#its funny you know because my taste in fictional women has not changed at all over the years

[your-pal-nebula]

I just want to inform you all that after finishing Hazbin with my dad, he told me that "Oh yeah I could tell you had a crush on Lute because your face lit up whenever she was on screen"

I DID NOT REALIZE MY FACE DID THAT

[dwellordream]

“In theory, Victorians concerned with troublesome issues on the margins of respectable fiction for girls could deal with them within the family reading circle. Reading aloud was perhaps the most common domestic entertainment within the Victorian family, used as reward, improvement, or therapy for life’s challenges. The sisters taking turns reading to accompany their needlework, the matron at the sickbed, the daughter reading to her father at the end of a business day—there were myriad arenas in which families used reading to ease, amuse, and instruct.

At its most basic, reading aloud enabled the sharing of resources (a book, or a fresh installment of a periodical) among many. But beyond that, it was a profoundly social way of responding to the lessons of history, current fiction, or poetry. The critic Andrew Blake suggests that the novel, in particular, was ‘‘a most important point of contact between the public and the private’’ because ‘‘it gave people a chance to discuss domestic ideology in public without touching on domestic secrets.’’ The semipublic sphere that was the family circle provided an important venue for the discussion of reading. Within this context, instruction in morality could be accomplished informally, gently, impersonally, with reference to fictional characters rather than through direct criticism and rebuttal.

The convention of the family reading circle generally restricted polite novels from treating illicit sexuality or immoral characters, but if any lapses occurred, the family circle could deal with them most effectively. Thus Elizabeth Gaskell said of her own novel Ruth, which features an orphan who has been seduced by an aristocrat: ‘‘Of course it is a prohibited book in this, as in many other households.’’ The one circumstance that would change its unsuitability for young people, she opined, was if it was ‘‘read with someone older,’’ perhaps with an older female relative within a family reading group.

The kind of family conversation which could improve all who participated was explained by Sarah Browne in a private diary in 1859. ‘‘Albert brings [Harriet Beecher Stowe’s] the Minister’s Wooing. We sit quietly and hear how James is brought back to the living, we calmly rejoice with Mary, plan and maneuver with Miss Pressy, call Parson Hopkins in very truth a Christian and wind up the evening by wishing to see Mrs. Stowe, knowing how she would seem and if she would talk at all, like other women.’’

Albert Browne Sr. was generally the reader in the Browne family, sometimes of ‘‘superior articles in the Atlantic Monthly.’’ In these moments of quiet, Sarah Browne most idealized her shared family life, ‘‘sitting as we do in our little western chamber, Father, Alice and I storing in the rich thoughts of others as a life element of our own.’’Reading aloud enabled a submersion of family tensions in a focus outward on the problems of others.

The idealization of the shared reading experience suggested stylized familial communion to daughters as well as parents. During the final days of the Civil War, as she anticipated her own marriage, Helen Hart thought to memorialize the evenings reading aloud together. ‘‘I think I never enjoyed evenings more in my life. First Bertie reads, then Hady, and then Mother and I; from History, Shakespeare, the Atlantic, and other miscellany. Such peaceful, happy winter evenings at home! Something for us to look back upon in after years when we are scattered. I have treasured up each one as it passed, as a sweet and sacred memory.’’ The pleasure came from the contrast between ‘‘our quiet harbor’’ and ‘‘the world with its commotions, its struggles.’’

Never did home seem so secure and safe as when implicitly contrasted with the adventures and misfortunes of fictional characters, warring nations, or past princes. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s biographer noted that Charlotte and her destitute and emotionally distant mother were at their best when reading aloud to each other, their fraught intimacy dissolved in their shared focus on the lives and feelings of others. Those moments of community might even be resurrected by rereading books so experienced. (‘‘It seems as if we were gathered around the nursery fire again. I can almost hear Aunt Mary’s voice.’’) The pleasures of reading aloud were those of reading mediated—reading mediated by the fiction of shared purpose.

Reading aloud did not have a single simple meaning, however, nor did it model only one kind of power relationship. The Browne family’s shared reading was patriarchal, with father reading and other family members (according to the hardly impartial mother) celebrating familial harmony. Alice Stone Blackwell, in her irreverent and spritely diary, offered another example of paternal reading aloud, lightly satirizing her father, the noted reformer and women’s rights advocate Henry Blackwell:

‘‘Papa sat with his feet on the top of the stove, saturated with laziness, and rated me for enjoying stories [fiction], and formed plans to give me a taste for instructive literature, and ended by making me bring Plutarch’s Lives, and beginning to read them aloud.’’ This depiction of a well-respected father indulging in playful tyranny of his only child suggests a quite different emotional shading—if a similar actual structure—to the idealized portraits of patriarchal reading circles.

Daughters also read on their own, though, and given the risks of immoral reading and the gains from uplifting reading, good parents attempted to mon- itor what they read. The goal in choosing reading, as in all the lessons of character, was to instruct gently and surely so as to encourage daughters to make familial lessons their own. Advice to parents ranged from the relatively cut and dried—‘‘Parents should choose the books that their children read until the age of 15’’—to the more subtle: ‘‘Wise parents put so many good books in the way of their children that the taste for them is formed unconsciously, and there is never any feeling of restraint.’’ (The latter piece of advice, made in 1901, was clearly advice for the book-wealthy.)

Ellen Emerson’s correspondence with her mother while away at boarding school suggested the appropriate supervisory relationship of parents over girls’ reading. Explaining that she was reading Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, which she found ‘‘a very funny book,’’ she went on, ‘‘I never read any that I am not sure you would be willing to have me,’’ and recorded her assumption that Scott, Gaskell, and several others were ‘‘not forbidden.’’ She went on to query, ‘‘May I read [Margaret Oliphant’s] ‘Head of the Family’?’’ Middle-class or elite parents who participated in genteel Victorian culture assumed an important role in controlling the reading of their daughters—its quantity, its contents, and its circumstances.

In the elite midwestern Hamilton family, a family with a strong and eclectic reading tradition, novels were doled out prudently like candies during vacations from school, so as not to interfere with schoolwork. When her daughter was fifteen, Phoebe Hamilton gave her ‘‘Ivanhoe for my holiday reading, she always gives me one of Scott every vacation.’’ The next year her mother was more liberal, providing Scott’s Quentin Durward for a Christmas book and giving permission for the reading of Dickens’s Little Dorrit and Jemima Tautphoeus’s The Initials. As January arrived, Agnes lamented, ‘‘I have finished the latter but I am afraid as I go back to school next Monday I shall have to let Little Dorrit wait till summer.’’

There was a hierarchy within Hamilton family reading, and despite her voraciousness, Agnes felt that her tastes fell short of her family’s preferences. ‘‘Oh! why haven’t I the love of learning of the family?’’ She indicated what was expected in her next breath: ‘‘Knight’s England vol. III has been read all but two chapters since last fall and during two months I have read but four books of the Odyssey.’’ She forced herself to be realistic. ‘‘During this next week [probably a school vacation] I want [to] finish half a dozen or more books which I have begun but I dare say the novels are the only ones that will be looked much in.’’

Like the Hamilton reading regimen, other family routines, too, involved matters of both quality and quantity. There were appropriate ages for the reading of different books. At fifteen, Margaret Tileston wanted to read George Macdonald’s Alec Forbes of Howglen, an homage to the dignity of Scots country life. The author was certainly approved, but Margaret’s mother didn’t want her to read the book ‘‘yet.’’

At eighteen, Margaret was still reading under adult scrutiny. Sick at home she was ‘‘allowed’’ to read Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, considered excessively charged for young girls, and polished off 340 pages on the first day. Reading was one way of being inducted into family ideology; when Margaret reread Pilgrim’s Progress in 1883, she was conscious that she was reading a book that had been important to her mother when she was young.”

- Jane H. Hunter, “Reading and the Development of Taste.” in How Young Ladies Became Girls: The Victorian Origins of American Girlhood

[notthatiwilleverwriteit]

Yo I'm sorry but I read your answer to that one ask about nsfw stuff in one day/19 days. And for the most part I agree, exept for one thing. Please, for the love of god, don't say this is a comic "for" women. Yes it's bl BUT Old Xian is not a god damn fujoshi. He is male and uses he/him pronouns. This is not a story focused to please female viewers. This is a story about boys in love by a man not some god damn fetish for women. Just because it has a "manga style" doesn't mean it's a "Yaoi" :')

Good afternoon, dear anon-san!

And thank you for your comment regarding my earlier answer about 19 Days being NSFW. I’m glad to hear you felt like you could agree with most of it even though there was something that rubbed you the wrong way. I have no problem with people disagreeing with me or coming forward if they take issue with whatever I have said. But I would be lying if I said answering your comment doesn’t make me nervous. BL and fujoshis are quite controversial topics that I’m sure will divide people reading this or following me. But I don’t think I would be doing anyone a favor if I wasn’t honest even if what I have to say is controversial. I would like to think I have always tried to be open to all kinds of opinions and perspectives even if they differ from mine, and I hope people will extend me the courtesy. 

“Yes it’s bl BUT Old Xian is not a god damn fujoshi. He is male and uses he/him pronouns.”

I don’t think I said OldXian was a fujoshi, but I can see how that might have been implied by me saying 19 Days is a work of BL. As a genre, BL is typically targeted at a female audience by female authors. However, that is just how it usually goes. BL has plenty of male fans, too, and they’re called fudanshi. I’m not saying OX is a fudanshi but rather that all kinds of people can be fans of BL. It’s not tied to one’s gender.

Also, while males writing BL certainly isn’t typical, it’s not unheard of, either. Sadly, the author’s gender is somehow considered relevant even these days which has resulted in many male BL authors using female aliases (and vice versa when it comes to females writing genres that are typically written by male authors). But there are some BL authors who are openly males, too. For example, D. Jun – the author of Guang Xiang and Here U Are – is apparently a male.

“This is not a story focused to please female viewers. This is a story about boys in love by a man not some god damn fetish for women. Just because it has a “manga style” doesn’t mean it’s a ‘Yaoi’”

No, having “manga style” doesn’t make 19 Days a yaoi. The fact that one of its major themes is gay love makes it a BL, though. Especially in the context of it being an Asian publication. Are there other kinds of relationships and themes included, too? Yes, most definitely! And they’re all intriguing and essential to the story. The comic is also about friendship, families, and coming of age, to name a few. But it can’t be denied a pretty significant part of it revolves around homoerotic love, and that kind of theme is mainly consumed by a prominently female audience. They are also more often than not heavily targeted at female readers and to appeal to their tastes.

Case in point, the good-looking male protagonists with lean muscles and the author not exactly shying away from drawing them at least half-naked. You could also say He Tian’s character is the kind that typically appeals to females – a dark bad boy with a hot bod and vulnerable, tragic past. And what do you know, he’s at least the second fan favorite - if not the most liked, even. Are we really going to pretend these aspects aren’t attracting and appealing to female readers? Am I really the only one seeing readers drool and squeal whenever OX publishes chapters featuring shirtless HT, moments of tender gay affection, or illustrations of suggestive poses (homoerotic or otherwise)? Is OX doing it intentionally to appeal to female readers? No one but OX can answer to that, but does it really matter? I don’t think it changes the end result; it attracts largely females and I’m sure many of them are avid consumers of BL, too.

I don’t think this has escaped OX, either. A couple of times by now, the comic has made references to BL genre, girls being fans of cute guys together and how that kind of material attracts the female attention (ch. 151, 295, and 296):

(Sorry for the cencor, but Tumblr wouldn’t let me post this otherwise...)

Those moments can basically be taken both as OX making light of the genre and the comic being self-aware. 19 Days makes funny metafictional references while also utilizing the BL conventions itself. It’s also a clever way if the author wants to take a stand on how their work is different from its predecessors in the same genre. Because I think 19 Days is quite one of a kind compared to other BL publications. And it has sparked conversations regarding the BL conventions, for example, ukes vs. semes. It can do all that and still be a BL as such that it appeals to females or fans of the genre in general.

Now, does any of that mean 19 Days can’t appeal to other kinds of fans, too? Of course, not! In fact, you yourself dear anon-san, are an excellent example of that. I think 19 Days is one of the few Asian BL comics that has attracted countless of Western fans, too, who are perhaps not that familiar with Asian BL. It should also be noted that m/m ships are hugely popular in the Western fandoms, too. They are just more tied to the original works and not really separated to become a genre of its own as has happened with BL in Asia, especially in Japan. As it happens, the stats of the Top 100 Ships on AO3 in 2019 were just published the other day, and whopping 69 of them are slash aka m/m. Do you think that is completely unrelated to the fact that fanfiction is mostly written and read by females? I’m not saying it’s the only reason because it’s more complicated than that, but it certainly indicates Western female audiences are also big fans of homoerotic content. And they, too, are often accused of “making everything gay”.

I also don’t have a problem admitting this: If 19 Days didn’t have homoerotic themes whatsoever and the boys were having crushes on females, I doubt I would have been interested in the comic. The other themes I mentioned above are interesting to me, but on their own and paired up with m/f endgame relationships they wouldn’t be enough for me. I don’t read 19 Days just for the gay content, but it is a significant reason why I originally checked it out and why I keep loving it. Personally, I don’t think being attracted to the gay aspect and loving the story and characters, too, has to be an either-or kind of deal. You can very well do both. Does saying this somehow make me less of a fan of 19 Days? I’m sure it does in some people’s eyes but frankly, I don’t need other’s approval to love and be interested in something.

So far, I have pretty much disagreed with everything you said, but allow me to offer you an olive branch, dear anon-san. I get why my BL-related notions may have upset you. I get where you are coming from with saying 19 Days isn’t a “fetish for women”. You don’t want something you love to be associated with something you clearly despise. Yaoi and fujoshis have a bad rep, and I’m not trying to pretend like it’s completely underserved. I read a lot of BL but don’t really agree with the hardcore fujoshi mentality or identify with them as a group. I also think BL works have many tropes and conventions that do not represent realistic gay relationships and are highly problematic. However, BL is a fictional genre with its own history, development, conventions, and target audience. And as an avid BL reader, I think just because something appeals to me in a fictional setting it doesn’t mean I’m advocating the same things in real life.

To be honest, talking about this kind of makes my stomach twist with dread and nerves because I realize many people might get upset over this. And putting yourself in this kind of position on Tumblr especially can be a bit risky. So, let me say it once again: People are welcome to disagree with me or think I’m as wrong as humanly possible. And I would most probably understand where they are coming from. However, I would also like to remind anyone feeling angry with me that this is just me coming from a different point of view. Just like you are, dear anon-san. As far as I’m concerned, you are free to enjoy 19 Days from your own perspective and me from mine without it having to mean we’re somehow robbing each other of something.

