#but some of the plotlines were so very meh

[borealnyx]

And here's my dune: prophecy review.

Very starwars prequel coded(kind of positive but not really), but not toxic or gay enough

[eightdoctor]

my eda recs :) for anyone interested in getting into this series

i am prefacing this post with the note that i am an avid completionist and generally dislike telling people to skip certain books unless it's a john peel novel or placebo effect. however i understand telling people to read 74 novels is not at all accessible and i need you all to read. these books. please. please

this post is going to be long as shit i know it so i'm putting it ��� here. books that can be skipped because theyre a bit shit will be colored red, ones that you Can Skip but are good/have some important character or plot bits in will be orange, and ones that are sooo good and necessary and the best books ever will be green. unfortunately i think a lot of the ones colored orange should be colored green but i know restraint. i can stay my hand. kind of

also i should say that i primarily read these for the characters - the plots themselves come second. so lots of my opinions come from the standpoint of which books have good characterizations. basically some of the ones that i color green would probably be skippable if any normal person were reading them but i'm insane!! and this is my list so fuck you!!!

The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks: ah my color trichotomy has bitten me in the ass on the first book. because truth be told i still haven't finished this one (nor have i really felt the need to yet), yet it introduces the first companion in the series, sam jones, and contains some other entertaining parts like the doctor getting caught with cocaine. as far as introductory books go it's meh

Vampire Science by Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum: this book. i truly can't sing my praises any louder than i already have. orman & blum took the character of the eighth doctor as portrayed by paul mcgann in a few measly minutes of screen time into a fully fleshed out, compelling and complex character. if you're a fan of the eighth doctor but aren't interested in reading all of the EDAs you have to read this one at the Very Least. it begins, as all good stories do, in a gay bar. it features vampire squirrels, the doctor with kittens, and the doctor infodumping on the beauty of science in a speech? conversation? that still touches me to this day, four years after i first read it.

The Bodysnatchers by Mark Morris: this book is Gross, and i mean that positively. mark morris held nothing back when describing how disgusting and putrid london was in the 1800s (he's primarily a horror writer, and that comes through rather clearly in this book). i genuinely enjoyed this novel a lot, but i know it's not for everyone because again, it's quite gory and disgusting

Genocide by Paul Leonard: don't you just want to see the doctor in a sun hat? being tortured for weeks on end? don't you want to examine his morality in termsof what species he thinks needs to be saved or doomed? jo grant is there

War of the Daleks by John Peel: fuck john peel all my homies hate john peel. for some reason all his books in this range contain daleks and it’s like…why. get some creativity. everyone else did. bitch

Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles: this novel is So Good. it introduces faction paradox, the war in heaven plotline, humanoid tardises, and a couple of the most interesting & fun side characters in the whole range (homunculette and marieeee <3 cousin justineeee… aaaaaaahh). I shan’t spoil the entire conceit of the story but just know it’s. insane and fucked up and so so funny

Kursaal by Peter Anghelides: this is just a solid doctor who story, really. i wouldn’t call it imperative to the overarching plot of the novels (as tenuous as it is early on), but it’s an enjoyable enough read. it’s about an ancient race of alien werewolves underneath a theme park. what more can i say

Option Lock by Justin Richards: i recall enjoying the doctor and sam’s characterization in this one, and the story is like doctor strangelove meets, well, doctor who. it’s skippable, but i had fun reading it, and that’s really all you can ask for

Longest Day by Michael Collier: this is the start of the arc where sam gets separated from the doctor. actually the most tense and stressed i’ve been reading the edas was reading this and the next three books. it’s so dire, but it’s so so good, with incredible character moments from sam and the doctor. plus you have anstaar, nashaad with his metal legs, and some really fucked up body horror involving Time messing with people’s existences and driving ppl mad and stuff. people tend to either love this one or hate it from what i’ve seen, and i’m solidly in the former category. would definitely recommend 

Legacy of the Daleks by John Peel: ughhhhhhhh… ughhhhjhhhhhh i guess you have to read this one. i guess you have to. it’s definitely an improvement on his last book but still. daleks again john? really? whateverrrrr.. some important stuff happens to susan is in this one though. and the master as well. so if you care about either of those characters you should read this i suppose

Dreamstone Moon by Paul Leonard: a general rule of the edas is paul leonard always writes excellent books (in my opinion, anyway), and this is not the exception. sam and the doctor are still separated, but they’re in the same place and keep missing each other and its like UGGHHHH!!! UGHHH!!! but you have interesting commentary on capitalism’s exploitation and effective revolutionary action and all that stuff. also aloisse is an incredible character and i love her

Seeing I by Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum: HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD LIRD!!!!!!!!!!! kate and jon do it again, those crazy bastards. you know how every author loves torturing the shit out of eight? these guys take that and run with it in the opposite direction, asking the question what if the worst thing the doctor could go through isn’t agonizing torture, but rather just a lack of enrichment in his enclosure? what if he had to stay locked up in one building for three years and couldn’t escape for the life of him? meanwhile sam, now a refugee with no social support (as she technically shouldn’t exist in this time and location), has to deal with homelessness, and has to decide whether it’s better to have a stable, yet soulless corporate job - or do something that’s meaningful and benefits society. she’s at her best in this book for sure

Placebo Effect by Gary Russell: throws up. don’t read this because it is actually rhe worst book in the whole range and i’m not joking. sorry gary you’re a nice guy but i thought the arguments against evolution that went on for like 3 pages were extremely egregious and also plain wrong. you may look at this book and think “oh cool! Stacy and ssard from the comics are in this one!” well they’re there for like a paragraph and don’t do shit. so

Vanderdeken's Children by Christopher Bulis: really fun novel that’s pretty much the epitome of the classic doctor who question “wouldn’t that be really fucked up and crazy?” it also established the fact that the doctor told sam his real name which is really fun and awesome

The Scarlet Empress by Paul Magrs: much like paul leonard, paul magrs Never disappoints. this book is just so fucking fun. in essence, it’s a road trip story. they drive across a planet listening to abba and visiting lots of kooky places and picking up lots of wacky characters. it also deconstructs gender and self-identity and what it means to be an individual. a cyborg and a giant spider get lesbian married. aewsome 👍

The Janus Conjunction by Trevor Baxendale: i really debated on making this one skippable, i did. because while it doesn’t continue any of the established plots or themes or whatever, it does show the doctor breaking the laws of time to save his companion’s life, and that’s really cool we love that. there’s a lot of fun body horror too if you go for that sort of thing. and more giant spiders but these ones are different 

Beltempest by Jim Mortimore: ok honestly? i didn’t vibe with this one. i know some people really liked it but i felt as if the characterization was Off. some wacky wild stuff happens to sam though

The Face-Eater by Simon Messingham: <-doesn’t remember much of this one cuz i was high while reading it. i think it was a solid story though? 

The Taint by Michael Collier: yayyyyyyyy fitz is hereeeee my babyboy… lots of people don’t vibe with this one but i do. because i love fitz and everything he’s in and him and the doctor are such bastards to each other in the beginning it’s great. their repartee is genuinely so entertaining and really elevates the book for me, even if the plot itself is a bit mediocre. either way even if you don’t like it you have to read it because it introduces fitz. so there

Demontage by Justin Richards: telling you to skip this one would be a disservice. because technically it Is skippable, but it has some absolutely hilarious moments that really drive home the fact that fitz is Cringe. they’re on a space casino called vega in the far future and fitz dresses in a (from everyone else's perspective) old-fashioned tuxedo. he smokes indoors and everyone gives him nasty looks because he’s in the future and no one smokes inside. he asks for his cocktails shaken not stirred and the bartender fucking hates him. and he also accidentally gets involved in an assassination plot. but i suppose if you must skip it then go ahead… 

Revolution Man by Paul Leonard: mr leonard does it again. this is an excellent novel for both companions that begins with sam and the doctor engaging in leftist discourse with an anarchist and ends with the world almost ending. it happens.

Dominion by Nick Walters: you have to read this one just for the doctor’s first gay kiss. sorry i don’t make the rules. also it  just features a neat concept imo and has a great moment where the doctor punches a pillow in frustration and then sadly apologizes to it

Unnatural History by Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum: this book is one that i think every doctor who fan who’s ever gotten mad about canon not making sense should be forced at gunpoint to read. it’s a novel that’s essentially one big metacommentary on doctor who canon & why it Doesn’t Matter At All, Actually; the doctor was birthed and he was loomed and both are equally true and untrue. also features the iconic paragraph calling the doctor a (verbatim) “backrub slut”, as well as wrapping up the ongoing arc with sam jones hinted at in alien bodies and a few other books in a way that’ll have you side eyeing moffat very suspiciously

Autumn Mist by David A. McIntee: this one’s pretty good and has a couple great moments (fitz calling himself james bond, for one), but is, i think, ultimately skippable unless youre a world war 2 buff

Interference Books 1 & 2 by Lawrence Miles: nothing i can say will adequately put into words what these two novels made me feel, you hear me? absolutely nothing. good fucking god. jesus christ. holy fuck.. if i sat here listsing all the important and iconic moments in these books we’d be here all shitting day and this post is already obscenely long. read these 2 books. then read them again. 

The Blue Angel by Paul Magrs: ok i know i just said this but HOOOOOO..WHOA NELLY! the blue angel is easily in my top 5 edas. it literally heavily features a canon domestic au wherein the doctor is a “middle-aged gay man”. fitz says he wants to get laid by the doctor. the doctor’s mother is a mermaid. there’s off-brand spirk. someone turns into a giant squid. literally this book is so good they wrote a screenplay adaptation of it and a spinoff short story that you should also read

The Taking of Planet 5 by Simon Bucher-Jones and Mark Clapham: you’re going to be hearing this a lot from me but we Are entering the part of the series where it really takes off and gets sooo fucking good. anyway this novel is sooo fucking good and quite important to the plot and establishes stuff about the war in heaven and gallifrey so. read it. also there's ELDRITCH BEASTS!

Frontier Worlds by Peter Anghelides: i can’t tell you to skip this one because it’s so good. fitz goes by the alias frank sinatra & also talks like him for a solid portion of the book. we get excellent compassion moments. great doctor moments (including that Hot and Sexy dream he has about the tardis!) and all in all it’s a wonderful story

Parallel 59 by Stephen Cole and Natalie Dallaire: lots of stuff happens in this one, especially to fitz. by that i mean it gets referenced quite a bit later so i would recommend if you want to catch all the references. also a woman worked on this one so you already know eight is going to be written phenomenally and very sensually. 

The Shadows of Avalon by Paul Cornell: rather important development happens to compassion in this book (understatement). but it’s also a really good story in general with lots of memorable bits - paul cornell wrote one EDA and did a great job and then vanished from the range. it also has the BRIGADIER and his ROMANCE with MAB the BIG BOSOMED CELTIC QUEEN so like.. read it?? 

The Fall of Yquatine by Nick Walters: a pretty important thing happens to compassion in this one too (another understatement). also withnail & i references galore, fitz has a bad time (has he had a Good time for the past few books? questionable!), and the doctor spends time with a gay baker/contraband parts dealer

Coldheart by Trevor Baxendale: you could skip this one but why would you even want to? it’s literally one of compassion’s best stories and has plenty of excellent doctor and companion moments. it’s just fun and engaging and an outstanding doctor who story. and, as always, fitz is effortlessly cringe as ever <3

The Space Age by Steve Lyons: this one’s just boring and kinda stupid. nothing big or important happens and you can tell steve lyons didn’t care for writing compassion at all. skip it

The Banquo Legacy by Andy Lane and Justin Richards: Big Plot Developments in this one - mostly in the beginning and end. also the only (?) mention of irving braxiatel in the whole run! it’s written from the POV of two Normal people not on the tardis so it’s interesting to see how they perceive the doctor and fitz, and how this contradicts the way they define themselves in other books where we’re privy to their internal monologue 

The Ancestor Cell by Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH AAAAGHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HFHOA8U8OIA AOUIY4P98 YT39 7UGHYIB3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this one drives me insane and there are parts of it i reread nearly every day. because i’m CRAZY. it’s a controversial novel in the doctor who fandom because of how it handles gallifrey and faction paradox lore but WHO FUCKING CARES? FATHER KREINER IS BACK BABY

The Burning by Justin Richards: this is the start of the Earth Arc, so it’s the first portrayal of the doctor stuck on earth without any of his memories. it’s a bit slow at the beginning, and as a normal doctor who story i would consider it subpar, but the characterization of the doctor really carries it i think. you see how losing his memory impacted his restraint with things such as hypnosis and Other Stuff I Shan’t Spoil

Casualties of War by Steve Emmerson: this has the first appearance of the Note, so it’s especially important for that reason. but it’s also just a neat story that has way more elements of a fantasy than a sci fi and again, seeing how the doctor acts now, stuck on earth without his memories, and juxtaposing that with how he acted before, super fun and neat

The Turing Test by Paul Leonard: if i could graft this book onto my DNA i would. i already KNEW the circumstances surrounding alan turing’s death and yet i still cried about it while reading this!! paul leonard’s portrayal of turing as both a gay and autistic man (though the latter is never explicitly stated) is INCREDIBLE and i really can’t recommend it enough just based on that. but the story itself is amazing and really delves into the doctor’s Differences and his desperation to leave earth after being stuck there for decades. 

