#the way he killed the two main villains st the end

[koreandragon]

literally insane about vincenzo being a 100% the anti hero. he's not just a naughty little man doing crimes and laughing into his palm he's genuinely heinous at times. sure he's working against the bigger evil but he soo easily could've become one of them. he's genuinely morally grey and not some toned down version of a vigilante

[lostbrazilian]

Ok so, i've finished SotE a few days ago and i fucking LOVED IT and i need to talk about it, particularly about Miquella. Because the thing is, i really like what From has done with his character but also i've seen a lot of discourse about it and i need to get my 2 cents in before i explode

So uh, long ass essay and spoilers below

First things first:

Character assassination my ASS

Fromsoft actually did fucking character necromancy the way they added depth to otherwise one-note characters. Even if unexpected, what we learn in the dlc makes a disturbing amount of sense and ultimately elevates the game's lore in my "humble but objectively correct" opinion. That being said, while Miquella is undoubtedly a irredemable villain by the time we fight him, his character is also much more than just the "gay evil twink" ppl make him out to be

Elden Ring's demigods, while powerful and often monstrous, are also very clearly people: they have feelings, ambitions, ideals and tragic elements about them, which is why many of them are very likeable or at least compelling characters. And Miquella is a prime example of this, because the driving force behind his character, and ultimately the reason of his downfall, is his compassion

Miquella saw the flaws of the Golden Order from a young age, mainly how it oppressed others and was powerless to help his sister. And everything he has done since has been in an attempt to bring about a better, more compassionate world for all. And while the way he manipulates others and removes their free weill is a clearly nefarious aspect of his plans, that doesn't mean his kindness wasn't genuine, for two main reasons:

First, many of Miquella's followers go on to stand with him even after their charm has been broken, which makes clear that many are koyal to Miquella not just because of brainwashing, but also because they genuinely believe in his end goals. And while we'll never have confirmation of this, i don't think the denizens of the Haligtree, or Malenia for that matter, are all under Miquella's spell. At the very least the majority of them must've willingly chosen to remain loyal to him (plus, his charming powers must have a limit of some kind, otherwise he wouldn't need to become a god to rule the lands between)

Secondly, St Trina's very existence proves that Miquella's love and compassion is not only genuine, it's strong enough to manifest as a whole ass second being, which in turn makes her abandonment all the more tragic. It's possible that Miquella himself was always driven by ambition, and that he saw his other half as a "weakness" to be expunged; Or perhaps casting Trina away was a necessary evil, a selfless sacrifice in the name of a greater good. Regardless of the reason (i tend towards the latter), the end result is clear: It was grave mistake

For without love, there can be no Compassion. Miquella's Age of Compassion would be doomed to become an era of subjugation and endless war, where those who resist Miquella's charm would not be allowed to exist. It's an end result that Miquella himself would definitely NOT want, but it's the one he uwittingly locks himself into after he casts away his humanity. Hence why St Trina begs us to kill Miquella, as she understands his ascension would essentially result in a fate worse than death for him

So, TL;DR: I think Miquella genuinely wanted to create a better world, but in his quest to do so not only did he forcefully take away the free will of others, he also wound up becoming a heartless monster that, if unchecked, would bring about great suffering to the world and himself. It's classic "good intentions, bad outcome" tragic writing and ultimately it makes Miquella a very memorable and compelling character, even if he is ultimately a villain

[sadhornydemons]

Rapid-Spoiler-Season-Speculation: Mastermind/Sinmas

Mastermind:

After a bout of angst filled episodes, I'm theorizing that this one might be the nice change of pace: fun, filler episode/calm before the storm.

Not to mention, a nice mixup of two villain groups.

The Cherubs mention they are waiting for I.M.P. to return to Earth, but the D.H.O.R.K.S. seem to have a portal to get to them faster?

Robot? Robot with a skull chest emblem? Well, if they already have a Loona Fursuit, I guess they could just be into making freaky shit now. Could they send it through the portal? In which case,

There's a massive battle going on in the Lust ring.

Blitz is missing from these scenes until this one where he appears to be at the Pride ring.

Where the crystal portal is finally shown, see previous example:

D.H.O.R.K.S. appear defeated (but still alive? Well, it's not like IMP kills humans for a living..oh, wait) and Blitz is grabbing the card off their desk.

End of screen captures/speculation for this one, but I feel like events have to be running gradually in the background of the last few episodes for the doo doo to really hit the fan in the last:

Sinmas:

First, let's talk voice actors. Harvey Guillén came in fairly recently, but has been confirmed to voice Vassago. Now, they can always work around voice work to be added later, but I'm really leaning towards his character not appearing until this last episode.

Jason LaShea voices Andrealphus, assuming this shot is from the finale:

I think it's likely that Andrealphus, being a minor character, only appears in one or two episodes. With that in mind, let's assume the following scenes, which share the same background images, also take place in Sinmas:

We see at least one Sin, confirmed members of the Ars Goetia, and several sporting crowns. Aka the higher ups & royalty of Hell. And Stolas is missing. Oh, but Andrealphus states he will summon him.

(Off topic, but does anyone in hell know/care that Stolas's ex wife tried to have him killed? Paparazzi mobbed his hospital when he was hurt, but no one followed up on that news story?)

Likely the same scene, "You are a disgrace." Unknown character states. Whom? Ozzie? Stolas? The demon who took the last blueberry muffin from the snack table?

"Where is Stolas, anyway?" Well, this is the only image of him that appears to be from the finale:

1) Is that a blessed weapon sword?) 2) Is that a Gabriella hair stripe or an 'I was frozen today!' Anna-inspired white stripe?)

Which matches up with this:

And either Stolas left the refrigerator open for 4 solid episodes resulting in his mansion freezing over or his in-laws are relatives of Elsa's and favor home renovations.

Okay, buckle up sluts, MASSIVE SPECULATION TIME:

What would cause Stolas to move out?

Or rather, what would force Stolas to move out?

Andrealphus wants his money and property, Stella just wants him dead, but she has to follow her brother's wishes. Andrealphus tells her, "I say we bid our time. And wait for the chance to gain the upper hand."

And they might had had it all along.

You know, I wanted to say that Blitz fully and unprompted, spelled out, in detailed terms, how he was using Stolas's item to gain access to the mortal world immediately upon meeting Striker, but in watching it again:

Striker seemed to already know? So, either, Stella knew and told him or he did his research (if the IMP commercial from the pilot is still canon, they basically broadcasted it). But Blitz does go a step further and literally job interviews the guy, likely giving him even more info in the process.

Stolas even states, more than once, that they're not suppose to be using the book and that it's 'less than legal' even in hell.

So far, Stella has only been attacking Stolas. Striker knows Octavia is Stolas's main weakness, but hearing all the 'Blitzy' mentions during torturing, maybe he'll relay that there's another way they can exploit him. After all, Stella just thinks of him as any interchangeable Imp.

Stolas stated before that he would not leave Octavia, so maybe this was the reason he returns to the palace? But not soon enough, considering...*

The voice over does not match the scene, but it is as follows:

"You never loved mother and you don't love me, you love HIM!"*

Back to the image, is Via a fast learner or does she have the Grimoire? During the Loo Loo Land flashback, Stolas, having studied the book for a decade at that point, still needed it to travel to other planets.

And IMP seemed to be using the crystal in the last episode..

And if that's not complicated enough, let's get back to the Hell High Council meeting,

It sounds like they're discussing Stolas, before Vassago asks, "Where is Stolas, anyway?" Before demanding that they summon him, "at once!" Fortunately, this parrot's suppose to be a good guy, since unfortunately it seems like Stolas is in real more trouble.

Is it the illegal spellbook loaning? The (still alive?) D.H.O.R.K.S. having him on film? Satan help him if someone also managed to record him twerking on stage at the Verosika Mayday show.

We'll have to wait and see, but Stolas appears to return to the mansion with Blitz afterwards.

< / End MASSIVE SPECULATION >

Well, that's what I came up with. We've got 6 more months to go, and as the episodes do FINALLY get aired things might become more clear.