[demonsdarling]

folklore first listen thoughts

the 1: CATCHY from the start. HIT THE GROUND RUNNING sweeter than fiction rights. very sweet heartbreak song. “in my defense i have none” NEVER LEAVING WELL ENOUGH ALONE. i like it a lot, so much metaphor and imagery. i definitely wanna feel this

cardigan: catchy, very much the type of song that would sound good loud in the car at night. “a friend to all is a friend to none, chase two girls lose the one”. i really can’t wait to figure out what this one means. so far this feels very heartbreak heavy, even though i’m only two songs in. “tried to change the ending, peter losing wendy”. obviously young love WHY DO I WANNA FEEL THESE SO BAD. someone better take one for the team and break my heart while i’m still a teenager. someone to make me feel better about myself and then to look back on losing that. wow

the last great american dynasty: rebecca as a character being introduced, i really like the idea here. like gossiping at a wedding like that. “maddest woman this town has ever seen”. i feel like rebecca is a character taylor relates to and put herself into her. TAYLOR BOUGHT THE HOUSE WOW. so it’s about the woman who lived there before her i love that. if i hadn’t lived in my house for my whole life, i’d totally romanticize the people who lived here before.

exile: off the bat reminds me of the last time. i like the film/story/ending theme that continues throughout the album. it really connects it all and i feel very immersed into it. lyrically this song is very beautiful and it just sounds so very good. sounds very red & speak now which i obviously LOVE. also i love that it’s so long. “you’re not my homeland anymore” WOW WOW. so beautiful ily this song

my tears ricochet: sounds very haunting right off the bat. weeping in a sunlit room hurts me so much i just know this will be the best crying song. loveD till my dying day?? is this from the perspective of a dead person STOP that’s heartbreaking. i have chills what the fuck. it’s so BEAUTIFUL “you wear the same jewels i have you to bury me” i said wow out loud like. i have nothing else to say but wow. stolen lullaby <3

mirrorball: sounds very young and sweet. reminds me of starlight for some reason, which i love so much. it sounds like a really sweet first love and learning about the other person and yourself and falling into that and learning from the experience. i might be obsessed with the idea of first love lately, so that’s perfect for me. this is a favorite i love it so much.

SEVEN!: so i claimed this song earlier because i say seven as a response to everything and thought it was funny. but this is a missing childhood anthem, which is so fearless. childhood best friends, this is everything to me. i was worried i wouldn’t love it this much. “just like a folk song, our love will be passed on” PLEASE PICTURE ME IN THE WEEDS BEFORE I LEARN CIVILITY. i’m literally crying. growing up was always my biggest fear, i always want to go back to being little and this wraps it up so well. “passed on like folk songs, our love lasts so long”

august: back to a love song! young love! OH ITS SO SWEET AND HAPPY SOUNDING. kind of an imaginary love, taylor at my age, and i’m inserting myself here because it feels so right. i had a trio of songs on fearless at age 7 and these three songs feels like that again. yeah i’m gonna need a summer romance like i’ve been dreaming of since i was 15. this sounds like every daydream i have about the people i have crushes on and i love that so much. i love relating to taylor so much.

this is me trying: this is so beautiful wow. it has the energy of a sweet and soft version of hygtg but this time taylor is chasing? i think this is one those songs everyone can adapt to their story. “so i got wasted like all my potential”. this one feels so real to me. i really am relating to this one and i might fall apart to this song. second cry of the album.

illicit affairs: I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA UPBEAT AND LOVER-ESQUE but it’s a beautiful sweet secret love story. this love here seems crushing and painful. it reminds me a little of 1989 in the vocals i think? which is so cool. i really love the bridge on this one. this love story is so obviously so unique and all-consuming and yet it’s secret at the same time. i fucking love it.

invisible string: of course she says 16 again!!!!! why does she romanticize 16 so much? for me it’s 17. but i’m 19 now. i would dance barefoot in the grass to this one. something pulling two people together like an invisible string no matter how far apart they get. SOULMATE SONG!!!! wow!!! all along we were destined. IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY. the dive bar! something pulled her to him! i love that so much.

mad woman: SHE REALLY DID SAY FUCK YOU FOREVER WHAAT. i went OOH! but this is very ~the man~ and reputation vibes but SOFT and so it feels very taylor, lyrically and emotionally, like this feels like a side of her we’ve seen before but painted in a different light. “women like hunting witches too” “every time you call me crazy i get more crazy” WHY ARE PEOPLE MEAN TO HER I WILL BEAT UP EVERYONE WHO IS MEAN TO HER. there’s no need to tear people down to get to the top.

epiphany: another super long song!! i’m being told betty is incredible and i’m itching to listen to it but this sounds so beautiful. take a shot whenever i say beautiful or wow! this feels like another soulmate song but i hate to be wrong so if i am wrong, don’t mention it. this sounds so very classical and fresh for taylor but also it has such a taste of taylor. something new she’s doing here but her flavor is always there and i love that. only 20 minutes to sleep but you dream of some epiphany 💜💜💜💜

betty: i have high expectations. oh harmonica very folksy sounds very like the beginning. hehe she said fuck again THE SUMMER THING hi august! i suppose this is from the perspective of the other person? i like this very much, i love the idea of young stupid love and first loves. james. james and betty i love them very much. this is like when i make a playlist and say someone should send me these songs. “i’m only 17 i don’t know anything” i just wanna be seventeen again BITCH. SHE SAID CARDIGAN CAR AGAIN i love thattt.

peace: “our coming of age is coming and going” OKAY HIT ME I GUESS? this one is making me feel things. if i could sing, i’d never stop singing this. her fears within her relationship and the chaos her life brings to his. it’s very showing of her love and worries within what seems like a solid relationship.

hoax: what i want to do right now is drive to a literal cliff / scenic overlook and sit in the car and cry to this song. “i am ash to your fire” did she not say that in another song? i don’t remember which. but i hear the struggles she went through in herself and how hard it was to get through, not just on her own but with someone else. i hope taylor is happy and safe in her relationship. in any relationship she enters into, its all i want.

this album was beautiful and lovely and everything i needed and wanted i only cried three? four? times. it’s so stunning and beautiful and i’ve said beautiful way too many times but there’s no other words. it’s incredible. i haven’t felt this much in so long. and if i’m wrong about anything here, never mention it again <3.

i love you, taylor.

[allthethingamabobs]

thank you for the tag @surprisegents! i’ve been dealing with some insomnia lately, so this was a fun distraction. :)

1. Name: nikki

2: Gender: she/her/comfortable with being a gal who doesn’t really follow stereotypical gender norms anyway

3. Star sign: cancer

4. Height: 5′9″

5. Time: 1:38am (like i said.......)

6. Birthday: july 13

7. Favorite band(s): my music tastes are all over the place, so i’d judge this by who i’d like to see/have seen live. it’s a mix between old alt bands and indie rock like all time low, paramore, the score, the oh hellos, the lumineers, and fall out boy. god i miss live shows. 

8. Favorite solo artist(s): ohhh now for this one i’ve got so many that really show my genre range cause it’d be lizzo, hozier, dua lipa, kacey musgraves, and on and on.

9. Song stuck in my head: driver’s license got to me and now i can’t stop singing it.

10. Last Movie: ocean’s eight i believe? gotta love heist movies. and women.

11. Last show: titans because i was so obsessed with the teen titans cartoon, and i wanted to see what this live version is all about. it’s not great, but they’re doing ok on the found family vibes so i’ll probably watch the second season.

12. When did you make this account: i’m pretty sure it was right around pottermore beta invitations being sent out?? so summer of 2011 if i remember correctly.

13. What do I post: lots of funny text posts, writing/book stuff, some evergreen fixations when i remember them, and then mostly whatever show or movie i’m obsessing about so it’s currently a lot of mandalorian.

14. What is the last thing you googled: “black veins book” because i was at barnes and noble for the first time in 9 months to buy some books for myself and my friends’ kiddo.

15. Other blogs: i’ve only got my miraculous ladybug sideblog (miraculousandcute) that is pretty much dead because i started to lose interest in the direction of the show. 

16. Do I get asks: i never got a whole lot on this account (the ml sideblog was a different story because i got into the show in its early tumblr fandom phase), but there would be the occasion one back when i was more active. it’s pretty dead now lol.

17. Why did I choose this url: it’s a mix of thingamabobs for the little mermaid, my fav disney movie, and all the things for that meme that was super popular in like high school lol. i haven’t changed this username at all because it just encompasses everything and i am lazy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

18. Following: 532 and i’m sure a large majority of them are on hiatus now because my dash isn’t obnoxiously busy.

19. Followers: 270 

20. Average hours of sleep: i was actually getting a decent 7 hours and then it was election month in the u.s. and i haven’t known peace since.

21. Lucky number: 13 ✌️

22. Instruments: i don’t play any of these anymore but i used to know piano and clarinet.

23. What am I wearing: black yoga pants and a gray crop top.

24. Dream job: i do not dream of labor~ but in reality we all know it’s gonna take a while to get rid capitalism, so a mix of researcher/editor for a publishing company or literacy-focused nonprofit.

25. Dream trip: i’m dying to see the beautiful landscapes of norway, japan, new zealand, and ireland.

26. Favorite food: i’ve recently discovered carbonara and all the ways i can mix veggies and protein into it, so i’d say that’s my current fav.

27. Nationality: american

28. Favorite song: it changes all the time but let’s go with headspace by lewis capaldi since i listened to it on repeat last night lol.

29. Last book I read: my mental state has not allowed me the patience for reading lately, but i’m so excited for one last stop by casey mcquiston in a couple months. their debut novel (red, white, and royal blue) was just exactly the kind of content i want from a queer contemporary romance. i also really want to read the priory of the orange tree, but i need to stare down all those pages a bit more to gain the confidence.

30. Top three fictional universes I would like to live in: howl’s moving castle (novel version) so i can be best friends with sophie, percy jackson cause being a demigod just sounds kinda cool, and rottmnt cause i loved the art and humor and want to be friends with all of them.

i’ll tag @catra-the-slayer @about-a-bee @adjit & @ricerobot if you wanna try this out too. no pressure! anyone else interested can just go ahead and use me as your tag. <3

[aelinbitch-archive]

unpopular opinion: i don’t like rowan/rowaelin. i’m not here to convince u to unstan lol ppl are allowed to like/dislike things w/o feeling bad about it omg but i hate that some rowan stans are so insensitive when it comes to those who don’t like him! they’re so thirsty for him that they condemn anyone who doesn’t stan him & then excuse his problematic/lowkey triggering actions bc he’s hot and it’s gross. AGAIN not saying ppl can’t like rowan it’s ok lol but it’s more about some stan’s behavior

That’s totally fair my angel. I dislike the vibe that some people are locked out of the fandom for not being a cheerleader for every aspect of the series, and I hope that my followers/mutuals know that if they dislike stuff I like, or like stuff I dislike, expressing their opinions regarding that won’t ever cause me to cut them off (unless it’s like, some truly gross shit, which disliking rowaelin isn’t). 

Also I have to say, even tho I do like rowaelin, I understand where you’re coming from about people excusing his actions because he’s hot. I’ve toooooootally seen that. And I’ll just be 100% honest - no shade to anyone, but some of the rowaelin content on this website disturbs me a little bit, in terms what’s considered hot/romantic/acceptable when writing or depicting them in art. I’ve seen some weird stuff defended as hot or even just “not that bad.” Which isn’t necessarily a problem with canon, but your ask was more about stans anyway, so yeah. 

A while ago I actually wrote rowaelin meta in response to some other peeps (which was more about Aelin in relation to Rowaelin and how she’s included or not included in discussions of the ship, but it has some thoughts relevant to this ask) so I’m gonna just copy and paste what I wrote below and feel free to read if u want. (It’s like very overdramatic and fiery lmao but anyway). 

I agree with a lot of this, but (at risk of derailing ms aelinapologist’s amazing post) I do have a few things to say, which are

1. OP took two whole paragraphs at the beginning of her post to say that the point wasn’t to discourse about rowaelin being abuse or not abuse, it was to talk about how the conversations centering around said abuse consistently display a disturbing lack of empathy for the character who should be the main concern of the debate. So I just find it a bit funny/odd that the replies (including a portion of the one I’m about to make, I admit that) have been like “Yeah great post! And now to discourse about Rowaelin-” but I digress.

2. I have consistently loved reading about Rowan and Aelin and they’re one of my favorite fictional couples. So nothing I’m about to say is intended to be like “GOTCHA they suck and you suck for liking them!!!” Because I like them as well. A lot. And in addition, nothing about this reblog is intended to be shady or confrontational in any way shape or form. I just think this is a great and very needed discussion I’d like to contribute to, so here goes.

3. Even if we look at HoF alone and ignore how things play out later: yes, they are both mean to one another, yes, they are both in a dark place and end up having a mutually positive effect on one another (so I definitely agree that, at least for HoF alone, it’s not a “douchey guy changes for the heroine story”) but. There IS still a power imbalance. I don’t think it’s entirely accurate to say “they were both bad The End” without also bringing up the fact that Rowan is 300 years old and Aelin is 18, and that Rowan is training Aelin and is in a position that gives him a massive amount of control over her, and that he is stronger and more powerful than her physically, magically, and socially (he is a prince and legendary warrior, she is a AWOL teenage princess currently working as a scullery maid).

Maybe I’m reading into it too much, but I really just don’t think that Aelin, a 17 y/o girl going through an unimaginably shitty time, being like “fuck you!!” to this 300 y/o jerk who doesn’t know shit about her is on the same level as aforementioned 300 y/o jerk hitting her, biting her, and telling her she would have been of more use to the world if she’d died when she was eight.

And in addition to that, we see that his behavior effects her a lot more than it effects him. When he verbally tears her down, we see her experience genuine and devastating despair and shame, whereas everything she does and says to him, no matter how snarky or outright cruel, is not having that same effect on him. People always seem to think they’re giving Aelin credit for being a Strong Woman™ by saying “she’s tough! she can handle it!” when in reality… we have evidence for the fact that she kinda can’t handle it. That the way he treats her in the beginning is slowly wearing her down and sending her deeper into a depressive state. And I don’t understand how it somehow reflects poorly on Aelin (or is even misogynist) to acknowledge this. Women, especially literal teenage girls, should not be measured by their tolerance for mistreatment.

All I really wish is that somewhere along the line we’d gotten a genuine apology from Rowan for this besides a throwaway line in KoA about regretting their “brawling.” And again, none of this is to say “see!! it IS abuse!!” it’s just to suggest that, even as an enemies to friends to lovers story, the “enemies” part was not exactly on a level playing field.

4. But with that being said, I could probably forgive the imbalance in their early relationship, mostly because their later relationship, as both friends and lovers, is so amazing and supportive in pretty much every way. And the great thing about enemies to FRIENDS to lovers, like you said, is that 1) none of the assholery occurred during any kind of romantic or sexual relationship or a transition into one, so it was sort of “fair and square” in that way, and 2) they had the opportunity form a solid, platonic foundation of trust and caring before they crossed into the lover territory.

Aaaaaaaaaand then Sarah did a retcon job on HoF which negated… pretty much all of that. I can totally be down with “good old fashioned mutual hatred thaws into caring which grows into love” but once we start hearing shit like “‘Sometimes, you’d be sleeping beside me at Mistward, and it’d take all my concentration not to lean over and bite them. Bite you all over’” and “‘That was the first time I really lost control around you, you know. I wanted to chuck you off a cliff, yet I bit you before I knew what I was doing. I think my body knew, my magic knew. And you tasted… So good. I hated you for it’”……. hhhhhhhhhhh.

I can’t think of many arguments for this NOT contributing at least a little to the “he’s mean because he loves you (and stick it out because someday he’ll figure it out)” trope. And while it might be a bit different because Aelin was quite mean as well, her behavior was just… meanness. Not some sort of weird outlet for repressed sexual attraction/love. I guess I just get flashbacks of “No sweetie, that boy in your class kicks your desk, pulls your hair, and calls you names because he likes you and doesn’t know how to express it.”

And I think this decision on Sarah’s part to go back and say he was into her all along is 1) a result of the mating bond thing she’s so fond of and 2) kind of a panicked backpedalling to the backlash she might have gotten over Rowan’s behavior in HoF? Which is…. so ironic because she made it SO much worse. In my humble opinion, she should have just doubled down on what she originally wrote as enemies-friends-lovers (and had Rowan bring up his early behavior and apologize in some way), and the problem would have been solved. And while I personally feel that I can recognize this for what it is - a shitty retcon - and enjoy the relationship despite it, I don’t think we should talk over people for whom this is a deal-breaker for the ship.

