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convenientalias · 3 years

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Femslash February Book Recs List

It's Femslash February! I had forgotten all about it until today! With that in mind, here is a short list of book recs with femslashy stuff going on--some romance novels and some other.

Romance novels (and novellas):

Crash and Burn by Cynthia Dane and Hildred Billings--I'm always yelling about every book by Cynthia Dane and Hildred Billings (she does rich alpha sapphics like no other) but this book is the one of hers I've read most recently so today I'm yelling about it! A bodyguard romance BUT the romance is between two bodyguards, not bodyguard and protect-ee. Lots of conflicted sexual tension deriving from the fact that one MC (Stella) sleeps around a lot and the other MC assumes there's no way things between them could ever be serious. (And also bc Stella claims she could never be serious with a woman specifically, which is a whole other pot of fish.) Meanwhile there's a whole mystery going on in the background. And, since it's Cynthia Dane and Hildred Billings, a whole ton of kinky smut. The sexual tension may be conflicted but it is still burning hot.

Alone by E.J. Noyes--This is categorized as a romance in most places but you could also call it suspense. It's about a woman isolated in a cabin for an experiment on psychological reactions to isolation, and what happens when another woman stumbles into the arrangement. It's a kind of messed up story and I enjoyed the dysfunction of it all.

Fire Control by Elva Birch--Cute little novella about a dragon shifter (who has trouble shifting) and a firefighter who is her ~destined mate~.

Fantasy/sci-fi:

The Alpennia series by Heather Rose Jones--This is a historical fantasy romance series that leans heavy on the worldbuilding. Do you like religious magic systems? Do you like alchemy? Do you like bodyguard romances? Do you like players? Do you like asexual characters? Do you like people experimenting with their sexuality and sometimes deciding they're queer and sometimes not? Do you like opera? Do you like people with secretly noble parentage? Do you like crossdressing? Do you like major political intrigue as a backdrop to more minor personal intrigues? If you like any of these things, at least one book in the Alpennia series is probably for you. The first book is the most a romance, and then as the series progresses it becomes more focused on a whole web of characters and events. It's one of my favorite series of all time!

The Hadra series by Diana Rivers--a series about an all-female city of women with magical (pacifist, telepathic) abilities. Can get kind of violent and honestly a little misandrist and gender essentialist, although imo the series gets less so as it goes on. (First book was published in 1987, but the most recent entry in the series was published in 2012, so there's sort of a shift.) What I love about it is how many types of romantic (or purely sexual) relationships are explored within the series. I swear in the second book, the MC hooks up with at least four women that I can remember. It's very fun for a multishipper. The general vibe of the series reminds me of the book Taran, Wanderer if anyone's read that--all the MCs are working on self improvement as well as seeking love (and sometimes trying to save the world).

The Traitor Baru Cormorant--I think everyone's heard about this one, but it really is a great read for imperialism, political intriguing, and a complicated sapphic relationship (that ends pretty horribly, so just be warned!). Baru Cormorant is a great character and so is Tain Hu, her love interest. I haven't read the rest of the series but even as a standalone this book is fire.

This Is How You Lose the Time War--Again, you've probably heard of this one. But if you haven't, it's about two time-travelling agents of enemy forces, and them gradually falling for each other through a series of originally antagonistic correspondence. I think the writing style makes or breaks this book for people. For me, it made it.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon--There are four narrators in this book, only one of whom is involved in a f/f romance, but she just happens to be my favorite character in the book. She's a spy serving a queen who claims divine right to rule--the spy has her doubts about this kingdom's religious beliefs but belongs to an order that safeguards against the ~end times~ (evil dragon attacks) and therefore has been ordered to protect her just in case her whole divine inheritance schtick is legit and will turn out to be key to saving the world. She doesn't really believe in it, but she certainly has some feelings for the queen. Also she's a huge badass and I love her.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling--Possibly my favorite horror novel (its rival being The Shining), a book about a cave explorer and the woman monitoring (controlling, ruthlessly driving forward) her expedition. Note: the cave explorer spends the whole novel alone (??) in the caves (cue claustrophobia!) but the relationship between her and the other woman is still very central in the book, and it's quite dark. I love dark femslash and this book is one of few I've read that really does it for me <3

The Dyke and the Dybbuk by Ellen Galford--How to describe this. Uhh a demon from Jewish folklore starts trailing a taxi-driver with the intention of creating chaos. The taxi driver (Jewish but not super religious) falls for an Orthodox Jewish woman, and a number of misadventures ensue. Tone is kind of satirical, definitely humorous. A weird read but a good one.

Classics and literary fiction:

Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley--First published in 1974, a groundbreaking novel about an interracial lesbian relationship. Can get kind of didactic but I love the couple and I think it makes some good points.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami--Okay ngl the sapphic love here is unrequited and very literary and surreal and depressing. It also centers a lot on an outside perspective, that of a male narrator who is friends with the central lesbian. But it's Haruki Murakami, what do you expect? Estrangement, surrealism and outsider perspectives are all par for the course. I love the atmosphere of this book and I quite liked the main couple even though they don't really work out.

So, those are some femslashy books I would recommend. I'm including only books that I've read in the past couple years, and only books that I would definitely recommend. I actually discovered writing this list that my f/f reading has been down a bit in the past couple years, probably because I've been trying to expand my reading a bit (in years before, I read a ton of queer fantasy and romance, which was great but I'm trying to read more broadly lately, more literary fiction and more older books and books less focused on romance in general). Hm. I should look at my TBR and see what f/f books on it look good sometime soon.

(Because I actually have no self-control, though: Quick shout-out to some all-time favorites I read longer ago: Orphan #8 by Kim van Alkemade, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Paper is White by Hilary Zaid, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, the Ieflaria series by Effice Calvin, A Treason of Truths by Ada Harper, and anything by Fiona Zedde but especially Nightshade and Hungry for It.)

#femslash february #book recs

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thetrashywritingwitch · 2 years

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💮💮Heyyy, I have a really annoying pet peeve in romance fanfiction and wanted to know your opinion.

So I really hate it when the author goes like "x characher was in love with y character" despite them not even being friends?!?

And then they continue on to say that how x character was jealous and insecure about z character (who is presumably a hot person).

Although I don't see it as impossible, I dislike it when the pacing is too fast like, how can you be in love with someone who your not even friends with. You don't even know the person on a surface level basis, like how???

And from my understanding of love, it stems from feelings of trust, deep understanding and such, it seems like the author is describing a crush but framing it as love just cause they were too lazy to go in depth about how they were strangers to friend to pining idiots to lovers u know?

And I'm not saying all fics should go into every little detail about x and ys relationship, but at least make them friend (so the reader does the imagining) or just take the easy route and go x just had a crush. Idk am I just too sensitive abt these thing?

Alo remember to drink water and eat, our favourite author needs to stay healthy

_ stay safe, flower anon💮💮

YOOOO WE ARE ON THE SAME BIG BRAIN WAVELENGTH WHEN IT COMES TO PET PEEVES

i think this, in part, stems from romanticizing... romance, if that makes sense. as in, being enamored with the tropes of love/romance/falling in love/heavily cliched "love at first sight" premises, etc. when most of what we see in popular media just... isn't realistic or even relatable to the average person who has been in love

you can have a CRUSH on someone if you don't know them well. you can have immediate sexual or physical attraction to a complete stranger (i mean, that's what porn is, right?), you might even feel jealousy over this person being around others (this one is a toxic trait linked heavily with insecurity and immaturity, in general), etc.

but no, i don't believe in any kind of "love at first sight" mantra that many fics and headcanons unfortunately fall into because it's bullshit and not real lol. it's one thing i guess to... write about 😍😍😍 this fairytale-esque idea of just KNOWING you're in love with this person you barely know. maybe the "mysterious stranger" appeal is in there somewhere, or the "they're so cool/unapproachable/popular that i'd never have a chance, so i'll just fantasize an imaginary version of them in my head that seems like my perfect match in every way and then project that onto the REAL character/person who might not really act like that at all, destroying the fantasy"

y'know, like that!

the horrible pacing is also annoying. i mean... there's a reason my fic is fucking 500k words at this point and uhhh for 3/4 of that, "love" was not in the mix. this is kiiiiinda why scenarios where they start off as just barely knowing each other or friends-of-friends or polite coworkers or something tosses me for a loop when all of a sudden things go from 3 to 99 really fucking quickly with like, zero buildup or anticipation.

but its also people writing what they want for free on the internet that's, in most cases, completely self indulgent and less for us as content consumers and more as "i wanna write this thing" where real scenarios have little say (i have a *thing* against yandere/abuse/really imbalanced power dynamics/age gaps being romanticized and easily publicly accessible because it can and does give the wrong impression about certain situations that put irl people in danger. there's def those ppl out there who will see a stalking/obsession/controlling dynamic in a fic and think it would be awesome to have someone obsessed with them, some kind of dream come true... and like yes! those types of kinks do exist! and can happen SAFELY with CONSENTING ADULTS who are into that! but not everyone (esp minors, no offense, sorry) who stumble on this kind of thing might be able to distinguish between consenting kink and romanticizing abuse)

.... that got OFF TOPIC but its still important lkajsl;kfjaf ANYWAY-

yeah. basically, i agree and it's annoying lol but it's best to just don't read/block if you run into it and move onto things you DO enjoy reading

i did drink a lot of wooder today and i made a yummy creamy tuscan chicken recipe for dinner 😤

thanks flower anon 💮

#abuse tw #manipulation tw #yandere tw

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mediaeval-muse · 4 years

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Book Review

Paladin’s Grace. By T. Kingfisher. Dallas: Argyll, 2020.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: romantic fantasy

Part of a Series? No

Summary: Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year… Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…

***Full review under the cut.***

Trigger/Content Warnings: sexual content, violence

Overview: I think I came across this book while browsing Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, but I don’t remember for sure. Regardless, I decided to pick it up because the story of a paladin whose god has died intrigued me. I’m a sucker for stories about crises of faith, and I was in the mood for a fun adventure with a little angst thrown in. While the premise was very much my jam, the prose style ultimately prevented me from connecting with this book. In my opinion, it felt like the book was aimed at readers with arrested emotional development: everything felt sanitized for a younger audience (as in, there was a lot of awkward, quirky humor while nothing felt particularly threatening) yet there were also graphic sexual scenes, reminding me of a lot of New Adult stereotypes. It prevented the story from delving deep into things like what a crisis of faith might look like and how someone might navigate it, and undercut the thrill of the political intrigue. As a result, I personally couldn’t give this book a higher rating.

Writing: Kingfisher’s prose is fairly simple - simple sentences, simple images, etc. It’s pretty easy to get through, and readers can skim, if that’s what they’re into. It’s also full of “quirky humor” so that the mood is fairly light throughout. While sometimes the humor would get a chuckle from me, most of the time, it completely destroyed the mood. The best way I can think to describe it is that it resembles a lot of stereotypes I associate with New Adult fantasy books: the book feels like it’s written for younger readers, but the sexual humor/graphic sex scenes prove otherwise. Characters will make childish jokes, despite most of them being in their 30s (for example, “I wonder if you can stab someone with an ice sculpture”), or stumble over their words in what seems like an attempt to make them seem awkward (”I... um...” or “I... er... what?”). Things like “Gnnnrggzzz” and “Ohmyfuckingshitfuckshitgaaaaaaah” are written out, further making me feel like I was reading something meant to make younger readers smile. Characters rarely act their age and situations were rarely treated with the level of seriousness one would expect in reality. I personally wasn’t a fan; it made the book (and characters) feel somewhat juvenile. To be clear, I’m not against a little humor - I think humor could have been used effectively in this book, perhaps to show how Grace is a bright spot in Stephen’s otherwise gloomy life. I’m also not against light, “fluffy” romances, but I do think there’s a difference between fluff and a lack of emotional maturity.

Kingfisher also had a tendency to repeat certain things, which became irritating. Every other page, it seemed like Grace said something about how Stephen smelled like gingerbread, and it got old really fast. I also noticed that constructions like “He’s a paladin, so he...” and the like were used frequently, which did less to show me what Stephen was like and more to tell me what stereotypes are associated with paladins.

Plot: This book mainly follows Stephen and Grace as they become entangled in two main problems: 1. there is a serial killer on the loose, and his modus operandi is leaving behind severed heads, sans bodies; 2. there is a mysterious assassination plot aimed at the Crown Prince of a neighboring kingdom. To be honest, I found the serial killer plot underwhelming. It only seemed to be present to give Stephen an excuse to escort Grace places, and even when we found out who the killer was, I didn’t feel the rush of excitement or a sense of closure. I think perhaps this was because the serial killer plot wasn’t one that readers could try to piece together with the characters - at most, there was a single clue, and then it was solved (but readers can’t even predict the twist, so I didn’t feel any sense of suspense).

As for the assassination plot, I also found it underwhelming. Although it builds better than the serial killer plot, characters started acting in nonsensical - and even idiodic - ways once Grace was personally caught up the drama. I got the sense that characters were acting out of emotion and not reason, which is ok sometimes, but not ALL THE TIME. In general, I didn’t find that this assassination plot was clever, and there wasn’t much that differentiated it from other political intrigues that I’ve read in some YA fantasy.

Characters: Stephen, our hero, is paladin who previously served a warrior god, the Saint of Steel. At the beginning of the book, Stephen’s god dies (we don’t know how), and three years later, he is still struggling to find his purpose. At first, I thought I would like Stephen. He seemed like a gentleman, and he had some non-stereotypical hobbies, like knitting. I also liked that much of his personal turmoil involved some anxiety over how people would perceive him and his Order. The fear that he would succumb to a berserker rage, in particular, was an interesting bit of lore, and I thought this berserker rage could have been used to prompt further exploration of things like violence and hypermasculinity. However, as the book continued, Stephen became more and more bland. For the first half or two-thirds of the book, he resembles a 14 year old’s idea of a safe love interest in that he was perfectly chivalrous and without serious flaws. As time went on and he became more infatuated with Grace, he started getting somewhat possessive. Any man who so much as looked at grace would be subject to murderous fantasies, and while this was probably meant to show that Stephen was jealous and therefore devoted to Grace, I found it ridiculous and childish.

