#like i really enjoy the books and it carries over to the plotlines and characters in the show

[utvarpcity]

sorry for gotposting so much i have bad taste x

[wolfhotels]

It's so cool how so many people are claiming the DSMP characters as their own and making rewrites right now. Like, I always wondered when DSMP was popular how many people actually liked the characters and how many were just fans of anything the CCs made, but this shows that a lot of people really do just love the characters. Sorry, I don't know if that makes sense.

Also, as someone who's working on my own rewrite, do you have any advice for renaming the characters? Or are you not renaming them? I do want to rename them to separate them from the CCs, but nothing I pick feels right. Anyway, your art is very cool and inspiring.

as someone who always valued the lore/stories way more than cc content i think its really cool to see. half the plotlines i was most excited about were never even portrayed on streams. just completely fan made. same with the character designs, and really just the characters overall. during my time in the fandom i always percieved the characters a lot differently than they were explicitly portrayed- i think a lot of fans did this too hence why many were unsatisfied by the canon endings. (and really any canon event that didnt align with my personal perception/vision i just ignored lmfao) the characters i enjoyed were made by artists on twitter you know... not twitch streamers. i consumed dsmp like it was an animated series or comic. completely fictional characters and stories.

as for names.. oh my god its so hard. ive been trying to rename too but i get super attached to names and think they carry a lot of weight to a character. its hard to come up with a name that doesn't feel like a cheap knockoff. so i think it will just take more time for me. I suggest looking into what you think the themes are to you for that character and going off of that. the only one im really set on right now is "Faust" for the character derived from c!drm.

It really matches my ideas surrounding him and the revival book, and how he thinks of himself as a godly being. A lot of his themes related to losing yourself to power and obsession over revival knowledge seem very fitting to the legend. :]

also thinking of Sonny for Tommy (but not 100% sold yet) and something like quinn or quincey for quackity... I can't lose the big Q nickname x)

[mxsoyo]

Watching every Dracula adaptation! #1

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror by F. W. Murnau (German: Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens) from 1922

We’ll be starting with the very first movie adaptation of Dracula (that isn’t lost media). The movie is free on YouTube, if anyone wants to watch it themselves. For the uninitiated, the movie is a black-and-white silent German Expressionist horror film. Well maybe it was a horror film in 1922 but from a modern point of view, the movie, especially the over the top acting is more comical than anything. As many might know the movie was an unauthorized adaptation and interestingly enough was supposed to be destroyed after they lost the copyright dispute.

Should you watch it? Eh, sure. It has a lot of funny moments and again it’s free on YouTube. Especially the people, that really like Johnathans and Minas relationship in the novel will enjoy that their relationship is a focal point in the movie.

Characters: Since the movie was made for a German audience and takes place in Germany instead of England, the character names have all been changed (there are versions of the movie with the book names though). I’ll be referring to the characters by their book names to avoid confusion (except for Nosferatu, since people know who that is). The movie names are in the brackets. Jonathan Harker (Thomas Hutter) is just a sweet, cheerful little guy who loves his goth wife. Mina Murray (Ellen Hutter) is quite different from her book counterpart, her actress constantly looks like she is plagued by visions™ and apparently has psychic anti-vampire powers. She is also my favorite part of the movie. Count Dracula is obvioulsy Count Orlok aka Nosferatu. There isn’t really much to say about the guy, he is pretty much exactly how you imagine him to be. Arthur Holmwood (Harding), Lucy Westenra (Ruth), Jack Seward (Dr. Sievers) and Van Helsing (Bulwer) are all relegated to side characters. Mina stays with Lucy and Arthur while Jonathan is away, Jack is also the town doctor apart from owning the asylum and Van Helsing is there to info-dump to the audience on various matters. Renfield (Knock) is actually Jonathans boss in this version before he gets sent to the asylum. (No cowboy in this movie, which I think will be a running theme with these adaptations.)

Plot and Book Differences: The movie follows a lot of the plot beats from the book. The big differences are that the movie begins before Jonathan starts his journey, all of Lucy’s plotlines being dropped and the ending. A new addition is also the theme of plague and disease, which has some very antisemitic undertones (much like Nosferatus design). The ending takes place in Wisborg (a fictional German town that is used instead of London) instead of back in Transylvania. Nosferatu is also not staked through the heart but killed by the sunrise. Mina also maybe dies at the end or maybe she just faints, it’s a bit unclear. Nosferatu also kills way more people in the movie than Dracula does in the book.

Interesting and/or Funny Moments: -Mina’s cat:

-Jonathan giving Mina flowers, her saying “Why did you kill them... such beautiful flowers...?!” and Jonathan reacting like that’s the most normal response ever -The Romainian townsfolk warning Jonathan about a werewolf, cut to a striped hyena they probably filmed at a zoo -all the scenes where characters talk about how it’s totally the middle of the night while the sun is blaring down on them. (I get that lighting a night scene in 1922 was probably almost impossible) -this clock:

-Nosferatu just straight up sucking Jonathans thumb after he accidentally cut himself -Jonathan noticing bitemarks on his neck and being like “must have been mosquitos (shrug)” (This happens after the thumb sucking btw) -Nosferatu seeing a picture of Mina and unironacally saying “Your wife has a lovely neck...” -the acutally very cool shadow effects they use for Nosferatu, especially the ones at the end of the movie -Nosferatu carrying his coffin by himself through the entire town while looking like a kid that got lost in IKEA

Next Up: Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi

[macgyvertape]

my attempt at "Wow Cool Robot" meme as an attempt to get people to read Kasrkin Minor Spoilers below:

I really enjoyed the book, I think the Imperial Guard and Kroot parts are interesting even if you aren't super interested in their faction. It has good plotline of pulp action where enemies team up against a common foe, which in this case are the Flayed Ones necrons. What surprised me is one of the characters' speech about how the Imperium runs on fear, since so few characters express sentiments like this in universe, and though he has ulterior motives for saying this the text doesn't imply he's wrong:

‘You do not need me to tell you that the Imperium is brutal, unjust, frequently corrupt and that it gives no more thought to expending the lives of its people than a tyranid swarm seeks to preserve its warriors. But all of that is accepted because the alternative is worse. Fear is what binds the Imperium together. Without fear, everything – everything – would fall apart. The worlds that pay, in men and money and material, to keep the Imperium functioning, would decide to keep their children and their goods for themselves. The blood of empire is money and trade – Holy Terra is one vast city that depends on how many thousands of ships arriving each day from all over the Imperium to keep its people fed. The same is true of all the key worlds in every sector – they suck other worlds dry to feed themselves. ‘All of this is made possible by fear. Even now, with the galaxy split, most worlds do not even know it has happened. It will be thousands of years before the light of the Rift reaches them. But the High Lords of Terra will use this, as they use everything else, to feed the fear and cement their control.’ This time the general’s laugh was bitter. ‘And you know what is worse? It is men like you and I, honest men trying to do our duty, who are the best tools in their hands. For we do see the real terrors that exist, and we justify their rule wherever we go, and ensure that the fear spreads ever wider and their control becomes ever deeper. ‘We live in a galaxy where all we hear our leaders speak of is war and yet where most people live in peace. We live in a galaxy where fear is the only reality that confronts us, and yet most people will live their days and never see one of the Adeptus Astartes."

My favorite parts and the reason I read the book were for the necron characters; Nebusemekh and the World Mind who are literary foils to Zahndrekh and Obyron.

Nebusemekh suffers from what can easily be read as dementia; not remembering conversations, living in a past happy memory, not able to accurately perceive the world around him. As author Nate Crowley described Zhandrekh "Zahndrekh comes and goes, too. Yes, there is the moment at the end where he reveals that his condition may not be entirely what it seems - but I think that for long stretches of time, it truly is what it appears to be". What Nebusemekh does is similar complete with a few moments of lucidity where he misses his past self, but unlike Zahndrekh he is not able to focus on military tactics. I think there's a lot to unpack about how much he uses his sand castle in the sky project as a way to avoid facing reality but that is for a different post.

Where the World Mind contrasts Obyron is that Obyron obeys orders, while the World Mind sees itself as something akin to a medical conservatorship. It grieves for Nebusemekh's current state but will make decisions that go against Nebusemekh's wishes out of a desire to both protect Nebusemekh from his own memories and to carry out his past military plans to from when he was in sound mind. It's some of the boldest defiance I've seen from a Necron to their lord, he will mislead and unsubtlelly redirect the conversation to progress his goals of awakening the tomb but when pressed he brazenly admits to disabling Nebusemekh's personal weapons.

[dowhatteverer]

An honest critique of FRWBY by someone who actually watched it and was willing to give it a chance

Ok so LF and CS have proven themselves to be disingenuous liars who go out of their way to make rewrites of RWBY look poorly written and bigoted because they have diluted themselves into believing that the show doesn't carry all of the same problems that they accuse these rewrites of having. That being said, Fixing RWBY does happen to carry over a lot of problems from the original show. While I personally believe that Fixing RWBY is a better story structurally from RWBY proper, that doesn't mean that it didn't keep many of the flaws associated with the original show. This is not a defense of FRWBY, nor is it really a bashing because I will come right out and say that I do actively enjoy it and am excited to keep up with its version of volume six. I wouldn't recommend it to any of the people I interact with a lot on Tumblr simply because it's definitely not something they would like very much.

