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I think out of all the shallow status-quo-obsessed pieces of media, the harry potter series is uniquely bad because it comes so so close to progressive storytelling focused on systemic issues of oppression but forgot about it

Other stories might have a villain terrorising people for like 90% of the story but when it comes the time to actually defeat him he pulls a gigantic monologue out of his ass and talk about how horrible and unfair society is and how he has so much hate in his heart because of the shit that has been done to him or to people he cared about and the protagonists will be like 'yeah good point but you just murdered a baby so idgaf' and punches him and then we gloss over whatever issue with the status quo he pointed out and it's happily ever after

versus in harry potter it was a BIG part of the plot that the ministry is stupid and incompetent, that there is a torture prison that was shown to have wrongly imprisoned people under horrific conditions, that non-wizards where systemically sidelined and in some cases actively oppressed and that this was a big part of how voldemort was able to gain such a massive following. but in the end she's like 'oh voldemort is dead so it's okay and the ministry is probably ok now too because i put nice characters in charge of it' or whatever

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To be honest, even if I was a believer of the 'separate art from the artist' thing when it comes to living, profiting authors, I would still have been put off by the new tv production just because they've plastered Rowling's face all over it.

I'm seen random articles all over instagram and twitter and I'm not kidding when I say that SO MUCH of it is about JK Rowling. Oh what cute little easter egg is she going to reveal? Oh what does she think about her latest cash grab? Oh she's reading the script! Oh she says she LOVES it! Rowling this and Rowling that. I had honestly expected the production to not mention her to toe the line and get more audience but it's not bothering to.

Anyway: I honestly understand being attached to a series and then finding out that the author is fucked up, and then having a hard time letting go of the thing you loved. (You still should though.) I however cannot understand getting freshly attached to something that has the author's grubby hands all over it when you went into it knowing the kind of things she believes in.

I've hated HP from day 1 so I never had to 'let go' of the series, but I was a big fan of good omens and if there is a new good omens show and the press is like gaiman reads the script gaiman watches the first two episodes gaiman talks about how much he likes the show gaiman gaiman gaiman gaiman gaiman? it would have turned me off so fucking fast that i wouldn't even have to consciously keep myself from engaging with the show

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I definitely agree with this. I think he often gets jittery or overly bored or too focused on his case to consider anything else. The vibes I get from the books are that watson initially doesn't know what to make of it. but as time goes on he kind of gets it and he starts writing about holmes and his behaviour in a more familiar way because he's known him for so long.

I want to point out that Holmes is actually an incredibly direct and communicative person instead of the brooding asshole with a heart of gold whose emotions only slip through in rare instances of distress. Believe me when I say that I enjoy such a character as much as the next person but that is not Sherlock Holmes.

If Book Holmes likes you or appreciates your company, he WILL let you know. He will tell you that he is happy you're here and that he wants you to keep helping him with his cases and that he needs your assistance. You will NOT have to wait until he or you are nearly dying for him to tell you that he actually cares about you.

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I want to point out that Holmes is actually an incredibly direct and communicative person instead of the brooding asshole with a heart of gold whose emotions only slip through in rare instances of distress. Believe me when I say that I enjoy such a character as much as the next person but that is not Sherlock Holmes.

If Book Holmes likes you or appreciates your company, he WILL let you know. He will tell you that he is happy you're here and that he wants you to keep helping him with his cases and that he needs your assistance. You will NOT have to wait until he or you are nearly dying for him to tell you that he actually cares about you.

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holmes + watson's dynamic is that of a habitual infodumper + his ideal audience

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I don't know how fitzgerald cooked up the 'I hope she'll be a [...] beautiful little fool' line from daisy to her daughter because it sure as hell seemed like he was not interested to say anything more about the subject

Treating daisy as just a female tom isn't even a problem that exists among some of the reader-base. It is a problem that exists IN THE GREAT GATSBY.

Daisy was written as an interesting and nuanced character only with regards to her potential: the further you get in the book the more daisy just because a selfish plot device that ruins gatsby to the dismay and disdain of nick, the one person who actually cared for gatsby. Nick saying 'they were careless people daisy and tom' isn't wrong at all but it is remarkable and disappointing that this is the only commentary fitzgerald bothered to offer regarding daisy after all he's done to set her up during the front part of TGG.