Grace, our heroine, is also rather bland. She’s a perfumer, which itself could have been fun, but her personality is mainly defined by her awkwardness. She also resembles a lot of YA/New Adult heroines in that she insists that she’s not attractive and that no man could be interested in her, despite at least two male characters flirting with her. It was frustrating being in her head, at times, because she would constantly say things like “normal people don’t do this,” making her seem even more awkward and “not like other people.” Her insistence on her mousiness and rather bland characterization made me wonder why anyone was in love with her at all. She moreover didn’t seem to be at qualified to handle the serial killer or assassination mysteries - in fact, I don’t think she ever uses her unique skillset (identifying scents) to help solve either mystery at all.

Marguerite, Grace’s best friend, is a bit more interesting in that she’s a spy with mysterious motivations. Marguerite is better equipped to deal with the assassination plot, as she has various contacts that feed her information and let her into places people wouldn’t normally be able to access. I liked that Marguerite was a good friend to Grace, but she, too, was a bit emotionally stunted.

Other supporting characters were interesting on paper, but because of the writing style, didn’t seem to be as compelling as they could have been. I liked Zale, the gender-neutral (or nonbinary? agender?) lawyer-priest who seemed committed to their calling to defend the helpless in court. Stephen’s fellow paladins also seemed like a supportive group of friends, and the Bishop of the White Rat was an admirable woman of force and personality. I would have liked to see more of them.

Other:

Worldbuilding: This book doesn’t have a lot of heavy worldbuilding, and it honestly didn’t need it. I appreciated the fact that I wasn’t overwhelmed with lore or facts about the kingdom - Kingfisher mostly stuck to what details were important to the plot, and for that, I was grateful.

Romance: Stephen and Grace’s romance was a little lackluster for my tastes. The main barrier to them being together stemmed from Stephen thinking he was too broken and that he might accidentally hurt her by going into a berserker rage (which... how does that still happen if his god is dead?), and Grace thinking that she is so bad at being a lover that it turns men off. Honestly, I don’t find the “I’m so broken and dangerous” angle to be very compelling. I prefer there to be other barriers to characters being together than just emotions - barriers that force some kind of character development and plot progression. In this case, Stephen and Grace don’t seem to grow much. They just get over their reservations, in part because they thought they were going to die at one point.

There were also minor scenes that made me uncomfortable. I love romance stories and don’t mind sex scenes (when they’re warranted, not when they’re gratuitous), but I hate scenes where one person has to avoid detection (by some king of city guard or something), so the other person covers them with their body and they pretend to be a person and prostitute (or something), miming sex to make it seem like they saw nothing. I just find it awkward, not funny or the basis for mutual attraction. The fact that Stephen and Grace meet this way made it all the more awkward for me to read. I guess that was the point, since Grace is a little awkward herself, but I still hate these types of scenes.

I also personally dislike when male characters are described as noticing or thinking about a female character’s bosom. Like, I get it - straight men like breasts. But I don’t want the basis of a relationship to be physical attraction. Do something else. Though I didn’t get the impression that Stephen was a creep, I didn’t like how often the author would mention that Stephen noticed Grace’s body. Grace’s breasts were mentioned a number of times, and it made me uncomfortable every time.

Overall, I felt let down by this book. While I was drawn in by the premise of a crisis of faith and a thrilling web of lies and secrecy, I was met with a formulaic romance that relied on awkwardness to make emotionally arrested characters seem relatable.

#book reviews

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pacifv · 4 years

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HE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all have witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

Mun Name: Mik Age: 26 Contact: IM, discord

Character(s) I rp: Eden ( in bleach ) -- I have other ocs but that’s another story Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM): Eden... ? Current Fandom(s): Bleach , so far Fandom(s) you have an AU for: more fantasy esque ones? My language(s): spanish , english Themes I’m interested in for rp: Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: fantasy , religious

Preferred Thread length: one-liner / 1 para / 2 para / 3+ / novella. Asks can be send by: Mutuals / Non-Mutuals / Personals / Anons. Can Asks be continued?: YES / NO only by Mutuals?: YES / NO. Preferred thread type: crack / casual nothing too deep / serious / deep as heck. Is realism / research important for you in certain themes?: YES / NO. Are you atm open for new plots?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. Do you handle your draft / ask - count well?: YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. How long do you usually take to reply?: 24h / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3+ / months / years. I’m okay with interacting: original characters / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / my fandom / crossovers / multi-muses / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / canon-divergent portrayals / au-versions (as main or only verse). Do you post more ic or occ?: IC / OOC. Are you selective with following others?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting: IM since this is pretty much new . just slap me with that and if you have some ideas , better --- if not let just brainstorm with what we have in hand .

What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner: some minimal idea of the context and eden’s character . some ideas if possible . more than often I have gotten people straight up jump with no clue of what even is going on in my side character wise .

When you notice the plotting is rather one-sided, what do you do?: depends , most likely really stop trying or let it sink . I’m not much of a person who would pressure for ideas when they don’t even come naturally for me in these kind of situations .

How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?: First of all , ask what they particularly want and if they read the bio . and of course , have their bio as well ( if oc or any relevant hc on vague canons ) . I am honestly a bit shy on the input but if I found a ground to start letting my imagination loose ( like , something in common between characters or something that clicks well with my muse ) I can suggest several things . but in any case , I’m pretty passive and it’s a lot of gives and takes .

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: depends on the thread , the time and the interest . things that go downtown in the excitement scale are :/ and I can’t blame anyone for dropping a thread . not all the time you will have muse for them , tho , if it was a relevant thread I would ask at least . - What should your partner do when dropping a thread?: pretty much free to tell me or not . I’m no one to judge.

What could possibly lead you to drop a thread?: losing muse , interest , time ... pretty much the same . feeling like my muse is going too OOC for the sake of the other muse or smth . - Will you tell your partner?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you? YES / NO. - And why?: I am very old school and having some OOC interaction to at least know how things are going , it’s as much as I can ask here . - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?: I mean , I should . it can turn me off a bit but it’s just natural ? there’s no way something can be perfect or be of someone’s taste . plus I am not that smart to be fully aware of all the things around the motif and IRL information I use on my muse . I’m no book , buddy. - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way? YES / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?: development , exploring the muse , seeing what works and doesn’t work . often new blogs for me are basically prototypes , they are and will most likely have minor or major modifications as my imagination starts working and getting excited . besides , in the basics , you can hardly manage to cover all ( if anything ) of how one’s muse would react to X situation .

Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios: a lot of quincy lore , come up with more personal connections with other quincies , fully develop a backstory and a post war scenario . cultural exploration --- relationships of all kinds .

Themes I won’t ever rp / explore: pretty much I am fine with anything as long as we don’t cross the gross line . but I’m not afraid of the dark .

What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?: absurdly basic and with no context given . not even have an idea of what is the deal between muses . I can squeeze my brain but there is as much as i can do with little information .

What type of characters catch your interest the most?: quirky ones , conflictive ones , most likely muses with specific motifs that spark my interest -- deepness . Aesthetically interesting ones . but overall , those who have out of the normal personalities .

What type of characters catch your interest the least?: personalities that doesn’t work or do not harmonize with the context of their characters . that’s all I can say .

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?: I am.... creative ? gdi I did this meme already but it’s hard to reply these two ones. I am easily excitable . if we end up in a ship , expect me to be pampering af . I really enjoy the exploration of relations between people , emotions and psychological stuff tied around it . I do like casual and also very deep things . I’m not afraid of dealing with heavy topics . I like horror ???? also I am very into the secondary character role , as in : my muse is here to help your muse to grow or insight . that stuff . not much of a protagonist role in RPs.

What are your weak aspects as rp partner?: I’m .... very.... sporadic . My mood is annoying esp when I’m “new” blog around kind of thing . I’m shy , even if I don’t seem so --- I get pretty anxious over details . I am impatient --- with myself . I want to do so many things at the same time I end up overwhelmed .

Are ships important to you?: YES / NO. Would you say your blog is ship-focused?: YES / NO. Do you use read more?: YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Are you: Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship — Multiverse / Singleverse. - What do you love to explore the most in your ships?: again , I’m big mood for interpersonal relationships ( romantic or not ) , the pros and cos of certain traits , ideology clash , personality clash , anything that comes in a relation that could make it come and go . - What is your smut tag?: unholy.

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?: all are hella okay for me . pre- est is my jam bc jesus christ the awkward first encounters make me go blue screen .

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?: the fact she is basically a “religious fanatic” , with a quirky personality and a questionable morality , considering she has an inner conflict between the wellness of her race and her loyalty towards yhwach . At least pre war . post war , she has a flipped personality were she is mostly bitter and more angsty but will go from fanatic to straight up hater .

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?: bland personalities ? not sure myself , Eden is pretty much ready for anything since her personality is pretty laid back . I guess I would say shinigamis in general --- since she basically is stuck inside Silbern . - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?: Quincies , ofc . and people who are willing to put up with her crap .

- What interests your Muse(s) in general: the prosperity of the quincy , doing a proper duty , order , tea , annoying the fuck out of people . being eerie .... - What do they desire, is their goal?: the ideal world as thought by Yhwach --- later on simply for her kind to survive after losing the war and being left to their luck . - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?: mmm , appearance and reactions to her witty or narcisistic comments . - What do they value in a person?: loyalty , uniqueness . - What themes do they like talking about?: most likely about the order of the army , tea stuff , herself (?) , but she is also a lot for debates and insight . - Which themes bore them?: rebellious , silly thoughts . justice related topics . anything that critics her loyalty/life style .

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?: the first war was enough ? most likely losing comrades --- yhwach sacrificing the quincy for power later on . - What could possibly trigger them?: the simple sight of anyone laying a finger of the quincy for being against their views . - What could set them off, enrage them?: nothing. she cannot literally , physically get angry or enraged . but if we are talking bitter , that would be completely post war and it’s just the mention of yhwach’s name or those who went to god’s palace with him . - What could lead to an instant kill?: invasion of silbern , chaos .

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?: chaos , rebels , shinigami , anyone against the quincy . - Is there someone /-thing they love?: her race , her pride , herself .

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?: just .... come to her and say hi . she is literally wandering around silbern all the time ( quincy speaking tho ) . for others , eh ... good luck . and wait post war (?) - Where are they usually to find?: Silbern ... then Siberia .

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?: She is no saint , clearly . She has a questionable sense of things like loyalty and preservation of her race . she is honestly all over the place

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by: honestly stole from @skyvar Tagging: no one in particular.

#🇮🇳🇹🇪🇷🇦🇨🇹🇮🇴🇳🇸 | 🇺🇳🇭🇴🇱🇾 | memes.#mik talks

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ilusionis · 4 years

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THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

Mun Name: vinn (or ila, for close friends) Age: 22 Contact: IM, discord

Character(s) I rp: aizen sosuke on here, askin nakk ke vaar (@ levaer) and lille barro (@ firstritter, sideblog) Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM): all of them actually. Current Fandom(s): bleach. Fandom(s) you have an AU for: none. i’ve been debating about making a modern au but i wouldn’t be sure what to explore in it. within the context of bleach, though, i’m very interested in developing a bunch of AUs. My language(s): i’m only confident in writing in italian or english. Themes I’m interested in for rp: Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: none.

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting: if you want to plot, it would be best to send me an IM and ask me, then we can definitely move to discord if you’d rather. it’s possible to approach me for rp without plotting first, best way would be to send me a meme when i reblog them or simply an ic ask, which i will answer, while memes might get lost. ic asks are good ice-breakers, we can continue plotting from there.

What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner: i need my partners to be as interested in our plot as i am. it would be great if you already have an idea, but it’s still good if you don’t, i get that coming up with ideas can be hard sometimes; mostly, i require honesty. you can definitely tell me that you got no ideas and i will do my best to help, ask questions, try to spark something. i do require the feeling of having that commitment reciprocated.

When you notice the plotting is rather one-sided, what do you do?: i tend to straight up drop the conversation lmao. no hard feelings, but if i get the feeling you’re not interested, i will take my distance - i won’t waste my energy on a plot if my partner doesn’t share my enthusiasm. still, you can always approach me again, if you’re feeling up to it / have new ideas / whatever. nice thing of online convos is that they don’t have an expiration date lol.

How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?: i always ask if they got any ideas to begin with. if my partner already knows, more or less, what kind of dynamic they wanna build with my character(s), that makes it infinitely easier to build something meaningful. it’s still fine if they don’t, i will usually ask a lot of questions regarding their muse’s opinions / feelings / etc., and try to navigate from there. a question i usually ask is: is there any aspect of your muse you’d like to explore? i think that’s a pivotal point in any interaction.

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: if they feel like telling me, why not. but usually, i don’t warn when i drop a thread, so it’s not expected of my partners ever. - What should your partner do when dropping a thread?: nothing in particular tbh. they can tell me or approach me to start a new thread if they wish to, but it’s not required.

