#kind of unpopular opinion maybe but as much as i love him maybe its time to dial it back like with kiryu

[kasugas]

Honestly if majima doesn't come back for y8 I just fuckin hope we get plenty of screentime of each of the ichi bunch

[leoserblog]

Ok this might be an unpopular opinion but someones gotta say it...

Cassandra is a better Casey Jones than Casey Jr

Ive gotta be honest... i think casey jr is a kinda mid and i dont particularly think all the fanfare about him is warranted LOL

I want to note real quick that i dont DISLIKE him! He is a good character who only got as much development that a 2 hour movie could give him, and he filled and satisfied the role he needed to play in the movie, but the way the fandom latched onto him over the og casey... kinda makes me raise a brow

(Essay/rant about the prioritization of casey jr vs og casey under the cut :P)

Fandom spaces love a traumatized boy from the future, and believe me i do too! But the amount of attention given to casey jr after being revealed as casey is a wild amount compared to the amount of attention the original casey gets. Maybe its just me getting into rottmnt after the movie aired, but this seems a little baised?

Not only that, but the amount of... idk the best way i can think to describe it is infantilization of casey jrs character isnt helping my opinion of him. It feels like most content surrounding him babify him and reduce him only to his trauma post movie. I understand that it can be interesting to explore his trauma now that he no longer lives in the literal apocalypse, but it feels strange to see him reduced to someone who cant get around on his own and lives with the turtles when the original pitch for the movies ending has him leave to explore the world, which i feel is very appropriate for him and wish they had kept it in

In the movie when april shows us where the og casey has been and what shes been doing throughout the film, it tells us that casey is friends april which in theory, shouldve also shown us that she and the turtles are friends to some degree as well and should already have her place established within the group as this generations casey jones

However the final shot of the movie is a group shot of the family+casey jr, which subtlety implies that he's the new casey instead, and that this is the main cast moving forward (should it move forward *sob*). While both caseys being considered in the main cast could be true, it does strike me as a little odd that this was the final direction the rot team decided on for the official ending versus the scrapped ending, especially because it complicates the pre-established canon. It wouldve been one thing if our og casey was a different character, but that isnt the case.. y... (<_<)

Casey jr is an interesting character though! And i can understand why he appeals to fans, especially as his character post movie is fun to expand on aswell as developing his past involved with future versions of the main5, but one (me lol) could argue that the og casey is just as interesting of a character to delve into as she was involved, when you boil it down, a cult most of her life, and that concept, as well as the guilt she could hold for working with the foot and releasing the shredder, ontop of trying to befriend and gain the turtles and aprils trust are also intriguing concepts that could be explored, yet finding content that mentions her at all beyond her relation to casey jr is scarce

It feels as though shes been reduced to a background character within the fandom despite being a reoccuring character for the entire show.

For the two seasons of rottmnt that we did get, we are shown just what kind of character casey is and her possible dynamics with the turtles+april. Shes passionate and powerful and beyond determined to prove her worth and reach her goals. Shes also playful and reckless, a side that fits well with the main cast and their humor and, if the show was given more time, couldve developed naturally as the newest addition to the family as most caseys are. I could also argue that her characterization fits that of previous caseys more than casey jrs does (though i will admit that considering the plot of the movie, i cant positively say what hed be like outside of life or death scenarios, but i also cant imagine hes going to make a 180 in personality without it feeling jarring and ooc)

Now, i wont ignore the fact that her arc was cut horribly short and her involvement in the movie was quite literally a brief mention, both of which definitely play into how under appreciated she is. But at the same time it almost feels like everyone, including the show runners, have willingly pushed her aside for this new boy version to fill the role of casey jones. Hell, even when you look up rottmnt casey jones, cassandra barely shows up. Its casey jr which further proves my point

Idk, TLDR im pretty disappointed that despite being a consistent character for the entire show, no one seems to write or acknowledge her and if she is mentioned, its only relevant to push forward casey jrs character development or a brief cameo. As much as i do love casey jr (i can feel like hes mid and i can like him!) it seems like most people forget about the original casey, or favor casey jr in her place and she deserves more love and credit than shes given!

[ambrosiagourmet]

I notice no one has asked yet so for the character thing: laios! Or if you want to go for a less common one: the winged lion

Laios!!!!!!

First impression

Honestly its hard to even limit this within the confines of starting the actual manga. I genuinely think I'd have to say my real first impression of Laios was the "autism be damned, my boy can work a grill" joke that gets passed around a lot 😭

Impression now

Older brother.

Loves his friends and family so much. Let him infodump!!!!! A guy that can character arc so hard he becomes a king because its the only way to deal with the things he can no longer let himself look away from. A guy who wants to eat a good meal. A guy who wants everyone to eat a good meal.

A guy who can be all that and still kind of pettily complain that he doesn't get to hang out with monsters anymore & can mope about it soooo annoyingly. A guy who decided to eat the concept of all-consuming hunger because it was the only way to deal with the problem so he might as well try. A guy who can completely change his life by deciding to share his special interest. A guy who can imitate a dog really well.

Favorite moment

Don't make me choooose... okay I'm gonna do three:

1. Assembling Falin's bones with Marcille

The humor. The patience. The slow realization that, despite how absurd of a task it is, it is actually all possible. The moments of admiration for the way skeletons work, the love of the details, the care of assembling all three skeletons just to make sure they get Falin right. Iconic scene.

2. Killing Falin

"Unable to make myself accept. Unable to make myself resist" lives in my soul now idk what else to say. Life is so vibrant and horrifying and raw and beautiful and to let yourself fully be a part of it you must take up space. You must consume. You must fight. You must take and be taken from. Ourgh

3. Talking Marcille down

I love that he looks so goofy on his way up to her. I love the context of how much he refuses to give up on her leading up to this, and how he refuses to give up on her now. I love how everyone is part of this scene, but he's the first one to cross the threshold. I love how she almost blows him up but can't do it (fun fact: this exact situation/post was how she killed Mithrun a couple of chapters ago. It was close).

I love the way he appeals to her mostly just with messy honesty, and I love the silly three rules callback. It's such a sweet chapter.

Also honorary mention for the final page of the story, which gets me every time.

Idea for a story

I'm actually currently fiddling with a longer story concept dealing with the question of Laios needing an heir. Dungeon Meshi is grounded enough in politics that it genuinely feels like a question that the characters will have to grapple with at some point. At the same time, there's no way that like arranged marriage and even having kids in general are not messy topics for Laios and I don't think anyone involved would want to force him to be miserable.

(I also don't personally like the idea of Falin as his heir ftr, bc I think forcing Falin into that role sucks and I don't think anyone would go for it)

So how DO they deal with the issue? Idk! I might write a long meandering story about it! Maybe! I want to, at least.

