#his rich and powerful villains aren't my favorite

[ontarom]

Stephen Lang in "Justice" (2017)

[arkus-rhapsode]

Gonna give some love to one of my favorite Radiant Dawn minor antagonists, Hetzel. And what he represents overall in Radiant Dawn.

Now when Hetzel shows up in PoR and Radiant Dawn he seems like an unassuming old man. Practically harmless compared to the other obviously evil senators. But the thing is, Hetzel is a great sign of somebody who is aware actions are wrong, but he never uses any of his own power to stop or take a stance.

He knows the Serenes Massacre plan is bad, but he doesn't really make any attempts to stop it. Because the truth is he's more ambivalent to the plight of the Herons. He bails out slaver and fellow Senator, Oliver, despite a whole point of Sanaki's campaign was to find the people still partaking in the slave trade and stamping them out. And while he makes no aggressive actions against Sanaki, he still is a part of the anti Apostle group of Senators. Yet despite all that he still frees Rafiel.

This is because Hetzel is probably one of the most mature criticism Fire Emblem has had of someone in power: Hetzel is ultimately a man who likes having power and maintaining the status quo. Unlike Lekain and other who their current position isn't just enough and need to keep aggressively expanding, Hetzel rather takes a position of doing what is best to main the power he has. Despite the fact he is aware that slavery and massacring is bad. He will still benefit if Lekain wins, but will never use any of his power to implement any significant changes. At best all he does is gestures of good faith.

Theocracy in Fire Emblem is honestly kinda shallow and very much a simplified version of it. That there is a religion that has some form of political power. And that one in charge is probably some person who pushes down on others because god tells them to. But Tellius seems to understand a theocracy isn't just about the dogma of a faith being implemented by the state and there for the only true religion and those with conflicting ideas must die, but rather those who benefit the most are the ones in the highest positions of the theocratic organization. Something that can be achieved less through actually believing but actually knowing how to rise in rank in a religious institution. All of the senators are Dukes, holding massive lands and they are the senior most members of their faith. While we know that warriors of the faith like Zelgius and others hold titles like Earl for their place in the military fighting for their faith. The theocracy of Begnion is one that isn't just about "because the Goddess" its a group of men who have grown rich and consolidated much of their riches and political position and now someone like Sanaki is going to upset this balance after they worked to avoid this happening with Apostle Misha. Delegitimizing Sanaki by revealing she's not the true Apostle would then pass over the power of the empire to Lekain and his cronies. And Hetzel was along for this ride for a long time.

And when finally confronted by Rafiel in the end, Hetzel only begs for forgiveness. He knows what he has done is wrong but pleas that he was kind to Rafiel so that means he's not all that bad. But Rafiel has nothing left to say. Hetzel did have a choice given where he was in the senate. And in the end he ultimately choose to go with Lekain's flow. And when Ike confronts Hetzel, all Hetzel refuses to surrender. He'll be disgraced. Even at the end knowing after everything and having one last chance to get out, he doesn't take it because his status is more important to him than doing the right thing.

Hetzel is a wonderfully pathetic villain and a genuinely good examination of those in power who passively allow bad acts even when they have a level of awareness. While there are a lot of people who like to dismiss many FE villains (and lets be fair) that aren't always that strong or that complex. But I always want to at least give praise to instances like Hetzel that make memorable antagonists.

[outofthemouthsof]

15-Day BL Challenge in 1 Night!

I'm more of a lurker than a poster but Tumblr's my fave place to wallow in BLness. My 2nd favorite place is the spreadsheet where I track the shows I've watched (172 completed in just over a year), so @negrowhat 's challenge was irresistible. I'm gonna cram my answers in one post. Here goes!

Fave OG Actor Pairing: Some of the ones I think of as OG are only like 4 years old, so this was tough. And the 18 shows that have gotten my top score aren't very old. But I went through those 18 and picked the oldest, and it was the 2018 Korean microfilm Some More. Because it's so short it's super rewatchable, but even if I wasn't able to watch the whole thing a half dozen times (which I have), I'd still have gone back & watched the sweet moments and sex scene about 25 times (which I have). So I guess my fave OG actor pairing is Park Chan Ung and Kim Joon Bum! How they got me so deeply invested in their love in mere minutes is beyond me, but they did!

Fave Rookie Actor Pairing: Does Japan do the CP thing that Thailand does? I don't think so, but one couple I wish had about a dozen more BL series together lined up are Kouhei Higuchi and Atsuki Mashiko of My Personal Weatherman! Their chemistry was visceral and they're too pretty to be believed.

Side Dish That Should've Been the Main Course: While I enjoyed the main pairing a lot, they were nothing compared to the crazy rollercoaster side plot (how'd it go from so funny to SO dark to so sexy to so sweet and wholesome like that??) of Vegas/Pete from KinnPorsche!

Fave Ship Dynamic: Obvs from answers 2 & 3 I am not against D/s ships at ALL. Also a sucker for tough-but-submissive-bodyguard with mafia-brat-prince. Honestly I like tons of different dynamics from innocent to toxic, but one that gives me major butterflies is a guy who thinks he's straight but when confronted with the idea of liking another guy, doesn't have a macho freakout or run away, just kind of straightforwardly & sincerely searches his feelings until he figures it out. And then takes care of his baby. Why's that so HOT and sweet? Some of my fave examples: Pete/Ae in Love By Chance, Le Jian/Amber from DNA Says Love You, and Ida/Aoki from My Love Mix-Up!