Endgame by Terrance Dicks: people really like this one and i guess i had fun with it but i just can’t really get into terrence dicks’ writing style. that being said it features the doctor listless and just so sad and depressed so you kind of have to read it. if that’s not reason enough there’s a fat gay alcoholic spy who absolutely rocks

Father Time by Lance Parkin: i hate that this is green. i hate it. i hate this fucking book. i hate lance parkin also. but this is where miranda (the doctor’s adopted daughter) is introduced so alas, you must read it and imagine a version of this book thats infinitely better in your head. sorry! 

Escape Velocity by Colin Brake: this one’s mid but it’s the end of the earth arc and fitz and the doctor reunite and ANJI KAPOOR IS HERE!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!! so if you read this and get a lil bored just know it’s about to get so fucking good you guys

EarthWorld by Jacqueline Rayner: genuinely can’t say enough good things about this one. it’s funny. it’s angsty. it’s all in all just a really fun book. and it’s the shortest one i think so like you have no excuse to not read it

Fear Itself by Nick Wallace: this is technically a PDA because it was written after nine was announced, thereby making 8 technically a “past doctor”, but who give a shit. read this one are yoyu kidding me. read it read it read it read it READ IT. there’s a twist in it that rendered me absolutely catatonic for about a week 

Vanishing Point by Stephen Cole: don’t skip this one even though it’s orange. are you listening to me? don’t fucking skip it ok!!! steve cole is the #1 fitz/eight shipper and this really shines through here. also maybe i’m just easily entertained by reasonably accurate science in my doctor who books but i liked all the genetics references

Eater of Wasps by Trevor Baxendale: trevor you sly dog you did it again. you mad bastard. not only is the storyline in this one soo gripping and also Quite horrifying but the characterization?? hoooooo boy. this is the book where “you really love him, don’t you?” “well, i like to think we’re just good friends.” comes from and so even if it was dogshit you’d have to read it just for that like cmon

The Year of Intelligent Tigers by Kate Orman: holy. fucking. shit. good grief. the doctor has a boyfriend and they go on picnics and drink chocolate martinis together. the doctor becomes a catboy for a few months. this story takes place on a colony world whose culture is predominantly centered around music, so you have the doctor playing his violin (hot). you have scientifically accurate zoology/xenobiology. you have a Mysterious lost civilization. most importantly you have fitz’s song he wrote for the doctor

The Slow Empire by Dave Stone: this one’s just FUNNY okay. dave stone has such a characteristic way of writing prose it’s just kind of a joy to read. if you get the hard copy all of the bits from a side character’s pov is written in comic sans. while some of the characterization is a bit meh and anji didn’t Really live up to her full potential in a couple scenes i’d still recommend it. there’s footnotes

Dark Progeny by Steve Emmerson: this is another one i colored orange even though i whole-heartedly recommend it.. it’s a commentary on corporate apathy and greed and how it destroys entire planets and just a really engaging story besides. not to mention we get a “fitz fitz fitz fitz fitz!” bit from 8 <3

The City of the Dead by Lloyd Rose: i can’t even talk about this oine lest i lose my mind… not joking when i say lloyd rose writes some of the best and juiciest angst in the whole series like some of the scenes in there made me feel like i was being helplessly entrapped in flowing grain for a month

Grimm Reality by Simon Bucher-Jones and Kelly Hale: i really do sound like a broken record at this point but this is another one of those books i could never say enough positive things about. there are two novels in this series that genre-hop and this is one of them. the tardis lands on a world where everything runs on logic straight out of the brother’s grimm (hence the title). there’s magic cloaks and evil stepsisters and giants, and the doctor, fitz, and anji all have their own separate adventures so it’s super interesting to see how each character deals with being in a fairytale. not only that but there are parts of the book written in the style of those old fairytales and i really do get a good kick out of  gimmicky stuff like that 

The Adventuress of Henrietta Street by Lawrence Miles: buckle the fuck up everyone and get out your highlighters and sticky notes because this one is so fucking dense you’ll have no choice but to annotate and take notes, sorry! it’s written in the style of a historical nonfiction which occasionally falls flat (where’s the fucking works cited, lawrence???), but the story is fucking crazy. you got arcane rituals, prostitutes doing sex magic that summon great apes, sabbath is here, the doctor is weak and sickly (always awesome), sabbath is here, the doctor gets married so he can save the earth, sabbath is here,

Mad Dogs and Englishmen by Paul Leonard: this is the petplay book featuring multicolored poodles that have human hands. need i say more? 

Hope by Mark Clapham: not the best book but it’s got some pretty crucial anji moments in, and we all love love love anji so much so we’ll read mediocre novels just for her!! (but we also see the doctor struggle with only having one heart so that’s fun too)

Anachrophobia by Jonathan Morris: literally my top 3 book in the series EASY. it takes place on a planet ravaged by a time war (as in a war that fights with weapons that fuck with time. not like That time war), yet despite that particular futuristic conceit the entire atmosphere of the book feels like something out of the 40s or 50s  - almost like the aesthetics of fallout, but instead of nuclear radiation it’s Time. most of the story takes place in this sealed off bunker that’s doing experiments to try and develop time travel, and while they’re successful in going back in time the guinea pigs who volunteered for the trial develop an illness that fucks up their personal timelines so bad they literally turn into clock zombies. and it’s contagious. but no one can leave because theres fucked up time outside uh oh!!! if you liked the themes of war profiteering from boom in the new season you’ll LOVE this book

Trading Futures by Lance Parkin: fuck you lance parkin i can’t stand your ass! you can’t fucking write for shit!!! i’d recommend this book if you want to see anji referred to as ‘the asian woman’ more than her actual name :) and a southeast asian character with a name that might as well have been taken right out of a book written by  jk rowling. really the only good part of this book is when anji almost calls the doctor an otter-fucker

The Book of the Still by Paul Ebbs: this book is a WILD fucking ride. this book is fucking insane in the most positive of ways. paul ebbs writes an absolutely top tier eight that manages to encapsulate all the development he went through in the series as well as evoking the characterization from the 1996 movie

The Crooked World by Steve Lyons: this is the second book that does a genre-swap, but instead of fairytales this time the tardis lands on a planet dominated by saturday morning cartoon physics and logic. but the doctor & co being there begins to introduce Real Life concepts such as death and sex and swearing, so all these wacky cartoon characters who’ve spent their whole lives doing wacky cartoon things like blowing each other up with sticks of dynamite or hitting each other with big hammers suddenly find that these actions actually have very very serious consequences, which really kicks off when this story’s equivalent of tom rips off this story’s equivalent of jerry’s head, killing him instantly. idk i just watched a lot of saturday morning cartoons as a kid so seeing the parodies of wacky races and scooby doo was very enjoyable. to me

History 101 by Mags L Halliday: to put it simply this book is about leftist infighting. to put it more complexly this book is about the spanish civil war and how differing opinions and principles can alter one’s perception of history - and what happens when history actually starts being changed in accordance to these differing principles. there’s also the subplot featuring fitz’s homoerotic, yet very traumatizing, travels with a guy named sasha as they journey to guernica so they can watch it be bombed

Camera Obscura by Lloyd Rose: this is where sabbath and the doctor’s relationship really reaches it’s peak. this is The Esteemed Toxic Old Man Yaoi Novel. but also remember when i said lloyd rose writes the best angst? this holds especially true here. i won’t spoil it for you but Something Crazy Happens to the Doctor! haha. haha

Time Zero by Justine Richards: this is just quantum physics: the novel. while fitz goes on his doomed siberia expedition with the geologist boytoy george in the 19th century, the doctor investigates some strange readings in siberia like a hundred years later, and some crazy confusing hijinks ensue! the events in this book kick off the arc that’ll continue for the next few books until sometime never where the multiverse is collapsing and the doctor has to fix it. even though he doesn’t know how. ALSO TRIX INTRODUCTIONNNNNN!!!!!!!!

The Infinity Race by Simon Messingham: this one’s whatever. the sabbath characterization is wack but there are a few good moments. you think it’s going to be mostly about a cool boat race but sadly that comes secondary -_-

The Domino Effect by David Bishop: this book is ASS, both plot-wise and characterization-wise. it also just seems like the author was trying to be needlessly edgy when he developed the setting, and there are just some baffling moments where characters say and do things i frankly think they would never say 

Reckless Engineering by Nick Walters: the events in this one center around a tragedy that is fucking batshit insane. the universe this takes place in features a post-apocalyptic earth. i shan’t say what this apocalypse was because finding out what happened is all apart of the fun guys. i can’t spoil everything for you

The Last Resort by Paul Leonard: what if a corporation discovered TIME TRAVEL and set up RESORTS all across human history? what if there was a mcdonalds in ancient egypt and advertisements for microsoft in the original version of the bible? also what if something just soooo fucked up happens so many times <3

Timeless by Stephen Cole: anji’s last book. sobs.

Emotional Chemistry by Simon A. Forward: idk what it was but i just didn’t really vibe with this one. it’s not awful by any means and there’s a bit of plot carried in from the last novel that continues into the next but the actions that surround it don’t really matter i think. honestly i’d just read a summary of this one and continue on 

Sometime Never... by Justin Richards: the culmination of the multiverse stuff. i liked it - miranda makes a reappearance, and the fact she’s written by someone other than lance parkin is already a plus. my only qualm is i don’t really like how it handled sabbath but that’s sort of how i felt about all the books post camera obscura… sigh

Halflife by Mark Michalowski: ANOTHER EASY TOP 3. i’m simply obsessed with all of the concepts and tropes in this book, not to mention it’s where fitz’s infamous Ass Dream can be found. there’s commentary on racism, colonialism, and religion, and it also features cannibalism as a metaphor for love :D

The Tomorrow Windows by Jonathan Morris: another case of me coloring a book orange even though i think you should read it anyway. it’s positively saturated with so many interesting alien planets and creatures and societies you’d be missing out if you didn’t read this one tbh. it’s also the first novel ever to feature the ninth doctor!

The Sleep of Reason by Martin Day: this one ok. it’s another book written from the pov of an outsider and her insights into the doctor, fitz, and trix are interesting (and their characterization when they show up is outstanding!) but it feels like they’re rarely in it & this close to the end of the series i just want to see more of my guys you know...

The Deadstone Memorial by Trevor Baxendale: i loved the atmosphere in this one. it’s more of a ghost story with sci fi elements, and the stakes involved aren’t Bigger Than Ever like they tend to be nowadays, but instead surround the wellbeing of a family of a single mom and her two kids which i appreciate - the doctor isn’t saving the Whole Universe and World; just a family from a small town; it’s effective in getting the point across that the doctor thinks everyone’s important and worth saving 

To the Slaughter by Stephen Cole: this one’s fun and goofy and steve cole wrote it solely so he could fix an error from a fourth doctor serial in which the doctor got the number of jupiter’s moons wrong. that being said the reason it’s not colored orange is because the last book of the series is written by lance parkin and i want to help you procrastinate reading his godawful prose for as long as possible. your welcome

The Gallifrey Chronicles by Lance Parkin: fuck you lance parkin

[patentedsun]

Was talking about this with moot but I really wish we got more of a grudge on Wendy's end with regards to the guild disbanding. Let's recall:

1) Wendy gets abandoned by her mother figure when she was like five like she was barely out of the toddler ages she was literally a BABY

2) Wendy, right after getting abandoned, gets found by Mystogan, only to get abandoned by him after some significant non specific time period has passed

3) Wendy grows up in caitshelter, only to find out nobody there actually existed, they were just illusions created with the sole purpose of keeping her company, and they ALL disappear in one fell swoop (mind u I would've spiralled from here, wtf do u mean the people I spent my formative years with NEVER EXISTED??? The sheer amount of crises that would've given me)

3.5) Wendy briefly reunites with Mystogan and immediately has to say goodbye to him forever

3.75) Wendy briefly reunites with Grandeeney and immediately has to say goodbye to her forever

4) Wendy finds a new home in fairy tail, where everybody is family and she develops a sibling like relationship with her fellow dragon slayers (her words not mine) and she even was fully ready to kill herself in order to save them in tartaros... and then her mother figure DIES AND... uh oh... Fairy tail disbands.... and it's heavily implied none of them kept in contact with her or even helped her find her footing in Lamia scale (you're free to hc otherwise but I'm just going off canon)

And then natsu and Lucy show up, and yes she has a mild crisis about not wanting to leave Chelia... but that's about it...

Like PLEASE I sincerely wish we got some focus on the sheer betrayal she SHOULD have felt. And if she was really that forgiving, I wish the Lamia members like Lyon or Chelia would've held that grudge for her. In fact I wish they would've advised her against going back to fairy tail altogether.

