#a lot of these parallels are gonna be heartbreaking opposites so. get excited

[horde-princess]

An Analysis of 4 Key Relationships in Season 2

Now that we’ve had some time to digest season 2, I wanna take an in-depth look at some of the new relationships and group dynamics that have popped up in the show. Specifically, seeing Catra interact with Bow and Glimmer was something I’ve been excited about for a really long time, and then of course there’s Scorpia, and wow do i have THOUGHTS alright here we go

Catra and Bow

i know, weird right. there’s a reason i’m writing about these two first and it’s because i have a lot of feelings lajksdfd just hear me out okay

Idk about you guys, but when I was watching Catra attack Bow in 2x02 it just felt so weird, like in a bad way. Catra’s anger towards him for stealing Adora away is obviously valid, but Bow is just so pure and righteous and good, you know? He doesn’t have a bitter bone in his body (unlike Glimmer, who can give as good as she gets). Bow doesn’t know how to respond to Catra’s anger... and I think the reason that it was so hard for me to watch is because Catra and Bow actually have the potential to be good friends.

Think about it like this. Catra and Glimmer are a lot alike--they’re fierce and intense and they each have someone who helps bring them back down to earth: their respective best friends, Adora and Bow! And we see how much Adora and Glimmer have grown to love one another, right? It’s because their different personalities complement each other so well.... So I think that, given the chance, Catra and Bow could have a similar dynamic :)

There was a sweet moment in 2x02 that offered a glimpse of this, when Bow was trying to show Catra some kindness. He’s such an earnest, straight forward character, he sees right through Catra’s bullshit and knows exactly what to say to get through to her (i mean look at her expression here, the way her ears are flattened--so different from her absurd behavior in the rest of the episode).

Lock these two in a room for an hour? Yeah, they’d come out best friends 😭💖 I hope we get more of them in future episodes!! 

Catra and Glimmer

Oh man...... Whew. YIKES. Where to even begin with this alsjdfsdjld. Catra and Glimmer’s rivalry is just. everything. 

To Glimmer, Catra is the girl who is trying to destroy her home, murder her and her loves ones... the girl who’s breaking the heart of someone she loves (Adora).

To Catra, Glimmer is the girl who stole Adora away from her. She tore her life apart. She represents what it means to be born into a position of privilege and (literal) power, which Catra resents with a burning passion.

Seeing these two go head to head, sparring physically and verbally, it’s so freaking delicious. Catra has the advantage over her in almost every way: she’s a better fighter, she lies and manipulates, she’s willing to do evil things to win battles that Glimmer, as a typical hero, refuses to do. But despite all that, Glimmer still wins every time... Because she has Adora.

It’s interesting, though. Even though Adora is on Glimmer’s team, Catra knows that she is the one who holds Adora’s attention, if not also her affections--and she knows this fact drives Glimmer crazy. I mean come on, Adora means everything to Glimmer! She loves her as a friend but more than that, She-Ra gives her hope that they can save the world. Yet Adora loves this feral half-cat demon over her?? what???? lmao. So I think part of what’s fueling Glimmer’s hatred, her desire to just beat the absolute shit out of Catra, is that she feels like she’s contending for Adora’s love.

There were four glitra moments this season that I wanna highlight.

First, when Catra tries to get in her head and make her doubt her relationship with Adora. I found this interesting because you almost see a glimpse of sincerity in Catra--as if she’s trying to warn Glimmer against repeating the mistake she herself made. Glimmer’s reaction to the words are just as telling. She gets angry, but I don’t think it’s because she believes Catra. I think she’s angry because Catra is slandering Adora’s character. Unlike Catra right now, Glimmer sees Adora for who she truly is. She knows that Adora isn’t the kind of person who abandons her friends in pursuit of power. So yeah this was a cool moment that illustrated Glimmer and Catra’s contrasting perspectives.

Second, I LOVED this line, when Catra makes fun of Glimmer and Adora’s relationship (but it just comes off as jealous lmaoo). The reason I love it is because it’s so true!!! Glimmer and Adora are perfect for each other. What this line proves is that she is absolutely threatened by Glimmer in a romantic context. She recognizes that Glimmer might actually be more compatible for Adora than she is, and that Glimmer is her foil (which I’ll explain more in a minute).

