#its kinda cliche for a big strong character to want to be romanced but

[dollfat]

giving into the [outlander] peer pressure and deciding opal moved to the city after leaving the wilderness. probably around age 13.

her and her mom took whatever shitty jobs they could, usually physically demanding and not always legal. neither were especially good at socializing and opal was overwhelmed by all the people and noise. she still thinks of the Outlands as her home.

[grrlinthefireplace]

Hey so I’ve been seeing you post a lot about La Casa de Papel recently. What exactly is it? It looks kinda interesting.

Thank you so much for asking!

I am delighted beyond reason to have the opportunity to tell you - and by extension the entire world - why this show has cleared my skin, watered my crops, and legitimately healed my soul after this particularly soul-crushing season of Grimdark White Man Television almost broke me as a human being.

I will attempt to keep this as spoiler-free as I possibly can, because this is a show that should be experienced in the moment, but in a nutshell, La Casa de Papel is a heist show set in present-day Madrid which follows both a found family of thieves who rob the Royal Mint of Spain, and the law enforcement officials on the outside who are chasing them.

If that is enough for you, go right to your TV or computer, fire up the ol’ Netflix, and don’t waste any more time.

If, however, you need a little more, here are the top five things I flail about to every single person in my life to convince them they need to start watching this show like immediately and then come back and tell me all about it.

For visual flair, we’ll intersperse them with some gifs of ladies, because I know my audience.

5. character driving plot > plot driving character.

You know that infuriating thing lazy TV writers do where, in order to to hurry up and get to the big explosion or battle scene or dragon attack or whatever, which is the only bit they really care about, they handwave away the whole concept of motivation and make some character do something that any halfway-attentive viewer will immediately clock that they would never actually do?

There is none of that bullshit here.

In its simplest form, the plot of La Casa de Papel is as follows: a brilliant criminal mastermind devises a heist which cannot possibly go wrong, and then we proceed to watch all the ways in which it goes wrong.

This is a fantastic setup for an action story, made even more breathlessly exciting by strategic use of my favorite heist movie plot device (as perfected by Ocean’s Eleven): namely, “scene where it looks like our crime heroes have been outsmarted and are now threatened by a completely unforeseen disaster” immediately followed by “flashback to the team prepping for the heist where we learn that of course they prepared for this exact scenario.”

But from time to time, things do actually go wrong (as they must, or else there would be no story); and, when they do, it is never because you can tell a writer just wanted to write a scene where bullets go flying, and didn’t care how he got there. These characters are so clear, their behavior so consistent, that when gasp-worthy plot twists happen, they happen because of course that character, in this exact scenario, would do that exact thing.

I’m telling you, I came to this show for a ship (more on that in a minute) and I stayed for a swooning, heart-eyes writer crush on the impeccably-designed plot structure and characterization.

4. High stakes, low gore.

Tone-wise, on a sliding scale of Heist Film Intensity where a really fluffy episode of Leverage is a 1, Reservoir Dogs is a 10, and the Ocean’s franchise is somewhere in the 3-4 range, I would place La Casa at a 5 or a 6, which is perfect for me. I love action, suspense, drama and adventure, but I hate gratuitous violence (especially when it’s pointless and masturbatory and doesn’t contribute anything to the plot) and have a very low tolerance for blood and gore. So I kept waiting for the story to eventually take a hard left turn into Tarantino Land, until eventually it was all just one huge pile of dead bodies, and was genuinely surprised when it didn’t.

This is how I learned just how badly my brain has been fucked up by lazy showrunners who think shock deaths are the only way to raise stakes. During the first season of this show, before I had figured out that it was a Flawless Gem of Television Which So Far Has Not Once Disappointed Me, there were probably a dozen moments where I was absolutely convinced that some character was about to be gruesomely killed for shock value … and I was wrong every single time.

Reader, it was fucking wild.

Every single time I was convinced that person A was going to shoot person B in the head because blah blah maximum angst over here in this part of the story and then it will motivate person C to do this other thing, the show did the hard work of finding a smarter, more unexpected direction to take that character’s story. That means that when deaths do come along - and there are a couple - they feel genuinely earned, and they matter deeply to the story and to us.

3. I would die for these women.

This show loves women. Like it truly, authentically, uncompromisingly loves women in all our fucked-up messy glorious complexity. There are no “types” or cliches here; no one is forced to be only one thing. Fuck your one-dimensional Strong Female Characters, lazy writers.

For one thing, on many shows you might be lucky if you get maybe one mom who is given a personality and a story outside of motherhood. Often, on shows written by men, the fact of her motherhood diminishes her strength or her agency. On this show, nearly every one of the central female characters is both a mom and an action hero simultaneously. Seriously. By season 3 there are four different battle moms. They’re all different, they’re not all on the same side, they have different perspectives, and their role as mother impacts the story differently, but that’s the joy of having a whole lot of different kinds of women - no one has to be everything to everyone.

These women are complicated. They laugh, they cry, they crack dirty jokes, they get laid, they have babies, they fight, they make mistakes, they fall in love, they grow. Men pull sexist shit and they shut it the fuck down. Some of them have love stories, some of them don’t, but they are never defined by or triangulated around relationships with men. They get to have relationships with each other. All of them are excellent at their jobs.

Tokyo is the kind of hot mess antihero protagonist we’ve been watching middle-aged white men play for decades.

Allison is such a realistic teenage girl it’s genuinely painful to watch.

Monica has one of the best arcs I’ve ever seen on television, this is not a drill.

Alicia is terrifying. (A pregnant black ops interrogator! ON WHAT OTHER FUCKING SHOW!?!??)

Nairobi is unlike any other character you’ve seen on TV before; she’s got a little bit of Parker from Leverage, a little bit of Raven Reyes from The 100, but she’s entirely her own creature and you will fall in love with her instantly.

And Raquel. Oh, my love, my angel, my hero, Inspector Raquel Murillo. Love of my goddamn life. A fierce, kickass hostage negotiator swimming upstream against a tide of workplace misogyny who sometimes has to make the frustrating little male-appeasing compromises we all have to make to get through the workday. A beautiful, sexy, powerful heroine over 40 whose femininity isn’t diminished based on some bullshit notion that, for example, pairing your tough-bitch suit and gun holster with red toenails and a lacy blouse detracts from your strength. A loving mom and daughter who has to juggle raising a small child and caring for an aging parent with the stress of, you know, trying to stop the biggest robbery in the history of Spain. A domestic violence survivor (TW for those who need it; nothing is ever shown onscreen, but it’s discussed several times) who is given the space to discuss the things that have happened to her and how she has worked through them with such dignity, accuracy and respect that you can tell the writers did their homework.

This is a show where you can tell there are women in the writers’ room.

2. The Professor and Raquel. I don’t want to spoil a single thing for you here except to say that I myself was lured into this show by the promise of electric sexual chemistry between a criminal mastermind and the police inspector hunting him down, and my God I was not disappointed.

1. Love.

This show came into my life at a period where I was so weary of cynicism on television - so fucking furious at showrunners who dangle hope in front of us and then crush it, who only care about building anything if they can tear it down later, who treat love and fun and joy and hope and family and happiness like they’re intellectually lesser than grimdark nihilism with no soul - that I was honestly kind of broken by it. I was just so. fucking. tired. Tired of “the way we show this heroine is strong is to kill off her love interest.” Tired of “sorry but all this rape and murder is NECESSARY because of REALISM” (particularly rich when coming from shows featuring evil A.I.’s or dragons and ice zombies). Tired of getting invested in relationships - whether ships or friends or found families - only to realize that the show I was watching was always going to sacrifice character to force plot mechanics into place, and those relationships were never going to get the kind of care and focus I wanted them to get.

But that is not this show.

The single most revolutionary thing, to me, about La Casa de Papel - the thing that sets it apart from every other rollercoaster action thrill ride on television - is that every single thread of the plot is tied to love.

Every.

Single.

One.

Love of all different shapes and sizes - parents and children, friendships, doomed crushes (straight and queer), toxic exes, blossoming romances, siblings - and over it all, a deep, deep love for humanity.

The thing I said before, about how when things go wrong they go wrong in character-driven ways? It’s this. Love is why everything on this show happens. Love is what makes children want to live up to their parents and what makes parents fight to leave a better world for their children. Love is why deaths have stakes. Love is why we spend so much screentime lingering on small moments another show might ignore, like all the thieves at heist camp sitting down every night to have dinner together and argue about paella techniques. Love is what causes chaos in the middle of the heist; when there’s one person in the room you care about more than the others, you can get distracted and take your eye off the ball. Love is how your enemies can get to you, by leveraging or blackmailing the people who matter most, knowing that you’ll crack if they’re in danger. Love, gone wrong, causes toxic men to develop possessive and controlling behavior towards women. Love is how the Professor gets the idea for the heist in the first place. The plan is flawless on paper, but it doesn’t account for the human variable, and over and over again we see that relationships and connection and sex and family and love cause people to behave in unpredictable ways and throw the whole plan into chaos, which is what makes for a dynamic and compelling story.

How refreshing to see a show simply refuse to grant the oft-repeated premise that a show cannot have both high-octane thrills, and a big soft squishy heart, at the same time.