Biggest Flop: This is expectations vs. execution, right? There's loads of shows I've abandoned, some I've stuck with for no good reason, etc., that are way worse than what I consider my personal biggest let-down. I was so enamored of Perth from LBC that I assumed he could do no wrong, and the bully-to-lover, rich/poor pairings often do it for me. So I guess I just assumed Dangerous Romance would be amazing, and it was REALLY good for a couple episodes. It wasn't the worst thing I ever saw, but so much of it just ... felt ... flat. Very surprising.

Fave Line From Your Fave Series: Well I know my fave series--Cherry Magic Thailand was the most perfect, entrancing, heartwarming series EVER, OMG, it was staggeringly good and stuck the landing in a way few shows have managed. I can't really think of one standout line--the script was so on point & there were HUNDREDS of sweet tingly moments. There were some epic ones in ep11 tho: When Achi says "The voice inside your head is so loud" and Karan (the boldest he's ever been) replies "Don't worry; soon you won't be able to read my mind anymore." (But then clearly uses that power one more time to gain the sweetest nonverbal consent EVER.) Then, Karan: "Do you regret losing your power?" Achi: "I'd regret not loving you." (OMG how I squealed.)

Fave Villain: This was so tough. An over-the-top villain I loved to hate (and an actor I loved from his sweetie-pie green-flag role in SCOY) was obvs Heng Asavarid as Chalothon in The Sign. But an actor who was so excellent at being loathsome and malicious toward the main couple, with just enough of a redemption arc that I didn't totally despise the character by the end (but did hate most of the way through): Park Hae In as Eun Ji (Jae Won's ex) in The Eighth Sense. It was a typical "faen fatale" role but so well done. So a tie between 2 totally different takes on the destructive ex.

The Trope You Hate Except When It's "This Series": OK, "hate" is a strong word for how I feel about the drop-of-rain-makes-you-ill so love-interest-takes-care-of-you trope. It's OK. But holy SHIT is it overused. Holy shit. I sigh resignedly when I realize we're going there. EXCEPT. When P'Phayu goes to visit Rain in Love in the Air when he's sick, and his version of caregiving? Forcibly applying medicine in the form of a rectal suppository. It is so funny, weirdly sexy, very in line with their dynamic (doesn't get in the way of their romance moments later at all), & it shoves a big middle finger up the overoveroverused sick-bed trope.

Most Visually Pleasing Love Scene: Okay, THE scene in The Sign is the clear winner in my & many people's books. But there are so many runners-up: the post-race one in Love in the Air. Just about every one in Pit Babe (both couples) & My Personal Weatherman. (A lot of other faves don't quite qualify as visually or emotionally pleasing--lustfully pleasing should be a 3rd category in this challenge!)

Most Emotionally Pleasing Love Scene: Again, I have a clear winner: Cherry Magic Thailand. So full of emotion, so well deserved, so everything. Sigh. But lots of runners-up: same scene in The Sign, both kissing scenes in DNA Says Love You (tame but soo emotionally satisfying), Ray & Sand's camper reunion in Only Friends, the post-prison love scenes for both couples in Kiseki: Dear to Me, the 1st time in I Feel You Linger in the Air ...

Breakup That Should've Stayed Broken Up: Maybe it's because I try to be choosy in what I watch all the way thru or maybe I'm a big softy who tends to root for every couple no matter how lame. In all my completed shows, I could only think of 2 breakups where I wasn't at all invested in them getting back together (and maybe against it): Tian/Poon, What Zabb Man and Top/Mew, Only Friends.

Wedding You Wish You Had an Invite To: If we're talking weddings that actually appeared in the show, Achi and Karan's in Cherry Magic Thailand, obvs! If it's hypothetical weddings, I'd be desperate to go to one of ANY of the characters in Playboyy! I'd wear a bulletproof vest & bring my own flask of booze, but it would be the trashy chaos-filled social event of a lifetime.

Give 5 Good Boys a Gold Star: Just 5? OK, some I haven't mentioned yet. 1. Shin Woo, Light on Me, 2. Palm, Never Let Me Go, 3. Mohk, Last Twilight, 4. Thun, He's Coming to Me, 5. Neua, Secret Crush on You. Best boys!

The Top 5 Most Sad Boys: I'll limit it to ones where the suffering was kinda pretty, not just painful. 1. Way, Pit Babe, 2. Akk, The Eclipse, 3. Kaipa/Gaipa, Moonlight Chicken, 4. Hae Bom, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, 5. Kiyoi, My Beautiful Man

Bestest Besties: Just one? Gah! Fine, Pearl & Gavreel in Gameboys. She got those boys together in quarantine!

[columboscreens]

Been loving the Twitter account and realized I'd love the Tumblr too.

Anyway, I've always wondered something... my mom and I began to realize that maybe one of the reasons classic Columbo's formula made such a splash and continues to be unique is that he's basically presented as the story's "villain".

Not in a "he was the real killer" kind of way, I mean structure-wise for most episodes the killer is the main character with the majority of screen time. It occurred to us that all the best episodes really seem to present the murderer as the protagonist, with us seeing them plan and carry out their scheme, even sometimes be privy to their inner thoughts. Then after they've done their killing, this... monster starts stalking them. It seemed to us the best episodes were the ones where WE are put in the killer's shoes the most, and maybe the character and show formula has endured so well because its thrill feels so similar to watching your favorite movie monster pursue dumb teenagers in a haunted house.