What could possibly lead you to drop a thread?: i might lose interest in a thread, especially if i feel like it’s going nowhere or if the inspiration for it simply doesn’t come. it’s never happened so far that i had to drop a thread because it was making me uncomfortable, but that could still be a reason for me to. in general, though, i would approach my partner in that case. - Will you tell your partner?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you? YES / NO. - And why?: absolutely. i’d rather avoid awkward situations or misunderstandings of any kind; if something’s up, tell me. i also like to communicate with my writing partners (be it in the tags of our threads or in IMs), makes me feel like the enthusiasm is not one-sided and i find it generally pleasant. - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?: sure. we gotta stay polite, but honest. - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way? YES / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?: to have fun, to cultivate my writing skills and my english, and to explore my favorite characters.

Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios: i want to develop aizen’s wandenreich verse, because i’m deep in quincy hell and i think his dynamics with quincy muses could be super interesting. anything involving the intricacies of bleach politics is super interesting to me, be it with aizen or with my two quincy muses - who, btw, are also good to explore dynamics between quincies / their culture / relationships etc.

Themes I won’t ever rp / explore: i won’t write anything pertaining to sexual assault.

What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?: it’s gotten difficult to work with starters such as “you summoned me / do you need anything / did you call for me” etc. i used to receive that kind of starters all the time with aizen, and i can’t come up with something new every damn time. i also have a hard time working with starters / replies that already feel like a closed conversation and don’t give me anything to reply to.

What type of characters catch your interest the most?: i’m not sure i have a type. aizen is pretty much an exception, the only example of an already well-built character i write, since i tend to gravitate around minor ones that don’t have much material and that i can work on and expand without being affected by the fandom’s opinion or whatever. somehow i always tend to rp tall guys-

What type of characters catch your interest the least?: children and teenagers don’t interest me for the most part. characters who don’t have a shred of an opinion or can’t offer any interesting conflicts. overly friendly, mushy, affectionate and flowery characters are really not my cup of tea either.

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?: oh god i have no idea. i’m very laid-back, i guess. i’ll never pressure my partners for replies, i don’t think i’m owed a reply in the first place because we all have lives offline, so i’ll never take it to heart if a partner drops a thread. if i really feel like our roleplaying styles don’t mesh, it will be at my own discretion to do something about it. another strong aspect i have ....... i think i have a decent grasp on all my muses? especially aizen. of course ur free to disagree lol. also, lately i’ve been p active, so that’s it.

What are your weak aspects as rp partner?: i’m really slow. i might speed up for my closest friends, with whom i plot / rp regularly, but usually i take quite some time to reply to random unplotted threads. i probably have a thousand other flaws as a rper, but this is the biggest one that comes to my mind rn.

Do you rp smut?: YES / NO. Do you prefer to go into detail?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. Are you okay with black curtain?: YES / NO. - When do you rp smut? More out of fun or character development?: i don’t write detailed sex scenes. sorry lmao they’re just not interesting to me. however, i’m super-ok with writing anything around it, like intimate scenes etc. in fact i find it somewhat soothing. - Anything you would not want to rp there?: the nitty-gritty part is already a no, but i guess also sexual violence and shit like that. it’s a no.

Are ships important to you?: YES / NO. Would you say your blog is ship-focused?: YES / NO. Do you use read more?: YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Are you: Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship — Multiverse / Singleverse. - What do you love to explore the most in your ships?: all my ships are with snow 8′) and ur never bored with her. in general, i love being able to explore the muses’ relationships, their conflicts and their peaceful moments, especially in relation to canon events! - What is your smut tag?: nsfw / ........ my n*sfw posts are rare anyway.

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?: to an extent, i prefer pre-est relationships to first meetings - which they can get a bit dull after some time. i’m ok with mostly anything, and only more selective when it comes to relationships that might severely alter my muse’s canon / past / overall character.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?: not to stroke my own feathers but aizen offers a perfect chance at character development to any and all bleach characters. he’s the main villain, he holds some wild opinions, and whether you agree or disagree with him, he leaves no one indifferent. aizen is the main cornerstone of bleach, and if you want your muse to questions themselves and the system / world around them, interacting with him is the best way to start. also, aizen interacted with a fuckton of people, knows practically everything there is to know, is responsible for significant amount of canon events, so you see ... whatever character you write, aizen has the full potential to be extremely relevant in the course of their development.

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?: children, ordinary low-ranked shinigami (i find it hard when it’s out of the blue, even in aizen’s captain and lieutenant verses ... because interactions would likely be only work-related, and won’t go far), characters whose personalities really have nothing to do with aizen. unfortunately, he’s not my easiest muse, and i don’t want to force interactions with him. - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?: characters who have opinions, some political involvement, in general characters with whom aizen had a dynamic in canon.

- What interests your Muse(s) in general: reading, calligraphy, philosophy (especially in-world philosophy), science (again, mostly related to the specificity of the bleach universe), the very careful crafting of his plan- - What do they desire, is their goal?: kill the soul king and take its place, destroy the institutions of soul society, subdue them. and then rule, as the soul king never did before. - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?: the idiosyncracies in their behavior, the particularities, their possible weaknesses. - What do they value in a person?: very little, usually. he may appreciate a resolute personality, strength, and intelligence. - What themes do they like talking about?: speaking mostly of mundane talks, he likes conversing about his interests. it takes a lot for him to share any personal information, though. - Which themes bore them?: anything about the greater good, friendship, love, very human topics.

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?: seeing the soul king, in all things like a ghost stalking his dreams, and well ... spending his early life in rukongai as a whole. being forced to consume other souls in order to survive. the first times his reiatsu killed anyone who tried to get near him. - What could possibly trigger them?: it’s rare that he will outwardly show signs of distress, i’d say almost impossible. the few times the soul king still appears in his mind, greatly upsets him though. - What could set them off, enrage them?: the soul king gets him particularly heated. urahara, as we witnessed. after his defeat, ichigo, to an extent. - What could lead to an instant kill?: kubo was a coward who didn’t dare let him kill any relevant character, but actually aizen kills very liberally.

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?: the soul king, urahara. he has a strong disdain for yamamoto, and that joke of C46. - Is there someone /-thing they love?: himself. tousen

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?: he’s only really easy to approach for bleach characters, who, depending on who they are, have different eligible verses to further facilitate the interaction. humans / powerless bleach characters can’t really interact with him tho. - Where are they usually to find?: soul society or hueco mundo. i have a verse set in the wandenreich.

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?: aizen is not a particularly easy muse, but it’s part of his overall mosaic to be somewhat unapproachable and distant. i’m not out to make him someone he is not, so forgive me in advance if plotting with me turns out to be difficult in a way or another. he’s very dear to me, and i try my best to do him justice! while my main headcanons may not affect our interactions specifically, i still ask my partners to look them up (they’re linked in my about page) because they’re essential to my portrayal and it makes me happy to have them acknowledged. i think that’s all lmao. come visit me over at my quincy boys too.

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by: @skyvar I DID IT AT LAST. Tagging: i don’t know who has been tagged so, you know what to do.

#ooc.#whew #this took forever

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ladyherenya · 5 years

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Books read in July

After I read How to Find Love in a Bookshop, I searched the library’s catalogue for other titles containing “bookshop” or “bookstore”. I was curled up in bed with a bad cold at the time, which meant I ended up choosing a bunch of books whose covers or synopses would have, on a different day, put me off. And that worked out rather well!

But afterwards I felt like I didn’t get the right balance between contemporary fiction and fantasy this month.

Favourite cover: Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher.

Still reading: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert.

Next up: Mort by Terry Pratchett. Maybe The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

– (they’ve taken away page breaks) –

Things a Map Won’t Show You: stories from Australia & Beyond, edited by Susan La Marca and Pam Macintyre: I borrowed this because I recognised some of the names involved. I liked bits and pieces of it but nothing really stood out. Maybe Peta Freestone’s “Milford Sound”, for the setting. According to the introduction, the stories and poems were chosen “with the curriculum in mind and for their appeal to Year Seven and Eight readers”. That’s a valid reason but I suspect that approach is unlikely to result in a collection that would really appeal to me, not me now and not even when I was a young teenager.

A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein: This is AMAZING. It is aimed at young people, and I wondered if I’d find the writing style too simplistic, but it was just remarkably accessible. I knew bits about Russia’s history but this gave me a much more comprehensive understanding of the culture and politics these women grew up with, and how Russia came to have three regiments of airwomen at a point in time when other countries wouldn’t let women fly into war. The rest of the book is just as fascinating and surprising. Wein knows how to tell a story.

How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry: This is about Emilia, who inherits her father’s bookshop in a picturesque Cotswold village, and the bookshop’s customers. It doesn’t shy away from Emilia’s grief but otherwise is very much a cosy, optimistic story in which friends are made, relationships are mended, mistakes are overcome and everything turns out all right. Which definitely has its appeal. I wanted just a few more sharp edges -- or else slightly more uncertainty -- so that everyone’s happy endings felt more realistic. (I keep brainstorming ways that could have been managed.) Although I didn’t love this book, there was a lot I liked about it.

The Masquaraders by Georgette Heyer (narrated by Ruth Sillers): This is ridiculous but still quite entertaining. Either I missed something or Heyer doesn’t really do a great job of explaining why Prudence and her brother Robin need to be in disguise, nor why they’ve decided the best way to do this is by crossdressing. The key to enjoying this book was to just roll with it. Also Prue’s romantic interest is a type Heyer writes so well: perceptive, unflappable, competent, with a sense of humour and an appreciation for level-headedness in others. Sensible people pushed into madcap adventures is something Heyer has a flair for.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle: It’s much more dreamlike than I was expecting, in a similar vein to Patricia A. McKillip’s fantasy. I was emotionally invested only in flickers and bursts, but I appreciated the way it plays with, and comments on, fairytales. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.

The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler: Esme, a British scholarship student studying art history at Columbia, discovers she’s pregnant and gets a job at a quirky secondhand bookshop. I would have found some of her choices -- and the book itself -- terribly frustrating, except I really liked the bookshop and Esme’s narration. I liked her quotes and references and her enthusiasm and her observations, especially those about living in New York and about the shop -- this is a story with a vivid sense of place. Esme’s naivety and optimism is both understandable and believable, and I wanted to see her finally, properly, free of her awful boyfriend.

The “Happy Ever After Bookshop” books by Annie Darling:

The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts: If I hadn’t already read the second book about the Happy Ever After bookshop and liked it a lot, I probably wouldn’t have bothered reading this. The romantic interest annoyed me -- he’s not a bad match for Posy, but I’d find him infuriating in person and I didn’t want to read about him. Fortunately the book is just from Posy’s POV. I enjoyed the Britishness, and the bits about running a bookshop. I particularly liked Posy’s relationship with her younger teenaged brother, whom she has responsibility for. And I was pleased the romance bookshop stocks appropriate YA and mystery titles.

True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop: I was expecting it to turn into the sort of romance which annoys me. To my delight, it did not! Verity loves her noisy family, her nosy friends, her job in a bookshop and reading romances but she believes she isn’t suited to being in a romantic relationship. She reluctantly agrees to a fake-dating situation to avoid friends trying to set her up. I loved the way this story shows Verity being an introvert, and her obvious love for Pride and Prejudice. And this has all the things I like about fake-dating without too much cringe-worthy deception.

Crazy in Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop: I have less in common with Nina than I do with her colleagues: she’s into make-up, tattoos and Wuthering Heights. But it was interesting seeing why she’s embraced both Wuthering Heights and her own particular style so fiercely -- she’s finding her own path, one that differs from what her conservative working class family expected. Some of the resolutions came about a bit too easily. However, I liked getting a different perspective on the bookshop, I enjoyed bits of her romance with Noah, and I share some of Nina’s fascination with the Bronte sisters.

A Winter Kiss on Rochester Mews: Mattie runs the tearooms attached to the Happy Ever After bookshop. She is delighted about living above the bookshop, but not so impressed about her new flatmate. I’m not a fan of the crazy commercialism of Christmas, but really enjoyed reading about it here -- probably because the story recognises that not everybody loves it. And, given the weather, I was in the mood for something wintry. Other things I liked: the vivid portrayal of the challenges of working “in a customer-facing environment over Christmas”; the details about Mattie’s baking; and the intelligent commentary about romance novels and romantic relationships.

Allegra in Three Parts by Suzanne Daniel: Eleven year old Allegra lives with one grandmother, next door to the other, while her father lives in above the garage. Allegra knows her grandmothers love her, but they are very different. “Sometimes I wish they could just love me less and take what's left over and put it into liking each other a little bit more.” The initial mystery and conflict were slightly stronger than the answers and aftermath. But it’s an interesting portrayal of growing up in Sydney in the 70s, the women’s liberation movement, and of a family dealing with grief. I read it in practically one sitting.

We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett (narrated by Chloe Cannon): Revna’s father is a traitor. Linné’s father is a general. Revna is discovered protecting herself with illegal magic during an air-raid. Linné is discovered after three years fighting at the front disguised as a boy. They’re both sent to a new women’s Night Raiders regiment, where, if they are to survive this war, they have to learn to fly together. This is tense and captivating -- and nuanced. Magic is wondrous but also confronting, the Union is unjust but contains things worth defending, loyalties are not always predictable, difficult people can become valued friends, and not everything is neatly resolved.

The Way Past Winter by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: In the fifth year of winter, Mila and her sisters wake to find their brother has left. Sanna believes Oskar left them willingly, like their father once did, but Mila is convinced that Oskar was taken by last night’s unsettling visitors -- and is determined to rescue him. I didn’t find this as emotional and compelling as Hargrave’s previous books. I don’t know if that’s because this is a simpler narrative or because I didn’t listen to the audio book -- a good narrator adds liveliness and emotion. But Hargrave’s prose is lovely and I liked the fairytale quality this story has.