In all fairness the entire disbanding plotline made zero sense from most angles (wdym nobody kept in contact? nobody sent Lucy a letter? nobody checked up on the 12 year old orphan in their guild?), so like it rlly is a product of bad writing and dogging on it feels redundant but. STILL. I really love what FT did with Wendy for the most part, and she has a very good character arc throughout, but I just wish we explored this added layer of the fact that she got abandoned not once...not twice...not thrice... BUT FOUR TIMES... all before the age of 13(ish). That's like incomprehensible levels of psychological damage.

(And in general, the dragon plotline was pretty meh. None of the other dragon slayers got a spotlight for their grief, and natsu bareeeelyyy just barely had one before he moved on in 3 seconds.)

[eleanor-bradstreet]

Hi! I love your blog and I like show!Ben very much. However I felt meh about his book, and Sophie while sweet, strong and deserving of respect seemed a little bit bland to me. It's fine and probably won't ruin the pleasure of following their story for me. The book and Cinderella themes was simply not my cup of tea, but they definitely will make some changes anyways. That all being said I want to very politely ask you to explain to me what's magic of this couple is for you?

Hello Nonny!

Thank you so much for your kind words and this truly thought provoking question! I have a long-winded answer 😜

I agree with you on many points: I am typically not one for fairytale romance/Cinderella tropes; I believe Benophie's book An Offer from a Gentleman has a TON of problems including making Sophie bland and helpless; and I am hopelessly in love with show!Ben.

As best I can describe it, Luke Thompson's show!Ben is the answer to everything. I love that character and find him to be 'magical' moreso than I do the coupling of Benophie and their story. I believe that he could have a captivating love story with literally anyone and anything. Show me his forbidden romance with a dustbin and I will eat it up 😅 He is just such a well-written and acted character (despite being rather bland and directionless in S3 IMO). He is always kind-hearted and emotionally intelligent (looking askance at dear Anthony). He is adventurous and funny, creative and romantic, and yet not a pushover. He still exudes masculinity and sexual intensity. He is, in my opinion, the complete package. There's nothing he can't do. That's why he's my favorite Bridgerton sibling and why I fell hopelessly in love with him.

His love story with Sophie came second for me. I watched the show first, fell in love with Ben and then read his book. And I nearly chucked it into a fire. In my opinion his book and and show versions are so wildly divergent they may as well be two different people. Book!Benedict's flaws are well documented - the misogyny, toxic manipulation, violence, flippancy, selfishness, on and on... And the plot itself had plenty I didn't like - Sophie was passive and hollow, the sex and romance was toxic, some plotlines were nonsensical, some exposition was lazy. But the skeleton of a grand love story was still there, to Julia Quinn's credit. And when I imagine show!Benedict dropped into that plotline, it has so much potential to be beautiful and as you say: magical.

At it's core, Benophie's love story is uncomplicated. Especially in comparison to the other Bridgerton siblings. So many of the stories center around couples fighting with and/or denying love of their spouses until a deus ex machina comes along and resets their perspective - literally Daphne, Anthony, Colin and Eloise and I havent read the last 3 books so I can only imagine the pattern may repeat 😅 And Benophie do fight over Sophie's hidden identity but it never undermines Benedict's love for her. It's tropey as hell but they fell in love at first sight and never stopped loving each other. It is the issue of class and society that creates complications for their marriage, not their own miscommunications and misunderstandings. To me, that makes their story the most compelling, with the most satisfying pay off.

There is also the visual and action-oriented aspect of their romance. Imagine the sparkling delight of a midnight masquerade. The cozy interior of a country cottage. A glimpse at the 'downstairs' world of servants within the ton. These are realms only Benophie's story dives into. And so much happens other than conversations and balls. A thwarted attack, a nighttime dash through the rain, nursing back to health, lakeside flirtation, sneaking around the Bridgerton household, a chase in the London streets, fight sequences in a jail. There is - A LOT going on to hold one's interest. (I beg of you to tell me one 'action' sequence Polin had other than Pen falling out of a carriage 😜)

Again, when I picture show!Ben in this plot (or something similarly adapted) I am so frickin excited to see Luke Thompson blow us all away with his performance. I also hold out hope that Sophie can be fleshed out and given more agency as a character in the show. Her profile is starkly different from any of the other Bridgerton spouses, growing up cast into the servant class. It's important to expanding the world to show how people outside of the ton lived in this era and she is our vehicle to do that.

So while I fully acknowledge the story is modeled on the tired Cinderella trope, if I stop thinking about it as a paint-by-numbers fairytale, and cast the leads as show!Ben and a dynamically written Sophie, I see a story with immense potential to entertain, full of passion, perseverance, social struggle, action and unwavering love. Yeah, love-at-first-sight is cheesy in theory, but in the world of Bridgerton with show!Benedict waiting for us at a sparkling silver-themed masquerade? I think we're all going to fall irrevocably in love on sight 😉 That's the promise the show holds and I keep my fingers crossed they deliver.

(But just in case they don't, or if anyone is curious on my 'fixes' to the book, I am rewriting it in my fic Let Me Be Your Anchor which I am working to finish soon. The whole idea is plopping show!Ben into the book story and giving Sophie more to do.)

Thank you again for this ask! Sorry for the tome - I had a lot of fun answering 😅💙

[yiddishfisting]

just saw beetlejuice 2 lol time to have thots about it

so first off overall it was fun. i enjoyed that they centered a lot of the plot around the guy played by the pedophile actor getting killed horribly. it was very funny and we had a good time.

that said, i think it would have been a lot tighter if they didn't have three separate villains happening. either they should have focused on rory/jeremy as being parallels for each other, the different ways men manipulate and emotionally abuse women, OR they should have done dolores alone. i wish they had done dolores alone and then she won i think she should have won. i was looking very respectfully the whole time

but with three of them they all ended up kind of weak, and i know this is a Silly Goofy Film so i probably shouldn't look so much into it but idk they could have all been a lot scarier if they weren't all vying for attention the entire time. i think rory was the most compelling villain mostly bc we got to see him the most lol, but even then in the end he was very...toothless. like he was soooo sinister and again the parallel with jeremy if rory had also been some kind of murderer, if he'd killed his first fiance rather than made her up and then went on the prowl for another vulnerable woman to manipulate/abuse/murder you know??? esp lydia bc if he'd married and then killed her he could have gotten sooooo much money for it, and while that's not the most original plot idk it would have given his villainy more Weight i think.

and in that vein i think jeremy could have been more layered too/could have had a more poignant death than he did, especially if astrid was involved instead of betelgeuse doing it by himself. like he talked about his parents being neglectful and potentially abusive but to have killed them the way he did was INTENSE like there had to be some INSANE shit going on, either in his house or in his head. plus it was kind of dumb to have his death be that he fell out of the treehouse while it was surrounded by cops lol. i know they wanted something that would be easy to hide but like. he could've shot himself in the head and then just wore a hat all the time. like there are more interesting ways he could have died or killed himself that were easy to hide.

and lastly dolores was like......she felt wasted here. they introduced the soul sucking thing and built her up and then she barely gets to do anything at the end. i wanted to know more!!! where did the soul sucking come from? could she still do it while alive? it's a known thing so are there more? why wasn't she allowed to eat betelgeuse that would have been great. she could turn anything she touched goth WHY WASN'T SHE THE MAIN VILLAIN !!!!! it just felt like other than her killing bob she was just kind of Around being Menacing and didn't really have any real impact on the story lol like if you cut her plotline entirely the movie would essentially be the same

anyway all that aside like i said it was very fun. i love willem dafoe. rory's fucked up therapy speak straight guy incel shit was well done, even if his ending was kinda meh. the richard reunion was sweet tho idk what this movie has against protestors lol there were so many jokes about protestors being stupid weirdos who end up basically killing themselves for no reason

[ddoodlely]

I was a bit worried abt the abc shift for 911, but after catching up with season 7 I think this was probably the best thing that could've happen, the last 4 episodes have been incredible, I don't think I've ever been so at the edge of my seat for so long while watching 911.

Like don't get me wrong, the series wasn't bad per se but there were episodes that felt very meh and not that interesting and some plotlines just kept circling around without resolution.

It's just the first 4 eps but I already see a great difference, season 6 felt a bit stale for me I was starting to get really frustated with the blatant teasing of buddie while not solving properly the problems that had been carried from past seasons (I'm specially salty with buck reconciling with his parents, like cmon, you cannot tell me that wasn't butchered)

So now I'm so excited to see where this season goes. The only thing that scares me now is that now there's an increment in possibily of someone dying (I mean, greys anatomy is right there, they are NOT afraid)

(ALSO, BI BUCK CANON WOO)

[cherrytimemachine]

Soooooo....How was earthspark, my friend? 😬

I know this has been sitting in my inbox for like two weeks, sorry bro.

Season 2 was... a lot. I have a lot of things I wanted to say about this, so I'll try my damn hardest to keep this as short as possible without it becoming an essay rant.

First off, it felt like they weren't really sure how to start the next season. They skipped through a whole year of potential plot. It felt like I the plot started midway through the season. I wanted to see the aftermath of the battle with Mandroid, the fallout between the Autobots and the Decepticons, the characters grappling with being under mind control. Dammit, I wanted Megatron angst.

Speaking of which, he wasn't in there enough. In the first season he was there all the time, but he was only in two episodes. I see this a lot with shows or movie sequels where they try to introduce new characters to keep the story interesting and fresh, but what happens is that they push the main characters into the background and essentially replace them. And they made everyone dumb for some reason. Like in the second episode when Mo's parents didn't even notice how weird she was being, like, what was that ?? I know it's a kids show, but good grief, at least try to make it more sneaky.

The Chaos Terrans were meh. They felt more like unnecessary additions if you ask me. I wasn't much of a fan of Aftermath, and Spitfire (who's name I kept forgetting for some reason) was interesting in the beginning, but her character arc went way off the rails really fast. How did she go from "angry competitive person who will do whatever it takes to win" to "murder is ok and fun actually"? That feels like a real leap in logic.

I think they're trying to pull that same plotline from Cyberverse with Shockwave, where his spark was just "made evil", leaving no room for depth or development with his character arc. I already made my thoughts on that very clear when I watched Cyberverse two years ago. I was really mad when I wrote that lol.

This season also has a major problem with the thematic elements being discarded from season 1. The story felt bland and flimsy, the characters were more like two dimensional caricatures of themselves, and the ending was beyond rushed.

I did have a few things I liked about it though. I liked the filler episode with the carnival magician, it's probably my favorite episode this season. The Quintessons looked cool as hell, and I hope we get more of them at some point. I also liked Terratronus a lot, and I wish they had done more with her. I'm glad this show is tackling the idea that the Primes weren't perfect, and they had flaws in their ideology. Mo actually questioned Quintus's decisions of making these new races to support his own and then abandoning them, and Terratronus defended his authority and ignored her questions, which I thought was well done showing how Terratronus has been trained to be loyal to her creator and refuses to question his choices.

The Starscream thing was ridiculous though. His potential was left in the dust. I was so ready for him and Megatron to have another fight where they address their hatred for each other, but that didn't happen. For most of the season, he was just kinda there being a no nonsense leader guy lacking in his own personality. He only got his time to shine towards the end, and he wasn't written very well. There was only one interaction between him and Hashtag, and there was no emotion behind it at all. Then he rips the sparks out the sparks of the Chaos Terrans, which I thought was excessive but cool anyway, and then he takes over Terratronus. Starscream's defeat happened way too quickly and they didn't even really explore what he was going to do when he got control of the titan. We didn't get to see much of his point of view on how he was going to transform Earth into their new home, we just knew that was his goal. I do wish they added more of the rift between Shockwave's ideas and Starscream's as well, it would've made their retreat much more impactful.

That's all I have to say for now. I could go more in depth with it (and the lack of Prowl and Tarantulas, don't think I didn't notice that), but much like the writing team, I don't have any ideas right now.