Unpopular opinion

Ughhhh I don't realllly want to poke this with a stick but yeah I definitely think my most generic (apparently????) Unpopular Opinion with Laios is just that his relationship with Marcille is meaningful and loving. I personally don't view it as romantic and they mean a lot to me as a platonic-life-partners kind of thing, but I also think that dividing relationships in general into Ships TM and Definitely Not Ships isn't really appealing to me personally. I just care them.

(at the same time I really do worry about trying to write about them and it being taken as romantic despite me very intentionally not framing it as such. idk, navigating this stuff is complicated.)

Favorite relationship

UGHHHH LIKE. It is probably him and Marcille. But it's so hard to rank that against him and Falin. Both relationships mean a lot to me and I love them and I love to think about them.

Because him and Marcille have more on the page interactions to dig into and because I don't see them discussed as much, I do tend to gravitate to Marcille & Laios stuff above all else. But like.... don't make me actually commit to picking.

Favorite headcanon

I can't think of a strong answer for this so I'm going to make one up on the spot: I think he giggled to himself soooo much when he included the winged lion in his king outfit but made it so that it looks like the wolf head is eating it. I think he continues to giggle about it years later. I think he gets dressed in the morning and puts on his cloak and goes "get ate, idiot" as he fastens it around his shoulders.

Oh actually for a more genuine headcanon related to the story thing I mentioned above: I think Laios is really good with kids but would be scared of having any of his own. I think he'd have trouble with the classic "I don't want to mess them up the way my dad messed me up" abused kid struggle.

[guardian-angle22]

Tag Game Tuesday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Thank you for the tags! @thisbuildinghasfeelings @rmd-writes & @goldenskykaysani

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

I first started watching LS around the 2nd or 3rd episode of season 1 after seeing some adorable gifs of Owen & TK floating around on my tumblr feed.

I wish I could find out who patient zero was that first brought them to my attention from my follow list, but I think it must've been someone from the Skam fandom? maybe?

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3, baby!! and ngl, I highly doubt anything will top it at this point just based off where the plots have gone since.

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

I mean - y'all knew what the answer would be to this one, right? Obviously Paul is my favorite. I do also really love TK. I know I have a reputation for loving Paul because I get very animated about him LOL... but I would like to put TK in my pocket and keep him safe forever, thank you.

Top five episodes. Go!

3.13

2.09

3.08

2.08

3.04

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Paul. One hundred percent, I need it from Paul. I know everyone and their brother is going to or has answered Carlos for this and that tracks for a tarlos based fandom... but my unpopular opinion is that we've gotten quite a bit of character backstory for him this past season compared to some others like Nancy, Paul, and Marj. I feel like Paul has been part of the core group since the beginning but hasn't seen the amount of meaty plots as some of the others have. He's due!

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

Okay, I have two ideas for this: - an episode in which some of the characters who rarely interact are somehow trapped together due to some kind of emergency/disaster/storm and must navigate their way out together while the rest of the team helps from the outside. There are a few groupings we could use for it, but I personally would have the potential pairings be one of the following (or all three at once??): Paul & Tommy... TK & Grace... Judd & Carlos. I feel like these 3 pairings are people we don't get to see interact one-on-one often (or at all) and it would be super fun! - a true HEAT WAVE. they very briefly had that heat thing happen in 4x01 but I want a whole episode about a temperature heat wave and how first responders have to deal with them. this is TEXAS, c'mon. Plus the theme of heat throughout the episode could pop up in various character's stories. Tarlos = sexy heat. One of the firefighters = heat in the form of pressure in their job like a promotion of some kind. etc.

What do you think is going on in this still?

I have absolutely no fucking clue 😂 So I will instead direct you to this wonderful little spec fic by @littlemissmarianna As much as I hate everything to do with the Gabriel plot and tbh am not excited to see its continuation... if they manage to pull something off like that fic, I might actually enjoy some of it!

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

... soooooooo I must confess something here...

*whispers* I don't actually know all about the elusive 5.05 spicy scene. someone needs to fill me in. I have not been paying attention to spoilers & speculation as much this time around since last season's speculation went so terribly for me 🤭🤣

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

Something about Carlos "getting homesick after a weekend in Branson" just tickles me. and the sarcastic way TK talks about the idea of Carlos wanting to travel the world also just amuses me to no end...

so this paired with the way the wedding went down, I think TK wouldn't want to make Carlos travel very far. or leave his mother so soon. I think TK wants his husband to feel as safe and comfortable as possible and so they spend a weekend at a nice spa/resort near Austin. Some place like this: Miraval Austin and then spend the rest of their honeymoon week bundled up together at home.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

for fics, I'm gonna be a little lazy here and link some of my previous themed fic rec lists:

but truly there are some wonderful fics in those lists!!! For some fanart: - this one by @whatsintheboxmh is one of my faves. ankle grab my beloved. 🥺🥰 - this one of s5 TK by @fitzherbertssmolder is so adorable! - this one of BUTTERCUP! by @greentealycheejelly is absolutely precious. - this one of Paul & Marjan!! by @heartstringsduet is amazingggg. give me all the paul fanart - this one of Grace by @yorit1 is stunning.

I'm not sure who has already done this, but I'm gonna tag some mutuals that I don't think I've seen it from yet (no pressure though!!) @lemonlyman-dotcom @herefortarlos @tkstrandreyes @three-drink-amy @littlemissmarianna @mikibwrites @alrightbuckaroo

[transhoverfish]

OK SO IM LATE BUT. MORE SUB3 NEWS!!!

so a few days ago, krafton (their publisher), apparently had this like presentation of their plans over the next like 2 years. and during that they talked a bit about sub 3!

and this obviously creates a LOT of questions. not to worry, though, because unknown worlds added on to this:

im honestly not surprised by this. iirc, when below zero released they said it would be a WHILE before the next game, and they only announced this back in like... january? now, the first game's release was in january, and bz was in may, so it's definitely possible early access with be in spring of 2025. those games did not have multiplayer aspections tho! its possible we'll wait until mid 2025, and full release will likely not be until 2026. but who knows? the first game took like ten to be fully finished!!

and honestly. THANK GOD. i can't imagine any subnautica game having BATTLE PASSES or LOOT BOXES. i would have just straight up ignored this game 😭

i do wonder what these updates will entail! "many years to come" is definitely something interesting to me, because other than bug fixes... i dont remember sub or bz getting many updates post full release. is this referring to bug fixes, or is it implying that it will be in a state of early access for much longer? are they going to just keep adding new things (like the building update for sub1) and taking fandom suggestions? very interested!!

maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but i actually,,,, dont want multiplayer. now i do like bz, and these games arent really intended to be horror games, but also bz is very noticeablely less scary than sub1. and some of it i think definitely has to do with all the extra characters and dialogue. its hard to feel isolated when you know al-an and marg are nearby. so im very happy that it's optional, bc i know i will probably enjoy single player a lot more enjoyable!!

so now... SPECULATION.

so the first thing im curious about that the development team didnt mention:

"uncover the mysteries on an entirely new alien planet"

apprently we are NOT returning to 4546b. which im kind of sad about!! ik the story is very obviously done there, but it feels weird that its going to be some other planet this time around. THERE WONT BE PEEPERS!!!! (well there could be but it would be weird if some other random planet had the exact same lifeforms)

now my next immediate thought is: is this a direct continuation of below zero? my opinion is: no. probably not.

mostly because it mentions up to four players, and robin and alan are, if you look very closely, only two people. now they COULD just create two new characters to go alongside them (my fanfic brain loves the au idea of marg and ryley 🥺) but im just going to assume that with the addition of a new planet, we're going to drop the old storylines. which means no more degasi, sunbeam, aurora, or ayou sisters. we might move away from architects/precursors altogether! (my basis on this is absolutely nothing and i could be wrong, this is 100% just theorizing)

also, i imagine that it would be difficult to keep the plot the exact same with two established characters and then two new ones, depending on how this multiplayer aspect works. if its another crash, it would be a lot easier to just have the extra players die/survive, then try to work in a balancing act of one guy playing al-an.

(also i like keeping the ending of bz vauge. if they show up again, they would have to mention what happened to the rest of the architects, and i think it's much more fun if thats a mystery!)

((also also, im gonna drop a bomb on u all for a second. i actually,,, dont like al-an. i have a deeper connection to probably every single other character in bz. i think they really fumbled al's character and story and he is so incredibly bland to me. it feels like they go nowhere with how he was responsible for the kharra outbreak because the game ends immediately after he confesses! it would be nice to give him another chance, sure, but i personally dread the idea of even more al-an. sorry everyone for this horrible news))

HERE'S A CONCEPT IMAGE

i hope they bring back some cut content creatures for this!! i noticed this new area looks VERY similar to the safe shallows, and several of the fish seem to be variations of ones we've already seen (im already seeing bladderfish and hoopfish color pallettes, and the shark resmbles some early concept art for the shadow leviathan, but with the ice worm's colors...)

will there be more land areas?? is it going to entirely underwater?? more kharra?? NO DISEASE AT ALL?? AAAAAA!!!!

[add1ctedt0you]

Tell us about chengqing!

Ship it and I've responded here BUT I wanted to respond to you too!

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Mmm, that's not so much as an unpopular opinion but rather a fic idea but... I think after post-golden core's reveal they can have quite an interesting dynamic. (don't really matter if it's wen ning or maybe wen qing herself to reveal the truth about the core's transfer!)

(this idea has a promise: jiang cheng and wen qing already care about each other)

It's very kind of spoliery, but, I like to imagine jiang cheng really struggling to be intimate with wen qing after the reveal. Not at first maybe, after some time, when the meaning of the transfer hits jiang cheng. Maybe jiang cheng has nightmares about wen qing opening him and forcing wei wuxian’s golden core inside him, to the point that any kind of intimacy becomes painful. Unbearable. I think what really fucks jiang cheng up is that the core's transfer comes to the expense of one of the person jiang cheng loves most. (I am talking about what imo most fucks jiang cheng's mind up, but tbh, being opened without your consent can leave some scars)

So, I imagine a kind of uneasiness taking hold of jiang cheng when he lies down with wen qing, and not knowing what to do with it. Maybe wen qing caresses him, and jiang cheng looking at her hand can't stop himself from imagining her hand deep inside his stomach, and he flinches. Or maybe it's even more subconscious, jiang cheng can't even bring himself to fall asleep next to her because... What if she does something... Something like what? jiang cheng doesn't know, and he feels stupid, but his fucking body can't relax.

And wen qing? Oh, gosh. She's having a bad time too. Imo she has thoughts and complicated feelings about the core's transfer! It's her greatest medical success! But it comes at the expense of someone she comes to care about. wei wuxian really struggled with its loss, and I think she feels guilty. And now even jiang cheng is hurting!

But! She managed the impossible! Not even an immortal could have done it! The sense of accomplishment/pride she must feel! So messy. There's this disconnection between feeling like she wronged people she cares about and her pride in her work. Messy. I love it tbh.

In all of *gestures wildly* I think jiang cheng will get offended if wen qing even hint at her experimenting on someone who isn't him. Like, yeah, he's still fucked up about her last medical surgery, but, why would she prefer someone else? Isn't he a perfect guinea pig? jiang cheng is how he is.

[astralleywright]

Any or all of Ashton, Ludinus, and Fy'ra Rai!

did Ludinus already! so i will do Ashton and Fy'ra and Fy'ra first bc it will likely be less deranged:

First impression

I admit, I was mostly kind of surprised about the introduction of a guest character into an 8 episode miniseries, especially bc it seemed like they kind of knew her already? Also "wait that's Symmetra!!"

Impression now

SHE'S SO COOL. she's a very serious, honorable character done PERFECTLY, where you can truly feel the weight and meaning of everything she says. Serves as such a good contrast to the other Crownkeepers especially while still being a believable part of them and loving just as fiercely. I've never respected anyone more. please come back

Favorite moment

truly impossible to choose between her conversations with Dorian in EXU and "No, I have a sister to walk besides."

Idea for a story

NEED her to meet BH and specifically Ashton so bad it makes me look stupid. I think her calling him her sibling like she did with Dorian would fix him

Unpopular opinion

She deserves better than the Wildmother's bitch ass

Favorite relationship

AS MENTIONED ABOVE, her dynamics with Dorian and Opal are amazing. and also that relationship with Ashton that exists solely in my head

Favorite headcanon

Idk if its a headcanon as much as a want, for her going with Opal being enough to maybe someday free them both. For that love to save them.

LOVE FY'RA SM. Ashton time

First impression

haha i like this guy's vibe i think they'll be one of my favorites in BH :)

Impression now

Favorite moment

IMPOSSIBLE TO CHOOSE. I will say the second look into his mind by Imogen and FCG and his talk with Laudna in ep 49, simply because those are the moments I officially became insane abt them, and then somehow became even MORE insane about them even though i had not previously believed that was possible. Oh and everything leading up to, during, and after shardgate. Everything after and before that too

Idea for a story

WHAT HAPPENED AT HEXUM'S MANOR REALLY. What did they do in between then and meeting FCG. MEETING FCG. Will they go to the Hishari site. Will he meet with Abbadinna again to ask about it. Ashton

Unpopular opinion

me at everything he's been saying and doing since the Downfall break

Favorite relationship

LAUDNA. Impossibly close race for their relationship and Imodna for my favorite of the campaign. AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH FCG AND MOG.