[marvelstars]

ST VS OT VS PT

Sometimes I think about disney canon Leia and Han who never knew Anakin Skywalker because he is just Vader to them and this is also the reason why Ben only knows Vader and became obssesed with him as part of his adolescent rebellion and to a point Luke ends thinking in a similar way, isolates himself without any real need to hide from his Sister I guess and cutting himself from the force and from his father and teachers as well for most of his life.

While:

Legends canon Leia and Han knew a little more of Anakin, knew him as a slave and as a padawan and clone wars general as a result of Leia doing her own research trying not to hate him so much and be in danger of falling to the darkside and Han wanted kids but Leia didn´t want to have them until she stopped fearing them turning into darth Vader so he got really interested in helping her overcome her fear. This results in them not quite forgiving him but at least be at peace having children and recognize him as a member of their family while Leia explores her force powers with her brother. Two of my favourite moments from this story is Han talking about Vader being in the perfect place to defeat the Emperor and him and Leia seeing an old holo of child Anakin after winning his freedom while Luke becomes the Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order with many new students and even Darth Cadeus(Jacen Solo) isn´t enough to bring it down.

So I just sigh for the missed opportunities and Disney greed trying to break and fix what wasn´t broken.

I personally don´t hate any of the characters in the sequels, I believe Rey is endearing, Ben is fun if a little embarrasing to watch, Finn is fine and Poe was great until disney decided to use him as a prop for feminist general Leia and her friend whose name I won´t bother to remember.

The problem is that in a story you need your characters to change, be challenged, have problems and overcome them and most of them stay the same characters because they are never challenged in any serious way and form, Finn could be challenged in helping his fellow soldiers get freed and never does it, Poe could have been challenged in leading the rebellion after the republic failed to support them and he just becomes a prop for other characters and Rey stays the exact same way in all the movies, nothing affects her deeply because she doesn´t have a deep connection with almost nobody, they tried to link her with Ben but besides both feeling attracted to each other there´s not much more reason given to why they care so much for each other and Ben never explains why he got so obssesed with Vader in the first place, to the point he left his family and killed his father besides the fact he feels entitled to his legacy for some reason.

So the story doesn´t look as a story on it´s own, it looks more like a bunch of plot points taken from the original material without adding anything of substance to the story because they are afraid of challenging their characters and have them make mistakes, loss something or be rewarded, the end is bassically the same of the OT, the only change we saw was the virtual destruction of the Original Trio, Leia, Luke and Han in an effort to try to present the new trio as something new and different but they never quite manage it.

One of the main reason for this as Disney deliberately erasing any connection to the PT and what it added to the story, especially when it came to Anakin being in reality him and not Vader or Palpatine being an actual human being with his own pov if extremely machivellian and manipulative and not just the monster under the bed to the galaxy, seriously I saw a more complete management of Palpatine as a villain in two paragraphs of the ROTJ novel than the entire ST and this because they are incapable of creating a new villain for their story so disney treatment of the characters feels so flat all around.

Which brings me to the pure joy of seeing them bringing back not just Anakin but him and his Vader persona be at peace, seeing them bring Legeds Thrawn and Ahsoka and connecting them with Luke and Leia and the new characters like the Mandalorian but I also find it funny seeing them trying to act as if this was the plan all along instead of them doing damage control after screwing up in a legendary way but being too proud and greedy to admit it. I am just like LOL. Hope this is enough to save and change Luke, Leia and Han fate because they honestly deserve way more than what they got in the ST.

[elegantwoes]

There were many things to get annoyed by that anon (who's doing the rounds in Jonsa blogs apparently), like comparison to pedoships, but at this point I'm more intellectually offended than anything else lol It just bothers me there are so many people in this fandom who lack basic understanding of the series they're reading and the words/concepts they're using. I love Jonsa b/c they complete and compliment each other. Unlike their previous interactions and prospects, Jonsa will bring them inner peace. I like the wholesomeness of it a lot. Both the characters and the story as a whole need something that good. But from Westerosi societal perspective Jon by no means would be trophy. To everyone in that world Sansa would be settling. Jon is not only plain but he is scarred and probably will be more so by the end, and that's a big thing in Westeros especially b/c Sansa is beautiful and from high nobility. Even with his parentage revealed, Jon would still be bastard, Sansa as Queen would have much more adventegous prospects than this plain looking, no title, no land undead bastard. Hell some Northerners might even side-eye him specifically b/c of his Targ father. We know Sansa is the answer to Jon's not-so-secret desire to having a Lady wife, living the family life he dreams and being a Stark. We know Jon is the answer to Sansa's longing for a true knight, to someone loving her for her and not for her claim. We know they'll be equals in that relationship, but from an outside perspective Jon will look like he's won the lottery, not Sansa. How they have zero understanding of this world and miss this fact (and many other facts) while proclaiming to be a fan of this series is astounding.

In context of the world of ASOIAF Jon is by no means a trophy husband. In that I absolutely agree with you. Many people would assume Sansa is marrying down and they would be right. However with that said Jon being a “trophy husband” is largely in the context of outside the world of ASOIAF. He is seen that way because out of the Main POV characters Jon is the only one who could be the romantic hero of ASOIAF. Bran is too young and Tyrion is too villainous so that leaves Jon. Such a status makes him desirable in the eyes of the reader and his ao3 tag has 22567 works under it’s belt. That amount of stories is insane. It’s safe to say that in this fandom Jon is the male fandom bicycle. Who he ends up with makes a statement and those who like to say Sansa isn’t important and/or hate her will of course see Jon is way too good for her. 

Too bad for them Sansa has a similar status as Jon. While it is a bit trickier to see who the romantic heroine of ASOIAF is because of Arya and Daenerys, but, in the end, it’s still very obvious to me. The best way to find out who the romantic heroine is to look at how many fairy tales and/or romantic stories (both in and out of ASOIAF) are Arya, Sansa and Daenerys associated with. Dany has zero stories like these associated with her. Instead Shakespearean tragedies loom over her head. Also the fact that George RR Martin often likes to brag about the fact he shares a name with St. George is pretty ominous to me. After all, what did St. George do? He killed a dragon. It’s obvious by now that GRRM will do the same. Arya on the other hand is associated with a couple stories. The Ugly duckling, Red Rose (from Red Rose & Snow White fairy tale), some elements of Cinderella, and of course Wenda the white fawn in the world of ASOIAF. This is a decent amount but in the end compared to someone else this is minuscule.

Then we have Sansa. She’s associated with tales like Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Beauty & Beast, the Little Mermaid, Red Rose & Snow White (she’s the Snow White to Arya’s Red Rose), Goldilocks, and then we have the more obscure fairy tales like Donkey skins, Allerleirauh (all-kind-of-furs, thousand-furs) and the pig’s boy and the princess. User @fedonciadale wrote about how these tales are associated with Sansa in here and here. I highly recommend you to read them. The amount of fairy tales Sansa has parallels with is insane and I am sure I forgot a couple of them because there are simply too many to name them. I haven’t even gotten into how Sansa is associated with ASOIAF verse tales like Florian & Jonquil and Aemon & Naerys - two tales that are deeply connected to Sansa’s romantic storyline. She has met two false Florians (Sandor and Dontos) but we don’t know who her one true Florian is that will finally bring her home (technically the show spoiled it but I digress). Who is the Aemon to Sansa’s Naerys? (again it’s very obvious who that really is). 

Also while this fandom will deny Sansa’s status as the romantic heroine of ASOIAF, like they always do when it comes to Sansa, deep down they all know she is this series romantic heroine and the amount of people she’s shipped with reflects that. Her tag on ao3 has 26254 works. That is 3.687 more stories than Jon has and more than anyone in the fandom. I repeat Sansa is the character who has the most stories under her belt in the ASOIAF/GOT fandom. If that isn’t an admission then I don’t know what is. Furthermore like you said, anon, in the world of ASOIAF Sansa herself is seen to be desirable. 