(imo) TGG definitely has a 'treating characters more like tropes than actual people' problem when it gets to the finale and this is especially pernicious when it comes to daisy because she both fits squarely into the 'privileged careless white elite' trope but she's also so much more than that. A whole daisy pov retelling could be written and easily be a compelling piece of work but there is frustratingly little said about her towards the end. I don't know whether to admire fitzgerald for the potential or be disappointed at how little he bothered to realise with it.

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I think there are good cops. But they're probably very rare. The exception to the rule is not the bad apple but the rare good cop.

Also there is a difference between a cop who doesn't want you to get hurt because they're a...normal human being vs a cop who genuinely is brave enough and care enough to stop their shitty colleagues. A lot of people (cops included) are decent human beings but cowardly when actually made to stand up for what's right.

The various police fuckups probably also deterred good people who might've considered joining the police because they genuinely wanted to help. I remember when I was a kid quite a lot of my friends wanted to join the police when they grow up because they were well-intentioned people who had a very idealised idea of police interactions. A tiny portion of them are still like 'yeah I can be one of the good ones' but most are saying 'yeah i'm gonna get out of here and find some other career that lets me actually help ppl' and this was BEFORE the trump stuff

SHOOTING CIVILLIANS POINT BLANK. SHE WAS TRYING TO GET HOME AND THEY SHOT HER FOR NO REASON. GET THIS FOOTAGE OUT!

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Okay now that i've watched a bit more I do get the xiang antu/zang hai appeal.

So she can tell that he's not a bad person but he's working for a real piece of shit who has the capacity to fuck up the lives of entire nations of people if zang hai. So she's confused.

Zang hai is trying to kill the guy. But antu obviously wouldn't know that. she's smart enough to know that zang hai's 'i'm just after the glory and cash' excuse doesn't add up but there's no way for her to know that he's actually on the world's most insane revenge mission.

Antu also has stake in the people who'll get killed if the marquis gets in power with zang hai's help. She's either connected to those people or just don't want to see civilians die. Both would make sense. All these factors added together does make for an interesting dynamic.

Okay...what I like: She's intelligent. No doubt about it.

What I don't like: they still haven't explained why she almost got zang hai killed and thought it was funny in ep 1. Did I miss a scene or something?

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I need both Riordan and Rowling to stop forcibly fitting serious real-world events into their cute little fantasy timeline PLEASE.

Honestly if I was a fantasy writer who chose the world as we know it as the setting for my series, I would not touch real-world historical events with a ten-foot pole. But for some reason these people treat major happenings that completely devastated and reshaped the entire globe as cute little easter eggs that they can drop into their alternate timelines.

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Some more thoughts on zang hai after 1/4 of the drama

I'm liking Zang Hai more and more, especially since he's both competent and a risk taker. I'm also more and more impressed with Xiao Zhan's acting.

I know a lot of people compare this to nirvana in fire. I haven't actually watched nirvana in fire (idk why, maybe i should get on it soon) so I honestly see this more similar than those life story dramas with an underdog protagonist (think yanxi, minglan, the double, etc). LoZH is more interesting compared to these (imo) just because the problems they throw at Zang Hai hasn't been done to death yet. Most female protagonists in dramas like these are put into a hostile marital situation or made a business owner in a patriarchal environment. There are only so many obstacles you can give them. I can't even remember how many times I've seen a female protagonist get framed for selling low quality shit to their customers by someone hoping for her downfall, or get set up for seemingly adulterous behaviour by her jealous family, etc etc. Trying to walk out of an imperial tomb after being buried alive though? That's not something I see everyday.

Going back to the characters: I'm still not sold on Xiang Antu. She is now acting like a decent person (yay!) but they still haven't bothered to elaborate on why she had fun watching Zang Hai almost get killed the first time they met. She also isn't very interesting (so far) because she's just there to bail Zang Hai out once in a while. I really hope she doesn't get reduced to a plot device, especially when she's the only major female character so far.

I also dunno why Zang Hai thought Zhixing is genuinely a stupid playboy. From what Zang Hai knows, he is a guy who used to be prideful and ambitious when he was a kid, and he has a brother who is a cruel murderous piece of shit. I don't think it's hard to at least suspect that what zhixing's doing is an act.