Favorite headcanon

if they had better life outcomes there's a good chance he could have been a wizard! they love to read and are so curious and really seem fairly knowledgeable about the world around him given the seemingly dismal state of access to knowledge in Exandria.

[soullessjack]

SPN?

1) honestly jody and donna , i know they aren’t entirely canon but both actresses support the idea and that’s good enough for me ^_^

** secondary is jack/harper i LOVE them and we deserved to see more. #letjackfuck2k24

2) rowena and jack!!!! i see their dynamic as an aunt/nephew type thing and I love (almost) every time they’re together (omitting the time jack witch-napped her to bring back Mary). I wish we got to see more of them </3

3) Sam and Amelia. usually i can handle the show’s bad moments as enjoyably bad but season 8 was paint-drying levels of boring. Amelia was a bland nothing-burger of a character and the rest of Sam’s normal guy arc did absolutely nothing for him or the season

4) hmmmmm….. not sure I have one actually 🧐

5) JACK <3 my most special boy in the entire world i love him more than anything ever Even my other special interests and fixations 😭 he’s been deeply important to me for 7 years now and probably will be for the rest of my life!! I self-ship with him and plan on getting several tattoos for him and hopefully I’ll be able to meet Alex again someday :3

6) Lucifer/Nick, hands down. Lucifer stopped being an interesting villain to me around like S7 or so honestly, and every time he got brought back it just felt like such a lazy move from the writers or a painful excuse to keep mark on the payroll

7) something that should’ve happened…very broad question for this show. Destiel should’ve happened, a better finale should’ve happened, some deleted scenes and scripts should’ve happened, Jack being covered in more blood and maybe having a longer lasting ‘villain’ arc should’ve happened …many such cases

8) something that shouldn’t have happened…again, many choices, but to save time I’ll just leave it at Nick’s entire character. besides (see #6) he straight up shouldn’t be alive. Dean shot him in the head with the Colt all the way back in S5 lmao

9) hmmmmm……i think my entire blog is full of rare (if not downright unpopular) opinions, but if I had to choose one that is Extremely rare, I’d go with this one: Dean is one of Jack’s dads. As frustrating as his initial behavior is, he does grow past it, and he puts genuine effort into being a better mentor/father figure to Jack—not only because he does care about them, but also because he literally could not forgive himself for how he acted and wanted to make up for it as much as he could.

obviously they do have a very complicated and rough relationship, but that’s literally every other relationship on this show, and it’s kind of agitating that they aren’t given the same nuance or understanding that the others get—especially when half of the discussions surrounding it can be boiled down to “bad man mean to helpless baby” (which is another thing on its own but ill stop here). I don’t mean this as an excuse or apologia for Dean’s behavior, but when you consider that he’s a severely traumatized person with a relatively small support system and a canon tendency to verbally abuse/emotionally distance himself from people as a coping mechanism (literally what he had a breakdown over in Purgatory) it’s a little easier to understand it.

everyone is quick to talk about how he said “Jack’s not family,” but nobody paid attention to the fact that in the script, he’s mildly horrified at Jack agreeing with him (if you truly meant an insult, wouldn’t you’d want the target to agree?). or that after jack restores the world from chuck’s damage, Dean not only fully expects/wants them to go back to the bunker with them (IE continue living there) but he also literally fantasizes about buying jack a big screen tv and recliners for saving the world. so id love if the fandom ixnayed on the “uncle” shit. ironically the only one of TFW to actually be Jack’s uncle is Cas, biologically

alternatively for a rare opinion: i want jack kline biblically, carnally, horrendously, homosexually, expeditiously, and so on and so forth.

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Willy Wonka (any version)

These answers apply to every adaptation – that I know, anyway – of the story of Charlie/Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, as well as the original book and its sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. I haven't seen Wonka yet.

Favorite thing about them: He's a fun character all around. I love his creative genius, with all the fantastical candies and treats he creates and all the fantastical rooms in his factory. I love his blend of weirdness, cleverness, mischief, and passion for his work. His hints of moral grayness and insanity make him interesting, but his underlying warmth and kindness, especially to Charlie, prevent him from seeming like a villain. (At least I don't think so: more on that below.) He's like an eccentric wizard from a fantasy story, but with a more modern, candy-themed twist.

Least favorite thing about them:

Original book: The whole story of how the Oompa Loompas came to work for him has unfortunate implications. Even after Dahl revised the text and changed the Oompa Loompas from black African Pygmies to light-skinned dwarfs from Loompaland, the concept is still very iffy. A businessman "importing" a tribe of people from a foreign country to work in his factory, where he never lets them leave the premises, pays them in food instead of in money, and tests his experimental foods and drinks on them, which sometimes cause them bodily harm... it wouldn't fly in a book written today.

1971 film: To a sensitive child viewer (as I was), his angry outburst at Charlie and Grandpa Joe for stealing the Fizzy Lifting Drinks is scary and mean, even if it is just a test.

2005 film: I don't like the subplot about his controlling dentist father. A character like Wonka doesn't need daddy issues to explain him.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I love chocolate.

*I'm at least a little eccentric.

*I often wear purple.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not a chocolatier, an inventor, or a factory-owner.

*I'm female.

*I've never met an Oompa Loompa.

Favorite line:

Original book:

(Explaining why he won't let Augustus be cooked into fudge): Because the taste would be terrible. Just imagine it! Augustus-flavored chocolate-coated Gloop! No one would buy it."

"Whipped cream isn't whipped cream at all unless it's been whipped with whips! Just as a poached egg isn't a poached egg unless it's been stolen from the woods in the dead of night!"

And the full text of his "There's no earthly way of knowing" poem and the funny, creepy poems he recites in the Space Hotel to scare the White House in the sequel.

1971 film:

"We have so much time and so little to see!... Wait a minute! Strike that. Reverse it." (and the later variation with "...so little to do")

"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."

"But Charlie, don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted... He lived happily ever after."

And of course his various quotes from Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and other literature.

brOTP: The Oompa Loompas, and Charlie by the end.

OTP: None, he's happily single.

nOTP: Charlie or any of the other kids.

Random headcanon:

*In all versions, he's on the autism spectrum – it just manifests in different ways for each different Wonka.

*In the 1971 film, he's Jewish, just like Gene Wilder was in real life (and like Timothée Chalamet, for that matter). Maybe this is true in other versions too. I chiefly like to imagine this as a "take that" to Roald Dahl's antisemitism.