[preciouslove]

okaaaaaaaay so my rant bc i can't text anyone right now

the episode was meh especially for the finale and just the whole season overall. it had some great moments and fun and logical interesting storylines but overall pacing and focus on random characters emergencies and brad just didn't leave enought time for actual main characters bobby is dead dead -- well i still think that was a stupid way for him to go. out of nowhere, in the middle of a season and with a illogical storyline. the episode was rushed, the main's death and funeral was 10 minutes total and not touching at all. like ok yeah he's dead. so what. literally close to no consequences (although i do get that it'll be explored in s9 and was a bit touched upon in s8 but it wasn't enough for me). still believe the death shouldn't have happened -- it changes the whole tone of the show. and it literallly didn't bring anything new to the storylines -- death for the shock value - just why. you can do better but just don't bother.

there were many ways to give peter a send off and keep bobby alive so it would still be normal. even kill bobby but maybe in a more respectful way and give his sl actual screen time and not those five minutes. i'm just baffled at like why. i admit that i do feel a bit cheated bc i had some expectations for logical plotpoints (doesn't seem too ambitious but again my expectations my problems). main's death and not satisfying or honoring at all -- literallt mid.

and because of that all other storylines get no proper development. eddie is in a pointless circle of texas leaving and going back with no agency of his own decision. yeah chim just said you're staying and he stayed. literally what. no talks with chris no personal choices no arguements for texas or la. just going in circles with no payoff. and least he was there and he was pretty and i will read about his beautiful life on ao3.

so my main problem with the show rn is pacing, abrupt sl with no consequences or development, focus on emergencies and not people. and the thing is they can do good episodes but they're fumbing super bad and it's literally mid. when there is evidence that they can do great.

the finale was mid too -- i hate montages when they wrap up season's long sl of all every character. literally could've just written: maddiie gave birth. athena sold the house. buck moved out eddie moved in. henren adopted mara. but these are just facts and aren't we supposed to see a story here? i loved chim's speech -- it was really really good and very needed. 118 is back again together and they can survive all that and move on. would love to see him as captain. loved seeing eddie but that's a given. well at least he was there. the end.

i believed in alobby and smth b&e but accepted that maybe it wouldn't happen so was no expecations on that. but on the writing. oh man.

was going to take days off on fridays next year at work -- probably won't do that. or maybe rn i'm in my feels and have to doom a little. but rn not wanting to lose sleep bc of that.

morale of the story: don't invest yourself too much and lose yourself in these tv shows. can feel disappointed and cheated and then the reality comes back and oh i'm actually in a shitty place rn. and now you're left alone with that and that's not a nice feeling when you don't have that comfort anymore. literally go outside and touch grass. do some work. don't focus all your attention on a tv show. that should be a given but alas. positive side: i have a buzzfeed interview. i can read beautiful strories about eddie diaz. i for the first time feel inspired to translate fics/draw smth bc of my interest. i feel the need to draw the line between obsession and real life. so maybe i'll become a bit more normal.

would love to see the show flourish and actors get actual plotlines. would love to see a beloved ship go canon. would love to distance myself from that a bit more. at the end of the day it's literally not that important and just a tv show. peace out

[littlefoxwithadagger]

Zee's 2023 Reads

Stats:

Books read ˋ°•*⁀➷ 62

Books DNFed ˋ°•*⁀➷ 9

Five-star reads ˋ°•*⁀➷ 23

Note: ☆ counts as a half star, since there isn’t a half star emoji

I tried not to tag any books I didn’t like because I don’t like to hate on books in their fandom tags, so if I accidentally tagged something I have a bad review, please tell me 😭

This list is chaos and I defintely ripped into some of these books because I hated them. Be warned. (I’m sorry ACOTAR fans. Maybe don’t read this if that’s your favorite book series. I didn’t hate them, but I certainly had quite a few criticisms.)

Also, if you see the reviews start to get way longer in October, that’s because I started this post in October, so everything I read after that was reviewed immediately after reading.

↳ March (2)

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

March 3rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this by request of my aunt (it's her favorite book series) and honestly it was just kinda boring and not my taste...not to mention the ending REALLY pissed me off. The whole powers thing was kinda cool, but the dystopian main plot was kind of generic? Which is fine, but this was kind of bland for a first book. Will not be finishing the series.

Glass Sword - Victoria Aveyard

March 10th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️, DNF

This is the sequel to Red Queen, and frankly I think I read about three chapters of it before I DNFed. The main reason I DNFed this was because of the ending of the first book. I won’t go into detail about it because it spoils the end of the first book, but after my favorite character was taken away from me, I couldn’t finish this series.

Overall, I think this series had great potential but bad execution. I may try to read it again in the new year just to give the entire series a proper, full review, but at the time that I read this, I wasn’t into reading much at all and therefore couldn’t read a book just to say I’d read it.

↳ May (7)

Les Misérables - Victor Hugo

May 5th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

By far my favorite classic thanks to my mom encouraging me to read it. Loads of beautiful prose and a compelling plot line. I especially liked how he wove a bunch of stories that seemed not at all connected into one. Jean Valjean was a very complicated character, and I enjoyed following his story as it progressed. It felt very full-circle, even if the ending was a bit sad. The author took us all over France, and I felt very immersed in the world even though there was no visual for it. I also appreciated seeing the side characters grow over the length of the story. There were quite a few side characters who got a full arc despite not needing it. I'll probably reread this someday, just not now.

Flip the Script - Lyla Lee

May 20th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a cute sapphic love story between two teenage actresses starring together in a Korean drama. Fun fact - I didn't realize it was sapphic for a good while and was confused why sexuality was a hot topic in the book. Whoops! Cute anyways, and the plotline kept me interested.

The Selection - Kiera Cass

May 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This was my first reread of the year! I read this book back in 2021 originally by request of a friend. Rereading it was a bit of a let-down. I found the main girl annoying at times and overall the plot just kinda felt...meh. I will say that I was a bit disappointed that Maxon was the main guy at first because I really loved Aspen, but I think Maxon grew on me quite a bit more towards the end of this book. It was also easier for me to love him on the reread because I’d followed the full story already, so I think I appreciated his character more on this read than I did on the first read. I'm also not huge into dystopian, so that did kill my enjoyment of this a bit.

The Elite - Kiera Cass

May 27th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To continue my Selection reread, I read this. This book was better than the first one, though some of it was just very boring if I'm remembering correctly. It was nice to have a smaller group of girls and get to see them getting to know each other better, and this alone made the book more enjoyable than the last. I think the political tension upped a bit in this book, which I didn’t really like, but it did lead to quite a few great scenes between America and Maxon.

The One - Kiera Cass

May 28th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To complete the Selection reread, I read this. This was by far the best book in the trilogy. It was fun and full of action, and Maxon and America finally got themselves together. There was a great love confession from Maxon at the very end which will forever have my heart. Five stars just for making me swoon honestly. There were a few things that frustrated me in this book, such as the fact that America and Maxon still didn’t seem to trust each other for a lot of this book, but that’s their problem, not mine. I definitely enjoyed the scene where America saw Maxon’s scars for the first time. It was a very sweet scene, and I love emotional vulnerability between characters. 💔

Honorable mention - The Heir - Kiera Cass

May 29th, ⭐️⭐️, DNF

This book sucked to put it frankly. I recall enjoying it the first time I read it, but upon reread I found the main character entirely unbearable (making America look like a saint) and I think I made it about ten pages before deciding it wasn't worth the reread. I wish I didn't own this book.

The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood

May 29th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was what really got me back into reading, and I'd been wanting to read it for months after hearing about it all over the internet. I gave it four stars at the time because I cringed a bit at the number of times the main girl referred to the main guy as "big" or something of the sort but overall found it enjoyable. Honestly, I'd probably rate this lower if I re-read it, but I'm not going to bother testing that theory. It got me back into picking up books, and that's what matters.

↳ June (9)

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas

June 10th, ⭐️⭐️☆, DNF

This book...was disappointing. This was the first book I bought from the store without reading it first because the internet had me so convinced I'd enjoy it. I didn't. I found myself so bored I didn't bother reading past page 100 before I returned the book to the store. I don't really have much to say about it other than it was boring, honestly. Feyre also annoyed me a decent bit.

The Romantics - Leah Konen

June 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️, DNF

This book had the same problem as ACOTAR, only far worse. This book felt like it had absolutely no substance, and I read at least half of it. The entire book was narrated by the entity of Love, and all of the characters we got introduced to were only ever surface-level. I felt like I was watching a bunch of strangers interact with each other. Perhaps it was just that young teenage romance isn’t really my cup of tea, but I found the plot entirely uninteresting.

Once Upon a Broken Heart - Stephanie Garber

June 19th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My babyyyyyyyyyy <3 My bread and butter, the reason I got into fantasy books. Definitely not as compelling as the second book, but compelling nonetheless. Jacks and Evangeline have insane tension and it was overall just great. I absolutely loved the whole kisses deal, though I’ll admit this book was NOT what I thought it was. When I picked it up, I was expecting Jacks to be an actual prince, and I was quite surprised to find that he was more of a demigod. Either way, it was a great book, and if you love romantacy, I’d recommend this for SURELY. (I’m biased, can’t you tell? This is a OUBAH blog, after all.)

The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber

June 20th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'd give this book six stars if I could. This entire book was just pining and drama, and I live for it. Not to mention...the Hollow? Yes. Yes, yes yes. Everything about this book, yes. The curses in this book were completely crazy, and I felt like we got a lot more world building in this book. The entire world felt a lot more complete in this book, and we really got to start to piece together Jacks’s backstory. Lovely.

One True Loves - Elise Bryant

June 21st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm pretty sure I actually read this book last year, but it got put into my book tracker in July so I'm leaving it here. This was a cutsey little romance about a girl who goes on a cruise in Europe. I don't remember much about it, but I remember loving the two main characters and the realtionship they had with each other.

Happily Ever Afters - Elise Bryant

June 21st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pretty sure this is the book before One True Loves? They're in the same series, I know that. This was a cutsey little book about a baker guy and a writer girl who ended up at the same high school. Absolutely loved the character growth the main character had over the course of the book.

In Order to Live - Yeonmi Park

June 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a biography written by a woman who escaped North Korea. It was truly an amazing read, and this is the one book I cried while reading this year! I would definitely recommend this to anyone because it is extremely informative while also being very immersive.

Caraval - Stephanie Garber

June 27th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Back to Stephaine Garber! Honestly, I started reading this series for Jacks, but the first book is something entirely on its own. I absolutely loved Julian and Scarlett, and I'll be rereading this again soon. The book very much immersed the reader, and I felt like I was a player in Caraval myself. There was so much fun to be had in this book, and honestly it could just be read as a stand-alone.

Legendary - Stephanie Garber

June 31st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I drove all the way to the other side of town to get this book, that's how good the first one was. This book was less enjoyable than the first, but the plot was extremely compelling. Sadly, I’m not a huge fan of Tella, so I struggled to immerse myself in this book the way I got immersed in Caraval.

↳ July (11)

(Was I ok in July? How many books is this, Zee?)

Finale - Stephanie Garber

July 1st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jacks. That's about all I have to say about this book.

Sugar, Spice, and Can’t Play Nice - Annika Sharma

July 2nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not sure why, but I decided to dump $16? $17? on this when I went to Barnes and Noble with a friend, so I had to finish it. There was a tad too much sexual tension and not enough romance between the main characters for my taste, but it was a good book. I especially enjoyed that the author did so much with her own culture in the book. Both of the characters learned the importance of truly connecting with someone over the course of the book, and I thought it was lovely.

The Spanish Love Deception - Elena Armas

July 2nd, ⭐️⭐️, DNF

This book was...something. I - yet again - purchased a book without reading it first. Learned my lesson this time. I have honestly no idea what this book is about because I read only fifty pages of it and there was...too much of her referring to him as "big" and "tall". I get it. He's tall and wide. Can we please discuss why you hate him? I'd love to know, really. Perhaps this book is for you if you like extreme sexualization of tall, buff men, but it’s not for me.

The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

July 6th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Queen. Puzzles and drama galore, and I love the boys. That's really all I have to say about this. I LOVE puzzles so this book was a big hit with me. Avery is a little genius and I appreciate it, and I also loved getting to see her adapt to her new life.

The Cruel Prince - Holly Black

July 9th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This read is courtesy of my bestie. She had not finished the series when she recommended it. Still hasn't. (Nani, this is a plea for you to finish it.) I don't recall much of the book, honestly, but the plot was good enough for me to rate it four and a half stars, so...?

The Wicked King - Holly Black

July 11th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

Cardan and Jude...on the couch...with- ahem. I mean what. What was this book about? Also I love the way Cardan speaks. He’s very formally-spoken and I love that for him.

The Queen of Nothing - Holly Black

July 11th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

yESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. This entire book. The ENDING??? Insane. How do I not remember any of the plot of these books besides the end of this one? We'll never know.

Skin of the Sea - Natasha Bowen

July 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆, DNF

This book was probably pretty great. I personally found the introduction to the plot a bit dragging and it lost my interest because of this, but it sounded like it would eventually be a good and intriguing plot. I may eventually pick this back up, but currently there are other books I am actually excited to read, so for now this will be only a DNF.

These Violent Delights - Chloe Gong

July 17th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️, DNF

Ahem...this was actually a great book, despite the DNF and star rating. I DNFed this book because it was too gorey, but I'm currently attempting to finish it. The writing is beautiful and the characters are very compelling. The tension between the main characters is lovely. I'm hoping to give this five stars when I finally finish it.

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

July 18th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Delicious. A heist, six morally grey characters, lots of fighting and tension - both romantic and plot-wise. Absolutely ate up the characters' backstories. I love a good trauamtic backstory. I was reading fanfics about this book before I even finished reading it, that's how good the character building was. (Sadly I got a ton of the plot spoiled for me between this book and the next because I decided to join the online fandom before finishing the books. I will NOT make that mistake again.)

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories - Holly Black

July 19th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A goofy short read about Cardan. I love him. That's it.

(Zee said no reading during birthday month apparently? Was I spending too much time being lovesick over my coworker? We'll never know.)