I'm admittedly not a fan of Zang Hai's speech infront of the imperial tombs. Isn't the whole point he's trying to make that 'making random ppl volunteer for human sacrifices is stupid and you guys should stop'? and not 'actually human sacrifices are sooo ok and if i really can bring prosperity with the human sacrifice of myself i would 100% die'? I appreciate him plot of getting rid of yang zhen but...eh... Also I can tell that his whole spiel was a mix of tactical bullshit to get yang zhen killed + him trying to stall until the water flow gets turned back on but the music/directing makes it seem like it's supposed to be an emotional scene of zang hai going off on the corrupt officials and calling their shit out. which is only like 10% of his speech undermined by the other 90%.

verdict: generally i'm having a lot of fun. i hope the xiang antu writing gets better because i can feel how badly they want a romance arc between these two.

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Legend of Zang Hai first impressions

I like Zang Hai so far. Xiao Zhan is a good actor, although it took me a while to stop associating him with wwx. Kid who is talented and confident of his abilities but gets thrown into the real world and finds out that so many things is out of his league is my favourite trope and this is Zang Hai in a nutshell at least in the introduction.

Not sure what Xiang Antu's deal is yet. She almost got a stranger killed, and not just because she was so so keen to save her friend the real Ba Gongzi but she was also having a lot of fun watching him run for his life. wtf. This could lead to some interesting characterisations but i'm not sold on her character yet

Excited to see what the deal with Zhuang Zhixing is. I can think of a few ways they can write him and all of them are fun.

Ngl the dynamics in the marquis manor is interesting as hell to watch. This could be an iconic piece of tv if the writing continues to be good.

I adore Gao Ming and Zang Hai's relationship so far. Tbh he seems like the only one out of ZH's mentors who's emotionally well-adjusted. Like yeah it's impt to teach your kid not to get emotionally attached if he's about to embark on the world's hardest assassination mission but it's also a nice idea to give the kid a safe space if he's going to be working for the guy he's trying to kill everyday.

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hyperfixating on a specific era's architecture but instead of just enjoying it while it lasted i decided well actually i would appreciate this more if i understood more about the physics of actually building this stuff. and also the political and cultural climate that would have influenced this architecture. and also the geographical factors. and also era's that preceded it which would have influenced it. etc etc etc. so now i'm strayed so far away from my OG topic of interest that i'm back to my default procrastination habits, so now i'm procrastinating while i'm internally screaming for myself to get my shit together and figure out all the basics so i can read the thing i'm actually interested in

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tbh if I was harry potter watching my dad bully a kid for five years straight and then hang him upside down in front of the whole school then it's gonna take more than a 'don't worry he's matured' from his bffs for me to start thinking of him as my idol and role model again

btw james was 15 or 16 at the time. if this was an 11 year old or even a 13 y.o or something then i might've been like. yeah okay, some preteens are fucking monsters. he grew a moral conscience when he got older. fair enough.

not that i think people can't change at 15, but it requires a more thorough explanation imo than a throwaway excuse of 'but he was young and stupid back then'.

p.s: i'm not even a severus defender or a james hater necessarily. i just think rowling brushed over this whole thing real fast.

I actually think james could yield a lot of character exploration: he obviously has the capacity and instinct to be extraordinarily kind to those who're left behind by their family or society (sirius, remus, hagrid too iirc). but he's also someone who viciously bullies severus and maintains this habit without an ounce of self reflection. i think he probably found justification in sev's association with other slytherins who were at that time increasingly supremacist and vile themselves which was why his bullying escalated from being mean to straight up physical harm and public humiliation. Sev for his part was probably a bystander for a lot of the shit done by the slytherins, being halfblood himself with a muggleborn bff meant he had to be more performative than usual if he doesn't want to become the target of his roommates. Ironically james' shenanigans definitely isolated severus from the general school population further which would have only pushed him into the worst of company. putting more explanations like this would have put both james and sev in a more...palatable...light for the readers (which rowling wanted!) but i don't think she could be bothered

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Honestly early byeong-in was not an unreasonable man and hated cheoljong for very legitimate reasons. Remember that from his perspective:

cheoljong treated so-yong coldly, to the point that she decided to drown herself out of despair

byeong-in has realised that either cheoljong or his brother attempted to KILL so-yong

at this point, he's only ever seen these two arguing

cheoljong straight-up did not acknowledge her and picked up hwa-jin after so-yong fainted out of the stress of trying to clear his and hwa-jin's name. And he did all this in PUBLIC. (yes, he did it because so-yong is very much conscious and visibly peeking and he's like 'wtf is she planning now'. But byeong-in can't see that.)

despite acting like so-yong is a nuisance or a threat rather than his marriage partner, cheoljong pulls out the 'i'm her husband' card whenever someone tries to step in to defend her in his stead.