Unpopular opinion: The popular "Wonka is a villain" take is overdone. Yes, he has some moral ambiguity to him, but he's not evil. People often seem to forget that the fates of Augustus, Violet, Veruca, and Mike aren't "punishments" that he deals out. They're accidents that each child causes himself or herself by ignoring his warnings. Now, I don't mind it when adaptations imply that he deliberately sets up those accidents to occur if the kids disobey him, or at least show him as unconcerned with stopping or rescuing them. But I don't think either of those things are true to his portrayal in the book, per se.

Song I associate with them:

"Pure Imagination."

Favorite picture of them:

This classic illustration of him by Joseph Schindelman:

This illustration by Quentin Blake:

This book cover illustration, from the edition I grew up with:

This much-memed image of Gene Wilder in the 1971 film:

Johnny Depp in the 2005 film:

Douglas Hodge in the 2013 stage musical (the only Wonka I know of in an adaptation to have his signature black goatee from the book):

Timothée Chalamet in Wonka, 2023:

[mathlann]

Heinrix :3

How I feel about this character

Uhh....I will link [here] for a much longer answer on how I feel about that man and my answer later down the line, but he is a ragged chew toy to me. He's genuinely such a good microcosm of the role of "privileged" psykers in the Imperium and all the identity issues that come with that and also the inherent cross-purposes between the State Power of the Inquisition and the Frontier Authority of Rogue Traders. And I say this as an expression of love: I want him to fuck off and out of the airlock.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Heinrix x Cas but only in the way that is toxic, or in an AU where they have different jobs that aren't at each other's throats. I know I only ever seem to post mean about him but I genuinely was almost swayed by the allure of the No Jealousy mod.

Heinrix x My Mutuals' Rogue Traders 💕

Heinrix x Therapy (20 year minimum)

And ofc, I am a Heinrizhai hatefuck truther from day 1 so...its not romance but I ship it. I think they could defeat Slaanesh.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

If Heinrix and Marazhai can't fuck nasty I need them to at least kill each other.

Heinrix and Abelard are a fun duo. I'm a firm believer that Heinrix is only maybe behind Abelard by a few decades at most. They have the kind of energy that says they've both been found sleeping with their arms crossed in front of the Cogitators while watching the Space!Blood Bowl.

Heinrix and Jae can hang as well but only when he's chill and not being a cop about it. I honestly would love to hear them talk religion. He needs some of her "chill out about The Exalted One" energy.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Okay, I've spent too long on this answer so, linked post for more controversial thoughts but the current Bugbear chewing on my mind is that I feel like the fandom kind of treats him being in the Ordo Xenos as just like...a job that has no bearing on his character outside that he's a workaholic about it. And that does so much disservice to the analysis of his character as an institution man™.

Like we cannot discuss Heinrix's Mercy path and inner iconoclast core without acknowledging that his development there is intimately tied to his struggles as a psyker within the framework of the Imperium's Dogma. Which, if he was a member of the Ordo Hereticus or Malleus, would be smooth sailing. But he's Ordo Xenos, which notably has not much to do with his issues as a psyker. Plus, Aeldari are people too, and the narrative I feel is pretty intentional with showing how Heinrix's xenophobia is more often than not wrong. And not even to say "Aeldari are always right" but rather Heinrix follows a pattern emblematic of the Imperium's xenos policy that values short-sighted blanket mistrust and paranoia of slights real and imagined, that often agitates and makes situations worse especially when it comes to harms ultimately originating with other humans. And so you can't discuss the ways Heinrix shows or feels mercy towards someone like Emelina, without discussing the people he actively chooses to not to extend those feelings towards. And I feel like that gets swept under the rug because a lot of the notable incidents involve Marazhai the Instigator and Yrliet, the local Bitch Eating Crackers, and so for reasons fair and not, a lot of the fandom is predisposed to seeing them as unreliable or deserving of ill treatment for their behavior in ways that don't get applied to the humans.

And honestly, if I had the time to soapbox about it I'd argue that the issues of Heinrix's job-dependence, impotent anger at his circumstances, and self-loathing are all things that make him a perfect match for the Ordo Xenos because it allows him to channel those feelings onto creatures and populations* that Dogma has taught him are unambiguously good to harm! That's intrinsic to the character to me tbh.

*Creatures and populations here acknowledging that not all xenos are "people" in the way that can be reasoned with but Aeldari are and that's who the game deals with.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

On the silly side: DLC where if you follow Heinrix's advice on how to handle the Drukhari, the Ordo Malleus shows up to try to beat your/Heinrix's ass. Genuinely they are having such a bad couple of months/years on a Dogmatic Rogue Trader run lmao.

On the serious side: Okay I'm conflicted about this because Heinrix xenophobia is such a core part of his character but also I do wish, especially if you romance him, the game acknowledged how out of pocket he gets if you keep the xenos? Because he absolutely is overstepping both your rights as Rogue Trader and Calcazar's orders to let you be. Like, if you decide to keep Marazhai, as is your God-Emperor-given right, he will use words with you that cannot be found in the Lectitio Divinitatus, but outside telling him "no" in the moment you never really get to address his behavior. I've said it in the past in another post but the fact that romanced!Heinrix will apologize to you for having sex but not for repeatedly undermining your orders...in front of your retinue and crew....insane man. Owlcat let me shake him.

[backgroundagent3]

You did Daisy for the character game. How about my baby??? 🙈

Thanks for the ask! I'm assuming you're talking about Fitz, so here you go! 💙

First impression: I think he was the character I loved the most at the beginning. I thought he was adorable and I found his awkwardness hilarious, and I especially loved his dynamic with Simmons in season 1. It really stressed my out how innocent and helpless he seemed though, because he just didn't know how to defend himself at all back in the day.

Impression now: I have to admit my opinion of him changed for the worse after 5.14, and I so wish that hadn't happened (or at least had been properly dealt with), but it did, so here we are. I still love him, and I think he had some really good and interesting character development and a great ending.

Favorite moment: It's really hard to choose because he has so many funny moments that I really enjoyed, especially in the earlier seasons. One moment I loved was in 1.06, where Jemma gets infected with the chitauri virus and he enters the lab anyway to help her find a cure. Here's where I realised he's not just the nerdy comedic relief, he's also loyal and kind, which in my opinion are some of his best qualities.

Idea for a story: I'd like to know how he came up with the idea for the night night gun. Dendrotoxins are neurotoxins produced by snakes, right? So now I need to know what kind of experiment led to him potentially knocking out a couple of students by accident before he thinks to apply the science to a non-lethal gun. I like to think that after the accident, he went to extreme lengths to get a snake (because that's funnier than just the neurotoxins) and extract its venom all to make some bullets which might not even work. He then needs to get some volunteers to test it on, because the test subjects need to be human to get the correct dosage to knock out a person. Can you imagine him going up to random students and asking them to participate in a pretty dangerous experiment all for the sake of a weapon that he's gonna name the night night gun? I think it has the potential to be hilarious.

