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lligkv · 1 year

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It's my birthday today, which always feels like a time to take account. The last month or two, I've endeavored to channel spates of low mood into the reasonably productive activity of reading, rather than mere vegetation, and I've had good success. I just finished Mircea Cărtărescu's Solenoid—a long novel about a lonely weirdo in communist Romania reckoning with existential dread. Also finished Susan Taubes's Lament for Julia, a novella paired with various short stories, all with a powerful Freudian bent, Taubes being the daughter of a psychoanalyst and prone to autobiographically inflected fiction. Fathers and daughters are locked in strange relation; men and women antagonize each other; there's much angst around the emergence and forcible repression of sexuality and desire. I also completed a reread of Crime and Punishment (impressive in its structure, if not at the line level; conservative, like much of Dostoevsky, in its premises and sympathies, though not without its points when it comes to the weaknesses that certain modes of thought can have when they're adopted carelessly, as vogues, and in arguing for the necessity of humility against despair when one's despair stems, as Raskolnikov's does, from overweening self-regard). And I read Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet—which was a funny one. Much to love in it, certainly. I also felt a bit of a twang reading, say, Rilke's condemnation of "the unreal half-artistic professions"—among which he includes "almost all of criticism"—"which, while they pretend proximity to some art, in practice belie and assail the existence of all art." Oh look, it's the form to which I've apparently pledged my troth, ha ha whoops.

I admit I wasn't blown away by Solenoid as I thought I might be. It offers a slightly banal resolution to existential crisis... That is, that the narrator ultimately meets the horror he spends about six-hundred pages grappling with—of the possibility that he might be trapped within three dimensions when a fourth, superior dimension might exist, meaning (I know this sentence is Going Places, stay with me) a dimension that is not ruled by the determinism by which any dimension is ruled in the eyes of those who can see it from the next dimension on, the same way that the life of, say, a mite might seem determined to us, all unthinking instinct and bound to a terribly specific and minute purpose, given our position as the mite's vast superior—that he counters the tremendous weight of this fear by turning to an abstract love for humanity and the purpose he finds in raising the child he has with his lover, Irina... It reminded me of the commitment to bourgeois normalcy that the protagonist of Antal Szerb's Journey by Moonlight makes, and how that let me down after his Master-and-Margarita-esque path through other, more hallucinatory forms of experience in the first three-quarters of that novel—which promised, I don't know, something more.

But I can understand the turn. And Solenoid does have some terrific setpieces along the way. One is the protest of the "Picketists"—a sect the narrator stumbles upon that stages demonstrations against life's pain and suffering (their signs bear lines like "Down with Death!" "Down with Rotting!" "Down with Accidents!" "NO to Agony!" and "Stop the Massacre!")—before a building in Bucharest that once housed one of the first institutes of forensic medicine, whose cupola bears thirteen statues depicting the soul's dark sides, Sadness, Despair, Fear, Bitterness, Melancholy, Revulsion, Nausea, Mania, Horror, Grief, Nostalgia, Resignation, and Damnation. Most striking is the way that protest ends, with the statue of Damnation—which has come alive, "as alive and slow-moving as soft glass and black as anthracite"—stamping on the lead protestor, Virgil, crushing him, when he asks her whether anything humanity can offer her will ever be enough.

Cărtărescu is also quite skillful at pacing his plot across the novel's 638 pages, as the narrator discovers each of the six solenoids sprinkled across Bucharest—the massive electromagnets that make possible eerie wonders like levitation and serve as engines that, essentially, power the world—and as he endures his own Virgil-like trial among the Picketists at the novel's end. Translator Sean Cotter also deserves a ton of credit, I'm sure. It can't have been easy to translate a narrative like this one, which depends so much on so many references to Bucharest's geography, Romania's history, and the histories of so many figures, so strangely intertwined—the forensic scientist Mina Minovici, who studied death (through, in Cărtărescu's telling, intense bouts of self-strangulation); the psychologist Nicolae Vaschide, who studied dreams, which in the narrator's mind join death as one of two potential means of escape from this world to the next; and the mathematician Charles Howard Hinton, who married Mary Ellen Boole, daughter of mathematician and logician George Boole, whose other daughter, Ethel, married Wilfrid Voynich, famous owner of the Voynich manuscript, which the narrator ultimately comes to possess and, at the novel's end, offers to the goddess Damnation, whereupon its pages somehow morph into a tesseract, the shape that Hinton once theorized as the fourth-dimensional analogue of the cube; the next level of complexity to it, just as the cube is the next-level of the two-dimensional square—thereby permitting the narrator one glimpse, one moment of contact with whatever it is that lies in the fourth dimension, beyond...

So, you know, it's been a time. If you're in the mood for a long novel about an intelligent, sensitive, neurotic thwarted artist confronting the fear that has oppressed his life, that engages whole histories of mathematics, logic, and philosophical thought along the way, you might give Solenoid a shot. Meanwhile, I'll end this with some words from Rilke in his last letter to the young poet, Franz Krappus, when Krappus was twenty-five: "Do you remember how [your] life yearned out of its childhood for the 'great'? I see that it is now going on beyond the great to long for greater. For this reason it will not cease to be difficult, but for this reason too it will not cease to grow." Arrange your life, he tells Krappus, according to that principle which counsels us that we must always hold to the difficult. I'm certainly not in my twenties as I write this, but the lines still inspire.

#literary #books #mircea cărtărescu #susan taubes #rainer maria rilke #charles howard hinton #voynich manuscript #george boole #franz xaver krappus #sean cotter #nicolae minovici #nicolae vaschide #fyodor dostoevsky #antal szerb

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kevinsreviewcatalogue · 8 months

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Review: Don't Look Up (2021)

Don't Look Up (2021)

Rated R for language throughout, some sexual content, graphic nudity and drug content

Score: 4 out of 5

Don't Look Up is a movie that wants to be Dr. Strangelove for global warming, and whether or not it pulls it off depends on your tolerance for very heavy-handed satire. Adam McKay, the film's director and co-writer (together with former Bernie Sanders speechwriter/advisor David Sirota -- i.e. a man literally paid to write stump speeches for a politician) who had previously made The Big Short and a whole bunch of 2000s Will Ferrell comedies, wasn't shy about the movie he was making. He said point-blank that he went out of his way to write the most heavy-handed, blunt-force metaphor for global warming he could possibly think of, a comet destroying Earth that we have the ability to deflect but for some reason aren't, and the result is a pure sadist show filled with unlikable people who you're waiting to see receive their comeuppance, while the only ones who get anything resembling a happy ending are the beleaguered scientists and bureaucrats who serve as mouthpieces for the writers.

I felt it more or less succeeded at doing that, but I also felt that it, almost accidentally, stumbled into something I've rarely seen: a Lovecraftian comedy, specifically one that still goes all-in on his brand of cosmic horror rather than soften it. The central conceit of many of H. P. Lovecraft's stories, that of humanity being small and meaningless in the grand scheme of a universe far bigger than them that doesn't care about any of their puny accomplishments, is one that's usually played for horror, most notably by Lovecraft himself and the many artists influenced by him. When that kind of material is given a lighthearted touch, it's usually in the context of stories that borrow the aesthetics of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos (doomsday cults, grotesquely visceral monsters with lots of tentacles, alien gods with unpronounceable names) but give humanity the chance to effectively fight back. This movie takes the opposite track. It's a movie about a comet that's coming to hit Earth and destroy everything. It doesn't give a flying fuck about any of us; it's a comet, an inanimate ball of rock and ice randomly drifting through our solar system that just so happens to be on a collision course with Earth. The protagonists, the graduate student Kate Dibiasky who discovers the comet and her astronomy professor Dr. Randall Mindy who does the numbers and realizes that it's going to impact Earth, are framed as the kind of heroes Lovecraft would write, people who slowly but surely go mad from the revelation of just how meaningless their existence is in the face of looming extinction. In fact, the basic premise is not unlike that of Junji Ito's manga Remina, which plays a very similar scenario for some truly fucked-up horror, complete with both stories having satire of celebrity culture as a running theme.

But this movie takes that premise and, instead of using it to try and scare the viewer, uses it to mine the darkest possible laughs it can think of. Kate's breakdown on a talk show as she tries to warn the world about the comet goes memetic and is treated like Britney Spears' meltdown in the late '00s. Dr. Mindy's reaction is to dive head-first into wine, women, and song, exploiting his new status as a rock star scientist to have an affair with a morning show host and bask in the fame and adulation of the world because he knows, deep down, that anything else is pointless and he may as well enjoy his last few months on Earth. And most importantly, the film's main satirical thrust is that humanity probably does have the ability to deflect the comet and save itself, but is just too goddamn stupid and greedy to do so. The President is a vain, corrupt, bullying, media-obsessed idiot whose administration is rife with nepotism, cronyism, and graft (guess who was President when this movie was written), the "visionary geniuses" of the tech industry are more concerned with a mix of pie-in-the-sky utopianism and getting rich than in the actual, practical, day-to-day problems that most people face, and the media is chiefly concerned with celebrity gossip and other frivolous stories and buries serious issues that might hurt their ratings. Humanity as a whole doesn't go mad from the revelation of the comet, at least not at first, but that's because, as far as this movie is concerned, we're already living in a world gone mad.

These two angles -- McKay and Sirota's intended one of a satire of the world's (lack of) response to global warming, and a film that takes a lot of the tropes of cosmic horror and plays them for comedy -- feed into each other and produce a pitch-black satire reminiscent of an Armando Iannucci story, a good episode of South Park, or the background worldbuilding of a Grand Theft Auto game. This movie ain't subtle. The comet is a plain-as-day metaphor for the climate crisis that practically screams the message into your face, most notably when Dr. Mindy goes on a furious rant on a talk show that, barring the specific subject matter of the comet, may as well have come from the unshackled id of any climate scientist, meteorologist, or environmentalist who decided to one day say "fuck it" and let everyone know what they really think of all the bullshit they have to put up with. The entire 138-minute runtime of this movie is an escalating exercise in cringe comedy as Dr. Mindy, Kate, and the underpaid civil servants and bureaucrats who take them and the crisis seriously find themselves stonewalled, tripped up, and belittled by the vapid, selfish, ignorant dumbasses who actually run the show. Its sense of humor is mean-spirited and often insulting, but it saves its bile for very specific and deserving targets while still affording enough humanity to its protagonists to make me actually care about them, especially as the film rolls towards its conclusion.