Next is the scene where Glimmer actually threatens to kill Catra in cold blood. If you’re like me and you missed that when you first watched it, yeah, that’s what happened--Catra gives Kyle the order to “take Entrapta out” and then Glimmer slams her against the tree and says “two can play at that game.” She gets this close to blasting her face off but Bow is able to talk her down from it. And the whole time, Catra is just fucking smirking at her, calling her bluff because she knows Glimmer won’t compromise her morals (parallel to catradora in 2x05 anyone??). But yeah this was crazy. Catra just wanted to see how far she could push her and it turns out... pretty damn far. 

One of my favorite lines in the whole season was Glimmer telling Catra “I’m not as naive as you think.” Catra thought she had her outsmarted, forced to deplete her magic, but in the end Catra had underestimated her as an adversary.

The more I think about it, the more I realize Glitra’s rivalry is a hundred times more intense than Catradora’s. Remember in the DnD ep when femme fatale Catra points at Glimmer and calls her her greatest enemy? That was veeery interesting... Their relationship really has a life of it’s own now, like, separate from Adora. They hate everything about what each other stand for. They’re both so strong and hot-headed, with opposite moral compasses--like two rockets on a collision course. But I also love that they have this sort of begrudging respect for one another. Look at what Glimmer says here in 2x03, the ghost episode:

How random, right, that Glimmer would be thinking about some offhand comment from Catra from the previous episode? AND! In context, it just sounded to me like Catra was saying Glimmer was terrible at taking people hostage lol. Glimmer extrapolates and applies her comment to her courage, her capability as a hero. That’s like.... whoa. It shows that Glimmer actually cares about Catra’s opinion of her.

So yeah Glitra’s dynamic is more amazing than i could’ve ever dreamed.. not to mention their weird flirtation and oh no looks like we’re out of time for this section kjdfljsdkaskjd

Adora and Scorpia

Ok seeing these two dorks together in 2x05 was so amazing 😂😂 As cute as it was though it was one of the most heartbreaking parts of the season. I can’t remember a time that Scorpia ever demonstrated such bitterness towards someone.

Not exaggerating when I say that last line brought me to tears like wtf.... 😭

I’ve mentioned this before but Scorpia genuinely loves Catra so much and she just can’t stand seeing her heart breaking over Adora when Scorpia feels like she could treat Catra better. She’d give her the whole world if she could (which is quite literally what she’s trying to achieve!)

Adora, on the other hand, she doesn’t really know who Scorpia is. To her, Scorpia is just someone who is enabling Catra’s descent into darkness, so there is a hostility there already. If I had to name one thing that I’m excited about for upcoming episodes, it would be Adora inevitably growing jealous of Catra and Scorpia’s relationship. We haven’t seen it yet but mark my words we WILL AND ITS GONNA FUCKING DESTROY US okay i could yell about adora and scorpia for hours but let’s just move on and get to my fave part of this meta laksjdfs

Catra vs. Glimmer, and Adora vs. Scorpia

So Catra and Glimmer rivalry’s is obviously really fun, same with Adora and Scorpia. But the real magic comes in when we look at the dynamic of this whole 4-person group. I didn’t take Scortra seriously in season 1 (blasphemy... i know) so it took me until season 2 to catch onto this pattern, but now that I have it makes so much sense and gives the show a new perspective for me. 

Glimmer and Scorpia’s relationship hasn’t really been explored in the show but there is one thing we know they have in common: they both love two girls who are obsessed with someone else. And they both act as foils for our two protagonists. 

Glimmer is Catra’s foil. The similarities between these two are obvious. They’re both passionate and angry and driven and traumatized. But Glimmer’s strong moral code contrasts sharply with Catra’s lack of one (and really that difference is just a result of their disparate upbringings). 

Glimmer is right in front of Adora. And she’s everything that Adora only wishes Catra could be... yet Glimmer will never be able to compete with Catra in the contest for Adora’s affection. Adora is stuck between loving someone that she can’t be with, or being with someone she can’t truly love... at least, not in the same soul-altering way that she loves Catra.