Unpopular opinion: I think the writers didn't know what to do with him in the later seasons. I felt like his presence was not only irrelevant but also unnecessary. Like seasons 1 to 3 he wasn't the main character, but he still played a role in the show. Seasons 4 and 5, he was arguably pivotal to the plot. But seasons 6 and 7? I couldn't tell you why he was there if you held a gun to my head. All the time he spent lost in space in season 6 was a waste of time for him and other characters as well, and it just took some much needed time from the main storyline of the season. And he was barely in season 7, but I didn't even miss him because they'd pretty much made him a side character at this point. Maybe he was important as the other half of Fitzsimmons, but not as his own character. This is of course not his fault, I just think it's such a shame that they wasted all the potential he had, just when he got really interesting and complicated after season 5.

Favorite relationship: Romantic? Fitzsimmons. I was rooting for them literally since their first scene. I love that their ship name is cannon. And platonic? Lance Hunter. They had such a hilarious dynamic in season 2, and I love how Hunter helps him and doesn't care about his brain injury. Honourable mention to the bus kids.

Favorite headcanon: Not my own, but I read somewhere that he's autistic, and I love that headcanon for him. I feel like that's kind of how Iain played him, and it would have been cool if they'd explored this in canon.

This was fun to write, so thank you so much for the ask! 🐵💙

Character Asks.

[across-violet-skies]

so lately I've seen a lot of things about lu wild and people's opinions and stuff and I thought maybe I'd add my two cents in a way that (hopefully, if I can articulate my thoughts well) won't make anyone upset. feel free to scroll past this or whatever I just thought I would share my view :)

semi long post under the cut!!

so. wild. first off, I like him. he's fun, he got me into lu in the first place, his games are my favorite in the series, all of that.

he's popular and unpopular all at once. generally, according to a poll I ran recently where I asked for people's least favorite lu link and why, people who like wild the least (which doesn't necessarily mean they dislike him, mind you) said it was mostly bc he's just so popular.

which... yeah, ok. he has the most content I'd say, so that checks out. but I also think the problem (if there even is one?? I'm unclear) is NOT that there's too much content for Wild, but rather that the amount of content he has is just so much more compared to the rest of the links.

basically, I think the amount of Wild content is fine, but it's more about how little content there is for everyone else.

Wild fics are fine. wild fics are good! great, even. I've written some myself. you can't have too much I would say, but you CAN have not enough content for other characters, and I think that's where people have issue with it.

and yeah, the other links aren't as popular, so it makes sense that there'd be less fics. but also there's a chicken and egg situation here: is wild more popular bc of more content, or is there more content bc he's more popular (this literally doesn't matter. I'm looking too far into it. it's 1 am please excuse my rambles)

but also... any wild content seems to be more consumed? if that makes sense? like take my writing for example:

two fics in a series together, two stories, around the same length, about similar subjects, written around the same time. one of these fics is wild-centric, and the other is hyrule-centric. I'm sure you can tell which one is which. (also, stats aren't everything. I'm happy with both of these stories, it's just an example to show the difference!)

the wild-centric fic has about 3x as many views, over twice as many kudos, and over twice as many bookmarks than the hyrule-centric one. the hyrule-centric fic has more comments and is part of a collection.

(these fics can be found here (wild) and here (hyrule). shameless self promotion)

anyways... yeah. again, I don't think there's a problem with people writing/enjoying wild content. always create for what you love! however, I think a lot of the dislike/less like of wild stems from the fact that any other character just doesn't have as much content available. I don't think it's the actual content or character that people take issue with.

(and again, I like wild. he not my favorite, but he's certainly not my least favorite. he's somewhere in the middle for me, maybe towards the favorite end more but still in the middle)

I hope this made at least some sense if you read this far!! I don't want to upset anyone so feel free to discuss things with me. I'm typically pretty easygoing online so don't be afraid to mention something I mightve glossed over or worded poorly, but just please be kind and respectful to other people because ultimately, its just an opinion/thoughts on other people's opinions and other people are ofc valid if they disagree :)

[krowbby]

yoooo discworld for the ask thing if no one's done that yet!

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

Favorite character: Polly Perks or Agnes Nitt (agnes is so underrated, give my girl her flowers)

Least Favorite character: I'm not gonna pick a villain bc I feel like that's a cop-out. Sooo for more or less "good" characters I'd say Fred Colon. I respect the space in the narrative he inhabits but I wouldn't want to hang out with him

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Shipping isn't the main way I partake in Discworld tbh, but here goes - Pollymal (duh), Susan/Lobsang (what could've been... even just as a friendship!), Angua/Sally (yeah), SamSybil (pure fluff tbh), maybe Lofty/Tonker or Agnes/Andre (the pianist from Maskerade).

Character I find most attractive: Sally von Humpeding, baby! Snarky butch vampire? I never stood a chance. I just wish we got to spend more time with her.

Character I would marry: NGL being married to most Discworld characters would stress me out. I think Susan Sto Helit and I could have a good marriage because we're both educators and she tries so hard to have a normal life lmao.

Character I would be best friends with: I think Agnes and I would get along. That girl would love karaoke night

A random thought: I have mixed feelings about the new audiobooks. Some of them are good but the audio balancing is weirdly off between the narration and footnotes. I think they should have just got Nigel Planar to do all the books he hadn't done and same with Stephen Briggs so that all the fans would be happy /j

An unpopular opinion: Not as unpopular on Tumblr but Pterry isn't above criticism! He's clearly one of my fave authors and I think he did a lot of good writing but he obviously had faults and it does him a disservice to pretend he was some kind of saint.

My canon OTP: This one is hard bc there aren't actually a ton of canon ships in Discworld, but my fave is SamSybil. Mostly I'm just a ride or die for Sybil and Sam makes her happy so I will always ship it. Lofty/Tonker is also up there.

Non-canon OTP: PollyMal even though like its bascially canon imo. But y'all already knew this about me

Most badass character: Truly how can you answer this for Discworld. I'm gonna go with Tiffany Aching for beating the Queen of the Fairies at 9 entire years old! (I also read this when I was about her age so I have a soft spot for her.)

Pairing I am not a fan of: I am an autistic aroace Vetinari truther and so I simply cannot get behind V/V. I'm glad y'all are having fun with that though

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I wanted more Agnes. I think she was going to be the up and coming witch before Tiffany came on the scene and I LOVE Tiff but I still wish Agnes could have had a more concrete arc.

Favourite friendship: This should've been the ship question, I feel like friendships are where this series shines. Angua&Cheery is really sweet, Granny&Nanny is so funny and you can tell they care so much about each other.

