#reading rants

[dungeons-and-dictions]

Why on earth do the only two horror-ish books I like happen to be the ones with sucky adaptions?

Frankenstein and Dracula.

Adaptions never cover the beautiful nuance these books have while staying faithful to the plot, or themes.

Where is the struggle that there is no good guy in Frankenstein, and the Monster’s internal struggles with his existence?

Where is the unique use of manners and letter writing to document the strange occurrences Lucy notes?

I know it’s possible to keep true to plot, theme, and the stand-out parts of a story while translating them to the screen. Let’s do Justice for these and other deserving books!

[momocicerone]

one of my biggest pet peeve is “second male lead/ male antagonist who is madly in love with FL for absolutely NO REASON”

Don’t get me wrong I have several second lead syndrome bad enough to have me hooked on a breathing machine to survive but some of these stories where the other guy takes one glimpse at FL and is about to burn down the empire just ain’t it for me. Like for Christ’s sake give me some substance here. Why do you even like her? How do you even justify that level of obsession for someone who clearly doesn’t give two shits about you or at the very most tolerates your presence? We’re not talking about unrequited crushes here, we’re talking about “I would die for you” scenarios. That love has no feet to stand on, my dude. “She’s so brave/kind” is not substantial enough to justify your insane romantic obsession. You don’t even know her that well lmfao? What about her flaws her quirks her shortcomings? If you think everything she does is perfection and keep falling deeper then it sounds like you’re projecting an image of someone you want to adore into her, you’re picking the pieces you want to see and ignoring everything she actually represents and stands for. The worst thing? They have zero chemistry. The dynamic is bland and boring, and he adds absolutely nothing to the plot. It would be different if these were like cringe angsty plots where the ML is cold to FL and she’s emotionally hurt so there’s a contrast of good or bad , sweet and bitter etc … but no. Literally the ML is fine he’s just a bit dense or whatever. The second male lead never, ever presents as a threat to the main romance and quite honestly he could be replaced with a golden Labrador and it wouldn’t affect the course of the story at all…

Why are you here ? What is your purpose? To paint the FL as someone who’s desirable? The fruit is hanging so low it’s rotting on the floor tbh

[no-where-new-hero]

Straight and cis people should read books with queer/trans romance because reading culture as a whole needs to relearn that thirsting over a love interest =/= that hunk of meat being a good or well written character.

Before people come for my throat: I’m not saying that all queer/trans romance is better written. I’m saying sometimes you need to take your own personal horniness out of the room.

[thottybrucewayne]

I hate that the "Gen Alpha can't read." conversation so much because people are taking this as a chance to call children stupid and their parents monsters instead of having a very real discussion about how the education system is flawed by design, covid fucked up everything socialization wise, these parents having little access to child care and more work hours leads them to lean on things like tablets and phones to watch their kids more and more, teachers are more overworked and underpaid than ever leading to them leaving the profession in droves and that's only like the surface level issues. There's a myriad of factors at play here, not just that "The kids are spoiled screen-addicted brats with no imagination and their parents are childish spoiled millennials who just let coco melon handle everything."

[brasskingfisher]

Litterary frustration and the spite of a reader....

So my quiet seething at the author of my last read book has awoken something in me...

Years ago (and actually what got me into creative writing as a hobby), I read a book that was so badly written I found myself thinking 'I could write better than this!' And so as a challenge to myself/preemptively giving the finger to anyone else decided to challenge me I decided to sit down and started writing what ended up being my first (and so far only) novel. And now I'm tempted to do something similar because of this latest work.....

[macskasbacsi]

they mean so much to mee

[aworldforastage]

that sadness of going almost 700K into a super-long novel before realizing, nope, it's not actually getting better

I'm going to be so mean and petty in this rant (but I'll be nice and not name the novel on this blog)

It comes down to the protagonist/narrator coming off as a bit mean-spirited and really not as smart as the novel would like you to believe, in a mary sue-ish plot will validate them every single time.

