#good!

[whetstonefires]

Do you have any opinions on Scholomance?

I do! I like it a lot. I really enjoyed all three books, blitzed through them easily and was much more excited to see how the plots unfolded than I'm used to these days, as a jaded adult, and I also really appreciated them as works of craft.

Especially the first one, I spent the whole time being all 'wow!' at how simple it was. So easy to read, but no waste. You really need to know what you're doing, to get that kind of pared-down elegance of form to work and still fit so much content in.

Like these are dense, there's a fantastic stylistic minimalism that allows El's character all the space it needs to breathe by making absolutely every other thing and person in the whole novel also do character work for her, which is exactly where the first person voice shines.

Also great use of character perspective to make the pacing feel really natural, so the fact that the first book takes three weeks, the second book takes one year, and the third book is like. Five or so incredibly stressful days spread out over the course of a few weeks? Doesn't feel imbalanced.

I actually got distracted from the story a few times by noticing the strength of Novik's technique. 😂 This is a me problem, in itself it's the opposite of distracting. Very low-profile.

I think the Scholomance is a great example of how far you can go in specfic when you aren't cringing from the label 'derivative,' because the Scholomance books feel very fresh ad clean specifically because nothing in them is concerned with standing out as 'original,' whatever that's supposed to mean, only with being well-executed and suitable to its task.

Hm, maybe that's where Liesel was born, the intersection of the efficient narrative style and the vast proportion of the story that concerns the maximization of utility and the instrumentalization of persons by themselves and others, and the forces that incentivize these behaviors. Or maybe she's just the narrative counterweight to Orion 'Head Empty' Lake lmao. How's that for a principle of balance, Galadriel?

I really did enjoy how beautifully it was laid out, over and over, in dozens of shades of humanity, how no matter where you go in an exploitative system almost everyone is being driven by the same survival instincts.

Because I don't think I've ever seen made so cleanly clear why you just can't expect any person or small group of people, no matter their level of goodwill or status, to unmake one of these systems from the inside; how it's not a matter of people being bad but of every single person being very...small.

And then not retreating into the idea of a person who is Big coming and breaking the cruel system from the outside as some kind of panacea, because 1) that is terrible, even if it's necessary and done in the best way possible and 2) that's not a sustainable answer to anything. Getting a balance between the protagonist being able to effect change and not subscribing to the great man theory of history can be really tricky!

Also did I mention, I love El, and I love most of the cast, even the dreadful ones. How am I going around with this many feelings about Li Shanfeng who doesn't appear until the actual climax?

The romance murdered me a bit, but it took up no more space than it absolutely needed to do its job, and I respect that. Also I appreciated Orion as a love interest; Novik has a slight record at this point of a version of that style of male love interest who's like a caricature of Mr. Darcy but old, which was shaping up to be my least favorite thing about her body of work.

...Orion is kind of like if you took the human king from Spinning Silver and gave him an alignment flip come to think of it, so he's not coming out of nowhere. Lmao.

Which reminds me (re: romance character typing) I've heard Novik didn't want it to be known she was astolat, which this series has renewed my sympathies if so. Because if I were a published novelist I wouldn't want people going 'you know, that resolution was really emotionally satisfying! reminds me of that fic she wrote where optimus prime and megatron get stuck in a hole underground and hatefuck about it.'

I don't even like Transformers. That fic almost made me cry. Actually I suspect it reads better if you don't like Transformers because I'm sure it does not give a shit about canon.

Anyway, whoever pointed out that one of the things El has going on is she's Enoby (and we're going to sit down and explore what the true reason to put your middle finger up at preps is, and what are some constructive ways to channel that socioeconomic wrath, and what it means that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism) was right and I'm not entirely over that either.

Fucking love El's mom as a character. Spectacular level of parent relevance and usefulness. A+.

Aadhya and Liu are also characters who fucking delivered.

Re: minimalism though, I laughed at the start of The Golden Enclaves when I realized that none of the enclaver characters who'd gotten development in the the first two books were from London, the enclave El was theoretically shooting for when we met her.