ANYWAY, I’VE TAKEN UP ENOUGH OF YOUR VALUABLE TV-WATCHING TIME, GO JUMP ON BOARD THIS TRAIN AND COME SCREAM ABOUT IDEALISTIC SPANISH ROBIN HOODS WITH ME, AND LET THE GOOD SHIP SERQUEL INTO YOUR LIFE, YOU WON’T BE SORRY

THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK

[haveamagicalday]

My 2019 reads

My top ten reads can be found here

4 Stars

All the Bad Apples by Moria Fowley-Doyle

Deena’s family is cursed. Any “rotten apple” in the family is doomed for a a tragic end. When Deena’s sister Mandy goes in search of the cause of the curse, Deena and friends go after her. This book alternates with stories from the past and present dealing with strong feminist themes throughout.

House of Salt and Sorrow by Eria A. Craig

A darker more horror story retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses. Personally, I felt that connection to the original fairy tale was kinda weak and this could have been pitched as its own fairy tale. It was definitely creepy and kept you on your toes throughout.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Riley Sager is becoming one of my favorite thriller authors but this one was probably my least favorite of his 3 books so far. Don’t get me wrong, it was still really good but while the twist was good, I figured it out fairly early on. I kept waiting for another twist that would blow me away but it never happened. Still, this was fun to read and I still stand by the 4 star rating.

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

After Cinderella leaves with her prince, her stepsisters are left in shame. This story covers the stepsisters lives after happily ever after, and maybe they will get their happily ever after too. This book was sweet and creative. Isabelle, are evil stepsister, was a flawed character but still deeply likable. There was some magic and greek mythology woven in that really made this story stand out for me.

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen does it again in this heartfelt tale of a teenager trying to find her place in the world. Emma Saylor’s mother was an addict and now that she’s gone, Emma only has her stories to remember her by. So where does Emma’s life fit in to these stories and how does the story end?

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

A non witch detective is called in to a high school for the magically gifted to solve a gruesome murder. This was a fun and unique read. It plays out like a typical mystery but the added element of a modern day world with mages and a magic boarding school made it it's own thing. I would actually love to read a series in this world as it was well built and intriguing. A big strength of this novel was I actually was interested in the main character's storyline as I was with the mystery. Sometimes with mysteries, the main character is just there to solve the mystery and nothing more. This was not the case for this book.

The Window by Amelia Brunskill

Jess’s twin sister is dead. She fell out their window one tragic night. But what was Anna doing sneaking out of their window? In this thrilling and emotional book, Jess discovers some of her twin’s secrets and sets out to learn what really happened that fateful night.

The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm by Christopher Paolini 

A fun short read that brought me back to my middle school years. Eragon holds a special place in my heart and this was a welcome return to the world. It hints at more in the future and I'm excited to see were this story will continue to go. I will admit though that I preferred the in between chapters with Eragon than the short stories themselves. The Urgal story was probably the best but it seems like Paolini is setting up for another full sized novel in the series and it really had nothing to do with the story at all. Still, it was enjoyable!

The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman

A satisfying ending to the Lady Helen trilogy. There was a twist about the main villain that I honestly would have hated in any other book but it worked so well in this one. I’m going to miss this fun series.

3.5 Stars

Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer

Echo North is a retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon. This one had its deviations but was more of straight retelling of the fairytale. There are two parts to this book. The first one is about 280 pages and the last part is the last 120 pages. I think I would have preferred if they were an equal length. The first part could have been shorter and the second part could have been longer. There was a lot of interesting content in the second part that I would have loved to explore more. Still, this was a lovely read and a good retelling of the popular fairytale

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Berube

Skye is our main character. A high school girl that moved to a new town and just wants to be normal, maybe even date her cute neighbor? What stands in her way is her 13 year old sister Dierdre. Deirdre is weird, she’s creepy and she refuses to grow up. And now she is missing. All in all, I thought this was a worthwhile and exciting read. While I was personally left a tad disappointed in the direction it took, I know there are a lot of others that will absolutely love it. And the strength of the first half and the themes it deals with, is enough for me to recommend it! Read my full review here.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Based on Russian mythology and lore. This is a perfect fairy tale to read on a cold winter night. The characters are well developed and the conflict is subtle. It's a slow build up but never felt boring at all.

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book! It was quick paced and kept you guessing. However, while I didn't think the ending was predictable, I did think it was a bit cliched. I was surprised by the twist but but it still felt cheesy. The rest of the book was really solid though. There were plenty of red herrings that kept you guessing and it was an enjoyable read with good characters. I liked that this one only had two main characters as opposed to One of Us Is Lying had the four but if I had to pick one though I would say One of Us Is Lying is the stronger book.

3 Stars

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

A retelling of the fairytale of the same name. It was such a sweet story! I thought that Ani/Isi's transformation and growth throughout the story was very well done. The romance was put on the back burner but I didn't mind. It was cute but a little rushed too. It was also very obvious who Geric really was but I don't think it was suppose to be this amazing twist or anything so I didn't mind. I liked the added elements that Hale put into the fairytale. Ani's wind talking ability was a great addition whereas in the fairy tale, she just talks to the wind and it’s never explained why. It stuck to the fairy tale very closely and I really enjoyed reading it.

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Chloe lives with her older sister Ruby, the girl everybody wants to be. But when a night of fun with Ruby goes wrong, Chloe is taken to live with her father, leaving Ruby behind. But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back and make things right for her. This was a strange book. I read it quickly because I wanted to know what was going on but the ending just left me more confused. I don't understand what the point of any of this was? However, the writing was beautiful and I loved the creepy and hazy atmosphere.

Teeth in the Mist by Dawn Kurtagich

This was pitched as a Faust retelling but I found little connection between it? I loved the Dead House by Kurtagich but her next book was a disappointment for me. While this one was better, I was still left wanting more. It’s strange that the story in the past is the main one, whereas the one in the present is done through transcribed video recordings and journal entries. Honestly, she probably could have done away with the story set in the present. I think many would like this book but it just wasn’t for me.

Twice Dead by Caitlin Seal

Naya lives in a world where necromancy is common, but the wraiths they come back are treated as second class citizens. When a solo trading mission goes wrong, Naya awakens to find herself the very thing she always found disgust in. Wholly creative with lots of twists, this was a strong debut novel.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I read Bardugo’s series of short stories A Language of Thorns last year and absolutely loved it. I was...surprised this was written by the same person. It was a very basic YA novel with a love triangle and super special main character. I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I had read it as a younger teen.

Truly Devious/The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

I went into this book expecting a lot of murder and creepy riddles left behind. That's not exactly what I got though. This book was just a tad bit too slowly paced. The murder doesn't happen until a little after the half way mark so the first half of the book felt unnecessary. I feel like 100 pages or so could have been chopped. What I really liked was the mystery behind the school that happened in the 1930s. For me that was the strongest part and I'm more interested in that than the modern day mystery. Which was sort of solved by the end anyway? I think there's more to it but if not it's rather underwhelming. Overall though, I enjoyed the book and the sequel was enjoyable too. Oh, and I need to set the record straight, there's a line in the sequel where someone mentions that the country bear jamboree doesn't have a movie based on it... but it does!!!

Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes

Embry is the town hero for saving a homeless guy from a fire at an abandoned hotel late one night. But what would the town think if they knew she was the one who started the fire in the first place? Now Embry is receiving notes from someone who knows what she did. Now she must choose between letting the truth get out or given in to her mysterious tormentor’s demands. Hidden Pieces was a fairly solid mystery but it bordered on unrealistic at most times. Still, it was definitely a page turner.

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

This is one of those rare cases where I found that the movie was better than the book. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a good book but the movie fine tuned it a lot. The book was surprisingly long and the movie cut out some unnecessary stuff. I was surprised that there was two love interests in the book and I honestly preferred the one that was cut from the film. He was a much better fit for Willowdean and Bo in the book was much more of a jerk who was initially put off by being seen with Willowdean. The fight that Willowdean and her best friend have was much bigger and more dramatic and Ellen was actually pretty nasty throughout it. The movie definitely fleshed out these characters in a much softer light. The relationship with her mother was also much sweeter in the movie than in the book. It felt kind of emotionless and less inspirational here.

Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy 

Popular girls are turning up dead and our main character, Penelope, fears she may be next. I went into this expecting more serious take on Scream Queens. I read this back in September and I honestly don’t remember much other than the characters barely reacted to their classmates/friends deaths and the murderer was impossible to guess and was utterly lame. If the killer has to explain their motives with brand new information that was not found anywhere else in the book, it’s not a good twist. 

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

This had a lot of potential and I know a lot of people have loved it but it fell flat for me in some places. The book is based on and sort of a sequel to the short story The White People. You definitely need to have read the short story first or this will make zero sense to you. Our main character, Mouse, spends much of the first third of the book cleaning out a hoarder’s house. It gets very tedious but picks up pace when the Twisted Ones are introduced. There are some good moments of tension but Mouse tends to ruin these moments attempting to be funny (which she’s not). The White People works best as a type of horror that is never truly explained but this book does just that. It’s at this point that the book lost me again. I think it’s mostly a matter of taste but I just wasn’t in to it. 

Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake

I loved this series as a whole but I did not like the ending. Mostly because my least favorite characters ended up as the “winners”. That’s all I’ll say about that.

The Invited by Jennifer McMahon

Helen and Nate decide to leave their cozy life behind to build (literally build) their own little house in a small superstitious town. Problem is, the land they’ve bought is where Hattie Breckenridge a women accused and murdered for witchcraft, lived a hundred years ago. This reads more like a murder thriller that just happens to have ghosts in it than a true ghost story. There were some great twists but it was slow in some places. Like learning about all the ins and outs of what goes into constructing your own house from scratch. Helen and Nate also suffer some martial problems, brought on by the ghost, that just made me anxious and probably wasn’t necessary. I know it adds to the drama and suspense but ugh.

