talonnimbus

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Reading list for April 2025 (slight spoilers possible.)

Murderbot books 1-7 + short stories

Gods I loved these. Murderbot is terrifyingly relatable in how they process or more specifically don’t process emotions. Loved the characters! Ratthi is my favorite human- or should I say Labrador like friend. ART is just awesome when in the spotlight and poooooooooooooor miki! will miss.

Watership down

As a kid i watched this movie alllll the time but never read the book and I’m happy to say i liked it as much as i liked the movie! These gentlemanly little bunbuns and their grand adventures. Life in nature is hard and cruel and sad but they’ll dig themselves a little burrow of paradise.

And lastly book seven of the Wheel of Time. I didn’t just start with this one i just took a wheel of time break to read mb and watership down through April. Haven’t finished book seven yet because wheel of time books take me forever but i do love the story. I don’t always love the characters but still.

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whenever you take a walk in Kirkwall with Merrill and the two glowy boys

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I will never stop being able to play dragon age so let’s document my journey!! I play fast and loose with cannon events just fyi.

My warden! My favorite race is elves, love love love being rouge, and for MY head cannon warden i usually start city elf or dalish.

Chapter one origin!

Kar’niss (the name always changes) adores his cousin and looked up to her greatly as kids. He follows her lead and goes out of his way to try and accept the life his father wants for him. He misses his mother and the bow training he used to share with her. He hides it from his family but he has a small problem with sticky fingers. Selling things here and there he snagged off oafish shem.

He knows when its announced his father found him a bride he should be happy… his father worked hard for this! Hell be able to have kids. Work towards a family home….. but he also knows he will never love his bride… he wont ever love her but hell have to try. This isn’t her fault either. 

He is proud of his people and wants the best for them. All of them even to his own detriment. He may only have 15 silver to his name but of course without hesitation hell give 10 of that to one of his own who needs help. Its isn’t even a question to him to do so.

When shianni bashes the arls son over his empty head with a bottle Kar’niss jumps in between her and the guards pulling her behind him threatening them “if we did that to the arls bastard what do you think well do to you shem? Id suggest you run!” A knife flicking out of his sleeve with a flash. He practically growls the threat at them but internally hes terrified. If they take him up on this threat hes fucking dead. This knifes been used to cut purse strings and coin pouches. Hes not even sure it’s sharp enough to break skin anymore!!

And right after theres another shem in their village! But thank everything this one is a friend to the keeper and not revenge sent from the butt hurt arls son. Crisis averted!

Until its not.

“Let me go you stuck shirt son of a-“

“What do we do!”

“My lord this is a wedding!”

Kar’niss grabs at the grad trying to pry his grip of Shianni as the armed man laughs. Shianni struggling and screaming. The wedding party in panic. Some already fleeing! The world is suddenly upside down and spinning in his head. He just knows he has to save his cousin. He knows what these pigs will do to her! But then the world stops spinning and almost freezes before going dark after a gauntlet clad fist cracks across the back of his skull and he crumples to the ground.

Storming the arls keep with duncans sword was no longer just about the women ripped away from the wedding party- if it was he would have snuck in and snuck out- but it became about everytime a shem called him a knife ear. His mother being killed in the streets by some drunken shem. Working tirelessly and still not knowing if he’ll be able to buy bread. He didn’t have to kill every guard and mabari hound. But he did. All he saw was red as his wedding clothes stuck to his skin and the smell of foul iron filled his nose.

When he faces the arls son seeing his Shianni on the floor crying he throws himself bodily onto the pig lord. It’s a confusing failing fight of limbs and blades and kicks and screams but eventually kar’niss is scooping shianni into his arms to carry her home. Soris escorting the other two survivors.

“Are they dead? Did you kill them?”

“Like dogs shianni. Like dogs.” He knows what he did. And he knows he wouldn’t have it any other way. They got what they deserved and it may cost him his life later but he wont regret that.

They do catch him but yet they don’t hang him! In fact duncan seems to almost reward him! Granted hell have to leave home, but he knew to stay would just put a target on his people, but hes going to get a chance to train with Duncan while on the road to a grand city! He gets to meet a king! (Who granted seems a little immature and ignorant but what else do you expect out of a human king?)

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nahhhhhh ya missed the best one- the best romance is zevran. he and my city elf rouge can bond over their love of shoes and stealing! all the dragon age characters are great though they have wonderful stories and amazing banter especially in origins (not biased at all! it's not like origins is my favorite game of all time and forever!)

so while playing Dragon Age: Origins for the first time I've fallen into a trap of mean goth mommy, and romanced Morrigan, thinking that it was the best romance, but then I went on to:

1. Romance Isabela, whom I adore, and whose my favourite romancable companion

2. Replay Origins and romanced Leiliana, who now is my favourite DA:O romance

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The Vourdalak 2023

8/10 spoilers very much so

This movie is amazing for many reasons so let's gush about it! It's now firmly wedged itself into the 8th place of my top ten list! The design of Gorcha is so visually capturing. He looks fail and dead yet still so inhuman and intimidating. and the movie itself gives me play vibes or more so theater vibes.