It's impressive how much passion is put into this project honestly, seeing all these fans come together to take the time out of their days without payment just to create something they care about. I definitely think the art and animations are some of the best parts of FRWBY. And I think the story does a far better job of utilizing the amount of characters that the show already had without constantly adding new ones that are completely unnecessary. It also makes a lot of changes to the characters interactions and relationships with other characters that I appreciate. I like that Weiss's time in the Brawnwen was changed from being held prisoner and threatened, to being a taste of freedom and potential new life for herself that she eventually had to ditch for the sake of her friends and the mission. And I really liked Changing Vernal to be Yang's secret half sister and having her develop a friendship with Weiss, it did a lot more to make her death feel more impactful by making her a character that the audience has to care about because these other characters care about her, and goes a long way of proving how selfish and short-sighted Raven could be where her own arrogance and desires ultimately ended up getting her own daughter killed and the tribe she chose over her own husband and first daughter to leave her. And I'm actually quite happy with Roman being Ozpin's host, I think it's handled pretty well and in a way that doesn't overshadow Ruby at all. One change that I thought was pretty cool from a story and representation perspective was having Neo use ASL and have Yang also learn it with her during her recovery period (which was actually a recovery period thank God, not just a showcase of her suffering and then just being fine without seeing her journey). And one thing that I like by default is it going out of its way to humanize Ironwood. That's always an A+ in my book as an Ironwood fan.

Now let's get into the bad stuff that is actually worth criticizing and not just sweeping under the rug just because LF and CS are lying liars who lie.

First and foremost, the Faunus plotline.

I don't like it.

There was very little effort put in to change the actual problems with the Faunus plotline in the actual show. The White Fang are still the bad guys, Blake is at the same time, still a rich princess with parents who love her, and Racism in Remnant is explicitly stated to be an individual to individual thing (though in a Livestream Celtic Phoenix said that racism in Atlas is systemic, so I'm holding out a little bit of hope that will at least be treated like a big deal) and still far more fighting against civil rights activists than fighting actual racists.

There's some interesting stuff in the beginning with Cardin starting out pretty racist, but after being forced to do some actual research on the subject and finding that his views have no historical or scientific basis quickly changing his mind about it and growing into a better person, but that's not enough to forgive the rest of it.

Effort is being put in to make Adam a more dynamic character who seems to have an explicit tragic backstory regarding the racism he faced (and not just implied with his nasty hate crime scar) but that actually makes the whole thing kind of worse. Because I kid you not, in the final episodes of the volume 5 rewrite, when the White fang is defeated, Blake tells Adam, "this isn't the world your mother grew up in anymore" and I'm just like, Adam's mom is implied to have been a Slave woman who was abused and possibly killed by her owner! Who is Blake, in her mansion on an ethnostate where she never had to face racism or cruelty or worry for a family member's safety, to tell Adam how he should react to Racism?! And I know that the reason she has to stop him in the rewrite is because the White Fang are trying to stage a cou that would lead to a war that would cost far more faunus lives than do good for them, but that doesn't change the fact that it's extremely tone deaf that it was Blake who is telling him this when her backstory hasn't been changed at all.

Either make the White Fang the good guys, or make Blake an orphan who has had to experience racism and cruelty her whole life, because you can't have both and still have a story that doesn't feel jarring and pro establishment as hell.

Next, the cultural appropriation. Taking inspiration from multiple Asian cultures for Mistral is kind of unavoidable since Mistral itself is fundamentally meant to be based on a multitude of Asian cultures. (I personally try to mitigate this problem by having different parts of Mistral be based on different Asian countries, and do the same for the other kingdoms too) but I think we all remember the thing about the Brawnwen tribe from a few months ago. Since the Ainu people are heavily discriminated against in Japan and stereotyped as being bandits and thieves, having the Brawnwen tribe be inspired by them in some aspects is definitely a bad thing. It was especially a problem when that cultural appropriation was also misinterpreted and used without fully understanding the culture of what the traditional bear was. And then the attempt to crack down and defend that was just a bad look altogether.

And to bring up the Shay D Mann and Ren and Roman bathroom scene, these are things that I think the creator just didn't realize could come across as queerphobic or a bad look for the character. The joke about Roman not realizing that Ren is a man and then having a conversation about all of tells that would have tipped him off about Ren being a guy and then having them be rebuttaled (at one point pointing out that Weiss has small boobs and that doesn't make her less of a woman, which while I think was well intentioned was just uncomfortable in general) was just in poor taste. And Shiloh (as he's called in FRWBY) didn't need to still be showcased sexually harassing Yang. He was actively physically and verbally abusing the man at register anyway in the rewrite, Yang could have just done the heroic thing and punched him to protect the civilian, instead of trying to ignore him while he comments on her figure and then saying something incredibly abelist about her prosthetic before being thrown out by Neo and her umbrella. Although It's not necessary to make all of your important characters good people. So I guess this has a lot more to do with how you feel about bad people still being important and sympathetic characters. Though I wouldn't say Shiloh is that important to Volume 5, all he really does is provide some Vernal backstory, serve as some comic relief, and is the one who ultimately decides for the tribe to leave Raven after she gets his daughter killed.

If I were to defend these choices, instead of trying to claim that Shiloh didn't sexually harass Yang (which was honestly far more present in the rewrite, no actual dialogue but he is described as complimenting her figure) and that lesbians are stupid, I would instead say that a character doesn't have to be a good perfectly squeaky clean non problematic person to be a character who isn't necessarily a villain. Or alternatively I could just acknowledge that it was unnecessary to have him actively sexually harass a girl his daughter's age because there was already something else that could have been used to show that he wasn't a good person and end up bouncing right out of the gas station anyway.

I think that's everything I want to talk about, because combing through all of it would be like rewatching an eight hour show and taking notes the whole time and I don't have much time for that.

But all in all, FRWBY isn't above criticism just because it's a rewrite of RWBY and has some aspects that deserve to be criticized, but it's also not the worst most biggoted thing in the world. I like aspects of it, but I honestly like other rewrites better. It honestly just feels like watching the original show if the original show had a more coherent story but didn't change any of the more problematic aspects.

So yeah, there's my review. I'll tell you how I felt about Volume six when it's over.

[wutheringmights]

After feeling like an absolute clown when I saw The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie in theaters, I figured it was time I sat down and read the original novel for myself. Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed the book. It's definitely my favorite Hunger Games novel.

I should leave a disclaimer real quick. So I read the original trilogy a few years before the movies were released. I liked them well enough, but I always struggled to love them. Unfortunately, my biggest problem is Katniss. She's a great character. I do not like being stuck in her POV. I wish this was an ensemble story so that every side of the conflict is explored. In that way, the movies almost work better for me. I say almost, as I have such a bone to pick with Catching Fire throwing Katniss back into the arena, but that's another rant for another time.

My point is that I have never been passionate about the series, and I have not read the books in many, many years.

Yet, I still feel fairly confident calling this the best book in the series. I like exploring stories from the wrong perspective. Seeing the games from the eyes of the Capitol is genuinely interesting. I love the chapters where the students debate the philosophy of the games. I love watching Coriolanus justify his own decisions. I am obsessed with how this man thinks.

I cannot give enough praise for how Collins write Coriolanus's point of view. Here, the limited perspective works flawlessly. Seeing the world filtered through his eyes is interesting-- though I wonder why she chose to write this novel in limited third person? Did she want the veneer of objectivity that comes with third person POV, or is the first person POV trend in YA over?

I am not saying this book is perfect. It's goofy in one too many places, and there are a few plot points that just feel very immature to me (mainly, Coriolanus having to save Sejanus from the arena-- only a YA novel would make that justifiable).

My biggest problem is the loss of tension after the second act. As important as it is for the story to take Lucy Gray and Coriolanus out of the Capitol and the games, that third act really drags. There needed to be one more plotline carried over from the first two acts to help keep the suspension building. Collins really could have shaved 100 pages off this book, or made that third act into a second novel entirely.

With that in mind, I think I still like the movie better, if only for all the ways it condenses the story and fixes some of the pacing.

What really upsets me is how many people on Good Reads hate this book. I saw one review decrying the concept of this novel as ill-conceived-- something about trying to humanize the Hunger Games' Palpatine. That takes me back to how hung-up I am at the concept of a Hunger Games fandom. These books are so committed to their message and themes that it's always weird to see people talk about ships and stuff. I guess I just don't see the appeal.

When I was in high school, English teachers were just allowing the first book to be read and analyzed for class. According to a teacher friend of mine, the book is now an official part of the curriculum. I think that's a little unwarranted too. But if kids studied The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in school... yeah, I would be okay with that one.

[restlessmaknae]

2023 drama recap

Note: these are dramas (webdramas & one cdrama & one Western show as well) that I’ve watched this year, but not all of them were released in 2023.