Make no mistake, though, this is a very funny metaphor for global warming, much of it sold by an excellent all-star cast. Meryl Streep plays President Janie Orlean as a combination of every terrible thing that's ever been said about Donald Trump and every terrible thing that's ever been said about Hillary Clinton (again, you can tell that a Bernie Sanders advisor co-wrote this), the kind of mediagenic, charismatic politician who looks good in front of the cameras but whose administration is a pit of slime. Streep is clearly relishing the chance to play someone who'd be an unrepentant villain if not for the fact that she's also a complete fucking moron. Mark Rylance plays the President's partner-in-crime Peter Isherwell as a mix of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs who gives off the sense that he's not just a greedy robber baron but someone who genuinely seems to believe his own bullshit, that his sci-fi scheme to save the day would not only work but elevate human civilization into a utopian golden age, and that he's spent too long marinating in the stew of hare-brained Silicon Valley techno-dreamers to think about any practical problems. Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry as the talk show hosts Brie Evantee and Jack Bremmer are playing clear parodies of Kelly Ripa and Al Roker, and perfectly capture everything obnoxious and saccharine about morning talk shows and daytime news. The supporting cast is a non-stop parade of both rising stars and "hey, it's that guy!" actors, including Jonah Hill as Janie's Jared Kushner-esque son/Chief of Staff who serves as a symbol of the White House's corruption, Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi as a pair of pop stars putting on a benefit concert who contribute a hilarious song to the soundtrack, Ron Perlman as a war hero with a few screws loose who leads the initial mission to try and deflect the comet, and Timothée Chalamet as a punkish slacker whose response to the comet is to get right with God. Finally Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Rob Morgan get the "straight man" roles as Dr. Mindy, Kate, and the government scientist Dr. Oglethorpe, all of them offering up welcome reminders of why they're all considered some of the best actors of their respective generations (and, in Lawrence's case, reminding us why she was an A-lister before she did Passengers) as they have to navigate the sick, sad world around them in their long-shot effort to save it. Even here, though, they're not immune from the film's satirical barbs, each of them (especially Dr. Mindy) shown to not quite be as above-it-all as they assume they are.

The Bottom Line

It's so in-your-face with its politics and message that it risks feeling insufferable even if you agree with it. But me? I found it to be a hilarious, pitch-black, and frequently on-point satire that pulls no punches and manages to somehow combine big laughs with existential dread. I recommend giving it a watch.

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annieshouldbewriting · 1 year

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Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey #BreakupBookReviews

I know countless other women have been in my shoes before. There's nothing earth-shattering about a girl navigating her first heartbreak and looking to literature for help figuring out WTF comes next, or to feel less alone.

My partner of five years leaving me was not on my 2023 bingo card, especially considering just a week before, she was promising me that we were going to be together forever (but I'm 99% sure there is somebody else). Ouch. I truly thought she was the one for me.

How does someone who loved you for so long walk away so easily? How do you accept that someone you trusted so completely lied to you and broke that trust? How do you cope when you're the one left behind to pick up the shattered pieces of your heart, while they get to be happy and move on like nothing happened?

All questions I'm sure every girl has asked herself after being dumped.

In an effort to answer these questions for myself, and to return to something I love and that is wholly mine, untainted by my relationship, I turned back to my true first love: books.

Narratively, Really Good, Actually isn't for everyone. Many Goodreads users dislike our protagonist, Maggie, but I reveled in the messiness Heisey portrayed. Let's be real; not every woman walks out of her breakup with her head held high and is able to drink her matcha lattes while writing in her manifestation journal and hitting the gym to "find herself" again.

Maggie's kind of a mess. She sleeps with her ex's best friend, is trying to figure out her sexuality through a series of disastrous dates and a disappointing almost-threesome, refuses to go to therapy, and arguably is a bad friend. And while it's frustrating to read, it was also liberating for me. It made me feel less alone. I might not be in full-on self-sabotage mode like Maggie, but I was able to relate to some of her faults.

Her anxiety. Her need to feel loved. Her not being strong and begging to be given another change.

Yet, we do see Maggie grow. After her ex refuses to show up to a couple's counseling appointment Maggie schedules to aid in the process of divorce, she strikes a relationship with the therapist and becomes a regular patient. After being a bad friend, she works on changing her actions and behaviors and makes apologies to those she's hurt. When she sees her ex with Janet - their beloved cat - on the bus, she gets off at the next stop and waits for a new bus.

She's not perfect. She doesn't deal with the breakup in the healthiest of ways. But she's human.

That's what I loved about Heisey's novel. Maggie felt real. I felt validated in some of the spiraling thoughts I'm having. It felt like having a - albeit, much messier - friend going through this breakup with me. And it gave me hope that one day, I'll heal too.

If you're going through a breakup, pick up Really Good, Actually for a read. The way I see it, you'll either relate to Maggie and feel seen, be so relieved you don't relate to Maggie that you can congratulate yourself on handling your breakup better, or be so pissed off at her that you'll forget about your own worries for a while. Any way, a win's a win, right?

#book review #booklr #heartbreak #book reviews #BreakupBookReview

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diedbutterflies69 · 3 years

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Bewitched, Enchanted - Lee Minho

Synopsis : you attended your brother's wedding just for formality, but found someone who got bewitched by you, someone who will stay unforgettable forever.

Word count : 5 k?

Warning : dom! Minho, smut, strangers to lover?, Oral sex, slight degradation, manhandling, penetration.

Minors don't interact.

This is all imagination doesn't describe anyone in real life.

You were bored. Weddings were this much boring you didn't knew, everyone looked pretty , expensive and gorgeous and that overwhelmed you. You were groom's sister,the only close family which you wish you weren't. You too looked boring or you thought. Wearing a simple blue gown with a fake diamond necklace. Everyone was flashing each other the widest fake smile possible, you were familiar with almost everyone present there but you didn't wanted to talk with anyone. They all probably had some burning questions in store for you , you would rather drink poison than satisfy there curiosity.

"Y/N", you heard someone calling your name from behind, you cursed under your breath before turning behind , it was your brother, he looked good , but in your eyes he will always have the ugliest heart.

"Hi, Congrats on getting married", you said trying to sound as genuine as possible , you looked at his side and fuck damn. He scored, his soon to be wife was the most beautiful and eternal women you ever saw, how the hell he found such a pretty girl, you questioned yourself.

" Congrats you too, you look so pretty", you said to her, not holding yourself back from complimenting her, not even remembering what was her name. She smiled at your words and your heart stopped , she was like an angel you wanted to stop her from getting married to this asshole.

" Say something about me too ", Sein your brother whined out and you rolled your eyes .

" You are ok too", you responded, a sudden urge to walk away from this awkward conversation took over you , you are seeing your only family after almost eight years and the things you wished to forget were resurfacing after all this years, it wasn't healed. The simple conversation you were having contrasted the suffocating voices inside your head. You wanted to walk away and as if universe was by your side, your wish fulfilled.

" Sir!" Sein shouted loudly, giving your ear drums trauma. . Both Sein and his spouse attitude completely changed , they seemed like employees who never miss opportunity to appear appealing infront of thier boss. You looked at the direction he was shouting and you swear what you saw was masterpiece A human so dazzling , eternal , protagonist straight out of anime, it was unfair how your brother knew so many enchanting people. The exquisite suited, prince like man walked towards your direction , even the way he walks gives him main character vibes, with each second he was getting closer and your soul was travelling to heaven.

" Good Evening Sir, Thanks for coming at our wedding", Your soon to be sister in law said enthusiastically , Sein too buttered up something which you didn't decipher properly as you were busy checking out thier so called boss from head to toe, he had the perfect waist and body proportions, a model you wanted to walk away but also wanted stare at him a little longer.

"Congrats both of you", the man said out, voice so deep like ocean but his tone not carrying any bit of enthusiasm . You were about to walk away from thier conversation, as they both forget that you existed but you felt that mysterious man staring at you .

" Hello thier", that unknown man greeted you, slightly moving his hand in "hi " emoji , giving you a formal smile, his smile was dazzling you wondered how beautiful the real one must be.

" She is my sister Y/N, Y/N this is head of our department Lee Minho", Sein introduced you both to each other, a little too late .Even his name was alluring you said inside your head. Minho bought his hand infront of you, offering a formal handshake, you hastily accepted his hand and goosebumps appeared your body , today you were overreacting a little too much inside your head.

" Y/N, nice to meet you, will see you around " Minho said before pulling away , your hand felt cold , his warmth disappearing, he excused himself but Sein didn't let him go away , they were talking about somw buisness nuisance and again after many years you still felt embarrassed due to his behaviour, you walked away from them, leaving a helpless Minho to get devoured by the hungry employees.

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Wedding vows were the most boring shit possible, you don't know what kind of spells the priest is blurting out since last few minutes, it seemed more like a funeral this time, dead silence . You wanted to survive just a few mins , till the marriage is done and food is served but it wasn't compulsary to sit through whole thing right? So you yeeted yourself silently from the hall, walking straight up to the backside of garden from your memory thier was a bench there, so you walked up there and indeed there were two benches and no one around. Perfect.

You looked once again at surroundings before sitting on the bench and fetching up cigarette and lighter from bag, you weren't a chain smoker, Just sometimes on special occasions, the butterfly lighter cames to light. You burned the front of the roll before bringing it up to your lips and taking a breath in.

" So you smoke?", You got startled by a familiar voice from behind, a figure whom you were busy drolling infront of you. You coughed badly , feeling the smoke getting somewhere in windpipe. Minho came towards you , taking away the cigarette and destroying it by his foot, he softly tapped your back to calm you down, you were embarrassed that you ruined your reputation already.

"I am fine", you said in between deep breaths, still feeling the burn inside your throat, but a little lesser. You looked up at Minho, he was so close to your face , the soft moonlight shining over his delicate yet sharp features, you looked into his eyes and immediately got shy, your lack of social skills making you look down at ground. Minho sat next to you, his hand still moving up and down on your back, sending shivers down your spine, his touch was magical.

" You okay? I am sorry for appearing out of no where" , Minho apologized, his tone sincere, you were about to answer but a sudden epiphany hit you. From the second you saw Minho, you were busy admiring him, the way he walks, talks, carries himself and just maybe , maybe you were victim of disease known as ' Love at first sight'. You shook your head internally , cringing at thought before speaking.

" No , it's not your fault. I am fine now", you replied , trying hard enough to not stutter, halting his hand moment,Minho let out a sigh in relief, and even his breathing sound was hot--- you wanted to throw your brain into dustbin.

" by the way, why aren't you inside?", Minho asked you, a little curiousity visible on his face.

" Got bored", you replied honestly..

" Same" , he continued "I was forced to come here " Minho said sounding like a tortured victim.

" forced by who?", You asked him, trying to keep up with the conversation. The atmosphere was calm, some insects chirping and moon light, the climate of falling in love.

" by the groom and bride", Minho answered, squeezing his eyes shut as he recalled his victim origin past.

"I am sorry on thier behalf", you whispered in embarrassment, feeling like disgrace to be related so close to that asshole. Minho opened his eyes almost immediately moving his head in disagreement.

"no, not your fault, I am sorry if I offended you, I didn't meant too", Minho rambled on at this point you both were talking in circles.

"I am not offended Mr. Lee, I know how embarrassing and shamless my brother can be ", you said trying to clear up misunderstanding, not caring if you bitching about your blood or not, blood wasn't thicker than the sexual attraction you felt towards Minho.