We noticed it kinda felt like it had that same weirdly sadistic glee. Like sure the movie might be "about" the campers or family or whatever, but the monster creeping around "getting" everyone is who you really came to see.

I wondered if anyone else had felt this fun "relentless antagonist" vibe from Columbo? Maybe the formula continues to feel unique even today because it isn't set up quite like a detective show. It's a rich arrogant murderer show, we just can't wait for our favorite monster to show up and chase them (with insidious, relentless politeness).

thank you!

not to needlessly intellectualize my own favorite show (i say, maintaining this blog), but there's a real sophistication to columbo, a literary quality that i think appeals to people. though the production appears facile at first, those choices in formula and perspective you mention are indeed very deliberate and part of what made columbo so fresh and special both when it aired and today. it was a very novel approach to the mystery format to have us start off with the murderer and maybe even root for them sometimes against columbo. as i always say, the show evokes dostoyevsky and doyle, not bruckheimer; it's born from old-fashioned drawing room murder mysteries, not CSI.

the mysteries are usually sharp--between columbo and murder she wrote alone, levinson and link were two of the most prolific mysterysmiths of the 20th century. but ultimately, for both the viewer and for columbo, it's all about the chase, the game, the banter. it's about a mangy little guy tussling with someone with more dollars than he has hairs on his body, and winning to boot. the legwork is important, but it does ultimately come second.

steven moffat got torn to shreds for calling columbo a sadist, but he was absolutely right and needn't have apologized. if you get up in arms about that, do you really understand columbo?

the man is a benevolent sadist. that's why he appears borderline villainous. he is a sadist with a level head and good moral compass, but still a sadist. he goes well out of his way to fuck over people who deserve to get fucked over, and he clearly enjoys every minute of it. it's how he's able to remain so relentless without getting burned out. is that so wrong?

just look at the smirk on this man's face. you cannot deny that.

like a fine wine, his power grows with time...

peter falk himself often likened being chased by columbo to "getting nibbled to death by a duck". nobody can stand there and tell me ducks aren't the cutest and also pettiest most sadistic little bastards in the animal kingdom...

sir!!!! SIR!!!!! i don't mean to bother you, i've just got this one little thing on my mind, i thought maybe you could help me...

[misscammiedawn]

50 Days of HypnoKink - Day 46: Hypno-Erotica

Sooo here's my ROM profile because I write sometimes!

We have SO many talented people in our community of whom I adore and enjoy the works of.

I could type a bunch about why and such, but I just wanna talk about people and not get bogged down on me. This is for community love!

My favorites are:

Jukebox - Acknowledging first that he is a member of my Family, Jukebox is the greatest author in our community with an endless well of ideas and has been updating weekly for well over a decade at this point. Daja is doing a series of reviews for his work, check them out. Recommended story: The Kind of Girl I Could Love. Jukebox has heard me say this before but I discovered how much my asexuality meant to me through reading this story. I was acting as an allosexual, as much as I can, and I cried when I read this. It's the story of a woman who has tried kink and keeps finding partners who push her boundaries, including a Girl(tm) robot sex doll. The story has a new Girl(tm) sent in helping our protagonist enjoy bondage and hypnosis without the threat of sex. It makes me so happy. Jukebox's Patreon - Jukebox's ROM - @jukeboxemcsa Tumblr

Skaetlett - Skaet teaches a number of courses on writing MC fictions for both the hypnokink concircuit ands their local kink groups. They have a style for mean business ladies, high protocol submissive training, degradation and impact scenes. They aren't always my flavor and I tend to skip over their sex scenes but that alone is proof of how good they are. I am compelled by their stories, their characters and their drive. The back of my tablet has a pair of stickers representing their stories. Recommended story: Bouquet Bound. Story of a young enby who is purchased by an impossibly rich transgender woman and taught to be a lovely, loyal idiot. I came for the gentle romance and fantasy of living the high life and I stayed for the heart-wrenching drama. Skaet draws deep from the well of their soul and it spills beautifully to the page. Also, Skaet, if you read this, I was tempted to recommend Nani The Fuck and you owe me for not doing so. Skaet's ROM - Skaet's Subscribestar - @skaetlett Tumblr

Nath - For transparency Nath is a metamour. Though Nath has some fantasy stories with a really well thought out magical setting and incredible characters, I've always appreciated her for her grounded stories about a hypnoDom and her circle of clients, family and friends. She knows how to make things hot via the way that power is exchanged, how hypnosis makes a person feel and captures all of the subtle shifts that are hard to pin down with words. Recommended story: The Octavia Series. A series about a hypnoDom who works within a kink community and has attracted an incredible web of people she trusts. There are great moments on the ethics of consent, prejudice and ignorance within kink spaces and how poly lifestyles bring personality types together that have a harder time meshing than others. I feel waves of joy and compersion along with tantalizing heat from her writing. She's amazing. Nath's ROM - @writtenbynath Tumblr

Modren: Modren is a friend but I knew them after I read her stories. They have a mixture of aesthetic, character and world-building and a love of suited ladies that just speaks to me. They're a wonderful person and I am happy to call her friend. Recommended Story: Whiteout. A superhero story that divides its chapters two ways. Between the superhero life of a super team where our perspective character encountered a brainwashing villain and discovered their hypnokink and her alter-ego exploring kink spaces and meeting a powerful and seductive hypno Top who may or may not be the villain she ran into. Mixing adventure, curiosity/exploration of kink and character driven romance. One of the best stories out there. Modren's ROM - Modren's Patreon - @modren83 Tumblr

