#even though i'm in the fandom

[goforth-ladymidnight]

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

For those of you who are looking for a good fairy tale retelling, @swiftsnowmane once recommended "Heart's Blood" by Juliet Marillier. Having stayed up until 3 o'clock in the morning to finish it, I am here to report that it is everything I wanted in a Beauty and the Beast retelling and then some.

It admittedly started off a little slow, and I wish there had been a pronunciation guide for the Irish names the way there was for the Romanian names in "Wildwood Dancing" (by the same author), but these are overall minor complaints. By the time Caitrin, our heroine, enters a certain private garden and the familiar elements of the fairy tale began falling into place, I was hooked. Part historical fiction, part fantasy, part romance, and part mystery, I had forgotten what it was like to stay up all night reading.

I think what made it such an especially compelling story was the nature of the curse, which Caitrin slowly becomes aware of and seeks to undo. Unlike "Beauty" by Robin McKinley (one of my favorite retellings) or "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas (of which I have a love-hate relationship), the curse makes sense.

The novel "Beauty" was less concerned about the curse (which was vague at best and an afterthought at worst) and more about developing Beauty's character and her relationship with the Beast. Side note: Prior to the publication of Robin McKinley's novel, the character of Beauty had never been given much to do in the Beast's castle, but here she was given the chance to read. Sound familiar? I'm sure Disney took note, and the 1991 animated film seems to have inspired every rendition of Beauty ever since!

For example, Caitrin is a scribe in a time when most women weren't taught to read, much less write. Even in ACOTAR, SJM chose to make her Beauty (Feyre) illiterate, which made breaking the curse more difficult. Which leads me back to my original point about the believability of the curse in Beauty and the Beast retellings: ACOTAR is more concerned about making Feyre's life as difficult as possible so that Tamlin's (the Beast's) curse is almost impossible to break, even though it's already very complicated when it doesn't have to be.

By contrast, in "Heart's Blood", the curse feels more believable, though no less fantastical. To avoid spoilers, I won't say what exactly it entails, but, interestingly enough, it does not directly affect the "beast's" appearance. Granted, Anluan, the chieftain of Whispering Tor, still behaves like a beast in many ways (it wouldn't be a Beauty and the Beast retelling otherwise!), but the subtle ways in which he changes throughout the story more than make up for his lack of fangs and fur. And I grew to love him for it, just like Caitrin did.

This is one book I will be gladly adding to my collection. If only it had an illustrated cover as intricate and detailed as the one(s) made for Wildwood Dancing... I would be content.

Cover art by Kinuko Craft and Janaina Medeiros (@/janainaart)

Perhaps, one day it will.

[palomalexa]

Always inside your mind.

[bixels]

The Ryoko Kui interview's reception is such a disaster over a pretty normal (yet still flawed) interview between a non-Japanese fan and Japanese artistic. This is discourse for discourse's sake, and it's no surprise that almost every Twitter user I've looked at who's using this interview to parade Kui around as a goated mangaka standing strong against Western ideology is anti-trans.

Like, I do think the interview was kinda wonky with its focus on fandom culture, which Kui clearly didn't have much interest in. But sometimes that happens. Sometimes interactions between two people, especially a fan and a creator, two people who view and interact with a piece of media in completely opposite perspectives, don't click. Does this really need to get blown up into a "West vs. East culture war" issue.

Anyways, Kui saying "I don't consider my audience's interpretations when writing. I leave it to their imaginations, but I have my own read on things too" is the healthiest, most normal thing an artist/writer who wants a non-parasocial audience could say. Artists and writers use this line all the time. If Kui didn't enjoy autistic Laius or Farcille headcanons, she would have probably voiced/signalled her discomfort, like she did on the topic of Senshi fanservice. Overall, Kui handled the interview really well. Props to her to sticking to her guns and keeping a healthy disconnect from the fandom. While I think the interviewer could've/should've been more tactful and restrained, the flaws in their questions is not a symptom of the woke mind virus trying to wriggle its way into the pure Japanese psyche. It's the sign of an over-eager fan who sees a piece of fiction differently than its creator.