Shadow&bone s2: not gonna lie, this one felt messy and a bit all over the place, but I guess when you read the books and the TV show is a mix of different book series, it's expected

My review: 6/10

Use for my talent: the supporting couples carry this show on the back, I have nothing more positive to say because the main leads' love triangle is super annoying and the kiss scenes are so forced and unrealistic, it's not even funny anymore :') I haven't yet watched it until the end, but so far:

My review: 6.5/10

When i fly towards you (cdrama): this was a charming drama that got me until the second half of it when it lost its charm, and I realised that it's way too unrealistic, there were a lot of cringey scenes, the end felt dragged and repetitive, and I didn't really see any character development even though we saw the main leads growing up (but props to the second leads, I really loved their dynamics!)

My review: 6.5/10

User not found (webdrama): it was more enjoyable than annoying, but overall, it did have some unnecessary drama and the main female lead's acting wasn't up to my liking

My review: 7/10

Tracer: I'm pretty sure it would have been more enjoyable if we had managed to find good subtitles for it because the acting was really good, but I didn't get the plotline fully because of the Google Translate-like subs, so yeah, that's why it's only 7.5 (but Im Siwan's acting is 10/10 as always)

My review: 7.5/10

The witch store reopens (webdrama): it was perfectly fine considering that it was a webdrama (so expect some overexaggerated acting and such), it was cute, funny, and the leads (Yonghee and Yerin) did well

My review: 8/10

The heavenly idol: I've watched it for Kim Minkyu, but it was unexpectedly serious at times (touched upon bullying, double standards for idols, the nasty parts of the showbiz industry), so it did surprise me positively - however, the special effects were a bit odd at times, and you can't take the storyline seriously, but if you let go of reality, it's pretty enjoyable

My review: 8/10

Revenge of others: it was pretty dramatic at times and I didn't necessary like the big plot twist at the end, but I really loved the investigating part of it and the whole storyline wasn't that predictable

My review: 8.5/10

Seasons of blossom: this definitely delivered some emotional punches (read: I cried), and the acting was really good on the leads' part, some other acting was kind of forced, but overall, it was a meaningful drama

My review: 9/10

Crash course in romance: me and my mother both really enjoyed this show, we were waiting for the episodes to come out week after week. It was really funny, had some serious topics to touch upon, and the acting was overall really good. I deduct 0.5 point because sometimes I didn't feel the balance between the crime part (yes, there's one like that) and the main storyline, it wasn't that annoying, but I have to mention it

My review: 9.5/10

King the land: it was similar to Business Proposal to me in terms of how much I enjoyed it and why I deduct 0.5 point - it was funny, it was cute, the acting was really good, but there were a lot of clichés that you can't help but shrug off because it was really enjoyable

My review: 9.5/10

Castaway diva: I have 3 episodes left, so this is not my final verdict, but it's been really good so far, I really love the way they touch upon such sensitive topics, and the acting ranges here on the three main leads' parts are just wow! (I only deduct 0.5 point because of Yoon Ranjoo and her whole showbiz team, it's like they can't decide which side they want to be on)

My review: 9.5/10

Twinkling watermelon: my favourite drama this year, genuinely a 10/10, it was funny, heart-warming, heart-breaking, and very meaningful, would highly recommend

My review: 10/10

[luce-speaks]

Hi pal! I sent over a passage for director's commentary on Laid To Rest Chapter 4, I'd love to hear your thoughts! :3

i've never watched a DVD director's commentary so i actually don't know what's supposed to go here. i have taken the opportunity to be incredibly long-winded (what else is new). enjoy!

to preface: these are screenshots directly from the original google doc! every major writing project i work on starts in the notes app for drafting, then moves to google docs for editing. once in the google doc, it gets its own background color to help me tell them apart. laid to rest is green for forsyth!

forsyth’s inability to just “do nothing” is a running theme in this story (not to mention something i personally relate to), and this is totally one of those moments. it’s a nice contrast to python, who is great at doing nothing and generally thinks forsyth needs to get better at it.

python has no reason to believe that forsyth even has a book with him. he just says things. forsyth’s answer is also a hint that this story happens before the forsyth and lukas support.

i had a whole talk with my beta reader about this bit and "sir ghost", because forsyth, as a very proper aspiring knight, would not be inclined to use the title incorrectly! but there wasn’t anything good to replace it with (“mister ghost” sounds weirdly anachronistic and a little british), and i didn't want to take it out, so it stuck anyway. the line about forsyth being relieved was basically a retcon fix to that issue! also, i think it’s funny how much python hates the nickname...

…and how quickly forsyth switches to ‘oh, no, sir is only for knights’. forsyth doesn’t see the irony here. i do.

python has no idea how much the stealing comment offends forsyth, but if he did, he’d say it anyway. i don’t think the same goes for the second insult—it’s very personal to forsyth, and it might be a bridge too far for him. but he has no idea, so he just goes ahead with it! also in this part: i wanted lukas’s presence to be felt as a character even though he wasn’t around for most of the story. in this case, we see how forsyth looks up to him for being level-headed and tries to follow his example in a social situation he doesn’t know how to handle :)

“Oh my god, Forsyth, you can’t just ask people why they’re dead.”

i don’t think it comes across clearly, but this was supposed to be a real autism moment for forsyth. the original draft had something like “forsyth notices a sarcastic edge to his voice—he doesn’t mean it.” like, this is a cue that forsyth successfully picks up on, but he does it very consciously / it doesn’t come naturally to him. i ended up changing it because i couldn't get the original to flow right, but i hope it still carries the general feeling.

python is snarky. what else is new

ok nerd time SO!! you know by this point that python has lost his memories, right? well there are actually two types of memory, implicit and explicit! explicit memory encompasses facts you know and things that have happened to you, while implicit memory includes reflexes, muscle memory, and how to do things. it’s common for amnesia patients to retain their implicit memories but not their explicit ones—so, for example, you might remember how to ride a bike, but you wouldn’t know how or when you learned that. i’m playing a bit fast and loose with the rules here, but as you can see in this scene, python’s instinctive reactions about things stay the same (dislikes nobles, likes archery, etc), even though he doesn't necessarily know why he feels that way about them, which makes for some interesting dynamics. more on this later in the story!! also, this plotline takes some inspiration from the game Ghost Trick, though I can't really go into detail about how for spoiler reasons :)

one other fun thing about this scene is python starting to be more visible! i had an interesting conversation with a friend about how ghosts would convey themselves. if it were the other way around and forsyth were the ghost, i think he would tend to be more upright and would stand on/near the ground to emulate a living person (sort of in denial about being dead). python's default is either doing little flips in the air (showing disinterest) or laying "like in a hammock" (humorously making the most of his ability to fly).

thanks for the ask!! this was really fun!

[flameunquenched]

the sab brainrot is real. massive massive massive spoilers for season 2 of shadow and bone under the cut. you have been warned.

my overall expectations for s2 were low. really, really, laughably low. however, i have to admit, i came out of s2 (at nearly 5 am, so about 4 hours ago now, ahahahaha kill me) with some...cautious optimism about the potential future of the televised grishaverse. there were several things and changes i honestly loved, several that i hated, and a few i am very curious to see where it will go.

again. major spoilers beyond. if you've opened this read more, this is your LAST WARNING to refresh the page and carry on. if you read this before finishing the season and then come bitch at me, i am going to laugh at you.

the main change that i loved was the showing of the fact that merzost is a corrupting force. like. yes. that's what the books should have done to begin with if lb was at least a slightly better writer. merzost is warned time and time again to be this horrible, universe-breaking rule and yet, we still the darkling getting...no consequences for it in the books? now, granted, they were written as very, very limited first person by an incredibly unreliable narrator by a writer who, frankly, had no business writing in first person. so perhaps the darkling was being steadily corrupted by his usage of the merzost, thus leading to his increasingly, uh, ooc behavior throughout the books.

but, in the show, we got to see it. i LOVED the coughing and the steady weakening of the darkling. i LOVED seeing his increasingly crazed moments. the moment where he throws a mini-tantrum in his stolen room? yes please. loved it. loved it loved it loved it. even his cutting baghra's finger off and sorta tossing it at vladim (was that his name? idr) was just the chef's kiss of his increasingly spiral decline into madness.

i loved also that he had very little overall control over the nichevo'ya. am i probably spelling that wrong? sure. do i care much? not on 4 hours of sleep! 8D that moment in e8 where the nothing attacks alina and the darkling tries in desperation to stop it and almost can't? yeah, baby, we do love to see it. too much so in the books, the darkling is painted as this almost flawless character who is so incredibly strong, how can you stop him? but to see on screen the fact that he's breaking down in private, that he's struggling to control his dark children, that he's erratic and reckless? yes. and at the same time, we see him execute utterly incredible plans. the e7 bit where his grisha are steadily advancing and mowing down nikolai's army? that is how you show the fact that a character is ancient and ruthless and extraordinarily gifted in military combat.

i could rant at length about the darkling so lemme just move on to other things lol.