The protagonist transmigrates into an alternate history as a newborn shu-son of a noble family. He has all the memories and cognitive functioning from his previous adult life in the modern world, and a lot of his "wins" from the first story arc comes down him, an adult in the body of a child, is competing with literal babies and children.

The protagonist is a shu-son born to a concubine, and they are both not treated well under the polygamous system. However, the narrator emphasizes that his mother is a "respectable concubine" who is legally a free citizen, as opposed to a "common concubine", whose legal status is a slave. The narrative brings it up again and again (like almost every chapter) that she has some legal protection and cannot be bullied like the other concubines for this reason. It's feels like they want to both be an underdog, but at the same time want to lord it over other people who are beneath them in the food chain.

And then, most people are awful and not likeable. ("Nothing is my fault.") The father is a spineless and greedy philanderer. His official wife, the di-mother, is jealous, stupid, and cruel. His half siblings are either spoiled and shallow (di-siblings) or weak-willed and useless (shu-siblings). The other adults are only focused on their own interests. The only exception being the protagonist's long-lost uncle (who cares about his sister and nephew), and other teachers the protagonist wins over or recruits later. Basically, the only good people are the people like him, and vice versa.

The setting is basically a Han Chinese imperialist fantasy. The Ming Dynasty is toppled by a Han Chinese rebellion instead of the Manchurians, creating an alternate history in which the Han Chinese maintains control of Central Plains, and more. Japan and Korea have been made into vassal states after aggressive military campaigns at the founding of the dynasty, and before I stopped reading, the main story line hints at the Navy establishing control over parts of the Philippines 🙃 The founder of the dynasty is hinted to be also have been a transmigrator, who did all these military things precisely because of modern political sentiments, but still keeps polygamy system, and adds a law that forces women to get married at 20, like WTF man

And later, we go full-scale transmigrator golden thumb. He knows a an effective home remedy for chickenpox. He invents multiple types of ammunition. He is introducing arabic numerals and double-entry accounting. He establishes a successful "cram school" to help all his buddies pass the Imperial examinations. He places first in the Provincial Exams as a teenager. He is building a warship and giving input on military strategy based on his expertise from surfing on the web in his original lifetime.

The prose is ridiculously and unnecessarily wordy. The author seems to write out everything little thing they have researched and every tangent their thoughts went on to boost the word count. Some of it reads like a laundry list. A few times information is repeated word-for-word (copy & pasted) from a previous chapter.

One of the first chapters introduces the entire extended family and where they live on the estate. Most of that chapter is completely irrelevant because not only do most of those people turns out to have no role in the plot, half of those people move out of the estate (and drops out of the plot) and everyone else's living situation is re-arranged before they start to become involved in the plot!

The protagonist's mother gets a promotion as a titled madame, and we get a laundry list of the entire nine-tier ranking system for women along with the jewellery and behavioral protocol for each tier, even though only one is relevant to the story.

The protagonist needs a medical ingredient, and we spend paragraphs after paragraphs of trivia on Chinese medicine.

I can live with the meandering plot and slow pacing in this genre because I can believe that this author is enthusiastic about the universe and wants to explore all the ideas they came up with, but the effort that went into the technical aspects of writing is abysmal.

And it just made me appreciate who another novel which handled a similar premise much better: 嫡子为难 by 石头与水. In both stories, the main character transmigrates into an alternate history as a newborn and needs to deal with the conflicts in large polygamous households. In DZWN, the main character Mingzhan is the the di-son born to the official consort whom his father does not like; he is also born mute (though he is able to talk much later in the story) not a very good-looking as a kid despite his intelligence, so the plot feels more balanced.

But where 嫡子为难 really wins in this is that the cast is much more intriguing and likeable. This is by no means an idealized novel or romance, but most people are not going out of their way to act like a one-dimensional villain. Everyone is just looking out of their own interests, they have their own strengths and loved ones.