" You not close with them?" , Minho asked you after few seconds. ,he was indeed curious about his employees life you thought.

" Well yeah.. ", you said not going into any deatails , the past was embarrassing and pure cringe to you. There was silence for few seconds before Minho spoke again, your interaction skills were down the drain . You don't know how so much time passed , you felt talking to a old friend .

"Your age?", Minho asked.

"twenty four, you?", you replied and asked praying that he wasn't any younger than you.

" twenty six", Minho answered. You both heard loud claps from Inside, indicating that the shit was over finally. You talked with Minho quite a lot , feeling giddy and happy after a long time.

" Y/N, you don't stay in this town right?" , Minho asked you nervously getting up from bench , standing right infront of you, his hands trembling slightly.

"Yes, why?", You responded , suddenly feeling something else in your heart.

" Where will you stay?", Minho asked you another question , what you found in this short time was he wasn't as confident as he appeared to be, he will spend his whole life in interrogation rather than straight coming to point.

"perhaps... Are you asking me to stay in your home?" You asked getting up and coming straight to the point, it was now or never opportunity, if just for a one night you could have someone as hot as Minho all for you , then there isn't any issue. Minho got speechless for a minute after your bold assumption but then smirked, looking like a evil sin.

" What if I am ", Minho answered your question with another question . " Will you stay?", Taking a step forward he whispered in your ear. This escalated from 0 to 100 really quickly.

" I am your worker's sis ", you replied playfully, running in circles just having fun at this point.

" So what? That's least of my concern. " Minho breathed out , moving the back of his hand on your cheek, his breath was fanning over your neck, you didn't remember when was last time you felt so hungry for man's touch. If anyone walked in the scene ,they will obviously think two people are making out, the distance between you two was disappearing by each passing second .

" Right now, I can only see you as a women who has bewitched me, me finding you here isn't coincidence; I followed you" , Minho confessed without hesitating slightly, too many different thought trains ran through your mind, him finding you beautiful was the sentence you believed the least, you had a really bad image of yourself and someone like Minho hitting on you with such words felt no less than a dream. You tried to find lies and mock in his eyes but all you could see was sincerity and a want to have you. Minho was someone who could have anyone , his aura made you feel that so why was he luring around you? questions like this rising in your head.

" Why me though? Are you into average people?", You asked him, now the air around you both wasn't only sexual but strange too. You didn't planned on having a long ass conversation, if this is how one night stands were supposed to be, you won't ever do it again . Minho let out an exaggerated gasp , tilting his head to side to stunned by the fact that you found yourself 'average'.

" Girl are you serious, you are a fucking rare beauty, I am holding back myself badly from kissing you right here and now" Minho exclaimed, sounding helpless and honest. Every word he spelled made your heart flutter like never before, you felt like becaming a main character in a romance novel, Minho was the kind of men, you used to read about , poetic cheesy shit made you completely swoon. You were about to have him , even though it was for just one night , you could have him.

You gave Minho a bright smile , your eyes forming cresent moons, feeling wanted and throwing away all your insecurities and just focusing on the man infront of you, for the first time he saw your real wide carefree smile, his heart was pounding loudly.

" Kiss me then ", you whispered against his lips and as if your words were command for him, he obeyed in milliseconds. You felt his lips against yours , softly leaving a peck. He brushed his thumb against your lover lip, staring at you with such an intensity that you could melt, he left a peck one last time before devouring your lips into a passionate kiss, fireworks sound erupted inside your brain, feeling like you won in life, his lips were perfectly made for you, his hand cupped your cheek tilting your head slightly to deepen the kiss, you felt goosebumps all your body as his tongue entered your mouth exploring deepest corners inside you, he could still taste the cigarette smoke from you and it fueled his sexual desires even further. Minho pulled away , intaking deep breaths as he pressed his forehead against yours.

" Please come with me, my home is just minutes away", Minho requested you with such desperate tone that even if you wanted to reject the tempting offer you won't have. You gripped his hand which was on your face and mouthing 'lets go' with a smile, which he reciprocated.

________________________________________

" Nice car" , you said while doing the seatbelt around you , the chilled air making you slightly tremble. Minho smiled at your compliment.

" Thanks", Minho replied as he turned off the cool the sources of cool air, you secretly smile, you didn't care if he did it for himself or for you, but you felt giddy over small gestures.

" let's start our Q n A section , shall we? , Minho asked you trying to suppress his laugh, he knew how exhausted and done you were due to his consent silly questions, he found you cute all annoyed like that.

"God not again", you whined, sinking down the seat as the car got all ready to fly to it's destination.

________________________________________

" I survived death that day seriously", you were trailing off to a tale of your childhood, you got to know Minho more so did he, through the whole car ride you both were laughing like there's no tomorrow and stealing kisses at every chance, neither did you or Minho remembered the last time he felt so light headed and happy .

"We are here, Honey", Minho said as he stopped the car infront of tall building, he opened the door for you and tossed off the keys to gaurd, you looked around the surrounding in absolute aww , that shit was classy and pretty. You gazed up on him and already found him looking at you.

" Damn rich, Honey~", you teased him breaking out in small giggles, Minho rolled his eyes playfully before helding your hand and walking down with you, his every action was harmful for your poor weak heart. You entered the elevator with him, you saw him pressing on 25 th floor, the door closed and immediately you found yourself getting kissed by Minho, the more time you spent with him the more you realised how much of a great kisser he was, he knew how to suck someone's soul out perfectly .

The door opened at 16 th floor , a random women entering inside, you immediately pulled back yourself from Minho, staring at your right side awkwardly , not having courage to see expression of the lady who spoiled your little moment, Minho had the same reaction as you, licking his lips and asking the lady which floor she wanted to go and die and it was 28 th, she didn't reacted much and it made you glad .

" That was embarrassing", you whisper yelled as you got off the elevator with him .

"So you ain't into Exhibitionism", Minho asked you , a little smile dancing on his face, you rolled your eyes at him .

" Are you?", You asked Minho hoping for a negative response from your whole soul.

" Not really, I don't have to display something that's all mine", Minho said, a little possessiveness in his tone, only contributing for him to sound even more hotter. He held your hand again , walking towards some apartment, the corridor was long enough to have a jogging track there. Minho stopped infront of a black door, probably his house, he putted the password in haste haste, he opened the door and gestured you to enter first.

"Wow, this is really--". Your sentence got cut off by Minho, pushing you against the wall and capturing your lips for the nth time at night for kiss, but this time it was different his pace , there was some roughness in his actions which you clearly didn't mind. Your hands pressed against his built chest, you could feel how well built he was through even though fabric was separating you. tried to keep up with his pace but it was getting hard, spit pooling at corner of your lips as he entered his tongue, the wet muscle making you dizzy, biting onto your bottom lip messily. His hand on side of your head and other one gripping on your waist tightly. You pulled back , feeling hazy from from the lack of air in your lungs . You took few deep breaths , your eyes closed as you felt feeling intimadated by Minho's darker one's.

" let's move to bedroom", Minho breathed out , loseening his top shirt buttons, his suit already lying on the floor which you didn't noticed. You nodded your head at his words. Minho started walking towards right , you removed your heels before following him like a lost puppy, now that his black blazer wasn't there , you could see how hot his back profile was. It was going to be a long night.

_________________________________________

" Aah , fuck Minho", you moaned out, as Minho was eating you out well and good, hand gripping on your thighs, pushing them harder on to the mattress , his another hand working on stimulating your clit, moving thumb in circles and pinching it with just perfect pressure with him middle and index finger. Tongue going deeper and deeper into your clenching heat, toes curling at pleasure, your fingers moving through his head, as he was looking at you with hooded eyes, feeling too proud of himself to turn you into a blabbering and hot mess.

"fuck.. cum please , let me", you cried out incoherent words , your body drunk with pleasure by Minho's skill mouth and fingers. His pace increased at your words , wanting to give you orgasm as soon as he can. He kissed over your wet mound before , bringing his hand to slap over it roughly, bits of your arousal leaking out at the impact, you cried harder at the sudden hit, feeling much more sensitive now. He put his mouth again where it was slurping your cunt like you were the last meat. With a loud whimper your orgasm ripped off through you, leaving you shakin under Minho's hold, he growled while sucking up your juices, not wanting to waste any drop, you were a broken mess by the time Minho was done licking you dry.

He got up on his knees, detaching himself from your harm pussy, you caught a glimpse of Minho's face, he looked almost so filthy , his lips plum up red by sucking you out , mouth covered by your slick , tiny drops dripping from his chin, he looked at you, he thought he was looking at masterpiece, the hottest girl in world , crying on his bed due to his solely mouth and fingers.

" You gonna take this dick right, my love?", Minho asked you sweetly voice dripping with honey in contrast with his actions, he slapped your breast mid sentence, addicted to your small whines. You nodded at him, almost going dumb not caring he was a stranger just few hours ago.

" Fuck me, please", you begged, sounding so broken and helpless, Minho's lower half was still clothed while you were all naked at his mercy. His guts stirred up on your words , his dick was already rock hard in his slacks, crying to get freed.

" I will baby, gonna fuck you all nice and good", Minho grunted as he removed his pants along the boxers, freeing his dick finally. You whimpered at his size, he was the biggest you ever had in your hole. His brain filled up with pride at your reaction as he moved down at you.

" Never took a real cock honey?", Minho asked but sounded more like he was asserting himself. He put his cock on your pussy, moving the tip up and down gathering up your slick before finally pushing all his length inside you in one swift motion, you moaned , the loudest you ever as his cock ripped your insides, giving you no time to adjust only aim to stuff your cunt full of his cum not caring about the aftermath, his lips circled around your nipple, sucking it well and good while , pounding inside you without any mercy.

"so deep, you are big" you cried out feeling your second high approaching you, Minho's rentless thrusts never stopping, wet squeaky sounds echoing in his big room, his grunts were animalistic, you were sure no one could ever fuck you like this man and this night will always be unforgettable.

" Baby, you will be all loosed up and useless by the time I am done with you" , Minho breathed out and you know Minho was a man of true words .

part 2

#stray kids imagines #stray kids smut #skz smut #kpop smut #lee minho #lee know smut #minho smut #minho x reader #lee minho smut #skz x reader #stray kids

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techmomma · 2 years

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most of you may be familiar with the “Escape From The Mental Asylum” plot, either from books and movies like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and the game Outlast. If you’re not, the basic gist of this story is that the protagonist has been “wrongly” (definition may vary) thrown into the asylum and usually faces a number of psychological and sometimes physical tortures while attempting to create a plan of escape, either as an inpatient or someone who shouldn’t be there in the first place. This plot has recently come under scrutiny, rightfully so, for being... problematic, to say the least. Other people can explain why more succinctly than I can, I assure you there’s plenty of articles on why it’s bad. And I agree. I’ve yet to see this plot done that is not rampantly ableist, at a minimum, usually also edging on sexist or racist, while also further serving to fearmonger against psychiatric help which already has great difficulty in reaching out to people due to a public perception that psychiatry is the same as it was back in the 60s or like, the Victorian era. Many people still have no idea that modern psych wards basically look like a regular inpatient hospital ward and are pretty pleasant if usually understaffed places, and aren’t some rural decrepit manor falling apart with nurses who still wear white skirts and blouses.