5. I don’t think about all of this and have the reaction that so many “anti tog” people seem to have of “FUCK Rowan he’s ABUSIVE and PREDATORY and I wish he was DEAD!!!” I think there are things to criticize about his behavior and about the way Sarah decided to spin their relationship, but they have had many great moments, especially in the later books, and I don’t think I or anyone else is “shipping abuse” by enjoying that. All of this is just to emphasize how, in OP’s very succinct words, “your inalienable right to enjoy two characters’ dynamic does not outweigh the right to criticise it.” Because there ARE valid things to criticize, and we as Rowaelin shippers (lol.) need to be careful not to conflate ugly hatred with valid criticism when we speak over it.

And because there IS so much ugly hatred for Aelin and her relationship with Rowan on this website, I completely understand why there’s a kind of knee-jerk reaction of jumping to defense of this ship we love. But that impulse, quite frankly, means nothing to me if defense of Rowaelin includes the erasure of Aelin’s canonical experiences. And maybe this is wacky and controversial, but I’m pretty sure we can express our enjoyment of Rowaelin AND keep Aelin as an individual from being swept under the rug.  

6. More than saying any of that what I really really want to do (and have been trying to do in the previous paragraphs, but maybe unsuccessfully) is bring the conversation back to OP’s original point which was not “abuse!” or “not abuse!” but about how the ways in which we discuss “abuse or not abuse” often includes a stomach-turning lack of concern for Aelin and some frustratingly reductive arguments. And somehow I have the sneaking suspicion that Rowaelin shippers are reading this post and missing the point, which that this is happening on BOTH sides of the argument.

Everyone is perfectly entitled to ship Rowaelin and argue their opinion about its merits or lack thereof, but when we cover our ears and say “she was mean too she was mean too she was mean too she was mean too la la la la la la la” that’s completely ignoring the genuine pain that she did experience in HoF and the power imbalance that she was subjected to, no matter whether or not we personally feel that it was sufficiently rectified in later books.

And I see this ALL THE TIME, in both the fandom and “anti-fandom”, and I’m honest to god quite sick of it. I’m sick of the willful ignorance of a teenage girl’s pain in order to further an agenda. Yes, it’s more stomach-turning when the agenda is to prove what an evil bitch she is or whatever, but it’s not excusable if your agenda is to prove Rowaelin is great, either! And I don’t understand why we have to throw all nuance out the window and ignore how Dorian hurt her, ignore how Chaol hurt her, ignore how Rowan hurt her, fucking hell, ignore how SAM hurt her, just so we can make our arguments! Because as much as the antis love to scream about “WHAT MESSAGE IS THIS TERRIBLE SHIP SENDING THE TINY GIRL-CHILDREN WHO READ THE BOOKS???” it’s also like, what kind of message is our ongoing discussion of it sending by sweeping a teenage girl’s experiences under the rug when we argue about her relationships?

And like OP said, what have we even got to show for it? No conclusion has been reached, nothing has been achieved besides valuing a romance (or the hatred of that romance and preference for a different romance) over individual characters, namely an individual character who happens to be a teenage girl that has suffered an ungoldy amount - suffered, sometimes, at the hands of male characters we like.

In conclusion, the mass allergy everyone seems to have to giving a shit about Aelin unless its to further their agenda is sickening. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve had to hear about how poor Manon’s character was “ruined” by Manorian (although not directly by DORIAN, of course, because apparently Saint Haviliard can do no wrong) I’d have enough money to buy a lamborghini and drive it off a cliff like I wish I could every time I hear someone’s terrible hot take about how Aelin is complicit in her own alleged abuse. Yet somehow I’ve never heard anyone complain about the damage done to Aelin’s character by any of the male characters, including Rowan. It’s never “Rowan ruined Aelin’s character!!” it’s “Rowaelin sucks and so does Aelin.” In fact, one of the REASONS Aelin sucks in the first place IS Rowan/Rowaelin! What a great implicit message to send to people reading your “critiques”: if you are annoying and #problematic enough, your suffering will be used against you and you will receive no sympathy for it. Cool!

And for other ships, too: it’s never “Chaol and Dorian, while at points a very good for Aelin, also caused her a lot of pain” it’s either “Chaol was right about Aelin in QoS and both he and Dorian are ruined because of her #chaorian” OR, from the fans, who, again, are not off the hook, “Chaol and Dorian and Aelin are BFFs forever #originaltrio.” And as a teenage girl myself, who loves and identifies with Aelin, who is more invested in her story than anyone else’s… I’m just tired. And more than a little appalled. And I wish we could do better.

[alwaysspeakshermind]

A-Z of Favorite Fictional Ladies B is for: Buffy Summers

As a rule, I endure rather than enjoy nine out of ten fictional female protagonists, and it’s incredibly frustrating. But it’s also something I’ve kind of come to accept.With all the different types of women out there in the world, nine out of ten fictional female protagonists will still wind up being one of the same two types of characters: the oft-overlooked Good Girl™ who’s sweet/accommodating/a little shy-but-also-feisty, or the Rebel/Intellectual/Tomboy who is Not Like Other Girls and scorns pink but turns out to be movie-star gorgeous when a friend who knows all things girly forces her to dress up and turn heads. (Basically, Mary Sue or Scary Sue.) By the time I was eight, I had sort of figured out that my favorite female characters, the ones I actually related to and who inspired me, were not liked/admired by 90% of the other girls around me, because basically none of them had problems learning when to speak up—they all had problems learning when to shut up.

When I first began watching Buffy, I figured it would be the same old story: I’d sigh at the protagonist, love one of the secondary characters best, and at most, get a few laughs out of the whole thing. At that point, I was already in college and frankly, I was pretty sure any show as hyped as this one would have a protagonist I would hate.

But! 

Then I met Buffy.

And Buffy is just…Buffy.

Why she’s my girl:

She spends her evenings roaming graveyards and fighting vampires, but fashionably. She quips non-stop and has a tight-knit group of friends, but is a lonely little soul. She saves the world (a lot) but mostly just wants to be left alone to live her life in peace, and to quote someone formerly dangerous and currently annoying, she has bleedin’ tragic taste in men (Je stink).

From the beginning of the series to its end, the Buffster is a protagonist who flirts with the thin line of likeability. While she is a protagonist who is easy to root for, she is also one who makes many, many mistakes that frequently come back to bite her (pun only semi-intended). I personally don’t 100% relate to her until about S5 and then it starts getting uncomfortable how much I relate to her, but her actions in response to dicey situations command my respect at all times.

For all her cute blondeness and ever-present wisecracking, Buffy’s tough. Diamond-tough, really, and unapologetic; she’s simultaneously an unabashed girly-girl and a kickass bitchy-bitch, and she will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Responsibility isn’t a thing she seeks yet somehow, it always seems to find her, and even when she wants to run away and let someone else deal with it for a change, she ends up staying and battling. She’s a peppy cheerleader turned college dropout turned person who would rather work construction over retail (but winds up in fast-food) turned high-school guidance counselor, and she’s forever wistfully eyeing the normal lives of those she protects. But ultimately, her calling is Slayer, and the “dumb” blonde Valley girl who resents messing up her manicure punching vampires and paying too much for cream rinses that are neither creamy nor rinse-y is a powerful force to be reckoned with.

She is, sadly, still only one of a small number of female characters who highlight that liking pink and caring about clothes and wanting a date do not equal weakness, and I will always love her for that—as someone who loves boxing/self-defense/general punching things but also shopping and cute outfits, Buffy makes me feel very seen. She doesn’t apologize for liking miniskirts and heels, but she doesn’t exclusively wear miniskirts and heels…she’s practical enough to wear clothes that can survive slaying (halter tops, for instance). She’s funny, bright, impatient, and stubborn, and she’s loyal to a fault. She talks a lot but isn’t great with words. She puns obsessively, often at inappropriate times. She holds grudges and isn’t the greatest student, but she continually fights to protect those who can’t protect themselves, and when she’s quite literally dragged from her rest, she still tries to pick up the shambles of her life and keep going—without telling any of the responsible parties how it’s affected her. I mean, the part where she has to ahem, claw her way out of something her own self-sacrifice put her in in the first place? THE STRENGTH THAT REQUIRES IS NOT JUST PHYSICAL, and I still get a little angry at the Scoobies for that one.

She’s considered kind of dumb even by those closest to her, yet they constantly look to her for leadership when things go south. She deals with (don’t even get me started because I could happily smack all of them) the Potentials, and does what she can to prepare and comfort the younger girls for the death and destruction most likely coming their way. She defies senseless, heavy-handed authority that attempts to impose rules and traditions on her and those she cares about, and when she loves, she loves deeply.

She is, in essence, powerful but enormously flawed—and anyone who considers that a negative thing in feministic representation is egregiously myth-taken.

Favorite Quotes:

WAY-hay-hay too many to count, but some especially meaningful faves off the top of my head are:

“I may be dead...but I’m still pretty.”

“Hi, honey. I’m home.”

“The whole earth may be sucked into Hell, and you want my help ‘cause your girlfriend’s a big ho? Well, let me take this opportunity to not care.”

[“No weapons. No friends. No hope. Take all that away, and what’s left?”] “Me.”

[“You’re really campaigning for Bitch of the Year, aren’t you?”] “As defending champion, you nervous?”

“Bite me.”

“She irons her jeans. She’s evil. She has to be destroyed!”

“So you haven’t murdered anybody lately? Let’s be best pals!”

“That probably would have sounded more commanding if I wasn’t wearing my Yummy Sushi pajamas.”

“Conversation’s over, hell-bitch.”

“The hardest thing to do in this world is live in it.”

“I think I know why Joan’s the boss—I’m like a superhero or something!” 

“Goodnight, bitch.”

“No guy is worth your life. Not ever.”

[filmaficionerdo]

Best Films of 2018

Best Films of 2018

2018 was not the year for prestige pictures by a long shot.  Film this year was at its best when it came to superhero movies, and as much as I prefer those over most any other entertainment, that shouldn’t be the case, and that’s not what got me into film in the first place.  As happy as I am to see my favorite comic book characters come to life, I got into film because of daring, bold, and outspoken artists who didn’t need a franchise to speak their minds.  Too many mid-range films went to Netflix or other streaming services and they’re mostly of poor quality with a few exceptions.  I miss the days when film studios took risks, but now they only look for the largest IP with the largest net-profits.  It’s sad.  I love Marvel movies more than anyone I know but they shouldn’t be the only reason I look forward to going to the theater.  But this year also sparked a personal change for me because I moved away from the movie mecca of Hollywood to mid-Michigan, where there aren’t any arthouse theaters nearby during peak awards season so I missed more films than I would’ve liked (even though it’s been the most emotionally rewarding experience I’ve ever had) so I hope that helps explain why this list is so late.  I’ve been catching up on independent films via online rentals as soon as I can and still have many left unseen.  So maybe I missed something during 2018, but I can’t help but be letdown by the lack of inspiration I look to when I try to experience the medium I’m most passionate about.  With that being said, I was still able to conjure a list of my favorite 25 films of the year.  So, here goes:

25. Halloween

This was way better than I would’ve expected, especially coming from the guys who brought us Your Highness.  Director David Gordon Green and writer Danny (Eastbound & Down) McBride delivered the first worthy Halloween sequel that’s ever existed.  Their updated and timely subversion elevated this homage-y sequel while adding more fun than this franchise has ever seen.  John Carpenter’s contribution and the opening credits sequence hit hard with me.

24. Ready Player One

Haters be damned, I really enjoyed this movie.  Of course, I never read the book so that discredits me somewhat but what I got was a rousing Spielbergian experience that we haven’t witnessed since Minority Report.  If you hate this movie, but you loved Hook, there’s something fundamentally wrong with what you think a Spielberg movie is supposed to be about.  Ready Player One was a toybox of fun ideas and intellectual properties sewn together for a generation hung up on video games and nostalgia.  It’s definitely not his best but I love seeing a veteran director who still has the ability to dust off his old toys and make pretend.  The Shining sequence was an absolute standout of appreciation and love for another director’s craft.  

23. Sorry to Bother You

Boots Riley’s debut was strong and weird as hell.  This felt like Spike Lee meets David Cronenberg.  It’s funny, nuanced, and insightful.  Riley’s new voice was energetic and angry in the best way.  I saw this later in the year than I wanted to, but I have a feeling that repeat viewings will enhance this films relevance and my appreciation.

22. You Were Never Really Here 

Lynne Ramsay is one of the best and most unpredictable working directors today.  I always look forward to her work, but this semi-Taxi Driver remake was remarkably accessible for her and more powerful than it had any right to be.  If you haven’t seen it, seek it out.  It’s a crisp 88 minutes long and it’s riveting as well as heartbreaking.  There was a uniqueness to the short runtime, violence, and poignant urgency that she handled with deftness.  Joauquin Phoenix was remarkable, brute, and subtle all at once.

21. Ant-Man & The Wasp

Go ahead and agree that this wasn’t the strongest Marvel output in a while, but just like the previous Ant-Man, it’s a palette cleanser from a previous Avengers film.  Ant-Man & The Wasp is maybe the most child friendly film they’ve ever released and it was still enjoyable as hell.  It’s not important.  It’s simple fun.  And I love that Marvel still knows how to craft something that doesn’t want or need to reach for the fences.  Sometimes an inside the field hit is just what we need.  Ant-Man & The Wasp is a damn good bunt.

20. The Incredibles 2

Now that I hang out with a toddler on the reg, watching this movie never gets boring.  I’d know, because she’s watched it with me five times.  Incredibles 2 was long overdue and it’s maybe not quite so worthy of such a long wait considering the original was my favorite film of 2004, but its sequel was still full of exceptional animation.  That sequence with Jack Jack and the raccoon still fills me with joy.

19. A Star is Born

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut was surprisingly strong.  Filming everything in close-ups was an intimate and innovative way to express a rising star’s personal journey to stardom.  Even though we can all agree that the first half of the film is vastly superior to the tear-turkey-jerky second half, it’s still an important film and a worthy update of a timeless classic.  The music, performances, cinematography, and sound are all exceptional.   

18. BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee felt reborn with BlacKkKlansman.  Do The Right Thing will always be one of the all time greatest films; no question.  BlacKkKlansman might be his best since.  John David Washington just established himself as a commanding lead, and Adam Driver further cemented himself as a phenomenal actor.  The poetic-ness combined with the satirical edginess made this one significantly heartbreaking watch while being entertaining and iconic all at the same time.

17. The Death of Stalin

I saw The Death of Stalin early in 2018 and it never left me.  Writer/Director Armando Iannucci is a certifiable genius and the controversial nature of a film like this was one of the most refreshing voices of the year.  This is one of the darkest political satires I’ve ever seen but it’s so goddamn funny.  Laughing at something so atrocious and maddening is one of the only ways we, as a society, can heal from dark times in history.  I fully believe it takes the power away from the people who committed such heinous crimes.  It takes time and a brilliant voice, but it holds a mirror to the ridiculousness we’re currently subjected to, and hopefully with time, we can make fun of our situation too.

16. Leave No Trace

Debra Granik finally followed up her outstanding Winter’s Bone debut and she did not suffer from the sophomore slump that so many other filmmakers have.  Leave No Trace is the saddest love letter to veterans that I’ve ever seen even though it’s beautiful and full of hope.  Granik definitely should’ve gotten a Best Director nomination this year for her delicate and heartfelt look at a father struggling with PTSD while living with his daughter in the woods, away from society.  Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie are stunning.  This film stayed with me for weeks after I watched it.  It’s a small but hugely important film.

15. Annihilation

Alex Garland previously made his directorial debut with Ex Machina after an incredible script writing filmography.  He’s established himself as one of the smartest and most important voices in science fiction cinema after Annihilation.  This is a heady sci fi film that scared the shit out of me.  I felt uneasy the second the group of women walked into The Shimmer.  Garland adapted the book it’s based on after only reading the book once, but he created something so frighteningly ethereal that it’ll be talked about for years.  The score for this was off the charts good.  Going from an acoustic instrumental to something electronic was what struck me the most as a stroke of genius.