The protagonist is a di-son, and while he has conflicting and competing interests with his shu siblings, he still treats them like siblings and vice versa outside of direct conflicts of interests. The older half-brother isn't as smart as the protagonist, but you can tell he has tried his best and has his own morals and principals. The protagonist's father does not like him, but makes reasonable decisions in the best interest of the entire family and doesn't back off from his parental responsibilities. The protagonist's mother does love him and is super smart and well-respected, but between the lines you realize she is incredibly ruthless and possibly one of the scariest people in the entire story. And to this day I can't stop thinking about the Emperor and the decision he makes at the end of the story, like it's such a painful sacrifice but it's so self-serving in a strange way.

(Anyways, yeah, I went and reread a lot of 嫡子为难 recently because of that abandoned novel)

[bitchofdarkness]

I hate how fandom has become "if you haven't created anything in this very specific time frame after the release of the show/movie, everyone will have moved on"

And call me old fashioned, but that's just not me. I sometimes take ages to create and publish. And I will love a show or movie for such a long time (years, babes, years) that I just can't relate to the fast consumerism that's going on.

Because, let's be real, it can get really lonely in a fandom if most have simply moved on to the next shiny thing. Is what's created less worth, just because it was created outside the hype? Why is it such a taboo for this new fandom generation to love an old or "late" fic or art?

It's so tiring and I'm too old for the 30-seconds-hype-tiktok-shit. Just tired. So, so tired.

[badolmen]

They don’t even attempt to assassinate US politicians anymore. You notice that? Not since the anthrax scare back for… who was it, Barack? And even that… pathetic. This new generation has no respect for an honest hitman. I’m not sure this new generation has any honest hitman - you see that shit with Boeing? Sloppy, fucking disgraceful - you kill the whistleblowers before they get halfway to a lawsuit. What kind of fucking amateur is doing faked suicides the night before testimony? Goddamn greenhorns. Back in my day someone tried to shoot Ronald Reagan in broad daylight. There used to be bomb threats to Congress. I took out a few union leaders in the utilities sector myself. Today’s generation? Won’t even threaten to throw a punch - not even over on that - what’s it now, ‘X’? They got no guts. None! And they don’t even have poor impulse control to boot! Too much of that - that panopticon anxiety bullshit. “Oh what if I get a called out post???” People used to send the president letters full of bioweapons. In the mail! Today’s generation? Not a chance. All because of woke.

[luluemmusic]

What is it with fantasy authors insisting on the gender binary? They will be like, "The humanoid creature infront of me was definitely not human, scales and gills signify that it must be some sort of amphibious thing. A woman, I determined by body shape and the fact that their hair was styled in long luxorius curls falling at the mid back."

No thought is put into these descriptions, forcing the boy-girl dichotomy on all types of creatures even when it breaks the world building is absolutely wild to me. This happens particularly with white "feminist" authors that think having misogynist societies with some girlboss(tm) characters makes an empowering story.

Anyways, thanks to the authors not doing this.

[the--last-great-american-dynasty]

currently thinking about how easily charles said “well that sounds a lot like you, doesn’t it? wait, maybe that’s why i like her so much” and somehow neither of them registered the implications of that statement because that’s a fucking crazy thing to say to your best mate in regards to a girl you fancy

[momocicerone]

This is the most unhinged first meeting conversation I’ve ever read in my life,, did an AI write this? How do y’all get publishing deals when half your characters could benefit from idk normal human interaction (i know they’re werewolves yes but you get my point). “I know, you’re just curious.” How do you know Madame this is your first time speaking to this creep. Then it suddenly turns to playful banter (“curiosity killed the cat”) when it’s obvious everyone here is uncomfy as fuck, and to top of that the most abrupt random change of topic “do you like watching stars at night?” Like what is this even, an allegory to him peaking at her window? A lousy untimely attempt at flirtation and romanticism? A threat? Tf was this about

interesting premise however the conversational skills are killing me

yes it is my fault for reading werewolf romance free on the internet, sue me

[theladystrikesagain]

how does a show released in 2024 fail harder in showcasing fully rounded female characters with flaws and strengths and rich personalities than a cartoon from the 2000s. why has television & film legitimately regressed across the years when it comes to showing women as human beings lmao