But as someone who is (almost definitely) autistic, someone who is neurodivergent and has mental illnesses, I’ve always felt like there’s a great story hidden somewhere in this plot, but I know I probably don’t have the chops to bring it out. Like somewhere in there, if you could find the right pieces, it’d make a fantastic backdrop for a disabled and/or neurodivergent protagonist. While also acknowledging that modern psychiatry is so, so different from what is depicted in these plots. I feel like it always falls short of something it could be--often because it’s written from a neurotypical or white straight male point of view.

Because like. The fact is that old-school asylums, up till like the 60s and 70s, sometimes 80s... got pretty fucked up! In the 18th century you could pay money to go gawk at the crazies like it was a zoo. There was rampant abuse up through the first half of the 20th century, and that is actual stuff that happened to people. And of course, women and people of color have always been at a greater threat of being thrown into these places and systematically abused. Gender and race has always had an impact on psychiatry. Eugenics were for sure practiced in many of the old asylums. And none of this is even touching on the lobotomy fiascos.

Like, I think that is a valid thing to critique! I think that is a very fucking valid point to bring up like, “Hey, this is literally what we used to do to people up into almost the 80s. This was really fucked up! See how fucked up this is? This is what disabled people went through. People died because of this shit.”

Modern psychiatry has its own issues and gender and race and class are still a big topic in the area. There’s still work to be done. But modern psychiatry is such a hugely different beast than this old-world psychiatry that media is still clinging onto. Therapy and counseling and psychiatry and just our understanding of the brain and behavior has made astronomical leaps in the past 40 years. There were enormous reforms in the world of psychiatry since the 80s and there’s still legal issues but it is on the whole, made of people who are trying to help and have such a more vast understanding of people and have incorporated humanism and promoting an individual own definition of well-being and good quality of life, even if it doesn’t exactly fit the regular social norms. You ever been to a nice doctor’s office where it’s quiet and the people at the front desk are really nice, and it doesn’t smell like sanitizer? That’s what the vast majority of psych wards are like now. I know people who’ve voluntarily stayed in them, and they still feel very grateful to all the help they got during their stay. Their biggest problem is usually not enough staff, but you get vitals taken every day, there’s group therapy, there’s a bunch of legal shit about inspectors to make sure y’know. Everyone’s rights are being taken care of.

But long story short, I feel like the “Escape From The Mental Asylum” story can be done without being revoltingly ableist, can be done acknowledging the horrific abuse that people went through in the past, while also acknowledging how far modern psychiatry has come, acknowledging modern psychology’s own short-comings, without demonizing it or continuing harmful stereotypes about it. While promoting the idea of counseling and therapy and CBT and that anti-depressants can be a crucial help for many people.

Like I said, I don’t think I’m the person to write a story like this. But I think it’s there. Hiding somewhere in the nooks and crannies of the plot, waiting for the right person to write that story.

#it's also why I'm always so conflicted with like RP and adventure plots based around the premise #because I feel like something FANTASTIC can be done #with great disabled rep #could be a great plot about a group of disabled and neurodivergents banding together and surviving against basically historical horror #but -gestures to the rest of everything-

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themousefromfantasyland · 4 years

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Fairy Tale Laws: How Fairy Tales and their Worldbuilding work

Who follows me knows I'm mega into mythology and folklore. One of my favorite pieces of folklore and fantasy literature is the Fairy Tale. Since I was a child I was always draw to the magical world of Disney films and their darker literary counterparts.

I love fairy tales, yet in my opinion they continue to be one of the more misunderstood and neglected genres out there.

So, as a Disney fan and avid fairy tale reader, in this essay I show how the genre itself generally works and which principles rule their whimsical world

Fairy Tales, Myths and Fables

The thing that fairy tales, myths and fables have in common is that they all find their origins in the oral tradition.

They were fantastical tales, not told specifically for children but deeply enjoyed by them, that were transmitted through generations.

Both fairy tales and myths don't follow real world logic, instead following their own dream-like logic, in a sequence of weird and fantastical events, that are magical and intriguing to the listener, but essentially normal to the in-universe characters.

Often than not there aren't any explanations of why these events happen and their impact of those in-universe societies, they just happen. Animals talk, mythical creatures live along with human societies just fine, inanimated objects come to life, people seem to turn into animals all the time, etc, and nothing of that seem to ever change the status quo.

The thing that differentiate the fairy tale from the myth, is that the myth is supposed to have happened in our world, but in a far off past. They are supposed to explain how our world came to be, and they have a very strong religious importance. The fairy tale on the other hand is not supposed to be took seriously. It's a fun story that the older generation tell to the younger generation. It can pass deeply important life or religious values, but that's not their main point. They are fairy tales, not fables.

The point of the fable is to transmit a moral. The point of a fairy tale is to transport the listener into a fantastical journey.

Fairy Tales vs. Oral Stories

Although many folk stories became immortal fairy tales, not all fairy tales came from oral tradition. Actually, some can be traced back to specific authors.

The Little Mermaid, the Ugly Duckling and the Steadfast Tin Soldier are all considered immortal fairy tales, yet they were all created by famous danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. A lot of his stories are authoral, and all are considered true fairy tales.

The term "Fairy Tales" actually comes from the french "conte de fées" and was coined in the 17th century by Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy, the Madame d'Aulnoy, a french writer who wrote about a world where love and happiness came to heroines after overcoming great obstacles.

These stories arise from the Préciosité, a French literary style in the 17th century, from "les précieuses", intellectual, witty and educated women who frequented the salon of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet. Themes presented in these stories are the ideals of feminine elegance, etiquette and courtly Platonic love, all hugely popular with female audiences, but scorned by men.

Telling fairy tales was a popular préciosité parlor game, and they should be told as if spontaneously, even though they all were carefully prepared. This style served as influence for Charles Perrault and Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.

Villeneuve herself was the original author of Beauty and the Beast, and although the story is heavily inspired by older legends like Cupid and Psyche, it still is an authoral story.

Even the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, who were famous for being collectors of tales from oral tradition, gave their own twists and embellishments to their tales. For example, in many Cinderella tellings it's her mother's ghost who helps her. The Fairy Godmother is Perrault's invention.

So more than been just stories from the oral tradition, fairy tales as a literary genre are the reinvention of the old tropes found in the folk stories under a more sophisticated polish, for a new public.

Fairy Tale as a literary genre

In a way I consider the Fairy Tale a sibling genre to Magical Realism. As TV Tropes puts:

"In Magic Realism, events just happen, as in dreams. [...] Magical realism is a story that takes place in a realistic setting that is recognizable as the historical past or present. It overlaps with Mundane Fantastic. It has a connection to surrealism, dream logic, and poetry."

Both use a surreal, almost poetic internal logic with little to no explanation. Magical Realism is the occurrence of a fantastical event in a realistic setting, in a fusion between the mundane and the magical world.

Fairy Tales are similar because they often deal with very domestic topics and subjects. The protagonists often are normal people with very mundane goals. They don't want to save the world, they want to save themselves and their loved ones.

Cinderella and Snow White for example, are more concerned with escaping from their abusive families than being cultural or legendary heroes like in the myths. Hansel and Gretel are trying not to die from starvation, and Red Riding Hood is trying to visit her sick grandmother. Regardless of class status, these are people with their own problems that find in the fantastical events a escape from them, or a even worse danger.

This is not a universal rule, as some characters are more heroic and there's more in stake, but generally the heroes are domestic heroes and it's only their lives that are in stake.

The difference between the Magic Realism and the Fairy Tale, is that while in the Magic Realism you can easily point where the realistic setting ends and the magical one begins, the fairy tale goes even further, and the lines between the worlds are way more muddled.

Worldbuilding in Fairy Tales

Now, that's the most important part. Fairy Tales are a sub-genre to Fantasy, but while in the other genres the magic world is described in the minimal details, often with rich details about the in-universe cultures and their rules, the Fairy Tale maintain the magic world as vague as possible. That's because it uses what I call "soft-worldbuilding".

Part of the appeal of the fairy tale is to transport the reader in a fantastical journey, but in order to do that they use as little details possible, allowing the reader to try to fill in the gaps. That's in order to avoid the magic world of feeling too real or too close to reality. The reader needs to have a sense of wonder and intrigue, and if you started to describe your world in all its details, it will become too grounded, and the wonder and the intrigue will be lost.

Said that, you need some basic rules, otherwise everything will be incredibly incoherent. You reader needs to understand how the magic world works and their rules, but they also need to be slightly lost, discovering all the details along the way and be amazed by them, lost in a mystery that they will never find all the answers.

To illustrate this, look at the differences between the Middle-earth and Narnia. One is a standard fantasy world, the other is a fairy tale world. J.R.R. Tolkien drew inspiration from the epics, C.S. Lewis drew inspiration from fairy tales and childhood stories.

The Middle-earth is grounded on its own rules, with their own races, cultures, languages and myths. Narnia is a playground were everything magical is allowed. Greek mythology creatures? Okay. Roman gods? Okay. Father Christmas? Okay. Jesus? Of course!

One is worried about all the small details, the other wants everything as vague and simple as possible, as to ensure the wonder and the intrigue will never be lost the reader.

When you're dealing with a fairy tale world you have way more freedom than the standard fantasy world. You don't need to think too deeply in the details. You can use the Rule of Funny and the Rule of Cool as much as you want, as long as it's minimal consistent and coherent

Fairy Tale Laws

This are some basic rules and principles that I believe rule over the fairy tale genre

Establish rules of how the world works. Keep it consistent and coherent. That's your base

Not every fantastical event needs a deep explanation, and magic is not allowed as an universal explanation

Keep it simple. Don't worry too much about the small details.

You don't want your world to be too grounded in reality. A little escapism is key

Poetic logic and surrealism reigns

Have fun with all the weird and magical things that crowded your world. "Rule of Cool" and "Rule of Funny" reign

Never reveal too much to your reader. They need to constantly feel as if there is something more happening off the limits of your story

Domestic heroes (As Narnia and the old dragon slayer stories show, this is not an universal rule)

The overall tone can be darker and edgier, softer and lighter, or somewhere in the middle

#fairy tales #fantasy literature #writers on tumblr #worldbuilding

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true-blue-megamind · 4 years

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What Makes Hal a Great Villain?

Okay, I’m saying it upfront: this one is going to get a little dark and very real. Potential triggers for harassment, stalking, sexual predation. Nothing graphic or heavy, of course, but if these are especially highly sensitive subjects for you, please proceed with caution.

Also, SPOILER ALERT for anyone who has not yet watched the animated awesomeness that is Megamind. (If you are that person, the DVD is on sale on Amazon, and the movie is available to stream on NowTV. Go watch it. I’ll wait.)