I'm adding a question for my top 5 books in the series: Monstrous Regiment (duh again), Thief of Time (oddly a companion book to Night Watch, read it!), Carpe Jugulum, Wyrd Sisters, The Fifth Elephant. (I know the Watch subseries is the most popular, but guys the other books are so good!!!)

[apatheticlexicographer]

(this is kind of a long post that somehow turned into lowkey a conspiracy theory but i don’t want to rewrite the start bc it was written pretty much stream of consciousness and that amuses me)

maybe this is an unpopular opinion but i don’t want byler to be spoiled lol

crumbs, sure, little things that keep us invested, but i want to go into s5 completely unawares of how it’s gonna play out. i don’t want the cast or the official socials or some random leaker to tell me what’s gonna happen beforehand.

honestly the fact that so many people involved with the show have acknowledged byler yet none of them have shot it down as a possibility is a big enough crumb for me. or the way official netflix accounts have posted promotional things with byler since s4 dropped. yeah, they don’t have any involvement with the production of the show, but if the ship is being used for marketing then it’s considered a possible sales point.

actually now that i think of it, does anybody remember the june advent calendar??? when, immediately after v1 dropped, the official netflix accounts started posting pro-byler stuff damn near every day, to the point where we made an event out of it???

at the time we all got super hyped over it and then figured it was queerbait when they didn’t get together in v2, but isn’t it mighty fuckin convenient that the netflix accounts just “coincidentally” happened to start posting pro-byler stuff as soon as v1 dropped??? because yeah, byler started picking up traction immediately after it aired, but it took a while to really get the ball rolling. they started cashing in on the byler hyper train when it was only just beginning to grow from its tiny pre-s4 presence. seeing official accounts mentioning byler probably helped to cement it in a lot of people’s radar in the gap between the volumes. and didn’t noah also start saying he shipped byler around then??? 

POSTED ON JUNE THIRD??? only a week after v1 aired??? and ppl were so surprised by this tweet that when he was on a panel somebody asked him if he got hacked 😭😭

back then it really seemed like “oh the official accounts are queerbaiting during pride month” but A: we know noah wasn’t just saying this for nothing,he’s made it very clear that he believes it and B: why the hell would they be queerbaiting the tiny fledgling post-v1 byler audience when it was only just coming together??!?

hindsight says something was afoot here actually. they started releasing the pro-byler agenda from its tightly locked enclosure AFTER the volume where mike tells will hawkins isn’t the same without him and will brings the painting “for somebody he likes” when they go to pick mike up, IN PREPARATION for the volume where will gives said painting to mike along with an extremely emotional nameswapped love confession and mike turns around and gives a stilted and phony confession to his girlfriend. why the hell was attention being drawn to byler outside of the show itself in that interval if not to make people recontextualize what they just saw in v1??? and then when they see v2 have that recontextualization validated when will is confirmed to be both gay and in love with mike??? and to pick up on the fact that mike and el’s relationship is on more rocks than your average pile of gravel???

we know that they’ve had actors straight up lie to the audience before, too, because even if u just take noah as an example he said in a JUNE interview that will’s sexuality was up to interpretation, and then not that long at all after v2 dropped he did the iconic “will is gay and in love with mike” interview!!! and obviously he knew that will was confirmed gay when he did the first interview bc they had filmed that scene like a year earlier. so the fact that he never rlly mentioned byler, except for vaguely negatively when he was a kid, until v1 comes out and “SUDDENLY” he’s byler’s biggest warrior doesn’t mean he randomly changed his mind, it means he hadn’t been allowed to talk about it until after volume 1. after the first half of the season that made the majority of byler shippers see it as a genuine possibility and even the most likely outcome.

sorry i have no idea how much sense this makes and i’ve completely derailed whatever i was talking about at the top of this post. has anybody pointed this out??? have i pointed this out and i just forgot??? help?!!?!??

[redmelawashere]

hi hello! may i ask 13 for Near and Mello?

13: Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

hey hi! Oh that's juicy. I feel like I have WAY more unpopular Mello than Near opinions, since some of my unpopular opinions have become popular over time just as the fandom has evolved (I've been in this hellish fandom, shyly, since I was a wee baby starting highschool and I'm currently in my late 20s for context😭)

Also I realize this was only supposed to be one (1) unpopular opinion. And I provided several. Mb 🙃.

Near:

Near is too slow in taking action (conversely, Mello is too quick in taking action but I think the latter part of this statement isn't all that unpopular lol).

Near isn't weak or brittle, physically speaking. I think we all forget how in the manga buddy straight up dressed in riot gear and blended in with the police to escape an incensed zealous mob.

Near's actually fairly emotional in the series - people just can't read body language or neurodivergent behaviours well

speaking of which Near is super underrated as a character. So it's easy to put him in a box of weak, emotionless, boring, weird, and cautious when he is, like all Whammy kids, a traumatized child doing the work of adults. I also dislike viewing him as a watered down version of L.

Near isn't an angel who is morally above killing someone. I kind of like Matsuda's implication that Near is the reason Mikami is dead.

Near might not be as smart as L and that's not a bad thing. L was an adult way older than Near with more experience solving cases. I also like the imagery of Near and Mello needing to work together to surpass L.

Mello:

Mello didn't idolize L. He was obsessed with the power and glory that the title brought, as well as the concept of beating Near.

Although I think its fun to treat Mello as the "popular" and "well liked" kid at Whammy's kind of like the bully/jock in a highschool setting (and tbh, I love fics that characterize him this way) if we look at manga he's also kind of an isolated weirdo who was mean to basically everyone he interacted with.

I actually think Mello, despite his appearance, embodies a lot of domineering and masculine behaviours and he's comfortable with that portrayal. I honestly don't know how you'd survive the mafia otherwise, even with smarts, and reaching that level of power and infamy with just "faking it". This kind of goes with the point above.

I kind of view Mello as a pansexual disaster who doesn't give a fuck about gender presentation. He just dresses how he likes. But that's maybe cause I'm Eastern European, and when I go back home for the winter, the amount of dude bros in fur trim coats and leather is like a LOT haha. It's a flashy way to show you have money - not necessarily flamboyance. It's kind of like with the extremely elaborate hidden mad max-esque bunker in the middle of the goddamn desert - I think a lot of that was like "haha look how much money and power I have".

Mello could have still helped Near without revealing his face to Takada. I think his rashness reared its ugly head after Matt died (which he didn't expect to happen) and consequently, so did he.

[lia-land]

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

4.7/5

Spoilers for the first book in the Caraval series by Stephanie Garber.

I loved this book!!!