In conclusion while Jon technically is a status symbol because of his status as romantic hero of ASOIAF, objectively speaking, Sansa is more of status symbol, because she’s both the romantic heroine of ASOIAF and coveted by so many in the story itself. 

[neurodihuegent]

With season 3 coming to an end, and only two episodes left, I can wholeheartedly say this is my favorite season of Ducktales (with season one close behind). I know this isn't the most popular opinion right now, and I do think there are season 1 and 2 episodes that blow even my favorite season 3 episode out of the water (namely The Last Crash of the Sunchaser, The Shadow War Part I, The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck, Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!, and Timephoon!), so I'd like to explain why.

A lot of the main criticism of season 3 is the lack of the focus on the McDuck family/FOWL plot, along with some messy writing. Out of 22 episodes, 14 of them have plots that solely focus on our main characters, whilst the other 8 focus more on side characters/characters that were newly introduced this season. Then, out of 22 episodes, we have 12 episodes that either focus on the F.O.W.L plot, or at least give hints/foreshadowing/cliffhangers around it. Realistically speaking, this isn't bad at all for a show that was never plot driven in the first place, and with the way Ducktales is formatted, with the more emotionally driven/villain plot focused episodes occuring at the end. Early on in season one, it was hinted and progressively built off of that there would be a final stand off with Magica, but with season two, we didn't really know that Lunaris/the Moonlanders would be the arc villains until the end of Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!, and outside of What Ever Happened to Donald Duck?, we didn't have any episodes that really focused on this plot or even really hinted at it until the end. F.O.W.L is ultimately the most threatening arc villains, with them being in the shadows and the head of F.O.W.L being one of Scrooge's closest and most trusted employees, so it makes sense that the F.O.W.L arc was introduced at the end of season two, and then evenly spread out throughout season three: To the beginning to the middle of season three, we got introductions to all of the main F.O.W.L employees (Gandra's, Rockerduck's and Black Heron's happening much earlier in the show). Then with The First Adventure! we got more of an explanation of F.O.W.L's/Bradford's motives, how F.O.W.L came to be in the first place, and how Bradford came to be Scrooge's employee. During and after The First Adventure, we got more of F.O.W.L trying to beat the McDucks to Isabella Finch's missing mysteries, which will obviously be revealed in the finale. With, Beaks in the Shell!, we not only got the real reason why Gandra came to work for F.O.W.L in the first place, setting up her eventual redemption arc, but also got introduced not only to the Lost Library, but how far Bradford will really go to make sure that his plans aren't interfered with. Breaking it down like this, and analyzing it, brings the main reason why I love season 3 the way that I do: With the way the episodes are formatted and written, it's very clear that they're trying to show how dangerous F.O.W.L are, and whilst keeping their true intentions secret, because even the family themselvss aren't aware of how far F.O.W.L will go to accomplish their goals. I think that if there was a higher ratio of F.O.W.L episodes to non-F.O.W.L episodes, it would've been more so "Well, what are they waiting for?" and kind of would've killed the hype to the lead up to the big confrontation. In the F.O.W.L episodes that they're featured in, it almost always leaves us with another curveball that no one would've expected, but leaves us with more questions to be answered in our 3-part finale; However, if F.O.W.L had a more prominent role than they did this season, this easily would've gotten old quick, and would've left us with more questions than needed for this finale.

Another reason why I love season 3 the way that I do is how it's formatted completely unique to the two prior seasons: Season one and season two both had split focuses, with the beginning of season one focusing on Dewey's character development/Dewey and Webby's search for answers on Della's disappearance, then transitioning it's focus to Magica/Lena and the Shadow War!, with season two's beginning focusing more on Louie's character development, and then transitioning into Della's return/The Moonvasion. However, outside of the one-off/less plot driven episodes, season 3's main focus has solely been the eventual confrontation with F.O.W.L, and uncovering F.O.W.L to begin with. Laced into this, we also get introduced to more Disney Afternoon characters or other characters from the Duckverse that weren't introduced prior, which I loved mainly because of the nostalgic factor, but also because I feel like these episodes were some of the best written episodes of the season.

Overall, I think that while the writing of season 3, and the screentime of certain characters (namely Donald and Beakley; but Donald's lack of screentime could easily be chalked up to Disney's overprotection of sensational six characters) could've been significantly better, this season really holds a place in my heart because I really feel like the crew really took it home with the legacy concept. Other than Huey's subtle character development, Beaks in the Shell! and Astro BOYD! have both hinted that in the future, Huey will most likely either work as Gizmoduck's sidekick, or just pursue science in general. We've gotten Dewey improving his skills as a pilot, which gives us a hint to what he might be doing in the future, and I'm sure this next episode will give us what Louie may be doing in the future (which most people think will be working as a lawyer). We've also gotten Launchpad finding his place in St. Canard, B.O.Y.D having his own little redemption and becoming an official part of Team Science, Lena becoming a sorceress, Violet becoming the senior woodchuck, Donald and Daisy becoming an official couple, Goldie finally being redeemed and becoming more of a positive figure in Scrooge's life, etc. I think the focus that we've gotten on the side characters, is to give the fans who love these characters a sense of closure because we honestly don't know if we'll see them again in future adaptions.

The way this season was formatted, I really feel like it's symbolic of a bittersweet goodbye, and I can't help but appreciate and love it for that exact reason.

[radramblog]

Some thoughts on Doc Scratch

This kind of wasn’t my original plan. I’d thought of maybe one other Homestuck post to do in total, and considering how potentially controversial the topic is, that one was kind of it. It was/is going to be much more in the vein of my previous analysis of Dirk, which I’m still quite proud of, albeit about a different character, requiring more extensive research, and without an original point in mind.

But as it turns out, when you are staring at a blank page on Word, and you’ve just been listening to a podcast about the webcomic, you start to form thoughts about Homestuck’s resident blank text asshole. God. What a colossal knob.

Doc Scratch is a lot of things in the context of the plot of Homestuck. Explicitly, he’s a mentor figure to several characters- most obviously Rose, but also minorly with Kanaya, Terezi, and Vriska. The relationship between him and these characters is very much portrayed as a negative- there are direct and frankly upsetting connections drawn between him and a manipulative child abuser.

This is most obvious in his interactions with Rose. He’s very much a corrupting influence on her, driving her to dig deeper into the world of the game and into the mindset that leads her to going Grimdark- an experience that is extremely traumatic, leads to her having a lot of difficulty processing her mother’s death, and directly gets her killed (temporarily). He’s very much the devil on her shoulder, the Palpatine to her Anakin, and the effects of his relationship with her have long-running consequences.

And manipulative is ultimately what he is, but he’s constantly using his nigh omniscience to make it seem like he’s, well, innocent of any sort of subterfuge. After all, he knows what’s going to happen, so he’s got no choice in the matter!

This sort of determinism is a common theme in Homestuck- a lot of lore in the comic is built around the idea of an Alpha Timeline that absolutely nothing can deviate from, where if any other events occur to pare off from the intended future, then the timeline fades and everyone fucking dies. Scratch keeps things on the line, and claims his hands are as clean as his head is spherical.

And within the comic’s philosophy, he is kind of right, in a way. If things go according to his plan, they won’t go down a doomed timeline, and so less people will have to die. And while the comic clearly villainizes him, I don’t believe it ever attempts to disprove this mindset. Breaking free of determinism is something that only happens in the comic with the Retcon, and that’s its own massive, horrific can of worms.

Scratch also serves as a foil to Hussie himself- that is, the comic’s iteration of him. Hussie as a narrator is much like Hussie in real life- capricious and filled with non-sequiturs. He’s very show don’t tell, and deliberately pulls focus away from juicy story elements to mess with the readers- which I imagine was quite frustrating for contemporary readers. At some level, Scratch mirrors this- when he seizes the narrator role, he very much goes on and on and on with walls of text that rival my own in length. He’s trying to provide a polite and comforting experience, as compared to Hussie’s abject contempt for his reader base, because he is, of course, an excellent host.

