing is enough, isn`t it?

And there is one more shit that is often in redemption arcs and that shit is great and I fucking love it

Explanation of the character’s behaviour, their reasoning and motivation

I truly enjoy reading about WHY characters behave a certain way but people, remember, SAD BACKSTORY IS NEVER AN EXCUSE FOR YOUR ACTIONS. Same goes to your mental problems and hard life situation. The fact that behaviour can be explained doesn’t mean shit. Like, behaviour also follows certain laws and despite the fact that it’s sometimes hard to understand all the details we still theoretically can explain ANY BEHAVIOUR. Does this mean we can excuse any behaviour? HELL NO

So remember folks, “They had their reasons to do this” means nothing most of the time. “I wanted to try how it feels” is actually a valid reason to kill someone, you know. Of course, if crimes is not severe, reasoning suddenly can be very important like we won`t punish harshly someone who stole bread cause he is starving or cause he has kleptomania (I mean as a literal disorder). But even in that case you must pay back money cause like stealing is bad but eat the rich

let`s talk examples from bnha cause why not

Endeavour

We have Enji oh my baby you have done so much stupid shit you dumbass. Sad backstory even if will be brought up in the future, currently is not a focus of redemption at all. Like, he even doesn`t explain his behaviour too much. “He want to be the strongest, so he decided that even if his genes will make it to the top it will be enough. As a result,  blinded by his goal,   he abused his family”. Basically, it`s all the explanation we have right now. And if Hori stops at it I will be fine with it. Honestly, as much as I want to learn more about Enji’s past if Horikoshi leaves everything at this I would give him nothing but mad respect cause... This kind of shows that your reasoning doesn’t matter that much if you did horrifying things

So 3 points to redeem someone

Enji didn’t suffer any punishment for his actions (nightmares are considered punishment only if you believe in God. Also, too weak, God, try harder... And same goes for High-End). When I think about him being punished I actually worry about society’s reaction cause, like, he is number 1 hero and the fact that he’s an abuser will be, like, very shocking to simple people.Trust in hero will fall harder than my will to live during 2020. And honestly, media would just turn this into a drama possibly hurting other members of his family, like.... Enji being legally punished for his action would be an interesting plotline but in general I am not a fan

We see his genuine remorse and character growth. We all agree that he even is drawn differently now changed and trying to become a better person, yeah? Clumsily at first, but he genuinely works hard to be a better peron, hero and father. I can respecct that

Compensation… Well, you can exactly “correct” trauma so he should pay up for psychologists for each child he probably should follow the path of atonement and try to give them something he robbed them from. Like, go to family dinners with Fuyumi even though every last one of them is a disaster and nobody is happy to be there. Or make everything possible to provide Rei calm life with her children (like building a new house, yes, this is an amazing thing) or at least become *reducted cause I wanna this post to be serious and SFW*... Tbh I have nothing to say, he himself says multiple times that he seeks nothing but atonment, not even forgiveness

So like you better work bitch to make your family happy bastard... [And tbh they seem so much better then when I first wrote this post, I am so proud of you, my garbage fire man]

Overhaul

In no way is he redeemed but somehow people put Overhaul and Endeavor stans in the same category so here he goes

Kai has something Enji doesn’t: very good and detailed explanation, a plan, a smart reasoning. His wrong deeds were basically for a better good he believed in. But we all collectively hate him for what he done to Eri despite his actions having r E A S o n S. Dude has some MOTIVATION. So like yeah bros. It makes him an interesting character and he is an amazing villain but dude deserves to rot in prisons. He shows no remorse and I am gonna bet he won`t even think about somehow helping others. Dude is a shitty person. And I fucking love him

So let’s go for our 3 bullets again

Punishment. Yes, he is punished, he is in jail with both his hands cut off. Would it make people forgive him? Nah

Personal growth. I would like to see it but as far we saw barely no growth... Though maybe being in jail without quirk will make his brain work