The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu

There’s a murder. There’s a mystery. But that’s not really what this book is about. Remy’s boyfriend is dead and her best friend Elise is the one who killed him. But it was self defense. Probably. The majority of the book takes place in flashbacks starting with Remy and Elise meeting and becoming friends. What starts as a normal friendship slowly turns into a toxic and emotionally abusive codependent relationship. Ultimately, that’s what the book is about. It’s honestly a fantastic portrayal. It’s toxic on both sides but you understand why they care about each other and stay friends. Not all toxic relationships end with a death though and perhaps this would have packed more of a punch had our main character came to some conclusions about her best friend in another way.

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw

Nora is a Walker and Walkers are witches. How do I know this? Because she mentions it every other page. For the most part this book was enjoyable but extremely predictable. I would still pick up the next book this author writes though.

2 Stars

The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin

A modern day retelling about Henry and his 6 wives but this time they are high schoolers. The story is narrated by Annie “Cleaves” Marek, Henry’s fourth wife girlfriend.  I'm pretty much assuming everybody knows about Henry and his 6 wives at this point. So where the book really lost me was at the half way point where it turns into a murder mystery type book. If you know your history, you know who did the murder in this book. So the murder mystery angle doesn't work here, The characters don't know for sure, but we the readers do. It becomes somewhat tedious honestly. Our main character also sucked. Cleves was your typical quirky girl. She says witty things that really aren't witty. She claims to be a hardcore feminist but demonstrates this by kind scolding Henry when he says something sexist...and that's about it. This book was entertaining enough to keep me reading but I had my problems with it. Especially the second half. I think there are some people that will really like this spoofy tongue in check retelling but it just wasn't for me. You can read my full review here.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Let me just start by saying that I don't get the hype for this book. It’s an interesting concept but this book just did not work for me. It's somehow not long enough but nothing really happens throughout. The girls were not very "wild" and I don't know what the point of any of this was. This book has been called "feminist horror" and I don't understand that at all. The tox didn't empower them in any way and there wasn't any feminist themes throughout. The gore/body horror was minimal and not very creepy or disgusting at all. Overall, this book was not for me.

The Missing Season by Gillian French

Our lead character moves to a small town where kids go missing every year. The adults find logical reasons for these disappearances but the children of the town believe it is a monster named The Mumbler taking them. Interesting concept that wasn't fully realized. Nothing happens in this book until the last 20 pages. there's no build up or clues that led up to the big twist in the end. When the climax finally happens, it's over within ten pages and then the book ends another ten pages later. Minor plot points lead to nothing and the mumbler was barely played up to make this book suspenseful.

The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams

Adventures in babysitting meets Buffy. Sorta. I went into this super excited and was hoping for something akin to Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I did not get that. This reads more like a middle school book and was overly cheesy. I think younger teens would enjoy but I wasn’t a fan.

How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett 

Kyle texted five girls one night. Only one responded and met up with him. He killed her that night. Our unnamed narrator was one of the girls who didn’t answer his text and now she’s dealing with the aftermath of knowing it could have been her. f this book had ended differently, I would have rated it higher. I had major issues with the romance. The narrator starts a relationship with the slain girl’s boyfriend and it was so insanely toxic though it was written to be romantic.

Rereads

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen (5 stars)

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (5 Stars)

Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray (5 Stars)

Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (5 Stars)

Heartless by Marissa Meyer (4 Stars)

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (5 Stars)

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente (5 Stars)

Short Stories

The White People by Arthur Machen (2 stars)

I like the story itself but the way it was written was horrendous and hard to follow. It was a huge rambling block of text.

Bridal Boot Camp by Meg Cabot (4 Stars)

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn (5 Stars)

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Back at you with the Misfits questions because I'm watching it now! (on 3x04) :) Who's your fave character, what are your fave episode(s), which power would you have and why, what do you think about Simon and Alisha? Also Alisha and Curtis? Curtis and Nikki? Nathan and Kelly? As a whole what do you like most and what do you dislike most about the show?

Thanks! I loved reading your responses to these questions, by the way! 

(Response under the cut because it’s pretty long)

Favourite character: I don’t really have a favourite character. I like all of them for different reasons (although they all have qualities and traits that make them somewhat unlikeable), but I think that what really works about the show are the group dynamics. I have to admit I have a soft spot for Rudy although I find his behaviour disgusting at times. But I completely agree with what you said about Kelly. I always felt that both Kelly and Curtis were more overlooked than the others, which was really unfair because they both had a lot of depth to them that wasn’t always fully explored.

Favourite episodes: I’m like you and have so many favourite episodes, but since I’ve watched the whole of the series I do have some from the later seasons too. My favourites are: 1x01 (it’s a great pilot), 1x04 (I agree, it’s such a good episode), 2x03 (Nathan being in love with Simon is comedy gold), 2x04 (an all round great episode), 3x02 (any Curtis-centric episode is generally great), 3x04 (this episode is kind of dumb, but I also love it), 3x08 (a very dramatic and memorable episode), 4x01 (this is one of my all time favourite episodes, I find it hilarious), 4x03 (a great Rudy-centric episode), 4x06 (another quite ridiculous episode, but I actually kinda dig it lol) and 5x03 (this is a very good episode for character development). Phew, that was a lot! haha. 

Power I’d have: There are so many powers on the show that I can’t even remember half of them. I’d probably choose the healing power too. It’s  one of the only ones that could actually help people and save lives, which is an invaluable gift. However, there’s the power to stop time which appears in one of the later seasons which I think would be really cool. 

Thoughts on Simon and Alisha: My mind has always changed when it comes to Simon and Alisha. I’ve never been in love with them as a ship (I personally think there’s a lot wrong with the relationship and there’s a lot of tropes associated with it that are quite cliche and boring), but I don’t dislike them either. I do think that their relationship became too much of a focus of the show at points and that didn’t always work for me. I also think that Alisha and future!Simon worked but Alisha and present-day!Simon never quite clicked. Simon was always insecure about never being as good as his future self and it seemed ridiculous to say that because they were the same person, but they also…weren’t haha. Future!Simon was very different from present-day!Simon, even as the episodes progressed and I never really felt that the relationship Simon and Alisha had was the same as the relationship Alisha had with future!Simon. I think on paper their relationship is some epic romance and the chemistry between Iwan and Antonia is strong, but it doesn’t quite sync up for me. It might be because they’re one of those ships that was written with the purpose of being this super dramatic, epic, tragic love story and I do enjoy ships like that, but I don’t really feel like they were really special enough as a ship to be able to pull off that kind of story. 

Thoughts on Alisha and Curtis: I’m pretty neutral about them as a ship. I like them but I don’t love them. I think they were well suited and I actually thought the whole no-sex aspect of their relationship was quite sweet in a strange way. Like the fact that they liked each other enough to be willing to work around that and be together. I definitley agree with you that Alisha and Curtis were more suited than Alisha and Simon. In fact, I think their relationship could’ve lasted a lot longer if it wasn’t for future!Simon bursting into Alisha’s life and seducing her (this is what I mean about the issues I have with Simon and Alisha - it’s kind of creepy and immoral how their relationship develops). I also enjoyed Curtis and Alisha as friends. They’re very comfortable with each other and honest people, so their communications were refreshing because they told each other how it was and never held back. 

Thoughts on Curtis and Nikki: I really like Curtis and Nikki and think they’re one of the most underrated ships on the show. The way they met was so unconventional (like everything else on this show haha) but they just clicked and the chemistry was right. Nikki had the kind of straight-up attitude that Curtis needed and there was a lot of passion between them. I felt like her death was really unfair and the way it was swept under the rug like it was nothing was even more unfair. Curtis really loved Nikki and I don’t think he would’ve stopped until he found his power, another power that manipulated time or one that could bring back the dead to be able to save her. 

Thoughts Nathan and Kelly: I love Nathan and Kelly as friends. As a romantic ship they’re a big no-no for me. They’re an odd pairing and I think that sort of works for them in the beginning but as their friendship develops you just sense that a romance between them wouldn’t be right. I actually loved that the writers chose to have them go to that place and then realise it wasn’t right and just stay friends. I thought that was very authentic (a lot of friends have similiar experiences) and true to the characters. There was an attraction between them but in my experience a lot of people have some sort of attraction to their friends but that doesn’t mean it would feel right to enter into a sexual or romantic relationship with them. I think that attraction just sometimes goes hand-in-hand with friendship. When you connect with someone, you get on really well, you enjoy each others company and have banter, the attraction sort of naturally develops but that doesn’t mean the friendship has to become romantic. But yeah, I love the combination of their personalities and I think they’re a great duo. 

What I like most about the show: Like you said, I love the group dynamics and the combinations of quirky characters and personalities. But mostly I love it because it’s such a unique show. It has its own distinct style when it comes to the cinematography, the estate its filmed on, the soundtrack and its approach to the powers. The characters are all unapologetically themselves and the situations they find themselves in are SO ridiculous but also hilarious and fun to watch. It’s all round just a fun and quirky show to watch and there’s no other show out there like it. 