We all know Megamind is an awesome protagonist--multi-layered, relatable, and surprisingly complex-- but, truthfully, his antagonist is just as interesting. In fact, when compared with other animated villains of the early 2000′s, he’s by far the most memorable... and the most terrifying.

Many may question my assessment. I mean, let’s be honest: this guy doesn’t exactly look like the face of evil. But make no mistake: Hal, who later becomes Titan, is an extremely scary person.

I don’t want to leave readers with the impression that this character is one-sided, however, so before we get started on just what makes this fellow complete nightmare fuel, let’s look briefly at a few of the other reasons that Hal makes a fascinating Bad Guy.

One of my favorite things about Hal’s character arch is that it defies expectations. Superhero comics have a long tradition of Average Nobodies who somehow receive extraordinary powers and go on to save the city. Or the world. Or the universe. You get the idea. Many comic book fans, upon watching Megamind for the first time, probably expected Hal to do the same, but he doesn’t. In fact, he goes rogue, choosing to use his newly-obtained gifts for wanton destruction. Thus the film inverts the established trope.

Like the protagonist he faces, (and is thankfully conquered by,) Hal is complex, and his true nature reveals itself slowly. I’ve heard some people say that they actually felt a bit sorry for him in the first scene he appears, as he awkwardly tries to express his feelings to reporter Roxanne Ritchi. At first he seemed like nothing worse than a socially inept and sexually frustrated nerd. Only as the move progressed, and the aforementioned viewers saw his creepiness more clearly, did they begin to revile him. One of the many clever things about the movie is that the gradual development provides audiences with the experience of slowly getting to know the characters. While Megamind is the somewhat anarchical Goth who worries you a little at first, but whose heart of gold has you loving him once you really understand him, Hal is that guy you really, really regret talking to at a party. You know, the one who quickly starts sending your internal Creep-o-Meter off the scale and persistently follows you around for the rest of the night. This is, indeed, part of what makes Hal disturbing; just like real villains, he hides in plain sight, wearing the guise of an ordinary fellow.

Which brings us back to the scary part. Even before he gets superpowers, Hal is bad guy deep down. He’s a creep and a stalker. He harasses Roxanne at work and keeps pestering her for a date no matter how many times she says no. Either consciously or unconsciously, he assumes that she’s shallow, and that once he has a muscular body and a bevy of godlike abilities, she’ll fawn on him. The idea that he himself might be the problem never seems to occur to him. In fact, he seems to feel that she will then owe him her affection. This is because, even before becoming Titan, Hal appears to have an overblown sense of self-importance and an unrealistic concept about what he deserves. (I go into detail about that in an earlier post, Megamind and Identity, which you can read here.) The fact that he doesn’t get what he feels is his right seems to have created a deep-seeded bitterness in him that rises to the surface once he obtains power.

But Hal really is the problem. His combined possessive harassment and complete lack of empathy are exactly why Roxanne neither likes nor trusts him. And she’s right to feel that way. Almost immediately after gaining his powers, now feeling that he is above society’s rules, Titan begins revealing just how terrible of a person he really is. He uses his supervision to spy on Roxanne while he and Megamind (disguised as Space Dad) are in the park, and that must not be the only incident because he later tells Roxanne: “I know everything about you.” This is just before he grabs her off of her balcony, without her consent, and begins throwing her around like a rag doll, terrifying her and putting her life in real danger because, apparently, he thinks she’ll be impressed.

Yeah. This guy is pretty much human garbage.

Once he finally understands (more or less) that Roxanne really means it when she says she’s not interested, Hal/Titan reveals himself to be a man-child. He begins by using his abilities for selfish and criminal reasons, essentially stating that he doesn’t feel heroism is worth his time. When he learns that Megamind has been dating Roxanne, (albeit in disguise,) he reacts with violence. This is because Megamind, like Hal himself, is an outsider: unpopular, unwelcome, and considered unattractive by most of the population of Metro City. In Hal’s mind, this revelation highlights the fact that none of these factors were the cause of Roxanne’s rejection, leaving only he himself to blame. (In fact, the movie contrasts Megamind, who, although imperfect, respects Roxanne’s wishes and intelligence, with Hal, who basically views her as an object to be won. Again, you can read more about that in Megamind and Identity.) Hal can’t handle that. He can’t accept it. So instead he turns his rage on the city as a whole. (This is despite the fact that, deep down, Hal knows he is the problem, hence why he rejects his identity as Hal and fully embraces the new one as Titan. That’s illustrated by his final line before abandoning Roxanne on Metro Tower: “It’s Titan, not Hal!”)

Hal abuses his power, and society suffers as a result. Even then, however, Hal/Titan still tries to lay claim to Roxanne. He accuses Megamind of “stealing his girlfriend,” and later tells Roxanne: “Let me guess, after seeing how awesome I am, you’ve come to your senses.” All the way to the end, Hal still can’t quite seem to accept that reality is not following his design.

If the idea of a man who lets power go to his head, objectifies women, won’t take “no” for an answer, and reacts violently when denied what he feels he’s owed sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Humanity has a huge problem with these sorts of behaviors, ranging from sexism and sexual predation to unfeeling abuses of power. The Sarah Everard case in London, and the fact that several officials essentially blamed the victim, asking why Sarah was walking home alone rather than asking why some guy felt he had the right to attack her, is the most recent well-known testament to this, but it’s sadly far from the only one. A.J. White said it best in his YouTube video, The Terror of the Incel Superman, when he expressed that news archives are full of stories about women being murdered by the sort of overgrown boys who can’t accept their refusals. And although men of that sort do not have the ability to fly or shoot lasers out of their eyes, some of them do rise to social and political power. They are Hals.

That is exactly what makes this character so especially scary. Unlike more farcical supervillains, he is based upon something that truly exists. Preternatural abilities aside, Hal is terrifying because he is very real. Let’s just hope our world will see more Megaminds willing to stand up to them. #BeMegamindNotHal

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peachscribe · 3 years

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peach’s summer book list

i had a lot of fun compiling the list of books i read during the 20-21 winter, so i decided i would do a summer one as well! i still have a lot of books i own but haven’t read, so im definitely not lacking in material

if you didn’t see my winter list, how my book list works is basically like this: i read a book that i own but have not previously read, write a short summary immediately after finishing the book, write down my thoughts on the book, and then provide a rating for the book. i also might include background info on why i read this particular book/feelings about the author, but that depends on the book. that’s how each entry works

without further ado, let’s get started!

1. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

okay so i absolutely adore another book by andrew smith (written after grasshopper jungle) called the alex crow. it’s one of my favorite books of all time, so naturally i wanted to see if grasshopper jungle would make me feel similarly. just like the alex crow, grasshopper jungle’s plot is. so fucking weird. it stars austin szerba, a teenage polish kid who lives in ealing, iowa, and is often sexually confused regarding his girlfriend shann and his best friend robby. and in ealing, iowa, austin and robby accidentally and unknowingly unleash an unstoppable army of huge six-foot-tall praying mantis bugs that only want to do two things: fuck and eat. and i just have to say: andrew smith’s got an absolutely dynamo writing style. alex crow is similar, where it’s a book about kind of everything all at once, framed in a moment centering around teenage boys. it’s fantastic, and it’s more than a little gross, and i love it. this book made me feel so many things, and i thought austin was such an amazing narrator and main character to identify with. this book has it all: shitty teenage boy humor, fucked up science experiments, and poetic imagery that will make you want to cry. and explicit lgbt characters.

412/10 andrew smith what do you put in your water i just want to know

2. Burn by Patrick Ness

patrick ness has written a plethora of some of my favorite books (such as a monster calls, the chaos walking trilogy, and the rest of us just live here) so when i saw this one in the store i knew it would be a great one. burn is an alternate history fantasy that takes place in 1957 frome, washington, during the height of the cold war, and it begins with a girl named sarah and her father hiring a dragon to help out on their farm. but there’s not just dragons, farm living, and cold war tensions; there’s also a really shitty small town cop, a cult of dragon worshippers and their deadly teenage assassin, a pair of fbi agents, and a prophecy that sarah’s newly hired dragon claims she’s a part of. i think eoin colfer’s highfire was on my winter list, which also featured a story that included dragons and shitty cops, so when i first began burn i thought it was funny to have two books that had both things. you know, if you had a nickel etc etc. but that’s really where the similarities end because burn is entirely it’s own monster (dragon). burn is entirely invested in its world, and its fascinating. not only that, i had no clue where the book would take me next. there were so many surprises and amazing twists that honestly just blew me away. this book also includes beautifully written complicated discussions on family, race, and love - it features interracial and queer romances as the two most prominent romance plots which was such a nice surprise from a book i wasn’t expecting to have that kind of representation. this book is witty, fast-paced, and a very heartening read - i absolutely adored it.

9/10 dragons and becoming motivated by the power of love and friendship are so fucking cool

3. As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann

i hate this book! as meat loves salt is a historical fiction novel which takes place in seventeenth century england, which is going through a grisly civil war. the protagonist, jacob cullen, is a servant for a wealthy household and is engaged to another servant in the house. but due to certain events that are almost entirely jacob’s fault, he flees the house and is separated from his wife. from there, he joins the royal army and meets a kind soldier, ferris, and the two become fast friends. jacob and ferris’s relationship begins to bridge past friendly, and jacob struggles with his homoerotic feelings as well as the growing obsession and violence inside him. also, they try to start a colony. listen, i don’t know how to describe the book because so much happens, but it basically just follows jacob and all the terrible decisions he makes because he is, truly, a terrible person. ferris is kind and good, and jacob is scum of the earth. he sucks so bad. the entire time i was reading this book (which took absolutely so long), all i wanted was for jacob to just get his ass handed to him. i wanted to see him suffer. and it’s not like i just personally don’t like him - i believe the book purposefully depicts him as unsympathetic even though he is the narrator. i did enjoy the very in depth and accurate portrayal of what life would’ve been like in seventeenth century england, and i think it was interesting to read a character that is just the absolute worst person you’ve ever encountered and see him try and justify his actions, so if you enjoy that kind of thorough writing, then this book would be perfect for you. however, i did not see that bitch ass motherfucker jacob cullen suffer enough. i’d kill him with my bare hands.

2/10 diversity win! the worst man on earth is mlm!

4. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

i know ive had a friend tell me how great one of schwab’s other book series is, but truthfully i bought this book because the cover is sick as hell and it was on a table in the store that advertised for buy two get one free, i think. something like that. anyway, this savage song takes place in a future in which monsters, for whatever reason, suddenly became real and out for blood in a mysterious event nicknamed the phenomenon. august flynn is one of these monsters, but he takes no pride in that fact and only wants to feel human. kate harker is the daughter of a ruthless man and is trying her hardest to be ruthless, too, but deep down she knows it’s just an act. their city, verity, stands divided, and kate and august stand on either side - but when august is sent on a mission to befriend kate in the hopes of stopping an all out war, the lines begin to blur. this book rules. august and kate are such interesting and dynamic characters, and the narrative is familiar while still being capable of twisting the story around and taking the feet out from under you in really compelling ways. this savage song is part of the monsters of verity duology, and i can’t wait to dive into how the story continues and finishes.