Atonement... Dude has a Messiah complex, I ain’t waiting for that anytime soon

So I asked myself if I had two men: one who spent a sentence in jail for child abuse but is more or less the same person and another who wasn’t punished for his abuse but feel genuine remorse and actively try to make things better who will I choose? Of course, I will choose Pikachu

But is it possible to redeem Overhaul? I wonder if there`s a force in this world strong enough to make him become a better person. Welp... I am a sucker for redemptions, justt letting you know

All for One

Oh, he is irredeemable (and this is sexy). Why is he here? Cause, well

Even if he is punished there`s no punishment severe enough to describe how horrifying his deeds are

Even if he is to feel remorse… he has like 500 years or something??? And he didn`t feel anything killing people??? So why would he change today?

Even if he atone for what he’s done… I am to believe he started at least a civil war. You can`t atone for that bitch. You crossed all fucking lines, all fucking lines

AfO is literally the most evvil man in bnha... I don’t want to see him redeemed cause I love characters that are pure evil and I love the despair of realizing you can’t fix what you have done. Though you are free to have a different opinion! Who knows, maybe Horikoshi will make a classy redemption for him and I will scream out of excitement? Cause I am that kind of bitch??? Who knows! I just love to think Doctor Ujiko is gay for him

Anyway, why do people like to make this characters suffer? Like, Endeavor, Minoru, Overhaul, many others? Is this part of the “punishment” to feel like person paid for their deeds? Or do people just like fictional violence and punishing “bad” characters make them feel good about themselves? Who knows

I have no idea what this post is about I want to sleep and I like Enji though if you dislike him this is fine. I hope it was interesting reading this, love you all bye

Don’t kill me for my controversial takes, I am depressed

[thefudge]

thoughts on elite season 2

- idk why but i found this season more engaging than the first which i only watched fragments of because i couldn’t be arsed to care about certain plotlines, but season 2 made me care about almost everyone? well, almost. but it was far more compelling anyway. 

-lucrecia/lu is turning out to be a Problematic Fave. she’s probably one of the more complex characters on the show. despite how wretched she can be,  i like how deeply she wants to be “seen” and understood and i def felt bad for her about guzman (oh, and we’ll get to him, ugh). her back and forth with valerio was both compelling and a little frustrating (valerio himself was both compelling and frustrating). i don’t think the writers put that much thought into it, but i liked the undercurrent of sadness in their bond which was far more interesting than the forbidden aspect (but yea ok, that was also hot, yall know me lol). the actors sold it pretty well. and that oscar wilde quote <3 incidentally, valerio reminds me of a romanian actor/singer who also starred in an incest-based drama awhile back.  but i have to say, one thing that really jumped out at me is how much of a secret gay lucrecia is. she has so much gay energy with almost every girl she comes up against, rebeca and nadia especially, it’s insane. every time she interacts with one of the dudes it’s so weak (except with valerio, but that dynamic is not so straightforward). whenever i see her sexy-whispering to some guy it feels like she’s faking it, like she’s being a vindictive but ultimately domesticated doll. and i think she knows this too and the performance wears her down. whereas she seems to come alive with women. her obsession with being betrayed and ignored and unloved by men might also stem from the fact that no man can ever give her what she truly wants. she’s def closeted imo, and her lil friendship with omar makes so much sense in that context too. petition to give lu a gilfriend in season 3, preferably rebeca.  

- rebeca, however, is the true MVP of the season for me. omg. i love!!! her!!! so!!! much!!!  i was SO MAD everyone slept on this grl!!! she’s funny and smart and brash and loyal and sweet and justasdfgdfsda NO ONE DESERVES HER. i also think her chemistry with lu should be explored further. (i wanna write fic where rebeca and lu make out at the halloween party after lu gets dumped)

- polo is also a Problematic Fave, even though i hope he goes down lol. i really like how the actor plays him as both volatile and fragile, like a stubborn asshole but also a sniveling brat who wants to be “redeemed” on his own terms. 