the crows absolutely stole the first half of the season. tbh, i kinda thought that the 'quest for the sword' was a bit contrived and very much a way to keep them in the general grishaverse plotline after the pekka rollins stuff had ended but the showdown between pekka and kaz was just magnificent. freddy carter, you massively talented bastard. you're gonna be one of the actors of our generations, i can already tell. i am strongly of the opinion that the crows carried the first half of the season on their collective shoulders and i for one would watch 5 seasons of just the crows killing people, stealing things, and all sorts of unresolved sexual tension between kaz and inej. give it to me. i will admit that the last couple episodes, especially where they showed up at the very end with the sword, made me eyeroll hard. deus ex crows was the phrase i used and i stand by it.

i loved that the king was killed in the fight at spinning wheel. get fucked you rapist cunt.

i honestly really enjoyed the altered ending. alina's decision to use merzost to revive mal was excellent. neither i nor my friend finn were expecting the last few minutes. like. holy shit can we talk about that coronation scene? the set up for s3 being jurda parem (if it gets renewed and now i kinda hope it does tbh) AND THE BEE. THE BEE. I SCREAMED, I LITERALLY WAS LIKE AAAAAAHHHH WHEN I SAW THE BEE.

i will be the first to admit that i despised kosrow with the intensity of a thousand burning suns but the setup was gloriously done. book fans will know immediately what is coming. fuck kosrow but kudos to the overall team for that delicious, tiny, two-second teaser. loved it.

we're not talking about david. nope. denial is a river in africa and i am swimming in it.

i really enjoyed the connection between alina and the darkling. i thought it was well done. the scene where baghra breaks it and severs the darkling's hand was just. urgh, the chills. i will admit that i disliked heavily the fact that baghra was kinda the plot donkey - ie the one who carries the plot and explains it but i see why they went that way. it was easier in the book for alina to sow hints of the mal/firebird thing ("mal's a bird?" jesper you absolute icon) whereas in the show, we don't really get her thoughts like that. i liked the sea whip bit. i am of the opinion that the whole 'morozova/black heretic/only one darkling' was handled...not necessarily poorly but i think the other characters should have been made more aware of that from the start and their reactions more obvious. in the book, that realization was just utterly shaking when it was delivered but here it felt hollow and lacking. idk maybe i'm just being overly critical. it's possible.

and also...mal! book!mal is probably one of my top five least favorite literary characters...ever. and yet, the show turned him around so beautifully! archie's performance was stirring, moving, commanding. his chemistry with jessie was off the charts and i honestly loved the ending for him. i love that he was not the one trying to hold alina back. i love that he wasn't afraid of grisha, that he didn't try to stand in the way of the nikolai alliance. everything i hated about mal in the books, they removed, including that gods awful affair he had with zoya. thank all the gods and saints for that.

so yes. cautious optimism. i had my doubts and there are things i did not like (david...oh david...) but overall, it was not anywhere near the absolute dumpster fire i was expecting. and hooo boy was i expecting.

[yuristarwars]

Alright, I read Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade

So the newest Star Wars book was Rise of the Red Blade, a book from the point of view of an inquisitor, something we don’t really see in Star Wars. Its obviously gonna be an interesting perspective from an objectively bad person... if the writer can say that she’s an objectively bad person.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that there are a lot of things that this book does well. The world-building is interesting, the Inquisitorious is cool, honestly probably the best part of the book, and there is an interesting part of one of Palpatine’s Spies in the Jedi Temple, which I think is a cool concept, really showing how he truly is ten steps ahead of everyone. It shows the Jedi’s point of view during the first Battle of Geonosis, something I don’t believe we’ve ever seen before.

I also really like the way she writes fight scenes. There are some at the end of the main story I enjoy a whole lot, and the fights in the epilogue are really damn good too. She has quite an energetic writing style with fights that I really like and she does a whole lot better than a bunch of other Star Wars books.

That’s all the good things I have to say about this book. Two thirds of the book weren’t even her being an inquisitor, and those two thirds are not good at all. Every single Jedi is an uncharacteristic asshole to her, with the sole exception of Obi-Wan Kenobi (classic). Yes, she did do something really bad in her Youth that made a whole bunch of Jedi weary of her, but those characters should be relegated to children and some Jedi who don’t understand her, not every single Jedi character.

One of the plotlines that is set up at the beginning of the book is just not followed through with. At all. It literally says it in the book itself, that she tries to follow where it leads, but it leads to no where, which is a complete waste.

There is the plot of her trying to discover her species and the mystery of this woman her master talked about in her dying words, but none of that is ever even remotely interesting or add anything to her character. When she does discover her people, this doesn’t change her character in the slightest, and she simply fucks off to do more inquisitor stuff.

The worst part is, this could all be relegated to an “Unreliable Narrator” and that would make this book ten times more enjoyable. Anakin’s story during the Clone Wars and ROTS are really good because he’s an Unreliable Narrator, but that’s because George Lucas understands that.

Delilah S. Dawson seems to think that the “I’m literally neurodivergent and a minor” excuse can be carried over to Genocide and war, but she basically admits multiple times through her commentary on the book and in interviews, that Iskat is her self-insert as someone with Despression, Anxiety, etc. Now, I probably can’t speak on how well that’s portrayed in the book, but I can say using those things as an excuse to commit war crimes, is pretty damn stupid.

Overall, the quality of this book hinged on how enjoyable the protagonist was, but she wasn’t at all. She was intellectually and emotionally idiotic, the most interesting plot threads led to no where, the most iconic characters were mis-characterized completely, and the best part of the book was stolen from a comic written by a better writer than her.

I was generous before when I gave it a 7 out of 10, but I’m still feeling generous and am gonna give it a 4/10, those points based solely on the ending fights and the world-building elements.

[isfjmel-phleg]

September 2022 Books

The Ghosts by Antonia Barber

The "ghosts" in question are time travelers! I enjoyed this one.

The Trolley Car Family by Eleanor Clymer

A charming example of the "family lives in an unconventional dwelling which is described in loving detail" genre.

The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon

Collection of short stories. Inventive but didn't really strike a chord with me, not sure why.

Grace Harlowe's Freshman Year at High School by Jessie Graham Flower

This is a reprinted edition of a novel from the 1910s. I picked it up at a library booksale because Edwardian YA literature! Read it around the same time as Mike and Psmith for purposes of comparison.

And it made me really appreciate what a brilliant story M&P was compared to other school stories of its day. Because this book...well, I found the introduction, which established historical context, to be interesting. The actual story, not so much. Plotlines are predictable and overly dramatic, and the characterization is shallow. All the good characters are embodiments of Admirable Traits and all the antagonists are Utterly Horrid and the narrative makes sure you know it.

There's a scene where the main cast of high schoolers is preparing to meet a young man raised in England, and they expect a stereotype--and get it.

They had pictured him as a sort of dandy, with needle-toed patent leather shoes and a coat cut in at the waist and padded over the shoulders.

Even David had voiced a few thoughts on the subject of Tom Gray.

"I'll bet he's an English dude," he said. For Mrs. Gray's nephew had spent most of his life in England. "He'll probably carry a cane and wear a monocle."

They were not surprised, therefore, when a young man entered the room who bore out somewhat the picture they had conjured. He was tall and slender, very dapper and rather ladylike in his bearing. His alert, dark eyes were set too close together, and his face had a narrow, sinister look that made them all feel uncomfortable. He spoke with a decided English accent, in a light, flippant voice which sent a quiver of dislike up and down David's spine, and made Reddy Brooks give his right arm a vigorous twirl as if he would have liked to pitch something at the young man's head.

Does this description seem familiar? Sounds a lot like Psmith (down to the eyes "set too close together"!), but notice the absolute disdain with which the narrative treats these traits. He's "ladylike," and of course the Manly, Red-Blooded American Boys are disgusted by him.

As the conversation proceeds, there is some mocking of his accent, the boys call him "asinine dandy" and "Miss Nancy" behind his back, and his aunt struggles to hold back "tears of disappointment" at his distaste for America. The boys question him about sports, he confesse he "do[es]n't like outdoor games at all" and prefers "afternoon tea [...] and bridge," and while the other boys barely conceal their disgust, the aunt pointedly mentions that all of them are athletes! When he takes out his monocle, she scolds him: "[D]on't wear that thing here. It's not the custom in this town or in this country, for that matter. If you are nearsighted, buy yourself a pair of spectacles."

Anyway, it turns out this guy is an imposter, and when the real nephew turns up, we are assured that he is "broad-shouldered, well-built" with "a sunburned, wholesome face" and "carried no cane; neither were his shoes pointed at the toes, and there wasn't a tinge of English in his accent except that his enunciation was unusually good." He openly professes his American patriotism and is of course outdoorsy--but, lest you worry, "there was nothing of the gypsy in him. He was full of energy and ambition and infused such a wholesome vigor into whatever he did [...]" The only acceptable boy/young man, after all, is one who fits a rigid mold of exaggerated masculinity, which apparently is something that American males have the upper hand in.