11/10 sometimes you can judge a book by it’s cover

4a. Our Dark Duet by Victorian Schwab

this is the sequel and finale for this savage song and i’d figure i’d update everyone: fantastic ending, beautiful, showstopping, painful.

12/10 loved it and will definitely be keeping an eye out for schwab’s other books

5. White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

oh boy. okay. white is for witching is about a house, and it is about the women who have lived inside of it. when her mother dies abroad, miranda silver begins to act strangely, and there’s nothing her father or her twin brother seem to be able to do about it. she develops an eating disorder and begins to hear voices in the silver family house, converted to a bed and breakfast by miranda’s dad; and she begins to lose herself in the house and the persistent presence of her family legacy. white is for witching switches perspective dizzingly and disorientingly between miranda, her twin eliot, miranda’s friend from school named ore, and the house itself. this story is a horror story as much as it as a tragedy as much as it is a romance as much as it is a bunch of other things. oyeyemi brings race, sexuality, nationality, and family into this story and forces you not to look away. this book is poetry.

(like i mentioned briefly, this book heavily deals with topics of race and closely follows miranda’s eating disorder. read responsibly, and take care of yourselves)

15/10 this book consumed me and i think i’ll have to read it another 10 more times to feel it properly

6. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

okay. okay. strap in for a ride. these violent delights is a romeo and juliet style story, taking place in glittering 1920’s shanghai. the city stands divided - not only between the foreign powers encroaching on chinese land, but also between the scarlet gang and the white flowers, who are at the height of a generations-long blood feud. juliette cai, heir to the scarlets, has recently returned from four years abroad and is determined to prove herself ruthless enough to lead. roma montagov, heir to the white flowers, is standing strenuously on his place as next in line due to a slip up four years prior and is desperate to keep hold of his title. and in the midst of juliette and roma’s burning history with each other threatening to combust, an unnatural monster lurks in the waters of shanghai, loosing a madness on scarlets and white flowers alike. this book has it all - scorned ex lovers, political intrigue, deadly monsters, and all set on a glamorous backdrop of the roaring twenties. i absolutely was enraptured by this book and the way it plays around the story of romeo and juliet so well that it easily became it’s own monster, but with the punches and embraces of something classically shakespearan. gong does just an absolutely breathtaking job of fitting this fantastical story amid the larger world of shanghai and the real life historical events that had shaken the city to its core. completely immersive and outstandingly heart racing.

17/10 i was chewing on my fingernails for the last thirty pages and will continue to do so until the sequel is released (our violent ends, 16 nov 21)

7. The Antiques by Kris D’Agostino

you ever heard of the american dysfunctional family story? this is most definitely that. at the same time george westfall’s cancer takes a turn for the worse, a hurricane hits the east coast, and suddenly all at once the issues of his health, the hurricane, and all three of his children’s achingly dysfunctional adult lives are crashing into each other. reunited by george’s death, the westfall siblings have to face their grief, each other, and the problems in their own lives they attempted to put on hold while planning their father’s memorial. this is a nice story about grief and loss and love and somehow finding the humor amidst it all.

(this book does include a depiction of an autistic child who does experience several pretty bad meltdowns due to ignorant people around him not understanding how to cater to his needs. im not an authority on what depictions are or are not harmful, but i do believe this depiction is ultimately loving and well-intended.)

7/10 it made me laugh and cry and was generally one of those books that somehow hit you close to home

8. Fierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill

fierce fairytales is a poetry anthology that reimagines classic fairytales from a modern, feminist viewpoint, acknowledging that the line between hero and villain, monster and damsel, are not as clear cut as the classics try to make you believe. this book also includes illustrations done by the author herself, which i think is really cool. my personal favorite story reimagining was the story of peter pan and captain hook, called ‘boy lost’ which looked at how peter and hook’s relationship began and rotted. all in all, i think this collection of stories had a lot of important things to say and said them in frank, easy to understand poetry and prose.

7/10 beautiful message and pretty prose, but at times a little cliche

and that’s all from the summer! my fall semester starts tomorrow, and overall i feel very good about all the reading i did this summer. i even read four other books not on this list for work! so i definitely feel like i made the most out of my time, and im really glad i was able to read so many stories that made me feel a variety of different things

thanks so much for reading this list, and let me know if you read or have read any of these books and tell me what you think of them!

happy reading<3

#book recs #book rec #book rec list #grasshopper jungle #burn #as meat loves salt #this savage song #monsters of verity #white is for witching #these violent delights #the antiques #fierce fairytales #just like my winter list i did write ever review immediately after finishing the book and i think.#i think here you can really tell what my immediate reactions were based on how the review is written fbfjfjd

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sollannaart · 3 years

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Some books about Napoleonic era...

... and not only it

And now, my dear friends, let me share with you a little bit about the books about Napoleonic era I read recently (and long ago as well ;) Because, you know, thanks to you I discovered a lot of interesting books and articles, so I feel obliged to do something for you in return.

And though almost all I read is in Polish, I was able to collect a set of books which are available in English (or French).

So, let’s go!

1. The book I would like to start with is “Napoleon and the women” written by Frédéric Masson. Frankly speaking, I read this one long long ago, just - as far as I remember - after watching “Napoleon and Josephine” TV series. And now, having stumbled upon another Masson’s book (see below) I suddenly recalled this one. (And decided to start with it, because it was in kinda first one of the publications which introduced me into that epoch ))).

2. The second book (the very same I have finished reading just this month) of Masson I would like to recommend you is Napoleon at home. Really interesting book, with a lot of details about the emperor’s usual life, thanks to which I was able to look at him and see not only as a military commander and the head of the state, but a human being also.

3. Continuing the topic of Napoleon’s private life - there is a book from Guy Breton’s series Histoires d'amour de l'histoire de France, devoted to it (in fact, there are even two books there, the second one is called Napoleon and Marie-Louise).

Btw, I read all the books from the series and, frankly speaking, some of them looked rather like collections of anecdotes. But, nevertheless, it was kinda fun to read them.

4. Daily life in France under Napoleon by Jean Robiquet. Just one of the books I read recently. But it was about our favorite epoch (and it was in English), so...

5. La Victoire de la Grande Armée (the English title approximately should sound like “The victory of the Grand Army”, but I am not sure whether it was translated to it, I read it in Polish) by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Well, this will be the only fiction in this list of mine. And the only book about which I can’t much good, but... Yes, there are a lot of historical discrepancies there (like Poniatowski and Grouchy being marshals already in 1812, and prince Józef’s second name as Aleksander instead of Antoni), and the protagonist ( a general named François Beille) is a complete Marty-Stew, but... But to have a “universe” where Napoleon wins in 1812 and Poniatowski isn’t killed, even it is fiction - this meant a lot to me.

6. From Napoleon let’s move to Talleyrand. The latest biography of him I read was Talleyrand. The Art of Survival by Jean Orieux. And, frankly speaking, it was the best from all I read about prince of Benevento. Some of the rest book about him, however, were in English, so for those who are interested, I am giving below their titles:

Joseph McCabe, Talleyrand: A biographical Study

David Lawday, Napoleon's Master, A Life of Prince Talleyrand

Duff Cooper, Talleyrand

7. And from one of the famous diplomats of the French history let’s move to the history of diplomacy itself. A couple of years ago I read (in Polish) the book written by Nicolas Mietton on the topic of “Erotic history of the French diplomacy”. Not that there was much about Napoleon (though there was a chapter devoted to Talleyrand), but some facts about Louis the XVI were kinda revelation for me.

8. From the books about France let’s move to ones about Poland. This one, on the topic of The Duchy of Warsaw, written by professor Jarosław Czubaty, was initially published, as you might have guessed, in Polish. But it later was translate to English, and that is why I am able now to sincerely recommend it to you. (@historyman101 , might it be of your interest?)

9. And the last but not the least is the book about the Polish history in whole. Its name is God’s Playground (”Boże igrzysko” in Polish), and it is also available in English, because Norman Davies, its author, is British (and a great polonophile ;))

PS. O, how could I forget this?

10. Prince Józef Poniatowski, Pepi’s biography written by Szymon Askenazy, one of the famous Polish historians of Napoleonic era, was also translated to French, English and even German.

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voidmaykr-artz · 3 years

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This is a massive post abouuuuttttttt

Mpmfnafau!!!!

Mpmfnafau is my personal fnaf au that ive been working on for fucking YEARs now, so hopefully this will be a good enough introduction to the au.

Lets start of simple, whats the au about?:

Mpmfnafau is a darker, more depressing, and scifi take on the fnaf story, taking alot of inspiration from awesome au's such as Industrial paradise, aswell as the fnaf novels, games, and more. The au dosent have a true protagonist, however michael is my go too default, meanwhile the antagonist is ofcourse william afton. I guess now it would make sense to go through some of the characters now, introduce the big faces in the au. Lets start with our villain shall we?

-WILLIAM AFTON/DAVE MILLER-

William afton is a British/russian born immigrant to the united states of america, he was born sometime in the 20s, and grew up in a very wealthy family. He is 6'7", 375 pounds, and very, very wealthy. William afton is well known for his work in the weapons industry, aswell as his company, "Afton robotics"'s involvement with the entertainment company "fazbear entertainment". William is an extremely narcissistic, violent, psychopathic man, who holds a huge god complex, seeing him and his family superior to almost everyone else. His expensive tastes are felt just by looking at his gold rings, gold tooth implants, fancy cigars, and tailor made attire, making him stand out amongst the crowd of other wealthy men and women.

As dave, he retains most of what was mentioned before, however hes almost become more feral in a sense, due to his davr persona being created after he lost everything. As dave, he works at the hurricane police department, and is assigned to guard the fazbear location in their town, something he takes great joy in doing.

William as a whole is a bloodthirsty psychopath, who feels he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

-HENRY EMILY-

Henry emily was born in the late 1930s, in rome, italy. He is an italian immigrant to america, and has a sister named laura. He is 5'11, and 142 pounds. William took intrest in henry after meeting him in a bar, due to his revolutionary knowledge and concepts for machinery and robotics, something william wanted to use to his advantage. Henry was a well known alchoholic and drug addict, due to his almost unbearable depression, causing him to come to william for comfort, viewing him as a possibly friend. Henry loaned money from william to create fazbear entertainment, and created the first freadbears, a shocking hit for henry.

Henry had 2 children, charlie and sammy, and a wife, who is uknown. His wife devorced him and took sammy after an argument henry and her had, keaving henry a single father taking care of charlie. This was also rough for him, causing him to delve deeper into drinking to cure his sadness, whilst also burying his head in work to keep his mind from wandering.

He is honestly a sad, sad man, and is almost the complete opposite of william, suprisingly.