- i  can’t say i cared all that much about cayetana and her “maria del bario” subplot, i mean i didn’t feel all that sorry for her, but i do like the sharp edges given to her character. and while polo/cayetana is not that interesting to me, their bonnie and clyde shenanigans promise to be a lot of fun. it makes a lot of sense that she would be the one to help him, not only because of his kindness to her, but primarily because she likes taking things. literally. she seems desperately hungry for whatever polo can offer. 

-  omar/ander was sweet as always, and i liked their ups and downs and their more emotional moments, but good god was ander a petty asshole. when omar dressed up as dr. frank-n-furter and ander was being a tool about it and the others were shaming him for, u know, having a cool costume for halloween, i was like “omar, bby, you gotta stop hanging out with uncultured swine”. that being said, ander keeping polo’s secret for so long beggared belief. i understand the impossible scenario he was in and i like that they showed the inner turmoil but...yikes, it’s murder, dude.

- samuel/carla was...fine. i liked some of their more intense scenes, feeding off each other’s anger, plus the manipulations and the mindfuckery, but it was still lacking in substance for me. i also think carla becomes less interesting around him, whereas samuel has sort of grown up this season. idk, i’m ambivalent. 

and finally...

- nadia & guzman. SIGHHHHhhhhhhhhh. the couple & characters i was most looking forward to ended up being the most disappointing part of this season for me. i kind of hate them now. okay, maybe not hate them, but i am deeply annoyed. i think nadia was poorly written this season. i have no clue who this girl is, what she really wants, what she believes in. she was made to react in a certain way or do things just to carry the plot forward or to give the viewers some steamy scenes. literally, i was so frustrated with her and the lack of internal logic. even her confession to her parents at the end and their heartfelt hug felt hollow and unearned. and guzman, oh gaaaawwwwd, this douchebag and his constant edgy angst, i get iiiiiit, we get iiiiit, i just wanted him to be dooone. i really disliked him, even when they were framing him as troubled romantic hero. the nadia/guzman scenes were absolutely rushed, i’m sorry. their first kiss??? while nadia was super drunk and we get that weird disco editing that hides both their faces and it’s so fake-artsy and devoid of feeling and underwhelming??? NOPE. i thought this would be a big deal for nadia, for both of them actually, but when i saw how quickly they rushed into it i was disappointed. most of their interactions lacked that special intimacy they had in season 1. like yeah, the chemistry was there, but the angst felt manufactured, cuz i guess both he and nadia have no problem cheating and doing whatever the hell they want.  i also found it laughable that not even 15 minutes into the first episode guzman immediately tells her about the deal he made with her father...which cheapened the whole thing. i really thought that deal would carry weight and mean something....welp, guess not. all the interesting and significant obstacles they built around these characters were now revealed as a deck of playing cards. when halfway thru the season guzman lamented how he couldn’t be with nadia due to societal constraints i laughed out loud because clearly, that’s a surface problem for them. nadia does not seem at all attached to her faith and culture, so really, what’s to stop them from being together? her family? i don’t buy it. and my problem isn’t that nadia wants to break away from her muslim heritage and be with guzman; my problem is that we don’t know what the hell she wants and it doesn’t seem to matter. once upon a time i thought she cared a lot about her schoolwork and future career...but that seems to take a backseat for the guzman drama. halfway thru the season she doesn’t hang out with rebeca and omar anymore, and it’s just...disheartening to see her be all about this really mediocre dude. not even her budding friendship with valerio goes anywhere, which was a shame. others have talked about the troubling narrative of “westernizing” nadia and portraying it as the solution to her problems and while i think the show isn’t ready to push that agenda, i also feel like they have no fucking clue who this character is. anyway, i will stop here, but i’m genuinely disappointed and idk if this can be remedied in season 3. 

so overall, i enjoyed this season more, but boyyy did it disappoint where i was most expectant 

[ohhicas]

I've only been into comics for a few years, but I've read enough of the old Flash stuff where I adore the classic incarnations of the Rogues. Honestly curious here: what's it like to be a fan of James Jesse back when he was retgonned around 10 years ago and see him brought back but now all mwahaha crazy evil? I'm way more used to Axel (and all that off-panel character development in Nu52, thanks DC) but even I find this kinda weird. Was James ever crazy evil in any arc?