Grace After Henry by Eithne Shortall: I really enjoyed Love in Row 27, so I borrowed Shortall’s other novel. After her boyfriend dies, Grace keeps seeing him everywhere. Then she meets a man who looks unnervingly like Henry -- a long-lost relative of Henry’s she did not know about. This story is funny and touching. I didn’t expect it to be so compelling, nor make me so invested in Grace’s relationship with Henry. There’s a strong sense of history and of place -- it was interesting to read about contemporary Dublin. There are unexpected and hopeful developments in Grace’s life. But mostly, it’s just very sad.

Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills: Sophie loves her friends, her high school’s marching band and her small town. She has an idea for how the band could raise money -- enlisting the help of a famous country singer. I liked Sophie’s deep sense of belonging and how much she cares about things. She’s very kind in a way that is realistic and realistically complicated. Her friends are very supportive, but believably so. They all have flaws and make mistakes and have their secrets. I really enjoyed this story about friendship and summer (and it was a good choice after reading something sad).

Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole: I’ve tried a couple of Cole’s novels and they didn’t appeal to me -- I wouldn’t have considered this novella if I hadn't seen a positive review. It’s fun and fandom-y and diverse. Reggie contacts an old internet acquaintance after she discovers his puzzle livestreams are no longer online. I liked how it’s very clear that Reggie’s disability has a significant impact on her daily life, but has nothing to do with her current problems. And, for Gus, being autistic isn’t ever an obstacle to a relationship with Reggie. I would have liked to read more but this still satisfying.

The Orphans of Raspay, a novella in the World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold: Penric’s ship is captured by pirates and he is thrown in a hold with a couple of young girls from Raspay. As always, I enjoyed Pen’s interactions with Desdemona. I would have enjoyed the story even more had there been more significant character interactions -- the girls aren’t quite old enough to play a very active role in escape plans but are old enough that, in terms of emotional support, they’re not very demanding. I’d like to see Pen challenged more. But this is still a solid adventure. I’m very glad that Bujold hasn’t finished telling stories about Pen and Des.

Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon): Oliver, a twelve year old minor mage with an armadillo familiar, is sent by his village on a perilous journey to the mountains to bring back rain. There’s some dispute over whether this is a children’s book -- Vernon thought it was, her editor was adamant it wasn’t. It feelslike a children’s book to me, even when Oliver has to deal with ghuls, bandits and murderers. (There have always been children’s books which have been too dark and scary for some kids.) The tone is dryly humorous, the armadillo is a delight and I never doubted that Oliver would succeed.

#Herenya reviews books #Lois McMaster Bujold #T. Kingfisher #Claire Eliza Bartlett #Elizabeth Wein #Georgette Heyer #Veronica Henry #Annie Darling #Peter S. Beagle #Emma Mills #Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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letamreviews · 5 years

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The Point

I made this profile because I decided to finally start blogging. Not about philosophy or politics, though, just movies (and maybe series) because fuck it.

What to expect:

Articulately used swear words, somewhat controversial opinions/topics, and overall decent formatting at the least. I’m far less likely to review mainstream movies or anything that’s got plenty of reviews already unless I feel an urge to do so (e.g.: Mortal Engines, Them That Follow, Gemini Man, etc.)

Content: Primarily, reviews. Secondarily, thoughts and essays. Tertiarily, data (uninteresting info to most).

Genres: All kinds, baby, lemme tell ya. My favorites are probably drama, documentary, and thriller. As of today, below are my general genre stats according to Letterboxd:

Action - 308

Adventure - 203

Animation - 86

Comedy - 158

Crime - 116

Documentary - 68

Drama - 368

Family - 41

Fantasy - 122

History - 31

Horror - 117

Music - 15

Mystery - 72

Romance - 69

Science Fiction - 224

Thriller - 235

TV Movie - 2

War - 30

Western - 18

Format: I’ll say what I have to say, make a list of things I liked/loved about it, and use tags to get certain things across (feeling rating, race/lgbtq+/gender/etc. tests it passes/fails, categories it belongs in, where I saw it, etc.). I expect the tags to keep the blog from turning into a complete scroll-down. Expect (somewhat) long reviews unless they’re “mini reviews”. The first paragraph should give you the gist of my thoughts, though.

Spoilers: I’m so anal particular about spoilers that I’ll give a fair warning before I say anything that I feel would be even a slight spoiler and label it as such (slight, minor, moderate, major). Usually, I give the spoilers their own paragraph. I try not to include any type of minor spoiler in the tags. If there be any in there from here on out, I’ll make the first tag “spoilers in the tags.”

Disclosures: If there’s anything that I feel impacts my review in a way that would affect its credibility or reflection of my own thoughts, I’ll mention it in its own paragraph at the bottom. Such things include attending/watching a Q&A, talking to the cast, and discussing the movie with an influence group before writing the review.

Review System:

Star Rating: SR is 1-10 stars, with 10 being the highest. Bear in mind that this is intentionally used as an “objective” score. What’s going to tick some people off is how I go about this. Are you ready?

Did I enjoy it?

Yes? 10 stars

No?

How much did I not enjoy it? -x stars

Did it do anything so well that it deserves stars back?

Yes?

How well? +x stars

No? +0 stars

Total score: x stars

Now you know. I have no intention to explain why I gave the individual ratings, though.

Feeling Rating: FR goes like this: I quit it, I did not like it, I like it enough, I like it, I really like it, I love it, I fucking love it. It’s the subjective part and entirely based on how I feel. In other words, how the media impacts me. This is subjective as hell because I fully allow my personal biases to take over when it comes to this part. Biases include my experiences, demographic, beliefs, etc. If you’re curious to know my FR for something that I haven’t reviewed yet, venture to my MUBI lists. If it’s not in there, ask me.

Examples of Review System: Human Lost (2019) is a recent CGI anime released in the US (before Japan for some reason). In my review, I gave it a rating of 4.5/5 and “I like it.” It has obvious flaws, especially being “some teenage shit”, but I still stuck by the matter of how much it could be enjoyed, especially for the age group I think it was designed.

Them That Follow (2019) is an American film that plenty of people didn’t care for (for some reason). In my review, I gave it a rating of 5/5 and “I love it.” Even without any mentioned problems in the review, it still didn’t get the highest feeling of “I fucking love it” because it didn’t hit me that strongly. So far, none of my reviewed movies have. Example of Review System Failing: I was so disappointed by Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum (2019) and bothered by some of its characters that I initially gave it a 3/5 rating. Watching the Q&A with the director and cast led to me better understanding what the director’s intentions were with its main character. This earned it half a star. I officially gave The Beach Bum a rating of 3.5/5 and my first “I like it enough.” The problem with this is that I let my personal feelings get in the way of deciding how enjoyable the movie was. Then again, it can be argued that the movie itself accomplished the feat of bothering me that way and therefore earned its SR. Meh.

Thoughts on People Taking Rude Issue With My Reviews or Ratings:

Why do you people think I care? Why do you feel the need to say things like "bad movie" or "lmao" at someone's love of something you don't like? What does it do? Does it make you feel like you're better than someone else because of the fact ya don't like something they love? All it does is make you look like a prick and people you're talking to think less of you as a result. Do me a favor, same with anyone else thinking of doing something similar, kindly FUCK OFF — Arielrocks5 (comment on her Alita: Battle Angel review)

About me:

I’m told I like everything. I don’t think it’s true, but I mightest well warn you. My philosophy is “the more you enjoy the more you enjoy.”

If you’d like to see my portfolio up ‘til this point, venture forth, fair traveler, and behold... my stuff.

#introduction #about the blog #about me #feeling rating #star rating

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neuxue · 5 years

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Dear Yuletide Author

Thanks for writing for me! I’ve probably written too much here, so...when in doubt, write the story you want to write, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it! The below are more guidelines than actual rules.

GENERAL

Likes:

Fictional characters in pain (physical, mental, other).

Complicated dynamics between characters (friends, enemies, strangers, all of the above, other). Bonus points for enemies-to-friends/friends-to-enemies/enemies-to-lovers/any movement on the friendship-ally-enmity axis, really.

Betrayals, pseudo-betrayals, etc (see above about complicated dynamics). Bonus points for betrayals made out of necessity. Double bonus points if the betrayed doesn’t know it’s necessary.

Villain-by-necessity or antagonist-by-necessity.

Exploration of power (individual, interpersonal, or both. Again, can be as dark as you want, if you are so inclined.)

Ambiguity, in pretty much all its forms.

Dark fic. You don't have to, but you absolutely 100% can. This is a blank cheque on content warnings, up to and including the major archive warnings.

Plot! You absolutely do not have to write a complex plot, but if that's your thing...go wild. Political machinations or detailed worldbuilding or some absurdly complicated scheme or that sequel you wish were written.

Fic formats I am very happy with, if they’re your thing: fic-as-character-study, theme-and-variation (so 5 times fics are 100% cool with me), or unconventional fic formats of any kind! But more conventional or linear formats are also A+. This is another ‘blanket permission to do whatever you want’

Dislikes/DNW:

Explicit sex, unless it’s absolutely essential to the story (if it IS absolutely essential: fade-to-black is fine, lightly explicit but not quite porn is usually fine. If I’m going to read sex I’d actually prefer it to be a bit darker in some way - definitely doesn’t have to be related to consent, though it certainly can, but I’d prefer there to be some tension/pain/angst/tragedy/betrayal/darkness/power dynamics to it.y)

Romance as the central focus of the story (partial exceptions include enemies-to-lovers or ‘complicated character dynamics’).

Children (child characters or characters having children).

Alternate setting AUs (like Hogwarts AU or Modern AU or A/B/O, etc. AU that alters canon events - eg ‘X doesn’t die’ or ‘Y happens differently’ is completely fine).

Fluff (humour is fine; sweetness is fine in moderation).

FANDOM-SPECIFIC

His Dark Materials - Marisa Coulter, Lord Asriel

HDM was very much a Formative Fantasy Series for me, and these two were defintely my uh...Formative Fucked-Up Pairing. Enemies, lovers, partners in damnation: they have it all, and they move fluidly between all of those. Individually, they’re some of my favourite characters in the genre: forces to be reckoned with, powerful and capable and driven, terrifying, and somehow still human.

Together, their dynamic is…everything I want in a story. It’s a mess, but it’s a devastatingly beautiful and functionally destructive mess that has the capacity to take down heaven and earth.I love their complexity, both individually and together, and I just want more of it.

“I wanted you to come with me, and I thought you would prefer a lie” has always been my favourite line for these two, if that helps. But really anything about their fucked-up contradictory mess of a series of betrayals and antagonistic workings that somehow form a relationship.

Feel free to include any other characters (nominated or otherwise) you see fit, but I would prefer the focus to be on these two (though if you think an outsider viewpoint, for instance, is the best way to do that, I have no complaints).

As a point of clarification, because romance is loosely on my DNW list: There’s definitely an aspect of Marisa/Asriel that could be called romance, and I have no objections to you exploring that in the context of the rest of their clusterfuck of a dynamic (but it’s the clusterfuck I love the most).

The Baru Cormorant / Masquerade Series - Svirakir

I have this bad habit of loving minor characters, but was rather delighted to see Apparitor not only get some screen time but even get a name in the second book. So I just want...more about him. He was hardly in the first book but was very present on the sidelines, once you know what to look for: what was he up to? What does that look like from his side of things? What did he think of Baru then? What’s his origin story, from his perspective, beyond the brief pieces of it we hear? What other tasks has he carried out in his role as Apparitor? Where has he travelled? Where does he want to go? What’s his great secret, his true aim? What was his first mission, or what would his version of a book-one-esque beginning look like?

Any of the above, none of the above...I’m being frustratingly nonspecific here, but I really will be happy with mostly anything. He’s a good candidate for fic-as-character-study, if that’s your thing. Or if you’re a plotty sort and want to write him and the others carrying out some absurd heist, I’d be 100% here for it. Or if, like me, you enjoy some good old-fashioned whump and just want to rough him up a bit...yeah, he’s the sort whom suffering looks good on.

Really, knock yourself out. Include any and all other characters from the series as you see fit, or don’t.

The Dragon Prince - Aaravos, Runaan

I feel like I should maybe apologise for this one, especially because it’s a children’s show and yet my immediate thought on this one is ‘if dark is your thing, go dark here’. If dark isn’t your thing that’s absolutely fine, of course, but if it is...yeah. Have fun. Go wild.

I’m happy to read either of these characters individually, if featuring both of them doesn’t work with what you come up with, but if you do feel like including both, that would be excellent. Maybe they meet somehow -- do the coins and the mirror lead to the same place, and they’re both trapped and meet as uneasy allies? Or as enemies? Or as friends? Or perhaps they’re both trapped and completely separate and never actually meet but their experiences run either parallel or opposite. How did they each get to where they are? What happens to those who are shut away from the real world? Any or none of the above, really.

I’m just super curious to see what is even happening with either or both of these two. Trapped and powerful and mirrored and mysterious...it’s a whole lot, for me, however you decide to slice it, and the world that’s been built is still an open playing field, so have fun!

If it helps, my favourite moments of these two individually are:

Aaravos - when he responds, in that voice of his, to Viren asking ‘why should I trust you’ with ‘You shouldn’t. Yet.’

Runaan - that first shot we see of him chained to a wall.

I know. I’m sorry.

Oh, also, I know Season 3 is meant to come out before Yuletide fics are due; include or ignore any content from that as you wish.

Machineries of Empire - Vauhan Mikodez

This whole series is really just designed to ruin me, full as it is of characters who are all My Type in different ways.

So first of all, feel free to include any other characters from the series you see fit. Personal favourite candidates include Kujen, Jedao (either version but mostly the first), Cheris, Istradez, Zehun, any of the other Hexarchs/Heptarchs including Faian, any of Kujen’s anchors...the list continues.