I know cheoljong has worked through the 'i tried to kill you (twice)' thing with so-yong/bong-hwan. And also the 'i literally never tried to understand you and thought you were an extension of your corrupt family and genuinely did not self-reflect even after you DROWNED and only started to use my brain and conscience on you after you screamed and called me out on my bullshit' thing BUT there is zero reason for byeong-in to even consider that this has happened! Husbands who treat their wife like shit don't magically turn okay overnight.

I know byeong-in is a different beast after he, well, spiralled but initially? he was normal. even made his peace with so-yong's marriage because he thought so-yong would be happier as queen and only reneged on this after he found out that so-yong was very much unhappy.

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Hate it when people talk about Daisy as if she's just a female Tom. I know they're both privileged rich white people but having the privilege of being a rich white man in the elitist patriarchal hellscape that is gatsby-era america is very very different from having the "privilege" of being that entitled asshole's wife.

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I feel like for a series centred around bigotry where the main character literally fights against an army of supremacists, the harry potter series really doesn't give a shit about writing how people grow out of prejudice.

Regulus only ditched voldemort because of kreacher who he had always cared for. Basically a less selfish variant of 'oh i didn't want the leopard to eat my face'.

Snape betrayed voldemort because he killed lily. He did do several non-lily-related good things but there's really no indication why he renounced voldemort ideologically. It's more like he switched teams after lily's tragedy so now he works for his new team. There's a good chance that snape genuinely changed ideologically but...we never know for sure being a few cryptic snippets. Why show why and how he changed when having potter child named after him is a much more convenient way to show that he is a Good Guy?

Draco could have been a zuko if rowling gave a shit but...no. For 5 books straight he served as anything from an interim baddie for harry to busy himself with while the crisis of the book takes shape, or a pesky mosquito that annoys harry, or a pathetic little pest, or rage bait. This is a preteen child conditioned into bigotry by his shitty parents, but instead of doing something with his character rowling instead plopped him into the infamously bigoted house to marinate for his next few impressionable years. and oh yeah, we're supposed to laugh and jeer as this fourteen-year-old is turned into a ferret (or weasel?) by a teacher and violently bounced off the walls. What the actual fuck. It honestly seemed like rowling straight up wanted a death eater in there to terrorise (and occasionally be terrorised by) the good guys but since a grown adult like lucius malfoy can't constantly be in school bothering harry she decided that his mini-me will do.

Then in book 6 and 7 he started getting genuinely afraid of the shit he is being made to do. But it doesn't seem to be out of any ideological shift, it's just that he chickened out. He'll happily giggle and fantasise about a muggleborn classmate being dragged into a basilisk's den but when he's put on the spot to be the direct cause of someone's death he really can't do it. And you know what? that's a great start for some change EXCEPT THAT IT DOESN'T HAPPEN! Rowling decides that ooh now that voldemort's dead it's all happily ever after and draco's still stuck in the nebulous zone of not 100% with the death eaters maybe still a bigot maybe not maybe something in between. And the series does not see fit to address this except, of course, giving him the mandated nuclear family like all the other remotely important characters.

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Unpopular opinion but the reason why I'm not a fan of the enemies to lovers thing in prisoner of beauty despite it being done near perfectly is because of the period drama power dynamic.

Like I love a good enemies to lovers dynamic but not when the wife is trapped in a patriarchal political marriage, miles away from her entire support network, already married to the guy who has a grudge against her and hates her guts, and who has already tried to choke her on one occasion.

I know wei shao is a good person. But he has issues that he needs to solve before he can even begin to call himself a viable romantic partner. And yes, I know she's in this marriage only because of the political alliance stuff, but it's annoying as fuck to see her be fucking terrified of the guy I'm supposed to be shipping her with.

Like the 'ughh i hate her but damn she's hot' and the 'hmph. i don't actually like her' is cute as hell if they're like two adults living their own lives but just doesn't hit the same when she's a period lady trapped in your house and forced to be your wife because that's the best plan her clan can cook up with her whole future riding on how you're gonna treat her.

So instead of being like 'hmm yes this is some delicious romantic tension and i'm happy to watch it simmer', I'm sitting there like 'please please please wei shao don't do something that makes me think you shouldn't be in the same room as her ever again'.