Cf. Mike and Psmith, in which Psmith fits the description of the English dandy and has a complicated relationship with sports, but the narrative never insults him for it or questions his masculinity. If Flower had written Wodehouse's book, Mike and Adair would have been constantly held up as Good Examples, while Psmith would have been An Object Of Disgust with no redeeming qualities.

Anyway, interesting rhetoric, but not really worth one's while as a story.

A Clock of Stars: Beyond the Mountains by Francesca Gibbons (reread)

Reread because the next book in the series is coming out soon.

The Boyhood of Grace Jones by Jane Langton

For context: published in the 1970s.

Grace, bless her heart, is a tomboy with a bad case of internalized misogyny. What she needs is to learn how to live in the world as her own unconventional self without having to hate femininity/herself for being female.

...the solution to this is not for her to suddenly be okay with femininity after receiving the attentions of an adult male teacher she now has a crush on. But that's what happens in this book. I was not impressed.

The Secret Detectives by Ella Risbridger

What if Mary Lennox made friends and had adventures on the ship from India to England when she stumbles into a juvenile version of an Agatha Christie novel? I didn't know I needed that question answered, but I did, and this book was delightful. Maybe not always historically spot-on, but not enough to be jarring like some other middle-grade historical fiction.

A Lemon and a Star by E. C. Spykman

I didn't really get this one. It's in the slice-of-turn-of-the-century-family-life genre, but not all of the family was endearing. The older brother, quite frankly, was terrible, and allowed to be, and I didn't care for that and couldn't connect with the story as a whole.

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart (reread)

Reread as something suitable for before-bed reading when I don't have the brain capacity for something new.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Dashed if I understand all the technical sci-fi stuff, but I love the highly relatable Murderbot! Will be reading the rest of the series in October.

Mystery of the Haunted Pool by Phyllis A. Whitney

I really liked this one! Not only an interesting mystery but interesting characterization. I'm planning to read more of Whitney at some point.

Mike and Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse (reread)

Reread for Psmith Pseptember.

In their own section, all the comics!

Tagging @brown-little-robin so you'll see this when you get back, because I know you'll want to know what I thought.

In order of encounter:

The Flash: Book Four by Mark Waid

Read this one to get further background on the events leading up to Bart's going to live to Max. Mostly interesting for insight into Wally's character (ESTP 7w8 maybe?) and the perception of Bart as opposed to Impulse's portrayal (which I've discussed elsewhere).

Impulse #13-89 (plus some extras) by Mark Waid, William Messner-Loebs, and Todd Dezago

Regrettably had to leave numerous threads dangling but quite enjoyable! I've talked about this in more detail elsewhere.

Young Justice: Books One-Six by Peter David

I really enjoyed the character dynamics in this, especially as the series progressed. Lots of humor but some really heartbreaking moments too. The ending could have tied things up a bit better (what exactly happens to everyone?), but the redemption of poor Secret was very satisfying.

Superman Volume 2: Trials of the Super Son, Super Sons: Volumes 1-3, Super Sons of Tomorrow, Adventures of the Super Sons: Volumes 1-2, and Challenge of the Super Sons by Peter J. Tomasi

These boys are the cutest thing. Jon is a sweet, good-hearted kid who is Doing His Best, and Damian is a holy terror, and they drive each other crazy but somewhere along the way they become best friends, and it's delightful to watch the relationship play out. The differences in their family lives are interesting too. I didn't love all the storylines (why would you bring back (older alternate versions of) the core four of Young Justice and not utilize their very distinct personalities?), but the boys' dynamic makes this series quite fun.

Batman and Son and The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul by Grant Morrison et al.

So then I figured I might as well start from the beginning with Damian. Yikes.

The Resurrection storyline crosses over with Tim's and Dick's solo series, which gives us some interesting, more character-focused angles, including Dick trying to talk a desperate, recently bereaved Tim out of collecting Lazarus Pit water to use on his dead parents and friends. While fighting him, of course.

Also read various issues of various comics that tie into the Batman R.I.P. storyline and its aftermath, specifically dealing with Damian's role, and I'm not going to bother listing them all here because who has time for that.

[margaretofdrum]

Ranking the Lisa Kleypas novels I have read

I had been wanting to get into a good romance series for a long and couldn't find anything I really liked. I saw someone say that Chasing Cassandra stood out among the romance novels they had read so when I found it at my library in April 2023 I decided to give it a try. I really enjoyed it and decided to continue with selected Ravenel books and also some from the Wallflowers and Hathaway series too. Here's my ranking so far (major spoilers under cut).

The Devil's Daughter (Ravenels no. 5)

I loved this book! I've seen some say that it's not their favourite because the stakes are relatively low, but my possibly controversial opinion is that Lisa Kleypas's writing can carry low stakes situations really well and that these give her characters' internal struggles more spaced to be fleshed out, which I sometimes find is lacking in her novels that feature high-stakes situations. I liked the pastoral setting here and the descriptions of farming that went along with West's self improvement plotline. I also really enjoyed Phoebe's retreat from grief over her first husband as she begins to make more independent decisions about her life. I personally thought the scandal regarding Phoebe's original almost-fiancé who was stealing money from her sons and also hiding a mistress and illegitimate son was well done and I remember gasping when she asked him why he was so interested in her sons when he clearly didn't care about his own (tbf it doesn't take much to make me gasp but. still.) I also loved seeing West as a father figure to Justin and Steven. Imo that makes perfect sense as the next step in his maturation arc and felt very natural. And ofc it was great to see Phoebe as a widow and single mother get a second chance at love after everything she went through. 4.5/5 stars.

Devil in Winter (Wallflowers no. 2)

For all practical purposes this can be called the novel that started it all because Sebastian and Evie appear SO OFTEN in the Ravenel series, which is fine I liked seeing them there but was nice to get some context on who these people actually are (I didn't read this after reading the Ravenel books). I wasn't sure I was going to like this when I started bc I did not like the way Sebastian treated Evie and it lasted for what felt like a LONG time into the novel. But after finishing and seeing how far Evie had come in her ability to stand up for herself, particularly after experiencing such awful abuse during her childhood, I think Sebastian's bitchiness for lack of a better term provided a space for her to gradually develop the bravery to stand up against someone who was never really a threat to her. I can see now how crucial that was in developing her confidence to the point where she could demand that he sacrifice himself for her (in the funniest way possible by making him swear a vow of celibacy for three months). I also loved the scenes of Sebastian languishing with his fever after getting shot, particularly the role reversal with him begging Evie to protect him from the doctor who wanted to bleed him--would that all men like that would have a brush with death and see the error of their ways. His love confession at the end brought a tear to my eye because you know he wrestled A LOT to get to that point and I simply love it when suffering brings purgation and redemption its the Catholic that's still remaining in me. 4.5/5 stars.

Chasing Cassandra (Ravenels no. 6)

This was the first Kleypas I read and while I thought it was great at the time I retroactively liked it more after reading the other books in the series. I think it's in Devil in Spring that Gabriel sees the twins Pandora and Cassandra standing next to each other and thinks that while Cassandra is beautiful she's not remotely interesting to him. (I may be misremembering the specifics but ik that scene appears somewhere). I like how Kleypas allows Cassandra to have a more mild and conventional personality in contrast to the subversive women around her while still giving a lot of validity to her particular struggles (feeling bereft after Pandora marries, her weight, her comparative shyness, etc). I thought Tom was a great match for her despite becoming infatuated with her the second he saw her and I appreciate her power to crack through his lifelong emotional issues and start reconfigure his whole sense of self in the process lol. There's no major scandal or high-stakes plot in this novel, but what I liked the most was how funny I found it. The scene where the Ravenel clan is sitting in the parlour after Cassandra's reputation has been compromised and Tom barges in to announce he's got The Solution to their problems (himself!) made me laugh, and so did the scenes where they were negotiating their marriage contract. And ofc reluctant adoptive father Tom Severin was a delight. 4/5 stars.

Devil in Spring (Ravenels no. 3)

I adored Pandora. This was my first experience with a romance heroine who is physically disabled (hard of hearing and balance issues) and also likely on the spectrum (to my knowledge this has never been confirmed but definitely what I assumed when first reading and seems to be a widely accepted interpretation along with speculations of Pandora having ADHD as well). I thought Kleypas portrayed her social struggles and traumatic childhood with so much empathy and I loved seeing be accepted into a functional family through marriage to Gabriel. I liked that this novel confronted the enormous restriction of rights that marriage put on Victorian women and Pandora's and Gabriel's attempts to grapple with that and work out the most equitable set-up for Pandora before they marry (with a heavy side helping of Gabriel thinking 'why doesn't she trust me?' which felt v realistic). I didn't love the Fenian (or I guess just Fenian-esque? I honestly can't remember) plot in the second half because it came out of nowhere and ultimately seemed like a very convoluted way of setting up the scene where Gabriel tells Pandora he doesn't love his former mistress lmao. But I did love seeing Pandora's board game business that she worked so hard at in previous books succeed in the end and to see Gabriel character develop with some unconventionality interjected into his picture-perfect life. 4/5 stars.

