#I feel bad for not liking this book more

[wanologic]

sorry danny, sam will never think you’re cool

[bronzewool]

Phoenix Extravagant by Yooh Ha Lee is a fantastical alternative universe set during the Japan and Korea War; with mechnical dragons, fox spirits, and magic. Razan (Japan) have conquered the country of Hwaguk (Korea) and have subjucated the citizens under their rule, taking their language and culture away from them, and extorting their mining resources, precious artwork, and anything else of value.

Gyen Jebi is a struggling artist who has just taken the Ministry of Art exam in order to earn money for them and their older sister, Bongsunga, but is unsuccessful. Debt ridden and running out of time to make some quick cash, Jebi is tricked into accepting a job with the Ministry of Armoury to paint the mystical symbols that power the automata security drones.

Jebi is disgusted to learn the magical pigments used to paint these complex symbols are ground up pieces of priceless Hwaguk artwork, and gets in way over their head when they are tasked with continuing the work of the previous artist before them who died trying to complete the set of symbols that will allow the government to control their latest weapon, a dragon automata that will not listen to orders.

I love the themes and politics of this book. How Jebi’s pacifism and refusal to get involved with politics puts them in direct conflict with Bonsunga, who lost her wife in the war against the invading Razan and now is on the resistance’s side. How the conflict between the two countries is not black and white; as Vei, Duellist Prime and Jebi’s warden during their impronsment in the Armory (and future love interest), is a biracial soldier with conflicting loyalties to the government she is honourbound to serve and the commonfolk she is sworn to protect, both of which scorn her very conception. I love how the enby folk are incorporated into the society and have an established history and presence in that society. I love how magic and Korean folklore are incorporated into the advance technology.

But overall I found the characters lacking and the story not as extravagant as the worldbuilng itself. Jebi is a pacifist who does not want to get involved with politics and just wants to paint in peace. They are not a soldier, which makes their situation relatable, but it is also not very compelling for a main character who has figured out how to use pigment magic in creative and destructive ways, but doesn’t want to use it. Vash from Trigun is a wonderfully written self-proclaimed pacifist who wants to save everyone due to his love for humanity, but will fight to stop humans from killing each other. One of the major obstacles of the series is how Vash is pushed further and further into a corner until he is forced to reflect on his own ideals and just how far is he is realistically willing to go to save everyone, until he’s forced to pull the trigger. Phoenix Extravagant is not that kind of story and instead wants to put a regular person in the middle of a literal war zone and show how ugly war can be, but it is put in constast with the other fantastical elements happening around them

Azari, despite being the main weapon everyone is fighting over, does not have a lasting precence in the same way Toothless from HTTYD does, beyond its beautiful design. Jebi and Azari bond during their time in captivity after Jebi gives Azari the symbols that allow it to speak, and they do find commonality in their pacifist ideals, but their growing relationship is not the focus of the book. Jebi has deeper connection with Vei, and a more complex relationship with Bongsunga, that overshadows their bond with Azari. Despite Jebi being the only one Azari will talk to they do not have a reason to stay together once they escape and Azari agrees to help the resistance, much to Jebi’s initial concerns. Azari’s naive view of war developing into a complex understanding of what must be done to protect as many people as possible, is in complete contrast to Jebi’s resolute pacifism and the narrative doesn’t seem to acknowledge this growing seperation between the two.

Overall, I appreciate Phoenix Extravagant for its commentary on the Japanese settlement in Korea and how this effected the people who lived through watching their culture be destroyed and forced to integrate into their oppessor’s culture while being treated as third class citizens in their own country.

[sophfandoms53]

Anyway shout out to Dewey who constantly looked like he was having the worst time of his fucking life in the pitches

Just an 11 year old pissed off at the world it seems😭

[bambeebirdie]

Okay consider Bruce Wayne is the very well known bankroller for the Justice League. Batman is still part of the league, but they don’t know he’s Bruce Wayne. So, due to Bruce Wayne being such a well known figure and very obviously connected to the Justice League, that has kinda made him a target for certain people which means the Justice League has decided to assign one of their members to help keep him safe. Insert notorious billionaire fighter Superman becoming the part time bodyguard of Bruce Wayne in this epic superbat romance

[sugarcoatednightshade]

thinking about how Humans Are Space Orcs stories always talk about how indestructible humans are, our endurance, our ability to withstand common poisons, etc. and thats all well and good, its really fun to read, but it gets repetitive after a while because we aren't all like that.