And yet the two are extremely alike- because at the end of the day, the real Hussie is writing both. Scratch still trolls the fuck out of the reader- but rather than shifting focus away from dramatic moments, he gives only the briefest of details, and talks around things as much as possible- like he’s manipulating the audience just as he manipulates the characters. Hussie takes breaks in the narrative to ramble incessantly about something completely irrelevant in a sarcastic manner and yet is also productive for worldbuilding- the main thing that comes to mind is everything about Troll Romance. Scratch takes long breaks in the narrative to monologue about something completely irrelevant in a matter-of-fact manner that is still productive for worldbuilding- the main thing that comes to mind is the Ancestors. What I’m saying is that…relatable, honestly.

I think there’s a lot of issues with how Scratch is handled by the comic. While he is ultimately defeated very directly by Hussie’s insert, he still gets exactly what he wants, and his worldview does not end up being questioned. Determinism is not something that sits right with me, and I don’t think the comic’s attempts at discussing it are satisfying or successful.

Also just, the jokes and implications of Scratch being the “creepy uncle” sort of character are a little over the line sometimes. I’d like to remind the reader that apart from Spades Slick, Hussie, and possibly Beta! Damara/young Handmaid, every single character Scratch interacts with is 13years old or younger. And I know that the characters are, like in a lot of media, treated as more mature than a child that age would be, but that’s still super uncomfortable and does not need to be there.

And I think the fact that not a lot of the issues with Scratch are properly handled in the comic is something that reflects poorly on the comic itself. Hussie defeats Scratch, sure, but Hussie also wrote Scratch. And he doesn’t make it clear that Scratch is wrong, which implies that to him, Scratch is right. And that’s kinda not okay, in my eyes.

There is still a lot to like about Doc Scratch. Despite almost certainly being a late addition to The Felt, he manages to slot extremely well into their theming, and he is entertaining to read. A comic like Homestuck needs villains, and he serves as an effective one- though funny as it is his ultimate defeat is kind of underwhelming. He’s not really a character I’ve deeply thought about until now- it’s been quite a long time since I’ve read the parts of the comic he appears in- but there’s a lot there to discuss, and to understand. When you’re creating art, it’s impossible not to be very self-revealing, and something as expansive as Homestuck is going to reveal a lot about you in every single aspect- with that in mind, I think we might have reason to be a bit concerned about the parts of the Huss revealed through Scratch.

[off-in-the-moors]

Joseph Kavinsky analysis, part 2

aka no voice and no dream pack

Warnings: spoilers for the whole Raven Cycle, mentions of: drug-use, abuse, death, s*cid, xenophobia

Part 1 // Part 2

Before starting, I wanted to thank for likes and support, not only on part 1 but also on my other posts. I was writing this more for the catharsis, after months of seeing and not really speaking about a lot of stuff. It’s nice to know, somebody read it. Some say, Kavinsky is their comfort character and, well, he will stay with me for a very long time. But enough of that. Let's talk about the point of view, xenophobia and the Dream Pack.

PoV

The running motif in TRC is, all antagonists get PoVs. No matter if they appear in one book (like Whelk) or reoccur (like the Greenmatles). The reader gets multiple chapters with their backstories, internal thoughts and goals. This move by the author is a double-edged sword, on one hand we get a better understanding of them but on the other, by knowing them better they become less effective antagonists and the air of mystery and surprise of what they're up-to/what they know is lost. E.g. In TDT we are first told about Colin Greenmatle and what is he capable of, making him a good threat for our main characters. But when we finally meet him in BLLB, with his attitude and scenes like dissing Ronan's Latin grammar or making cheese crackers while his wife is held at gun-point, he becomes more of a comedic antagonist than a villain to fear.

But here's the thing: I already lied to you. In TRC, all antagonists get PoVs, except for Kavinsky. It's a odd exception from the rule, considering Gray Man in TDT and The Wasp Demon in The Raven King, also got PoVs. But why? There are two things to look at. One I already mentioned. By giving a character PoV, the reader gets better understanding of them. By not giving Kavinsky one, Margaret didn't give anything to make K or his actions clear or understandable. By not knowing his motivations, K is left to pure interpretations, but how the reader will do it mostly will be influenced by his demonetization. Of course, not everybody will just accept what the book tells them without thinking for themselves but most fans don't.

"Bang", he said softly, withdrawing the fake gun. "See you on the street."

Alone, this single line can be interpreted in many different ways. Is it K being angry and threatening Ronan? Or maybe Joseph breaking inside because he was proofen, he really has no one? It all depends on the reader.

Second, when asked on her tumblr, if she'll ever write anything from K's pov (in 2015, before The Raven King was published), M*ggie said she won't, because: she already explored that type of character ("the thoughts and motivations of a powerful, suicidal, creative person with few inhibitions") in Sinner (2014, spin-off/companion book of her older series, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, 2009-2011 for the main three) with Cole St. Clair; that writing through PoV of such character is emotionally and mentally draining for her (which is understandable); and even if she wanted to explore it again in the future, she would through a different character's lenses than K's.

Let's talk about St. Clair.

The characters of Cole and Kavinsky have some similarities: both are drug addicts, who are rich.

That's where they end.

Cole was a famous musician, having the stereotypical rock-star life (drugs, alcohol and sleeping with fans included) with good family relationships, while K was a son of a mobster who tried to kill him and a mother who was a drug-addict herself. While their perspectives would have similarities, there is also other problems. Cole St. Clair already got PoVs in his series and a stand-alone book, Joseph Kavinsky got nothing and will get nothing. Cole had friends that cared for him and helped him, Joseph Kavinsky had his Dream Pack (which whom we don't know what type of relation he had) and his customers who we can safely say, only cared for what he can provide them with, he tried to befriend or start a relation with Ronan who rejected even the idea of it and no one even reached out to him. Cole got his happy ending and (hinted at) a girl he loved, K got rejected by everyone and committed public suicide. (Now, I heard a opinion that K didn't commit suicide, because the dragon killed him. Here is the thing, K could move out of the way multiple times, even Ronan shouted to him to move. But he didn't. He watched the dragon fly towards him and just said "The world is a nightmare.". He choose death.)

People wanted K's PoV, because they wanted to know, what pushed him to do what he did in TDT. But, in my opinion, even if M*ggie gave K pov, she would use it to further demonize him than to make the reader understand him more. She already did write a whole post exaggerating and straw-manning the canon, just to also say "Kavinsky has a very logical backstory that leads him to this place". A backstory we as the reader never truly see and one she forgot to write into her book. At the end, she truly cared only about Ronan.

Xenophobia

The Raven Cycle is a very flawed and problematic series, there are already many other posts taking about racism, misogyny, lack of diversity and many other issues with it, but in regards to Kavinsky, I'll only touch on the xenophobia. (I could talk also about portray of metal-illness, but I'm not the person to talk about it and I would feel comfortable with it.)

Kavinsky is a stereotype of a Slavic person, one we see in American media since the Cold War, especially in 80s movies. The Evil Russian trope. The son of the mobster, drug-addict, forger who can get you anything even illegal stuff, a thief.

When describing Kavinsky, one of the things Ronan mentions is: "refugee's face, hollowed-eyed and innocent". One could argue, "refugee" has many meanings, but boiling it down, is a person who came to the country to escape and seek a refuge. Many people moved to America to find a better life, in the believe of the American Dream, and many of them where driven to do that, especially from ex-Eastern Bloc countries. Kavinsky's Bulgarian, unknown if an immigrant himself or a son of immigrants, but the point still stands.

About Blue’s comment "import from somewhere else" I don't need to say much. First, obvious: You don't import people, only foreign goods, like cars. Second: this shows, he is "the other" in the eyes of the characters.

There is more to it, then just the physical description. We need to look at the outfit he wears. White tank top, white sunglasses, a small earring in one ear and a gold chain around his neck. This gives two images: one of a typical douche-bag, party asshole and the rich kid; the second of a Slavic stereotype, especially of a Russian criminal. If Margaret wanted to make K even bigger stereotype, she would dress him like a dress/gopnik, in a tracksuit.