Marrying Winterbourne (Ravenels no. 2)

I thought the plot of this book was super compelling, but I didn't connect with Helen as much as I did with Pandora which Is why I put her book a slot lower. I thought she was wonderful, though, and I do think her experience as the eldest daughter in a very dysfunctional family was interesting to read about and added a lot of depth to her character. I also think the fact that is able to maintain so much poise and dignity in spite of all that she's endured indicates how strong she is and sets her up really well for her interactions with Rhys in this book. I thought the parallel of Helen and Rhys each feeling like they were unworthy of the other because of their origins was very well done and the climactic scene in the railway station actually mad me tear up because it was SUCH a relief after absorbing so much of Helen's agony for so long in this book. The adoption that takes place at the end felt v. redemptive and meaningful after so much angst about parentage and how awful it is to feel unwanted by family. Kleypas ending the novel by having Helen acknowledge herself as a member of the new family that she and Rhys are going to create was a perfect imo. 4/5 stars

Married by Morning (Hathaways no. 5)

I think one of the reasons this one didn't rank higher for me is because it's the only Hathaway novel I've read and also the last book in the series. I was intrigued by the premise bc I'm a big fan of Jane Eyre and this is another Governess Romance where Catherine is the governess of Leo's youngest sister. It was clear in this novel that they have a long-standing, slightly antagonistic relationship and I think it would have hit harder for me if I had read the earlier books and got to see it develop, but alas this was the only Hathaway book at my library. That's not to say I didn't enjoy reading their interactions though! I liked Leo's snarking about Cat's intentionally bad Poetry for Young Ladies and also how everyone in the family accepted that Cat is very kind to Beatrix but chooses to be the most disagreeable and antagonistic she can be toward Leo and they're all okay with it lol. I think this is one of the only romances I've read so far where the heroine has a temper that's not so much feisty but more broody and irritable in the way male romance heroes are often portrayed, and it was good that Leo acknowledges this as something that is just a part of Cat rather than something that will be fixed by the power of true love. Ofc we later find out that some of Cat's issues are the result undergoing a TON of trauma in her formative years, and I like how this contrasted with Leo still finding his way out of his own trauma re grief and addiction and trying to reestablish himself in the family as the responsible eldest son. Unfortunately however I don't think ending the book by piling more significant trauma on Cat (and Leo by association) was the right choice, esp since there wasn't enough space to deal with the effects bc it happened so close to the end of the book. However, the epilogue does imply that they have helped each other heal over many months and that their relationship has moved toward engaging each other in conversation rather than argument, which felt very fitting for them. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Cat is bespectacled and there's a scene where Leo buys her a fashionable new pair of glasses. Massive W for glasses-wearing readers everywhere. 3.5/5 stars.

The Devil in Disguise (Ravenels no. 7)

I really didn't like this one, sorry to any fans out there. I wasn't able to connect with Merritt and did not have strong feelings at all about her relationship with Keir, though I did appreciate him telling her that her first husband was a POS for saying he needed to spend some time away from her after learning she was infertile and then proceeding to die in a shipwreck. I thought having the Scottish hero be a whiskey distiller was a bit too stereotypical even for a romance novel and the technical descriptions of farming in Devil's Daughter did not work for me here when applied to whiskey-making. I also did not love the phonetically-rendered Scottish accent, so that ruined most of Keir's dialogue for me. IMO very few people are able to pull off a phonetically-rendered accent in writing and Lisa is no exception unfortunately. I can't remember much of the plot of this book except that there is an explosion at some point and then a HUGE reveal that has major implications for other characters in this series and the Wallflower series. Unfortunately tho this book passed me by so much that I didn't remember what it was and had to reread a summary before writing this, which is crazy if you know what the scandal is. I also thought the ending of this novel was a cop-out considering all the emotional work Keir in particular had to do with his own concept of family...and for what? But at least this book addresses the results of men choosing to thot it up for large portions of their lives I guess. 2/5 stars.

My next plans are to read It Happened one Autumn and eventually Mine Til Midnight bc I love Cam Rohan's character and Amelia's from what we saw of her in MbM. Tell me what other Kleypas books are good or what romances by other authors I should try next.

[nyx-b-log]

weekend update time!

still pushing on with maurice (the e.m. forster book), i'm just over the halfway mark. it's difficult to listen to in long stretches cos characters tend to go on long rambling speeches which are relevant (either to their characterisation or the themes of the book as a whole) but there's only so many i can listen to at once. it's also not helped by the fact that maurice (as he currently is) isn't especially likeable, in a way that's difficult to grasp on to for me as a reader. i don't think he'll stay like that, but we'll see. period typical sexism and racism continues. but! there are moments, especially in the softer scenes between maurice and clive, or in societal commentary, where it's really good and on the whole i am enjoying it.

i also started and finished release by patrick ness, which is a YA novel that takes place over the course of one day following main character adam as he has an impressively shitty day, as well as a second main character katie (who i won't talk too much about for spoiler reasons). it was an incredibly easy read, i breezed through it in about 4 days, and if you like other patrick ness books you'll like this one. he writes characters and relationships very well and those absolutely carry the book. i wish the two plotlines had intersected a little more (beyond theming and little bits and pieces) and there are some bits that didn't resolve very well for me personally, but if i was a teenager i think i would quite like this. i will give a content warning for graphic depictions of death (particularly in first person) as well as depictions of sexual harassment and threat of sexual assault.

i abandoned mortal coil, i'll go back to the series some other time.

will update again next week!

[amorelray]

#4. Bungou Stray Dogs🐕

‼TW: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE‼

I feel like I have all & nothing to say for Bungou Stray Dogs😂 There are some characters that I love dearly in this show, but also the whole plotline itself is so intriguing to me. This show really felt like it had a little bit of everything that I really enjoy. Also, once again - PLEASE look up the music for this show🎶 Lily - one of the endings - is one of my favorite ending songs I've ever heard for an anime.💙

The dynamic between The Detective Agency🔍 and Port Mafia🌑 is amazing. Never before have I felt like I've seen a show write out two entities and their dynamic/relationship so well. Both of these have felt like 2-sides of the same coin and I absolutely love it. Each has their own identity and identifying factors of who they are, how they operate, and what traits they carry amongst their people; but at the end of the day - I truly feel like they function well together. It's a very intriguing and interesting dynamic to watch unfold throughout the series. It's been one of my favorite things to watch as characters sometimes cross the lines between each entity and some people feel like they belong to both for different reasons and at different times.🤔

I wholeheartedly love MOST of the characters!💖 I think that the characters in BSD are all very loveable in different ways. In fact, when I started the show and first met Dazai, I remember thinking to myself "oh gosh...don't fall in love with this suicidal maniac." And what happened? Dazai is one of my top 3 favorites in the show.🙃 I also very quickly fell in love with Rampo from The Detective Agency and Chuuya from the Port Mafia! Those 3 are absolutely amazing to me and I love their personalities down to their very last atom. ❗SPOILERS❗ Plus, the banter that I get to witness between Chuuya and Dazai absolutely kills me😂 The utter nonsense that Chuuya has to put up with from Dazai is outragious and so comical. But I love their dynamic so much because even though they fight with each other and constantly talk about "wanting to kill" the other - time and time again, they are seen working together as a perfect unit; with sincere trust.

I also love the way that the powers work within the show and that you can see characters slowly develop and hone their "abilities." Each power is tied to the character themselves, but also is tied to a famous piece of writing that the character did in real life. If you haven't watched BSD, each character is based on a famous author.📚 I think it was super cool to add that aspect to the show and pull inspiration from these (now-deceased) authors! Each author ties into the ability each person has, their name, and even what personality traits they possess. ❗SPOILERS❗ For Instance: - Dazai Osamu was an author who, countless times, tried to take his own life and was obsessed with trying to commit suicide. When he did finally die, he died alongside a woman who was expected to be his sweetheart. this information plays HEAVILY into Dazai from the show as he's seen consistently trying to off himself and eventually speaking/singing of a "double suicide" that he'd like to commit alongside a beautiful woman. Also, Dazai's ability is called "No Longer Human," which was a work about a man who felt like he was incapable of understanding other human beings and eventually had a failed attempt. In the show, Dazai's ability is used as a nullifier for any and all other abilities, but the book still ties into Dazai's worldview. It plays in this way because Dazai speaks over and over again about how he feels like his life has no meaning and therefore doesn't understand how others live.

I could honestly go on and on about how well this show is written for its plotline and characters. So, instead, maybe give it a watch and see for yourself!😊

[hamliet]

The Crows Summon the Sun

Or, Hamliet’s review of Shadow & Bone, which gets a 4.5/5 for enjoyment and a 3.5/5 in terms of writing.

The true heroes of this story and the saviors of the show are the Crows. However, the problem is that the show then has an uneven feel, because the strength of the Crows plotline highlights the weaknesses of the trilogy storyline. But imo, overall, the strengths overshadow (#punintended) the weaknesses. 

I’ll divide the review into the narrative and the technical (show stuff, social commentary), starting with narrative.