^- me 90% of the time someone says James is coming back to recent media & it’s not a direct continuation of the comics prior to 2004

[ Warning: this is gonna get long and be full of a lot of assumptions. I can never form solid statements and things will get jumbled, because I suck at presenting things ]

[ this is my can of worms hill and you opened it so I’m dYING HERE ]

I mean, back in the earliest ages, no Rogue had a real personality to speak of? They were just “1960s Bad Guy in a different outfit” at the very start, with quirks! Like James having a thing for toys and nuclear powered flying tricycles. It wasn’t until that era ended that they started getting real distinct and into what a lot of ‘classic’ James fans loved and appreciated? 

(I think at least, I’m just One Person here pretending like I even understand HALF of what the ‘classic’ fandom enjoyed. I’m wildly speculating just going off what fanworks I’ve seen produced.)

(I don’t have all my scans anymore but I’ll toss in scans when I have them)

But that’s when we started getting things like James actually having specified friendships with certain people

or clear distaste towards others, and when you could tell he was more of a wild card than the others. Or when he decided to fuck off and hang out in Hollywood with Blue Devil for a bit, even siding with Kid Devil to deck out Captain Boomerang. 

Or when he decided to fuck off to Gotham, to mess with Catwoman by pretending he didn’t know who she was, but absolutely knew who she was because of how she walked and carried herself, but James being James was like “mmmmm long con, nope”

hey lil Cold, gimme all ur guns and don’t question why I’m in drag xoxo

Even then, he wasn’t shown to be vicious yet! He’d hopped around various places, was still considered A Rogue, A Criminal, and as far as any comic reader could tell by trying to count up how many civilians may have been crossfired at, he had no On Purpose deaths racked? Like, the only thing you could really argue was he may have made someone drive their car off a cliff once, but I’m like 98% sure they’re fine. He’s not a murderer, he’s just here for a laugh and a long-con for funsies because he know he can get away with it!

AND THEN WE GET A LITTLE OLDER, LITTLE DARKER

[ I’M PUTTING A CUT HERE CAUSE AFTER I THREW IT INTO DRAFTS, I REALIZED I GOT REALLY LONG, I’M SORRY IF MY LAYOUT SUCKS ASS FOR THIS. ]

little more 90s Hair. Little more 90s stereotypical “But what if EVERYONE WENT TO HELL” demon plots against Satanic Hockey Hair Neron. And James? still wasn’t evil? He was a little dismissive when everyone ELSE died sure but he still in the end turned around like “nghgng I’m THE ONLY ONE”, purposely got his ass down there, regretted it, and then beat Neron at his own game to save the entire fucking world. Because! He could! And he did it so well. STILL NOT EVIL, even when he had a chance right then and there to take over everything alongside Neron should he so desire. Like, two words, maybe some under the table BJs depending on how you feel about that pairing (I don’t), and bam. He would’ve bested nearly any other villain in the DCU save like, Satan himself. Or i guess one of those world destroyers. But we’ll get back around to those BOY HOWDY WE WILL GET AROUND TO THOSE. 

So James! Saves! The world! Sorta! Later they fight Neron again and his kid he somehow had somewhere down the road (it sounds like I’m complaining, i’m not, I love Billy and Mindy both I just wish they showed up like… ever again?) and he sTILL SAVES EVERYONE. 

Piper helps by their 90s ponytails combined. 

Somewhere around here, because dates and timing aren’t my strong suit, he also goes and messes with Bart for a bit. It’s pretty much a Spy Vs Spy episode, but with less bloodshed. 