Mikodez is fascinating to me because of the contrast in...not quite how he presents himself versus who he actually is, but in how he fully embodies the persona his role demands -- the murdering, amoral, ruthless, scheming, pragmatic Shuos Hexarch -- and yet also manages to be one of the more morally grounded characters in the series. He just doesn’t let anyone (often including himself) see that. So he ends up perceived as having taken a similar path to, say Kujen in terms of murdering his own conscience, stifling his ability to feel pain or empathy in order to become what he must, but he hasn’t. He just follows that path as far as making it clear, to himself and everyone else, that those feelings are a privilege the Shuos Hexarch cannot afford; but he feels them anyway, as himself, and it’s just a whole Problem for me.

And so the way he interacts with other characters, especially those like Jedao and Kujen, is rather fascinating to me. But so is his relationship with Istradez, because again, based on how he presents himself, you wouldn’t really expect Mikodez to be generous and understanding, but he so very much is.

Mikodez is another great option for fic-as-character-study if you want to go that route, or just go all-out and throw him in way over his head, or let him watch from the shadows, the longest-serving Shuos Hexarch, as everything else plays out. Apologies for not really giving much in the way of prompts here, but I’m pretty much game for anything, and I’m super curious to see what you might come up with.

Sunshine - Robin McKinley (any - Charlie, Rae, Onyx, Con, Mel, Rae’s grandmother)

Knock yourself out. Go wild. Pick any one of the 189237 loose ends this book left and run with it.

Who the hell even was (is?) Onyx Blaise? Actually, if you feel up to it, anything involving Onyx and his mother (Rae’s grandmother) would be fascinating to me. Or, throw Mel and Con and Rae together in some mess they have to work together to solve. Or just give me Mel’s backstory. Or Con’s. Did Con and Onyx meet, and what was that like? What does Rae’s life look like after the book ends?

If you have an idea for this world, for any or all of these characters, write that. I will read anything, because there’s just so much there to play with.

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rpgsandbox · 6 years

Link

Return to the Stars, a tabletop science fiction role playing game, helps players create their own stories in an optimistic space opera setting.

Return to the Stars is designed to allow the creation of characters that evoke the best elements of geek culture. In the far future hyperspace travel gave easy access to countless worlds, and humanity sorted itself into like-minded communities. One such society was the Convention Authority, founded to celebrate the now classical arts of science fiction, fantasy, and gaming.

One day, without warning, the stellar beacon that illuminated hyperspace went silent rendering galactic travel impossible. The systems of the Convention Authority stayed connected thanks to a replica fleet of early starships. Now, after more than a century of effort, a long-range exploration craft has been built. Its purpose: to return to the stars and reconnect with lost civilizations of humanity.

The players of Return to the Stars are a new generation of geeks — makers, genetically enhanced cosplayers, scientists, and pop culture enthusiasts setting out on an adventure of exploration and discovery.

If you enjoy tales filled with optimism and hope, where players can paint a better future in bold primary colors, then you should prepare to Return to the Stars!

Easy to Learn, Simple to Play

Return to the Stars is powered by the popular Fate Core SRD, an indie game system that helps you tell rich stories without a lot of preparation or calculation.

Carl Sagan once said “If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” We’ve provided a science fiction setting and skills so you can jump right in and tell stories of adventure and exploration. You might think of the game and its setting as a pie crust—a foundation you can fill with your imagination.

Return to the Stars comes with an adventure specially designed to teach the core concepts of the game. In playtests at many different conventions, new players have been up and running and having a good time after ten minutes of explanation.

Our goal: if you love anime or games or science fiction or cosplay, and have thought about trying roleplaying games, you can get Return to the Stars, read it, and play.

Cool New Tools

If you already love games powered by Fate, we’ve added some fun new subsystems that you can enjoy in Return, or adapt to your existing games and settings.

Character Arcs

Often in fiction a protagonist has a problematic way of interacting with the world. It kinda works for them, but its shadow side takes a cost. Eventually, they learn they need to change and grow. Character arcs are a structured way to spotlight how someone grows past their Trouble.

Competitions

Competitions are a type of contest in which the drama comes as much from trying to perform at the limits of your ability as it does from overcoming the opposition.

Downtime Tinkering

Creative options that players can have fun with between sessions to make the game richer for everyone, getting minor in-game benefits. Equally inspired by the Amber and Pendragon RPGs

Props

Return to the Stars is a game about who people are not about the stuff they carry. Still, loot makes players happy. Props are gear that you can have fun collecting but which are only used a single for a dramatic effect. Like an intriguing prop in a well-made science fiction movie it provides a moment of cool that shakes thing up and advances the story, and then you don’t see it again.

Space Opera Skills and Stunts

Skills tailored to tell science fiction stories—play as a scientist or an academic rather than someone with “lore”. Hack into computer systems, change your genetics on the fly. Skills can be varied with over 100 fun stunts, including many novel templates you can repurpose for other settings.

Explore Ideas and Ideals

Return to the Stars is episodic by design: players travel to reconnect the lost worlds of humanity, and have adventures with strong science fiction hooks: adventures that can only happen because of technological or social progress. Player characters bring their ideals and abilities to face the unknown.

The game comes with scenarios and encounters that provide interesting starting situations from which players and game masters can improvise intriguing stories. Also, since December of 2017 we’ve been tweeting daily sci-fi headlines from the game’s setting, an archive of useful prompts to inspire your creativity.

The game’s themes:

Optimism: humanity can be better in the future thanks to science, cosmopolitanism, diversity, and humanism.

Space Opera: space battles, pulpy melodramatic adventures, romance, and risk-taking

Pop Culture: your heroes come from a post-scarcity society of enthusiasts enjoying and thinking critically about the media they love. Imagine Worldcon, if it were an actual world.

Hopepunk: Kindness doesn’t equal weakness, and that in the face of cynical oppression caring is a political act. An act of rebellion.

But wait, there’s more…

Return to the Stars is a complete game, but if you chose, you can extend it with the Stellar Beacon, a zine which includes:

One Atom of Justice, One Molecule of Mercy, and the Empire of Unsheathed Knives an original essay by novelist Alexandra Rowland, exploring Hopepunk, the new sci-fi sub-genre she identified last year.

Aphrodite on Deck a solarpunk themed scenario for Return to the Stars by designer Brie Sheldon

Fallen Juggernaut designer Emmett O’Brian brings us a “hard SF” adventure where players explore a mysterious megastructure.

The Stars, My Sandbox non-linear encounters by Return author Mark Sabalauskas.

The Beginning Gamemaster Pep Talk a column by comics writer and illustrator Amy King, providing encouragement for new game masters from a new game master.

Paint a better future in bold primary colors-get Return to the Stars!

Kickstarter campaign ends: Thu, November 1 2018 3:59 AM UTC +00:00

Website: Festive Ninja

#RPG #kickstarter #Return to the Stars

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history-rover · 7 years

Text

Fic Writers Week (Day One): Words of Validation

Day 1: Words Of Validation - Fic Readers, take some time to leave new comments / Fic Writers, share some of the comments that stuck with you the most.

First and foremost, every single comment that has ever been left behind on any one of my fics means a great deal to me, and I can’t even describe how happy they all make me! Seriously, you all make my day! I’d like to put every single one of them into this post, but I don’t want to clog up peoples’ dashes, so even if you don’t see your comment here, just know that it is in this post in spirit.

One Available Copy

aaaaaaAAAAAAAA this is amazing??? i love this so so much asdfghjkl. Your characterization was on point and I literally laughed out loud a bunch of times. Thank you so much for sharing with us!!

This was so lovely, sweet, funny and i can't really cope right now :D Your characterisation was spot on and this au in general was so good! And the thought of Kirishima and Bakugou sharing their assigned reading is doing funny things to my heart!

This is so so so so cute!! I just love the progression of their relationship from emailed library notifications to post its to face to face talking and texts.... it's just so so adorable. Plus the idea itself is genius! And I've never seen a college AY that talks about library stuff like this and it's just a really cool concept and a really good idea...!Also, all the tiny details you wove into this really made it as good as it was: the inclusion of so many characters, Tsuyu's livestreams, Endeavor and Monoma's humiliation, the humour, the tododeku making out between the shelves and literally not giving a single fuck.... everything was funny and cute and the ENDING!! The ending was super well executed and wonderful and cute and I absolutely loved it. All of it. Thank you so much for writing this because it's seriously hecking amazing <3 Oh my gosh this is my favorite college AU fic! I really love everything about it. Your characterization of Bakugou especially was on point, very good, A+ LOVED IT

Oh my goodness this was so freaking cute? Bakugou's attempts at flirting going right over kirishima's head is so in line with these two boys I'm yellinggggg thank u sm for writing this fic!!! u really made their college feel like a real living breathing place especially with the addition of all the meme pages!!

I wrote One Available Copy (OAC) with the goal of making people laugh and smile, and to hear that I had done that made more happy than I could have imagined! I’m always second-guessing myself on characterisation as well, so these comments meant a lot to me, and I can’t thank people enough for them! Also, to hear that I had made the world feel alive and real...thank you all so much!

Wedlock

WHAT. A. FIRST. CHAPTER!!!

I am so excited for this AU omg?? I love that they're in an established relationship already and omg the playfulness? Flirting?? YES, MY BOYS, GO OFF AND START A SCANDAL. I AM ROOTING FOR YOU!

And magic!! Oh my gosh I love the incorporation of magic in this era and the fighting--the fighting. It's amazing. Intense. I love it.

Thank you as well for the superb attention to detail. I can tell a lot of research went into representing the era accurately and it makes your world all the more vivid and fascinating! (the sweets, i am remembering the sweets hahahaha)

I'm definitely looking forward to more of this AU! Great job!!!

Special shoutout first of all to @todorokishouts for this giant comment, after having to deal with my sobbing of research woes for this fic, and cheering me on through it, and consistently being the first person to comment on every new update along with @dystopiansushi! And yes, never forget #sweetgate2k17

I really loved how many cool elements of the time you included, it shows such an amazing deal of research!

Holy shit I'm loving this fic already!! Their established relationship is so playful and sweet, I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next in their schemes!Also, your attention to detail in the setting while still managing to seamlessly infuse magical elements is really impressive! You've got me wanting to learn more about this world :DI hope to see more soon!! Thank you so much for this great fic :DD

Wow this is great so far! :D. I thinks it's really cool how much research you've done too, the accuracy of everything is awesome :0. Can't wait for the next chapter

I already love this and I can't wait to read more! I love how much research and knowledge you put into this au because it just shows how much you care about writing and the characters. A truly incredible first chapter with all the romance, humour and action any good story has. I loved it!

Did I mention that Wedlock is the most research-intensive fic that I’ve ever done? I swear I did the same amount of research (and still am doing research) for this story, as I did for my thesis, and to know that it wasn’t for nothing, and that people appreciated it, made me weep with joy.

So this is fantastic. Like, excellent start. Established Tododeku? Awesome magical period romance? Actual Magic Frog Tsuyu? Appearances from numerous lovable minor characters? You are on a roll, my good sir. So I've noticed this trend in most fantasy and royalty AUs that feature Tododeku, and that is the trend of Commoner/Servant!Izuku being shipped with Royalty!Shouto. In light of that, can i just say that it is SO refreshing to see a story where they don't have to get around a weird societal imbalance of power in order to properly fall in love? It's beautiful and wonderfully uncomplicated, while still having the court politics that make stories like these so delightfully intriguing.But yeah, you've started really strong and I went back through your stuff to realize that I also read and loved your college AU, so needless to say, I'm super excited for this fic! Izuku and Shouto's dynamic is so wonderful in this, and I can't wait to see where it goes!

THIS IS BEAUTIFUL OML THIS IS ONLY CHAPTER 1 AND I CAN'T STOP SCREAMING ALREADY!!! THIS IS SO REFRESHING IN SO MANY WAYS LIKE: TODODEKU (all of it) FANTASY AU (it is always refreshing in a way) DAD MIGHT (ADOPTED IZUKU) CLASS 1-A & EVERYONES COMMENTS (they are easily the best) URARAKA AND TSU FIGHTS!!!AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST: THE WAY YOU WRITE EVERYTHING FROM THE CHARACTERS TO THE ENVIRONMENT IS BEAUTIFUL. I'M HYPED!!!

PitViperofDoom messaged me yesterday with a link and one word- "READ"And boy howdy am I glad I did! This was fantastic! I love the historical aspect of it mixed with magic and quirks and the romance was just. So good. I died with the cord thing very nice 11/10, perfection! I think you really stayed true to characters while giving them interesting influence from the setting and your writing skills are just amazing. I could really see every moment playing out. And the plot! Scheming boys and scandals, oh my! Great job. I can't wait to read more!

These three comment made me collectively die of happiness on the spot, to the point where my mother actually ran into my room asking me what I was screaming about. I think that pretty much sums up why these comment stood out to me.

Path of the Wind

I love this. I'm so happy I got to be the first to read through it; I love the premise, I love your Izuku, I love your Inko and your cryptid All Might, I think the whole thing is a fantastic and original idea and I absolutely can't wait to see how you continue it <3

None of this would have been possible without my beta reader @dystopiansushi, so thank you so much!

All aboard the hype train - whoop whoop! I'm an absolute sucker for fantasy/mystery/supernatural-esque AU content, with a side serving of Tododeku, so here I am! I'm excited to see how this plays out!

I’ve never written anything in the realm of the supernatural/fantast type before PotW, so to hear this was a big boost in confidence for me!

Whoah, I love your attention to detail here. The potholes especially caught my attention. It's something people think about, but most wouldn't think to describe distance like that. I'm excited for this!

I’ve always been a sucker for big detailed scenes, and I was so happy to find out that people enjoyed them as well, and that they didn’t take away from the story like I had been worried about.