Scorpia is Adora’s foil. Scorpia and Adora are also alike in some ways, but there’s a key difference. The fandom has discussed before how, yeah, Scorpia is part of the Horde, but she doesn’t appear to have any kind of moral stake in the war that’s going on. What Scorpia really cares about, what she’ll fight to the death for is... her friendships. She’s loyal to a fault, and she would do absolutely anything for Catra. Catra is her number one priority. 

GUYS! This is the exact opposite of Adora!! Adora may love Catra, but she will always choose the greater good over her. She won’t betray her convictions for love. That’s just who she is. Thus, Scorpia is everything that Catra wishes Adora would have been for her. Someone who would have stayed by her side no matter what. Someone who wouldn’t have cared whether or not the Horde was evil, as long as she could be with Catra. But again--though I do think Scortra’s budding romance will continue to develop--in the end Scorpia simply cannot compete with Adora for Catra’s affection. She acknowledged it herself. 

I wanna mention one more thing here.. So Scorpia and Glimmer are playing similar roles for their respective love interests. From my point of view (feel free to disagree this is just the way I’m interpreting things) I don’t believe that those relationships are gonna be endgame. To me this show always has been and always will be about Catra and Adora. And while I can’t wait to see them reconcile with each other, Noelle has suddenly got me falling in love with these other characters, too, and I'm so afraid??? ESPECIALLY for Scorpia. While Glimmer at least has Bow and the Princess Alliance, Scorpia has absolutely no one. Catra is Scorpia’s whole world. What will she do when that falls apart? (god please i’m begging, just let scorpia find happiness 😭)

Catra and Scorpia

Honestly I don’t even think I can write this part without having a meltdown but its the last one so im gonna push through alksjdfls. I already talked a bit about how Scorpia is exactly the kind of person that Catra needs at this point in her life, and I think it’s best summed up in this quote from Noelle:

“We see Scorpia expressing this admiration for Catra, expressing desire to get close to Catra... Catra is just not at this point super open to Scorpia’s affection. So I think it’s kind of tragic at this point. And I think for Catra, although she’ll never admit it, what she really wants is love and acceptance. Suddenly she is getting that, no strings attached, from Scorpia, and she is not ready.”

-wiping away tears- okay so yeah, Scorpia is over here offering Catra unconditional love and Catra’s just.... she’s so traumatized and has such deep-seated abandonment issues that she just doesn’t know what to do with it. She doesn’t feel she deserves it. Also, up until 2x05, Catra didn’t respect Scorpia much at all and definitely did not see her in a romantic light. But I have a theory on why that changed. 

For much of her life, I think the Horde taught Catra to associate love with blind loyalty and submission. Now, she is starting to question this belief. She thought Adora loved her, but Adora ended up being disloyal. She thought she could earn Shadow Weaver’s love by submitting to her, but Shadow Weaver continues to prove her wrong. So what is love, exactly? What is an expression of love? Catra’s not sure anymore.

When Scorpia defies Catra’s orders in 2x05--she destroys the First Ones disc, lets Adora escape, fucks up Catra’s plan--Catra is completely thrown. In the animation alone, you can see they’re trying to convey that Catra is seeing Scorpia in a way she never has before.

It’s precisely because Scorpia defied her and chose not to blindly submit to her, that Catra is still alive. It’s the first time that Scorpia went against Catra’s wishes in a big way. And I think this moment shook Catra to her core because it made her question what love is truly about. Like maybe Scorpia understands something that she doesn’t.

We see this again in episode 2x07, where she’s stressed out about Shadow Weaver and yelling at Scorpia to just obey her orders but Scorpia isn’t having it. And in that we see a special trust developing between them. Even when Catra’s being a dick to her, denying that they’re friends, saying things like “get used to not getting what you want in life...” Scorpia stays by her side and refuses to be discouraged. and I think that really is something that’s going to leave a huge impact on Catra. Scorpia is no longer just a tool for Catra to manipulate--she has come to seriously rely on her without realizing it.