However, the more I think about it, the lower I want to rate it. You really do have to enjoy it on the surface, so I’m not going to it pick it apart as much as I’d like to here (and yet, somehow this still ended up being super long...). Quality wise, it’s a 4 star book at best, maybe even 3.5, but I had so much fun reading it.

I’ve seen a lot of criticism for this book and admittedly, I did go into it biased and expected to DNF but I thought this was amazing. When I say ‘amazing,’ I mean I really enjoyed reading it, not that the actual story and writing were amazing. It was good from page 1 and I read 1/3 the first time I opened it. I didn’t feel like I was waiting for it to pick up, because the pacing was consistent throughout. It’s fantasy, but in its own category. It’s kind of like a combination of the Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and a bit of Coraline. Maybe a little Now You See Me. Whatever it is, I want more.

Here’s an example of why you should take this book on the surface and not think about: while writing this, I remembered that Caraval was meant to be a competition, but the plot didn’t acknowledge that. We were constantly told that Caraval was a game AND a competition, but we barely saw how any of the other players were progressing. The other players were so irrelevant that it really would have made no difference to the story whatsoever if they weren’t there. Not sure how an editor didn’t pick up on this. I think the publishing house is either Macmillan or Hachette, so what happened here? I’ve noticed that a lot of popular fantasy books recently have poor writing/plot holes and most of the time, they’re backed by one of these big publishing houses. I want quality > quantity to come back. You could argue that because this specific run of the game was designed for Scarlett to win, she never had any competition, but the point is that Scarlett didn’t know that. As readers, we also didn’t know that. It’s lazy to write that it’s a competition and have other players at the start to make us intrigued, just to later not do anything with it. The closest we got was when everyone was in Tella's room at the start.

The plot twists were interesting. I felt like it was incredibly obvious from the start that Julian was Legend, then he was, and then he wasn’t. But we still don’t actually know who Legend is, so we’re left wondering if he could still be revealed as Legend in the next book. A very interesting tactic from Garber and perhaps even a dig at current popular fantasy books where so many times, it feels like the author is treating the reader as someone who is not intelligent. Looking at you, Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Most of the criticism that I’ve come across is about the world building and how it’s basically non-existent. I disagree, I think this was a very immersive universe and a very unique one in YA, especially for the length of the book. Of course, if we compare this to current popular fantasy books with faeries and politics, then yes, the world building does not have the same level of detail in the sense that we don’t know what’s going on on a global scale, but Caraval doesn’t need that. So much of Caraval’s story relies on interpretation and mystery. More details would have taken away from that. This book is more about the characters and the game. Knowing the history of the world in Caraval wasn’t as necessary as knowing the history of the game. We were given what we needed and there’s a lot of fantasy series now with world building that is far too convoluted to get through, so this was a nice change.

This might be an unpopular opinion (update: it’s not) but I really wanted Legend to be the main love interest, and still do. Or at least for Julian to have been Legend the whole time. The way Legend was portrayed throughout the book and all the mystery surrounding him was intriguing, and I found Julian and Scarlett a bit odd since Scarlett was under the impression that Julian had also been with Tella. None of her inner dialogue acknowledged that, though. Her main reason was always the fact that she was engaged to a stranger, and never ‘my sister has hooked up with this guy.’

I didn’t notice this until after I finished Caraval, but there’s actually only two somewhat developed characters. Everyone except Scarlett and Julian were just extras with a few lines. Dante was somewhere in between, but then he died halfway through and we didn’t see much of him. Tella’s character became prominent only towards the end, which I suspect was only for the sake of writing a sequel, as Caraval was originally meant to be a standalone. For any other series, I’d consider this a really big negative, but Caraval’s focus is the game and the idea of Legend. There’s also a big theme of unfamiliarity and having no idea who Scarlett can trust, so for this specific series, it works.

Scarlett is not very interesting, but I didn’t dislike her. I felt the same way about Poppy from the Blood and Ash series, in the way that she felt like a lens for us to see the plot unfold, rather than her own character. Writing developed characters is not something that Garber does well or at all in this book, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I really just cared about the plot and finding out about Caraval’s intentions and Legend. Julian was also inconsistent, but I think that was meant to come across as unpredictable and mysterious. I feel like he’s still not entirely done with lying. I’m still waiting for him to end up being Legend.

The ending was underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time. Overwhelming because too much happened very rapidly with not enough explanation, and underwhelming because what did happen didn’t really seem worthy of the nearly 400 page build up. I kept waiting for another twist that made more sense. Again, I personally enjoyed it regardless, but I can acknowledge that it didn’t fit perfectly. I don't know if it gets cleared up in book two, but it was still a rushed ending. Since Caraval was originally written to be a standalone, it makes a lot more sense. I wonder if the intention was for us to never meet Legend at all. I actually think Caraval as a standalone story would have worked well, if not better.

Also, I don’t think Scarlett ate anything for the entirety of the game. I feel like there should have been at least one scene where she would be skeptical to have anything on Caraval since we know the food and drinks can have effects.

This is a book that I would love to see as a film or TV show adaptation. I might even enjoy it just as much as through a visual medium. As pretty as all the writing makes the settings out to be, I was a tiny bit bored of continuously reading descriptions towards the end of the book. As many have said, there is a lot of purple prose and some of the sentences might make you do a double take, but it’s not unbearable. It could definitely benefit from another round of editing, especially at the start, but once you get used to it, it’s fine (it definitely improves in the sequels). Reminds me of an old joke about English teachers and how they’ll tell you that blue curtains symbolise the characters’ depression and whatnot, when the author just meant that the curtains are blue. I feel like someone should tell Garber that sometimes, it’s okay for the curtains to just be blue. On the other hand, Caraval wouldn’t be Caraval without all the weird and wonderful settings, so it’s not that I want less description, but maybe striking a balance between comparing feelings to colours and describing colourful settings would make this perfect.

Honorary shoutout to the following sentences:

-“Scarlett had an emerald-green premonition that she would make a discovery inside.”

-“It tasted like the moment before night gives birth to morning.”

-“He tasted like midnight and wind, and shades of rich brown and light blue.”

All the vivid imagery made me want to make a very 2014 tumblr vibe playlist:

Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey

The Poison - The All-American Rejects

Wonderland - Taylor Swift

The Greatest Show - The Greatest Showman soundtrack

Disturbia - Rihanna

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - Taylor Swift

The Writer - Ellie Goulding

Hotel California - Eagles

So It Goes… - Taylor Swift

House of Memories - Panic! At The Disco

The Black Dog - Taylor Swift

Starry Eyed- Ellie Goulding

I Hate It Here - Taylor Swift

Game of Survival - Ruelle

Figure 8 - Ellie Goulding

Centuries - Fall Out Boy

Mad Hatter - Melanie Martinez