↳ September (6)

The Forgetting - Sharon Cameron

September 1st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book surprised me. I had no idea what it was about going into it, and I was entirely surprised. Apparently it's dystopian? Sci-fi? Who knew? (not me) Anyways, I loved the two main characters, and the plot was extremely creative. This is definitely going to be a re-read next year. Sadly, the sequel was not about this pair of characters, so I didn’t end up reading it.

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

September 15th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well, this is a funny story. I put in a request at the library for this book in July, having about zero clue what it was about beyond dragons. I was intrigued, of course, because I LOVE dragons. By the time I got my hands on the book, I'd heard many reviews about how awful the book was. I was convinced I'd hate it, but of course, I had to read it because I waited TWO MONTHS for it. It took a few pages for me to be interested, but it was a VERY good book. I love Xaden. I will kiss him on the head. This got four stars because those smut scenes GAGGED me (and not in a good way), but I have since read worse smut, so perhaps this will be a five-star someday. The smut was truly something, though. I sat on the couch and sobbed from laughter while reading them.

The Stolen Heir - Holly Black

September 16th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was...gorey, honestly. But other than that, a great read. Both main characters are very compelling, and I adore Oak. Sweetest boy. I can't wait to read the second book. It really took us a lot farther into the world of Elfhame, and I appreciated the book for that.

Lightlark - Alex Aster

September 16th, ☆, DNF

I truly wish I could just say "No." and move on with this list, but this book was probably the worst book I've ever read. I read three pages and was so extremely confused that I couldn't continue. To confuse me that awfully in the first three pages of a book is a feat, I'll give her that. I would not recommend this book to anyone, and generally I believe that everything has an audience. I'm sorry if you're a fan of this book, but I just...can't.

Fireworks - Alice Lin

September 20th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cute book about a girl and her childhood best friend turned Kpop star when they finally reunite at age 18. Soooo much romantic tension, and I loved how the book dealt with mental health. I hope these two live happily ever after.

Reread - Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

September 25th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yes, I reread it a week after I read it. Sue me. It was a good book. I’ll be rereading it again when my holiday edition shows up.

↳ October (8)

Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli

October 5th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is going on the list of cutesy sapphic books that make me cry. Absolutely loved the way the realtionship between the two main characters developed, and I thought it did a good job about commenting on what it means to be queer. Also, arguably the best college friend group ever in this book. I'm jealous.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern - Gloria Chao

October 6th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was ok. It was cute, but I found it slightly boring. I will say it was very good for a first-person dual POV book, which I usually hate and refuse to read.

Assistant to the Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer

October 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a funny read, because I expected to hate read it, but it had me kicking and screaming, especially the ending. I was so insanely upset when I realized it was a trilogy (mostly because the ending was absolutely jarring and I didn’t expect it to end on a cliffhanger), but at the same time I'm glad this isn't the last we'll see of these characters. I love books where the villains are villains because they felt like that was all they could be. I love. Beyond all of this, I simply enjoyed to see all the characters interact with each other, and I felt like the author did a good job of humanizing all the characters. Not to mention Kingsley. He’s arguably my favorite character despite having no real lines in the book.

The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

October 15th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Puzzles, Hawthorne boys, and...strip bowling (I forgot about this scene until a coworker told me she didn't read the book because there was stripping in it. I laughed.) Anyways I loved Jameson and Avery in this book and that's about all I have to say.

The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

October 18th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok I’m going to be completely honest this book was one huge blur and it almost felt disconnected from the rest of the series. Don’t get me wrong, it was GREAT, but it was like complete whiplash while simultaneously tying up all the loose ends we had in the last two books. Also *spoilers* but JamesonAvery endgame YAYYYYYY.

Reread - Once Upon a Broken Heart - Stephanie Garber

October 19th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I reread this in preparation for the third book and it took me a month to read. Idk man.

Reread - The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber

October 23rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good soup. Send me to the Hollow, please.

A Curse for True Love - Stephanie Garber

October 24th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*ahem* drum roll please… 🥁🥁🥁 …LOVELY!! Evajacks kiss. This is all I wanted. Also his dimples. And Archer. And- Ok enough about that. To actually review this book, I think it was a great wrap-up of the series. The book had an amazing vibe, and I loved how the first half of the book felt shrouded in mystery since we spent the majority of the time in Evangeline’s head. I read this entire book in one five-hour sitting, completely skipping all the homework I had to do that night just so I could read this IMMEDIATELY. It was totally worth it. I also just loved seeing Jacks as the tortured man I always knew he was. Yes bby be so tortured. Now kiss.

↳ November (8)

A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas

November 3rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was...a book. It had potential to be a great book in the first 100 pages, but somewhere along the way it got kind of insane. Honestly, I feel like it should've been two books. It was over 600 pages and yet I found most of the scenes were a bit too short. Also, there were too many location changes, and this book is where the bad smut truly is. I couldn't even read the smut scenes...I can usually tolerate them. (Is it clear I don't like smut?). The first half of the book set up this lovely dynamic between Rhys and Feyre that I loved and showed me this new, fun world of the Night Court. I only wish that I’d enjoyed the second half of the book as much as I did the first. The second half didn’t get enough development and kind of just all ran together, which sucked. I would’ve given this four stars if the second half had had better pacing.

Honorable mention - The Queen of Nothing - Holly Black

November 8th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*cough* *cough* ahem. I reread like half this book for the scenes between Cardan and Jude…especially a specific scene in chapter 21 (if you know you know) and also the ending <3 yes queen get your ma-

Iron Flame - Rebecca Yarros

November 12th , ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(I just finished this book right before I started typing this so excuse my screaming) BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR. HANDS DOWN. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING ENDING AND I LOVE YOU REBECCA YARROS. If you like fantasy, I’d recommend this book. (Also rep for the messed up joints girlies 🙏🏼) I love Xaden and Violet sm.

These Violent Delights - Chloe Gong

November 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was very good. Great prose, amazing characters, original plot. I only didn’t give it five stars because I personally felt just a bit disconnected from the story. I didn’t really feel all that stressed by the plot, though this may have been because I only had four hours to read the book. Overall, it was a great book and I’ll be reading the sequel when I have time. (Also, coming off the Iron Flame high does make this book a bit less fascinating.)

Crooked Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo

November 15th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After four months, I finally bring myself to finish this. A masterpiece. I didn’t want to leave this world, and yet I finally had to. The entire crew has my heart, and that ending broke me. I wanted so badly to simply not read it and make sure it didn’t happen, but here we are. Our gang all got their not-quite-happily-ever-after, and this may or may not have been the only book to make me cry ever. (That’s not true, but I can’t remember which other book I cried at. Perhaps it was my own.) Five stars. I will be returning to this duology someday to reabsorb the masterpiece that it is.

Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things - Maya Prasad

November 22nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was pretty good. The sisters had a cute relationship and the inn was fun. The book was split into four parts - one for each sister - and personally I enjoyed the first two the best. The third one was also pretty cute, but the last one…I didn’t connect with the character as well, and her plot seemed to drag. I actually stopped reading like 3 pages before the end because the plot was basically over like 20 pages before and it was just focusing on side characters. I think I’m just not a huge fan of slice of life in book form, so if you like that, then this book is for you. I have the sequel sitting on my shelf, but I might just take it back to the library at this point.

A Court of Wings and Ruin - Sarah J. Maas

November 23rd, ⭐️⭐️

This book was way too long, to put it bluntly. I considered DNFing it a number of times, and the plot just seemed to drag on. I don’t understand what Maas has against question marks, either. I can’t tell you how many times I read a question in here that ended with a period. I’m not sure whether it was supposed to emphasize tone or what she was trying to do, but it was extremely irritating and distracting. I didn’t notice this happening in the other two books, but maybe I just missed it. The only reason I finished this book was so that I could read ACOSF with full context because I do love Cassian and Nesta, but otherwise I probably would’ve DNFed about 2/3 of the way in. The fandom wasn’t kidding when they said ACOMAF was the best book in the series. I’m only glad I finished this because of the Nessian scene we got at the end 💔 my heart cried.

A Court of Silver Flames - Sarah J. Maas

November 25th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

To my surprise and delight, this book has question marks!!! Yayyy!!! To start this review off, I’ll begin by saying - Sarah finally got a decent review out of me. I really enjoyed this book except for a few small details. Now, that may just be because I love Cassian and Nesta, but I consider it a win that she wrote two characters that I LOVE.

That being said, this book made me dislike Rhysand even more than I already did. I’m not sure what it is about him, but I find him a bit intolerable. I won’t dwell on this point, but I found him especially irritating in relation to the Feyre B-plot. Oof. That in combination with the ridiculous number of smut scenes made me knock this down a star. I was fine with them at first, but then it just became too much. Google says there were only 7 smut scenes in the book, but I swear there were more. This is just a personal gripe and nothing against the book or its readers, but it certainly downgraded my enjoyment of it.

Beyond that, I really loved the tension between Cassian and Nesta, and I also enjoyed seeing the two of them work through their issues. They’re extremely sweet and I love them. One thing though - Sarah, why did you tease a mating ceremony for like three pages and then we don’t even get to see it??? Miss ma’am at the very least I wanted to see Cassian being all sweet as they consummated the mating or whatever. But instead we get another scene of someone crying over Feyre’s painting??? COME ON!!! This will probably be the only time I’ll rate an SJM book over 3 stars.

↳ December (11)

The Brothers Hawthorne - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

December 2nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To start this off, I was completely thrilled to read a book about the boys. Don’t get me wrong, I love Avery, but the three youngest Hawthorne brothers have always piqued my interest more. I honestly didn’t think a book in this series could be better than the others, but there was something about this book that was even more incredible than the trilogy. This book was even better than I thought it would be. I expected to enjoy Jameson’s part of the story even more than Grayson’s part, but I actually found myself enjoying getting to know Grayson quite a bit more. (Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jameson’s part of the story, but this book made me love Gray a lot more.). I’d give this book six stars if I could. Absolutely lovely and completely compelling read, and I love all the new characters we’re introduced to. I do hope that someday we get a book about Xander and Nash, but for now, this will quench my Hawthorne thirst. I definitely have a new favorite Hawthorne though (sorry Jameson). I will kiss Gray-

The Half-Life of Love - Brianna Bourne

December 9th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Uh so to put it simply. I hated this book (in the best way possible). I don’t know why I read this. I knew how it would end from the start, but it intrigued me enough that I read it anyways!!?? Haha. I sobbed at the ending. I never want to think about this book again. I loved the characters but I hated the plot. That’s it. (I will also say this book dealt HEAVILY with death and was very heavy so. Yeah. Be warned.) Update after a week of processing: I actually loved this book a lot, but it broke my heart. I loved the character development that Flint went through over the course of the book, and it absolutely broke me that that was the end. I may change my star rating for this before I officially post this, but for now it stays at 3 for hurting me.

Fireborne - Rosaria Munda

December 16th, ⭐️⭐️☆, DNF

This book was…odd, to say the least. It had potential, but something about the world building felt off to me. Perhaps it’s just not my vibe. My main gripe with it has to be the characters’ names. Some of them had very modern names, some of them had very old names, and some of them only went by extremely weird nicknames. The names alone took me out of the immersion of the world, because every time I’d finally get into it, I’d read a name and go oh, yeah, this is a book. It took me about a week to decide to DNF this, but after reading so many books I genuinely enjoyed, I just couldn’t force myself to finish it.

Greymist Fair - Francesca Zappia

December 16th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the season. I saw the cover at the library and was like oh, yeah, that’ll be a good read. I didn’t even read the summary. Turns out, I was so right. The book kind of has similar vibes to the tales of The Brothers Grimm, but oddly I didn’t find any of this story very creepy. It was dark and a bit gory, but I thoroughly enjoyed the progression of the story. I wouldn’t say this was a five-star read, but I really enjoyed this book. It’s a collection of stories about Greymist Fair that weave together very beautifully, and I absolutely love the atmosphere this book created. Come to find out after I read it, it’s classified as a horror book? I would’ve probably said it was more paranormal fiction, but alas. This was not a horror book to me. I should know, I hate horror. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes morally twisted fantasy books - especially classic fae stories. This book gave me similar vibes to those.

The Matzah Ball - Jean Meltzer

December 22nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was so much fun. I think I read it in 3.5 hours. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this, because honestly it’s one of the four Christmas (this book wasn’t technically Christmas but based on certain themes I think you could categorize it that way) books I impulsively rented from the library, but I loved it. The main girl had a chronic illness, and as someone who struggles physically myself, I really enjoyed reading about a main character going through the mental struggles of such a thing. This book gave silly Hallmark movie vibes, but it was completely enjoyable. The main guy was extremely sweet albeit a bumbling idiot, and I actually didn’t mind the major misunderstanding trope that carried this plot. I also really enjoyed reading a book that included lots of Jewish culture. It felt like home. There were a few aspects of this book I found a bit childish for a book about two people who were nearly thirty, but I guess different people enjoy different things. It was a fun, quick read if you’re looking for something with a holiday theme.