And that got me thinking about why this trope is so common in the first place, and the conclusion I came to is actually kind of obvious if you think about it. Not everyone is allowed to go into space. This is true now, with the number of physical restrictions placed on astronauts (including height limits), but I imagine it's just as strict in some imaginary future where humans are first coming into contact with alien species. Because in that case there will definitely be military personnel alongside any possible diplomatic parties.

And I imagine that all interactions aliens have ever had up until this point have been with trained personnel. Even basic military troops conform to this standard, to some degree. So aliens meet us and they're shocked and horrified to discover that we have no obvious weaknesses, we're all either crazy smart or crazy strong (still always a little crazy, academia and war will do that to you), and not only that but we like, literally all the same height so there's no way to tell any of us apart.

And Humans Are Death Worlders stories spread throughout the galaxy. Years or decades or centuries of interspecies suspicion and hostilities preventing any alien from setting foot/claw/limb/appendage/etc. on Earth until slowly more beings are allowed to come through. And not just diplomats who keep to government buildings, but tourists. Exchange students. Temporary visitors granted permission to go wherever they please, so they go out in search of 'real terran culture' and what do they find?

Humans with innate heart defects that prevent them from drinking caffeine. Humans with chronic pain and chronic fatigue who lack the boundless endurance humans are supposedly famous for. Humans too tall or too short or too fat to be allowed into space. Humans who are so scared of the world they need to take pills just to function. Humans with IBS who can't stand spicy foods, capsaicin really is poison to them. Lactose intolerance and celiac disease, my god all the autoimmune disorders out there, humans who struggle to function because their own bodies fight them. Humans who bruise easily and take too long to heal. Humans who sustained one too many concussions and now struggle to talk and read and write. Humans who've had strokes. Humans who were born unable to talk or hear or speak, and humans who through some accident lost that ability later.

Aliens visit Earth, and do you know what they find? Humanity, in all its wholeness.

[obsob]

happy and proud!!

✷(print shop)✷

[suntails]

knighted

[julijbee]

girlbossing too close to the sun.

[lostrealities0]

Ok Bill

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Call that a Cave Story.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[b4kuch1n]

siren

[ofswordsandpens]

I'm sincerely very happy for anyone who is enjoying the show but every time I see takes that the show has improved the book characterizations or that the book characters are underdeveloped in comparison to the show...

[bonefall]

Bones someone did a "Worst Parents" poll over on Twitter and it's going about as well as you'd expect.

"God people will do anything to hate on mentally ill male characters" and it's the guy who hits and yells at his son.

"Crowfeather's only crime was being a bit mean" hitting and humiliating your son= bit mean.

Yes these are things I've actually read

I'm not saying Curlfeather (who was pitted against him in the poll) is better or worse than Crowfeather, but I've seen a lot of people downplaying his abuse towards Breezepaw and acting like people are crazy for thinking Curlfeather was better

It's really wild to see it in action, isn't it? When a dad manipulates (Po3 book 2) and smacks his son (Po3 book 3) for absolutely no benefit besides his own ego, it's "mental illness" and ergo not a big deal. As if they think mental illness is a get-out-of-jail free card for child abuse.

The "Crowfeather Mental Illness" Crowd couldn't HANDLE the kind of mentally ill characters that I stan. They are weak and will not survive the winter.

When they say "stop being mean to boys with a disorder" they mean "stop holding an abusive father accountable for teaching his son slurs so he could get back at the ex-girlfriend who dumped him." When I say "stop being mean to boys with a disorder" I mean that I want to give Breezepelt a gun so he can enforce it himself. We are not the same.