[hkthatgffan]

I really did not wanna talk about this stupid topic, but with so many people falling for it, I figured I should; THE DIRECT ARTICLE ABOUT A GRAVITY FALLS REVIVAL IS A FUCKING LIE!! Lemme explain below why!!

Ever since this article by The Direct was published, way too many people are thinking Gravity Falls is really coming back and the usual season 3 belief is spreading yet again. And of course, YouTubers who should know better made videos on it and other "journalists" are spreading this lie. Here's the real facts! The executive in the article NEVER alluded to a revival. All they said is that Alex is publishing a book (The Book of Bill) and there's some shorts being made. All this article is basing its claim on is the phrase, "Never say Never!" Alex has had a deal with Netflix since 2018. Under that deal, he cannot make new cartoons for other networks, including Disney and Gravity Falls. He can voice on non Netflix shows and help in small ways like he did on TOH, but he cannot make a new show outside Netflix.

The shorts they are alluding to are confirmed to be likely stuff like the Broken Karaoke series on Disney Channel's YouTube page or theme song takeover stuff. Disney TVA News, while not 100% the most reliable source, has suggested that as the case and given Alex was at DTVA in April recording something per an Instagram story he made, it makes the most sense. What's more, there is a rumoured short being made for The Book of Bill which this could be meaning. Notice how it has no indication of a revival? Alex Hirsch has said he has ideas for GF stories, but they are more book centric. Heck, in me and Hana's interview alone he alluded to Stan and Ford stories he'd wanna do if given the chance to make another graphic novel. That is all!

And speaking of Alex…he's not said shit on this! He's not tweeted about it or liked any tweet about it. And Alex has said in the past to not believe anyone claiming Gravity Falls is coming back unless he says so himself on Twitter. So, take a guess what I did? I messaged him!! I was in talks with Alex recently for another video I'm making later in the future and asked him about this article during it. Without leaking our DM's, Alex said straight up, this article is all "just talk!" It's clickbait! Alex Hirsch confirmed it is clickbait!!

Direct is lying to you and so is anyone else saying this is real or that Gravity Falls is coming back! It just isn't. The only person who you should believe about this stuff is Alex Hirsch himself and he clearly has said it's not. And even supposing Direct is telling the truth about this executive saying something is possible, it's just gonna be book or small shorts stuff…NOT a season 3 or reboot, or revival or spin off series. I know that stuff is pretty popular to talk about, hell, I'd kill for a Gravity Falls prequel story myself. But it's not happening.

But with that said, I hope this post helped you better understand what is up. This article is a sham and a joke to the field of journalism. Do your damn job and tell the truth instead of making clickbait shit that will get you ad revenue! People who write articles like this are a joke and I feel bad for anyone who falls for their BS! These articles will never stop being made, so it's up to you all to be smart and not fall for them.

Remember, if Alex Hirsch doesn't say anything about it, it's not legit!!

Stay informed properly out there! New videos coming soon :)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Wei Wuxian eats a watermelon. Yep!

[idanit]

assorted Jeeves and Wooster sketches of various quality from the past six months, part 1

[makiswirl]

can i just say. and this is probably a niche hill to die on. that i am so gobsmacked every time someone vaguely hints at the idea that jotaro doesn't care meaningfully for the other crusaders, usually particularly kakyoin and joseph, when those two actually tend to be the ones he reacts to being hurt the hardest

like he cares for his loved ones!!!! that literally plays into his character motives in every single part he shows up in!!! stop lying to me!!!!!!!

[silvers-starrway]

So the wildest thing happened where @mactheactor decided to dub over (if that's even the correct terminology) the Chaos Sonic animation I made!!!!

I'm still in utter awe about this like, hands down the coolest thing ever I've been thinking about this non-stop. Hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do!!