14. Shoplifters

For a film I saw so recently, very few films this year have had such an emotional impact on me.  Shoplifters is a small “family” film from Korean director Hirokazu Kore-eda, but it packs a punch that I wasn’t expecting.  All I knew was that critics loved it and it was up for a Best Foreign Language Oscar.  It’s a powerhouse of social status and what it means to be a family that defies language and cultural relevance.  

13. First Man

First Man hit me hard on a personal level.  I’d sort of written off Damien Chazelle as a director after La La Land underwhelmed me so much, but this film reinvigorated my appreciation in him because the filmmaking here was profoundly beautiful.  The acting is impeccable.  The cinematography was breathtaking.  Seeing this in IMAX (as my last film in LA) was a jaw-dropping cry-fest.  I left the theater shook.  I doubt this film will shake as many as it did me, especially if you missed it in IMAX, but this was the theater experience of the year.  At least recognize that Justin Hurwitz’s musical score was the most overlooked snub at this years Academy Awards.

12. Suspiria

This was another film I’d sorely missed in theaters, but when I finally got a chance to witness it I was blown away.  Luca Guadaninio’s follow-up to my favorite film of last year, Call Me By Your Name, was a worthy successor.  This was less a horror film, and more of an art-house homage to Dario Argento’s original 70s classic.  It’s still a haunting film, but in a beautifully macabre way.  Thom Yorke’s score is absolutely outstanding, as well as the subversively drab look, completely deviating from the originals color saturated visual palette.  It’s a film that has to be watched more than once.  Even though it’s 2.5 hours long, I was completely transfixed the entire time.  It’ll depend on your mood or taste, but if you enjoy artistic, visual, and auditory enhanced horror, Suspiria is among the best. 

11. Mandy

Throw up the horns.  Mandy is here.  Pasmos Cosmatos cerebral horror film is full of the best revenge porn I’ve ever seen.  Nicolas Cage is unhinged (as he should be) in his best performance in ages.  He’s the Cage we’ve been dreaming of since the 90s.  The first half of this film belongs to Andrea Riseborough and underrated character actor Linus Roache, but the second half is all Rage Cage in full gory glory.  Mandy is a film unlike anything you’ve ever seen, but yet somehow it’s still completely accessible.  The title cards for each chapter are something straight out of a Heavy Metal comic book, and the hauntingly beautiful score by the late-genius Jóhann Jóhannsson is simply gorgeous.  Mandy is a film meant to be laughed at and with.  It’s a fever-dream of ideas that work brilliantly as a whole.  It’s a hard one to recommend but if you know, you know.  

10. Eighth Grade

Bo Burnham just burst onto the directorial scene with this film about the awkwardness of being a thirteen year old girl.  Not something you’d expect from a male standup comedian in times like these, especially when it’s handled so delicately and with so much heart, but it feels so important to young kids who’ve been thrown into subjectivity amongst their peers within the digital age.  Eighth Grade can, at times, make you so uncomfortable, and at other times it’ll completely tear your heart out and make you want to hug your dad.  I know, because I saw it in the theater with my dad.  He was like, you’re still the eighth grade girl you’ve always been.  Thanks, dad.  

9. Aquaman

I know there isn’t a ton of hate for this film, but there isn’t a ton of high praise for it either.  Aquaman was exactly the film James Wan set out to make.  It’s one of the most comic book-y films since Age of Ultron except it’s dumb as hell, and for that, I absolutely LOVED it.  This was a throwback comic book film ripped from the pages that was corny as hell and never took itself too seriously.  Aquaman is a damn hard character to adapt so it’s unbelievable that he got this big of a budget that included over-the-top actors like Willem Dafoe and Dolph Lundgren.  Patrick Wilson chews the scenery as Ocean Master and I don’t give a damn what people think of Black Manta; he’s completely awesome.  You could’ve easily cut this film down, but I was happy to live in its oceanic cheesball world for hours.  Aquaman was the comic book movie of the year that was as ridiculous as it was awesome.  I laughed so hard at how stupid it could be, but I couldn’t help but be entertained by how insane it was.

8. Mission: Impossible Fallout

I don’t know how these films keep getting better, but they do.  This was THE action film of 2018.  As much as I love Fast & Furious 5-7, Mission: Impossible 4-6 has been the best run of a long running action franchise ever.  Fallout brought one of the best villains yet in a story that barely makes sense, but I couldn’t care less.  This film was big in that edge-of-your-seat way that rarely comes along.  Thrilling doesn’t begin to describe it.  The IMAX presentation was fantastic.  I live for movies like this.  It harkens back to 80s and 90s action films but presents itself for a whole new era of practical effects extravaganza.  It’s the best action film since Mad Max: Fury Road.

7. Black Panther

There are a lot of people questioning this film’s entry as a Best Picture Nominee, but it absolutely deserves all of the recognition it’s getting.  Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is both culturally and politically significant as it is cinematically.  This film is a culmination of what Marvel has been growing to.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t simply about story progression, it’s about cultural progression.  These films represent societal beacons of the times we live in through decades old comic book prisms.  The lore and spirit of the comics are still present, as well as relevant, and the socio-political themes have been injected into them effortlessly.  

A character like Black Panther can be a leader of change within his own cinematic universe.  Marvel’s created something that transcends blockbuster cinema.  Black Panther is now an icon of cultural appreciation that can inspire real change in the real world.  He’s an optimistic embodiment of what we should strive to achieve as a society.  We should share with the world our hope for change.  Comic Book’s have never been so relevant.  Black Panther has never been so important.

6. Roma

Director Alfonso Cuarón’s intimate portrayal of life as a housemaid was one of the most vibrantly affecting films I’ve ever seen.  Every single shot wasn’t just a landscape; it was a mural.  I’ve never seen direction take this angle and provide so much while saying so little.  Some people might’ve felt emotionally disconnected from his style but Cuarón’s masterful direction captivated me like very few films this year had.  There are multiple layers to his visual representation that effect more of what’s seen than what’s said.  It’s not an easy watch and perhaps that’s part of why it was released by Netflix.  Unfortunately, I had to watch this at home instead of in theaters, but I still felt the impact of the themes and presentation.  It’s one of the few Best Picture nominees that truly belong in the category that’ll stand the test of time.  

5. Paddington 2

This was one of the earliest releases of 2018 and it never escaped my mind throughout the year.  Paddington 2 advances upon the original’s tone to encapsulate something that is pure joy.  Paul King directed the bejeezus out of this movie.  I felt like I was watching Wes Anderson meets Harry Potter.  I saw Paddington 2 in theaters with just one mother and daughter couple and it never felt weird.  The only thing that’s weird is that more people haven’t seen this film.  I had a smile from ear to ear the entire time.  This movie is magic.  Like the Harry Potter films, all of the best British actors are present, and Hugh Grand and Brendon Gleeson give their best performances in years, if not ever.  Hugh Grant should’ve been nominated for Best Supporting Actor.  If you haven’t seen this hidden gem yet, do your soul a favor and seek it out immediately.

4. The Favourite

Yorgos Lanthimos is on a roll.  This nutty Greek director began his career with the insane film, Dogtooth, and hasn’t let up since.  But he’s also learned and built from his previous work.  What started as something of a cultish followed career has expanded into prestigious and innovative filmmaking.  I’d nearly missed this film in theaters until I drove across the state to see this with my parents in Ann Arbor, and although it might be one of the worst movies to see with your parental units, we all could agree that this was a uniquely hilarious and thought-provoking experience.  At first, I wasn’t sure what to think because I was too busy trying to avoid talking to my mom and dad about Emma Stone jerking somebody off, but The Favourite stayed with me for weeks and I loved dissecting all of its themes and nuances.  The Favourite is both entertaining and timely.  It’s another one of the films this year that absolutely belong with (and should’ve won) the Best Picture nominations.

3. Widows

Steve McQueen’s Widows was vastly underseen and underrated.  Here’s a director who usually only does vague, cerebral drama, but working with Gillian Flynn as a screenwriter adapting Lynda LaPlante’s 1983 novel about wives finishing the heist their husbands failed to complete before their untimely deaths, is about as pulpy and as timely as you can get.  There are a lot of stories woven into Widows epic crime saga and some critics have faulted the film’s narrative for it, but look at Heat; one of the most prolific crime sagas of all time, which has more subplots than you could imagine, yet it’s still widely regarded as one of the best films ever made.  Widows is the best film of its kind since Heat in 1995.  It still carries the acting heavyweights and still compelled me more than nearly any other film in 2018.

2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Into the Spider-Verse is one of the few films in 2018 that has the power to influence cinema for the future.  Not only is it extraordinarily entertaining, but it’s also innovative in terms of style and theme.  No other film in 2018 was this inventive and groundbreaking.  I was definitely excited to see this as a lifelong Spider-Man fan, but based on Sony’s mishandling of the character for years, it had me extremely cautious.  Thanks to Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s impeccable screenplay, I got more than the Spider-Man I’ve always wanted to see.  This is a Spider-Man for a new generation.  He’s not my Spider-Man, he never was.  This film is for everyone, and I mean EVERYONE.  The cell-shaded animation and soundtrack elevated this film into bonafide classic territory.  I couldn’t even comprehend it after I first saw it, because I wasn’t ready for something so new.  Months after I watched this film, I could not stop thinking about it.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is so nerdy for the fans and so accessible to the newcomers.  It feels like I’m living in an alternate universe where good movies in 2018 DO exist.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

The *Snap* heard ‘round the World...

Marvel has a good history of taking formulas from other genres and using them as a framing device for their superhero films; political thrillers, space operas, video games, heist films are all borrowed ideas that helped them keep the superhero genre from feeling stale. Avengers: Infinity War is Marvel’s fantasy epic. This is the Lord of the Rings of the MCU. The result is legendary. The Russo Bros. looked at their massive roster of heroes, who audiences have come to deeply care for over ten years, and came up with a way to tell one cohesive world-ending story centered around one villain; the mad titan, Thanos. They looked at Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and they saw how well those were balanced, and they applied it to a superhero film. It’s unbelievably well executed. The big reason Infinity War works so cosmically well is Josh Brolin’s portrayal of Thanos. We couldn’t get behind another world-ending event in these movies unless we believed and understood the villain that was behind it all.  Brolin gave Thanos both menace and pathos.  From the moment the movie starts, the stakes feel real. None of the characters are safe because we believe Thanos is capable of anything from the very beginning.  There aren’t many epics where we spend this much time with the villain.  Thankfully, Marvel knows we already care about the heroes, so after building up a ten year rapport between audiences and protagonists it was finally time to focus on the Big Cheese who’s behind all the conflict. This movie is so comic book/fantasy it’s ridiculous.  I loved every second of it and could not wipe the smile off my face nor the tears from my eyes.  I felt like my ten year old self, alone and engrossed in the most epic comic book I’ve ever read.  I was shaken when I left the theater. I turned around and watched it again just 30 minutes after my first viewing, and I couldn’t believe how captivated I was the second time, third time, forth viewing, fifth, sixth, and so on...  Nothing could’ve prepared me for this film and I’m so thankful it exists.

[purplesurveys]

403

What is your opinion on...

skinny jeans? They make you look good, but they can get uncomfortable as fuck. I hate wearing them but sometimes I just want to look nice. boys wearing skinny jeans? Suits them. leggings worn as pants? Totally valid? Idk this is pretty normal here so I don’t have much of an opinion on it. I wear leggings myself on my lazy outfit days. aliens? They’re out there, but they don’t have big heads with big black eyes and small bodies. We can’t be the only ones living here. politics? Annoying, petty, a mess.

the government? Annoying, petty, a mess. green tea? I like green tea-flavored things like frappuccinos and chocolate, but I don’t drink tea so by default I’ve never had actual green tea. police? Big bullies. the LGBT movement? Comforting. Heartwarming. homosexuality? That over being straight anyday hahahaha. asexuality? Should be respected. bisexuality? SHOULD BE RESPECTED. transgenderism? Should!!! Be!!! Respected!!! pickles? The fucking bane of my existence. I can’t trust anyone who likes pickles, but for some reason I guess Americans love pickles on everything? And even drink pickle juice??? I guess my Filipino tastebuds just aren’t suited for them. cats? Tbh I really hate them. I WILL care for one, especially if it’s neglected or something, and I’ll feed it, and try to show it affection, but I generally hate cats. I want a pet so I can play with it and scratch its belly, not that so it can intentionally scratch my leg. dogs? I love dogs. They complement my introversion so well, and they make me feel happy and secure. frogs? People in this country run over frogs all the time and that’s the only time I ever see them lmao. They make for good fried legs though. Mac computers? My preference. Windows computers? They’re fine but I’d always pick a Mac over these. I had an HP laptop before my current one and it was the slowest, most dysfunctional and virus-prone laptop I’ve ever had. Made me distrust HP laptops forever lmao. iMovie? I have no opinion as I have no idea how to make videos. iPhones? A good brand. I’d prefer iPhone over Android any day. jeggings? I’ve never owned a pair so I don’t have an opinion. legalizing marijuana? Uhhhhhhhhhhh tbh, I know -110% about weed stuff, but I’ve heard some things about marijuana being used for medicinal purposes – that I can get behind. women's rights? Duh. Why is this even a thing we’re fighting for? It’s supposed to be something that already exists. affordable health care? Is what everyone deserves. the opioid epidemic? I have no idea what you’re referring to. religion? If it helps people live their life and guides them, good. But so many people are also big hypocrites, and that makes religion give off such a bad taste to me. the freedom of religion and freedom of speech? Should be obvious rights but ones that shouldn’t be abused to the detriment of others. Yeah, be free, but don’t be an asshole. inequality? ...Is still a thing in the Year of our Lord 2019 and I honest to god don’t know why. injustice? I don’t what sort of opinion to form on this other than it’s unfair?

karma? Gets those who deserve it eventually. ouiji boards? Always wanted one of my own from the many horror movies I’ve seen. Jesus? I don’t believe in him. Buddha? Certainly has much nicer followers than the guy above. Ghosts? Are real, and there’s no changing my mind. Halloween? My favorite holiday, if it counts as one. One is never too old to celebrate it. teenagers trick-or-treating? See above answer. Christmas? My automatic signal to be depressed and hibernate for two weeks until the end of the year. abortion? Pro-choice as fuck but that doesn’t mean I don’t see it as technically murder. I’d do it if I had to, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s cutting off a life. the death penalty? I don’t approve of it solely because it’s too kind of a verdict. bullying? Bullies are sad people. cyberbullying? Same thing. Bullies are shitty. forgiveness? Is a sign of humility that I admire, but I’m incapable of. the supernatural? There are stuff I believe but some I don’t. spiritual gifts? ??? speaking in tongues? I only ever read this in the Bible lmao. demons? I won’t be surprised if these were real. demonic possession? My cousin had an episode once, so I believe in it. angels? Nah. prayer? If it helps other people then I respect that. 

swearing? Is a good way to blow off steam. positivity? Always a good mindset. Skipped a bunch of questions cos I was too bored to answer them. If you want to answer the whole thing though, go here haha. school uniforms? I went through them for 14 years, so I don’t have a problem with them. homeschooling? I don’t know how it works. I only know one person who was homeschooled. boarding schools? There aren’t any here but the image I have is that it’s for brats or stubborn kids, because that’s always how it’s portrayed in films. private colleges? Unnecessary. today's popular music? Increasingly bad. today's popular books? Unfamiliar. sexual innuendos? Funny, as long as they aren’t too extreme or offensive, or both. alcohol? Makes me feel gooooooooood. At least until I have to throw up. historical fiction? Remove the fiction and I’m on board. drinking? Fun. dancing? My body is so uncoordinated and I can’t dance at all. dancing in church? Whatever. evangelism? hitchhiking? On my bucket list!