[kagoutiss]

green beetle black beetle

[jalluzas-ferney]

I don’t think this is an unpopular opinions but lowkey fannon kailor is sm better than cannon kailor.

(Read the tags)

[anxiouspotatorants]

Actually you know what I need to rant about this: while literati is technically a good girl x bad boy dynamic it is written so incredibly well and avoids so many pitfalls and stereotypes that it makes a good girl x bad boy hater like myself (I’m only half joking — I don’t think any trope is inherently good or bad but I tend to dislike most pairings with this dynamic) fall head over heels for their story and relationship.

So much of what makes the two of them work is the contrast between how others perceive them and how they truly are. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of people who understand who Rory is as a person (Lorelai, Lane, Paris, Richard and Emily to a certain degree for starters), but she's constantly met with the expectation that she just does good and is supposed to make everyone proud 24/7. Stars Hollow as a group especially are big on this, as seen f. ex. through how Taylor takes Rory's one comment about an inappropriate DVD and twists the whole thing into a censorship crusade and makes Rory its poster-child even though she wants nothing to do with it and tells him so repeatedly. But instead of hearing Rory disagree with him (like he would Lorelai and Luke) he assumes that she actually agrees with him - and why shouldn't she when she's the perfect sunshine paragon of good who would never disagree with her elders? Also her grandparents treat her as incredibly fragile and childlike, like she must be too innocent to ever do anything wrong and so whenever she does something it has to be somebody else's fault (usually Lorelai, but occasionally Jess or whoever else was present). Time and time again Rory is treated like something innocent and naive and weak — but not by Jess. He sees her as a person.

And it obviously goes the other way too. Jess is treated like shit by pretty much everyone else. Either people hate him unprovoked or very much provoked (he did do a lot of pranks in his first few weeks and while I'm a Dean-hater I'm not blind to how much Jess picked fights with him), or they’ve simply given up on him. He tells Rory himself that every authority figure he had back in New York gave up on him too, from teachers to principals to his very own mother. But Rory doesn’t treat him like a lost cause, she treats him like the smart, brilliant and asshole-ish teen that he is. By having faith in him she also often holds him more accountable than others. Where f. ex. Lorelai or the other adults just roll their eyes, Rory physically drags Jess into doing his shifts at the diner. While others write him off, Rory chews Jess’ ear out for not helping Luke more and for willfully making enemies out of the Stars Hollow adults.

They don't put each other on pedestals or below each other. Jess doesn’t try to make a sinner out of Rory and she doesn’t try to make a saint out of him. There’s genuine respect between them. They expect each other to have integrity and treat others with kindness and honesty, and the rest is good old chemistry and common interests.

I particularly love how in so many of their scenes (especially pre-relationship) when they spend time alone they just get to be these goofy nerdy kids. They argue about controversial authors and dig through records shops and eat hot dogs and make fun of each other and try to make each other laugh. It’s not just sexual chemistry as it too often is in a dynamic like this (and often uncomfortably sexual when writing teenagers - looking at you Gossip Girl), and not just well written intellectual chemistry — they have platonic chemistry too. A hell of a lot of it actually.

While I don’t think ASP wrote them through a purely deconstructionist lens on the good girl x bad boy dynamic (if she did plan on writing the dynamic at all), there is something to be said about how where many around them treat them like stereotypes they treat each other like people. To so many people, Rory is a perfect small town princess, a little miss sunshine with booksmarts for days but too delicate and sweet for anything with grit and weight. To a lot of the same people and many more Jess is a pathetic brutish and maniacal lost cause, hell personified in a chainsmoking leather-wearing teenager. But to each other they are actual human beings. Kind and mean and flirtatious and scared and reckless and smart. Rory really thinks that with the right motivation and mindset Jess can be the kind who does (and at the end wrote) incredible things. Jess really believes that with a little more practice and support to step out of her comfort zone she can be the amazing journalist she wishes to be.

They don’t have this stupid «we’re so bad for each other but we can’t stay away» thing that too many trope users rely on and don’t even justify in the plot. Everyone else might think they’re not fit for each other, but they knew they were each other’s person from the very first day.