What I dislike most about the show: That there was sometimes a lack of bigger, more interesting plots and some continuity issues. It generally followed an episode-by-episode format whereby the characters faced a new challenge/villain in every episode. I do enjoy that format (it’s actually one of my faves), but I think it would’ve benefitted a lot more if there were more consistent arcs that spanned across the whole season. This became more of an issue after season 2, because I think season 1 and 2 did have overarching arcs (the death of Tony and Sally’s quest to get to the truth in season 1 and the guy in the mask and future!Simon in season 2). Regarding the continuity issue, there wasn’t much time spent on character development and events that took place or information that was shared in previous seasons is pretty much dropped as soon as we’re told it. I also don’t like the way there was a tendency to erase the existence of the characters that left the show. When cast members leave the show I understand that they don’t want to keep mentioning the character when they know the cast member won’t be returning, but it’s unrealistic when someone that’s been part of the group for 2+ years disappears and they’re mentioned once or twice in passing. 

You didn’t ask about this, but in response to what you said about watching the later seasons after the original cast has left, I think you should keep watching for as long as you can. You might get to a point where you just aren’t enjoying watching anymore, but I don’t like the way that so many fans refused to watch the later seasons or have bad mouthed it just because the original cast left. There’s no denying the original cast is great, but there’s really good aspects to the later seasons too. I think the group dynamic stays strong until the end and the mix of characters works. There’s a lot of great humour (the probation worker in seasons 4 and 5 is hilarious) and I actually think season 4 is one of the better seasons of the series (I prefer it to season 3). But if you don’t like Rudy it might not be for you. I personally always liked Rudy and felt like he was a really good replacement for Nathan, because he shared similarities with him but was different enough that he didn’t feel like a Nathan clone. And I think if you don’t like Rudy now, watching the later seasons might help you to warm to him because there’s more of an exploration of his character and why he behaves the way he does, and Rudy Too provides a lot of insight into the inner workings of Rudy’s mind. 

[chillafqueen]

My thoughts on Voltron (especially season 8)

As a collective, the series was great. I’m not going to shit all over it and denounce it for the rest of my life. I’m gonna rewatch it, write fan fiction, follow artists and writers who will continue to do amazing work. I’m still in the process of buying more merch. It’s in my top 5 favorite shows. That said:

I’m extremely disappointed in the show’s ending. From about season 5-6, I feel the writers were way in over there heads. They had so many ideas and characters they wrote and put into the show. Yes, there was some important moments its just uggh.

Imma just get into it.

First off, Takashi Shirogane He’s been through hell and back. He was an amazing character the writers just tossed to the side when they wanted to follow the original plot more. I mean, in the original series Shiro was never the black paladin. The original Shiro was the blue paladin and was killed off. Then was kinda, kinda not Sven afterwards. VLD’s Shiro was poorly planned. They make him the black paladin for what reason? To give us a spacer until the writers were ready to make Keith the leader and then we just push Shiro to the side. His clone doesn’t suffice. Clone Shiro/Kuron is just bullshit honestly. Real Shiro is actually dead/stuck in the inner quintessence of the black lion while his clone is fucking up Shiro’s image. Yes, Kuron is just a pawn in Haggar’s evil plan to defeat Voltron, but before we know that, we just see “Shiro” fight with Keith over how to lead Voltron, and yell at everyone. To make things worse, Shiro never gets to pilot Black again because Allura needs to be blue, Lance red, and Keith black to follow the originial series. The writers just shit all over Shiro. They take away his arm again, kill off his ex fiance, don’t give him anytime to mourn him really, season 8 doesn’t even ever mention Adam. Nothing.  Adam was there just to say “gay rep”. And Shiro is given the Atlas to pilot which is just Castle of Lions and Voltron’s love child. They think they can just take away Shiro’s claim on the black lion and just toss him a new ship to make it up?

Shiro had to constantly fight for the control of Black because Zarkon still had a connection. Shiro earned his right to be the leader. I love you, Keith, but Shiro deserves Black.  Shiro didn’t go through all this shit to hand it over to someone else. They hand him this ship that seems awesome but is overkill. Castle of Lions is gone what are we going to do? Oh, just make a new one except it turns into a thicc voltron. 

Then season 8 comes around and Shiro isn’t given any real new development. In fact he’s just a face at this point. He captains the Atlas but all the spot light is on the current paladins and Allurance. 

Like Keith and him are distant friends now???

And in the end we just throw him a rando to marry and call it good?

Next we have Pidge, who I don’t have as much to rant about. She’s my baby and I will protect her at all costs. The only real problem I ever had about my little Katie is the constant cliche thrown around every time she starts explaining science or math things using smart big technical terms and you get someone to say “in english this time” or “Just get to the point”. Like Pidge, you is smart but too smart omg just dumb everything down for us dumbs is a constant joke thrown into the show. Just let my girl use her big words and be proud of her intelligence. While she has a very great role, she deserves more instead of deus ex machina-ing everything.  

Now Allura. Oh boy here we go.  I love my beautiful strong black girl. She’s smart, resilient, and a fighter. They did her dirty.  I mean we just kill her off? I was rooting for her. WE was all rooting for her. She’s a grounded princess who just wants to end the war and do Altea some justice. instead we throw her into romance like there isn’t the constant threat of the Galra just waltzing in any moment? My girl deserved better. She becomes the blue paladin, and struggles with learning how to work with blue as one. And watching her over come that obstacle was amazing and I’m a proud mom. But we just kill her off? Like Altean Alchemy is a fictional practice in a fictional show. Why did it take both Honerva and Allura to fix it all? Why did it have to take their lives? Why couldn’t Allura just take a deep breath close her eyes like she’s done with everything else and then do her blue glowy stuff and boom, lets go home.

They made the rules so her death wasn’t necessary. They could make easier less mean rules

Was it the writers trying to find a way please more than one ship? Like they wanted Allurance but killed her off to make Lance single and ready to mingle with Keith or Pidge to make fans happy? Did they think after fixing all realities once more that Allura had no where to go? They didn’t want her to help bring all the planets together? Did they not want her to marry Lance? I mean, we ask how do we form Voltron without Allura, and she answers Voltron is no longer needed. Like is there really not going to be any rebellion that needs Voltron intervention? Who says someone in the Galra empire isn’t satisfied with the ending? Or someone in the Altean colony wants revenge? Voltron could still be used. plus just because Voltron is no longer needed why can’t Allura be needed still??  I also can’t stand the writing they did for her. I’m looking at you, Allurance.  Allurance isn’t one of my favorite ships just because of how it turned out. Lotor and Allura was even then a bit iffy, although was healthier than Allurance. With Lotura, Allura and Lotor bonded, had their Altean heritage in common. A common goal. They weren’t rushed together. They were amazing together, until the very end where Lotor goes insane with quintessence. Allurance is just forced. In the very beginning until about season 7 we see Allura ever showing any feelings for Lance. All this time it was Lance being a cheesy lover boy who was hot for the princess and in return Allura rolled her eyes or ignored his advances. Up until season 7 where Allura all of a sudden blushes and whabam, has a full blown crush on Lance. OUT OF NOWHERE. Sure, theoretically Allura could’ve just hid her feelings very well until that point.  This newfound love just mocks Allura’s character. A strong woman who needs no man, but you know that hot suave prince who no one could resist. Then all of a sudden right before a mission, Allura becomes a little school girl blushing and stuttering.  Anyway, Allura deserved better than being a martyr and a rushed relationship.

Next on my list is Lance. My very precious boy who I will end myself to make smile. HE IS A BEAUTIFUL BOY WHO DESERVES EVERYTHING. including Keith  Lance, a cocky pilot, a terrible flirt, a lover not a fighter. He has one of the best arcs in my opinion. He’s a star example of growing up. He is first just a goofy boy with no care in the world except to show up Keith and get the ladies. As time progresses he matures so much. Goddamn should I even write about him because I just love him so much. He becomes a ninja sharpshooter, gains confidence, fucking earns himself the title of paladin.  though, he is constantly used as an object for comedy or plot continuance. He is the stupid one of the group who doesn’t understand anything. He’s the classic funny guy. Makes jokes, big flirt, doesn’t understand the big words the smart ones make. But I gotta admit, I think Lance eventually realizes that character and that’s him. Once “Shiro” comes back Lance thinks someone has to give up a lion. The old Lance would’ve voted Keith off the island, but Lance at this point came to terms that Keith isn’t just his rival. Keith is a vital part of Voltron. Lance has faith in Keith as the leader, and a paladin in general. And Allura at this point made some amazing progress with Blue, the lion Lance prided himself on the one Blue picked. Lance was willing to give up Blue for Allura and give Keith back Red, the lion Lance also really wanted in the beginning as well. Lance questions his own worth. He realizes he’s the goofy flirt. He’s not as smart as Pidge or Hunk. He’s not as skilled of a pilot and fighter like Keith. He’s not a leader like Allura or Shiro. Lance eventually realizes his importance later on when he finally gets some recognition and praise. “That’s why we bring our sharpshooter” Lance also develops a huge real crush on Allura. While he always had a thing for her, he also had a thing for literally any other female being he had come across that was remotely attractive. His not so serious hard on for Allura turns into something beautiful. He sees her for more than her looks. He knows how fucking incredible she is and he knows he’s not worthy. 