[m3tth4ws]

@ canucks Help us send Boesersson to #NHLAllStar❗️

[darktrainer]

When you think you're all macho camping, bbqing, fishing, rowing but the fag will always be with you

[muncedes]

“i feel like i have another 5 years in me” m*x is about to retire before lewis does

[respectthepetty]

I'm excited for Korean BLs this week. Jun & Jun, give me my dads! Why R U? give me the sister getting pushed off a small curb. And Love Class 2, give me the love!

THEY ARE GOING CAMPING!

THEY ARE GOING SHOPPING!

THEY ARE DOING DUMB COUPLE SHIT!

Korea, you really stepped it up this second season!

[dayurno]

kevin day really is the people’s princess and isn’t that so beautiful

HE REALLY IS do you remember when anya taylor joy went viral for saying she doesn't cook nor drive herself to places and someone quoted it calling her the people's princess. thats literally kevin to me i think this person is truly telling interviewers that he ubers himself everywhere and only orders takeout. the literal princess from princess and the pea

[odinsblog]

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of suckers

Internet scammers are reportedly pushing “Trump Bucks” online which display pictures of the former president and promise MAGA supporters big profits. John Amann told NBC News he bought $2,200 worth of Trump Bucks only to discover they are worthless when he tried to cash them in. He is now warning other Trump supporters not to fall for the scam.

NBC identified Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots as the companies behind Trump Bucks and found at least a dozen people like Amann who invested thousands of dollars after watching the misleading pitches on Telegram that suggested Trump was endorsing the products.

Invest in a TRB membership card “issued by Donald Trump,” the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots claim, and the purchaser who spent, say, $99.99 on a “$10,000 Diamond Trump Bucks” bill will be able to cash it in for $10,000 at major banks and retailers like Walmart, Costco and Home Depot.

“TRB system membership cards are official cards issued by Donald Trump to allow Trump Bucks holders to use Trump Bucks as legal tender and deposit them in banks such as JP Morgan Chase, the Bank of America and Wells Fargo,” a narrator identified only as “John” that appears to be a computer-generated voice says in one YouTube ad just moments after cautioning viewers that “Trump Bucks are not legal tender.”

It’s a get-rich-quick scam that is catnip to a certain kind of Trump supporter — including QAnon believers and others who believe the former president is the only solution to America’s problems.

👉🏿 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-bucks-promise-wealth-maga-loyalty-lose-thousands-rcna84965

[dreamings-free]

By Alex Rigotti | 18th January 2024

The European Union has called for changes to the music streaming business, including fairer royalty distributions and increasing payments to artists.

On Wednesday (January 17), the EU adopted a resolution to address the imbalance of revenue allocation in music streaming, including creating a new legal framework for streaming. There are currently no EU rules that apply to the sector.

In the resolution, “pre-digital royalty rates” are to be revised, with the EU criticising business models that “force authors to accept lower or no revenues in exchange for greater visibility”.

-> read the full article here on nme.com

In other news, Spotify pulled its services from Uruguay after the country’s copyright law demanded fair pay to artists. (21/11/23)

[rokewe]

Ghost files has not left the trending list for 3 consecutive days. good.

[iwantahockeyhimbo]

BARZY500 WIN AND THEY CLINCHED

[herewegobebe]

Minkey ✧ LG Objet Collection Show Teaser

[giantmonstermash]

Y'know, sometimes I ask myself questions. Things like "Is a White Witch/Balor-based build viable, or would that be too many Nanomachines?", or "Can one of the fun Personalizations for a Kobold be a copper pigment blend added to its Resin so that I can name the mech 'Galaxy's Shittiest Copper'?", or even "How fast can I really make a Nelson go if I get really cray-cray with it?"

And then I wonder what the funniest/craziest things people have done in their own games might be.

Kinda hope I can reach the potential levels of Pure Mayhem other people have, eventually.

[aka-indulgence]

Being made to watch a business video

Hhhhhhghghgg i have a headache

[klausbens]

most of the opla men have such big tits and for what. do they use them as bulletproof vests? to suffocate other men? damn

[chaotic-gay-is-my-alignment]

YES!

[black-ajah-hq]

HELLO??? the title sequence???