ANYWAY IT’S AFTER THIS POINT THAT THINGS GET… where I think the majority of “James is a Low Rate Joker” comes from? 

For some unknown goddamn reason, in between issues (James wasn’t a Super Frequent Rogue? He’d show up, sure, but in the huge run of the series he’d just kind of vanish for 20 issues at a time and you’d go “welp, guess he’s still alive”) James went super-cop? like, the FBI? For some reason? Hired James “I am a probably still wanted felon, a man who has escaped jail numerous times, probably never served a full sentence, known Trickster and liar” Jesse. to the FBI. And for so many issues it’s like he legit just. Did this. He threatens to shoot Piper who he was up until this very moment, considerably very close friends with (as far as comics would show Rogue/Rogue friendships), unwilling to help his friend clearly framed for murder of his parents and losing his mind by the day. Despite James talking Hart down a little on the whole ‘THE MAYOR IS ROSCOE ADN NOBODY BELIEVES MEEEEEEEE” thing. 

Also he steals Digger’s dead ass corpse? 

FBI James is a fucking enigma. Here he is standing up for Gay Rights even though Piper is like “mm maybe I should forgive my abuser??”

BUT. AFTER THIS? WE GET COUNTDOWN WHICH IS JUST. Countdown is. IT’s a problem. James’s personality is IMMEDIATELY HORRIBLY u-turned into “well we need SOMEONE to be the Bad Guy to Piper’s Good!” DESPITE. ALL THESE YEARS OF COMICS.This is the shit you’ll see people who don’t know better or just want a reason to hate the Trickster (despite being 100% okay for them to just say he’s annoying/they don’t like his tights/acrobats are stupid) reference. James is, suddenly, very abruptly, a homophobe. Like an “ew don’t touch me” level homophobe because I’m pretty sure DC snorts cocaine and threw a dart at a board for “how could they make these two fight” and landed on GAY RIGHTS IS TRENDING. 

BUTSTILL IN THE FUCKING END OF ALL OF THIS?After so many issues of James being a complete fuckass prick? 

springboards himself from his current job of being railroad face putty to catching bullets to make sure Piper wasn’t gonna die. Without knowing the proceedings of this entire plotline, James out of nowhere after so much gaybashing, still finds it in him to leap into the path of multiple bullets and save Piper. Because, yknow, he’s evil!

Later it’s shown he’s been working to take everyone down (y’know, like when he was in the FBI) and left Piper specific helpful notes to do it himself. Because Evil Bad Guy! Helping his gone-good friend! Take down bad guys! 

DC I STILL HAVE SO MANY GODDMAN QUESTOINgsd

But yeah that’s. That’s where we last saw James. in 2007, dead, after saving Piper when he could have easily pulled a Joker and ripped HIM down to take hte bullets and etcetc, y’know. Something a Very Bad Person would’ve done, like the characterization we’ve seen now. 

His ghost (easily argued as Piper’s own mental construction of James sassing him) sasses Hartley to even, in his mental state, saw off James’s hand so Piper doesn’t have to lug his weight around and has a fighting chance at living. And in the end, when Piper’s fighting the thing that can destroy the fucking world, it’s shown only Piper was the one who could save them? Because his flute, and his musical ability, and [enter DC comic science here]. You could argue this was James, once again, somehow knowing the long-con at play here, getting screwed over at EVERY turn, and sacrificing himself so they ‘good’ team had a fighting chance.You could also argue this is me losing my mind trying to make sense of the things they made James do. (my running argument is he was purposely a prick to push Piper away, so he could keep him safe) 

Also Piper plays James a Swan Song of Queen as the final boss explodes and he’s fully prepared to die. So like. There’s that. 

AND THATS BASICALLY THE COMICS? The main, ‘canon timeline’ comics. I’m missing a LOT of little things here and there, but I’m not missing anything like body counts, or murder attempts, beyond the old Silver Age “Bad guy of the week” things like trying to make Flash’s head explode, or you know. Other “nobody really has a personality, we just have quirks”. 