But season seven fucks him over as well as everyone else. Forced Allurance. Lance had a big crush on Allura for years and waited patiently. Allura falls for Lance out of NOWHERE. That’s all fine and dandy cause I love my boy and he deserves happiness.  But in season 8 with their relationship, Lance becomes just the boyfriend. A complete opposite of his usual self. He’s serious and at Allura’s side 24/7 being her emotional support even though she really takes him for granted. Allura never really shows this compassion to Lance.  Lance is just the kid who got his feelings returned. But that’s all it is. The whole season is Lance being with Allura there is no Loverboy Lance. It’s just sullen boyfriend who is giving his all for this relationship. And Allura isn’t like this at all. She returns the hand holding, the hugs, the kisses, but she doesn’t give the emotional side back. Which I understand is because she has way more important things to worry about. That’s another reason why I hated their untimely relationship. This is not the time for a blossoming relationship. Allura isn’t in the mindset to give her all to this relationship. She’s busy with Honerva. allura doesn’t have time to be all uwu for some guy. And in the end Allura gives her life to save all of existence. she kisses Lance one last time, and gives Lance those marks which is never explained further. Like are those marks there to signify only the relationship that lasted a few months? Lance’s love for Allura or Allura apparent love for Lance? Do those marks give Lance some Altean abilities?  Lance the sharpshooter fighter pilot ends up just being a farmer on his family’s farm? Like maybe the harsh cold truth of war might’ve made him want to retire the spaceman dreams??? The writers also just plain lied to us about Lance. Lance’s endgame was supposed to be a slowburn? that Lance wasn’t going to be someone’s second choice? And in the end he’s just sad and depressed over Allura. At this point he’s just there to spread the gospel about Allura. I mean who knows? Maybe they left everyone without a significant other (besides Shiro) to keep it all up in the air. Like maybe Lance’s slowburn endgame is Keith but we don’t see it? 

Then my boy Keef.  My boyfriend, my husband, my child.  What a mess. They gave him EVERYTHING. He gets childhood flashbacks, childhood trauma, mommy issues, a loving parent relationship, a backstory, his mom even got a backstory. He’s an amazing fighter. He is a great leader. He has some good connections. He’s smart, an excellent strategist.  He also has trust issues, a lone wolf type of guy, and he has some problems sorting out his feelings. He learns patience, compassion, love, trust. He’s the whole enchilada until season 8, where pretty much everyone is thrown out the window except for Allura and Honerva.  Literally the only problem I have with the writing for Keith was season 8, him and Shiro have literally no interaction for shit?  “Brother, I love you.” Bitch where?

Keith traveled galaxies for Shiro. And season 8 they’re just two co-workers. 

Hunk I’ve had problems with since the very beginning. He doesn’t get enough love. He’s the big guy so he is always hungry, always thinking of food, gets tired easily, has little stamina, scared of everything. Sometimes I forget he’s literally a genius engineer? 

Romelle had more potential than to be one of Hunk’s chefs. I’m sorry. 

Coran is perfect. Don’t ever change.

In the beginning of the series, they weren’t writing characters well enough, and in the middle everyone had something, but in the end there wasn’t enough time to wrap things up nicely. It was rushed. The last season was a poor excuse for an ending.  Lotor deserved better. They hyped us up for Lotor’s return but it was pretty much just his corpse in the sincline??? We get his back story a bit. But in the end he still doesn’t get the mother he deserved?? And Allura and him never got some closure????

Krolia who? We spent all this time getting to know her and build her relationship to make her a background character.  Keith and her have no interaction in the last season?? 

They should’ve made Veronica and Acxa lesbians. Ezor and Zethrid deserved some wlw screentime. More than what we got at least. Not enough Colleen.

Definitely needed more of the mfes. Especially James. Like I wanted some interaction between Keith and James???? Something at least?????

Also, Bae Bae should’ve been made into a main character. 

Though with all my complaints. I’m really gonna miss the show. I didn’t spend as much time with it as a lot of you guys did. I finally watched it right before the 7th season came out. So I haven’t had as much time to analyze it or to experience every season like all of you. But I’m gonna miss this show. I’m really beating myself up over not watching it early on. Like I’d see it on my instagram, or here on tumblr, but never gave it a second thought. It was just some mech kids show that was gonna be hella cringey. But it ended up being a big part of my 2018 and I’m gonna be carrying it into future years. 

I never made any friends because of the show. I’ve never reached out, no one ever reached out. Seeing all of you interact, or reminisce over the times you all had over Voltron moments. While I’ve only known it for months and I’ve never have that time a lot of people did.

I have discovered many great writers, artists, cosplayers because of Voltron and I’m so fucking happy that I was able to find people who express their love for the show so much that they present it to the world in different ways and I get to experience it. 

I loved the show. And I will continue to love it. I want to thank all the cast and the people who made the show. And I’m gonna go rewatch this whole entire thing over and over again even if I’m not 100% on board with how they decided to end it, but who ever really likes endings?

[doubled-helix]

book thoughts: the hearts we sold (spoilers)

the hearts we sold, emily lloyd-jones

(disclaimer: all of this is my opinion because i decided it’s better for my own writing to reflect upon books i read (thanks college profs). in fact, i’m not even putting it in the main tags so no one should be reading this except future me anyways)

overarching conflict: all books should have one of these. usually it’s to defeat the big bad, which doesn’t quite fit this novel since there wasn’t one defined big bad. i mean, there were the burrowers, which were pretty creepy, but i’m personally fond of the classic puppetmaster villain, who pulls the strings and monologues and bemoans the state of the world or whatnot. think the mage in carry on or luke/kronos in the pjo series. call me old-fashioned. 

my prof told us that books, especially sci-fi/fantasy ones, should have a looming threat that’s constantly hanging over the heroes even as they defeat or are defeated by many smaller threats. like harry facing quirrel, tom riddle/the basilisk, the dementors/sirius black/peter pettigrew (the “one true baddie” was a bit more vague in thisone) - all the while knowing that voldemort’s the final boss. 

in this book, i guess you could say the final big void was the ultimate baddie, but considering neither our main gal nor us knew about this until three quarters of the way through the book, it wasn’t exactly a looming threat, even as the characters did close many smaller voids (the in-between threats books have - the ones between the exposition and climax). i say a bit more about this later, but i think the lack of a dominant big bad may be one of the reasons the book felt stagnant for a good portion of the first half. this, combined with the lack of strong motive dee had - well. it certainly slowed things down. 

things that didn’t work: 1. the “team”: i’m a sucker for a tight-knit group of people who’d kill to protect each other, who poke fun and laugh and joke around à la avatar the last airbender. i’m even more of a sucker for found families, also like avatar the last airbender. but this book’s “team” absolutely did not work for me, and the most probable cause i can think of is that the author just didn’t let us spend enough time with them. 

the main dude james had been with cal and cora for almost two years, and i got none of that from the way he talked about them. in fact, main gal dee actually says that she’s glad james and her have a closer bond than the other two - which, sure, romance, i get it, but if you want to make a dream team you can’t throw half of its members into the wind. 

when cal died, that evoked nothing in me as a reader because i cared about him as much as dee did, and she maybe shared 20 lines total with the guy. similarly, she barely interacted with cora, who was supposed to be the leader, but other than the author telling us that she was the “leader,” there was nothing showing her fulfilling that role. i absolutely hate saying this because it’s the most cliche advice one can offer but “show not tell.” if you want to show a fall from grace, from cool and collected cora to frantic and panicking cora, you gotta show us the grace first. 

riley: don’t get me wrong, i fucking love riley, but she didn’t show up until 70% of the way through the book. and there was a sort of insta-friendship between her, james, and dee. at one point towards the end, she says something like “if we die tonight, i’m glad i met you two” which would be very nice if they hadn’t met 20 pages ago. (i feel like i should note, a few weeks did pass world-wise, but that really doesn’t do much for the reader, who didn’t get to feel any of that time)

it would have been fantastic to have riley with us from the very beginning. her relationship with james and dee felt like it actually had the potential to blossom into that dream team/found family thing. cal and cora felt like they had their own separate lives, which is fantastic in reality because no one should spend all their time with a single group of people, but the thing about stories in my experience is that to be effective, everything - every interaction or desire or situation - should be Too Much. 

also, riley seemed a little too cool with everything that was happening. it took dee at least a few weeks to accept the whole voids and homunculus and world-ending thing, but riley was like “fantastic, let’s do this, i can blow things up” which was a bit sudden. 

cora: i mentioned already how she was the “leader” but didn’t really do anything to show that, but also - i felt like we were supposed to feel sorry for her, or at least understand her motives, but i got absolutely none of that. she killed cal, who i didn’t feel much for, but it was still fairly unforgivable, and she never had an act of redemption. i’ll talk about this later, but i feel like james’s sacrifice at the end should have been hers. she wanted “everyone to live,” that was her motive. sacrificing herself would have been the loop to close her character arc, instead of her just dropping out of the story completely. and speaking of motive...