The thing is: M*ggie could had saved the situation if she had subverted the stereotypes. E.g. K didn't wanting anything to do with the crime live, his family was forced into by circumstances or K being the guy to get stuff from, but he isn't doing it for any gain.

The truth is, K being Bulgarian doesn't add anything to his character, except for xenophobia. (Personally, I tried to find where the surname "Kavinsky" came from. It is Slavic, that much I can tell you for sure, but the rest is my speculation and searching. My best guesses are: Russian (it appears most commonly in Russian, after USA and a use in Russia set novel) or Polish (because it has uncanny simulates to the surname "Kawiński", if it was anglicized like e.g. "Kamiński" into "Kaminsky"). This isn't a common surname and with Peter from the To All the Boys trilogy and the musician, it's hard to find any information.)

But for now, K's portray is one of the many issues.

The Dream Pack or the lack of it

The Dream Pack is the unofficial name for K's group, with whom he parties and races (the canon name is "Kavinsky's Pack of Dogs" which is ugh). They're unfortunately, a non-characters. It's bolt to even call them background characters. Their portray, or again, lack of it, leaves them as props, their only role is to be K's followers and to show K as a leader on a equal ground as Gansey. We're lead to believe, they are like Kavinsky, yet another raven boys, and to make are main characters so “not like the other raven boys”. Problem rises in connection to the previous point, out of four members, only one has an English surname.

Prokopenko is a Ukrainian surname and for his description, we get "ears like wingnuts", "crooked shoulders" and his voice as "milky with drugs". It's said he had "recently attained official crony status", and was noted being in close desecrate to K for a while. Later we discover Proko is a forgery, a dream creature like Matthew and Aurora. It's heavily implied the real Prokopenko is dead, but if K had something to do with it, is unknown. He is the only character to "chortle", which Margaret said she hates and also "fratty boys and the chortling men they turn into". From this we can deduce, that not only the Dream Pack and people at K's parties but all raven boys (with the exception of the main characters) were writen like this on purpose as the personification of everything M*ggie hates. We are also informed, he drives a Golf.

Skov, who according to a deleted scene, full name is Blake Skovron, is polish (or at least anglicized version of it). In said deleted scene he's described as "major asshole, minor bigot" (unfortunately I couldn't find it to confirm it). The only canon stuff about him is: he drives a RX-7 (Mazda RX-7).

Jiang is Chinese, making him one of three canon Asian characters we see in the series (not counting Henry's father, because he's just mentioned, same goes for the Vancouver crowd). Like Proko, his role is a little bigger. In the Raven King, after Ronan finally returns to school after a long time of skipping, he tells him: "Hey, man, I thought you'd died". Ronan doesn't respond, but tells the reader he doesn't want to see Jiang outside of his car, racing. The only other thing we know about him: he drives a Supra (Toyota Supra).

Swan is the only one with an English name, but all we know about him is: he drives Volkswagen Golf, one that matches Proko's.

(For future writers: what car a character drives, isn't a personality trait.)

With the already minimal diversity, this shows the non-Americans as the antagonists or at least "the worst". On the opposite side, we have our main characters. Richard Campbell Gansey III, who has the whitest and British name I ever saw; Adam Parrish, born and raised in Henrietta, Virginia; Ronan Lynch, son of a Irish immigrant, whose Irish identity starts and ends on tit-bits; Blue Sargent, who is half-tree and ambiguous, but was drawn as white by the author multiple times (Yes, I am aware of the Instagram post, but Margaret herself said, she isn't confirming anything that isn't already written in her books. She couldn't even confirm Adam's hair color and made a joke out of it.) The only exception is Noah Czerny, whose surname is Slavic (probably Czech), but this bares no effect on his character.

The Dream Pack are the whole communities babies, created by head-canons and fanons, their relations with Kavinsky and themselves are explored, who they are as people, their appearance, their interests... This is beautiful how many different versions and interpretations of non-existing characters is there. (I, myself also made a version for a rewrite, based partly on the fanon.)

But at the end of the day, the fans did the author's job of creating believe friend group and in the end, their only function was to show, Kavinsky is a king, just like Gansey.

[terramythos]

TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 16 of 26

Title: Tales From Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #5) (2001)

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Short Story Collection, Novella, Third-Person, Female Protagonist 

Rating: 8/10 (note: this is an average)

Date Began: 7/2/2021

Date Finished: 7/6/2021

Tales From Earthsea is a collection of five short stories and novellas which take place in the Earthsea universe. In addition, there’s a supplementary timeline of Earthsea’s history, tradition, and cultural details of note. The last story in the collection, Dragonfly, serves as a bridge between Tehanu (#4) and The Other Wind (#6), the final book in the series. 

Of the five stories, my favorites (both 10/10s) were The Finder and On The High Marsh.

The way one does research into nonexistent history is to tell the story and find out what happened. I believe this isn’t very different from what historians of the so-called real world do. Even if we are present at some historic event, do we comprehend it— can we even remember it— until we can tell it in a story? 

Content warnings, individual ratings/commentary, and spoilers below the cut.

Content warnings for the book: Death and violence, child abuse (including implied sexual abuse), police brutality, slavery, reference to torture and execution, brief reference to inc*st, misogyny, animal cruelty, mild body horror, very brief implied mind control via a "love charm" (it doesn't work).

#1 - The Finder (10/10)

In The Dark Time, magic is widely mistrusted. Petty tyrants use the once noble art in pursuit of power and glory. Medra, the son of a shipwright in Havnor, has magical talents honed in secret. One day, he curses a ship built for a warlord’s fleet. Unfortunately, he gets caught and sent to a prison camp. There he is forced to use finding magic to locate veins of cinnabar.

The prison exists to refine quicksilver, a substance the most powerful mage on the island believes will turn him into a god. While in the refinery, Medra feels a spiritual connection to a dying slave, a young woman named Anieb. The two of them devise a plan to kill the mage and escape. Medra’s journey eventually takes him to the island of Roke and the founding of its prestigious wizard school. 

‘The dead are dead. The great and mighty go their way unchecked. All the hope left in the world is in the people of no account.’ 

I really enjoyed this novella. The Dark Time is largely unexplored in the stories of Earthsea, so it was interesting to read about it here. I get the feeling that we’re approaching or in the middle of one such time in the real world, so seeing a version of it on the page is depressing yet hopeful. The story is dark; mass feudal warfare, a literal concentration camp in the opening half, widespread enslavement, and abuse of power. But it also offers hope and the promise of change. The story also explores the integral role of women in not only the preservation of magic in a bleak age of humanity, but the very foundation of Roke. 

Medra’s story spoke to me; how he resists the despotic powers-that-be, his connection with Anieb even after her tragic death, and how despite his disillusionment with humanity, he ultimately fights to create a better world. I also thought Gelluk was a horrifying villain. He’s characterized as a soft-spoken, almost kindly man who loves children and animals— yet his narrative thoughts involve burning hundreds of slaves alive in order to better fuel the quicksilver refinery. “Nice doesn’t mean good” taken to an extreme, and a mirror of many villains in the real world. 

Le Guin was anti-capitalist, but that way of thinking seems peripheral in the Earthsea series. The Finder, however, definitely has a Marxist reading in it. A recurring theme is the disenfranchised rising up against the powerful. Indeed both antagonists, who are despotic wizards of great power, are soundly defeated by groups of people they consider powerless. Magic is only considered relevant for the value and power it produces, an idea antithetical to the rest of the series. The quicksilver refinery also embraces anti-capitalist rhetoric; this section focuses on how mass enslavement and death is used to manufacture a meaningless commodity only one person “benefits” from. That’s not even getting into the prison-industrial complex. 

I dunno. This story slaps. It’s not at all what I expected from a Roke origin story.