MY NUMBER ONE GUESS TO WHERE THIS NEW PERSONALITY TREND COMES FROM?

Mark Hamil|’s OG run as him in the old live action show. That characterization was fun, for the time, and I even enjoyed it cause it was just that off the wall and you could tell it was what they used to decide he should be the Joker for the BATS Joker. Consider it a prototype (combined with all the previous comic jokers but that’s not for this long ass post) 

And if it’d stayed there, that’d be it! That’s it! But then JLU came along, and they referenced the old show for their version of James with a sprinkling of early-era comics, and a lot of people loved and watched that show. That was their version of the Trickster, because it was their first meeting with him! And I can’t fault that! But that guy was clearly off his rocker and I’m sure if the JLU allowed a higher rating, it would’ve been even closer to the old TV show. 

And both of THOSE were heavily, heavily referenced for the CW version, which as I’m at this point now means I need to slap my usual anti-CW tag onto things. I hate the CW James. There is so little comic in him it’s almost disgusting, and they ramped up so much of the Joker side of JLU & OGTV he might as well just be the Joker. It’s not a good representation of him at all. I have, also, only seen his first appearance episode, so maybe I’m wrong? But when you fuck up hard on the first run, why would I return for round 2? 

So with ALL THIS– 

REBOOT TIME. Whatever the newnew remake is calling itself. 

At first! With how James was! In the first panel flash of him clearly behind the scenes tugging so many wires and lines, watching everything with a bucket of popcorn while pulling others to his side, sitting pretty in an old museum? warehouse? highlighted in purples and vintage toys, I was like “holy shit this it. This is My Boy, back from the goddamn limbo-dead. It’s him.” But then“taking over the city entirely” to do? What? Turn it into the world’s biggest Trickster themepark? Make everyone wear striped leggings and combat boots? Martial Law of murder if you don’t carry rubber chickens? This is already veering from anything major James has ever done. As it stands I can’t see the gag here. Its’ weirdly dark and edgy, and way too close to something we saw the 90s TV show Trickster do, in the episode where he basically took over the place. The previews show him being what I’m assuming a Judge, Jury, & Executioner joke– and unless this spins into a Clopin song and dance number and his little hand puppet crops up to slam the button on the guillotine, I’m not having it, DC. 

They’re trying to tie him back into the CW, despite the writer saying he really enjoyed the Neron-era things with James (if I’m remembering the interview correctly). And it’s also why you may see me constantly saying “Well I sure as fuck hope Neron shows up” at anything new that’s released, to explain away all of… this.

This isn’t him. If they wanted a murderous Trickster, they should’ve just used Axel. The kid, canonly, tied explosives to stray dogs and homeless people. AXEL is the not-good Trickster, the murderous Trickster, the one you aren’t suppose to feel sorry for beyond being in way over his head due to his young age. 

i think I somehow didn’t answer your question

TL;DR

it sucks? it’s also great because there’s a .5% chance that maybe they’ll do it right and won’t reference the fucking 90s noncomic media. But then they do. And all I can do is laugh and shrug like ‘welp I expected nothing’. But when they get it RIGHT it’s like christmas came early.

[lacefedora]

tng liveblog Haven

Riker why are you like this?

it’s a creepy silver face! just for you Deanna

Ahahaha LWAXANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lwaxana I adore you but DONT SPRING A MARRIAGE ON YOUR DAUGHTER LIKE THIS

Riker bro arranged marriages aren’t that bizarre. Deanna/Riker becomes cute eventually but at this point I don’t see the appeal Deanna not at all

hey i recognize that actor playing Deanna’s fiance Wyatt

ooooh boy Lwaxana hates the Millers

“MY MOTHER IS A LITTLE ECCENTRIC” HAHAHAHA

Lwaxana just streamrolls all over every last person

Deanna’s sad little white rose

Wyatt is very shy aww.