Sammynona: I often joke Sammy is an honorary lesbian because he primarily writes f/f and has a way of pulling an audience in to sapphic longing. The sex is a bit more than I can handle and some stories aren't my cup of tea, but when they hit they hit hard. Recommended story: Theatre Slut. How could I not? Sammy and I talk a lot and this story was born from him and I discussing life in movie theatres. I used to run a theatre and Sammy has a history with them too. I showed a video of me projecting a spiral on the big screen. This story isn't really based on me, more inspired by things I did and a video I shared, but I have a lot of love for it. Sammynona's ROM - Sammynona Patreon - @sammynona Tumblr

FracturedPuppet: Another member of my Family and wow, half of the people on this list are dating people that I'm dating. Sometimes I think the entire hypnocommunity are connected if you follow the threads. Puppet does a lot of work with drone stuff and is a published author in her own right. Her big strength is world building and she's remarkably good at it. Recommended story: Snatch & Grab. Loosely based on reality and a fond and happy memory. I've linked it a bunch of times in this challenge. FracturedPuppet's ROM - @redcap3 Tumblr There are many more that could be highlighted. Kallie's Subroutine for instance is an incredible story that was the first time I saw a transgender protagonist, mostly because EMSCA is a bit outdated and still get debates on "political" characters on the attached MCForum. I got hit with that myself once and it broke my heart. It's why I prefer ROM. I may not get many eyes or as much feedback as I'd like on that platform, but I feel safe and seen there. I'll take a safe audience over a broad one any day <3 --- Day 45: Swords FULL SCHEDULE MASTER POST Day 47: Hypnotic Experiments

[creepykuroneko]

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Here are some books I highly recommend written Asian authors.

1. Stories for punjabi widows ( sorry for not saying the full name of the book I don't want Tumblr to hide this post for " inappropriate material") by Balli Kaur Jaswal. This is not a collection of short stories. This is a novel set in London that focuses on law school drop out Nikki who is trying to pay the bills well finding her place in life. On a whim she takes up a teaching job at her local Sikh Community Center. Before she knows what's going on her students have hijacked the class and turned it into a writing workshop for their favorite scandalous subject. Full of love, humor, drama, trauma, and secrets, Nikki starts to understand the women in her community better and starts to ask the harder questions she's been ignoring her whole life. This book was a joy to read. Be forewarned there is both humor and heartbreak. Trigger warning: arranged marriages, child brides, bride burning, domestic violence, harassment, threat of violence, physical violence.

2) NOT your Sidekick by CB Lee. I love love love this book! A young adult novel set in the futuristic world. You have queer main characters, a comedic villain, loving and supportive parents, fear of not being good enough, confronting the model minority myth, having to compete with the gold star older sibling, this book hits on some really good issues. Jess is in high school and is the most average person in her family. Being the only person in her family who does not have super powers she's trying hard to not let anyone see how upset she is when she accepts the fact that she's never going to be a superhero. Determine to make her college application look good, she signs up for an internship. After signing a non-disclosure agreement she finds out she'll be interning for the local c-list super villain. Things aren't exactly as they seem though, the more research Jess starts to do, and the more she starts to think about it, she's convinced that the government is up to something and the superheroes are involved. Well I'll admit this is the type of story that you can immediately figure out how it's going to end from the first chapter that doesn't mean that it's not enjoyable. Trigger warning: racism

3. We hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal. This fantasy novel was a delightful fairytale rich in Arabic lore. Zafira is a hunter who is just trying to keep the people in her Village alive as they have no means to grow food or hunt on their own thanks to a curse that has taken over her country. Enter Nasir, the prince of death. An assassin who has to do his father's evil bidding. When Zafira meets a witch who sends her on a magical quest that should help restore magic to the land, the sultan sends his son after Zafira to intercept her quest. Alliances, foes, magic, mystery, the book keeps you guessing who's going to betray who up to the end. Trigger warning: violence, death.

4. Build your house around my body by Violet Kupersmith. Written by a mixed-race Vietnamese American author, this book is about loss, wanting to be accepted, wanting to belong, wanting to fit in and find community, as well as the emptiness left by colonization. The book takes place over about seventy years. It jumps around time periods and focuses on several different characters. Nothing is told in a linear fashion so I know some readers have been confused by this. Basically we learn about Vietnamese American Winnie who has moved to Vietnam and wants so badly to fit in and find her home amongst Vietnamese Nationals but she just doesn't fit in with Vietnamese society. We also follow the childhood of three best friends who grew up in Vietnam and learned about their eventual dirft apart as they enter adulthood. There is an orphan boy who is living under the tyranny of French Catholics and we hear about how he got to watch the French be chase out by the Japanese. Then those Vietnamese children who were under French rule became oppressed by Japanese colonisation. Missing women, people looking to sell Vietnamese women as brides for foreigners all over the world, a ghost, plantations, build your house around my body feels like one big Vietnamese ghost story. Trigger warning: child abuse, violence towards women, murder, death, exploitation of people.