[ps1demodisk]

Sorry I'm not low empathy autistic in the "mysterious loner boy who secretly cares about his friends and talks in a monotone voice" way and I'm actually just completely indifferent to the suffering of people I don't know personally and help strangers out of a sense of "this is the right thing to do" and not "I feel so bad for this person" or guilt.

I sit and listen to my friends even though I don't really care about hearing about their problems because I know they'll be upset if I don't, and despite the fact I honestly can't genuinely care about the issue itself, I care about the impact it's having on my friends and that's enough to make me want to help them through it.

Did you know that's actually an expression of empathy all of its own?

It will absolutely happen again I literally am not even sorry

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

Novice sewing pattern: Cut out shapes. Line up the little triangles on the edges. Stitch edges together. We've also included step-by-step assembly instructions with illustrations.

Novice knitting pattern: yOU MUSt uNDerstANd thE SECret cOdE CO67 (73, 87, 93) BO44 (63, 76, 90) 28 (32, 34) slip first pw repeat 7x K to end *kl (pl) 42 * until 13" (13, 13, 15) join new at 30 pl for 17 rows ssk 27 k2tog mattress lengthwise BO and sacrifice a goat to the knitting gods. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT "INSTRUCTIONS," I JUST GAVE THEM TO YOU

[bakafox]

I sometimes wonder if a lot of people on the left just don't let themselves be consciously aware that yes, the people who back authoritarianism, fascism, and generally n*zi bullcrap will be voting. On all levels, local to national. All the time.

Because like, people who aren't authoritarian in leaning will argue. Will point out that there's cons and be depressed sometimes easily that there is no perfect candidate.

But- the very point of being an authoritarian is that once they choose their authority, they do what they are told.

They are told to vote by one politician they decided is on their side to vote for another one and will do it without many, if any, questions.

They're told to vote (illegally if it's during a service) by their pastor, by their boss, by their parents, by their spouse, by someone in authority over them that they have accepted as the authority, and they'll go out and do it.

Some of them can snap out of it if it really goes too much against some spark inside, but the whole thing of their wanting a simplistic us vs them world view where they can just sit back and do what they're told and feel better, comfortable, or even superior for doing it means that they'll go do as they're told and then feel good and superior about doing it.

This is how they've long-gamed the GOP to where it is today, that's what is meant when people say "the Republicans just go out and vote". They do that! And they vote without putting any thought into it, without stressing much about imperfections.

Non authoritarians/non-fascists are more likely to give up, or argue against candidates, or just be contrarian, and thus might rather shoot themselves in the foot when it comes time to just doing what is a civic duty to try and prevent the rise of what the other side will always, always turn out in their full numbers to back.

Even if they live in an area where theoretically they would be outvoted 20 to 2, they will show up 'defiantly' and cast their votes for the person they have been told by someone they have decided to trust told them to vote for. Even if they don't know a damn thing about the candidate other than two talking points from a campaign ad or that were talked about at the church social.

This doesn't make any voting at all useless, it doesn't make anyone who votes sheep. It makes voting absolutely required by anyone opposing them. Not 'instead' of community action and protests and letters or whatever the fuck else, but along with.

It means as long as there are any elections, yes, to avoid fascists winning elections 'fairly' (not gonna get into gerrymandering here,) people have got to show up and vote against them, because the fascist voters aren't going to take a mental health day or write in a joke or go third party. Some person whose authority clicked a little circuit in their brain on, who maybe got them riled up about <one thing> told them to vote for <whoever> and they are going to vote for <whoever>, regardless of whatever <other things> are out there being ignored as less consequential.