-MICHAEL AFTON-

Michael afton was born in 1963, to william afton and laura emily/afton. Michael is 6'3, and 245 pounds, being an exponentially muscular young man.

Michael is quite sociopathic, almost being like his father in many diffrent ways. He happens to have a really bad temper, and has alot of hatred towards the world. Him and his father have a horrible, rocky relationship, meanwhile michael is closer more to his mother, and uncle henry.

After getting scooped in afton robotics, michael dedicates his life to hunting his father down with henry, and is reserved as a gross, purple rotting body, walking due to remnant he was forced to inject in his system.

Michael isnt exactly a good person, however hes one of our only heros in mpmfnafau, so we do have to root for him.

There ofcourse are many, MANY more characters im leaving out for now, but those 3 can be considered the main, main characters.

-AFTON ROBOTICS AND REMNANT-

In mpmfnafau, afton robotics appears to just be a robotics company/factory that produces machines, and other such products, however under the surface is a deep, dark secret held by the company, that, sadly, would never come to light.

Afton robotics whilst appearing normal, was in actuality, a cult dedicated to william afton himself, and his discovery of remnant, the nickname he gave to the supernatural matter that made up a human soul, and using this discovery, claimed he had the cure for mortality, the cult, worships william, and belives in undeath, creating machines as a front to hide their true intentions, which was abolishing death completely.

The ramnant substance is a orange glowing liquid, it looks thick like jelly, yet has the same density as water, giving it an almost uncanny look. Remnant kept a user alive, by forcing mass onto the soul, in turn, making it unable to leave the bost body until completely destroyed.

However, too much remnant could not be consumed, otherwise your soul would overload, and practically shatter, causing you to die a horrible, horrible death.

I could go on and on, but for now, you all have the basics to get started with mpmfnafau, please, if you enjoyed this, share this around, ask questions, any engagement is good. Thanks guys! ❤

#fnaf #fnaf au #fnaf art #fnaf alternate universe #five nights at freddy's #five nights at freddys au #alternate timeline #alternative universe

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2am-theswifthour · 4 years

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The 8 Theory-Folklore’s Commentary on Youth

Yesterday, I took note of @taylorswift and her careful attention to the number 8.

“Not a lot going on at the moment” had 8 words. The 8th track is “august,” which is also the 8th month in the year. She has 8 deluxe editions of her album. Many attributed this to Folklore being Taylor’s 8th album. I thought it meant either a.) we needed to pay very close attention to track #8 or b.) that 8 references infinity, a.k.a “forever and ever.”

To my surprise, I was actually selling Taylor Swift short.

When listening to the album, there’s a lot of back and forth in emotion and circumstance. I was confused about the order, especially when the strikingly sobering “hoax” followed the self-aware almost-tranquility of “peace.” Then it hit me. There are two schools of thought going on.

There are 16 tracks on Folklore (excluding the bonus track none of us have heard). 16/2=8. This means there are 2 equal emotional song threads on the album. In other words, you can get two drastically different lessons listening to each group of 8.

When you separate the even numbered tracks from the odd numbered tracks you get the following:

Odd

the 1

the last great american dynasty

my tears ricochet

seven

this is me trying

invisible string

epiphany

peace

Even

cardigan

exile

mirrorball

august

illicit affairs

mad woman

betty

hoax

Odd Interpretation:

Starting with “the 1” and “the last great american dynasty,” the lyrics are very upfront in showing that the protagonists are making fully intentioned mistakes. “the 1” says, “in my defense, I have none for never leaving well enough alone” (I see you “ME!” reference). In “the last great American dynasty” it says, “she had a marvelous time ruining everything.” These characters’ folly is their youth-induced selfishness. They’re casual in the harm they cause because they distance themselves from it. They’re fine with what they don’t look at closely. When you’re young, you make a mess of things in service of YOUR need. Your need for companionship. Your need for the thrill of danger. Your need to make your mark, to be somebody, to leave something behind. The marvel of the excitement and the chase and the very vitality of teens to 20-somethings’ shenanigans blinds us to the scale of our destruction…

…until you have no choice but to face the consequences of your recklessness.

The next track, “my tears ricochet” is not your average track 5. It functions as a pivoting point. Now our narrator is the hurt party, the one baring the brunt of callous treatment. Fickle mistreatment is no longer so casual. Now it’s a torment, and the tormentor learns the scale of their damage. So much so, that they get burned too. They learned their lesson at a terrible price, but what’s most important is that they learned.

“seven” is a long-overlooked memory revisited. In this picture of naïve innocence, the narrator tells of their childish belief in the impossible. Through magic and play pretend and fantasy they are invincible. They have all the control in the world to control the world they live in. Obviously, this is a flawed perspective that everyone eventually grows out of. Fairy tales don’t solve real problems. The point is that their sense of self-importance is in service of a stronger moral compass than the first two songs. If we accept our responsibility to others, to do what we can to ensure their welfare, are we not better and more satisfied people for it?

“this is me trying” hears that lesson and attempts to walk the walk. Part of being responsible to your fellow human is taking accountability when you fumble. The narrator doesn’t know what to say or how to make it right. What they do know is that they’re here, they’ve put the bottle down, and that they’re willing to try what’s necessary to heal what they’ve hurt.

“invisible string” gives us the reward we’ve been waiting for. The narrator says, “cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart, now I send their babies presents.” This is someone who has gone from lashing out in anger at a partner from a burned relationship to genuinely wishing them well in their next stage in life. It’s a powerful testament when you can recognize that youth drives us all to make hurtful decisions and that no one is immune to change if they truly want to change. When you let the anger and lies go, the strings that tied you to them fade away. All that’s left is the string you want to hold onto. The string tied to the one who matters, because you’ve made the conscious decision to deduce that their worth as a person should equal yours. It’s a painful path to traverse through, but when you do it’s all worthwhile. That’s why the narrator can say with confidence “hell was the journey but it brought me to heaven.”

In any other album, a song like “invisible string” would be the quintessential emotional payoff for this story arc. However, because this album is a masterpiece, we have a different payoff point in “epiphany.” “epiphany” takes us out of the world of a romantic relationship. We hear descriptions of war and nurses dealing with the despair of this international pandemic. This point in this emotional thread is that it powerfully declares it’s not enough to do no harm nor is it enough to just empathize with your romantic partner. You MUST show your responsibility to your fellow man. Stand beside them. Empathize with them. See them as whole human beings. Do good by them. In other words, it is our duty to do right by everyone, for everyone bleeds, loves, and dies.

The 8-song selection ends with “peace.” The song begins by saying that their, “coming-of-age” has come and gone.” I believe this (along with “invisible string”) to be the most overtly “Taylor Swift” track in perspective. This is her speaking as herself. She lets us know that she’s grown through taking her mistakes, and the mistakes she learned through folklore, into account. She is overly aware of her flaws and feels she pales in comparison to her partner. Rather than allow those insecurities to manifest in unchecked rage or resentment, she takes it as a challenge for herself to do better. She knows she can never give him complete peace (due to inside and outside factors), but she can make the choice to give him unselfish promises and embrace the entirety of her partner’s life. This is a person who has learned the value of selflessness in love and life, which makes this whole thread worth everything.

Even Interpretation:

“cardigan” foreshadows the eventual failure of the even path. The odd interpretation I just described culminated in the narrator finding their place with “the one” because they’ve left everything petty and casually cruel behind. In “cardigan” it says “chase two girls, lose the one.” On top of this directly referencing the first track, it also implies the partner’s self-destruction. By toying with two girls, James is losing “the one.” I don’t think losing “the one” means that you keep one of the two of them. I think it means that engaging in that kind of behavior makes you into a person that isn’t ready, or worthy, of “the one” that they are meant to be with forever. Meeting and keeping “the one” has to require each partner to love themselves and their partner wholly, truly, and selflessly. They can’t be a cardigan you pick up and only wear on the weekends. They must be a wholehearted commitment.

“exile” shows the blowout from “cardigan.” The two couldn’t stay together, and Bon Iver’s (character’s) toxicity comes out full force. He thinks her new man is lesser than him. He’s prepared to throw punches despite being at fault over a hundred times. He’s seen the film before, and he didn’t like the ending because it didn’t work out for him. He wants her under his thumb, not having learned from his prior relationships that that just can’t work. They leave out the side doors, neither fully ready to confront the problems head on.

“mirrorball” is daring in its shift of focus. While all of the tracks I’ve mentioned thus far have dealt, in some way, with the problems that result from a young person’s selfishness, this song doesn’t do that. This song illustrates an extreme that young people participate in at the opposite end of the spectrum; radical selflessness. To be selfless means that you should never allow something that harms someone else to happen just because it benefits you. Young people, girls in particular, are often groomed to interpret selflessness differently. Their definition is synonymous with accommodation. Change your looks, change your personality, don’t object, and embody what your partner wants so that they’re happy. That’s why the symbol is the mirrorball in the song. It reflects everything in the room but itself. By explicitly not factoring in their own sense of self-respect in a relationship, they are unknowingly and tragically enabling their partner’s mistreatment. To be clear, that doesn’t mean abuse is their fault if they have low self-esteem. It’s not, even remotely. But not having the capacity to defend your self-worth is what keeps so many drawn into toxic relationships there for so long. This radical selflessness manifests itself in the other woman too. In “august” it explicitly says that she was living on the, “hope of it all” and that she would cancel plans in the name of a potential hookup with someone who was never hers. The idea of radical selflessness culminates in “illicit affairs” when one of the women deals with their addictive compulsion toward someone who treats them like a cheap lay. Their relationship is a secret that leaves her feeling used in parking lots and as though any trace of her is gone. These three songs have taken the desperate hopelessness of “Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind” to the extreme.

Many have speculated that “mad woman” is a commentary on the Taylor/Scooter conflict and I’m inclined to agree. However, if I were to assign an interpretation that goes with my theory, I would say that “mad woman” details the unforeseen consequences of a tormentor’s abuse. When a toxic partner performs bad behavior, their expectation is that they will always be found in the right. After all, Taylor noted on her previous album that for men, “everyone believes [them].” So in the face of lies about her character that everyone believes, she gets rightfully angry. Her anger is their affirmation. For many, a woman being angry on her own behalf is “crazy” and “irrational.” What kind of a society have we set up? A society that promotes women to lack self-worth and, should they find it, they’ll meet a whole other exile.

“betty” is our complete look into James’ perspective. On its own, it sounds like a big romantic gesture to get behind. However, this path is very clear to put “cardigan” first. “cardigan” says, “I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired and you’d be standin’ in my front porch light.” Lo and behold, in “betty” he shows up to her party when she doesn’t want to see him and asks if she would, “kiss [him] on the porch in front of all [her] stupid friends.” It’s an absolute punch in the gut. Betty knows in “cardigan” that he would come back after he had his fun with another girl, but that she would take him back when he saw momentary value in her again. James in “betty” claims he didn’t know anything, but that’s just an excuse. He knew what he was doing, he knew that he would be able to pick up her broken pieces with ease, he knew he could isolate her from her friends, and he knew that he could capture the imperfect “comfort” of that cardigan again.