[florenceafternoon]

You're not less of a marauder fan for not having read/ not liking popular fics btw

[forgettable-au]

Going insane because I suddenly got obssesed with this au and theory again yesterday

I'm still not into undertale again, but maybe I'll try writing for this au on the side and who knows maybe when I'm back I'll have the main story ready

[thecruellestmonth]

Batman never argues for the sake of compassion or rehabilitation in UTRH. Batman was especially callous, punitive, and lacking compassion throughout that early 00s era. He was not championing compassion, rehabilitation, redemption, justice system reform, or (HA!) abolitionism in UTRH—he did not have faith in those things for *the kind of people* whom Red Hood murdered, and he did not have faith in those things for Jason himself.

Every single person that Jason hurt is someone that Batman would hurt. Every single person that Jason murdered is someone that Batman would've unhesitatingly thrown away to rot in prison (a prison system explicitly shown and stated to be outrageously inhumane even by the horrifying standards of the USA).

If the person was lucky, then prison would reform him sufficiently that he could be employed through Wayne Enterprises (Gotham City's biggest employer, seemingly a monopoly on legal employment options for the formerly incarcerated) once he got out after... however long he'd been sentenced. Non-violent felonies can earn years, decades of prison time. Or if he was unlucky he'd be killed by one of the regular prison-breaks staged by Batman's rogues (including Red Hood that one time when a Batman kept him in prison, but more consistently by other repeat rogues).

Red Hood's argument is ''blah blah my crime is not like the other crime‚ my new cycle of violence is totally better than the current 20-year-old cycle of violence.'' Batman's argument is not "we can't throw criminals away‚ they're people just like us :("‚ but instead more like ''ew Jason has succumbed to his inherent criminal nature‚ sucks how he needs to be thrown away with the rest of the susperstitious and cowardly lot.''

[yourhighness6]

It's funny to me when people insist that "ATLA was really feminist" as if there wasn't really only one feminist message which was the very generic "girls can fight too" spiel that every 2000s show had going on whenever they briefly tried to jump on the feminism bandwagon or whatever

[aroaceleovaldez]

Here is a link to the Cherokee Nation's official site. Here is the Visit Cherokee Nation youtube channel. Here is a playlist for learning Cherokee (and here's one for learning Ojibwe, as a bonus cause i'm biased). Here is a link to Daybreak Star Radio, which is a radio station based in Seattle dedicated to showcasing international first nations and indigenous music that you can listen to online. Here is a pdf of various recipes, including references to which tribes they originate from. Here is a link to The-aila-test's buy native tag, and here is a link to Beyond Buckskin's buy native list (though some of the links are broken). Here is a link to the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper's official site.

now go take a minute and come back once you've done some research so everybody can stop being weird about Piper.

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

I'm going to sound like such a smartass but I'm glad I'm seeing more people express that "Huh, maybe this girl who has an entire song repeating to herself over and over again that her murder was not her fault meanwhile she-

portrays herself as a giant grotesque bug in her headspace with her victim, who she clearly still holds a high opinion of, being the only human in said headspace looking at her with visible disgust and fear,

Making this expression upon realizing what she just did

These being the lyrics that follow right after, having a moment of reconsideration

Before jumping back to trying to convince herself that she was in the right, because she put her trust in us to tell her if what she did was right or not, and the answer that came out was yes... That maybe, just maybe. She thinks that what she did...

Might have been her fault."

[ferryfoam]

He has no idea he's like a daughter to me. My middle aged male daughter

ASIT is making me real sad and lately I have been spending every waking hour thinking about nothing but Elim Garak

I have also been reading this wonderful fic by Cucumbermoon and it is making me sadder but it's beautifully written and very good https://archiveofourown.org/works/30310065 I am very enthusiastic to read the sequel once I am finished (it is possibly correlated to the fact I am menstruating as of current but I cried multiple times while reading so. Really good!!!)

[averlym]

fairest of the fair