#2 - Diamond and Darkrose (5/10)

Diamond, the son of a prosperous lumber merchant, struggles to find his true calling in life. His father disapproves of almost everything he does, including his close friendship with the local witch’s daughter Rose. While he loves music, his father derides his talents and forces him to abandon the pursuit. When Diamond shows some  promise in magic, he travels to a neighboring town to serve as the local wizard’s apprentice. But when this path estranges him from Rose, he grows disillusioned.

Rose had looked after herself from an early age; and this was one of the reasons Diamond loved her. With her, he knew what freedom was. Without her, he could attain it only when he was hearing and singing and playing music.

I did not like this story very much. I gave Diamond and Darkrose a 5/10 because it’s competently written (duh), and the protagonist has a character arc not entirely dependent on the central romance. But that’s about all I can say for it.

None of the characters are especially appealing. Diamond’s mentor figures are all extremely narrow-minded. Rose, supposedly his true love since childhood, drops him the moment things become difficult. And Diamond himself is a pushover who only grows a spine and pursues his dreams at the end of the story. I understand that’s his character flaw and his arc is about overcoming that. But due to all these factors, I was annoyed by every major character. The only person I didn’t dislike was Diamond’s mother, who only shows up for a couple of scenes.

Someone please tell me there are love stories out there where the romantic tension is NOT based on a fucking MISUNDERSTANDING. That shit drives me up a wall! It’s so overdone and painful to read.

#3 - The Bones of the Earth (8/10)

Dulse is an aging wizard on the island of Gont, reflecting on his life and relationship with his former apprentice, a young man he calls Silence. But he senses something amiss on the island; a massive earthquake poised to destroy a nearby port town and its inhabitants. To avert disaster, Dulse realizes he must turn to an ancient form of magic taught to him long ago— and he needs Silence’s help to save the town.

In there he knew he should hurry, that the bones of the earth ached to move, and that he must become them to guide them, but he could not hurry. There was on him the bewilderment of any transformation. He had in his day been fox, and bull, and dragonfly, and knew what it was to change being. But this was different, this slow enlargement. I am vastening, he thought.

So I’ve always liked Ogion in the main series; I love the idea of an immensely powerful wizard who lives an unassuming life of silence, contemplation, and appreciation of the natural world. In The Bones of the Earth, we get a glimpse of Ogion through his mentor’s eyes. Ogion’s heroism and how he stopped the earthquake is mentioned several times in the main series, but this is our first look at what actually happened.

Dulse is an unexpected and fascinating perspective character. It would be so easy to tell this story wholly from Ogion’s perspective, but I think making Dulse the protagonist was the right call. In particular, Dulse’s mind is starting to go. Le Guin presents this by utilizing flashbacks and connecting them to the present. This technique conveys Dulse’s disorientation and confusion so the reader experiences it alongside him... it’s hard to describe without actually reading the story. I also loved the little twist at the end regarding where Dulse learned the ancient magic that saves the island. There’s also a strong thematic connection to The Farthest Shore; death and becoming one with the rest of the world.

#4 - On The High Marsh (10/10)

A half-mad wanderer named Irioth comes upon a small settlement on the volcanic, marshy island of Semel. A murrain has been devastating the local cattle population, and Irioth offers his powers as a curer to heal the animals. He settles into a calm rural life with Gift, a widow working a small dairy. Though Gift likes Irioth, and the animals instinctively trust him, she senses something amiss with the man. Soon, Irioth’s dark past threatens to return and disturb the peace.

“Oh, yes,” Irioth said. “It was my fault.” But she forgave, and the grey cat was pressed up against his thigh, dreaming. The cat’s dreams came into his mind, in the low fields where he spoke with the animals, the dusky places. The cat leapt there, and then there was milk, and the deep soft thrilling. There was no fault, only the great innocence. No need for words. They would not find him here. He was not here to find. There was no need to speak any name. There was nobody but her, and the cat dreaming, and the fire flickering. He had come over the dead mountain on black roads, but here the streams ran slow among the pastures.

This story is a banger. It has a Western vibe— a stranger coming into a cattle town haunted by a mysterious past. Also cowboys. It’s an atmospheric story, and I think hits on the “small rural town” vibe better than Tehanu did. But there were several writing choices I especially liked.

We don’t learn Irioth’s name until a little while into the story; his physical description, temperament, and ability to immediately identify Gift’s true name just by looking at her makes one assume he’s Ged. He’s also got an interesting redemption arc, because it’s presented in a reverse order. We see Irioth’s genuine desire to do good, and his gentle and patient manner with animals and other people. He doesn’t even consider asking for payment for curing the murrain until Gift tells him he should. But there’s a sense that something is off; he’s paranoid, clearly running from something. The use-name he picks is Otak, a fictional ferret-like creature— which Gift asserts looks nice, but has sharp teeth.

Near the end, Ged actually does show up and explain what happened to Irioth. They have pretty similar backstories; both were powerful, arrogant young mages who messed with forces  they shouldn’t have, then went through great personal sacrifice to right the wrong (oh god the initial deception was intentional they’re narrative foils oh god). Ged embraced the darkest aspects of himself to avert calamity. Irioth came to Semel to escape Roke and atone by helping others. One detail I especially liked was that Irioth once considered healing beneath him, but now he takes a deep joy in using it to help. 

#5 - Dragonfly (8/10)

Irian lives a solitary life-- her father is a drunkard living in the ruins of their family’s once prosperous estate. Her closest relationship is with the local village witch, who named her in secret in the dead of night.  When a disgraced young wizard named Ivory comes to town, he sees Irian as a potential conquest. To gain power over her, he hatches a scheme; disguise Irian as a man, travel to Roke, and sneak her into the male-only wizard school— humiliating the great Masters.

But Irian is restless. She knows she has power, but her true nature is a mystery even to her. Irian sees Ivory’s plan as an opportunity to find answers from the most powerful wizards in the world. When the Doorkeeper actually lets her into the school, she finds herself in a magical and political conflict over the future of Roke— and discovers what exactly she is.

“Dark is bad,” said the Patterner. “Eh?”

Irian drew a deep breath and looked at him eye to eye as they sat there. “Only in dark the light,” she said.

This is one of those stories that has a rocky start, but a great second half. The first part of the novella felt dry to me; I’ve read plenty of tales about social outcasts with weird, unexplainable powers. On top of this, a chunk of the early narration is from Ivory’s POV, and he’s a complete tool. That can be a fun perspective to take, and I like the fact that he thinks he’s manipulating Irian when she’s the one pulling the strings. But since he’s an irrelevant character who disappears from the story halfway through, it feels like a waste to devote a huge chunk of the story to him.

However, once Irian arrives at Roke, the story gets much more interesting. Her presence at Roke causes a huge scandal that divides the Masters. Women being forbidden from Roke is a Series Thing at this point, but Earthsea is in an era of change (although I DO question that she’s the first woman to try it). The Finder demonstrated that women were pivotal in the foundation of Roke, something largely erased from history. Barring women stems from a power hungry bigot codifying it into tradition.

Irian finds some unexpected allies--minor characters in the previous books. The Doorkeeper continues to be the coolest motherfucker there. The Patterner is a major character in this story; he was in just one scene in The Farthest Shore, so I liked learning more about him. The Namer is the kind of guy you’d expect to be a stodgy traditionalist, so him siding with Irian is surprising. The Summoner, a heroic figure in previous books and stories, is a sinister villain here. As for the ending, well… if you didn’t see it coming, I’d wonder if you even read Tehanu. The same hints are there.

There were little particulars I liked, such as Irian moving into a decrepit hut that’s definitely Medra’s old home. My favorite detail is that this story has a parallel scene with The Finder. In The Finder, there’s a scene where an antagonist, Early, invades Roke in the form of a dragon. He lands on Roke Knoll, a site of power that reveals one’s true form. It turns him back into a human, leaving him defenseless when the residents of Roke attack him and repel his invasion. The reversal happens in Dragonfly. Irian gets attacked by one of the Masters while at Roke Knoll — and its magic turns her into her true form, a dragon. Props to whoever picked the cover design, since it references both scenes.