2. the motive: oh boy, i don’t even think i have authority to talk about this because “motive” is a biggie. they have entire writing courses dedicated to character motives. i read a post a while back that said something to the like of “every character should want something and should want it to the point of obsession.” 

going on my avatar the last airbender comparison (that show’s story is literally my baseline for everything else i read or watch), every character in that show wants something desperately. aang’s is easy - he wants to learn the other three elements and save the world. katara, at least in the first season, is completely focused on mastering waterbending. zuko - capture the avatar, regain his honor (and this one’s definitely an obsession). my point is, if your characters don’t want something desperately, there is no story.

now applying that to this story is a bit tricky because the premise is that these people did want something strongly, strong enough to sell their hearts for it. dee wanted money for boarding school, wanted to get out of her awful home situation. and the daemon gives it to her - the first thing, at least. and then for at least 100 pages, it was like she was just being pulled along with anything that happened, without any intense desire of her own. i felt this most strongly when she was out collecting rocks with james. i understand it was a bonding scene, etc. but goddamn. rocks? it just felt a bit shoehorned in, like there needed to be a good reason for the two to start hanging out that was at least semi-work related.

for a moment, i thought dee’s motive would become trying to break out of the deal, to join cora and end it all - it certainly seemed like she was freaked out enough to do it. but something magical healing romance-esque happened and afterwards, she seemed cool with accepting that she had no other choice. i understand she wasn’t a voluntary hero, but it still feels a bit stale when the savior of humankind is doing it not even to save her own skin or that of her friends, but out of sheer obligation. (however, i will give it to her, there was a nice little scene on the bus towards the end where dee was people-watching, and the part at the very end where she said that she did believe that people were inherently good, what a great development from beginning of the book dee)

things that kinda worked 1. the romance: okay, i understand that “kinda worked” doesn’t sound like the most glowing review for a romance, but from me, it’s practically a declaration of adoration. more often than not, romance in young adult novels just do not work for me, whether because it’s instalove or some love triangle’s at play or the  premise is just problematic. but this one? ehhh, i can’t say i hate it.

james, thank god, is not the dark, angsty, “why are you even speaking to me” male love interest (four, i’m describing four from divergent) that i feel like i see too much. he’s funny, a bit dorky, super big on consent, and basically a sweetheart. the author obviously took some care in building up their relationship a bit before taking it to a romance - though in the process, i think she had to give up a lot of development dee could have had with cora and cal. 

their little fairy tale research road trip was actually one of my favorite parts of the book (i’ll talk about this more later). i did, however, groan every time dee became hyperfocused about the oh-so-scandalous fact of being in a car with a boy, sleeping in the same hotel room as a boy, blah blah with a boy. and i facepalmed quite a bit at the extended hesitancy dee had about calling james her boyfriend. i understand why she hesitated (trust issues, negative body image), but it doesn’t mean i have to like it. which leads me to this next thing.

2. character’s response to abuse: let me preface this by saying that i absolutely despise child abuse as a plot device. this is a personal opinion,  i’m not going to get on any high horse and preach about moral quandaries. 90% of the time, i just don’t like it. a lot of this is because i feel most of the time, the character never gets to confront their abuse - never gets the chance to recognize “oh, what happened to me wasn’t right, and a lot of the negative thoughts i have about myself stem from this abuse, and i should not let it define me.” and more often than i like in ya novels, especially for female victims of child abuse, it’s their male love interest who runs in and beats up their abuser/yells at them about how they were a horrible person, which really doesn’t grant the victim any catharsis at all, and i hate how often that is portrayed as “romantic” or a good way to deal with abusers. 

this book, well. let me just say that dee finally standing up to her father about his alcoholism and telling her parents that when THEY finally decided to change, they knew where to find her - that was some good shit. there was a bit when james came running in that i covered my face and went “oh no, here it goes” but to my pleasant surprise, all he did was support dee and didn’t try to insert himself into the situation at all, which was, you know, fantastic. and gremma casually pulling a fire ax out of her purse in front of dee’s parents? lesbian solidarity.

the thing i disliked the most would have to be dee’s image of herself due to the abuse. i understand you don’t need to overcome trauma solo, but i do wish that she could have realized that she didn’t need to be thin or that she wasn’t broken without james telling her so. also, there was that one line where she tried to minimize her abuse - which i know is a common thing for victims of abuse but once again, i don’t have to like it - and james had to talk her out of it that made me groan. i just generally dont think dealing with the effects of abuse should be anywhere near romance, let alone hand in hand like so many books like to treat it. 

3. the sacrifice: i pride myself on not being easily surprised by books anymore, but i did not expect james to die. and i definitely felt something when that package of harry potter books and dee’s picture and the ct scan of the brain tumor arrived in the penultimate chapter. and i hate to be that person, but...

james got his heart back before the final void opened. he could have not been there, like cora. which means the daemon would have still needed him. why didn’t he just sell his heart once more in exchange for the daemon removing his tumor? sure, this way, i have no idea how they would have gotten out of the manual timer thing - then again, who knows if they would have been so targeted if james had not been carrying the heart into the void in the first place, but i still think the sacrifice should have belonged to cora, who definitely required some sort of redemption act if we wanted her to matter to the story in any way. it could’ve been a nice scene -  a “i couldn’t save cal but hell if i’m going to let you two die” act of closure. really, i keep going back to my grievance over how utterly insignifigant cal and cora felt to the story, especially compared to riley, who only jumped in near the end. 

things that worked 1. diversity: can i get a fucking hell yeah?? i’m so goddamn happy that more and more ya novels are recognizing that the world isn’t full of beautiful white straight people. our main gal dee is half-latino, we have a badass lesbian lady who carries axes in her purse, a fucking awesome trans girl who blows shit up (the fact that she doesn’t show up until near the end is a travesty), and our latter two ladies have a cute as hell romance that i wish we saw more of. side character romance is always more awesome because it doesn’t have the kind of baggage that really kills the vibe of main character romances. 

just - diversity.

2. the research road trip scenes: okay, this is very specific. but i’ve watched far too much supernatural for it to be healthy, and james and dee’s little road trip where they ate bad diner food and spent time at the library reading about old fairy tales and old gods and speculated about angels - i just got such a strong supernatural feeling from it. more specifically, the parts where they have no idea what monster they’re hunting and are flipping through old books to figure it out. it had some really calming good vibes, i loved all the speculation and discussion of how people in the past processed magic. no fancy analysis here, it just really resonated with me. 

final rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

note: it would have been 2.5, but the ending surprising me and making me Feel Things really bumped it up. also, writing this ridiculously long review made me feel more invested and charitable. 

[betanyagito]

tell me about hachi and bunko and the 2 girls (zombie and weed)

F U CKKK YEAHHH

Hachi

Full Name: Hachirou OishiGender and Sexuality: He’s the gayest fuckin-Pronouns: He/himEthnicity/Species: Japanese, humanBirthplace and Birthdate: I just realized I had never given a birthday to Hachi. It’s January 8th Guilty Pleasures: He really loves cookies. He loves cute little pastries so much, especially when they are honey flavoured. He also loves to watch talent showsPhobias: He’s a big strong man who’s not afraid of aNYTHING (he’s scared of mantis and ostriches) What They Would Be Famous For: Probably his dedication for his work? He’s very work oriented, and he doesn’t take no bullshit from no oneWhat They Would Get Arrested For: He’s a prison guard he’s not going to get arrested. But probably for property damage.OC You Ship Them With: JOHN’S SUNNY. THEY ARE GAY. THEY WILL GET MARRIEDOC Most Likely To Murder Them: GervaiseFavorite Movie/Book Genre: He really likes historical fiction and paranormal books!! But his favourites are mysteries! Except he’s really impatient with them and he usually flips to the last page halfway throughLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: When they put the pets through Hell for comedic effectTalents and/or Powers: He’s SUPER STRONG, and during combat he uses his size and brute force to his advantage. He’s also a very skilled spear userWhy Someone Might Love Them: No matter how scary and intimidating he looks, at the end of the day he’s still a big goof who looses his cool easily and honestly he’s just very entertainingWhy Someone Might Hate Them: Why would you hate Hachi?? Why would yo u- he can be pretty aggressive at times and make decisions on impulse. He often goes after his head too, leading him to dangerous situations that could have been avoided. How They Change: I didn’t work a lot on his back story yet so I can’t answer this neWhy You Love Them: Big Meat

Bunko

Full Name: Bunko ChibaGender and Sexuality: LesbiamPronouns: She/herEthnicity/Species: Japanese, humanBirthplace and Birthdate: June 26th, JapanGuilty Pleasures: Shitty puns and let’s play videosPhobias: Wolves, darkness, ghostsWhat They Would Be Famous For: Her hand made knick knacks! She makes a bunch of little decorations from yarn, and she even makes D.I.Y videos!What They Would Get Arrested For: TRESPASSING…PROBABLY?OC You Ship Them With: Mayb Xylia or IsleenOC Most Likely To Murder Them: No one wants to hurt Bunko she’s a sweet girlFavorite Movie/Book Genre: Romance….she digs that sht….Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: THE TH ING where character A has an incredibly promising career ahead of them but they give it up for character B who’s actually just a shitty person with no actual personality traits. But she also hates the cliché where after a makeover suddenly the girl is so gorgeous no one can ignore herTalents and/or Powers: She’s a very talented knitter and she learned how to play the clarinet! She just also seems to be able to calm down anyone and comfort themWhy Someone Might Love Them: As said, she’s an incredibly sweet girl who loves everyone and is always willing to reach out a hand to someone. Why Someone Might Hate Them: She might come across as wishy-washy and unnecessarily nice…How They Change: I don’t have her backstory developed yet either so I can’t sayWhy You Love Them: She’s the only one who’s able to control Masanori I’m so glad she exists

Zombie girl

Full Name: SHE DON’T HAVE ON E,,She’s probably gonna have a name that’s somehow related to milk because of reasonsGender and Sexuality: Femandrogyne, panPronouns: She/her, it/its, they/their Ethnicity/Species: ZombieBirthplace and Birthdate: ??? Who knows. Not her. She’s definitely been around for a couple of decades thoughGuilty Pleasures: Sweets sweets and more sweets. She eats nothing but sweets and it’s really bad for herPhobias: Nothing can really phase her anymore, but she’s kinda afraid of dogs. They tend to steal her limbs when she takes them offWhat They Would Be Famous For: She pukes rainbows I guess that’s a pretty nifty trickWhat They Would Get Arrested For: Cannibalism OC You Ship Them With: The Ao andon OC Most Likely To Murder Them: She’s already deadFavorite Movie/Book Genre: She can’t read, so she usually has people read recipes for her. She also adores fairy tales!!Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: She hates food fights. Look at them wasting all that food. Also she hates every zombie movie ever. They are very unrealisticTalents and/or Powers: She’s pretty much an undead, so she has all the pros and cons that come with it; she can take apart her body and reassemble it any way she’d likeWhy Someone Might Love Them: She’s a cute little zombie with rainboots and a sweeth tooth what’s there not to loveWhy Someone Might Hate Them: Zombies are pretty overused so I can understand why someone might dislike herHow They Change: Alive ==> DeadWhy You Love Them: I really love the design I came with for her! She’s gotta be one of my favourite OCs ever in terms of looks