But the best parts are the depiction of toxic masculinity/ problems with some intense traditions, and queerness.

So for the toxicness part we have the nice guy, high ranking, wealthy man Jacques Saturnin du Antoine who while shows many times throughout the movie that he is capable of being brave and trying to protect others and be a good person also stamps his feet and throws a little temper tantrum "I've been nice and talk to you peasant why have you not yet had sex with me! how dare!"

Then you have Jegor who is so tied to tradition and honoring his father he is blind to the danger he is in and the danger he isn't protecting his family from. he's blinded by his traditions and perhaps if he had had more confidence in his self could he have saved his family? maybe!

Then you have Gorcha himself who had lived his life denying himself and his wants because the same traditions Jegor is held by. he is also the head of the family now and EXPECTS perfect obedience and to deny his family the same ways he was denied/ denied himself.

then we have the gayness/ queerness/ transness (idk for sure how the characters identify)

Gorcha makes many comments about Jacques and how merry he seems, his nice legs, liking to watch him dance. he seems to really like Jacques and even tricks him in a horrendous way and in a way half apologizes but asks him now to judge too harshly!

On the other side we have Piotr who seem to experiment in their looks and their presentation and even has a beautiful moment of 'here I am see me and who I am!' and its beautiful and wonderful and Piotr defiantly lives happily ever after ........... right?....... surely......

In life did Gorcha ever have a time to be who he wanted to be? to present himself the way he wanted or experiment? probably not considering how he treated Piotr. did Gorcha ever have someone in his life like Sdenka who we see support and care for Piotr, even the older brother who seems to obviously not understand or even care for Piotr's presentation doesn't tear them down the way Gorcha does. is that the buried pain and self-hate bubbling to the surface Gorchy?

Love this movie very very much! Vampires or vampire like creature movies usually aren't very interesting to me but this family really captured me.

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Black cat 1981

5/10 (spoilers duh)

First, truly this movie is just the best example of cat people. Oh, the cats laid down comfortably on my lap? Welp guess I’ll die here. Oh, kitty’s on a killing spree? Ahhhhhhhhh that's fiiiiine! Looks how cute tho!

Brings up the question though of how much would I let my dog get away if he was a magical killing machine? I mean he's real cute! I'd probably let him get away with a lot.

For the year it came out that fire death was amazing though in all fairness- Have i seen better fire stunts now? Sure. But cutting between the actress face streaming and panicking, then to the stunt man flailing with the back to the camera, to the wax melty head, to the puppet getting yeeted out the window was done wonderfully. It was effective while also matching the overall look of the rest of the movie and effects done.

The cats to the face attack was a weak one though in comparison. Yes man just stand there and accept as another cat leaps onto your face to tear it up a bit. The puppet cats and the real cats running off were fine my main gripe was the lack of any prosthetics to show any actual damage. Instead he just had strawberry goo wiped on his face. I mean thats a lot of fake blood considering no actual damage done and even later in the hospital THERE WERE NO SCRATCHES! I mean… the car did most the damage.. which makes sense. Tbf.

I guess I expected more the reanimator like reaction to the attacking kitties. Just start freaking out and tossing them around (fake cat of course) and drop kick it away. Anything more than just stand and go ‘oh no! Theres another! Noooooooooooo’

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Black Cab 2024

6/10 (spoilers- duh) Mr. frost is always a joy in movies especially when he can be a bit creepy and dark, and I love his character here. the deeper parts of my soul that fear a human- a stranger no less- who is able to tower over me, temper raging, and cause me pain is horrifying. and he plays it so well!! he isn't just a screaming mad man. he gets a temper he acts out and then he tries to play it off with a little laugh or a 'look what you made me do/ say.' which makes it feel more real, more awkward and scarry, more unknown. The ghost story part I really didn't engage with. I wish it had all been inn his head or at least that was more defined that it was in his head. Did Ann die? was it when the cab hit her? was it after her voice went all funny? was it when she was out in the woods for an undetermined amount of time? I don't know! which makes this unsatisfying!

But really my biggest hang up in the movie was Ann's boyfriend. no matter how many times I looked at his hands I swear to everything he is just holding that damn bar, and the zip tie is under his hands, and he should be able to just let go! it does not look like he is actually bound in any way! I just can't seem to see it any other way!