[mysticdragon3md3]

Stealing Brides for Love & Proffitt (Overboard vs. Seven Brides) by coldcrashpictures

After this video essay pointed out how atrocious the premise for "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" is, but then hit us with its similarities to modern romcoms' similarly atrocious premises, which we are somehow more ok with, I wondered if maybe it's because when something is so outrageous, then we can simply accept it as comedy and trade in reality for suspended disbelief, but that since tastes change over time, maybe the general sense of what is merely "benign violation" for comedy vs "actually atrocious" and not funny, has changed.  It's clear that I was too fixated on my recent rewatch of "What makes things funny | Peter McGraw | TEDxBoulder" (https://youtu.be/ysSgG5V-R3U).  So I'm glad this essay brought up some other perspectives.  

I was reminded of how I was looking forward to watching the Kyoto Animation movie "Silent Voice", but when my sister asked what it was about as I was about to play it on Netflix for the first time, I realized my summary was describing something awful.  "This guy used to bully this deaf girl, and later they fall in love"?  What the heck just came out of my mouth?!  Bullies are my absolute most annoying pet peeve!  I have avoid several lauded anime series, just for that trope!  My sister, rightfully expressed distaste in watching a movie like that.  And suddenly, I didn't want to watch it either, even though I know KyoAni does great work.  

I liked this video essay's discussion about "problematic" story/characters, because that's been a tricky thing to discuss in fandom, yet is often brought up in fandom.  Sometimes I'm not sure we'll ever know how to talk about it.  

I ascribe to the belief that fiction can effect reality.  Not only is there historical precedent, recorded facts, but it's very important to me that fiction can effect reality.  Being encouraged by a Shonen manga protagonist giving a speech about "fighting spirit" is just as important to me as learning that fictional books like Uncle Tom's Cabin helped sway public opinion against slavery, or how Regency Era books helped introduce the idea that women are layered and equals to men.  Hell, even the inventor of MP3s said he was inpired by a scene in Star Trek TNG, when Data was listening to several music tracks at once and could simply tell the computer to stop, play, etc.  Culture has been effected by reality in a lot of important ways that have brought progress.  Plus, it validates all my obsessive fandom fixations.  ("How fiction can change reality - Jessica Wise" by TED-Ed  https://youtu.be/ctaPAm14L10)

But at the same time, I don't believe that ALL fiction influences people to re-enact a one-to-one reflection of itself.  Fiction doesn't have *that* much power.  People don't play a violent videogame, only to be turned violent from the videogame.  I can tell you from first-hand experience, that when younger me played violent videogames in the most sadistic ways, that even the games would penalize me for, it was because I already had mental/emotional issues.  And it was much better for me to vent out that violence onto unreal NPCs, so I could go back to real life and not have any pent up rage left to take out on real life people.  I ascribe to the idea that fiction media can also serve as a place of "thought experiments" to play with even negative, violent, or taboo ideas.  A lot of times, after I watch some media with troubled anti-heroes going on killing sprees, I feel a cathartic release from whatever feelings drew me to such media, and without continuing to hold onto those feelings, I don't feel compelled towards negative actions in real life.  But also, sometimes playing with taboo ideas makes me more aware of how many terrible repercussions such taboo actions might have in real life, even against my own values.  I may like the thrill and dominance of an action movie protagonist mowing down enemies, but after coming back to real life, I can see more clearly all the consequences I would regret if I acted in any way like that in real life.  Kind of like how movies with seemingly no resolution, ask the audience to consider the repercussions of the "gritty anti-hero", by leaving the discussion up to our own minds, rather than simply telling us.  That's the type of Socratic Method questioning that makes the answers stick.  In fact, sometimes I think the whole trope of Deus Ex Machina may have been intentionally too unrealistic, to force the ancient Hellenistic viewers to consider how they would have solved problems realistically/practically.  And now we come around to headcanons inspired by fiction, influencing reality.  Because those ancient Hellenistic citizens were required to watch such plays, as citizens.  And if it wasn't to give "food for thought", then I think we underestimate how often plays talk about kings, how kingdoms are run, and how people should act.  

So I think this video essay makes a good point about dividing "moral judgements on a viewer/fan of media" from "media tastes directly reflecting a fan's character".  Yes, our tastes in media can reflect some parts of our identity, but not all.  We live in a world where media can be *both* a reflection of individuals' values, and simply an exploration of "thought experiments", after all.  I think it's especially tricky to judge someone's character by the media they like, because art can be interpreted a zillion ways.  It's too subjective to be definitively emblematic of any one thing.  If someone says they think "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" represents misogyny, and someone else says "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" represents great music, then there's going to be a fundamental misunderstanding of character, when person B says they like "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" to person A.  They might call someone a misogynist, when all they're trying to say is that they like music.  So media can reflect our identities, but NOT ALWAYS reflect our moral characters.  

For example, there's a very common phenomenon in shipping, where people will love OTPs with extremely toxic characters who are terrible to each other, terrible in and of themselves, and their whole relationship is a horrible trash fire.  But fans of these trash ships will gleefully admit that they just love watching that mess burn up in flames.  And that can be a load of fun.  "Lurid entertainment" as it were.  Doesn't mean they believe real life relationships should be like that.  Doesn't mean liking such a ship reflects their ideals/values on real life.  

Now this differentiation between our likes reflecting our moral character, vs our likes simply being explorations of unrealistic entertainment and even cathartic, was something I needed.  Because at some point, I looked around and found myself amid communities that I didn't realize were "antis policing people's fandoms".  The things they said made sense, like "toxic relationships are horrible in real life, so it's the last thing I want to expose myself to in my entertainment too".  And yeah, I desperately need escapism, away from my anxieties and things that are utterly distasteful to me.  But at the same time, just because my threshold for exploring taboo "thought experiments" might be low, doesn't mean that someone else's is the same.  In fact, it's probably more important that *someone* be willing to confront and question and explore taboo ideas.  The fact that other people are doing such important work, is probably the only reason I can afford to seclude myself into safer thoughts alone.  But at some point, the arguments between "antis vs proshippers" turned them adversarial against each other, vs the symbiosis they should have.  Nothing good comes from a society or group unwilling to question ideas.  Even challenging taboos for only a short while (like during the length of a movie and post discussion), even if only to reaffirm why such ideas are taboo in real life society, is also essential to a healthy, open-minded culture that knows why they think what they think, vs blindly following "traditions".  But policing fandoms stops all that from even getting started.  

It took me a long time to realize that the ship USUK was "problematic" because they could represent incest.  I don't know if anyone else remembers, but before Twilight, once immortals came into a story's worldbuilding, a lot more disbelief was suspended.  Ya just stopped thinking and accepted stuff was happening in a story.  Ichigo could be shipped with Rukia and no one saw her as an old woman cougar courting a teen; we focused on their emotional relationship.  Lots of thinking stops once immortals are in the picture.  (Maybe we have to be since mortality and death are big parts of humanity.)  Just like we'll forgive plot holes or the low impact of episodic series for good characters, sometimes even "problematic" things can be overlooked for a good story or emotional investment, or endearing characters.  I honestly went through my entire USUK obsessed phase, not recognizing "incest".  It wasn't until years later, when I came to Tumblr, and antis were policing ships, like Dimiclaude (unjustly) for incest---even though Dimitri and Claude had only 1 ancestor in common over 400 years ago---did I realize USUK could be interpreted easily as incest.  But apparently not to my blind blind brain.  x_x;  Which is odd, because I deeply abhor romance superimposed upon platonic relationships, especially familial relationships. As an aroace, platonic relationships are very important to me.  I may obsess over a romantic ship, once I see reason for it to appeal to my specific ideals about romance, but I still don't think EVERY SINGLE relationship needs to be romantic.  (Not that every single pairing couldn't be a romantic ship that appeals to someone out there.  There are too many people with too many subjective tastes, for every possible pairing to not speak to someone in some way, that warrants exploration through shipping. People aren't disallowed certain ships. I think anything can be anyone's ship/headcanons, but it's the big media producers' responsibility for representation and to create room for consideration for deep platonic relationships too.  But individuals can do whatever they want in their headcanons and their own interpretations of art.)  I often mourn how Hollywood always has to make every single relationship romantic.  No one can have deep emotional connections or bonds without romance in Hollywood movies.  It annoys me how that trope indirectly invalidates platonic relationships, which I think need their importance recognized.  Platonic relationships are sacred, important, and necessary in my opinion.  And in real life, siblings are extremely important to me.  So I've been bothered by anime's increasing fetishization of placing romance tropes onto sibling characters.  At first, I thought people were just reading too much into it.  I watched things like .Hack//Legend of the Twilight, and thought it could just as easily be read as platonic and everyone was just reading too much into things.  Then I learned that I was the blind one, because I'm just an aroace who can't recognize all the romance signals (unless it's been drilled into my head as recognizable cliches via Hollywood and advertising).  People started bringing up the "imotou" trope in harem anime, and suddenly in anime convention panels, people were asking why little sisters were getting romanticized the way that potential girlfriends were in anime. (This was asked by a fellow audience-member at an Anime Los Angeles or PMX panel I attended, about Japanese culture in anime/manga.  The panelist said that the idea of a girl so close to you in daily life was an appealing fantasy.)  Apparently the fantasy of hetero guys who don't actually know what it's like to have a real life sister.  But my point is that my taste for USUK, not only didn't reflect my moral values, but also went in direct opposition to my distaste for incest, all while I seemed oblivious to it representing incest to so many people.  o_O  I suspended by disbelief so much, I didn't recognize the violations of all the sacred aspects (psychological safety) of a platonic relationship that I championed.  I experienced a complete disconnect form what so many other people interpreted as what was being represented.  All while I agreed with them (that incest is wrong), yet while also didn't recognize that that's what this symbol, this ship, was dealing with.  (Or was it?  It's hard to define relationships between the type of immortals in Hetalia.  Even if they call themselves related, they still get "married" or into relationships just as often.  Hetalia does not work by real life's rules or definitions of "family relationships".  It's confusing me just trying to think of Hetalia in that way. x_x; )  With such demonstrable, drastic divisions between enjoying media/entertainment vs tastes reflecting moral character/ideals/values, my only conclusion can be that maybe conflating the 2, is silly.  (And therefore, maybe scrutinizing and condemning any and all "problematic" aspects of media, policing ships, and antis in general are silly.)  

I agree with this video essay that "problematic" parts of stories/media aren't a problem, until they become reiterated and normalized as "tropes". That's the type of thing that can effect society, until suddenly everyone is accepting problematic things as "normal". Anything can be anyone's ship/headcanons for entertainment, no matter how "problematic", but it's the big media producers' responsibility for representation.  But individuals can do whatever they want in their headcanons and in their own interpretations of art.

[almondbiscotti]

Week 3 - The Week that Reading Overtook Everything

I read a lot this week. So much that I didn’t really have time for anything else. (As you’ll shortly see below). 

This week is making me realise that beyond just the limited time thing, it is also really challenging to divide my attention. Being deeply immersed in reading makes it difficult for me to pause and watch a Netflix series because I keep thinking of the characters I’ve been reading about. And vice versa. Can I train this mental dexterity? Is this a sign of aging? FUCK I’M GETTING OLD. 

Deets below the cut because I think it affects my Tumblr aesthetics with such a long block of text. Hehehe. 

Reads This Week

Kim Ji-young, Born 1981 by Cho Nam-ju (5/2021) This read more like social commentary than an actual novel. I am thankful I don’t face any major gender inequality in Singapore but there are still things I can relate to. Societal norms that dictate the roles of women and men and the struggles that women go through to keep up with these expected roles. Mostly those revolving around being a good mother, wife and daughter-in-law. Then you have the relatively new career-woman role. And so much of these roles are incongruent with each other. 

Overall the writing is very sterile. No frills, very factual, bordering on being report-like. And.... very depressing. I still enjoyed it though. Because it talks about a very real issue and it made me thankful that I don’t have these unsurmountable issues to deal with in Singapore. The ending was genius, like a stab right in the heart. 

I don’t know if guys would be able to appreciate the point of the book as much as a girl would. Maybe that’s why S.Korea was so divided by the movie. Still messed up though, S.Korea really needs to get its shit together. 

Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories by Kim Young-ha. (6/2021) This is a collection of 4 short stories. The first is quite long, a novella really. And it is the best in the collection. Tells the tale of a serial killer with Alzheimer's. It’s SO DARK. I legit got chills reading it. Top notch writing. The rest of the stories were a bit strange, as though Kim wrote them while he was high on drugs, in a bad way. Particularly the 4th story. So enjoyment of this book looks like a inverse linear graph, for me at least. 

But the strength of the first story makes up for it, so overall I still enjoyed it. 

I realise I did 3 Korean writers in a row. Hehehe. Quite impressed to be honest but I think I need to lay off the Korean writers for a bit. Translated reads all have a slight awkwardness to the language which takes a bit of getting use to. 

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde (7/2021) All you idiots who read Fifty Shades of Grey obviously picked up the wrong book. THIS is the Shades of Grey you should be reading!! 

Shades of Grey is BRILLIANT. When I finished it, I felt so lost, unsure of what to do with myself and grieving that it ended. It is so funny, so witty, so punny, so clever, so dark but so fun. I wanted to tell everyone about it, make everyone I know read it so we could talk about it. SoG is what you’d get if Hitchhiker’s Guide and 1984 made a baby, the best possible, perfect little baby. 

There is a lot of world building in SoG. And you’re not eased into it. Fforde jumps right in and it can get quite confusing with new terms and mentioned-in-passing events and there were parts where I felt like I was missing something, as though Fforde was trying to make some smart pop culture or literary reference but I just didn’t get it because I was stupid. (I do think SoG would benefit from a re-read.)

Beyond the excellent world building, I think Fforde is genius at holding suspense. There is a general sense of foreboding and mystery that hangs in the air. You know something is off, something is wrong but it’s subtle, camouflaged by Fforde’s excellent wit, hidden by bright characters in saturated primary and secondary colours. I wish Fforde would hurry write the sequels, it’s been 10 bloody years, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO EDDIE AND JANE. 

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (8/2021) I am reading this book completely blind. I have no idea what the heck it is about and picked it up solely because a good friend recommended it and I trust her taste. 

I’m about 10% in and... Tom Ripley is a fuck boy. He has major problems. -_- Haven’t read enough to make major comment but it’s a good change from SoG. It’s set in our world and I like how I’m focusing on characterisation when reading, and am not having to divide my attention to also understand the world the characters are in. (there’s joy in that too but SoG really took it out of me.) 

Good reads this week! Am looking forward to more reads in the coming week! 

Writes this Week

I wrote a flash fiction piece this week called She Woke Up Like This and spent a bit of time editing and refining it with feedback from AG. It was so enjoyable! Wrote it in a flash of inspiration and it’s the first piece I’ve written with an actual real life muse. I’m proud of my flash baby and hmmm I hope to have some good news soon. :)

I’ve been meaning to work on an idea I got some months back but just can’t figure out the story. I have the first line though, “My parents are not my parents, of that I’m sure.” I think this will be the piece I chisel out this coming week. 

Watches This Week

The Uncanny Counter - Up to episode 14 Argh, hate waiting for new episodes to be released! Was just telling D that we should wait for the last episode to be out next week before finishing the last 2 episodes because I’m sure the penultimate episode will be major cliffhanger-y.

Enjoying it still! Though there’s this one episode where an idiot small boy foils the Counters’ plan by being an idiotic piece of shit and then it hit me THE ACTOR IS THE SAME ONE FROM SWEET HOME. THE IDIOT BOY THAT KEEPS CRYING AND BEING FUCKING IRRITATING. 