5. In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami. Kenji is an unlicensed translator and tour guide for tourist in Tokyo. One day Kenji gets a American client who makes him very uneasy. Most of the book takes place in Kenji's mind as he contemplates what's going on in the world around him and whether or not his client is acting weird or is just being an obnoxious American. With a violent serial killer on the loose and many coincidences piling up Kenji's paranoia might be justified. Well there's not much plot to the book itself, I really suggest it because of all of its social commentary. Although published in the 90s, it deals with Timeless issues that are still culturally and universally relevant to this day. Issues like sexism, exploitation of sex workers, cultural identity, domestic violence, xenophobia, loneliness, poverty, consumerism, are just a handful of the subjects this book touches on. There is a moment in the book i like where the tourist tells Kenji that he is surprised to see the Japanese youth dress the exact same way that African-American youth dress in New York. Even Kenji has a moment of realization. In the beginning of the book he is quick to condemn teenage girls who become sex workers to pay the bills, saying that if they weren't out at night with adult men they would not get hurt but by the end of the book he gets mad at how everybody always blames the girls in these situations and never blames the adult men who attacked them. Trigger warning: gore, mutilation, Bloodshed, violence, body parts being sliced off, murder, this book is not for the faint of heart. If you seen the 1990s Japanese horror film the Audition, Ryu also wrote the Audition novel. In the Miso soup follows a similar style of it's a slow build-up to the scary scene.

6. Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar. If your fans of Neil gaiman's Stardust you'll like Star daughter. Sheetal is the daughter of a South Asian man and a literal star. Her mother came down from the heavens and fell in love with her father but when Sheetal was a child her mom returned to the heavens. As her 17th birthday draws near, Sheetal is unable to control her new powers, and ends up accidentally injuring her father. Wanting to correct her mistake, Sheetal and her best friend travel to the mysterious Night Market to try to find a cure. Instead they end up in the heavens where her mom resides and finds that her maternal side of the family are extorting her. In exchange for healing her father they want Sheetal to be their champion in a competition that will decide who gets to rule the heavens for the next millennia. Lies, family secrets, tragedy, love, Beautiful lore, and even more beautiful outfits, this fairy tale is a lovely young adult novel. Trigger warning: abuse, torture, mental health decline, blood

7. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. A mix of folklore, sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction, if you're a fan of Pacific Rim I recommend Iron Widow. This book is very fast-paced from the get-go there's a battle, death, and bloodshed from the very beginning. Wu Zetian is the main protagonist of the story. On a quest to avenge her dead sister, Wu Zetian isn't going to let anyone get in her way, not her family, not her best friend, not the government, not the patriarchy, not even the aliens invading the planet. Li Shimin is the sexy but scary inmate with a mysterious past, on death row for murdering his entire family, who finds himself unwillingly being partnered up with Wu Zetian. Gao Yizhi is the rich son of one of the wealthiest men in the country and he's not afraid to rub it in your face if you piss him off. In fact my favorite line from this book comes from Gao, " you can't kill me, I'm rich!". He's very self aware and also Wu's best friend who wants to help keep her alive. As the three characters who are completely different come to rely on one another they end up uncovering multiple conspiracies and forming a wonderful polyamorous Triad. Trigger warning: mentions of sexual assault, death, abusive family, torture, violence towards women

8. Arsenic and Adobo by  Mia P. Manansala follows the shameful life of Lila as she unwillingly returns to her small home town to live with her auntie after she is unable to get a job with her college degree and a bad breakup. Her tia Rosie runs a Filipino restaurant and is being harassed by the local food critic. Unfortunately for Lila the annoying food critic is also her ex-boyfriend. Things get worse when he dies at her aunt's restaurant and shenanigans ensue from there. Full of love, Millennial and Gen Z humor, lots of delicious food, and unapologetically Filipino this book is definitely not your grandma's murder mystery. Bonus points, there is some recipes at the end of the book. Trigger warning: death, murder, mentions of addiction.

9. The Bone People by Keri Hulme. Kerewin is a painter and indigenous Maori woman living in isolation in New Zealand. One day she finds a mute white child named Simon in her house. No one really knows much about Simon. He washed up on the beach one day after a shipwreck and doesn't talk. He is still able to communicate with other characters. He is both kind and loving but also prone to temper tantrums, violent outbursts, and stealing. Joe is a mixrace widower who takes on the responsibility of being a foster father for Simon but due to his alcoholism he abuses and beat Simon. As the three characters confront their own identity issues and trauma, they come to love one another and form a family together. This book is unsettling but at the same time heart-warming. Trigger warning: violence, alcoholism, child abuse.

10. The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Set in South Korea, this psychological drama takes place in 3 parts, all from the different points of view of Yeong-hye's relatives. Yeong-hye decides she is going to become a vegetarian one day. This decision does not come about in a quiet subtle way but rather radical in your face shock as her husband walks into the kitchen one day to find meat on the floor and in the trash can as she announces they will no longer have meat in their house. From her husband's point of view we find out that he is an unreliable narrator as it's clear he's pretty toxic, possibly even abusive towards his wife and constantly belittles her. In her brother-in-law's prospective he sees Yeong-hye as very attractive and wishes that his perfect Korean model wife was more like her sister. I won't give away any spoilers from the final part which is told from her sisters perspective but I will say it is sad. Ultimately the book is about conformity and how much Yeong-hye has had her life ripped away from her by her family, friends, and Society. Trigger warning abuse, toxic relationships, family abuse, attempted suicide, blood, medical abuse, mental health issues.

That's all for now. Have you read any of these books? Do you like any of them? Got any books to recommend for AAPI month?