Still, Catra doesn’t seem quite capable of understanding what a beautiful friend she has in Scorpia. and I’m afraid (predicting) that she might take it too far one day, and figure out the hard way exactly how much she had to lose. But that tragedy may also turn out to be her saving grace ✨

congrats if u read this whole thing lmao id love to hear your thoughts/criticism on it!! i was gonna discuss catradora too but actually i think that should be a separate meta so..... yeet .

[mittensmorgul]

Whenever I see a Dean+food post about how cute/funny it is that Dean is so food obsessed, it makes me sad because of course he’s focused on food, he starved as a child to feed his brother.

Aw, I get it. But before I get into that, apologies because I said I was gonna reply to this the other day, and then... didn’t do that >.> The timestamp thingy says it’s now been four five days since you sent this, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to reply sooner. I really wanted to give this the amount of mental attention it deserves, you know? Didn’t want to half-ass this one. :)

So let’s start with the cute/funny Dean and Food things, and then work our way to why it’s just so heartwrenching when you dig down a bit. Because Dean DOES love food. It’s one of the simplest little indulgent pleasures he’s ever allowed himself, and he does derive a great deal of joy from getting to enjoy the foods he loves. He turns up his nose at things he doesn’t enjoy, and sees little point to eating foods just because they’re “healthy” if they don’t also taste good, you know?

Contrast that to Sam whose issues with food have always been linked to health and “purity” because of HIS personal issues-- feeling “impure” or “unclean” because of what was done to him as an infant, even if he didn’t have a label or an explanation for those feelings until he was an adult. And that’s equally sad in its own right. I mean, look at the sort of stuff Sam gravitated toward as a child, the Froot Loops Dean capitulated and let him eat in 1.18, marshmallow nachos that Sully remembered were a favorite of his in 11.08, and Dean’s creative recipes for mac and cheese that included marshmallow fluff in 10.12. Sam definitely has a sweet tooth, even though he now chooses his options from the Healthy Food menu most of the time as an adult. It all goes toward his long-standing wish to be normal, to feel normal, to have some control over his own life and his own body.

Back to Dean... His issues with food are very different from Sam’s. Unlike Sam, Dean remembered bits of his life Before The Fire. He built up a mythology of those almost-five-years that wasn’t true to life, but idealized the things he did remember as Acts Of Love from his mother. Notice that almost all of his flashbacks and memories of his early life revolve around the kitchen, of Mary making him a sandwich or offering him some pie. Even though he later learned that Mary hadn’t actually cooked any of it herself, it wasn’t the “home cooking” that was important, but the sharing of food out of love. And this is something Dean did his very best, even as a very young child, to give Sam that sort of experience. There was very little he could do as a child himself to shield Sam and provide him any sort of “normalcy,” especially when we know just how insecure their ongoing relationship with food actually was, but as much as he could, Dean still tried to give Sam something “happy” even when it fell short of “healthy.”

Because for Dean, who last experienced this directly when he was FOUR YEARS OLD, food lovingly prepared and served = love. And that’s both wonderful and heartbreaking, you know?

I personally have a tendency to take happy things and find the sad in them, and vice versa. A post I added something to years ago and turned it sad, I commented something like “when we play headcanon roulette, sometimes everyone loses.” And that’s kind of how I feel about Dean vs. Food.

He both clearly derives genuine pleasure from food, while having such a complicated history with it that has its roots in both the most joyous and most painful memories of his entire lifetime. But the fact that he allows himself to have an ongoing mostly-positive relationship with food, to genuinely indulge in what he loves and squeeze every drop of joy out of a cheeseburger or a pie or a croissookie... whatever he eats, he treats it like it’s important and worthy of his attention. You rarely see him eat without that sort of focus and intent, you know? He’s determined to enjoy what he puts in his mouth.

Sort of the opposite of Sam, even as seen through 14.13 and “the Sam that would’ve been if Dean’s wish had stuck.” Rather joyless, yes? Austere? No matter what influence Dean tried to have over Sam’s experience of food, Sam is just... different, and finds his joy elsewhere. His eyes never light up over the prospect of an indulgent meal. I think in part because Sam never experienced that early childhood whiplash that Dean did, because Dean did everything in his power to shield Sam from the worst of it by sacrificing his own share, by means of theft or going hungry himself so that Sam wouldn’t have to.