Argh. If ever I’m in a hodgepodge mix gang that needs to fight for survival, I’m leaving all idiotic Korean children to die first. 

I didn’t watch much this week because I was reading a lot. SoG really sucked me in. Am planning to start on Busted (I watched season 1 years ago and IT WAS SO LOLTASTIC) and have heard good things about Lupin. Oh and Flower of Evil solely for Lee Joonki’s beautiful face. 

Listens this Week

I haven’t been listening to anything majorly new this week, been just relying on Spotfiy’s Daily Mixes. Also enjoyed the Calming Acoustic playlist on Spotify but that’s because it’s great reading music. 

I just found out OCBC has a frickin podcast on Spotify. What. -_-

January is nearly ending!!! Gosh, time really flies. Hope everyone’s January has been good so far! 

[fyeahanneboleyn]

Well, I finally finished it! Thoughts under the cut, and beware spoilers, such as they are:

First off, I have to say that this was the most thorough fictional portrayal of Anne I’ve yet read - as it should be, clocking in at almost 550 pages. As with most of Alison Weir’s novels it was an entertaining read that kept me engaged. And as with most of Alison Weir’s novels it also had things that annoyed the hell out of me. Disclaimer: I do have an advanced reader’s copy, so there’s a chance that some of these things will be fixed in the general publication. But i doubt it.

The Good:

1. Weir definitely did her research with this one and it shows. The novel is chock-full of anecdotes, quotes and incidents Anne fans will recognize from her life, which really adds a sense of flavor and realism to the world. (Among my personal favorites: Anne’s meeting with Leonardo da Vinci and Henry informing Anne of Purkoy’s death.)

2. The Anne portrayal, while I keep going back and forth on it, felt pretty good. It was complex and layered and I do think it was ultimately meant to be sympathetic. Young Anne is surrounded by female role models, and therefore grows up with ambitions to be a respected female ruler herself - a force for religious reform in particular, which I liked. She is hot-tempered and sometimes vindictive but fundamentally kind, becoming increasingly volatile and high-strung as her marriage unravels. I especially liked the scenes of her imprisonment, trial and eventual execution; I thought her vacillating emotional state, as well as her ultimate strength and dignity, came across very well.

3. The beginnings of her relationship with Henry are portrayed as sexual harassment. Anne is horrified at Henry’s attention, as she has no feelings for him and is actually rather fond of Catherine. It’s an interesting case of ‘Anne as uncomfortable victim’ that eventually segues into ‘Anne as ambitious re: making the best of a bad situation to advance her reformist causes’, and I didn’t dislike it.

4. Weir does include authorial notes at the end of the book, explaining (some of) what was pulled from history versus made up and naming (some of) her sources. I do still have a few issues with the content - she notes that Chapuys loathed Anne but still considers him “well-informed” because he “cites his sources” - but as I’ve said before, I respect including these notes on principle.

The Groanworthy:

1. A caveat to the generally fair portrayal of Anne as outlined above: Anne is portrayed as being unable to bond with or love Elizabeth who, as a girl, is an irrevocable disappointment. Incredibly, Weir doesn’t ignore the evidence of the real Anne’s affection for her daughter; rather she justifies it in the novel as Anne’s way of trying to soothe her own conscience. What. Just what.

2. A disappointing number of the old cliches continue to rear their heads, such as: Anne having a sixth fingernail, Anne and Mary being rivals, Anne being an utterly loathed queen, and Jane Parker as an embittered and unpleasant woman trapped in a hated marriage. It’s 2017. Come on now.

3. The writing has some issues. The dialogue can feel uneven, sometimes veering into anachronistic territory and then veering the other way whenever historical quotes are used. There are places where repetitive word choice and phrasing become painfully apparent (”Darling” oh my goddd), especially during the long rigmarole of Henry’s attempt to get an annulment. By the time he and Anne have about the sixteenth variant of the exact same conversation it feels like the book is just spinning its wheels. Speaking of whom…

4. Henry. Holy shit, was this characterization annoying. I couldn’t stand him, I couldn’t stand his dialogue, and not even for the usual reasons. There is nothing to appreciate here; he’s not charming or charismatic, he’s not proactive, he’s not especially intelligent or politically savvy. What he is is obnoxious, whiny, ineffective, dominated first by Catherine and then Anne, easily manipulated by everyone around him, and overall just a pathetic figure. He is pitifully attached to Anne, so terrified of her leaving him that he does whatever she wants. His famous temper doesn’t even make an appearance to liven things up; his only redeeming feature is his enduring “fatherly love”. /vomit

Aside from the fact that this portrayal ignores nearly everything we know about the real Henry, it also makes his “partnership” with Anne unbearably one-sided and dull. There’s no dynamic and very little exchange of ideas - it’s just Anne and her family blatantly manipulating the king on one side, and figures like Wolsey and Cromwell doing the same on the other. As a result there’s no indication that Henry knows the charges against Anne are false; the whole coup is framed as Cromwell’s doing, and given that Henry has been shown to be a malleable idiot up to this point, there’s no reason to think he questions any of it. A thought: Stop trying to make women like COA and Anne look “strong” by making the men around them laughably weak. It doesn’t help anyone’s cause.

The Perplexing:

1. I’ve praised Weir’s research in putting together this book, but it occasionally fell victim to some bizarre Critical Research Failure. Why did Anne have two extra brothers, when a basic Google search could tell you Elizabeth Howard only had three children who lived to adulthood? Why do these characters exist when they add nothing to the story, don’t affect events and are killed off fairly quickly? There’s no reason for them to be there, and it’s distracting when most of the book seems well thought-out.

2. The treatment of Mary and George Boleyn was just…strange. There’s nothing really new about Mary’s characterization, but Weir puts forth the idea that she was violently raped by both Francis and Henry. Why is this here? At best it’s meant as an early reason for Anne to distrust men, but there were plenty of other (more tasteful) ways to do that. Anne even lampshades the fact that it “beggared belief” that Mary could be raped by both kings - you don’t say!

As for George…I really don’t know what Weir’s beef with him is, or how it served the story, but George Boleyn here is effectively Satan. He sexually humiliates his wife, sleeps with everyone (and is possibly bi, the shock, the horror!), admits to raping women of all ages, and - most bizarrely - is “revealed” as having poisoned Catherine of Aragon (and implied to be the source of Fisher’s assassination attempt as well). Again: why is any of this here? All it does is make Anne look terrible by association, as she learns these things about her brother and never changes her opinion of him for more than five minutes.

3. Anne and Henry Norris are in love. That’s…interesting, I suppose, though backed up by basically nothing. Even in the novel it’s utterly underdeveloped; Anne falls in love with Norris at first sight - from afar - and for the rest of the book we’re meant to accept that they have this great unspoken passion for each other. I don’t necessarily object to the idea of Anne having feelings for someone else during her marriage to Henry, as long as the author doesn’t toe the line of “she really was an adulteress” too closely. But this felt so random and gratuitous that their “emotional” scenes together read as unintentionally funny.

4. Speaking of gratuitous! The choice to keep Anne conscious in the moments after her beheading was really weird, and frankly it pissed me off a little. Weir doesn’t totally pull this out of nowhere, granted, but once more: it didn’t need to be there. At this point the reader has spent over 500 pages watching Anne grow up, sympathizing with her and relating to her and liking her. The entire last section of the book is devoted to Anne’s mental anguish and terror over her circumstances, which is difficult enough to read. Ending the novel with a gory description of her experience post-decapitation, ending her story with nothing but more fear and physical agony, was unnecessary. It was cruel.

It was also, I might add, a marked contrast to the ending of the previous book in this series, Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen. That novel ends with Catherine dying peacefully in her bed and being welcomed into heaven. Compare that to Anne’s horrific final moments before “merciful darkness descended” and tell me it doesn’t feel like authorial bias. Which is strange because, again, I think we’re supposed to root for Anne in this novel.

So, yes, this was an interesting and entertaining read. It did shed light on episodes of Anne’s life and facets of her personality that don’t get much in the way of popular attention. There are frustrating moments and confusing narrative choices, but I’d still recommend giving it a look.

[trans-girl-sonic]

Your blog is really funny. False accusations against artists being pedophiles, but also transforming everything and everything into homosexuals or trans, whether it's been canon or not. Hope to see more laughable postings in the future!

Teen Boat! Kindle Editionby Dave Roman  (Author), John Green  (Illustrator)3.8 out of 5 stars    24 customer reviews See all 3 formats and editionsKindle $9.99Read with Our Free App

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Length: 144 pages Age Level: 12 and up Grade Level: 7 and upAvailable on these devices Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download

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Product detailsFile Size: 70468 KBPrint Length: 144 pagesPublisher: Clarion Books (May 8, 2012)Publication Date: May 8, 2012Sold by: Houghton Mifflin HarcourtLanguage: EnglishASIN: B005OC305GText-to-Speech: Not enabled  X-Ray:Not Enabled  Word Wise: Not EnabledLending: Not EnabledEnhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled  Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,065,292 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)#164 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Pirates#293 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Pirates#1164 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Emotions & FeelingsWould you like to tell us about a lower price?Related media

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5.0 out of 5 starsPouring the Teen Angst on so Thick that You’re Going to Need a Bilge Pump IByFredTownWardVINE VOICEon November 6, 2015Format: Hardcover|Verified PurchaseThis prequel to Teen Boat! The Race for Boatlantis is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. The parodies are laid on thick and fast. About the only nit I can offer up is that this book is much more episodic than the second one, and some of the chapters work better than others.Comment|Was this review helpful to you?YesNoReport abuse5.0 out of 5 starsTHIS BOOK IS HILARIOUSByElaine Ritteron December 31, 2013Format: Hardcover|Verified PurchaseThis is quite possibly one of the funniest things I have ever read in my entire life. I was laughing the entire way through, cover to cover. I’m actually not sure what target audience this book was aiming at, because there are definitely some off-color sexual jokes throughout. I don’t think I would recommend this book to children, but it’s perfect for teens and adults. I loved it so much I ordered a second copy for a White Elephant Christmas gift and it was a hit!!Comment|Was this review helpful to you?YesNoReport abuse5.0 out of 5 starsTeen BoatByJoseph R. Romanon June 11, 2012Format: Hardcover|Verified PurchaseJust love Dave Romans new book. I am a fan of his work.He writes really great stuff for kids to read.Hes a kid at heart,and he knows what kids like to read.Comment| 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNoReport abuse5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsByAmazon Customeron June 28, 2016Format: Kindle Edition|Verified PurchaseAmazing book for speech and debate.Comment|Was this review helpful to you?YesNoReport abuse4.0 out of 5 starsSaturday morning cartoon spoofByLivianiaVINE VOICEon June 5, 2012Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What’s this? )Collaborators Dave Roman and John Green originally published the TEEN BOAT! mini-comic through their own Cryptic Press. You can still visit the old websites associated with that version of the comic. TEEN BOAT! won an Ignatz Award and now it is available in a full color version with extra comics and other bonus material.

The art of TEEN BOAT! is clean with easy-to-distinguish and consistent character designs. The girls aren’t overly sexified either. They look like teen girls and their designs are stylized the same as the guys. The art doesn’t stand out from the crowd, but it is definitely not hideous. And believe me, you’d be surprised how many comics and graphic novels get published with awful art.

TEEN BOAT! first came onto my radar when I read the AV Club review praising its light parody of Saturday morning cartoons. After reading it myself, I cannot come up with a better description than that. TEEN BOAT! is an updated, self-aware Saturday morning cartoon that invites the reader to laugh at the ridiculous premise and plots and enjoy the story anyway.

The protagonist of TEEN BOAT! is actually named TEEN BOAT! He’s a high school student who can turn into a boat at will, but must turn into a boat when wet. He gets in and out of trouble, dates an Italian gondola, and runs for class president. Like most teen guys, he’s pretty self-absorbed. One of the running gags is how he doesn’t notice that his best friend is both into him and has shape-changing abilities of her own.

Older teens will probably find TEEN BOAT! too short and silly. But hey, I’m an adult and thought it was cute. TEEN BOAT! is probably best for tweens, especially ones that still enjoy the cheesiness of Saturday morning cartoons. There is some underage drinking and gambling, but it the protagonist does not partake and the behavior is punished.Read moreComment| 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNoReport abuse3.0 out of 5 starsNO WAY, JOSE!ByFrequent BuyerTOP 500 REVIEWERon June 2, 2012Format: Hardcover|Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What’s this? )Beware!! This gal’s got her Mom-Review Hat On…

I actually requested this book to see what the team of Roman and Green were up to; and with a mind to finding out whether this might be the beginning of a series I could introduce to my 10 year-old son…

…BUT NO WAY, JOSE. I might let a ’d-mn’ slide but it’s not cool with this helicopter mom to have marijuana, drinking and smoking (cigarettes this time) mentioned like it’s no big deal. [Not to mention that ‘getting to second base’ would have to be explained.] Sooo, me in my-mom-hat will not be suggesting this book for Tweens.

Which leaves the question of who it would be good for. Here’s my opinion:

No - for adults. There was some funny stuff here, but not enough to make it worth the effort.

No - for Tweens. At least if you’re a mom like me. If your child is already rolling their own, they might enjoy it.

Yes - for guys 13-16 years, if they feel like a fun read that’s based on goofy humor.

Yes - possibly for girls 13 - 15 years if they like non-violent graphic novels. Romance is the focal point of the stories. And I particularly like the sections that dealt with where Teen Boat (that’s his name) fell in love with a gondola named Risatina.

Maybe - for guys older than 16, but honestly all of the things I thought were inappropriate for younger kids, is going to be too bland for mosts tastes at this age. I mean, no super cool artwork, and no ultra violence or women with extravagant 'attributes’...I’m divided on this one and not prepared to give it a definitive thumbs-down because there might be a guy out there that will be motivated to pick up more books if he starts on this one. However, that said TEEN BOAT is just got the wrong synergy going. On the one hand it’s childish but has inappropriate things for children, and one the other hand it’s not sophisticated enough for most Young Adults, which leaves it possibly right for that thin band in between: 13-15 year olds.

Pam T~putting away her MOM-hatRead more4 comments| 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNoReport abuseSee all verified purchase reviews (newest first)Write a customer review

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3.0 out of 5 starsShallow and not-quite-funnyStock characters and situations pulled from Judy Blume and John Hughes. Heavy-handed metaphors for teen angst. It’s all part of the joke, right?Read morePublished 1 year ago by Irene Ringworm5.0 out of 5 starsA BOAT load of fun!!!!A great success! My Son LOVES It!!! He couldn’t put it down until he was done!! A MOST AWESOME BOOK…my sons says “I just like it a real lot!!”Published 1 year ago by I am a Children’s Librarian5.0 out of 5 starsIt’s very simpleTEEN! BOAT!! What more do you need? All the angst of being a teen … all the thrill of being a boat!Published on October 5, 2014 by Jennifer5.0 out of 5 starsWacky, silly funNot every book comes with a fool-proof litmus test, but this one certainly does. Just read the tag-line on the cover:

The angst of being a teen!Read morePublished on September 3, 2012 by Andrew C Wheeler4.0 out of 5 starsJoin the Adventure!This book immediately jumped out at me as I began reading because of the wonderful illustrations and vibrant colors, and the story didn’t disappoint.Read morePublished on July 21, 2012 by A. Lynn4.0 out of 5 starsFun parodyTeenBoat! is a one-trick pony. Whether or not you’re entertained will depend entirely on how much you like that trick.Read morePublished on July 18, 2012 by A. Reid5.0 out of 5 starsIf I’m any judge at all as to what teens will laugh at…This graphic short story collection is ridiculous, silly, and hilarious. It pokes fun at the genre, at the way teens are often portrayed, and yet, from my understanding of…Read morePublished on June 20, 2012 by Neal Reynolds2.0 out of 5 starsConcept Fail.Some things that are completely absurd can also be funny. This is not one of those cases.