[gritsandbrits]

001 for Sonic the Hedgehog, 003 for Chris Thorndyke, 002 for SonElise

001 Fandom Sonic

My favorite character is Tikal

My least favorite is Mephiles

5 Favorite ships: antoine x bunny, sallicole, khanally, Sonudis (sonic x @crusherthedoctor 's fancharacters Trudy) & Tom x Maddie

Character i find most attractive: Shadow

Character I would marry:

Character I would be best friends with: Rouge

A random thought: why aren't there any aquatic anthros :(

Unpopular Opinion: Marine > Sticks

Canon OTP: Khanally

Noncanon OTP: Sonic x Lani (my OC)

Most badass character: Too many to count but a quick shoutout to KNUCKLES

Most Epic Villain: EGGMAN OF COURSE I love how his inventions span from servants like Orbot to fucking GUNDAMS movie Eggman especially for actually having him be the main threat instead of getting Upstaged or written OOC "Eggdad"

Pairing I am not a fan of: Sonally, made them both OOC, too soap-opera for my tastes and personality clashes

Character i feel the writers screw up: Elise, could've gotten a badass equivalent to a disney princess (though they're already badass) instead we get a poorly thought out Self insert

Favorite friendship: Shadow and Rouge, Amy and that little bird. Also Blaze and Marine

Character i most identify with: Big the cat I just be minding my own business but get dragged into sum bullshit anyways 😫

Character I wish I could be: blaze because she's rich duh also fire is my birth element

002 Sonelise

When I started shipping them: a couple of years ago after seeing cute fanart. But coming across @solarhood 's blog really increased my liking for the pair.

My thoughts: Gets way too much hate, i see it has lots of potential in fanfics, it is not and never was bestiality, and it can be a good romance or a good friendship. Plus Amy isn't unfairly demonized.

What makes me happy about them: their interactions were so sweet, especially the scene in the meadows.

What makes me sad about them: that they had to give up their memories :(

Things done in fanfic that annoy me: when people try to improve Elise by making her a Blaze Clone. Or turning her into a hedgehog just to make her ship with sonic more "palatable" listen Elise can still be badass without being turned into another Blaze/Sally copy

Things I look for in fanfic: again better characterizing that isn't turning Elise into Xena, also amy not being demonized for melodrama. Sonic & Elise more time together (with in character Sonic)

My Wishlist: that elise comes back with a new design that (let 👏 her 👏 wear 👏 different clothes!!) & reuniting with Sonic

Who I'd be comfortable them ending up with if not each other: with Sonic I don't mind him with Amy or a new character. With Elise, Surprisingly KNUCKLES. Both were isolated and had to spend their childhood into roles they didn't ask for so the parallels are already there. Difference is Elise can help Knuckles be comfortable around girls without overstepping his boundaries, and he can help her learn to master her power and be more open with her emotions even especially the negative ones.

My happily ever after: Sonic and Elise somehow recovering their full memories and becoming friends again. Elise decides to travel the world with him not just for personal pleasure but to instill alliances and gain more life experience

003 alright last one and it's *uighh* chris....thorndyke 😒😒😒

How I feel about this character: TERRIBLE he's the reason why I made Noelani in the first place!! Unnecessary audience surrogate who didn't even do a good job in the role he was that hateable!

Any/all people i ship romantically with this character: the only person I ship him with is with a therapist!!

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Okay maybe his relationship with his servants were a little sweet then again not surprised if they forced to act like that because he signs their paychecks

My unpopular opinion about this character: he isn't the worse creator's pet I know he wasn't as awful as Kicker from Energon or Light Yagami

One thing I wished. Would happen/had happened with this character in canon: That he faced some actual damn consequences especially in the last episode of s2! Ground that boy! Don't just let him get away with dooming two planets!

Favorite friendship for this character: Surprisingly him and Tails, too bad it wasn't enough to salvage him

My crossover ship: him and Adrien would make great friends and that's not a compliment

[curemoonliite]

I've been thinking about my two main fanfic villains since I'm getting ready to post both If You Give a Little Love Acts IV and V and The Vickles-Shaye Battles to AO3, and even though they both seem to be schemer types, man, the differences between them are hilarious.

Mosely, who was written later in my fic career, actually is a schemer who uses his power as a Bridleway producer to his advantage. His lies get a little harder to believe throughout the fic, but this is mostly because everyone knows who he is now. The reader, the general public, everyone. And as a result, without his prestige, he's a fairly realistic case of an overgrown rich boy who's never known anything but praise crumpling when ponies aren't worshipping the ground he walks on.

Tandrak, on the other hand, seems to be a schemer, but actually just likes to do things in the most roundabout way imaginable. He wants the Darigan Citadel team captain slot, but instead of directly sabotaging Layton about it like a logical person, he's just like "hey Layton, I'm gonna ruin all your friends' careers if you don't make me captain, like, right now." The only time he even tries to directly do anything to Layton happens because Layton is actively ignoring Tandrak in order to save his friends, and that pisses him off more than anything. And then, when he's finally team captain, finally gets everything he wants, he has no fucking clue what to do with it because in the famous words of Plankton, "I didn't think I'd get this far."

Tandrak is the living embodiment of that one time in Avatar where Zuko thinks the Gaang is deliberately planning to confuse him by going off-map when they're really just lost. Tandrak is, and I cannot emphasize this enough, such a loser villain that he almost crosses into Team Rocket territory where watching him come up with silly plans is almost as entertaining as watching the actual plot.

He is, to date, my dad's favorite character out of everything I've ever written, and for the life of me, I cannot understand why.