Todo sure left an impression, poor boy Also I'm SO ON for how supportative and cute momma Inko is? Fuck, I love everything about your writring and I don't know how to describe what I like more and susbsusbsjs You're amazing

holy shit i cannot get enough of this story. it’s so well written, and extremely intriguing.i love how amazing the characters are?? just their mannerisms, midoriya’s mumbling, kirishima’s touchiness, and todoroki’s bluntness are so on-spot. also your Iida is perfect i love him!!im hardcore relating to midoriya right now, just itching to know the town’s secrets haha (as well as todoroki’s cause damn that kid is mysterious)

This is such a good update! You have such a soft way to write, I like it so, so much

*crying emoji* thank you so much for complimenting my writing, and my writing style, and for validating me!

My Neighbour Totoro? I think you mean My Neighbour Todoroki (I'll walk myself out). Hums loudly at the mention of glinting eyes watching Midoriya enter Yuuei Academy. Who could that have been? All Might isn't really size appropriate to be slinking around there after all. And just what is Todoroki up to? Midoriya has a lot of interesting questions, thats for sure. I hope he gets the answers to all of them, because they're making me wonder too. Having the Todoroki's as the fire department will certainly link Shouto to finding the necessary evidence Midoriya's searching for in regards to the old Yuuei fires where All might was spotted, and I bet Endeavour has a huge role to play in that too. I wouldn't be surprised if the fire was instigated in an attempt to successfully lure All might out, although I may be stretching the theory bar a little on that one. I just hope Endeavour hasn't forced Todoroki the impossible task for trying to track All Might down once and for all. But, he seems genuinely scared of Midoriya's "haunted" place, or maybe he's just scared of Midoriya? What's going on Todoroki, communicate with us here. I hope Midoriya doesn't get lost trying to track shouto home. Good luck boys! Until next time!

'Somewhere in the distance, there's the sharp trill of birdsong, followed closely by the frantic flapping of wings, the sounds a concert accompanied by the occasional whisper of a breeze rattling the leaves and branches of the forest, and his own discrete pants for air.' Okay just gotta say that line is absolutely gorgeous and I can picture it perfectly in my head. There are so many descriptions throughout this chapter that are just SO PRETTY!!! FIRST CONTACT WITH THE CRYPTID AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! This was adorable?!?! All Might is a sweetheart through and through! And Izuku fanboying? Oh my dear boy. (Izuku concerned for Shouto? oh my aching heart. BUT IZUKU THINKING ABOUT HOW PRETTY SHOUTO IS IS THE BEST THING EVER OKAY) Inko! Please take care;;;;;; don't worry your mother too much Izuku!Now, onto Aizawa. He cares a lot about his students, yeah........ but is that all? Hmmm? Do you know more than you let on, Aizawa? *eyes emoji* Could there be more teachers behind the scenes, helping All Might out? The plot thickens.

That would require finding said clearing, Shouto, and all things considered that sounds like quite the challenge. People often don’t remember directions well when rushing around.I wonder why Shouto wants to meet All Might so badly. Is his home life anywhere near as bad as it is in canon? Perhaps hopes All Might will help rescue his mom from wherever Enji stashed her.

AND TOTORO MAKES HIS APPEARANCE - i mean All Might. He's like the local friendly bigfoot. Bless him and his accident-selfie. Midoriya had such a rough tumble - it sounded both super painful and really dangerous - I'm glad he got saved in time. Todoroki ironically lead Midoriya to the clearing by running away from him to begin with - I see you trying to benefit yourself and your goals in this invitation. I worry Midoriya won't be able to find the clearing since he woke up there and was carried away from there - without a definitive route. Todoroki might not be as patient when he realises Midoriya can't find it for him. Aizawa's behaviour concerns me. Is he in contact/affiliation with All might? I feel like he knows. Until next time!

I honestly did not expect to get this initial comment, much less speculation about PotW, so I was absolutely floored, when the speculation began to come in with later chapters, and I must say that it gave me so so much motivation to keep on writing!

Man so much of this is so Ghibli; Izuku leaning out of the window, the tiny house on the edge of a giant forest, Shouto appearing in the dusk to give an ominous message, only to retreat to his mansion home across the moor (okay the moor is Gothic lit but STILL WHAT A MOOD). He has the biggest combo of San & Haku going on and I dig it so hard.

You write EXACTLY as a Ghibli movie is animated and just Wow It’s gorgeous

This is absolutely gorgeous. You capture the atmosphere so well. I’ve always wanted a regular high school au for these kids and while it isn’t the main focus, I really enjoy that aspect of the story. The plot so far is amazing, just the right combination of Ghibli and BNHA that it creates a new story entirely its own. I love every moment of this and am excited to see how Todoroki and Midoriya’s relationship evolves.

Studio Ghibli is one of the biggest influences in my life in terms of media, and I desperately wanted to do justice to it through PotW, so these comments literally made me cry from happiness.

Wow, this got really really long, and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone reading this on mobile, and I just wanted to say once again, to everyone who has ever read my fics, to everyone who has ever read my fics and commented, thank you so so much! Your comments, reblogs, and supports give me so much motivation, and sometimes they’re the only things that get me through a tough time!

#ficwritersweek #tododeku #kiribaku #my hero academia #bnha #fanfic #my writing #anime #potw #scandal au #oac #day one

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preserving-ferretbrain · 5 years

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Markedly Worse Than Expected

by Dan H

Sunday, 27 February 2011

Dan really disliked Marked~

As Ferretbrain enters its fifth year (have we really been doing this for that long?) I sometimes fear that our articles in general – and my articles in particular – have become too self-referential. This is especially true given that recently most of what I have been reading has been books that were voted off from our recent

TeXt Factor Special

Six months or so on, I'm still rather pleased with the way the original TeXt Factor turned out – while the whole premise is clearly stupid, every time I've actually tried to finish one of the books we voted out (at least, one of the books we voted out before the point where everything got quite good) I've felt that the experience thoroughly vindicated our original decision to just stop reading the damned thing.

This was certainly true of Marked.

We voted off Marked in

the first round of the Halloween Special

for a variety of reasons, mostly that its protagonist was a horrible, horrible person and that all the stuff about the heroine's “Cherokee ancestry” felt like a big pit of terrible fail waiting to happen.

We were basically right.

Faint Praise

A friend of mine used to have a saying which he used to employ in order to acknowledge the fact that something which he felt was utterly without merit presumably had some value to other people. He would say: “For people who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing that they like.”

This is about the limit of my ability to praise the (apparently very popular) Marked. I can see how it would appeal to certain types of person in certain types of ways. Unfortunately the type of person is “horrible people” and the method of appeal is “by playing on their worst and most selfish instincts.”

Okay, this is an overstatement, but basically Marked is written in the voice (and presumably for a target audience) of a teenage girl who is unbelievably selfish, utterly judgemental, hates everybody who is not part of her immediate social circle, and who believes (it seems quite justifiably) that she is the centre of the entire universe. This is not necessarily a problem in itself – it is perfectly reasonable for books to have unsympathetic protagonists, and as an evocation of a particular kind of thoroughly horrible teenager Marked succeeds admirably – the problem is that the protagonist's repugnant qualities are routinely vindicated by the world in which she lives, and frequently lauded as virtues (particularly her harsh and incessant condemnation of girls she considers “sluts”).

Identity and Appropriation

An area of American race politics about which I know absolutely nothing, and which I would not under ideal circumstances touch with a barge pole, is the question of who is and is not entitled to legitimately identify as Native American.

To present a broad, oversimplistic view of a complicated situation, there are a lot of white people in America who unreasonably appropriate Native American culture and identity, often on the basis of a spurious blood connection (“I'm one-seventeenth Cherokee!”), people also often use this sort of iffy cultural appropriation to excuse other sorts of crappy behaviour (“I'm one-seventeenth Cherokee therefore nothing I say can ever be construed as racist”).

Where it gets more complicated (and I am aware that it gets vastly more complicated, and that this is still an oversimplification of the complexity of the whole thing) is that there are plenty of people who genuinely are “one sixteenth Cherokee” and whose claim to a Native American cultural heritage is never the less completely sound. Not all Native Americans live on reservations or run casinos. It is very tempting for people like me to assume that if somebody lives a life which is more or less the same as my own, that said person cannot be a “real” Native American – this of course is actually a form of subconscious racism, it is easy for me to assume that all Native Americans live picturebook lives of harmony with nature and genteel poverty, when in fact they're twenty-first century people just like me.

Now the thing is, I do think that the way in which “Zoey Redbird” identifies with the Cherokee people in Marked actually does fall into the category of skeevy cultural appropriation but I am very very conscious that I am in danger of dismissing somebody's real and genuine cultural identity just because they don't fit my personal stereotype of a member of their race.

So to start off with, here are some things which I don't think cause a problem, even though they might seem to.

I do not think it is a problem that Zoey passes as white. A lot of Native Americans do.

I do not think it is a problem that Zoey is essentially a normal American teenager. It is extraordinarily important to remember that Native Americans are not some kind of fantasy race, they're real people. I am absolutely certain that there are sixteen year old Cherokee girls who read Gossip Girl and had crushes on Leonardo di Caprio.

I do not think it is a problem that Zoey moves freely between two cultures, taking the elements she likes from both. A person of mixed cultural and racial heritage has a complete right to all of the elements that make up their identity, not just the minority part.

Finally, I do not think that it is a problem that, looking at the photograph in the back of the book, P.C. and Kristin Cast don't “look” Native American. This is true for two reasons. Firstly, pursuant to my first point above, it's possible that they're actually genuinely from a Native American cultural background, and just happen to have relatively pale skin. Secondly, as ever authorial intent is not a major concern. Even if P.C. And Kristin Cast are presenting a cultural identity to which they have a legitimate claim, they might still be doing it in a way which feels like or encourages appropriation of that culture.

Here are the things that do make me think that the Native American elements in Marked can be read as skeevy cultural appropriation:

Firstly, Zoey's Native American heritage is exclusively associated with magic, mysticism and the supernatural. Her one link to that part of her heritage is her Grandmother, who runs a lavender farm and is part of a long line of Cherokee wise women. Zoey is, of course, the natural heir to that power. Her Grandmother is also, for some reason, entirely au fait with and accepted at the House of Night, which is otherwise extremely dismissive of humans. Zoey's Cherokee heritage is routinely cast as part of the same world as the vampires. Although in this world the vampires are clearly the cool, sexy, interesting people and we are supposed to sympathise with them they are still ultimately not human. Although the series (being very much a teen-angst Family Romance) takes a very dim view of humans in general, that does not really make it okay to put “humans” in one box and “Native Americans” in another

On a second, related note, the spiritual beliefs of the Cherokee people (to which Zoey is heir, and for which she feels a strong affinity) are presented as compatible (and at times interchangeable) with the clearly Wiccan-derived beliefs of the House of Night. The vampyre rituals which involve drawing pentagrams, calling the corners, and raising the four elements are presented as blending seamlessly with Zoey's grandmother's traditional cultural practices, despite the fact that pentagrams and a four-element cosmology are strictly European cultural artefacts. It even declares that the Greek Goddess Nyx is one and the same as Grandmother Spider which, well I don't actually know enough about either figure to tell you the differences or similarities, but we're dealing with figures from completely different mythologies – I strongly suspect that saying “Nyx is also Grandmother Spider” on the basis of their both being female deities with an association with night is sort of like saying “Jesus is also Eros” on the basis of their being male deities who have an association with love. It all combines to create the strong impression that Marked uses Cherokee culture as a source of cool special effects and exciting mystical sounding ideas, rather than as something that real people really believe in.

The third thing that pushes my skeeve buttons regarding Zoey's Native American identification is that her “Cherokee features” are always exaggerated by her vampirism. Zoey is always at her most Cherokee when she is at her most inhuman, her most exotic, her most unnatural.

To put it another way, there is never any sense that Zoey's Cherokee heritage is just a part of her, it is never something she just takes for granted as part of her cultural background. It is always presented as something alien, exotic, and mystical. Now I recognise that this could be seen as a realistic portrayal of a sixteen year old girl. It's possible that if you were sixteen and felt like an outsider as many do, that you would fixate on a part of your background that you perceived as mysterious and exotic and would exaggerate the mystery and exoticism of it. On the other hand the rest of the world reinforces this creepy Othering of Cherokee culture – Zoey's heritage really does give her magic powers, her Grandmother obviously feels Zoey really gets it, and of course no amount of subjectivity on the part of the narrator can explain why Cherokee spiritual beliefs are suddenly so compatible with Wicca.

I've spent a really long time talking about this, which is ironic because it's not actually the thing I found the most annoying.

Ain't Shit But Ho's and Tricks

I spend a lot of time on FB dissing people for being sexist. Usually I'm on (comparatively) safe ground because the people I'm dissing are men, and usually what I'm saying is something like “I think this author is being sexist in this way, and I think I can recognise it because I think they are indulging in a sexist impulse which I sometimes recognise in myself.”

I find myself in a difficult position with Marked in that I find its portrayal of women and girls extremely troubling, but am naturally a bit leery of saying “hey, you women are writing about women wrong! Let my penis explain why!” On the other hand, the whole book is full of creepy gender-essentialism and slut-shaming and it's important to recognise that women can be sexists too.

In the first episode of the TeXt Factor Halloween Special, Kyra observed that the thing about Marked was that it really did feel like it was written by a Mom-and-Daughter team, in that it often used very teenage language to express very adult concepts. To put it another way, Zoey reads like a teenage girl who has totally internalised the preconceptions and prejudices of her slightly creepy, more-conservative-than-she-thinks-she-is, sex-negative mother.