The entire premise is ridiculous and simply doesn’t work.Read morePublished on June 13, 2012 by Hedera Femme1.0 out of 5 starsNot RecommendedI thought I was getting a fun, innocent little book. But no, it is not. The book is boring, plus there is profanity and mention of unmentionable things such as smoking, etc.Read morePublished on June 6, 2012 by AndreaSearch Customer Reviews

SearchSet up an Amazon GiveawayTeen Boat!Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon GiveawayThis item: Teen Boat!Set up a giveaway

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[tellerford13]

MO ASTOR- CHAPTER 33

We don’t own the bikes, brothers, or any “related” Sons of Anarchy, trust us, if we did we wouldn’t have the time to write. No money is being made from our stories. So, please don’t sue. It’d be a fruitless endeavor indeed. That being said, Harley, Journee, and any other newbies are ours, and we don’t share. :Whispers in creepy voice: “My precious.” The universe This reality is a mix of cannon, and our own ideas. We strive to keep the boys cannon, but since we will be shifting around some of the events, that will reflect in our writing and their personalities as well. It’s our goal to provide you with quality fiction, and solid, fleshed out OFC. We appreciate constructive criticism and love LOVE reviews, they are a writers life blood and definitely help encourage us and inspire us. We will be posting on our Tumblr where we’ll have fun pictures from time to time as well. http://tellerford13.tumblr.com We’ll also be taking requests for one shots, preferences or imagines for all things Sons at our other Tumblr, so check it out and send your thoughts!http://tellerford13oneshots.tumblr.com/ And just for fun, we’ve decided to start a Pinterest for the story! So if you want a glimpse at our girls and see into our world, check it out! https://www.pinterest.com/tellerford/

                                                           A/N:  Happy Early holiday. Here's a present from us to you. We hope you enjoy the next chapter.

                                                 Mo Astor 33

Journee

“God it’s hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk.” I pull my hair on top of my head and daydream of lopping it off in preference of a short bob. Filip would freak. He loves me, but I think he loves my hair almost as much. Besides, there’s nothing better than when he helps me do it. His hands feel so good on my scalp, and he managed to get his sister to part with one of his mother’s heirloom silver hair brushes.

“Well it is ninety-five degrees out and climbing,” Chloe says. I’ve hired a few more tattoo artists. As Sweet Ink’s reputation has been built, our clientele has grown. I’ve backed off and taken fewer gigs to stay in the role of managing and doing art for both clubs. I’ve earned my right to more freedom. I know I don’t have to be home when my boys are or cook the majority of the meals but after spending so much time alone, it just feels good to have that familial bond.

I also feel like they both need a bit of spoiling. Juicy has a displaced feel I want to eradicate, and Chibs has had it rough for far too long. I know I can’t change their past, but I can make their present the best it can be. My boys. It’s amazing how swiftly things have changed.

“You all done for the day?” Chloe asks.

“Yeah, I just finished a massive chest piece, and I’m cooling down before I walk outside and try not to melt like an M&M.”

Chloe laughs.

“It’s Friday night. I’m surprised to still see you here after seven.”

“The husband is away on business. I got a girl’s night planned. Booze, Pizza, and chick flicks at Casa Telford.”

“Sounds like a good time.”

“It will be. It’s been insanely busy the past two weeks.”

“You know the summer brings people out in droves.”

“It’s true.” I roll shoulders. Being hunched over for two hours plus is hell on the back. My fingers throb. On the hands too.  I’ll be popping some pain medication and maybe even a soak. Years of holding a vibrating gun can sneak up on you. The boys have been gone for a week, and it feels like a month. Since everything went down at the GB party, we’ve been hanging out non-stop after work.

I was worried that he’d be upset, but Filip told me he knew Wifey came with the Jax package. The little voyeur gets off on it.  I have to admit it does things for me too. There’s something wicked about fooling around where you might get caught, and the natural association of Lee and sex keeps things from being odd even if Jax is remotely involved.

I press my thighs together, grateful for the maxi dress that hides my motion. My hormones have been working overtime. Maybe it’s because I’m like a genie in a bottle. Daddy popped my cork, and now I’m making up for all the years I missed out.  I finish going over the appointments with the front desk, clean my area, and make my way home. I toss my purse on the counter, arm the alarm and make a beeline for the bathroom. Nothing sounds better than a bath right now. I fill the tub with lavender scented bubble bath, braid my hair, wind it into a bun and pin it within an inch of its life, and turn on the i-pod on the his-and-her counter.

Stripping down, I toss my clothes into the hamper and step into the warm tube. My muscles thank me as I lean against the back of the large garden tub. My eyes drift shut as the music helps me relax. The beeping of the alarm pulls me from a light slumber.

“Nee,” Lee calls.

“Sorry. I feel asleep in the bathtub,” I call.

I hear her re-arm the alarm and make her way to me. She opens the door. “You look adorable right now all surrounded by bubbles. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just tired. I had a chest piece to finish today, and it’s been crazy at the shop. Which is a good thing, but tiring.” I shrug.

“And…” She narrows her eyes.

“And I miss Filip, and I’m so horney it's not funny.”

She laughs. “You want company in there?”

I poke my lip out and nod. “Oh stop it. Let me grab us some beer.”

She disappears, and I adjust myself to make room for her. She hands me the beers and strips down. I lick my lip as she unzips the yellow flower sundress. Her black and white lingerie highlight her firm breasts, slim waist, and curvy hips. For a shorter woman, her legs are long and shapely.  I hold out my hand, and she steps down.

“Open those chocolate legs, babe.”

She takes her places between my legs, and I hand her the beer as I prop back against the tub. We’re quiet as we drink and cuddle, drawing energy and affection from one another.

“You missing Jay?”

“Yeah. It was nice having them here and doing things together wasn’t it?” she asks leaning back against me.

“Very nice.  It’s crazy this is what we’ve always wanted, to be in serious relationships with close friends, Brothers, ‘cause let's be serious we knew civilians wouldn’t do it for either of us,” I say.

“I know; I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Nu uh. This is our time,” I say.

“Better me,” She mumbles. She takes a long draw of her beer and hums. “We should send the boys a picture.”

I giggle. “You are so bad.”

“You didn’t’ say no,” she retorts.

“Because it was a good idea.”

“Come on, selfie time,” she says as she leans over the tub and grabs her phone.

We tangle our bodies, making sure the bubbles over the bare necessities as we pose.

“Give me those lips, Journee,” Lee whispers. I barely register the snaps as I taste her.

We pick the best shot and send it off to both.

“When they finally get this, they’re going to be jealous.”

She laughs. “How about we give them something to be jealous about?”

“Looks like I’m not the only one whose horny,” I say tapping the tip of her nose.

“You’re wet and slippery and pressed against me, how can I not be?” She whispers. Turning to the side, she crooks her finger. “Come here.”  Drawn like a magnet, I lean into her. Our tongues tangle and our breasts slid together.  I whimper as her stiff nipples brush against mine.

“You like the way that feels?” Lee asks.

“So good.”

She cups my breasts and circles my nipples. “How does this feel?” “Even better.”

She hums her approval and kisses her way down my neck, as I pinch her turgid nipples and tug. She likes a rough touch, same as I do. I’m glad we’re in a tub because my pussy is flooded and my body is hot.

“Today no one is in charge. Right now, we’re going to take care of each other,” Lee says breathlessly. I suck her full breast into my mouth and run my hand down her belly. Slipping two fingers inside her tight sheath, I work her hot center. Her gasps spur me on, and I admire her flushed frame as she rides my hand.

“You’re so pretty when you fuck my fingers.” I bite her bottom lip, and she growls. Her eyes are blue fire.

“I’m not the only one who knows how to dance.” She pinches my nipple and moves down to return the favor. I moan as we find a rhythm, two wild, needy, slick women attached at the lips. She tastes like sweet ripe fruit and lust. I’m addicted to the flavor. Water swirls and sloshes over the side of the tube.

She adjusts her angle, hitting a spot that makes my body jerk , and I pick up the pace, never one to be outdone.  Our gazes lock and the room is filled with shaky breathing as we reach our peak and shatter together. The world around me goes white as I convulse, engulfed by pleasure. I come back to myself and give her a slow smile. Her hair has crept out of her bun, and she looks a million times more relaxed than she did when she first entered the bathroom.

“Better?” I whisper.

“Girl, better isn’t even the word? How’s my baby J?”

“Relieved.”

I lean in, and we share a sweet kiss.

“Snuggles and movies?” she asks.

“MMmHmm. As soon as I can muster enough strength to get out of this tub.”

We giggle as I pull the stopper and we slowly climb out of the tub. Wrapped in fluffy peach-colored towels, we make our way into my room where I toss her an old cast of shirts that once belonged to Jax and one of Chibs’ for me. We never make it into the living room, opting to climb into the massive King sized bed.

“Remember when you first upgraded your bed and denied it was because Chibs was sleeping with you more than he wasn’t?” Lee asks.

I snicker. “Can’t a woman just want to upgrade her bed?”

“Yes, but that wasn’t why,” she says.

“Like you weren’t up in here just as much and even Jax. It was like party at Journee’s house.”

She laughs. “That’s true. So maybe it wasn’t all because of Chibs, but partially at least.”

“Remember when you got drunk and made out with Jax before you were serious with Kick and you both wrote it off as harmless fun.”

“It was.”

“My Great Aunt Fanny,” I mumble.

“You don’t have a Great Aunt Fanny.”

“Exactly,” I say laughing as we run through the familiar joke.

“You are such a brat,” She says as she catches her breath.

“Hello. Teller.” I point to myself, and she laughs.

“I should’ve known, huh?”

“Kind of a part of the package, babe. Not that you seem to mind big brother.” I wag my eyebrows, and she laughs.

We’re halfway through St.Elmo’s Fire when Bonnie and Clyde comes over my phone. I grab the black square, giddy as I hit answer and accept the face video.

“Mo Astor are ye two trying to give yer old men heart attacks?” he drawls.  Lee and I lean together giggling as we see the two of them standing together.

“What? We were being considerate and giving you something pretty to look at,” I tease.

“Bullshit. You two have always been evil together,” Jax says.

I pout. “Filip, do you hear how he’s talking to me?”

“Aye. I do love, But I make a practice of not getting into sibling matters.”

My jaw drops.

“You’d better take that back, Jackson Teller. We’re the best thing that’s ever happened to you,” Lee says. I can feel their connection over the phone lines. My heart dances and I can’t stop the wide grin pulling my lips up at the corner.

“Oh, I never said you weren’t darlins. But you got me into a shit ton of trouble over the years.”

“Hah. We got you out of a shit ton too,” I say.

“Exactly,” Lee purrs.

“Best watch yer step Jackie boy. They’re both in agreement on this matter.”

I hear a whistle in the background and they both sigh.

“We got to go, love. Love you.”

“Love you too Filip.”

“I’ll see you soon, Lee. Miss you, baby.”

“I miss you too, babe,” Lee says.

They’re gone, and we both sigh and snuggle in together. The life of an old lady is hard, but we’re damn lucky to have one another to balance it out.

***

“I’m glad we can do this. It’s been too long since us girls just got together.”

There’s a reason for that.  I turn my gaze to Lee who hides her laugh behind a small cough. She knows exactly what I’m thinking. But when Ma tells you she wants to get together for lunch at the house because she’s lonely with all the boys gone, you can’t tell her no. So here we are, about to undergo the Gemma Inquisition.

“We’ve missed you too, Ma. It’s been busy,” I say placating her.

“Hmph. You only came out of the bedroom because your old man is on the road. But that’s okay. It’s how newlyweds should be.” She pats my hand and I know I’m forgiven.

“And how are you and my first born doing?” She asks Lee.

“We’re good.”

“Any plans on cohabitation?”

Lee swallows. “We haven’t talked about that yet.”

“What are you waiting for? You both dicked around long enough before getting together. It’s time to fast forward, not slow down if you ask me.”

“Now Ma, Jaxy taking things slow is a good thing. It means he’s using his head,” I say distracting her from going in for the kill.

“Huh. Never thought of it that way. Whatever you’re doing it’s been good on my boy. I haven’t said anything out loud, but I see the change. It’s because of you he’s going to be ready when that baby comes. You put that bitch in her place yet?”

“He beat me to it,” Lee says almost sheepishly.

“Hot Damn. It’s finally happening.”

“What?” Lee and I say at the same time.

“Baby boy is growing up. Praise the Lord. Some days I never thought we’d get here.”

I wonder why Ma. You gave him everything he wants before he even asks. I roll my eyes at Lee who smirks.

“He’s stepped up in a lot of ways.”

“I’m glad to hear it, baby. Knowing the two of you are doing well gives me peace.”

Lee smiles and I see a new level of contentment in her gaze. She and Jax are so good for each other. It’s amazing it took this long for the two of them to get together.

“Now you.”

“Me?” I place a hand on my chest.

“When am I going to get some grandbabies from a mother I like? As much humping as the two of you have been doing you should already have a bun in the oven.”

My jaw drops. “Ma.”

“What? I’m not getting any younger, and neither is your old man. I been waiting years for this from you two. I was starting to give up hope.”

“Yeah right. You’d walk us to the alter with one of the brothers by gun point if you had to,” I mutter.

“Baby you know your mother so well. I’m proud.” She winks, and I shake my head, wondering if she was right and I was pregnant. Butterflies dance in my belly. We’d welcome it more than she knew.

“You need anything, Ma?” Lee asks.

“Just your company. The house is too quiet these days. Hopefully, that’ll be changing soon,” She says giving us a pointed look. Man, when she wants something she doesn’t let up until she wills it into existence.

“You know you have us, and anything else you need,” I add.

“I know. My babies.” She looks on us with pride, and I can’t help but lean in close to bask in her affection and approval.

[apexart-journal]

Lucía Vidales - NYC - Days 14, 15 &16

New York has been good to me,

So far I feel very happy and grateful for this time here and people.

16th DAY

Today was my free day, I walk and slept a lot, went to look for some materials and books, but mostly I feel tired and tried to rest and get better of my back (I slipped and bumped with the border of the bed). I got Kaith´s Harring Journal, which I though could be a great companion in New York, writing myself a journal as well.

His writing gets me to imagine late 20th NY. I can´t believe he died so young, he was almost same age I am when it happened. I read a paragraph which was so enlightening and was written the same day of the year 60 years ago. Its crazy how his feeling is still so present around the city and it´s identity. I think he had some very clear ideas about painting I didn´t knew. His cut outs are so interesting. Reading KH I have been thinking a lot about Matisse and plain color and its relationship to New York. Matisse is different for me now and also plain color which is something I really love about New York, and which before coming I felt as foreign or too artificial for my own sesibility. 

It feels here design and the color of it is so important, so meant to be. In Mexico color is used in a much more chaotic way. I don't think the idea of taste is important in Mexico City... here it seems to be, in Manhattan and Brooklyn at least... the cabs, the sets in the subway, how people dress and how they behave and talk. I´ve heard some times that black is the color for artists and most people to dress here. I think in Manhattan everything is so meant to be in terms of color design, it did not felt that way in Staten Island. In Manhhatan colors are rough, very light or very dark but plain as if gone though an industrial or mechanical process.

I realized I love artists journals, should read more of them and try to keep one after tumblr. When I was 16 I had a sort of art journal, I still believe its one of the best things I´ve ever done. 

I find this format very 

HO

mo

GE

no

US

if you ask me, even though I haven´t explore it much.... mmm.