[stephanythedramaqueen]

For the ask game (and if this is valid):

001. Jujutsu Kaisen

002. Zutara

003. Aleksander Morozova

— 💋

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my: Jujutsu Kaisen

Favorite character: The number one menace to society; Gojo Satoru.

Least Favorite character: Kenjaku. Give Suguru his body back, Kenny.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Gee, I don't have a lot of JJK ships. SatoSugu for sure!! GojoHime a close second. (I actually have a lot of GojoHime brainrot currently) ItaFushi definitely! They're so cute. And YuutaMaki bc they are the GOAT power couple. One is a descendant of Michizane no Suguwara and is as powerful as his very very distant cousin Satoru, and the other completely Uchiha Itachi'd her clan without a single curse technique. Queen behavior.

Character I find most attractive: my first gut reaction is to say GOJO, as I should tbh. But we've all seen Toji, and that dude ain't even animated yet! All the clout he's gained is deserved. idk what Gege was thinking when he was drawing Toji but he sure as fuck knew what he was doing. 😏

Character I would marry: Call me Mrs. Gojo Satoru. He is tall, he's hot af and he's filthy rich. Crazy, stupid rich. If being the strongest wasn't working for him, his deep pockets surely will lmaoooo

Character I would be best friends with: Yuuta. Because he's so shy and adorable, I would love and protect him. This was very hard bc I wanted to choose Yuuji, who is sunshine personified.

a random thought: JJK fandom grossly doesn't know how Gojo's Infinity technique works, it annoys the fuck outta me. In fact, there's so much misinformation about JJK in general such as the No One Can See Sukuna's Marks on Yuuji theory which is debunked in the text itself but it's still regarded as canon, when it's not.

An unpopular opinion: I don't ship Toji and his wife. I ship Toji with MEEE lololol

My Canon OTP: Gojo and I are canon every night in my dreams. JJK doesn't have a lot of canon ships and they sure as hell ain't my OTP but Miwa x Kokichi was sweet.

My Non-canon OTP: I mean SatoSugu is practically canon.

Most Badass Character: Sukuna or Toji idk. Sukuna for being such a wild threat to people that he couldn't even be killed nor destroyed as a curse. Toji bc that mf brought a glock to fight a dragon. And he WON!

Most Epic Villain: Sukuna! All these basic curses and sorcerers wished they were on his lvl. Peasants.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Suguru x Shoko. I just… nah. I don't like it. Utahime x Nanami. I love Nanami but I find him boring to be a love interest. Anyone x Mei Mei. She's a bad bitch, but she's pretty shady and an asshole (and also really creepy with her brother) lol

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): JJK is so young a manga yet, it hasn't really done any misses for now. But there's a lot Gege can and actually should expand on before he ends the manga. I really wanna see more politics within jujutsu society. Worldbuilding and lore on the Great Three clans. Flashbacks to Heian period society and its sorcerers. More jujutsu clans that aren't the three main ones, like Inumaki. And also, I'm biased so I want to see Utahime's curse technique before I die and it should absolutely be badass. (also revealing how and when she got that scar)

Favourite Friendship: Nobara/Yuuji/Megumi!! they are BESTIES in a way that Shoko/Suguru/Satoru has never been

Character I most identify with: Miwa. I, too, have an super mega gigantic crush on Gojo Satoru. And I, too, would likely get my butt whooped by Maki.

Character I wish I could be: Tsukumo Yuki. One of the only four special grade sorcerers, she don't even do shit, but still gets payed big money and she looks good doing it. Love that for her, wish that was me. Also her spending quality time with Choso. What a lucky gal.

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you: Zutara

When I started shipping them: Zutara? Oh boy, it all started a long time ago, when I was 13/14 years old when ATLA was still airing. More than a decade later, and I'm still shipping them.

My thoughts: bryke missed out on the greatest love story that could have ever been told on American TV.

What makes me happy about them: the fact that they are complete opposites and still so much alike. fire/water, blue/red, awkward turtleduck/fierce opinionated baddie– and yet both are incredibly righteous to help people, both are loud and have a temper and have absolutely the worst, lousiest sense of humor. The way they understand each other, the way they both had to grow individually and how they grew together. Nah, they're perfect, your honor.

What makes me sad about them: the fact that they were denied the opportunity to heal the world together. If the comics are to be believed (and I do NOT consider them canon) Zuko spiraled into loneliness and distrustfulness after the end of the war. While there was a whole bunch of nonsense in those comics, something which is absolutely true bc it's just something repeated in history again and again; a sudden change in regime will always have detractors; some more violent than others. So assassination attempts on Zuko's life is something that definitely would have happened. It's unfortunate he went through that alone. And if LoK is to be believed, Katara didn't do much in terms of reformation post war besides being Aang's GF/Wife. The disrespect. Nothing would have been a better show of unity than having the Fire Lord marrying a woman from the SWT and then they do everything to heal and regrow their communities together. Worlds of potential wasted there.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Bashing Aang. I do NOT fuck with that. Aang is a sweetie, innocent little bean. I understand he would have some emotional distress at Zutara, but fics bashing him or writing him completely OOC in lieu of Zutara is a no-go. I immediately skip. We love supportive, grown-out-of-his-childhood-crush Aang, not whatever the fuck some authors do with him to make Zuko look like the better option for Katara.

Things I look for in fanfic: Usually fix-it fics. But I'm a sucker for arranged marriage AU

My wishlist: I go back in time and somehow create ATLA when I was a kid and pitched it to Nick instead.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Jet. Both of them. Jetkotara is god tier!