Wyatt dude... you can’t just assume that the hot chick from your dreams is the one you’ll marry. that’s... odd...

these extinct terellians are here to kill ya

Riker did you jsut roll your eyes? Dude you’ve had your fucking chance man

Lwaxana starting fights and Data is jsut smiling in the background

aww Tasha floofed up her hair all pretty and 80s

mr homn why are you hitting the gong???

Lwaxana omg

deanna has every right to be upset with you all jeez

riker are you seriously off sulking in the holodeck? omg riker FUCKING REALLY? ‘ITS DAMNED UNFAIR TO ME’ this isn’t about you bitch

you are a very lucky man wyatt but I know this all goes to shit somehow

whoop there’s Wyatt’s hot chick

he’s going to transport himself over isn’t he

Deanna is both sad and relieved

aww she’s been drawing him too (or all of them have??)

OMG it’s Simeon from stargate universe! that’s who that is

this is a weird psychic connection plotline guys...

Millers are like ‘welp there went our son off with the alien’s never to be seen again’

hahah Lwaxana always has the parting shot.

thank god Deanna didn’t have to leave or we would have had an empty chair on the bridge. Who knows if the replacement councilor would have been permitted to sit there

[willreadforbooze]

Hey everyone!!

This week showed us, not for the first time, that this country is going to hell in a hand basket. There is absolutely no reason that black people and people of color are still being murdered by police. We are saddened by the number of people that still don’t understand the Black Lives Matter movement. If your first instinct at hearing that black lives are just as important as white ones is to argue, you are the problem. We proudly stand with BLM and will continue to uplift the voices of black people in this country and across the globe.

On that note, this isn’t the first list of Black content creators that has ever been made (they’ve been circling the internet since the internet was born) but here are some of our faves:

Our very own P$, Parker, Chef Boyar P. The love of our lives. He is a co-founder of this blog, and his content is *chef’s kiss* superb if we do say so ourselves. Check out any of his reviews like this one or this one or this one

Bee, But Bookish

My Name is Marines

Bow ties and Books

BanualCosmos

OhSheReads

and entirely too many more HERE is a great tweet from Bee with a whole list of other black bloggers

Sam’s Update

Welp, this week was a heaping pile of shit.

What Sam Finished:

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow: It is not physically possible for me to scream loudly enough about this book. There are so many things I loved about it. It’s powerful. The characters are well rounded. The mystery is juicy. The message is undeniable. The magic is cool AF. And all while reminding us that teenagers have a fuck ton of shit to deal with and their anxiety is real and warranted. Even when you’re not a mermaid. Drunk review coming.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca: This was adorable. I haven’t read a fluffy romance in so long and I fucking deserved it. This is a hate to love at a Ren Faire. COME AT ME.

What Sam is Currently Reading:

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal: Only barely started this audiobook but I have been excited to read this book since it came out and I was stoked to see my hold come through at the library. I also have a physical copy so we’ll see if I switch back and forth. What I can gather right now is that there’s a woman disguising herself as a man and this other guy is a death god. I really don’t need more.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender: I’ve had this book for ages but I hadn’t gotten around to it. Then a few things happened, Sam from Thoughts on Tomes review came out and she loved it. And then Kheryn was at Bookconline and I loved what they had to say. And then the world went to shit. The gods were saying “Sam, it’s time” This is an islander fantasy story where our main character, a woman of color serving as a sugar plantation owner. She can read minds. She has this master plan to take down the white man. So I’m in to that.

What Sam put down:

Forged in Fire and Stars by Andrea Roberson: I was pretty excited by the thought of blacksmith magic but I got about 125 pages in and nothing had happened. Ginny reminded me what happened when I read too many mediocre books (a massive slump) so I put it down.

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb: I will get to this one day, but when you listen to the first 45 minutes of an audiobook that’s over 13 hours long and you can’t remember a thing about what happened… it’s not your time to read it. I’ll get there.

Ginny’s Update

Guys, I don’t have to do Jury Duty right now. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done jury duty before and I’ll do it again, but there’s a lot going on right now, and, it’s just a relief. Got a lot done this week.