So we keep getting lines like:

Did you know that your oldest daughter has turned into a sneaky, spoiled slut who's screwed half the football team? Kinda like those girls who have sex with everyone and think they're not going to get pregnant or a really nasty STD that eats your brains and stuff. Well, we'll see in ten years, won't we? Of course there are girls who think it's 'cool' to give guys head. Uh, they're wrong, those of us with functioning brains know it is not cool to be used like that. Tucked into her countrified jeans was a black, long-sleeved cotton blouse that had the expensive look of something you'd find at Saks or Neiman Marcus versus the cheaper see-through shirts that overpriced Abercrombie tries to make us believe aren't slutty.

And that's from the first ninety pages.

Now I don't want to get too far up on my Minority Warrior horse here, I don't want to say “this book is harmful to young women” or “this book is actively immoral” or anything but as the book progresses it does seem to send profoundly unhelpful and contradictory messages to its primary audience.

The vampyres of the House of Night have a matriarchal society (although it seems to be grounded in some distinctly patriarchal ideas), and the vast majority of the adult vampyres we encounter in the book are female, and every single one of them is drop-dead gorgeous and incredibly sexually alluring, and their sexual allure is held up as something to aspire to.

For example, here is the description of the Vampire High Priestess Neferet:

She was movie-star beautiful, Barbie beautiful. I'd never seen anyone up close who was so perfect. She had huge, almond-shaped eyes that were a deep, mossy green. Her face was an almost perfect heart and her skin was that kind of flawless creaminess that you see on TV. Her hair was a deep red – not that horrid carrot-top orange red or the washed-out blond-red but a dark, glossy auburn that fell in heavy waves well past her shoulders.

I'm breaking this up here mostly to draw attention to the next line, but while I'm adding filler text, I'll just quickly ask: what the hell is up with “almond-shaped eyes”, it's used everywhere but seriously what the hell other shape are eyes supposed to be?

Anyway, the description continues thus:

Her body was, well, perfect. She wasn't thin like the freak girls who puked and starved themselves into whatever they thought was Paris Hilton chic … This woman's body was perfect because she was strong, but curvy. And she had great boobs.

So having just spent half a page describing this woman who fits exactly into an unrealistic, unattainable beauty standard and how amazingly wonderful and gorgeous this makes her and how girls can and should aspire to look like her, she then takes a random sideswipe at girls who aspire to a slightly different beauty standard.

Now just to be clear, I am not complaining that Zoey is not in favour of anorexia. Eating disorders are bad and people who have them need help, not condemnation (I'm not going to get into the whole pro-ana thing here). But Zoey doesn't say “this woman was beautiful because she was confident in her own body, unlike those girls who feel so much pressure to conform to other people's ideas that they puke and starve themselves.” No she says as an objective statement: This Woman's Body Was Perfect. I know we don't get much detail about Neferet's figure, but we aretold that she's “Barbie beautiful” which combined with “strong but curvy” implies fairly strongly that she looks more like Christina Hendricks than Amber Riley.

When Zoey talks about “those freak girls who puked and starved themselves” it sounds a lot like as if she is criticising aims rather than methods. Certainly she is extremely critical of the (one or two) fat people she meets in the book so her issue is clearly not with people trying to lose weight. The problem with “those freak girls” is not that they're trying to make themselves thinner (that's only sensible) it's that they're doing it in order to look like Paris Hilton, instead of like a “real” woman.

I should probably take a step back here and say a couple of things (the second being, in part, a counterpoint to the first). The first thing I should say is that it is possible that the House of Night series is actually being extraordinarily subtle and sophisticated, and that all of these examples of Zoey being judgemental about other girls are going to be shown to be false and hypocritical in future volumes, but I sincerely doubt it.

This brings me to my second point, which is that I can absolutely see where a lot of the problems with this book come from. If I was a mother, trying to write a Young Adult book with the help of my teenage daughter, I would almost certainly wind up putting these kinds of messages into the book in the honest belief that I was setting a positive example for young girls. A lot of Zoey's most hateful pronouncements feel like the kinds of half-truths that a well-meaning parent would tell their daughter in order to help her more-or-less get by in the complicated world of adolescence. If you're trying to explain to your fifteen year old about oral sex, I suspect most parents given the choice between:

“It has lower risk than vaginal or anal sex, but you can still contract most sexually transmitted diseases, if you try it and find you don't like it then stop and don't let anybody make you feel you have to, on the other hand if you find you get pleasure out of it then as long as you're aware of the risks then it's alright, and doing it won't make you a bad person. And remember that just because you give a guy a blowjob it doesn't mean you have to have sex with him, but also remember that guys might not see things the same way, most importantly remember that nobody has the right to control what happens to your body except you”

and

“Girls who do that are stupid and have no self-respect.”

most would choose the latter. Most mothers, I suspect, would far rather tell their daughters that oral sex was something only bad girls did than have to have a conversation about what spunk tastes like. Then there's the risk analysis element: from a perfectly understandable perspective, if you tell your kid that it's okay to enjoy giving head, then the worst case scenario is that she dies of a sex-disease. If you tell her it's not okay to enjoy giving head, then the worst case scenario is that she misses out on something she might have found sexually fulfilling. I can absolutely see why, if you were a parent, you would want your little girl to grow up thinking like Zoey.

The problem, of course, is that it just doesn't work that way. Teaching your children to be frightened or ashamed of sex doesn't, in practice, stop them from having it (the waters are muddied here by the fact that actually a lot of teenagers – by accident or design – avoid sex anyway) what it does is make the sex they do have less safe, both physically and psychologically.

But I digress.

In the latter half of the book, most of Zoey's ire is directed at Aphrodite. To be fair, Aphrodite is a horrible person (although she's kind of made of straw – like most school-story rivals her role is to be a threat to the heroine even though the heroine is superior to her in every way). When we first meet Aphrodite, she is trying to give a guy a blowjob. This is evidence that she is a terrible person. Pretty much the whole of the rest of the book is devoted to the systematic observation that Aphrodite is evil, and therefore a whore, and therefore more evil. She pretty much never appears on the page without Zoey having some criticism of her sexual conduct: her boobs are too big, her lips are too red, she moves her hips too much when she dances.

It is worth remembering that all of this is set against the background of a supposedly matriarchal society. The book makes a great play of the fact that it is women who rule the world of the vampyres, but their matriarchal culture seems grounded in patriarchal assumptions about gender roles. So yes, the priestesses are in charge, but all of the warriors are males, because Male Vampires Are The Protectors (this is stated very explicitly, at least three times) and while the book is very big on Goddess Worship and feminine imagery and The Almighty Power of Womanhood, it does this by presenting a very specific, very conservative, and very contradictory idea of what it means to be a woman.

So all of the adult vampires are presented as beautiful and sexy and confident and powerful, but Aphrodite is condemned for being the wrong sort of beautiful and the wrong sort of sexy and the wrong sort of confident and the wrong sort of powerful. The whole book is a study in the fucked up, contradictory rules that young people, particularly young women are brought up with. You mustn't be fat, but you have to have curves. You have to be sexy, but you can't want sex. Boys have to want you, but can't think they can have you. You have to be strong and clever, but not too strong and too clever, and not too ambitious. You can be beautiful and terrible and powerful and unbeatable, but your role will always be to serve others, and no matter how much power you have, you must leave your protection in the hands of the males, because they have their role just as you have yours.

Cultural appropriation and horrible gender-fail aside, the book is also just shoddily paced. Like a depressing number of these books, the heroine is such a complete Mary Sue that the only real tension is exactly when she will employ her effectively unlimited power to solve whatever the current problem is. Marked sets up quite an interesting plotline involving students dying and coming back as evil spirits, but it only kicks off in the last third and is clearly intended as the metaplot of the entire series. So the climax of Marked is just Zoey's showdown with Aphrodite, except that Zoey has near-unlimited supernatural power, and has the actual high Priestess of Nyx on her side, so in the end you wind up feeling kind of sorry for Aphrodite who, in a certain sense, just gets bullied mercilessly by the asshole protagonist and half the teaching staff.

Indeed you can sort of see the final confrontation as a microcosm for everything that is wrong with the book. In theory, Zoey is supposed to be the plucky underdog going up against the socially and supernaturally superior Aphrodite. In fact the reverse is true. Everybody hates Aphrodite (because she's an evil bitch whore slut whore bitch hag slut whore), the entire teaching faculty and the Goddess Nyx Herself have outright stated that Zoey is all that and a bag of chips. So what casts itself as an inspiring tale of triumph over adversity is really the story of somebody with every conceivable advantage stomping over somebody who does not have those advantages. In much the same way, the book casts itself as being this subversive, anti-authoritarian text (it spends a lot of time condemning the People of the Faith for their hypocritical, controlling natures and there's a particularly galling bit where Zoey “I Hate Sluts” Redbird goes on about how much she hates closed-minded people) when it actually just reinforces a lot of deeply conservative, borderline harmful ideas.

So yeah. One to avoid maybe.Themes:

Books

Sci-fi / Fantasy

Young Adult / Children

Judging Books By Their Covers

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Melissa G.

at 17:59 on 2011-02-27Thanks for slogging through this for me, Dan! I almost want to read it for how bad I know it will be, but I can't quite manage to put my brain through such torture.

My only knowledge of the House of Night series comes from the few chapters of the fifth book that I read with my student. At this point, Zoey's special snowflake-ness is of epic proportions. She has all these tattoos now, which no one has ever had before OMGWTFBBQ!? She's so special it hurts, and not just that, it seems like she knows she's special and Better than You and thus goes around with this air of superiority.

And, dude, poor Aphrodite. It's like her character is constantly getting shat on by the author despite the fact that she is no threat at all anymore and that at this point she and Zoey are FRIENDS. She's been completely de-powered at this point (she is human now, what?), and it just seems like the author keeps taking potshots at her as she's trying desperately to crawl out of range. It's just painful to watch.

Moving on, the fifth book has a lot more sex/sexual situations in it between Zoey and Erik, and I actually found it almost too sexual for a teen book. But perhaps that's me being prude. Shrug. Might also be noteworthy to mention that Zoey lost her virginity to not-her-boyfriend because he magically seduced her or something, which is all kinds of annoying to me, because it's not HER fault she lost her virginity to another guy. I mean, god forbid she just make an actual mistake and have to take real responsibility for it. But no, we'll just make it someone else's fault.

Also from the fifth book on the subject of race fail, a character named Kramisha gets introduced. Kramisha is the very epitome of the sassy black girl stereotype. She talks with poor grammar and outdated black slang, and she's all sassy and confrontational. And you can argue that these kinds of black people do exist in real life and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but from what I can tell, Kramisha is the only black character around so it's a little unsettling that she's so cartoonishly stereotypical.

We also have token gays!! And they spend all their time talking about being gay, and how being gay means they know how to cook, and how they watch Project Runway (because, you see, they're gay), and how they know about interior design because they're gay, and gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay. I think you get my point. It's just a bit much. Let them have another character trait. Really, it'll be fine. Also, one of them was described as walking in the room "[screaming] like a girl" and fainting. Fantastic. This is one of those "get off my side" things, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, that was my rant. And granted, I haven't read much of the book (not to mention it was the fifth one) so my complaints may not be entirely grounded, but these were my impressions. And I really can't bring myself to read another word of it because it's just garbage. For so many reasons.

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Dan H

at 19:49 on 2011-02-27

At this point, Zoey's special snowflake-ness is of epic proportions. She has all these tattoos now, which no one has ever had before OMGWTFBBQ!?

Yeah, she gets a lot of those at the end of book one (tattoos seem to magically appear on Vampyres as a consequence of their utter awesomeness, although I'm not really sure it counts as a tattoo if it occurs naturally, isn't that just your skin?)

The super-specialness starts out pretty unbelievably insane in the first book and sounds like it only gets worse. In book one we discover that Zoey not only has powers of a variety which are normally only developed by adult vampires, but that her powers are also stronger and greater in number. Basically all adult vampires get a supernatural power called an "affinity", and very rarely they might get an "affinity" for one of the five elements, even more rarely they might have an "affinity" for two or more elements. Zoey of course has an affinity for all five elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit) already and this has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN HISTORY EVER.

Moving on, the fifth book has a lot more sex/sexual situations in it between Zoey and Erik, and I actually found it almost too sexual for a teen book. But perhaps that's me being prude.

I suspect that's one of those YMMV things. I'm personally okay with sex in teen books: I mean they're already saturated in sexual imagery, and I'd kind of rather they were honest about it. Does she at least stop being so judgmental about other girls' sexual behaviour?

Might also be noteworthy to mention that Zoey lost her virginity to not-her-boyfriend because he magically seduced her or something, which is all kinds of annoying to me, because it's not HER fault she lost her virginity to another guy.

I think what would annoy me more in this situation would be if she lost her virginity to another guy because of being magically seduced, and the book didn't flag up that this was, y'know, date rape. Annoying as "I cheated on my boyfriend but it is okay because it was MAGIC" is, it's somewhat less annoying than "I was magically coerced into having sex with a guy, and the only thing that matters about this fact is that it was unfair to my boyfriend because he didn't get to take my virginity."

Also from the fifth book on the subject of race fail, a character named Kramisha gets introduced. Kramisha is the very epitome of the sassy black girl stereotype ... from what I can tell, Kramisha is the only black character around so it's a little unsettling that she's so cartoonishly stereotypical.

I believe that Shaunee (if she's still in it) is black as well, as is one of Aphrodite's minions (although I believe the text describes her as "obviously mixed" - because you can totally tell whether somebody is mixed-race just by looking at them).

We also have token gays!!

Ah, Token Gay is also in the first book (Damien, yeah). To be fair they get some points for allowing the guy to have an actual relationship, although they lose them again for taking the "gays = women (= gender-essentialist stereotypes of feminine behaviour)" angle.