This path ends in the final even-numbered song, “hoax.” In the odd numbers, “peace” shows a lesson learned. This even path shows what happens when we don’t learn. The seeds of youth-driven mistakes have led us here. The narrator wants nothing outside the pain of this faithless love. Without learning what it means to be selfless, the traumas of these young relationships create a never-ending cycle. The narrator knows that the “love” is a “hoax” but doesn’t care because that’s all they have. There’s no point to wanting anything else. Without the perspective of age, of truly going beyond that, they’re stuck in a truly dark place.

Final Thoughts:

Taylor Swift is an exceptional artist for a lot of reasons. No one makes albums this good this far into their career. Most artists teeter off after two or three because they retread. Their audience inevitably gets bored of them e same thing time and again. Repeating themselves is something that a lot of artists do because they want to go with the formula of what works. With Folklore, Taylor has done what few artists have dared to do. She’s allowed her discography as a place to uncompromisingly expand her worldview and challenge her listeners. She’s not reiterating previous lessons to make another quick sale. Instead, every album prior has been a steppingstone. As she said at the Time 100 Gala, she has truly turned her lessons into her legacy. From a variety of narrators, she has brought what I decree to be her best album to date. This wouldn’t happen for anyone else 8 albums into their career, but she’s done it by devoutly embracing age’s wisdom.

Learn from the highs and lows presented in these paths. As all good folklore does, it teaches us how to live better. It is our duty to live selflessly and with self-assured dignity. These writings, I have no doubt, will become integral to the legend that is Taylor Alison Swift.

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agoddamn · 3 years

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Another thing that sticks out to me about horror is that, when you see enough, you start noticing that certain streams do and do not ever get crossed.

Like, insanity and mysticism are very often crossed. You look at Cthulhu and it makes you insane, that kind of thing. Ultraviolence and insanity are also often crossed, with or without mysticism; people go crazy and then commit acts of violence that sane people would never conceive of, and the horror comes from the sheer shock of their actions.

Sexual violence and mysticism will cross over sometimes, but typically with a male protagonist; it's a greater horror when viewed by an outsider than by an insider (to theorize in a very, very general way, perhaps because sexual violence is a very grounded real-life horror to women while it's more comfortable for men to see it as an act committed by very vague monstrous Others rather than fellow normal men).

But child molestation and the supernatural almost never cross. Most of the time, demons will happily eat kids but molesting them? Goodness, no!

This probably sounds like a very weird thought process to have and hey, I do fully agree with that. I was thumbing through a number of "best creepypasta" stories and eventually came upon one that was the straight-up mundane horror of a father realizing that his son had been abused by someone posing as a teacher, and after reading several Satan blood guts unknowable hellscape yadda yadda creepypastas my reaction was a belated, "oh, you mean like a normal human molestation where nobody was a demon."

Which, again...this is a very weird thought process that you only hit at a certain level of emotional removal from what you're reading. I ever tell you that I mainlined Stephen King books through late middle school and high school?

But I do think it's interesting, that general violence, adult sexual violence, and child sexual violence are treated in such different ways as if by silent consensus. There might be stories where demons inflict sexual violence on adults, but on children?! Demons have standards! Something something something the different ways we conceptualize sexual violence towards adults and children and our human eagerness to ascribe it to an Other.

[this is really just a very specific manifestation of American weirdness about sexuality vs violence]

#child molestation cw/#i have been drinking #my laptop isn't working right so you get my ill-advised emotional ramble

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thedivinedemom · 3 years

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An AU of DC with a mass crossover of PS4 properties.

Provisional name: Players Searching for Detectable Changes (Get the pun?)

The setup:

This is the future of DC, a world where the old guard has slowly withdrawn and the newer generations have risen to the occasion. The original Titans in particular, most of which have formed the new Justice League while many other, very similar teams had started to form across the world. One of which was a resurgence of the Teen Titans, led by an older and purified Raven. She wanted to make the Teen Titans something akin as it was for her, a place to belong and learn to use one's powers.

The first 'class' of such individuals include:

Stargirl (of the now-disbanded JSA and still getting used to the Starrod)

Blue Beetle III (Freshly attached to his alien symbiote and freaking out a bit)

Robin V (to work on his anger issues, mostly at the new Batman's request)

Kaldur (a half Atlantean half metahuman who is struggling with his identity and the surface world, Aquaman feels a kinship for the boy seeing their similarities)

Static Shock (a promising new hero but little experience working outside his city or in groups)

Mary Marvel (she's... she's going through alot. Fresh from a coma, her brother is distant as he acts as the new Wizard, and she may be, sorta kinda, being corrupted by Black Adam's gifted power)

The team was rough and there was plenty of head butting (Mostly between Stargirl and Robin/Damian as one is almost the unanimous leader while the other thinks he should be) but they were getting there. They were more of a clean up crew for the Justice League, they did more than the "kiddie missions" that the Outsiders didn't do, and they meant more than the PR grab that was the International team. Though they didn't seem to amount to more than that. They still did their best, pushing past the silent ridicule, as they went about their missions.

This may be why tempers were so high that day.

One day, outside a little city by the name of Weller's Point, the prisoner transport for the villain Plasmus had an "accident". Released and awakened the creature went on a rampage, heading ever closer to the populated area. Luckily, the mentor of the New Teen Titans could teleport. The new team did fairly well in the fight, though they did struggle a bit as Plasmus was not a being where simple brute force would work. It made the fight tricky and more than a bit... messy.

Messy enough that juvenile and emotionally compromised Mary Marvel lashed out against the downed villain but was stopped by her teammates... things escalated from there. Restraint turned blows and the whole team struggled to stop their powerhouse without hurting her. The ones who do the best are Raven, Stargirl, Blue Beetle, and oddly Static.

While both of the former could use their abilities to restrain her to a very effective degree Static was actively draining her of strength, or at least of the electic aura she was radiating and blasting with. Frustrated, done with the situation, and a bit petty Mary launched her largest attack yet by saying her magical word.

SHAZAM.

Virgil did what he did best, he handled that lightning as it came crashing down towards Mary and the Titans restraining her. Well, he tried. The bolt was just too powerful, too unlike anything he had ever encountered. He could not handle it and it was dissipating, if anything it clung to him or tried to jump towards the girl. He had to get rid of it and he had to get rid of it quickly, safely too if he could help it.

He shoved it into the ground, into the power lines. He did it as carefully as he could, trying to prevent overload or flashover as guided the charge into the power grid.

What happened next was a combination of a few things. 1. The Mystic and transformative properties of the Lightning, 2. It is effectively being filtered through a bang baby, 3. The kryptonite power plant owned by, provided by, and operated by Lexcorp.

This interaction, this new charge, cycling through the power grid interacted strangely with a number of devices but none more so than PlayStation 4s and the devices connected to them. This new electricity changed things, literally. It brought fantasy into reality.

Whatever game was loaded into became a part of our reality in a small way. Sometimes TVs, Controllers, and even the system changed to reflect items from the game but the bigger change came with the Players. If a person was playing their console during the surge then they would become a metahuman with abilities based on the playable character they were playing.

The city, the county even, was now flooded by an abundance of metahumans and items of varying power of devastation. Static felt horrible.

He couldn't help but compare what has happened here to what happened in Dakota City but on a wider scale. And this time it was his fault. His sense of responsibility wouldn't, couldn't, let that stand. He had to fix his mistake and his team was dragged along for the ride.

The story to follow is a mix of Final Crisis and Kingdom Come with a bit of the Young Justice cartoon in events and themes, a few twists and likely a bit lighter in tone but to the DC geeks this should give a rough idea… Maybe a bit of Marvel's Civil War but hopefully not the rushed knee-jerk mess that that ended up being.

But it's here that I start having issues with my planning. One part in worry as outside the set up we start to follow the perspective of OCs (something rarely smiled upon) and another part in wondering which OC to focus on.

Now, one thing I love in fiction is progressive powers and the conflict escalating from the different paths people take in said progression. In that vein, I have a pair of protags in mind as well.

The main two/co-protagonists:

The Lawkeeper- a cop before the change and now a member of a task force made up largely of those affected by the surge. A gamer, a man of color, and a believer of the spirit of the law. He doesn't always get along with his fellow officers but he believes in what the blue does. He believes that an organized response is what is best.

His abilities are based on those of Jesse Fades of Control. Meaning he has tremendous psychic potential but he needs 3 things to reach his full potential.

1.Items to bond to so he can generate these psychic abilities. Jesse's used altered items of her universe to get thematic abilities from them (ex: a safe to generate a shield, a carousel horse for a dash ability, ect). Here he can use items generated by the surge.

2. A patron/partner entity to help guide, give insights, and empower. It also let's the user enforce reality, basically becoming an anti reality warper.

3. A bonded morph weapon or a weapon to come to his hand when called.

The knight- a recent college graduate who instantly decided to go the route of the caped hero. She, after figuring out how to get her powers to work, instantly went the route of a caped crusader. Going out to the streets, saving lives, stopping instances of surge item abuse, and (in the humble opinion of the local Police Department) getting in the way of operations. In her opinion they were taking too long to get things done.

Her abilities are based on those of Prince Noctis of Final Fantasy XV. This means she has tremendous physical and magical potential but like the above she has a number of check marks needed to gain access to the character's full power.

1. A gem/crystal to draw power from.

2. 13 magical weapons to boost strength. The generated game weapons will do and I have most picked out in a way that likely would help the plot progress.

3. The blessing of 5-6 gods.

4. A power ring of some king to channel all this power.

I keep debating the two above as I do like the idea of both of them climbing in power and clashing over conflicting ideals of what to do with their power. At the same time, I think that just smooshing aspects of both into one (which is actually where they started, a single character) and play off the different ideologies of how best to help people from within her friend group and precinct along with internal conflict. Maybe have the one be a fellow officer they butt heads with because of the... precarious nature

Another OC I was thinking on, keeping with the theme of what to do when you have power, is a thief who played Persona 5. Like both of the above they would be crippled in their ability to use their abilities without a way to fake the connection to. In this case, without the Mementos App, they would need an item that could affect or enter the hearts of others. Luckily, more unlucky really, there are plenty of items floating around that can do just that. Namely Keyblades.

Most other Players are an odd mix but most are variations of the Shooter build. Peak physical humans who heal quickly and often have bullet time. But there are enough other variations to cause trouble. Demigods of unreal strength, men and women who can easily tap into a patron for powers from the outside, 2 variations of spider powers, cat eyed men and women who can cast magic with simple gestures, and so much more. But the real issue was the first two, the demigods without a parent to protect them and those easily connected to a divine source.

The disembodied New Gods of Apocalypse were very happy with those groups. For how bad this can be please look at what happened to Mary Marvel in canon Final Crisis.

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

#dc community #fanfiction #dc fanfic #dc fandom #playstation #mass crossover #orginal character #dc fanfiction #dc fanfiction idea #outline

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