This exchange in 4.04 is pretty telling... I mean, it was at a time when Sam was secretly dealing with his own “hunger” for demon blood and the power it brought him, even if we didn’t know this detail yet. But Sam’s reaction to this exchange is distinctly different from Dean’s, and it is an ongoing theme between them throughout the series:

SAM: No, we talk to him. Explain what's happening. That way he can fight it.TRAVIS: Fight it? [He laughs] Are you kidding me? You ever been really hungry?[This gets DEAN's attention, who's been looking at the papers SAM brought with him.]TRAVIS: I mean, haven't-eaten-in-days hungry?DEAN: Yeah.TRAVIS: Yeah. Right then. So somebody slaps a big, juicy sirloin in front of you, you walking away?[DEAN looks thoughtfull for a second and then admits "no" without words, only raising of eyebrows. He slowly looks over at SAM.]

Sam... doesn’t really get it. He’s never really experienced that sort of hunger the way Dean clearly has. Sure, we will see him devolve into that sort of hunger for demon blood over the season as he becomes addicted to it, but that’s always paralleled more to a drug addiction sort of hunger than an actual physical hunger in a food-sense of the word.

Typically when Sam and Dean are asked if they’re hungry over the course of the series, I can only think of ONE occasion where Sam replied “I’m starving.” And that’s after his soul was returned to him in 6.11. In 6.12, that’s his response. Every other time in all of canon, it’s a shrug, or an “eh, I could eat, I guess” type of response. There’s never any sort of personal emotional excitement about food the way Dean reacts.

So while the roots of Dean’s child-like joy in food are incredibly painful, he’s never let that tarnish his happiness at the prospect of a good meal. He’s never let his relationship with food sour into bitterness, and that does say an awful lot about Dean as a person, the way he demonstrates love for the people he cares about, and his own ability to experience such pleasure for himself, you know?

So it’s both sad as a reminder of the origin of it all, but also HOPEFUL, because as an adult, it’s probably the simplest and least complicated source of pleasure that Dean regularly allows himself. He knows what it’s like to go hungry, he knows what it’s like to struggle to provide for his loved ones, and as an adult now who isn’t beholden to people for their own survival and wellbeing, providing a good meal is a tactile demonstration of stability and security for him, in addition to a simple way to demonstrate his love for them without having to put it into so many words.

Both heartbreaking, and heartwarming. Depends on what direction you’re looking at it from, you know? You can only focus on the negative, or only focus on the positive, or you can choose to understand the whole of it and see how much it really tells us about Dean as a person. It’s complicated and messy, but there’s also a simple joy to be found there, and I think that’s why a lot of people just lean hard into that particular read. We want good things for Dean. We want him to experience joy more than heartbreak. And if a slice of pie or a family meal does that for him, then that’s what we hold on to.

[emilybettsource]

Big secrets are about to be revealed on Arrow!

In fact, one is coming just this week as Oliver learns the identity of that mysterious other Green Arrow, who viewers learned in the last new non-crossover episode is none other than his secret half-sister, Emiko (Sea Shimooka), the daughter of Oliver's (Stephen Amell) late father Robert and a still unknown mother. She gets her chance to shine in tonight's episode, which was only recently revealed to be titled "My Name Is Emiko Queen."

"It focuses on her and we have a cool, fun, opening montage of her kicking ass, and it's really told from her perspective," showrunner Beth Schwartz tells E! News. "We get to find out what her mission is and sort of why she's around and what happened to her family, and more about Robert kind of not doing right by her."

No one on Team Arrow knows her identity yet, but they will tonight, and you can bet Oliver's going to be surprised to find out he's got another sister.

"He is not expecting that," Schwartz says. "It is hard. We're going to see him dealing with what that actually means to him."

As Schwartz reminded us, Oliver's been through a lot this season with his months in prison and worries about his wife and son, all as a result of what she describes as a cycle that Robert created for him.

"Now to find out that he has this secret half-sister, that his father had a different family is heartbreaking to him, and he can't even confront him, you know, because he's not alive," she says. "So he deals with that, and that's a great story with him and Felicity who's there supporting him as his wife."