What Ginny Finished:

The Vicar’s Daughter by Josi S. Kilpack: This book was fine. Basic plot, girl falls in love with the guy she’s been writing letters to while pretending to be her sister, b/c the sister needs to be married before girl goes into society. The ending felt a little rushed but I actually really liked the way the sister grew from this book. I felt there were a few different easy outs, and this book didn’t take one of them.

Hex Vet: The Fly Surgery by Sam Davies: this graphic novel was super cute and easy to follow even though it was the second book in a series (and I didn’t read the first). The art was very stylized and a lot of fun, with a fairly cute magical world.

Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship by Many People: Again, this was quite cute. I enjoy the way the lumberjanes have a variety of friendships and relationships where everyone interacts with everyone in different ways. The story for this was also fun. I particularly enjoyed Jenn’s story line from all of the history I have with Lumberjanes

Before the Dawn by Beverly Jenkins: Support black authors!! Also Beverly Jenkins is a delight. Leah Barnett marries her mother’s boyfriend on his death bed because he wanted to take care of her. This means that his sons (that she didn’t know about) aren’t thrilled. And yet, chemistry… This book feels oddly timely (a major plotline is local lawyers refusing to take a case from a person “of the race.”) Race always greatly affects the way characters are treated in her books and this book is no different. Leah is a fun character and I kind of enjoyed her occasional pettiness and the thought of “He’s gonna feel really bad about this later for reasons he doesn’t know yet,” when someone’s being a dick.

Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank “Big Black” Smith and Jared Reinmuth: This is another book where it was just the right time to read it, painful as it is. This book follows an event in a prison in the 1971 when the prisoners rioted due to inhumane conditions. “Big Black” was one of the prisoners who was fighting for some basic rights (rights that are frankly still being fought for today). The story felt a little disjointed and could be a little hard to follow, but the artwork was stark in a way that made the atrocities of the guards so much more poignant.

Hell on Wheels by Julie Ann Walker: I snagged this book at bookcon a bunch of years ago and boy was right now not the right time to read this book. The main characters are all ex-military with too much testosterone and the belief that just being a patriot is enough to make someone a good person. this book did come out in 2012, but I feel like even then the increasing militarization of our police force was an issue. Regardless kindergarten teacher (whose name I have forgotten) is in danger b/c of her dead brother and goes to dead brother’s bf, nicknamed Ghost (yes, it’s that kind of book, sigh) for protection.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

Strange Exit by Parker Peevyhouse: Sam grabbed this for me at ALA but I think it came out in January… After a catastrophic war on Earth, a bunch of highschoolers were sent into space, but put in a simulation (and possibly cryogenic sleep) in order to… I don’t know, keep their minds healthy? the explanations of the simulation are fairly interesting and there are a few mysteries that seem like they’ll be interesting.

On Hold Again:

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown: Yeah, another one of these so close to the last one. But hey, that’s how library holds tend to go. I’m liking this one a little better b/c this book deals with “how to live wholeheartedly” which  means accepting your faults and recognizing the good. That’s a little more my speed.

Minda’s Update

It’s definitely been a week. Black lives matter.

What Minda is reading now:

All Adults Here by Emma Straub – A reflection on parenting across three generations “and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not.” I’ve liked her books in the past—we’ll see if I’m in the mood for it right now.

What Minda finished:

Riot Baby by Toni Onyebuchi – Two siblings live the black American experience while wrestling with extraordinary power. A great read for the current climate, to say the least. Parker has an on-point review.

The Jewel Thief by Jeannie Mobley – After being accused of stealing King Louie XIV’s diamond, she only has one chance to convince him of her innocence and win back her true love. Really enjoyed this one

Until next time, we main forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Ginny, and Minda

Weekly Wrap-Up: June 1 – 7, 2020 Hey everyone!! This week showed us, not for the first time, that this country is going to hell in a hand basket.