#6 - A Description of Earthsea

I’m not rating this since it’s basically a lore dump. It’s a deep dive into Earthsea’s history, languages, cultures, and other relevant world details. It’s the kind of bonus info a lot of fantasy series tack on as reference material.  According to Le Guin, she wrote this to get some idea of the timeline on each of these stories.

As a series, Earthsea has relatively little worldbuilding exposition. Sometimes characters reference legends or historical events, but usually the reader lacks the context to fully understand them. The focus is more on the lives of the characters and their personal experience of the world. I think something like A Description of Earthsea has benefits and drawbacks for the reader. On one hand it's nice to have some definitive information to tie things together. On the other, this does represent a loss of some of the mystery in the story.

I think this is the first thing in the series that even mentions homosexuality, so props for that I guess?

Closing Thoughts

A short story collection is always going to have high and low points. I tend to look at each story individually and score that way, but an average is always misleading. Diamond and Darkrose dragged the score down since there were only five stories total. But I enjoyed the majority of them. I am interested to see where the human/dragon subplot goes in the final installment; I assume Irian will show up at some point? We’ll see.

[sunshine304]

On to eps 25 + 26, my friends! It’s heating up!

Yang Jin was concerned because he saw Yu Wenzhi’s troups – but he definitely, absolutely was NOT concerned for Li Yan, no no! XD They keep on going together, but only... for 5 min or so? Until Li Yan tells him to go help A-Fei in town, since she can make the rest of the way herself (that worked so well before...). It’s cute how Yang Jin doesn’t want to go, but she makes puppy eyes at him and so he leaves.

I guess in the long run that isn’t such a bad decision to send him to A-Fei’s aid. 

Poor Li Yan of course meets an outpost that’s already infiltrated by Disha. At least the man helps her instead of selling her out. And then it turns out that Li Sheng didn’t even include a message, just sending her away from where the attack will happen. Oh Li Sheng... He could have thought about how the outpost might be in Disha’s pockets, though, since it wouldn’t be the first time. Anyway, Li Yan steals a horse and goes to find help.

So much stuff is happening at the same time! Yang Jin asks after the Intinerary Gang who surely will help him (good idea), while Chuchu listens in on the Elders talking about how Li Sheng is very likely dead. She is devastated. T_T

Yu Wenzhi starts distrusting Kou Dan, because she now mentions a rumoured hidden path to the 48 Strongholds. She’s all like, “What, it’s just a rumour.“ and even I side-eye her for that. He wants to set a trap for A-Fei and leaves.

Meanwhile, Xie Yun has already strongly hinted to A-Fei that it would be an advantage if they could get YWZ to distrust at least Kou Dan. A-Fei uses YWZ’s ruse for just that, basically telling Gu Tianxian that this was an assassination attempt lead by Mingfeng Sect. 

OMG the kiss by proxy!! I flailed!! Give me moooore! ♥

XY is off to distract GTX while A-Fei looks for YWZ's new hiding spot. But before that she stares into space, thrown by XY's proxy kiss. I swoon along with her. XD

Li Yan meets Li Jinrong, who was on her way back anyway since she missed her husband yet again. The army seems to have some problems, though General Wen is… perhaps downplaying? Anyway, LJR now knows that 48 Strongholds is under attack and hurries home.

Shen Tianshu has waited out the fire, it seems, and is now in front of the main gate to the 48 Strongholds. Also, YWZ’s private army has arrived. All in all, this huge combined army consists of about 30 people; 6 of them leave to find the secret path. I can’t get over the fact that the mean villains only have so few people! You really didn’t have a budget, huh? XD I mean srsly, there are definitely more people hiding at the 48 SH! XD

Look at his smug face! He always squints smugly at everyone, he’s so weird! XD

Love how XY is leading Disha around. Also happy that Wang Yibo could do lots of wirework in that scene, since he likes to do that stuff. XD Meanwhile, YWZ feels super threatened. Rightly so, asshole.

Aww the Elders Zhao and Zhang at the 48 SH want to go fighting! I actually enjoy that this show has many older characters as well.

Aaaand A-Fei has found YWZ! And she fights! And then there’s Yang Jin and the IG to the rescue! I love how they’re all fighting, while YWZ just stands there and watches with Kou Dan protecting him. Kinda. I cheered for the IG just fighting with big sticks and whatever else was at hand against that trained (? I assume) private army with swords – and they win by brute force. XD

A-Fei is all confused and Yang Jin explains, “I met Li Yan on the road and she started crying. She’s so annoying, I can’t say no to her!” He is so whipped. XD

YWZ really is a totally useless fighter. A-Fei reaches him and overpowers him easily. What kind of position does that guy have in the government? Doesn’t seem to be an army position… Since they won they want to get Disha to stop the attack on the 48 SH.

Meanwhile I fucking knew it that Ma Jili would betray them! Did he actually kill that one Elder? Or did they really encounter Disha and the Elder got killed there? Hm.

Anyway, look at Chuchu grabbing a sword! That was cool, you go queen! Though she didn’t get to use it, I’m sure there will be another chance for her to fuck some shit up!

A-Fei is so devastated that Uncle Ma betrayed her. I feel you, A-Fei. And then Uncle Ma feels guilty (or… was also misled by Kou Dan?) and fights KD, which doesn’t end good for him. 

That fight between A-Fei and KD was really cool. Loved how they used the end credits song! I’m a sucker for that song! A-Fei gets her revenge and doesn’t even watch KD die.

Seriously, those poor kids will all be so traumatised. Yeah in CQL they all went to war at 19 or so, but they at least all had fighting experience in a real life situation against monsters, fierce corpses and whatnot. The kids from 48 SH grew up sheltered with this kind of fighting just a theoretical exercise. 

OH nooo Xie Yun uses the super power needle! O_O He sees that 48 SH will likely lose (how, against only 20 Disha ppl, IDK…) and decides on that, because he can’t lose A-Fei.

Look at his conflicted face!!!

He also throws some exposition in there, that Chuchu’s necklace is the main key for the HTYS which he is looking for. Okay. Whatever, now pls fuck Shen Tianshu up, my man.

He does. He also tells A-Fei that he wants to enjoy himself here. (Meaning he doesn’t have long afterwards anyway and wants to go out with a bang I guess. T_T) STS is shocked because it seems that Xie Yun has some SERIOUS FIGHTING SKILLZ.

This is getting really long... XD

Xie Yun fights and it's pretty cool! A-Fei also keeps fighting, but she gets weaker, and also seems overwhlemed by the situation. I can’t blame her.

And then Li Jinrong signals her arrival and Shen Tianshu kinda panics while A-Fei decides that this is a good moment to faint. She does a lot of fainting in this show.

Have this gif for the drama of it all. XD

Yay, Chuchu has found Li Sheng! She had to wade through some corpses for that at the river bank, but she is a badass and doesn’t care. MVP Chuchu! ♥

Excuuuse me!? STS punches (!!) Li Jinrong's horse. Seriously, asshole?! WTF?! LJR fucks him up anyway, destroys his metal hand (he later has a new one so I guess he just... has a lot of these things lying around?). Disha + YWZ’s troups finally retreat, and Chuchu immediately tells them where Li Sheng is. He is now safe, yay!

Okay this shot of LJR is really cool.

There LJR goes again with her tough mother routine. XD A-Fei is awake and happy to see her; she also aks after Xie Yun, and her mother is like, “Do you know who he is?” and A-Fei conveniently does not mention that she knows he's royalty and just tells her the important stuff like, “He does poetry and songs to make a living.” LJR just dismisses her with, “We'll talk about him later.” Oh oh.

Cute scene with A-Fei and Li Sheng, who tease each other good-naturedly. Li Sheng now can admit that A-Fei is better than him at martial arts, but he doesn't want to give up – perhaps he'll manage to be better than her one day anyway? ;D I like his growth so far.