Schwartz says Emiko is similar to Oliver in more ways than just skill with a bow and a salmon ladder.

"She is very similar to Oliver in her sort of hot-headedness and stubbornness and also determination and even skills," she tells us. "We'll find out she's highly skilled and has been trained really well."

The reveal of Emiko and her whole deal isn't the only thing at play as we head into the back half of the season, so we got Schwartz to spill on a few other things to expect over the next few months and episodes.

A New Normal

Now that Oliver's out of prison and back with his family and his team, it's all about figuring out how life goes on.

"We're sort of finding our new normal in this midsection—Oliver working with the SCPD, how does the rest of Team Arrow fit into that, is there going to be a Team Arrow going forward, all of those answers we'll get to pretty fast," Schwartz says. And of course, that applies particularly to Oliver and Felicity.

The understanding the couple came to during the crossover, after Oliver had his Oliver-is-Barry-is-Oliver experience, will stick, and the pair is now here to fully support one another.

"Oliver's growth in prison and sort of accepting what Felicity for who she is and sort of understanding what she's been through, because you know, he was in his own kind of hell in prison and she was also in her own kind of hell outside of prison without him, and once that clicked for him, the two are back in a great place. They will have a lot of obstacles headed their way, but they will be together as a team to face them."

Part of that "new normal" involves Oliver now being more clearly on the side of the law by working with the SCPD, which Schwartz particularly enjoyed as a longtime writer on the show.

"It's fun as someone who's been here from the very beginning, because the whole series was based on vigilantes vs. the SCPD, so now this new partnership just had a lot of rich story to it," she says. "There's obviously going to be some conflict to how the Green Arrow would do things and how the SCPD would do things, and how is this really gonna work?"

Have no fear though: Oliver suiting up and wielding a bow and arrow will still be pretty normal, and Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) is still not totally defeated, which at this point is very normal.

Answers Are Coming

Bits and pieces of this season so far have taken place 20 years in the future, and have mostly just posed a whole bunch of questions we couldn't even begin to answer, most of which are about Felicity. Is Felicity really dead? Why would Felicity and Oliver abandon William? Why was Felicity planning to blow up the city? How many secrets is Blackstar keeping about her relationship with Felicity? We're going to get all of those answers this season.

"The second half of the season will be all about answering the questions that we've sort of posed and set up in the first half, so we'll be paralleling a lot more of the present day story to the future storyline, as well as having an all-future episode coming up," Schwartz promises. "We'll be able to open up our world that we've started and get a better sense of the characters and who they are and what sort of has really been happening, and what did we miss over the past 20 years, which is a lot."

Felicity in particular has been a cause for concern for fans, since the future scenes have promised us she turned into a villain and also died. Viewers were quick to not believe either thing for one second because they've been fooled before, but Schwartz says everything is "not so black and white."

"I think it's just interesting because we have such a long, long...again, 20 years is a long time to fill in, and I think throughout our series we've always talked about people's characters and whether you're good or bad, and this season is all about how everyone has a little bit of both inside them, whether it's our villains or heroes, and it's not so black and white. So I think that's the interesting part of dealing with our future storyline and our future characters, because a lot can change in that time."

Schwartz promises that this is no island flashback story that will take five years to pay off. The future story will play out sooner rather than later.

"You're going to find out everything this season," she says.

Not only will we be getting that all-future episode, but we'll also see future Renee (Rick Gonzalez) for the first time, we'll visit the Glades, which Schwartz says is the "complete opposite" of the "depressing" Star City, and we'll learn about everything Blackstar/Maya (Katherine McNamara) is hiding.

"We're going to find out a lot more about her and how she fits into the whole group in just a few more episodes, and then in our all-flash forward episode, we're going to find out a lot. She's basically going to be featured in that episode from her point of view."

For everyone who's been worrying about how un-saved Star City still is after 20 years, Schwartz says she's "very excited" for fans to finally see what's going on.

"The fun part of reading people's reaction is that I know what the answer is, obviously, so I'm just like oh, everyone just wait, just wait. You'll know all the answers, you'll get all the answers," she says. "I'll be very excited once everyone sees what's really going on."