These Hollow Vows - Lexi Ryan

December 23rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

I’m not really sure why, but I started reading this in October and couldn’t get into it. A couple pages in and I was HOOKED. I love me a book about Fae realms. (At least, the original Fae. ACOTAR was too far from the source material for me to enjoy it, sadly.) This book has all the mystery and wonder of the Fae lands while being extremely simple to read and understand. I LOVED the plot progression, and the plot twists were predictable in a roundabout way where you could sort of guess them, but they still surprised you. The ending made me scream in both an angry and excited way. I totally saw the ending coming, but it still pissed me off!

I can’t wait to read the next book, but sadly I must wait until I return from vacation. I would DEFINITELY recommend this if you like fae books, especially if you enjoyed The Cruel Prince. The only reason I didn’t give this book five stars is that I felt the side characters were all a bit underdeveloped. I’m not sure if this was on purpose since the book is from the main character’s point of view, but I felt like I didn’t even know the love interests well enough to actually make a good judgement of either of them. I did, according to the ending, end up pegging both of their true characters correctly, but I still felt they were underdeveloped for how much time they spent in the book.

Honorable mention - The Queen of the Tearling - Erika Johansen

December 24rd, unrated, DNF

I tried to read this book about ten different times before I had to return it to the library, but it just isn’t my cup of tea. It didn’t capture my attention in the twenty pages I read, and I don’t think I can follow the character on her journey. It’s very sad, because I truly love a learned royalty plot, but I couldn’t do it. Perhaps I will pick it up again someday, but I don’t plan on it being anytime in the near future.

Defy the Night - Brigid Kemmerer

December 25th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok, this one surprised me. I picked this book up at the library back in the summer, but I realized it was dual POV, and at that point I just couldn’t handle reading that, so I returned the book. I picked it up again on Christmas because my grandma bought me a kindle and I really wanted to try it, but the options at my library that were immediately available were limited. I’m so glad I gave it a second chance, because I loved it. This book had everything I love in a fantasy novel. There were so many twists I didn’t see coming, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book made me enjoy a wholly political plot, and I love that for it. Usually, I’m not a huge fan of political plots, but I loved the way this one developed. The romance was absolutely adorable as well, and it made me so happy I decided to give this book a second chance. As it stands, I will probably be reading the sequel tomorrow, and I am very excited, although I’m a bit upset the third book isn’t out until January! I was so happy to give another book five stars this month, because with how it was going, I didn’t think I would be.

Defend the Dawn - Brigid Kemmerer

December 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

Hah. This book. True to my word, I finished it the day after Defy the Night. I’ll be honest, this book was slightly disappointing after how amazing the first book was, but I’ll let it slide solely because we got to know a new and amazing character. Besides that, this book did BOUNDS of character work. We got to know more and more about our main characters, and they all learned to overcome their stubbornness in this book. One thing I really loved about this book is that we got to see more about how close the brothers are. I feel like I don’t read many books where boys are very close to each other, especially not in a royalty setting, so it was refreshing to read a book where two brothers rule the throne united instead of going to war over it.

I was a bit disappointed that they spent the majority of the book on a ship, but because of the development that happened in the ship both character-wise and plot-wise, I can’t necessarily complain. For one, we got away from Allisander in this book, and I really had no character in this book more than him (yet). I’m very excited to read the last book when it comes out, though I wish I could read it right now. This series is truly worth the hype it had when I first discovered it, and I can’t wait to see where the relationships go in the next book.

The Lost Sisters - Holly Black

December 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Truth be told, this was a whole lot shorter than I thought it would be. It was essentially a letter from Taryn to Jude about the events of the first book. I found it to be a very interesting character study, honestly, and it showed us a bit more about Cardan too. I would recommend reading this if you’ve read The Cruel Prince series.

These Twisted Bonds - Lexi Ryan

December 29th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh my gosh this book did more than I could’ve ever imagined it would. This book gave me all the character development the first book was lacking, and the way the plot developed was insanely amazing. I absolutely love Finn, and the way he calls Abriella Princess just absolutely melts me. The world got extremely fleshed out in this book, and I really enjoyed seeing how this author put her own twist on the world of the Fae. I also, oddly, really liked how the spice was done in this book. It was there but it mostly lacked detail and description, which is how I like my spice. I want a vague idea and nothing more! 😆 Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and it will probably be my last book of the year. I think it was a great conclusion to this year’s reading, and I’m glad I ended the year on a high note.

If you read this far, thanks for sticking around! For 2024, I will be doing monthly wrap-ups, so don’t expect another post like this…unless I decide to do a yearly wrap-up after my monthly ones are done…

If you have any recommendations to start my year off, tell me! I currently am planning on reading the Percy Jackson series, but that’s the only thing I’m really looking forward to reading

[rosellerivers19]

What I’m looking most forward to in Game changer

So I’m a fan on Ram Charan have been even before RRR Maghadheera was one of my favorite movies as a kid and not just because of Kajal’s beautiful wardrobe in that movie *cries in can’t wear pretty dresses because of social anxiety*

But we’re not going to be talking about Maghadheera today we are going to be talking about Ram Chatman’s new movie “Game Changer”

Granted I have not seen it because I don’t usually go to the movies and it has released on an Ott platform my family uses but since it’s not in the best quality I’m gonna wait for a bit before watching it and I have exams too so I have to finish that before relaxing.

But Game Changer is a movie I was initially very excited for when it was announced before the trailers and teasers and everything.

It was because it was Ram Charan’s first appearance in a movie after RRR and because the look and style of it , it reminded me of his old movies and gave me the vibe he was going to go the safe route after RRR and give like one of those classic movies but maybe with a more intriguing storyline.

Now after watching the trailer and teaser I still do believe that to some point but after hearing a person on my fyp talk about how the formula this movie used was too much like those old 2015-2018 Telugu movies I’m a bit skeptical but I think I still might enjoy it somewhat.

When I first watched the trailer though I was really excited because I could for the life of me not know what was going on there was a suspense that made me want to watch the movie more. And I couldn’t tell if there was gonna be two or three versions of Ram Charan in the movies because of how different he looks in different parts of the trailer. I’m assuming it’s two but I guess I have to see.

I’m not gonna be comparing my opinions on my first look of Game Changer to Devara at all because they’re clearly very different types of movies Devara is a movie that gives off a lot of dark vibes while Game changer does have conflict but has a more bright color scheme.

Also I do feel like Devara had a good premise the execution and storyline in the end was just . . . meh.

Don’t really know what to expect in the sequel if Devara himself isn’t alive in my opinion it makes it way less interesting and the romance was not there at all.

Back to Game changer

As the title suggest I am going to be describing what I’m looking forward to in this movie.

First of all I’m interested in what the plot would be I know there’s a politician vs police officer plot in there because one of Ram Charan’s characters stated he was an IAS Officer till he dies and after reading the subtitles (don’t bully me I’m not fluent in Telugu) the villain so revealed to be the prime minister of Andhra Pradesh and honestly that itself isn’t really interesting I’ve seen the plot where the corrupt politician steals money from the people a bunch of times I’m just wondering what they’re gonna do with it because I remember S.J Suryah the actor who plays the villain in the movies was also in Saripodha Sanivaram and I really loved his performance in that because of his backstory and dis likable character so I hope “Game Changer” properly utilize him in this movie as well.

Also I’m curious about how the Rangasthalam version of Ram Charan will play a role in the whole IAS officer thing, by Rangasthalam Ram Charan I mean the version of Ram Charan in this film who lives in the countryside or village area with his family a wife and kid since there’s like four versions of him in this film (they decided to really milk him out). Im assuming he’s going to meet the IAS version of himself to talk about the injustices his village is facing and from a scene I accidentally watched while my parents were watching the movie (*Spoiler alert kinda*) Rangasthalam Ram set up his own political party to benefit his village I think but that was like hinted in the trailer as well.

I know the IAS Ram Plotline will be the main plotline because of how many scenes we have of him compared to Rangasthalam Ram but honestly I’m looking forward to scenes with Rangasthalam Ram way more.

Rangasthalam Ram in this movies seems so honest and hardworking and sweet and IAS Ram is also honest and hardworking but there’s something relatable or endearing about Rangasthalam Ram he seems like he isn’t a natural leader and struggles to help his village in family to get through their tough environment but pushes through because he deeply cares for them. And that’s true bravery fighting to protect the people that you love even if it isn’t with fists but other actions this is what Mass hero movies gloss over and since “Game Changer” seems like a Mass movie I’m very glad that this type of character is included in this film and as a main character too even if he isn’t the ‘main’ ‘main’ character.

Oh-OH!

edit: So I just watched the song Arugu Meedha from Game Changer. Initially when watching the trailer I thought Rangasthalam Ram’s relationship with his wife seemed way cute than IAS Ram and the conventionally attractive heroine Kiara Advani who seems to be used to fill in the box-

oh well we got a fair skinned heroine let’s check that out and give her no role whatsoever and possibly make her relationship with the Hero incredibly one sided when it comes to affection and probability of working in an actual relationship.

She was also in Vinaya Vidhaya Rama and they did the exact same thing Unlike Devara though where the most screen time we got from Janhvi Kapoor was in the songs I think “Game Changer” will try to decently build up IAS Ram and Kiara’s character’s love story but it probably won’t be anything new or exciting.

Okay so back to my “OH!” I watched Arugu Meedha and in the trailer I thought Rangasthalam Ram’s relationship with his wife is something I’d like better even if I saw like maybe one scene of them together where his wife played by Anjali rested her head on his back as he rode their bike with them and their child which I found very domestic and cute especially since we don’t get a lot of Telugu mass movies where the characters are already married and have this domestic bliss

ARUGU MEEDHA IS SOMETHING ELSE!!!

THIS IS A SONG DEDICATED JUST TO THEM, and sure it isn’t an item song but I don’t freakin care!!! This is cute!

The way Anjali’s character looks at Rangasthalam Ram when he comes home looking upset?!?!?

It gives off why her very attentive husband brushes past her not out of anger against her but the way he’s so preoccupied with such a troubling matter coming into their once simple life.

AND BY ATTENTIVE I MEAN ATTENTIVE He legit fans her feet when she looks like she’s sick without her asking too like- and he looks so worried it’s so adorable ughhhhh.

Looking like it’s the last time he’ll see her when she probably got the flu. (Cries in loneliness)

And the fact is he’s probably still in the beginning of his political career after he started his political party for the villagers but he’s still such a caring husband.

And it’s not just him! Anjali seeing him upset uplifts his chin and seems to try and ask him what’s wrong even if what we’re actually hearing is her singing the song. He then turns away because he doesn’t want to subject his wife with his troubles even if he knows she’ll try to help, Especially knowing she’ll try to help the best she can because she loves him so much

And then we see the bicycle scene again which is nice but I like it more in the trailer since we see her rest her head on her husband’s back and seeing a woman so in love with her husband brings tears to my eyes (because we do NOT get that in Telugu cinema often)

And then more Angst- Anjali ,for some unknown heartbreaking reason, is crying the tears are simply falling off and then Rangasthalam Ram upturns her chin (what in the hell is with all the beautiful eye contact!?!?!?) holds her head in the palms of his hands wiping her tears with the thumbs of his hand before holding her shoulders and gently bringing her closer to cry freely on his shoulder holding the back of her head carefully like a child

AND TO TOP IT OFF WE GET A RANGASTHALAM RAM VERSION OF THIS TOO

with Anjali rushing over to her husband’s side seeing something is wrong

She holds his head gently and asks what happened

AND THIS TIME HE ACTUALLY OPENS UP! because he feels safe around her and wants her comfort and views her as his equal to tell things too. A true soulmate

And then after realizing what happened and why he’s sound defeated and heartbroken with how he can’t bring himself to look at her (out of guilt maybe) she brings his head closer to her shoulder to rest on it so he had the feeling that he’s okay that he’s safe.

Right there in her arms there is nowhere he’d rather be.

it just shows how endearing and TWO SIDED their relationship is with both of them deeply caring for each other.

And this scene where Rangasthalam Ram is happily carrying his wife and son off in the sunset shows that he’s not a masculine mass hero he’s just a guy. A guy who loves his family, his wife and son to the moon and doesn’t want anything to happen to them because they’re his life.

Um so that was definitely not tear wrenching (I’m crying as I type). Now this again is just what I’m imagining is happening unfortunately their relationship probably will be watered down thrown under the bridge or etc. but I what happened in Raayan with Meghalai (Aparna Balamurali) and Muthuvelraayan (Sundeep Kishan) from a previous post I made is less likely to happen because Rangasthalam Ram is still a main character more or less and his story matters in “Game Changer”.

So Excluding my whole Im very lonely montage im also curious about the woman in this picture for the movie “Game changer”

Who is she? And why does she matter?

I actually didn’t realize there was a little bit in the photo at first but I’m hypothesizing this has something to do with one of the character’s childhood trauma specifically the IAS Officer or maybe the “Collector” ,I don’t know how many Ram Charans are in this movie.