15th Day

On Saturday I went dancing, met Sa´dia, she is great, I also met her girl friend and some of her friends. I had a lot of fun, but my back started to hurt more with the cold weather after dancing. I was expecting some more local or not so commercial Hip Hop, but it was fun to dance and relax, ah! and be more tired.

its quite different to move around this City than in mx. 24 hrs subways make a great difference, I understand now the image of the city that never sleeps. 

It seems that gentrification is changing so much big cities, Its sad I didn´t get to know the NY of the old times, it seems from what I´ve talked to people that the city has changed so much recently into a more capitalistic and homogeneous form.

note: think about homogeneity

Before that I walked around China Town and the east side. I saw the UN from very near and was amazed that in its yard they have a big statue of St. Michael Archangel killing the dragon, which has been in many colonized countries as Mx, a symbol of the violent triumph of Catholicism over native religions. Funny it was at the UN.

I was deeply moved by 5 Tomoyasu Murata animated films, I think I cry at each one of them. They have such great beauty and sadness, talked about wars and natural disasters concecuences from a very personal and vulnerable point of view. 

note: what is nostalgia for you?

I should retake my “lost children” project.

14th Day

The part of Staten Island was so impressive for me, I saw soo many US flags. Each house seems to put su much effort in porch decoration, each is so unique and stereotypical at the same time. The house which doesn´t, stands out by their lack of care. There was also a fictional scary humorist feeling. That landscape I´d only see it in tv, or terror movies, so It felt that some stupid serial killer wearing a mask would be at the next corner and get us all covered in ketchup. I loved the fog, I felt I was in Twin Peeks or something like that. The museum was closed due to winter season, so went back to fancy and “good taste” Manhattan taking my time for the walk.

My favorite part of the day was the cleaning at St Fracis Xavier´s, oh! not the cleaning but the thoughts the cleaning let in me. They served 1800 meals that day to homeless people for free. There are so many volunteers who make that possible. It made me remember last strong earthquake in mx city 2017 where many people lined to help, move rocs and rescue people from dust and scratch.

 I was´t able to communicate  in usual ways with some of the homeless as they seemed to have their thoughts somewhere else. Most are old, male and black, I only saw a young woman who fall asleep over the table as if she wanted to embrace all of it with her arms. I also though about St. Francis, the stories about him my father read to me when I was a child, and its relationship with animals, also thought about Patti Smith´s great song of Constantine, which links him with St. Francis, Columbus and Piero Della Francesca within the struggle or love to nature, war and art.  (It amuses me that when I see mature women with long gray hair at the streets I think hey! it could be Patti Smith, this is NY)

One of the homeless men thank me there for being helping to clean, it felt weird, I think society should ask those people to forgive us all for they being in such conditions. But mainly it felt weird because I´ve been thinking about the figure of the witness. Here some times I feel not much like doing things when I´m doing things as part of the fellowships program. It feels like doing and not, only witnessing things at the same time as doing. It´s hard to explain. Like if there is a distance. This distance does not mean more or less engagement, because it has required from me a lot of engagement and trust, even almost blind trust, and when I feel I engage more the distance is more obvious. Iit may be instead about time. While we were washing dishes some volunteers told me about the time they were going there, or that the´ll keep going, but I already knew I wasn´t coming back even before arriving. 

I guess the purpose of each person at being there is a mystery, even we can also share some purpose in it. You could perceive dynamics of power, of fear, disgust, or guilt, but in general it was mostly survival and love. 

H sent me a beautiful text about Perec, it talks about phantoms, and art as that magic moment were all boundaries are finally risen. I feel this sense of the witness and distance-involment I´m having has to do art. As this moment and me have to do with the phantom, this presence able to go across boundaries but it is also not quite there, and the phantom yet is irredeemably there, attached and ungraspable.

[minaminokyoko]

Wonder Woman (2017): A Spoilertastic Review

*slowly puts on armor from head to toe*

So.

Wonder Woman.

Get ready to hate me, unfollow me, or whatever you have to do, because I think it’s…

Mediocre.

Adequate.

Fine.

Just fine.

No more, no less.

And having been a fan of Wonder Woman since I was a kid, this is almost as bad as if the movie had been as terrible as BvS or Suicide Squad.

However, before you foam at the mouth and start lighting your torches, hear me out.

For the sake of argument, let’s say you went to a restaurant and ordered a four course meal. The appetizer wasn’t good, but it was okay. The salad was godawful and the entrée was even worse. Then, someone hands you a slice of cake. You’ve just eaten shit, so the cake tastes delicious. However, is the cake good because it’s the normal levels of enjoyable that a cake should be, or is it good because you just finished eating shit? That’s my central issue here. I think that Wonder Woman is an okay film that came after three unsatisfactory films in the DCEU, and so now everyone’s turned a blind eye to its problems. This is not to say that Wonder Woman doesn’t have good qualities, because it does, and I will highlight them. But I have to say that I can’t applaud this film because Wonder Woman is one of the most iconic heroes of all time, and I’m pained to have to say that I think they didn’t do her justice. Let me argue the case for you below.

Overall Grade: C

Pros:

-From the moment she was cast, I’ve been dreading seeing Gal Gadot as Diana. Not because she isn’t a good actress—I haven’t seen her in anything, so I can’t judge her talent—but because to me she doesn’t feel like Wonder Woman. I can’t explain it to you. It’s a gut feeling. I look at her and I just see an actress in a costume. It’s not like other heroes where they fit into the role seamlessly. For all his faults, Henry Cavill fits as Clark Kent. Chris Evans fits as Captain America. Scarlett Johansson fits as Black Widow. Christian Bale fit as Batman. To me, Gal doesn’t fit, she was just cast. Now, that being said, she does a better job than I thought she would portraying the lighter, more naive side of Diana. She was able to sell certain parts of the character quite well, especially the righteous outrage and the emotion of failing the people in the village. I still have actors I would have preferred in the role, but she did fine, which is much more than I can say for other people. (*cough* Ben Affleck *cough*)

-Disclaimer: If you feel compelled, you can troll my Tumblr and see that I have been a Chris Pine fan since 2009 and I fully admit that what I’m going to say is quite biased, but I’m going to be honest anyway: I think Steve Trevor was the best part of this movie. Yeah, yeah, throw the rotten fruit at me, but I mean it. I think Chris Pine lent so much charm and heart to the film that while Gal was trying her best, I think the movie wouldn’t have been as good without him. Steve is able to ground the characters around him and bring a vital sense of connection between them all. It’s not that Diana wasn’t enough. It’s that she is a goddess and so it’s difficult for us as mere mortals to bond with her, and so seeing her through Steve’s eyes really breaks it down to a level that we can understand. He is the most sympathetic and possibly the most layered character, since the film oddly enough doesn’t spend quite enough time with Diana’s traits for us to get a feel for who she is. I have him figured out moreso than her, and so I’m more connected to him than to her by the end, but we’ll get a little deeper into what I mean in just a moment.

-There’s plenty of action. They don’t skimp on Diana fucking dudes up, and that’s what we need. Man of Steel had a ton of faults, but they got the action right. It’s nice to be in an age where it’s possible to believably have us see Diana’s strength and invulnerability.

-Finally, finally, fucking finally, someone in the goddamn DCEU got a clue and realized, “Hey, maybe Diana shouldn’t be a homicidal maniac or a depressed alien raised by a cynic! Maybe she should be hopeful!” For once, we don’t have to deal with this depressing bullshit that David Goyer and Zack Snyder think we want. Diana is idealistic. Even though she is brought down to our level later on, she isn’t a dark cloud who stomps around being a hypocrite like Crazy Steve aka BatAffleck (I am not calling that maniac Batman no matter what you say) and Superman in this ‘verse. Thank you. Thank the gods that they adopted her hope and light into the story and didn’t try for a “gritty realistic” angle like they did with BatAffleck and Superbrood.

-The chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine is one of the better parts of the film as well. They feel much more natural than anything else. It’s not a romantic plot tumor and it doesn’t tear the whole film down at all. They also rely on each other in a way that’s well done. Their partnership makes sense and again, it isn’t forced, which can happen when screenwriters don’t know what they’re doing.

 Cons:

-So as a woman, I am in no way unused to seeing characters Stuffed into the Fridge. Sadly, it happens about twice as much to women characters as it does to men, so I always groan when it still happens in modern day fiction. This movie is an example. I am really, really cheesed off that they killed Steve Trevor in the first Wonder Woman movie. That…fucking…sucks. There is so much more character to unpack both for him and Diana, so killing him off in a sacrifice makes me furious. Do you know why? Because you can go back through the comics and the animated series and the animated films and find some really good character development for Diana as she has to come to terms with being borderline immortal and seeing her loved ones die. Do you know why we all cried our fucking eyes out when Peggy Carter died in Civil War? That’s why. Steve had to watch the love of his life die slowly in a hospital bed, having missed most of her lifespan asleep in the ice. That’s powerful. We can connect to that. All of us fans have lost someone in life and we know how it feels to be helpless. They should NOT have killed Steve just to make Diana go Super Saiyan. You just cheated her years and years of character development. She earned that relationship through blood, sweat, and tears, but no, let’s take the easy way out and just stuff him in the fridge so she can angst about it before beating Ares. Kiss my ass.

-The movie takes too many goddamn shortcuts. I’m not talking about the pacing. I’m talking about important character beats that we should have seen, but for some reason, didn’t. I hate it when films do this. Let me give you some examples. First, they skip from Diana as a preteen to Diana as an adult. No. Stop doing this, movies! Fucking stop it! One of the easiest times to emotionally connect with your characters is through adolescence. This is how we find out hopes, desires, and personality traits. Don’t skip it. I can only give you a handful of Diana’s traits because they did a time skip back then and it’s not fair to her to rush through what should be an important section in setting up who she is, why she is, and what’s important to her. Second, they miss out on a fantastic opportunity for Steve and Diana to bond on the boat. Sure, it was funny, but both of them should have like 39043506945657056 questions for each other, but all they do is quip about sex. That is an utter disappointment to me. Yes, Steve and Diana bond later, but it’s too brief. Characters’ introductions are vital to emotional connection and to getting us to root for them on a real level, not just a superficial one. This should have been a longer scene with more details about the two of them and where they came from. Third, and most infuriating for me personally, they skipped the goddamn sex scene. What. Is. Wrong. With. You. This is the second most annoying thing about the movie to me. We’ve just seen Steve and Diana travel together and fight together and then bond a little over a dance. Why in perfect blue fucking hell would you skip over the sex scene? It’s baffling. There is no reason why you skipped it, and I’ll tell you why. On a superficial level, it would actually be a Call Back to Diana’s quip about men being necessary for procreation but not pleasure. Well, why don’t we have Steve change her mind? I’m sure that would have been delightful, and you wouldn’t need to be graphic about it. Cut to the aftermath, where Diana’s trying to catch her breath and Steve’s leaning over her, grinning his ass off, saying, “What was that about men not being necessary for pleasure?” That’s funny and charming and it’s pay off for a previous scene.  Not to mention it’s implied that Diana is a virgin, so it adds to the weight of her trusting Steve enough to be intimate with him. Additionally, considering how Steve gets Fridged at the end, this would make it hurt us even more when he dies if we saw him and Diana making passionate love to each other and shedding the walls they’ve built up as soldiers and warriors. Again, you don’t have to be graphic. With a PG-13 rating, you can have a love scene without full nudity. Last, fanservice! For God’s sake! You have two insanely gorgeous people at your fingertips and you just fucking skip it?! (No pun intended.) What the hell is the matter with you? Sure, I got Wondy running around in a metal miniskirt and Chris Pine’s gorgeous body except for his little Trevor exposed, but for Zeus’ sake, throw me a fucking bone here! Literally! Look, I say all that to say this: the movie skims through moments that are incredibly important and that transform a film from being okay to great. Great films hit those beats. Great films make sure we love the characters and understand who they are, what they want, and how they are impactful to each other by the end. Wonder Woman just checks one or two boxes and keeps on trucking. If Wonder Woman was a D-list superhero, then I wouldn’t bitch about it as much, but this is fucking Wonder Woman. She is the cream of the crop. She is the most recognizable female superhero in existence. You owe it to her to give your best writing, and you just gave her the bare minimum. No, sir. That is not okay with me.

-Coinciding with the shortcuts in character are shortcuts in logic and story. I almost peeled my face off several times because there are a lot of plotholes that the movie just breezes past like it’s nothing. It’s weird that DC has contracted the Marvel disease of under-developing the villains. By far the most egregious story gaps are who the fuck Danny Huston’s character is and how did he get that way and WHY did he get that way? Fuck, man, it drives me crazy when superhero films are so concerned with having a twist at the end that they just completely gloss over any basic knowledge. We need proper set ups and explanations so that we know the stakes and know the limitations of our characters. We are told nothing about Danny Huston’s character and so we don’t get if he was even capable of beating Diana at all. Plus, any seasoned moviegoer knows that he’s not Ares, just a Red Herring, but the movie could have at least tried to sell it to us. I was just checking my watch by the time Diana confronted him because we know old chubby Danny Huston is not going to have a final showdown with the fit and trim Gal Gadot. Furthermore, the plotholes extend over the period of time that I mentioned above, which is Diana growing up. Um. So we see her bracelets repel a blow from a sword. And we never see Diana experiment with this, or ask questions, or do anything at all to investigate. Therefore…how does she know she can do all the amazing shit she does later? Not deflecting bullets. I’m talking about being invulnerable and jumping super high and then the serious Deus Ex Machina with her conducting the lightning through her bracelets. How the fuck did she know she could do that? One scene after she deflects the sword and there was a huge shockwave would have been an excellent place for her to try out her new powers. Why doesn’t Diana ask a single question about what happened? Why does Hippolyta think not preparing Diana for war, like every single other fucking person on the island, is going to do her any good? We see that Ares didn’t come looking for her, so what’s the problem? It’s not like her powers gave off some kind of beacon. Oh, and speaking of plotholes, Zeus, why the hell did you just make the island invisible? Why isn’t it some kind of forcefield to keep mankind out? They literally just sailed into it, bro. You suck. You’re really bad at protecting people. The least the movie could do is have the island be surrounded by a hurricane or a magic storm like the Bermuda Triangle or some shit instead of just being invisible. I just have too many plot related questions that movie glosses over, like Diana walking barebacked into a goddamn house full of rich people with an obvious sword in her dress and no one says a fucking thing to her. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. I can think of 3404354 more questions the movie just didn’t address. This is what makes a movie not stick with me. You can’t just gloss over things like that because as much as I try to enjoy the movie, there’s a little frustrated voice in my head asking all these questions and distracting me.

-Nitpick: The side characters are forgettable and I wouldn’t notice if you took them out completely.

-Nitpick: Etta Candy deserved more screentime and could’ve been a good supporting character to help characterize what we didn’t know about Steve.

-Nitpick: All…the goddamn…fucking…slow motion. This movie has Zack Snyder’s grubby fingerprints all over it. Slow-mo should be used sparingly, but it’s in every last fight scene and I want to pull my hair out since it’s so cliché. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it irked me a lot. There was so much slow-mo that it felt like a parody.

 In the end, I know it doesn’t matter to other people what I think. I know we’re in an age where people think less and less and accept what’s in front of them. “It’s just a movie. Stop being so critical.” Well, I’m sorry. I won’t do that. I love Diana. I have loved her since I was a kid and I have always looked up to her strength and passion and kindness. This movie is just okay. It does what it needs to do. I know it’ll make money. I know people will tie a blindfold on and ignore the flaws because they just need so badly for it to be flawless. That’s fine. I just think Wonder Woman deserves to have a phenomenal film because she is a phenomenal woman. She inspires me. So don’t think that I’m tearing her down when I say that the movie is mediocre. I just think this interpretation of her has been weighed and measured and has been found wanting.

 Kyo out.