Narrative: The Good 

It’s What The Crows Deserve

I went into the show watching it for the Crows; however, knowing that their storyline was intended to be a prequel, I wasn’t terribly optimistic. And while it is a prequel, the characters have complete and full arcs that perfectly set them up for the further development they will have in the books (which I think should be the next season?). Instead of retreading the arcs they’d have in the books, which is how prequels usually go, they had perfect set up for these arcs. It’s really excellent. 

Jesper, Inej, and Kaz are all allowed to be flawed, to have serious conflicts with one another, and yet to love each other. They feel like a found family in the best of ways. Kaz is the perfect selfish rogue; he’s a much more successfully executed Byronic hero than the Darkling, actually. Inej is heroic and her faith is not mocked, yet she too is flawed and her choices are not always entirely justified, but instead left to the audience to ponder (like killing the girl), which is a more mature writing choice that I appreciated. 

Jesper is charming, has a heart of gold despite being a murderer and on the surface fairly greedy, and MILO THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. I also liked Jesper’s fling with Dima but I felt it could be better used rather than merely establishing his sexuality, like if Jesper and Dima had seen each other one more time or something had come of their tryst for the plot/themes/development of Jesper. 

Nina and Matthias’s backstory being in the first season, instead of in flashbacks, really works because it automatically erases any discomfort of the implications of Nina having falsely accused Matthias that the books start with. We know Nina, we know Matthias, we know their motivations, backgrounds, and why they feel the way we do. It’ll be easy for the audience to root for them without a lot of unnecessary hate springing from misunderstanding Nina (since she’s my favorite). Matthias’s arc was also really strongly executed and satisfyingly tragic. Their plotline was a bit unfortunately disconnected from the rest of the story, but Danielle Gallagan and Callahan Skogman have absolutely sizzling chemistry so I found myself looking forward to their scenes instead of feeling distracted. Also? It’s nice seeing a woman with Nina’s body type as a romantic and powerful character. 

Hamliet Likes Malina Now

Insofar as the trilogy storyline goes, the best change the show made was Mal. He still is the same character from the books, but much more likable. The pining was... a lot (too much in episode 4, I felt) but Malina is a ship I actually enjoyed in the show while I NOTP’d it in the books. Mal has complexity and layers to his motivations (somewhat) and a likable if awkward charm. Archie Renaux was fantastic. 

Ben Barnes is the perfect Aleksandr Kirigan, and 15 year old me, who had the biggest of big crushes on Ben Barnes (first celebrity crush over a decade ago lol), was pretty damn happy lol. He’s magnificantly acted--sympathetic and terrifying, sincerely caring and yet villainous in moments. Story-wise, I think it was smart to reveal his name earlier on than in the books, because it helps with the humanization especially in a visual medium like film. Luda was a fitting (if heartbreaking) backstory, but it is also hard for me to stomach knowing what the endgame of his character is. Like... I get the X-men fallacy thing, but I hope the show gives more kindness to his character than the books did, yet I’m afraid to hold my breath. Just saying that if you employ save the cat, if you directly say you added this part (Luda) to make the character more likable (as the director did) please do not punish the audience for feeling what you intended. 

I also liked the change that made Alina half-Shu. It adds well to her arc and fits with her character, actually giving her motivations (she kinda just wants to be ordinary in a lot of ways) a much more interesting foundation than in the books. Also it’s nice not to have another knock-off Daenerys (looking to you Celaena and book!Alina). Jessie Mei Li does a good job playing Alina’s insecurities and emotions, but... 

Narrative: The Ehhhhhhh

Alina the Lamp

Sigh. Here we go. Alina has little consistent characterization. She’s almost always passive when we see her, yet she apparently punches an officer for calling her a name and this seems to be normal for her, but it doesn’t fit at all with what we know about her thus far. Contradictions are a part of humanity, but it’s never given any focus, so it comes across as inconsistent instead of a flaw or repression. 

I have no idea what Alina wants, beside that she wants to be with Mal, which is fine except I have no idea what the basis of their bond is. Even with like, other childhood friends to lovers like Ren/Nora in RWBY or Eren/Mikasa in SnK, there’s an inciting moment, a reason, that we learn very early on in their story to show us what draws them together. Alina and Mal just don’t have that. There’s the meadow/running away thing, but they were already so close, and why?  Why, exactly? What brought them together? The term “bullies” is thrown around but it isn’t ever explored and it needed to be this season. If I have to deal with intense pining for so many episodes at least give me a foundation for their devotion. You need to put this in the beginning, in the first season. You just do.

A “lamp” character is a common metaphor to describe a bad character: essentially, you could replace the character with a lamp and nothing changes. Considering Alina’s gift is light, it’s a funnily apt metaphor, but it really does apply. Her choices just don’t... matter. She could be a special lamp everyone is fighting over and almost nothing would change. The ironic thing is that everyone treating her like a fancy lamp is exactly the conflict, but it’s never delved into. We’re never shown that Alina is more than a lamp. She never has to struggle because her choices are made for her and information is gifted to her when she needs it. Not making choices protects Alina from consequences and the story gives her little incentive to change that; in fact, things tend to turn out better when she doesn’t make choices (magic stags will arrive). 

Like... let’s look at a few occasions when Alina almost or does make choices. For example, she chooses to (it seems) sleep with Kirigan, but then there’s a convenient knock at the door and Bhagra arrives with key information that changes Alina’s mind instantly despite the fact that Bhagra’s been pretty terrible to her. If you want to write a woman realizing she’s been duped by a cruel man, show her discovering it instead of having the man’s abusive mother tell her when she had absolutely no such suspicions beforehand. There’s no emotional weight there because Alina doesn’t struggle. 

When she is actually allowed to carry out a bad choice, the consequences are handwaved away instead of built into a challenge for her. Like... Alina got her friends killed. More than once. I’m not saying she’s entirely to blame for these but could we show her reacting to it? Feeling any sort of grief? She never mentions Raisa or Alexei after they’re gone, just Mal, and I’m... okay. They were there because of you. Aren’t you feeling anything? Aren’t you sad? The only time Alina brings up her friends’ deaths is to tell Kirigan he killed her friends when they were only there because she burned the maps. She yells at Kirigan for “never” giving her a choice, but she almost never makes any, so why would he? Alina has the gall to lecture Genya about choices, but she herself almost never has to make any. 

Which brings me to another complaint in general: Alina’s lack of care for everyone around her when they’re not Mal, even if they care for her. Marie dies because of her (absolutely not her fault of course) but as far as we know she never even learns about Marie. She certainly doesn’t ever ask about her or Nadia. Alina seems apathetic at best to people, certainly not compassionate or kind. 

The frustrating thing is that there is potential here. Like, it actually makes a lot of psychological sense for an orphan who has grown up losing to be reluctant to care for people outside of her orbit and that she would struggle to believe she can have any say in her destiny (ie make choices). It’s also interesting that a girl who feels like an outsider views others outside her. But the show never offers examines Alina’s psychology with any depth; it simply tells us she’s compassionate when she is demonstrably not, it tells us she makes decisions when it takes magical intervention to do so. It’s a missed opportunity. This does not change between episodes 1 and 8, despite the episodes’ parallel structures and scenes, which unintentionally reinforces that Alina had little real development. 

Inej and ironically Jesper and Kaz embody the concept of “mercy” far better and with far more complexity than Alina does. The Crows have reactions to the loss of people who even betray them (Arken, etc), learn, and course-correct (or don’t) when they are even loosely involved in having strangers die. They’re good characters because they change and learn and have their choices matter. When they kill we see them wrestle with it and what this means even if they are accustomed to doing so. Jesper can’t kill in front of a child. Kaz wonders what his killings do to Inej’s idea of him.

Narrative: The Mixed Bag

Tropes, Themes, Telling vs. Showing

So the show’s themes in the Alina storyline are a mess, as they are in the trilogy too. Tropes are a very valuable way to show your audience what you’re trying to say. They’re utilized worldwide because they resonate with people and we know what to expect from them. The Crows' storyline shows us what it wants us to learn.

Preaching tells, and unfortunately, the trilogy relies on telling/preaching against fornicationBad Boys. It’s your right to write any trope or trample any trope you want--your story--but you should at least understand what/why you are doing so. The author clearly knows enough about Jungian shadows and dark/light yin/yang symbolism to use it in the story, but then just handwaves it away as “I don’t like this” but never does so in a narratively effective way: addressing the appeal in the first place. If you really wanna deconstruct a trope, you gotta empathize with the core of the reason these tropes appeal to people (it allays deep fears that we are ourselves unlovable, through loving another person despite how beastly they can be), and address this instead of ignoring it. Show us a better way through the Fold of your story. Don’t just go around it and ignore the issue.

The trilogy offers highly simplistic themes at best--bad boy bad and good boy good, which is fine-ish for kid lit but less fine for adult complexity, which the show (more so than the books) seems to try to push despite not actually having much of it.

Alina and Mal are intended to be good, we’re told they are, but I’m not sure why beyond just that we’re told so. Alina claims the stag chose her, but in the show it’s never explained why at all. Unlike with Kaz, Inej, Jesper, and hell even Matthias and Nina, we don’t see Alina or Mal’s complex choices and internal wrestling. 