My happily ever after for them: Fire Lord Zuko and his consort Katara, being so fantastic at repairing the world and ushering a golden age of peace and prosperity, that they're canonized into legend and protective spirits centuries down their line. Kind of like Oma and Shu, people make art about them, stories are told and rewritten about their love for each other, statues are erected in their honor, kids named after them, cities retitled because of them etc. forever after.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you: Aleksander Morozova

How I feel about this character: Aleksander, you deserve so much more than these books.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Alina doesn't deserve him either, but their symbolism together is so beautiful. And Nikolai with Sasha, that handsome bastard!

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Sasha and Ivan. Ivan really was his ride and die, till the end. Wish we had Aleksander's POV to know how he felt about his death.

My unpopular opinion about this character: He shoulda fucked Elizaveta. And let Alina suffer the consequences of being a Grisha for a few centuries on her own. That'll teach her.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: He became the motherfucker TSAR! And won! And saved his people from death and persecution all around the world! Made his country flourish in culture and technology. Lived forever, yes. But happily. Knowing that no other child have to suffer fear and torture ever again the way he had when he was young

Favorite friendship for this character: Sasha and Nikolai and David. Completely fanon, but the potential of all three of their dynamics together would be hilarious, chaotic and ingenious.

My crossover ship: Aleksander Morozova, the Darkling, the Black General, descendant of Ilya Morozova and the Starless Saint x the Queen of Fire and Blood herself; Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men. Protector of the Seven Kingdoms. Queen of Meereen. Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea. Mother of Dragons, The Unburnt, and the Breaker of Chains. They would have too many titles between them lmao but they would absolutely rule like no other has before and they're the power duo of all power duos.

Thank you for this! I had a blast ranting and I will always wanna rant more lol. This was fun.

[musical-chick-13]

HI FRIEND. Can you you talk about your favorite tropes Cersei falls under? Or if you have a meta about Jaime and Cersei ruminating and needed an excuse to talk about it here it is :)

OMG HI FRIEND!!! It's always a joy to see you in my inbox. 😊 And also FUCK YES TROPES ARE MY SHIT

I'm not sure if this falls under a "trope" per se, but one of my favorite fictional devices is the Deconstruction. Which is where a common theme or character type that is typically seen as one-dimensional or even idealized is picked apart in-story to show the realistic outcome of what that event or personality trait would be. Basically, taking something to its logical conclusion if it existed in the real world.

I would argue that Cersei serves as a deconstruction of the "Rich Bitch" archetype. She is born into a position of privilege and wealth, yes. And she does use those things to act in...not nice ways toward others. To put it lightly. However, it doesn't come about for the sake of having a petty, one-dimensional joke villain. She wields the power those things afford her to take villainous actions, yes. But the narrative breaks down just how utterly shitty someone's upbringing and subsequent worldview would have to be to convince themselves they need to act like that. Cersei is not glamorous or envied or shallow (in the sense of not having character depth, I mean). She's a mess. Most people probably wouldn't want to be in her position. She's reviled and barely respected. She's a serious threat. And the wealth and resources she has at her disposal aren't her whole personality; she has richly-constructed emotional layers. She's awful. But she's also scared and traumatized and angry and feeling broken, which are all things most of us feel. She's a terrifying antagonist because she's meant to be sympathetic. We can't push her aside as an unrealistic monster with no feelings because she's specifically crafted not to be one. In order for the "Rich Bitch" to exist, what would have to happen to her? And there's still a person under there, so what exactly does that mean? Asking questions like this is what deconstruction is all about and I LOVE IT.

As for a more straightforward answer with more specific tropes, Cersei is very much a Mama Bear. So much she does is because she thinks it'll keep her children safe. She ruthlessly stops at nothing to seek vengeance for the deaths of her children. She even mentions that for a significant portion of her life, she kept fighting because she believed her children needed her. She recognized that Joffrey was...Bad™; but she didn't even think to try to distance herself from him because he's her child and she loves him. And that once scene in season 5 where she tells Tommen she'd burn cities to the ground for him? I CRY EVERY TIME. Maybe it's because Lena Headey is such a good actress who imbues every one of her scenes with such raw pathos, but in a strange way, these displays of destructive love genuinely move me: her love for her children is not only palpably strong, it's unconditional. I've often heard parents in real life talk about how they would do anything to help their children, and seeing Cersei onscreen? Yeah, honestly I believe that.

There's also a favorite narrative trope of mine which is Love Ruins the Realm. Her relationship with Jaime, its need for secrecy, and the subsequent succession crisis over their illegitimate children is responsible for the whole conflict that spans the series. (One could argue that Littlefinger's plan to have Lysa poison Jon Arryn kicks everything off, but there would have been no war to point to or reason for the Lannisters to be Ned's enemy without Jaime/Cersei being a thing.) Their codependency is one of the (many) things prevents them from constructively working through their respective personal issues, which in turn bleeds into the violent ways they deal with other people. (And, as previously mentioned, there's her hurricane-strength love for her children.) All of which causes further political issues and dangerous situations (sometimes with deadly outcomes). I've always been fascinated by the idea of love as a destructive force. Instead of redeeming or softening, it makes a character more dangerous and terrifying. Love has the ability to become an unstable, extreme emotion the way pretty much any other emotion does. And Cersei, in all of the ways she tries to love, shows us exactly what that looks like. And it is gloriously fascinating.