Weed girl

Full Name: SHe don’t have one eitherGender and Sexuality: Genderfluid, demiPronouns: She/her, they/themEthnicity/Species: Irish, humanBirthplace and Birthdate: Ireland, November 30th Guilty Pleasures: I mean. Weed. It’s weed. And vape. But she doesn’t feel guilty about that. She feels more out of place whenever she goes to LushPhobias: She’s numb to everything at this point. But when she’s not blazed out of her mind, she’s suddenly very scared of deadlines and social interactionWhat They Would Be Famous For: For how she can manage to pass classes with straight As even when she’s like this What They Would Get Arrested For: IS THIS A QUE STION ANYMOREOC You Ship Them With: Corbin BrOtp and mayb Xylia??OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Masanori wouldFavorite Movie/Book Genre: She loves paranormal/thriller books so much holy shit she has a huge collectionLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: When in mysteries the protag is a simple angst ridden middle aged man and the sidekick given to him is a serious woman who SOMEHOW ends up falling for him. She hates it. It makes no sense. She came here for the mystery not for bedroom actionTalents and/or Powers: She’s very skilled at playing the piano but she loves to play bass the most. Also apparently no one has ever taken a decent picture of her before because no matter what happens, the picture turns up blurry and unfocused. CryptidWhy Someone Might Love Them: She’s just...super laid back, and doesn’t get mad at anything. She’s like a big sister who’ll let you borrow her car even though she knows you don’t have a license and you never drove a car beforeWhy Someone Might Hate Them: She’s laid back, sure, but she can also be super irresponsible, and her little habits can throw some people off tooHow They Change: NO BAC KSTORY CAN’T TELLWhy You Love Them: She puts pineapple and bananas on pizza. She’s Chaotic

[pass-the-bechdel]

Nikita season one full review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

100% (twenty-two of twenty-two!!!)

What is the average percentage per episode of female characters with names and lines?

36.02%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Twelve. That’s over half the season, so I’m not gonna bother listing them individually. Because I am lazy.

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Zero.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Twenty. Four who appear in more than one episode, four who appear in at least half the episodes, and two who appear in every episode.

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Sixty. Thirteen who appear in more than one episode, three who appear in at least half the episodes, and two who appear in every episode.

Positive Content Status:

Generally high, and consistently flirting with higher rankings rather than tempting lower ones (average rating of 3.13).

General Season Quality:

Has a few of the typical teething issues of a new show, but fewer than I expected and with a very solid upward trend in quality and narrative drive. Even when they turn in a slightly weaker episode on entertainment, they don’t lose their grasp on the broader story at work, and that makes for a highly engaging and thrilling product.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Huh, I totally thought they were gonna clock in better on the percent of female characters, considering how often they achieved 40+% across the season. Oh well. Maybe next time? In the meantime, you can’t do much better than 100% on the Bechdel, especially not when your passing it as often per-episode as they have been, and extensively across scenes rather than just singular call-and-response exchanges. I wondered at first if I the exclusion of the exchanges between Nikita and Alex via the shell were gonna cripple the show’s Bechdel (though Alex’s simulated voice and Nikita’s dictated responses make it feel more like they’re having a spoken conversation, ultimately it is purely text-based and does not count), but as it happened they did more than ok outside of that anyway, and I am glad for it. 

As far as things to be glad for in this show, the Bechdel passes are relatively small-fry. At this point I am already feeling very confident in the reasons why so many people recommended this show for review, and The Powers That Be will have to have made some pretty serious changes to their formula for them to throw me off heartily enjoying future seasons. I mean, they could definitely piss me off in a huge way with just a few key alterations, and I won’t pretend my cynical self would be the least bit surprised, but we ain’t there yet. Right now, I come to praise Nikita, not to bury it. I come to praise its title character, a strong woman without the cliches: she needs no man but that doesn’t mean she refuses to have one around (or to enjoy his company if she so pleases); her approach to men does not in any way define her as a person. She’s physically powerful but not preternaturally unbeatable; she is not portrayed as weak or inept when she is bested, physically or mentally. She’s a tough-as-nails spysassin, but she still has emotions, is in touch with said emotions, and is not implied to be compromised just because she has healthy emotional responses. That one is kinda especially huge to me, that she is allowed to be a fully-rounded and mature human being without the narrative trying to work it in around her history, as if it requires explanation. Covert assassins really exist; spies really exist. Foster kids, drug addicts, and death-row killers really exist, just like compassionate, attractive women with a vast array of skills and smarts really exist, just like (and the entertainment industry especially hates to admit this one) Asian women really exist. And people who are various combinations of these things exist too! They’re real things that actually happen! It’s even technically possible that someone just like Nikita is really real, because female Asian spysassins are people too, and they all have histories and feelings because, yeah. Human individuals. That thing. I’m so accustomed to television creators thinking they have to explain how a woman can possibly possess multiple human traits at the same time and be a believable part of the universe they’ve made (in which the male characters are wish-fulfillment-fantasies whose best-ness goes unquestioned for realism for the duration of the tale), I was not prepared for this show to be so comfortable with portraying Nikita’s wholeness. I am really, really happy about that.

There are other factors worthy of discussion in terms of praise, but I’m going to hold whatever more detailed assessment of other ladies for future seasons, knowing that the likes of Alex and Amanda will both be around, and up to all sorts of shenanigans that I cannot presently predict ant therefore may eagerly wish to talk through at a later date. At this time, however, I must note some of the less-loved aspects of the first season, which I perpetually put off discussing in the episode reviews with the promise of finally acknowledging them now. Firstly, I must register my displeasure at the killing of my delightful Jaden, for whom I had such high hopes of a turnaround. I guess I should give them kudos for playing to those hopes by having Jaden become friendly with Alex at last riiight before smelling a rat and getting herself shot, but I am still pouting over the missed opportunity to maintain Jaden as an antagonistic agent-in-the-field, or to drag her (probably unhappily) onto Nikita’s side of the conflict. Just, y’know. Jaden. Being not-dead. 

That my girl was killed by none other than nightmare-next-door Nathan just adds insult to injury. What the fuck was Nathan, besides obviously the worst mistake of the season? The reason I kept holding off on commentary for him was that I was waiting for the big reveal that never came - his most believable moment was the dream Alex had where she told him the truth and he turned out to be a Division plant working with Jaden. As an - apparently - ‘regular’ person, Nathan was a nonentity, just some rando who conveniently lived across the hall being single and age-appropriate for Alex, some rando who insistently pushed his way into Alex’s apartment ‘to help with the groceries’ on her first day and then proceeded to insinuate his way into her life and home on various other occasions. And we’re supposed to believe that Alex just like, instantly fell in love with this guy? That his lack of boundaries from the moment they met didn’t set off every finely-tuned alarm bell in her head - not just the ones Division installed, but also the ones dating back to the day she was sold into sexual slavery, and perhaps even one or two that her father helped her build before that when he was teaching her survival skills?? Alex, being exactly who she is, knowing what she’s gotten into with Nikita (and what happened to the man in Nikita’s life when she was with Division, seriously these lessons are all so recent), Alex somehow doesn’t break the guy’s face when he first makes a grab for her groceries, and instead she magically falls in love with this charmless creep despite the danger??? They pay lip service to the ‘dilemma’ of wanting to be ‘normal’ in spite of the all-too-present jeopardy, but even if Nathan were not just a plank of wood with eyes drawn on, I wouldn’t believe that Alex fell that hard and fast that she couldn’t bear to be without him, that she dreamed of marrying him and starting a family (!), and that she actually jeopardised EVERYTHING by telling him about being A. GOVERNMENT. ASSASSIN. Nathan is only in five episodes - one of which is not ‘him’ so much as it is the cutesy dream-version of him - so there’s next to no development of the relationship, just this kind of lazy shorthand where ‘conventionally attractive white girl meets conventionally attractive assigned-male slice of plain white bread’ can only mean one thing: romance. Not buying it. Not for a second. Not even in a ‘we all make mistakes and sometimes human drives are irrational, etc, etc’ kind of way. I really, really hope that Nathan is finished now. I guess only time - and some more seasons - will tell. 

[relax-o-vision]

Okay, so here are some of my first impressions of Mass Effect: Andromeda. Not very spoilery, mostly because in the 14 hours I’ve played so far not a lot has happened. Put under a cut anyway, just to be sure.

I’m going to list some good, some bad, and some ugly. Like I said, however, these are only first impressions. I’m 17% in, so a lot can still happen.

Some good:

- I like the profile system, and the fact that I’m no longer restricted by a starting class. The variety of abilities to choose from is a little overwhelming, but that’s just what happens when you start a new rpg. I’m still learning.

- I like that weapon stats are back and more detailed than ever.

- the crafting system looks intriguing, though I haven’t gotten the chance to get into that, yet.