Like, Inej’s half-episode where she almost killed the guy they needed was far more character exploration than Alina has the entire show, to say nothing of Inej’s later killing which not only makes her leaps and bounds more interesting, but ironically cements her as a far more compelling and yes, likable, heroine than Alina. We see Inej’s emotional and moral conflict. We can relate to her. We see Kaz struggling with his selfishness and regrets, with his understanding of himself through his interactions with and observations of Inej, Alina, the Darkling, Arken, and Jesper.

We don’t explore what makes Mal or Alina good and what makes them bad. We don’t know what Alina discovers about herself, what her power means for her. We are told they are good, we are told she knows her power is hers, but never shown what this means or what this costs them/her. Their opportunities to be good are handed to them (the stag, Bhagra) instead of given to them as a challenge in which they risk things, in which doing good or making a merciful choice costs them. Alina gets to preach about choices without ever making any; Inej risks going back to the Menagerie to trust Kaz. Her choices risk. They cost. They matter and direct her storyline and her arc, and those of the people around her.

Production Stuff:

The Good: 

The production overall is quite excellent. The costumes, pacing, acting, and cinematography (for example, one of the earliest scenes between the Darkling and Alina has Alina with her back to the light, face covered in his shadow, while the Darkling’s face is light up by her light even if he stands in the shadows) are top-notch. The soundtrack as well is incredible and emphasizes the scenes playing. The actors have great chemistry together, friend chemistry and romantic when necessary (Mal and Alina, the Darkling and Alina, Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, David and Genya, etc.) All are perfectly cast. 

The Uncomfortable Technicalities Hamliet Wants to Bitch About:

The only characters from fantasy!Europe having any trace of an accent reminiscent of said fantasy country's real-world equivalent are antagonists like Druskelle (Scandinavia) and Pekka (Ireland). When the heroes mostly have British accents despite being from fantasy Russia and Holland, it is certainly A Choice to have the Irish accent emphasized. The actor is British by the way, so I presume he purposely put on an Irish accent. I'm sure no one even considered the potential implications of this but it is A Look nonetheless.

The Anachronisms Hamliet Has a Pet Peeve About: 

The worldbuilding is compelling, but the only blight on the worldbuilding within the story itself (ignoring context) was that there are some anachronisms that took me out of the story, particularly in the first episode where “would you like to share with the class” and “saved by the horn” are both used. Both are modern-day idioms in English that just don’t fit, especially the latter. The last episode uses “the friends we made along the way.” There are other modern idioms as well.

IT’S STARKOVA and Other Pet Peeves Around the Russian Portrayal 

Russian names are not hard, and Russian naming systems are very, very easy to learn. I could have waved “Starkov” not being “Starkova,” “Nazyalensky” not being “Nazyalenskaya,”  and “Safin” not being “Safina” as an American interpretation (since in America, the names do not femininize). However, “Mozorova” as a man is unfathomable and suggests to me the author just doesn’t understand how names work, which is a bit... uh okay considering a simple google search gets you to understand Russian names. They aren’t hard. I cannot understand why the show did not fix this. It is so simple to fix and would be a major way to help the story’s overall... caricature of Russia. 

Speaking of that... Ravka is supposedly Russian-based, but it is more accurately based on the stereotypes of what Americans think of Russia. Amerussia? Russica? Not great. 

The royals are exactly what Americans think of the Romanovs, right down to the “greasy” “spiritual advisor” who is clearly Rasputin and which ignores the Romanov history, very real tragedy, and the reason Rasputin was present in the court. The religion with all its saints is a vapid reflection of Russian Orthodoxy. The military portrayal with its lotteries and brutality and war is how the US views the Russian military. The emphasis on orphans, constant starvation, classification, and children being ripped from their homes to serve the government is a classic US understanding of USSR communism right down to the USSR having weapons of destruction the rest of the world fears (Grisha). Not trying to defend the Soviet Union here at all, but it is simplistic and reductive and probably done unconsciously but still ehhhh. 

However, I’m not Russian. I just studied Russian literature. I’ve seen very little by way of discussion of this topic online, but what I do see from Russian people has been mixed--some mind, some don’t. The reality is that I actually don’t really mind this because it’s fantasy, though I see why some do. I'm not like CANCEL THIS. So why am I talking about this beyond just having a pet peeve?

Well, because it is a valid critique, and because it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The Grishaverse is heralded as an almost paragon for woke Young Adult literature, which underlines itself what so frustrates me about how literary circles discuss issues of diversity and culture. Such praise, while ignoring its quasi-caricature of Russia, reflects a very ethnocentric (specifically American) understanding of culture, appropriation, and representation. All stories are products of their culture to various extents, but it bothers me on principle what the lit community reacts (and overreacts sometimes?) to and what people give a pass to. The answer to what the community reacts to and what it gives a pass always pivots on how palatable the appropriation is to American understandings and sensibilities. There’s nuance here as well, though. 

I'm not cancelling the story or thinking it should be harshly attacked for this, but it is something that can be discussed and imo should be far more often--but with the nuance it begs, instead of black/white. But that’s a tall ask. 

[itscominghome]

With mase please : You both watch movies late at night, the silence around you, he whispers quietly in your ear and moves your hair out of you face , and then you fall asleep in his arm and he care you to bed

Summary: You and Mason have a movie night every Saturday and this week you watch a horror film. When you get scared, Mason whispers sweet nothings into your ear.

Notes: Requests are open! x

Warnings: Talks about the plot of 'Hush', mentions of blood, mentions of stabbings,

I'm Right Here - Mason Mount

"So, what's it gonna be tonight Mase?" I ask, settling on the sofa and covering myself with my duvet in the corner of the sofa.

"Well, we agreed it was going to be horror week," I sigh at this, not at all ready to be scared out of my skin. But, I knew how much Mason liked horror and it would make a change from me making all the decisions every week. The familiar sound of Netflix opening rings out through the room, and I'm nervously waiting for the chosen film to be displayed on screen.

"Hush?" I ask, vaguely remembering the name.

"Yeah, it's about a woman, who is deaf, mute and lives in the woods. From there you can kinda guess the plotline,"

"Yup, pretty predictable," I say with a gulp. Even being able to guess what is going to happen doesn't make watching it any less terrifying.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, I know you don't really like horror films?"

"I'll be fine, you just might end up with me clinging to you like a koala bear all night,"

"I'm down for that," Mason chuckles, leaning over to pick the massive popcorn bucket over to the couch, and inching closer to me as he gets himself comfy under the duvet.

The film starts off pretty tame, just two friends talking about the main character, Maddie's, new book. But it soon takes a dark turn. With the inability to hear, Maddie doesn't realise that her friend is frantically banging on the door in need of help. All of a sudden a masked figure comes up behind her, ragging a crossbow arrow out of her back and repeatedly stabbing her with it.

"Ew, ew, ew, Mason that's horrible. Mase, I really don't like that," I whine, nuzzling my face into his chest so that I don't have to watch what is happening on the screen.

"Baby, it's over. you can look again," But the masked figure is still on the screen, tapping the glass rather creepily, until he realises that she can't hear him.

"No, no, no. Oh my God, look up!" I shout at the TV. Later on in the film, Maddie is sent a photo by her own phone. When she opens the notification she sees photos of herself that have been taken of her.

"I really don't like this, Mase. Why do you enjoy this?"

"Baby, it's fine, it's just a film. I wouldn't let this happen to you, ever. You know I'd protect you from anything like this. Hell, you know I'd die to protect you," Mason comforts, whispering in my ear, running his fingers through my hair and kissing the top of my head. I look up at him and smile, my eyes filled with love for the boy who's lap I'm now laying on.

Maddie walks slowly over to the front door, which is ajar and upon spotting the masked figure she rushes to shut the door, just as he rushes towards it in an attempt to attack her. I scream loudly and move back into my position of huddling up against Mason's chest.

"Oh, baby... Maybe we should turn this off? You won't sleep tonight otherwise,"

"No, no. It's alright. I always choose the film, I'm not bailing now that you've chosen one."

As the film progresses, I slowly sink down further into Mason's lap, face still covered by his chest.

"I'm right here, baby," he whispers in my ear, "I promise I won't let anyone hurt you," I look up at him, face softening as he moves a piece of hair from in front of my face to behind my ear.

"Thanks," I whisper, almost inaudibly as he replies with a gentle kiss to the tip of my nose. Within another half an hour, I can feel myself drifting off to sleep and Mason clearly notices too.

"Up to bed for you then, baby," he whispers, moving from underneath and picking me up. He carries me upstairs to our shared bedroom bridal style before settling my down on the bed and gently tucking me in. He kisses my forehead lightly before clambering over and getting into bed himself.

"But what about your film?" I ask sleepily.

"We can always watch it another time, or not at all. Just get some sleep Y/n/n, you look exhausted," he replies, snuggling up into me and pulling my body against his chest as he spoons me.

"I love you, baby. Sweet dreams," are the last whispered words I hear before I drift off into a deep and tranquil sleep.

Taglist: @masnmount @masterclassbaby