And that’s because he’s yelling for his mother in an abandoned building in construction. Then again the villain the minister might’ve actually kidnapped his mother and family who knows.

The woman whose face is blurred is probably either a reference to the woman in this picture or her herself

Or wait- that might be Anjali! The necklace and dress design matches the blurred woman but maybe it’s her husband’s mother’s attire and she’s wearing it for some special day but something unexpected happens.

God the theories you can make with the smallest things the movie better be feeding these theories.

Anyway that’s all I have to say for today I might or may not make a post after I watch “Game Changer” since I still haven’t made another post about Raayan after watching the movie. It’s mostly because I didn’t have a lot of complaints except for uh, ruining my hopes and dreams about Meghalaai and Muthuvelraayan but yeah we’ll see if Game Changer ends up not being an utter failure and ‘Rajamouli’s curse’ running in production then maybe I’ll make another post dedicated to Rangasthalam Ram and his story or maybe about the absurdity of having like 4 Ram Charan characters in one movie.

Yours truly

Roselle 🪷

[aanglican]

ok here’s my initial review of natla, no spoilers

began roughly with the pilot episode (“aang”) thanks to the excessive exposition and choppy pacing - i’m guessing this was done for new viewers unfamiliar with the story already - though it quickly finds its feet with the next episode (“warriors”)

there were a lot of changes - some baffling, some pleasant. the more baffling parts pertain to certain spirits whereas the more pleasant ones pertain to characters. there is a lot of cutting and pasting of characters and plotlines from different episodes into one in episodes 3 (“omashu”) and 4 (“into the dark”) but i think they were done quite seamlessly for the most part. there are also reveals/expansions that i absolutely loved.

the series suffers from what i’ll call the netflix syndrome: not having enough episodes. please, i beg we return to the older model of american television a bit. the need becomes most obvious towards the last two episodes (“the north” & “legends”) and i would have enjoyed to see some more time pass on screen, with a bit of breathing room in between events. let things simmer!

i wish the storytelling and dialogue were more often subtle than not. i enjoy the bubbling-beneath-the-surface energy that daniel dae kim and the writers gave to ozai and his relationship with his children and i wish they would have done the same for most of the series, especially with katara. the constant flashbacks to her past experiences started to feel overexposed really fast and seeing those events play out for the first time in real time instead would have packed a bigger, heavier punch.

this is a very hit-or-miss show; this applies to most aspects of it from acting to CGI to choreography to dialogue. kiawentiio is the weakest out of the big four and may come off as slightly stiff compared to dallas and ian. gordon is great though he does have some expected childishness in his acting here and there but it’s all very tolerable. some green screens were very obvious especially in episode five (“spirited away”) and some bending effects are better than others, i.e., air and fire > water and earth. some of the choreo for the latter two could be better and the consequences more explosive. the dialogue balances humor and seriousness fairly well but the preachy quality of a few lines are meh.

the aesthetic of the series does itself well though it is very recognizably a netflix show and my own personal tastes would have liked it filmed a different way. i’ve said this before: avatar would have looked wonderful and most at home if it looked like a wuxia film à la house of flying daggers (2004), hero (2004), or crouching tiger hidden dragon (2000). i’m not the biggest fan of the lighting, camera angles, and color grading but they’re not terrible.

stand out performances for me (outside of aang) are zuko, sokka, suki, azula, ozai, kyoshi, and zhao in the finale.

all in all, i’m giving it a 6.8 or 7 out of 10. i really think the low episode count hindered it though there are a lot of things i enjoyed & plenty of potential for a next season. i am not so sure if we are getting a next season or two but if we will, i want more than 10 episodes at the very least. i was prepared for a number of changes but i didn’t expect that much, so maybe once the jarring feeling goes away then i’d be able to appreciate the series more.

[pure-demonic-aura]

Once, someone asked me how I developed my characters, their lore, dynamics, and traits then seemed a bit confused when I told them they kind of... developed themselves?

"How do you keep control of the story then?" he asked me. "How does that work?"

I tried to think up how I managed to fit the story with their new, developed characters, and I honestly couldn't find an answer. Because, if I attempt to exert my control over the characters, it ends up conflicting with the story - the more I try to fit these new characters into the story I'm trying to tell, the more it feels like I'm trying to fit a circular puzzle piece into a square slot. It doesn't fit.

They've changed, for the most part, for the better. They have traits that I never could've thought of before that make complete sense now. They have attitudes that seem to conflict with my original vision but fit their character perfectly. Sometimes, it just happens. Sometimes, the characters will just assert their control.

Now, you're the author of your story here, not me, so do with your story as you wish. But, if I may offer a small nibble from my fruit of wisdom, let them. Let them take the wheel for a bit. See how they develop from there and take notes, because sometimes they'll end up in places you needed to be that you could never find on your own.

If you've given them enough personality and character to start with, you will eventually find that some of your story's ideas just... don't fit them anymore. You try to make them act a certain way, but it just feels wrong. And then, you realize that there's only one right way they can do something, say something, react to something.

You find that their character has solidified because-well, what else would they do but this?

For me, personally, this has also helped me unlock plotlines that were blocked behind "meh" characterizations. I had a romantic arc with two perfectly fleshed out characters that seemed like it should work out, but it just didn't. I let them run amok for a while, and I realized that while the two can work as a pair, their romances led them to other characters who... while I didn't understand them at first, made much more sense as I fleshed out the details. Of course they'd work out better with [character], what was I thinking?

Heck, the main character in one of my series was never meant to be there in the first place. But as dynamics were established and personalities became defined, he started popping up everywhere with clear traits and kinda just ousted the previous MC from his spot and took over from there. Said previous MC didn't take his removal harshly, because he ended up applying perfectly with the role of a supporting character - which he took very nicely.

Point is, characters, when given the chance, will try to take control over themselves and their part of the story. They will sort themselves out, within themselves and among the rest of the cast, in some way. Let them do so, let them go beyond what you just set up for them - but not to the point that it breaks the story, it's good to keep that in check.

Let them make their own decisions and gain a better understanding of who they are and what they do - it might change the story for the better.

But that's my thought of the day, I suppose.

[themonotonysyndrome]

Sorry for the length of this, but you got me thinking! I feel like I should have started keeping an eye out on Erik not planning a lot of major plot points when he introduced Xavier right before the games, gave us no time to get to know him, then killed him and had characters (even Freelancer) react in a way like they were bffs with him like what in the Star Trek redshirt was that? But Inversion was so good otherwise to me that I ignored that.

I feel like I really should have taken more notice when Milo recovered from his Inversion injury after two videos (but Erik had personal reasons for that so I went sure). Then, after all this lore talk of how much bloodlust new vampires have and how much they struggle, we didn't see any of that with Lovely, but we were still not to far off from Inversion so I ignored it again lol.

There's some personal preference stuff where I get confused at his lack of consistent framing when it comes to consent where Alexis is the bitch and is more or less a villain (with little nuance so far in canon) for ignoring Sam's consent. But Cutie (with how Erik says they and Geordi aren't broken up) is framed as being able to work towards forgiveness despite years of ignoring Geordi's consent even after he cried about it to them.

I'm on the fence about his 'I intended Imperium season 2 to be the end' because I don't think it's the worst place to stop, but I do think that there's some more story to tell and if the views were a lot better then he probably wouldn't have stopped (only guessing here)?

I think what made me finally stop and wonder 'does he plan?' was how Quinn's capture (after all that build up) happened off-screen and only had Darlin' punch him while he was tied up. I thought the Summit was fine in a very Clue way, but watching the Vega video today had me go '...oh okay' which I don't mind deaths, but that shouldn't be a reaction to that lol.

I feel like I want to give one more of his big plotlines a chance and hope he's planned that one, but idk. The guy capable of making Inversion has to be able to do something even sort of to that level again hopefully??

Don't apologise, Anon! I love reading your thoughts.

Xavier was the beginning. Yes, I was also emotionally devastated; it added stakes to the Inversion, but a part of me always wondered if killing off a character was the only way Erik could add impact to the Inversion? Because no matter how good the angst is, if you introduce a character, make them have ties with one of the main cast and later kill them just to add depth to the main cast, it feels very cheap.

Maybe this is me being salty, but making Milo unable to Shift for at least a few more videos before his Core is healed enough would've been better. The anxiety of not knowing if he became truly magicless and the trauma that would bring would be a better alternative to Xavier's death. I feel like Erik is so damn afraid to do anything bad to his cash cows nowadays. That aftermath from the Summit? The talk that David had with Angel or whatever? That was honest to go foreplay. Yes, the Shaw Pack was affected by William's plan; they saw a murder happening right in front of them, boo hoo... boo hoo. The Summit is absolutely nothing when compared to the Inversion, where hello? Actual and thousands of deaths occurred!?

That thing with Lovely, and how well and quickly did they transition into the Vampiric lifestyle? Lame. Boring. Where's the struggle? Oh right, the fandom scared Erik badly enough to scrap Bright Eyes.

Also, I get that Erik's movie is Clue, and he was trying to do the same for the Summit, but it just turned into, 'Great idea, bad execution' kind of video. Meh.

That Alexis and Cutie parallels... I never noticed that before, Anon! Huh! You have a good eye when it comes to details. Listen, I love Alexis. I love Cutie. I love deeply flawed characters, and I also love deeply flawed characters that either own up to it or revel in their shittiness. I just want Cutie and Geordi to break up already so Cutie can find someone on their level, and Geordi can find someone with enough patience to deal with him and his baggage. Though both of them need to work on their own stuff first, tbh. Cutie is not blameless, and neither is Geordi.

Will we get an Imperium Season 2, though, Anon? I already don't have faith in Erik's story writing so I'm not looking forward to he'll fucked up another series.

Ah! So Quinn's Ending was your tipping point, Anon. I hate Sam and Darling but even I believe they deserve better. Though I giggled when Darling beat up a tied-up Quinn as a way to get their revenge. Oooo, so badass! What a strong Listener! You feel empowered at that moment, Anon? I feel like I was ridiculed after everything, IMO.

Vega's death was a slap in the face to me because of the utter disrespect. You built this character up to be ancient, manipulative, powerful, only for him to moan and die? Wow! I wondered if he actually hated Vega! This might be a gambit, and Vega might be faking his death, or this is some part of his plan, but I don't care anymore. At least give him a proper end, ya know? Again, same with Quinn's situation. I FEEL RIDICULOUS FOR EVER INVESTED IN THE SERIES.

I'm not morbidly curious to see how he's gonna fuck up Project Meridian. I don't doubt that Erik can create a new series that starts off fantastically, only for it to end like a wet fart. Let's hope Inversion isn't his one-hit-wonder, eh?

[metawatts]

Saw your review for the jl/rwby crossover. You mentioned Cruz as being one of the failures of the movie. Kind of leaves me conflicted because honestly she was kind of my favorite part of the movie while everything else was just mostly meh or frustrating. I am not that familiar with comic Cruz and the Incarnation I am more familiar with from DC superhero girls is very different from the comic from what little I know. Care to do a deep dive on this particular GL and how the crossover failed her?

Alright, I have some time to do asks, so lets dive on in! I was gonna write this out way better but my dotpoints kinda became their own essay so here we go!

TL:DR: I think that Jessica's anxiety was mishandled due to a fundamental misunderstanding of how her character is built in the comics, because they wanted a Cute Agoraphobic Queen (and forgot to have the agoraphobia). I also think that she lacked agency in her own mental health and plotline, with Jaune being the main mover in both, and that there is whitewashing to her design, as seen here compared to: other cartoons, other comic runs, her other rwby designs (feat. one Simon Baz because DC is keeping him from me)

Yeah. Hm. Anyway, lets get into my rambly thoughts about Jessica Cruz

Alright first things first: I’m not against Jessica Cruz being written differently to the comics if she’s written respectfully. I also really do like dc superhero girls and Jessica there is very fun as a character, even if I have some other issues with what they took out from her storyline

The thing about this iteration of Jessica Cruz is that apparently the theme of the movie was ‘gun violence’ or whatever and that’s. That’s her whole. That’s literally her whole comic backstory.

For a quick recap in the comics: Jessica Cruz one day was hiking with friends before they stumbled across some guys dumping bodies in the woods. All of Jessica’s friends were shot down and murdered right in front of her for being witnesses, and Jessica gained an absolutely brutal case of PTSD, which later fuelled her agoraphobia and anxiety.

Then, after spending 3 years literally never leaving her apartment out of terror that she was going to be tracked down and murdered like her friends, she was instead tracked down by an artifact called Power Ring (it’s complicated but p much it’s like an Evil Inverse Green Lantern Ring). The Power Ring, which is fuelled by the wearer’s fear and trauma, forces itself onto Jessica and turns her into a villainous puppet for it’s own will. She’s canonically being tortured by physical and psychological pain the whole time she’s wearing it. She’s nearly saved a few times from her Literal Possession but the thing that sticks is when she pulls a self-sacrifice and supposedly dies, only it turns out that the ring died in her place and then she got a Green Lantern Ring for her bravery in facing her fears and such. (I think the universe/writers were apologising because Genuinely WTF)

Now, the thing that a lot of people praise about Jessica as a character in most comics, is that she is, most of the time, a very realistically-written character with anxiety. Her anxiety is rooted mostly in her PTSD, which means that it has very definite triggers, one of which is, on her bad days, ‘guns being aimed at her’.