- Vetra. Big heart eyes. I’ve complained in the past that bioware has the habit of creating super goody good male characters and forcing them onto me like I have to care about guys, while mostly trying to make female companions “controversial” to some degree. Garrus and Varric come to mind. With Vetra it seems I finally got the female super good character, who gets to be funny and smart and attractive and strong and cunning and loyal all at once. That’s what I always wanted and I’ll be sure to drag her everywhere with me, always.

- tiddy plates are mostly gone! I mean, Cora still looks like shit but at least my protagonist gets to look like an actual human being.

- the soundtrack is not as memorable as in other Mass Effect games, but I enjoy it quite a bit.

- the dialogue wheel fulfills its purpose fine. it’s mostly clear what the character is going to say after choosing an option, and on the whole dialogues seem much more organic than they did in previous mass effect games

- non-squad members get banter and even though I strongly dislike the no-homo squad rule mass effect has I do not feel like Suvi and Gil are less important than the squad members.

Some bad:

- the story is extremely slow. I can’t even say anything more because after 14 hours I know as much as I knew before starting the game: I’m here to look for a place to stay. and I guess family stuff?

- we left 7 (?) races behind in the milky way and only got 2 as replacements. as a result I can go for seemingly miles and miles on planet surface and only encounter bugs. it’s like no man’s sky except that I get to laugh in that game when I see a giant buttplug hop past me

- the map. the nomad. hazzards. fights in hazzards. hello darkness my old friend. they give me vast places to explore, and then they actively discourage me from exploring.

- timed missions. they come out of nowhere and then it says: “you now have two (2) minutes to drive like a maniac through the desert and if you don’t make it people die.” wtf. I hope this was an exception.

- the characters are mostly flat cliches and for the first time in a bioware game I find myself skipping dialogues. everybody (with the exception of Vetra who is perfect) is kinda nice and kinda funny and kinda has a short temper but nobody means bad. it’s like I’m in a cheap action-comedy with seven bud spencers and a religious lesbian. kill me.

- additionally to the last point: they were aiming for a mature rating but then wrote dialogues clearly targeted at teenagers. no adult person talks like these adult characters. some lines made me physically cringe.

Some ugly:

Shall I say it? Homophobia and misogyny.

When the character creator was first shown off I was disappointed that hair was yet again genderlocked. Clearly you can categorize men and women by how we wear our hair????

Turns out that was just the cherry on top of the shit-cake.

I don’t even know where to start? I’m traveling with three straight men in my squad, as well as three female characters who are available to straight men.

Don’t want to piss off the people who send threats to your developers, huh? I’m sure they’re your best customers and should be catered to.

Of course in the far future we as people have evolved to the point where you don’t have to say the words gay and lesbian anymore and we defy stereotypes with hyperfeminine lesbian side characters, character, singular, one lesbian in the galaxy. But we can’t have dykes and fags running around on missions with the real people.

Or show too much PDA.

My biggest surprise perhaps was that with Andromeda I have found the first female companion who I dislike.

What is up with Cora? She comes along with her libfem kweer undercut and tells you (not directly but by context) that:

a) your relationship to your father is not as important as her relationship to your father

b) she as a human is the true asari on board (what a disgrace; though I’m having the impression that the writing team didn’t really read any asari lore for this game; either that or they really fucking hate them)

c) straight girl whines about being different and feeling unaccepted. in a game that sidelines gays and lesbians. that barely shows any same sex pda and does not feature a single m/m squad romance.

“boohoo I have space magic.”

Somebody needs to stop straight people or I’m using my space magic to open a breach, walk into the fade, and tear down the veil so the spirits of our fallen gay ancestors can come back and give you a reason to be so dramatic.

---

Homophobia makes me angry.

Anyway.

Overall I’m having moderate fun. I’m still looking forward to romance Vetra and getting to know Peebee and Suvi more. And I do see improvements made to dialogues, customization options, and combat in comparison to previous games.

I also think that my impression might be more positive if the game didn’t throw Dragon Age references in my face, thus making me compare the game to Inquisition (which so far is the better game), and if I had not just finished up Horizon Zero Dawn, which was spectacular and does make Mass Effect look last gen. But that’s how competition works. Someone else delivers what you promised and that makes you look bad.

Mostly, and this was very bizarre, I found myself looking for the old gang before remembering that I won’t be seeing them again. I miss the DS9 vibe from the old games. I miss visiting my favorite arsehole on Omega. I miss being part of a multi-cultural intergalactic space adventure.

As of now Andromeda seems pretty large and pretty empty.

Like I said, first impressions.

[misqnon]

For the OCs ask meme: Octavia and Char? :0

im tempted not to put this under a readmore so people will be forced to read about my ocs but

Full Name: Octavia Gender and Sexuality: female, panPronouns: she/herEthnicity/Species: white, a ghost!Birthplace and Birthdate: somewhere in northeast part of the U.S., July 21st (she was 22)Guilty Pleasures: swing dancing, really bad cheesy pop musicPhobias: most bugs, breaking bones/injury (especially any that would hinder her ability to dance), the ceiling collapsingWhat They Would Be Famous For: BALLROOM DANCING!!! she’s a dancerWhat They Would Get Arrested For: i would say nothing but…i can see her sneaking into dance studios / dancing halls to practice without permission ,, but she’d cry if she got caught so maybe notOC You Ship Them With: no one really?OC Most Likely To Murder Them: no one would hurt octavia she is too kind plus…she’s already deadFavorite Movie/Book Genre: romance. she’s cheesy. she probably loves animated/”childrens” movies as well; she really likes ghibli (something she shares with bedlam, but i forgot to mention on his) also loves any kind of movie with an underdog that triumphs and gets a happy ending. ohgodsheprobablylikeshorsemoviesLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: she’s not picky but..the “girl takes off glasses and is beautiful” and “im going to change myself to get with my crush” tropes are some of her least favoriteTalents and/or Powers: ive probably said it 5 times now but she loves ballroom dancing and most other formal forms of dance…she probably can’t dance anythung outside of the fancy stuffim imagining her trying to breakdance and im actually cringingand, idk if this counts as a power, but as a ghost she’s usually spotted at night with a wispy blue image of a ballroom floor beneath her and faceless white dancers around her as she twirls, would be a really spooky sight in the middle of the night to see tbhWhy Someone Might Love Them: she’s very quiet and shy, but when approached she tries very hard to be friendly. shes so sweet and genuinely likes almost everyone to a certain extent. will drop everything to help anyone who asks, and puts her friends before herself. she’s optimistic and very emotional as wellWhy Someone Might Hate Them: kinda a crybaby, easily emotional and very sensitive. harcore people-pleaser and apologizes a lot. also might be considered the “”weird kid”” since she typically won’t approach people so she ends up with no friends looking kinda sad and distressed in the corner by herself, gets kind of clingy and dependent if you do befriend her but not in the bad way,, basically you’d have to be an asshole to hate her but maybe i’m just protective of my ghost daughter (dont hurt her she’s been through ENOUGH)How They Change: becomes more assertive and independent. still wants to help people and is still sensitive, but more likely to put her needs first and more likely to stand up for herself as well. and… Will Become Intense For Her Friends (i can easily conjure up a mental image of her stone faced and sharp tongued if you’re a jerk to someone close to her…even with her shyness she disregards it if you really piss her off, which is hard to do. probably one of those scary people who enunciate and speak more clear and formal when pissed)Why You Love Them: JUST LOOK!! AT MY GIRL!! she was kinda an attempt at making a Strong Female Character™  that wasnt just…snarky and can fight. she’s a more feminine character but is still “strong” as hell and definitely a likable girl (at least imo) even if she isnt “badass”…basically, all my female characters are snarky and i wanted a change of pace lmao. aand now i have my kind ghost gf….whom i love and adore…

- - - - -

Full Name: Charlotte

Gender and Sexuality: female, lesbian

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity/Species: maori

Birthplace and Birthdate: New Zealand, May 5th (she’s 23)

Guilty Pleasures: winning anything, no matter the means or who against. she’s so competitive. also, eggs.

Phobias: being buried alive. to a lesser extent, small spaces/being confined. bears too. bears are scary.

What They Would Be Famous For: soccer ir basketball. some kind of sport for the athletic gal

What They Would Get Arrested For: punching/fighting someone cause they pissed her off (way too easy to do)

OC You Ship Them With: none, currently!

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: apollo (not REALLY he’s too nice but they don’t like each other at first)

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: adventure, fantasy, sci fi. she loved warrior cats and animorphs as a kid. still loves them both begrudgingly.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: most of themvbcdcjdk she hates cliches least favorite are probably damsel in distress situations and the whole “liar revealed” trope

Talents and/or Powers: she’s really good at most sports (not golf) also eerily lucky and good at guessing. the amount of times she’s completely bullshit a test and got a good grade through guessing is. amazing

Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s a Big Sister. really protective of her friends and is really fun to be around if you get close to her, as hard as it is. if she considers you a friend her personality completely flips: she’s jokey, loud (well, she’s always loud), encouraging, and relatively nice(r)Why Someone Might Hate Them: she’s. extremely unfriendly. she doesnt want to try to make friends and if you try to befriend her its an uphill battle. she’s stubborn, rude, and hotheaded. tbh i didnt even like her for the longest time and she’s my ocHow They Change: not MUCH but…with a little persuasion she might be willing to work on her people problem. a little.Why You Love Them: at first i was like man. shes so mean. but then i tried looking at her from a different angle and when she’s around her best friends (octavia and bed) she’s a huge loving supportive goofball and i can appreciate that