Arrow airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

[angeltriestoblog]

The One With All The Books: My favorites + tips on how to get out of your reading slump!

Ever since I was a kid, I've been obsessed with books: while most children I knew then were preoccupied with Barbie dolls and battleships, I immersed myself in fictional worlds and found trusty companions in protagonists who embarked on adventures that transcended the limits of the physical universe. Back then, I would sleep with them under my pillow, read them in the backseat of our family car even on rather turbulent road trips, and turn to them during boring class discussions.

Over time, they ended up shaping my opinions and world views, fueling my hunger for knowledge, and inspiring me to put my own thoughts down on paper. It's safe to say I wouldn't be the person I am now, had it not been for my love for the written word. Which is why I find it odd that I haven't made any of the standard recommendation posts that would normally be found on the personal blog of someone like me. In an attempt to fix that, I'm sharing with you my eight favorites of all time, not only to give them a fitting tribute (that will still not be able to do their profound impact any justice), but also encourage you to pick up a good read! Who knows, maybe it'll change your life as much as it did to mine!

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

As a kid, I loved both science and fiction, but always saw them as two concepts completely opposite from each other. When I found out that they could marry and live in perfect harmony in a genre of their own, I was over the moon. It was exciting enough, getting to teleport across universes by folding the fabric of space and time, encounter terrifying creatures who somehow parallel actual people on Earth, and learn about obscure scientific concepts. But, the fact that it manages to tie in the triumph of good over evil, and the power of familial love was just the cherry on top for me. I brought this with me everywhere I went for a solid two months, obviously with good reason.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

My mom had recommended this to me in high school, and I put off buying it for so long because I originally thought I was "too old to be reading stuff like that". Much to my surprise, what was practically disguised as a children's book, with its simple prose and watercolor illustrations, served as both as a moral allegory and criticism of the way adults operate in today's world. Though its length can trick you into thinking it's a fast read, most passages demand to be looked at a second time, reflected on, and shared to the nearest person—if you're the type to protest against annotating, you might have to rethink your stance.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

When I was in grade school, my parents had this rule where I was only allowed to buy a new book during special occasions, to control the growing number we had piling up in our house. I remember seeing this in the NBS branch in Glorietta, and having to wait until the end of the quarter to ask my parents to get it for me. Oh, well: as the cheesy saying goes, "True love waits." Although if there is anyone who loves books more than I do, it's Meggie Folchart, as she has inherited her father's gift of bringing fictional characters to life. But, when disaster strikes, as it always does, she must learn how to harness this special power and save her family. The world-building and imagery is unbelievably rich, Funke doesn't just paint a picture in your head: she creates a whole ass movie. No wonder eight year-old me put her up on a pedestal.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (the entire series, but maybe the third was my favorite) (ok it was, don't tell the two others) by Jenny Han

The blurb at the back of the book certainly doesn't do it justice: I remember finding this at a nearby Fully Booked and putting it down instantly, dismissing it as another cliche YA novel. Sure, Lara Jean Covey has to deal with all five of her unsent love letters to her crushes being mysteriously sent out, but she also grapples with important issues such as identity, family, and—in the third book—the future. I read Always and Forever, Lara Jean during the summer before I entered university, and every single line resonated with me so much I paused at the end of every chapter to take a crying selfie. Plus, Peter Kavinsky is my literary dream boy: if I ever expect my future significant other to take me on a cross-country road trip to go antique shopping, they'll only have him to blame.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

We're taught that we shouldn't judge books by their covers, but I'm glad my twelve year old self decided to brush that aside when she bought this. Although I didn't end up reading it until five years after, I devoured the thick hardbound in a day and a half, and was reduced to a ball on my couch shortly afterwards. I know the book has the most self-explanatory title, but it's just that it takes on the universal experience of first love and heartbreak so authentically. The stream of consciousness writing style and slow pacing may be an issue for some, but I reckon it adds to its charm, as it allows Min to take readers through all the motions of a relationship in a way so relatable, entering her headspace feels like slipping into a second skin.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey

A friend of mine in high school had complained to me that her mother had made this required reading for her, and I suggested I'd take it off her hands for a bit. I ended up going through her copy thrice in a month. (Ah, what I would give to go back to the days when I could still afford to read on school days.) An issue a lot of books that claim to "change your life" have is that they elaborate on these supposedly groundbreaking ideas, yet fail to break them down into doable action steps. Fortunately, Covey shares his practical advice in a structured manner, complete with examples, illustrations, and the occasional dad joke, freeing it from any preachy or condescending undertones. I don't know how to say that this is the only self-help book you'll ever need without sounding like someone from the Home Shopping Network.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

This paperback intimidated me from the moment I first saw it on a shelf, because of the metaphorical title and steep price. But, good thing I got around to buying it eventually: this harrowing story is told by a promising doctor with his whole life ahead of him, who turns into a patient as soon as he is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Reading this was difficult, because I knew that no matter how hard I tried to dissect and reflect on the questions of life and death being posed by the author, I could never come close to understanding how he felt. But, that didn't make the experience any less necessary.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Creativity is a rather difficult concept to talk about in depth, because it seems so abstract. This is why the author advises readers to treat it as a living entity: one that bestows the best of ideas to those who nurture it, complements the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, and demands our full participation despite the looming presence of fear. I finished this on a school bus ride home from school, and the minute I got home, I marathoned Gilbert's TED talks and keynote speeches on YouTube: there is a distinctly tender, somewhat spiritual quality in the way she speaks about her craft, that easily makes you hang on to and follow every word she says.

Now I know books aren't everyone's go-to when looking for a way to pass the time: I've heard people say that they can't find time for it, that there's nothing out there that piques their interest, or they simply don't have the patience, given that social media posts and Netflix shows practically hold our attention spans captive in this day and age. While all are valid points, they can clearly be worked around! I was in a funk during the start of my Christmas break, because I hadn't touched a non-academic book since the new school year had started. But, I managed to finish four in the span of a month, and am currently on my fifth, as of this writing. Here are some tips I have, just in case you want to kick your reading slump in the ass as well.

Start small. Like with any habit you want to build, introduce the behavior in small increments: five push-ups, five minutes of meditation, fifty pages of a novella. Then, once you're starting to get the hang of it again and you don't feel your two brain cells shrieking for help because they can't figure out if "lived" is an actual word in the English language, you can increase it depending on your progress. This happened to me when, thanks to a notably bad case of tsundoku, I had amassed 14 (!!!) unread books in a year. I decided to tackle as soon as my vacation started, so I kicked it off with a rather easy read: Matilda by Roald Dahl, 232 pages thin, with numerous drawings.

Read something you'd actually enjoy! It's gonna be hard to stay engaged in something that doesn't excite or entice you: reading is supposed to be a hobby, not a household chore. Find something written on an interest of yours, a field of study that you've always been curious about, a person that you've looked up to for forever: I truly believe that there is no topic that hasn't been written about at this point in time.

On a somewhat related note, don't be afraid to DNF books that don't satisfy you. A lot of us pick books up because everyone else loves it, and are afraid to put it down for the fear of being othered. But, if we've all come to believe that we should sever ties with people who no longer serve us, what makes it any different for books that just don't touch our lives? I remember reading The Bell Jar when I was 13 because it came highly recommended by someone on Instagram who I found really cool. It was far too heavy for me, but I couldn't find the heart to shelf it especially after how much it cost me.

Remember that physical copies are not the only way to go. Thanks to the presence of audio and e-books, one can now enjoy stories anywhere and any time, without the daunting feel of several pages, or the burden of lugging around heavy hardbounds. (Although you are missing out on one of the best parts of reading: new book smell. Your loss.) One might find it easier to process the information this way, or even appreciate whatever the author has to say.

Talk about it with a friend! They could help keep you accountable in following through your reading goals, give you solid (and sometimes even personalized) recommendations, or accompany you in mourning over the death of a major character. It's always been a dream of mine to start or join a book club for these exact reasons, but I'm afraid this post is possibly the closest I could get to that right now. Nevertheless, I'd love to hear your suggestions and give you more of my own! Drop me a message here (or here, here, and here!) if ever you're interested.

Love and light,

Angel