However, Jessica is also someone who actively works on this aspect of her mental health, she’s shown having gone to therapy sessions, learnt how to internally combat her negative self-talk, and actively works on herself. She has her coping mechanisms, and they genuinely work for her when she’s spiralling, and she’s able to work through her anxiety and remind herself that, in what is one of her main catchphrases ‘you are not your fear’.

DC Superhero girls pretty much just axed Jessica’s anxiety entirely and while she’s a fun character she’s also not really close enough to comics Cruz for me to really draw comparisons, although I do wish they’d been willing to explore that storyline (and maybe have Simon there) I understand why with the age range they didn’t decide to throw in Gun Violence and Anxiety (but they could have had Simon there where are you keeping him dc)

Meanwhile: RWBY/JL Jessica Cruz. Well. I don’t want to hate on people who like her. If you found joy in something that I did not, then I’m happy for you, but I do want to explain my problems. The first is the way they misrepresented and mishandled her anxiety, and the second is Jaune. Why does it always have to be Jaune, I don’t even hate Jaune, I just hate how much everyone in the writing rooms love him.

Anxiety: Jessica in the film is pretty much given a much more generalised anxiety disorder. She mentions that she’s had it from a young age, that she’s always been afraid, that the ring helped her fit in. She’s given a much different trigger of claustrophobia, and her agoraphobia is completely missing from her character. DC Superhero Girls took away her anxiety, so there’s nothing to misrepresent. RWBY/JL put in her anxiety, and put in the wrong one.

Comics Jessica’s anxiety, and her insecurities, come from a genuinely traumatic event, one that shaped her for years, one that she’s still fighting overcome. And then worse stuff happened to her and she kept going. I have a generalised anxiety disorder, I’ve had one since I was a teenager, and I can also say that how it was shown in the movie was… kind of stereotypical. She’s meek, and she shy, and she’s nervous and jumpy and doesn’t feel like she can do anything. And this is meant to be Jessica who still is that adult, just in a teen brain, and I know hormones suck, but they completely axed the fact that this is canonically a character who has mental health issues and works on them so they could have Jaune peptalk her through her panic attacks, which. Cures them, all of a suddenn

Yeah we’re getting into the Jaune stuff now. Jaune is the catalyst for everything Jessica does. He makes the plans while she worries, he talks her through her panic, he talks her through all her anxiety, and then… that’s it, really, all she does from that point on in the movie is Solve All The Problems. The emotional core of most of their scenes from post-Jessica confessing her anxiety disorder up until ‘the claustrophobia panic attack’ is on Jaune missing Pyrrha so much that he ignores Jessica actually trying to be reasonable about ‘this is sus’. It feels like they wanted to do ‘Jessica gets a best friend who helps her through her anxieties and supports her to stand on her own’, forgot to write the second part of that, and forgot one other tiny lil detail

WHICH IS SHE HAS ONE.

Simon Baz is Jessica’s Green Lantern partner in the comics, they’re your classic ‘hothead/cautious’ duo, they have literally the best interactions of friendship ever, this is the man who worries that Jessica’s not feeling okay after a bad day and shows up to make her pancakes for breakfast. They also have a real interesting quirk to their specific brand of green lanterning, which is that Hal Jordan was like ‘okay you need to learn to work together’ and fused their Power Batteries together. (quick rundown: green lantern rings need to be periodically charged up with lantern shaped power batteries otherwise there’s no constructs or cool costumes). Simon and Jessica cannot recharge their rings separately, they have to work as a team. And the first few comics of their run are great (I know nothing about the state of it now). They’re mutually supportive, they both have their issues, and Jaune feels like he was written to slot into that role.

I get that ‘we can’t have two green lanterns in here that’s boring’ was probably what was said but this is also what speaks to a wider issue about how Jessica is getting a lot more press time in non-comic properties. Which is awesome! Overall I love her character, I love the different takes on her, and it’s very cool to see her. Simon Baz, however. Is. Not getting any of this. Which is a shame. I just wish that my duo could get to be a duo.

But, I mean, if dc superhero girls is willing to just completely nix jess’s anxiety from her, why not nix Simon Baz’s backstory and still have him be her partner there? Why do all these properties decide that Jessica is best written when all of her character stuff beyond ‘female green lantern, occasionally nervous’ is removed from her? This isn’t just a rwby problem, but it’s something I’ve noticed especially in the rwby movie because of how they took Jessica’s character, when her backstory as it was would have tied into the so-called ‘theme’ for gun violence, and stripped her entirely for parts about ‘Jaune is a nice caring friend look how protective he is of poor scared Jessica’. He even powers her up for HER big 'ending the bad guy' move instead of allowing her to be as strong as a green lantern ring is meant to be

Jessica in the film is pretty much written as ‘nervous agoraphobic adorable widdle queen’, all of her actual agency, all of her own inner strength of being someone who struggles with anxiety and overcomes it is removed so that she can be a Pep Talk Recipient, and I gotta say another small thing: pep talks, in my experience, don’t actually cure a chronic generalised anxiety disorder.

Oh yeah and also not only is her Green Lantern outfit in this crossover really not good (everyone is, except vixen, vixen’s power is too strong for rwby character designers to truly damage), she’s also definitely whitewashed to the point that I think a lot of people would find it hard at first to know that she’s meant to be Latina. Like, even compared to her Adult Version, or her rwby comics version, or, say, some of the other animated versions of her, or even her comics version in The Good Runs, as shown above. I called her ‘ben 10-ified’, and I stand by that, it’s just… it's a bit eesh, considering rwby's other problems with colourism and such.

I think all the DC characters got massacred, but if this had to be the anxiety rep for the film, why couldn't it be the Jessica who was actively working on dealing with it, dealing with her self-talk, like this?

I know rwby's allergic to character development, but come on. Jessica is more than an Anxious UwU bean. That's kinda the whole point. Also, she plays pokemon, what's not to love?

[mhacentral]

14 Days of MHA - Day 14 (August 5th): Anything you want

So my thoughts on MHA..... yeah this series had its good points, but there was also a lot of garbage and the rushed ending really hit this into the ground. Honestly from the get go of this series, I was worried how Horikoshi would meld a Hero Story and a School Story together.... it COULD have worked, but Horikoshi is not a good writers, sorry but he isn't. I kept reading cause I was hopeful it could work but also because I fell in love with a few characters..... sadly everything ended in disappointment. Honestly I did this 14 days thing like a month ago EXCEPT for this one post, had I waited until now, I wouldn't have wasted my time.

Problems

ALL THREE major villains die and the three heroes trying to saved them failed.... wtf kind of ending is that. I don't care if you are someone like positivity nanny.... THIS IS BAD STORYTELLING TO HAVE YOUR MAIN HEROES FAIL. And one of them made NO FUCKING SENSE even in anime logic.... Bakugo lives after being struck in the heart, but Toga dies from Blood Loss

See the last chapter with Aizawa and Deku's talk about strictness with students, along with the kid Dai... The "NEW" ranking system is still shit as before, as Popularity and Strength are still all people are focused on, which of course isn't going to cause future problems...............

Shoji getting an award for being a good Heteromorph - this plotline got like maybe 2 chapters worth in the entire series.....

Deku gets a support item to help be a hero, but it takes 8 years..... like drama for nothing at the end

Then over the course of the series there were some MAJOR downfalls

Lack of planning - this is a major downfall of many shonen series due to the insane work schedule and forcing authors to write certain things in certain ways so its super popular, such as shortening the training camp arc, cause Japanese fans didn't want to see more villains, thus screwing up the traitor plotline

Introspection - the series did START off with this and it was well done, but then Horikoshi just stopped doing this and it really made character development take a huge hit

Character Dynamics - this goes in both good and bad, cause it did START OFF really well done, but after Kamino….. many interactions just felt short or didn't happen. One major interaction we didn't get in the main series was a scene with Shoto and Rei….. like how did we not ever get a scene with these two in the main series (there is one in the light novel)

Students were stuck in school and were only allowed out for the war, this caused a major issue, with not being able to explore a lot of themes

The middle of the story was meh and there were TOO MANY characters for Horikoshi too handle. We didn't didn't need three villain groups either

The Overhaul Arc - yep gets a special mention. This arc pulled focus away from the main cast, instead focusing on more new students and a new villain group. Even Oda mentioned in an interview about him having too many characters lol. Then to top this off, the arc was very rushed towards the end. Also the theme of the Yakuza felt old school and didnt fit with MHA, would have loved the MLA to be here at this time instead

Meta Liberation Army - Cmon don't tell me there wasn't supposed to be a MAJOR storyline after the Endeavor internship arc with focus on the MLA, cause 110% something was supposed to happen but got cut and War #1 happened and the MLA may as well never have existed just like the Yakuza... oh yeah next points:

Lets end with some of the good:

Characters and characterization- all very unique in personality and design and made you want to follow them

Character Dynamics - like relationships between characters. Absue, bullying, friendship, romance.... though this could have been done better with some more introspection and interactions between characters

The beginning arcs

Quirks and power system - each power is very unique and really compliments the character well

Superheroes and Villain society - we've had stories with these, but this is in present time where almost everyone has a power, so powers really arent as "special" as in another series and creates a new dynamic of sorts

[havendance]

Now that I've read all the Vol. 4s in my new52 read, it's time to touch base again before Zero Year. Overall, I liked quite a few of these!

Batman -- Okay, I didn't read volume 4 of this because the trades get complicated, but I did read issues #18-20. Issues #19 and #20 were pretty generic/forgettable, but issue #18... hmmmm. I wanted to like seeing more of Harper--I'd liked her previously, but I feel this is one of those instances where the fact that this is in the new52 really hurts the story because I was reading it and it just felt like a retread of ALPoD. It left me over here like, what if Snyder could of used Tim and built upon that arc rather than retreading it? What if Cass could show up and build on the relationship she'd started to form with Damian in Gates of Gotham? It just didn't work for me.

Batman and Robin -- The aftermath of Damian's death. This was well executed and I liked that it was quite clearly tying in with what was going on the characters other titles, even if some of that made me go huh? (Catwoman's in the JLA? Since when?) Bringing Carrie Kelly in was also a fun nod. Another thing I appreciated that Barbara's issue was a lot about her Batgirl: Wanted plotline going on in her main title because I did really enjoy that and also having Batgirl!Barbara Gordon as part of his sidekick/love interest parade was was hmmm I see why Tomasi did it but also I don't really like it. Anyway, the trade I was reading also had the script for the silent issue at the end and it was really interesting seeing how things changed between the script and the final product. You could really see how much Gleason contributed to the storytelling of the final product. (Also, apparently Damian was originally planned to die in Crime Alley because there were notes in the script about Bruce brooding in Crime Alley because of it that clearly got edited out of the final result)

Nightwing --This volume successfully didn't burn down/character assassinate Haley's Circus! Wooo! This was a fun plotline even if it clearly suffered from being set in the new 52. (Dick's over here like 'if I only knew someone with enough computer skills to track down Tony Zucco. Oh well, I guess I have to work with this masked troublemaker the Prankster instead. Like, you wouldn't have these problems if your ex hadn't been nerfed by the reboot). Anyway, I liked what it did with Zucco and I do feel like the bones of the plots in new52 Nightwing have been very good at accomplishing the goal of the new52--reintroducing these characters to a new audience.

Birds of Prey -- This comic continues to be so mid. You got rid of Poison Ivy and Katanna in favor of Strix (who I like) and this Condor guy (who I don't care about.) I don't care about Kurt Lance. This whole comic just feels boring.

Batgirl -- Volume 4 was my favorite volume of new 52 Batgirl so far, hands down. So far, I think this is the one new 52 volume where I would pick it up if I ran into it at a second hand store somewhere (and I guess Batman and Robin too). I liked how much the wanted plotline tied into Barbara Gordon and who she was. Like, the ventriloquist issues at the start were just kind of meh, and not every storyline of a comic needs to be deeply linked to who the hero is as a person, but I think I liked this so much because it felt like a story that couldn't have been told about someone else or at a different point in time. I liked the conflict between Babs and her dad, I liked that Barbara got to go on a fun date with Ricky, and I especially liked that James Jr was only a ghost for all except for like one panel (he really should've stayed dead grump grump grump). I do think the callbacks to NML comics were a double edged blade though because while I am naturally a huge No Man's Land fan and am always happy to see Gordon punch Batman in the face and of course LotDK 125 is like one of the top single issues of all time to me, it also reminded me how good those comics were. And like, Batgirl (2011) #26 was a fun issue, but also it is no LotDK 125 and do you really want to be reminding me of better comics like that?