I suspect that a lot of the tokenism actually comes about as a result of everybody except Zoey being an entirely one-dimensional character who exists solely to tell her how awesome she is (or to tell her that she isn't awesome and be proven TOTALLY WRONG).

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Melissa G.

at 20:57 on 2011-02-27

The super-specialness starts out pretty unbelievably insane in the first book and sounds like it only gets worse.

Yeah, I forgot to mention the bit where her dream with Kalona (which is not really a dream) tells us that she's the reincarnated form of Kalona's lover/person who sealed him away. The Mary Sue-ness is mind-boggling.

Does she at least stop being so judgmental about other girls' sexual behaviour?

I didn't notice anything blatant, but I wasn't really looking for it. And I don't feel like going back and checking. :-)

I think what would annoy me more in this situation would be if she lost her virginity to another guy because of being magically seduced, and the book didn't flag up that this was, y'know, date rape.

I'm not sure how it was handled exactly because it happened in the book previous to the one I was reading. But I think it was considered to be sort of date rapey. All I know is that's why she and her boyfriend broke up, and it's made her feel sort of hesitant about having sex again.

I think the sex aspect might have bothered me more because it sounds like an adult writing a sex scene in an adult way that just happens to have teenagers in it. If that makes sense. It felt much like romance novel writing, which there isn't anything wrong with but it turns the sexual situations into fantasies rather than what I would feel is a realistic description of a teenage relationship. But as you said, YMMV.

I believe that Shaunee (if she's still in it) is black as well,

Oh, right, I forgot about her! Fair point. The fifth book kind of just kept lumping new characters and old characters on me from the second chapter on so it was hard to keep them all straight.

Yes. This. So much.

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Dan H

at 21:59 on 2011-02-27

I don't think Kalona's shown up yet.

I think the sex aspect might have bothered me more because it sounds like an adult writing a sex scene in an adult way that just happens to have teenagers in it.

I think I see what you're saying, although I doubt I'll read further to see for myself.

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Melissa G.

at 22:05 on 2011-02-27

I don't think Kalona's shown up yet

Kalona is a scary powerful God-like dude that got released in the fourth book. He's the big bad for the rest of the series, I think, and of course he's obsessed with Zoey.

Apologies for spoilers, but I don't think anyone cares?

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Wardog

at 11:24 on 2011-03-01If anything this review just validates our joint decision NOT TO READ THE DAMN THING.

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Robinson L

at 21:06 on 2011-03-25

If I was a mother, trying to write a Young Adult book with the help of my teenage daughter, I would almost certainly wind up putting these kinds of messages into the book in the honest belief that I was setting a positive example for young girls.

You know, the more I grow up, the more I fortunate my sisters and I are to have such freaking amazing parents.

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#Ferretbrain #Marked #Dan H #The House of Night

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moviessilently · 8 years

Text

A mysterious message from outer space captures the imagination of a Russian scientist. He has other problems, though, as he suspects that his wife is stepping out on him with a petty official who moonlights as a black-market dealer. Oh yes, and there are scenes on Mars.

Home Media Availability: Released on DVD.

Down to Earth

When it became clear that the revolution was not going the way of the czarists, much of the Russian film industry fled the country and many of them ended up in France. I have reviewed and gushed over several of these émigré productions but today we are going to be looking at a sort of reverse émigré. Yakov Protazanov was part of that talented group of refugees but after making films in France and Germany, he made the fateful decision to return to Russia.

You silent movie fans like big headdresses? Oh, honey, you aint’ seen nothing yet.

The Soviets were hoping to create a gigantic spectacle that would put their own brand of cinema on the world map. Their weapon of choice was science fiction and the director was Protazanov. Aelita: Queen of Mars (or simply Aelita) was a hit but it wasn’t the picture that made the reputation of the Soviet film industry abroad—the honor of being most famous Soviet silent goes to a little picture called Battleship Potemkin. However, the bold artistry of Aelita’s Martian designs contributed enormously to the science fiction look as we know it. I dare say that even now, there isn’t a space opera that exists that does not show a little bit of Aelita somewhere.

It all starts here.

The film is based on a novel by Alexei Tolstoy. (I have seen him listed as a distant relation of Leo Tolstoy while other sources say he was no relation at all. Either way, it’s obvious he didn’t spend Sunday supper with the good count.) If you want to fall down a research rabbit hole, do start reading up on dear Alexei. His life reads like a particularly melodramatic novel and so it’s no surprise he went in for fiction. Like Protazanov, Tolstoy fled the chaos of the revolution and settled in France. Poverty did not agree with him and he returned to Russia, spending the rest of his life chapping his lips on Comrade Stalin’s toes.

There are some significant differences between the novel and the film and we will be discussing them later with all due spoiler warnings. I will say now, though, that I don’t think screenwriters Fyodor Otsep and Aleksei Fajko thought much of Tolstoy’s novel as they ripped and tore and sewed and glued and completely reworked the thing.

Our hero. Yes, that is his usual expression.

The main character of the tale is an engineer named Loss (Nikolai Tsereteli). He becomes obsessed with a mysterious message that has been broadcast around the world: Anta Odeli Uta. What could it mean?

Loss is married to Natasha (Valentina Kuindzhi), a real sweetheart and good as gold. Unfortunately, Loss is the jealous type with an overactive imagination and so he is highly suspicious when his wife makes as new acquaintance. Viktor Erlich (Pavel Pol) is a minor official and “sugar profiteer” who sells government supplies on the black market. He spends his time trying to flirt with Natasha and scamming the nerdy Spiridinov (also played by Nikolai Tsereteli), Loss’s friend and co-worker.

The comical, non-murderous couple.

Rounding out the cast is a boisterous soldier named Gusev (Nikolai Batalov), who is flirting with a nurse named Masha (Vera Orlova). Finally, there is Kravtsov (Igor Ilyinsky, best known in the U.S.A. for being the recipient of A Kiss from Mary Pickford), an amateur sleuth who hopes to catch Erlich in his nefarious activities.

But where is Mars in all this? Glad you asked! We take a trip to the red planet where Queen Aelita (Yuliya Solntseva) has become addicted to spying on Loss at the royal observatory. Her husband, Tuksub (Konstantin Eggert), is not pleased with her Earth obsession but Aelita is assisted by her allies, Ihoshka (Aleksandra Peregonets) and Gor (Yuri Zavadsky).

Wire pants are all the rage on Mars.

Back on Earth, Loss becomes more and more convinced that his wife is having an affair with Erlich. He becomes broody and downright nasty as he obsesses over her imagined unfaithfulness. Natasha was tempted by Erlich for a moment but his profligate spending soon disgusted her.

Finally, jealousy becomes too much for Loss. He shoots Natasha and escapes their apartment building. In order to evade the law, he takes Spiridinov’s identity and sets about building a space ship that will fly him to Mars so that he can investigate the mysterious message. Gusev, who is bored with civilian life, volunteers to come along and they are also joined by Kravtsov, who knows that Loss has murdered Natasha.

So Loss’s plan is to murder his wife and flee to Mars? Um, okay…

Will the Earthlings be welcomed by the Martians? Will Loss pay the price for his crime? You’ll have to see Aelita to find out!

Aelita is essentially two films and one is significantly more interesting than the other. It’s not the one you think.

As it turns out, sugar profiteering is much more interesting than a Martian coup d’etat.

Why the design of the Martian segments is groundbreaking and fascinating to see, the characters never really come into their own as three-dimensional people. In contrast, the earthy Soviets of Earth are immediately interesting and sympathetic. However, people see this movie for the sci-fi stuff, so it’s worth taking a moment to compare Aelita’s look and feel with the other silent space operas I have reviewed on this site. (There are many, many more that I have not yet reviewed but in the interest of keeping things to a manageable length, I hope you will indulge me in this limitation.)

Very Melies moon men.

Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon contains, arguably, the most iconic shot in all of early film. It is also one of the earliest science fiction blockbusters. However, the look of the moon and its inhabitants is very much in the Méliès mode. In short, the weird little acrobatic aliens could have just as easily been imps in a fairy tale or nightmare characters tormenting a dreamer. (Not to take anything away from this wonderful film, of course. Just that it followed brand conventions.) However, if we dig below the surface, there is some juicy anti-colonialism to sink our teeth into, so that’s fun.

Chomon’s pastel lunar ballerinas.

An Excursion to the Moon, Segundo de Chomon’s 1908 rip-off lunar fantasy, is significant in that it is the only picture discussed here that has no obvious political message. Chomon’s moon is occupied by a European monarchy, pastel-colored ballerinas, and acrobats in leotards festooned with crescents and stars. The explorers explore a bit, run off with a lunar princess and, presumably, live happily ever after.

Martian vegetarians.

Himmelskibet, made a decade later, is generally reckoned to be the first feature-length space opera and it is interesting to see how many classic sci-fi elements are included in this Danish production. However, the landscape and culture of Mars itself is basically a Greco-Roman hippy commune, which is not surprising considering the naïve, pacifist message of the picture. However, the leather flight suits look suitably sci-fi.

Leather and capes? Yep, “Himmelskibet” is pretty sci-fi.

The Martian designs for Aelita are legendary and for good reason. The sets by Isaac Rabinovich and Victor Simov and particularly the costumes designed by Aleksandra Ekster are the most discussed elements of the film. That being the case, it seems redundant for me to discuss them extensively. Instead, let’s just admire:

Nothing like it have ever been seen in sci-fi and, as stated earlier, we are still feeling the influence of Aelita. Of course, this is not to suggest that Aelita was the first science fiction film with an alien look. Edison’s 1910 film entitled A Trip to Mars creates a bizarre alien landscape populated with giants played by actors sporting heavy prosthetics. However, Aelita’s combination of plastic, wire and sharp geometry is truly iconic. (But even this film could not escape a dab of Greco-Roman design, likely a holdover from the novel as the book Martians were descended from Atlanteans.)

When on Mars…

The film also incorporates praise for the workers’ revolution on Mars, complete with a crossed hammer and sickle. It’s a coarse appeal to patriotism, of course, but no worse than the unfurling stars and stripes that are found in many a silent Hollywood film.

I see what you did there, Protazanov.

Rascals and rogues have always had a place of honor in Russian entertainment and the revolution inspired some truly wonderful works with sleazy grifters as protagonists. I am particularly fond of The Twelve Chairs, an oft-filmed work by the delightful Yevgeny Petrov and Ilya Ilf. (And do read its sequel, The Golden Calf.) One gets the sense that Protazanov and company were far more comfortable on this familiar turf than they were with flitting off to Mars. (Our director was clearly more at home with the grim and gritty romance The Forty-First.) I think the ending of Aelita more than proves this notion.

Support you local sugar profiteer.

Spoiler: All the events after Loss returns home were dreamed up by him. Natasha is not dead, there is no Aelita and our engineer protagonist could really use some therapy. Protazanov does an excellent job of conveying exactly where the break between the conscious and subconscious exists. Once Loss heads back home from his six month government job, the story goes off the rails and the story goes kooky places. Jolly Gusev becomes morose and obnoxious to his wife. Erlich seems to cease his profiteering and disappears from the story almost entirely. The foolish Kravtsov is suddenly getting arrest warrants to serve singlehanded.

He is just that sexy.

More Spoilers: Once Loss and company end up on Mars, the story’s logic becomes even more surreal. Aelita asks him to kiss her and the effect is so electric that she faints on the spot. Yup, Loss dreams himself an irresistible rake who knocks ladies dead with a kiss. (Harry Langdon pulled the same shtick with more success in Soldier Man. At least there it was meant to be funny.) Oh good gravy. While Loss of the book actually is a space traveler, Loss of the film is more of a Soviet Walter Mitty.

A capitalist plot!

Even More Spoilers: It turns out that Natasha was never murdered, Loss missed. Erlich is the real killer (he killed Spiridinov) and the Martian plot was entirely in Loss’s head. The mysterious message? A marketing campaign for tires. Loss goes back to Natasha but I think she’s a fool to take him back, personally. He has been acting like a perfect ninny, which is bad enough, but actually trying to shoot her? Good heavens!

Okay, so our hero is not exactly the most compelling or likable creature ever to grace the screen. (And I’m not entirely sure why it was necessary for Nikolai Tsereteli to play two characters.) However, his dreary presence is more than compensated for by the colorful supporting cast. Valentina Kuindzhi is particularly good as poor, sweet Natasha and I always love to see Igor Ilyinsky in pretty much anything. (If you’ve never seen him before, Ilyinski’s screen persona sort of combines Oliver Hardy’s fussiness with a dim version of Harold Lloyd’s go-getter.)

I liked it even if 75% of the runtime is taken up with brooding.

We also get groundbreaking Martian designs and Protazanov’s smart manipulation of reality. Sure, the final twist is a cliché but at least it was handled as well as can be expected. I enjoyed the heck out of Aelita but I know that a lot of viewers were disappointed. It’s all a matter of anticipation, I think. If you’re expecting a giant space opera, you will be bitterly disappointed. However, if you are expecting a slice of Soviet melodrama with space fantasy sequences, Aelita has a lot to offer. I’m not sure I would recommend it as your first Soviet silent but it is most definitely worth seeing.

Where can I see it?

Aelita is available on DVD from Flicker Alley. It includes intertitles translated to English and a very nice piano score from Alex Rannie.

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Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924) A Silent Film Review A mysterious message from outer space captures the imagination of a Russian scientist. He has other problems, though, as he suspects that his wife is stepping out on him with a petty official who moonlights as a black-market dealer.

#1924 #Aelita #Aelita Queen of Mars #Aleksandra Peregonets #Igor Ilyinsky #Nikolai Batalov #Nikolai Tsereteli #Russian Film #Science Fiction #Valentina Kuindzhi #Yakov Protazanov #Yuliya Solntseva

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