Xie Yun comes over to flirt and invite himself into A-Fei's bedroom. XD But this time A-Fei flirts back! It's the, “I know I'm good looking, but you have to pay money to stare at me,” and A-Fei answers, “You can stare at me too and we'll call it even,” scene. XY is surprised and delighted. XD

That whole conversation between these two. ♥ T_T A-Fei knows XY so well by know that she sees through his act of putting on a happy face whenever he's worried. She wants to ask so many questions but doesn't because she thinks he won't answer them honestly anyway. T_T And she sincerely asks him if he's alright. T_T He's obviously thrown by all of this, and he talks around some things and yep, he isn't really honest. And then she asks too many questions anyway and he uses her accupoints to knock her out. My God, just talk to her!!

And there's the other ship that's shyly circling each other! Chuchu and Li Sheng have an awkward conversation, because now that it's not live or death they don't know how to act. XD He wants to look for Chuchu's brother and they perhaps could live at the 48 SH? *puppyeyes* I mean seriously, where is that kid?!

Shen Tianshu is pissed, Yu Wenzhi is too. He's going on about how Xie Yun (=Xiao Chuan) should be dead, damnit, since he was poisoned 10 years ago with that super rare and deadly Bone Piercing Blue poison (we remember, the one that 9th Madam Duan also suffered from until Li Zheng helped her). We get STS exposition that a master must've helped XY so that he survived (and the master should've died of it), but now that XY used the power needle his meridians are no longer blocked and the poison is free to circulate again = He only has a few months to live. OH NO! T_T They don't know if he's also looking for the HYTS but want to keep looking anyway; Disha masters are sent out after the two men yet again bitch at each other. XD

Sometimes it's nice to actually get some exposition here...

There's a funeral scene at 48 SH with cool music and all of them swearing their oath again to do their best with a clear conscience before Heaven, Earth, and themselves. That “clear conscience” idiom is really popular I think?

A talk between Xie Yun and Li Jinrong. She thanks him and seems sincere enough, but she also seems wary/distrustful of him (well, he fetched her ill husband to go to war again, sooo...). He yet again circumvents actually answering her questions about his former master (although I assume she at least has a hunch who he is), and he tells her she should perhaps be nicer to her daughter and compliment her from time to time. Well, I guess he's dying anyway and hasn't anything to lose. XD

She comments on his pale complexion, is he perhaps ill? Wow the passive-aggressiveness in this scene from LJR. XD Then she hands him a sigil to pass the guards and basically throws him out. Charming. Good start into that in-laws situation. XD

OMG Li Sheng sends pastries to Chuchu! ♥ And Li Yan is all excited, like, “Yes please fetch your little brother, I always wanted a little brother, that would be awesome!” XD

Xie Yun and A-Fei have a romantic stroll under the not-moonlight. ♥ They are holding hands, be still my heart! ♥  While they are hand holding we also get a MV of their best moments so far.

She tells him she's working on a gift for him, and she wants to help him look for the HYTS since it seems to be a shitty thing and she doesn't want it to fall into Disha's hands. Xie Yun would like to stay at 48 SH and of course doesn't tell A-Fei about his talk wit LRJ nor that he's, you know, dying. It's obvious that he will leave without her because he doesn't want to drag her into this (the trope of “I know what's best for you without giving you a real chance to make a decision yourself” ugh) and also because he's fucking dying. OMG. T_T

We end with A-Fei knocking on his door the next morning (where he very obviously isn't anymore) to give him her gift. Before she can actually see that he isn't there Chuchu intercepts her, so A-Fei tries to give her back the necklace. Chuchu is all like, “Nooo you keep it, it's far saver with you!” so there's that. This will surely be important later. The two girls leave for town to fetch medicine, while Xie Yun sits near the river and sadly plays his flute. T_T

[its-chelisey-stuff]

It’s okay to not be okay, final thoughts

This drama was like a delicacy, a delicious dessert you’re not quite sure how it’d taste but have been eagerly awaiting... and it did not dissapoint. While this drama had a story, a mistery at the core of everything that united (or reunited) our characters in more ways than one, this drama was more about the people, rather than the story.

First thing first, I gotta say that I was in love with MoonYoung’s character from the start, the very first scene we saw her aaaaannd 16 eps later, she was still my favorite in the drama. When have you seen a female lead like her? Not only was my sight directed towards her thanks to her amazing wardrobe, but it was also because she had this magnetic presence that it always lead me back to her everytime she was on screen. But I knew she was gonna suffer (more than she had already done) and the drama did not waste time to get into that.

My girl went through so.freaking.much. I was almost like KangTae at one point, in the sense that I wanted her to remain ignorant of all the awful things around her. Because, while there certainly wasn’t a competition of “who’s got the most terrible childhood” I feel like she, regrettably, had it the hardest. Two abusive parents, yikes and then one tried to kill the other. 

And then she practically had to grow up on her own. I really really wish the drama could’ve spared her some of the pain she experienced, especially with KangTae (cause let’s be real, was it neccesary so much rejection even after he had accepted his and her feelings?) but she started to, slowly, be more aware of other people’s feelings and grievances, she became more empathetic. And I was very proud of that, but to me, that was the only grown up thing she needed to do.

Then we have KangTae, whom I adored and felt bad for because he essentially felt he was born just to take care of his brother, and while I don’t think this was really the intention of his mom or what she saw him as, she still made some damage that he had to carry for two decades. But, KangTae was a very repressed man, even beyond his lustful desires hahahaha and he was used to bottle everything up: anger, sadness, regret, bitterness, pain, etc. And so when his “safety pin” started to slowly be taken off him, things were not always pretty. I’m sympathetic to his pain, but also I was never his fan when he snapped, wrongly, at MoonYoung, or other for that matter. Or when he concealed some truths from MY. But again, I recognize this was part of the conflict of his character and of course, without these things his part in the drama would’ve felt incomplete and like there was nothing in there to improve, to make him grow.

I was so glad that he learned how to have fun, how to let go and how to smile with genuine happiness.

Hyung. Our dear Hyung. When the drama started, you could feel how hard it was for KangTae to acomodate everything around him for his brother’s needs, so I guess that took my attention away from SangTae and made me focus on the little brother more, to a point where I could just see how difficult life had been for him. 

However, the drama kept coming back to Hyung, obviously, and I started to really see him. Not as the “work” KangTae have been dedicated to his whole life, but as a the person he was. And boy, when I gave him the chance (and it took me a while, my mistake!) he just stole my heart and I just wished desperately for his happiness. Actually, I wanted him to find his own path and leave the OTP to their alone time at the start of the drama, because I kept thinking “this codependency it’s not healthy” but that changed when Hyung started to accept MY into his little family, because it showed me he was capable of accepting change and do well with it. By the end, I loved him almost as much as I love my Moonyoung and a bit more than KangTae (sorry!) and that’s why the ending caught me by surprise. Careful with what you wish for, I guess. I wanted Hyung’s happiness as much as I wanted the OTP together, but I had dropped the thought of him going his own way.

Still, I was so proud of him in the end. SangTae was the best older brother ever. Also, Oh Jung Se, sir, you did a great job, *in MoonYoung’s voice* WOW. The acting was wonderful in this drama, but for me, he was the one who did the best job. *fervently clapping*

I really don’t have lots of thoughts on the rest of the characters. The friends and ahjuma, the director from the hospital, the staff and the patients each helped the drama come to life and even the cameos were touching and inspired something in our main 3 (as seen in the book by MY and ST). I do have a tiny problem about Joori’s character, though. Because in the beginning it looked like she was going to be trouble and honestly, I would’ve loved to see her as a villain and to hate her hahaha she had the potential but in this drama the “evil” was already established and it wasn’t exactly just a person. So I guess I’m okay with that. Still, a bit of a missed oportunity, cause by the end I did not care much for her character. Ooops.

Finally, the OTP. If we go by the Disney definition, they certainly did not have a fairy tale kinda story BUT if we look at the real fairy tales, the ones that MoonYoung grew up with and later, wrote about, then their story was every bit as creepy and tragic as your average Adersen story. Fun, right? 

The guy who couldn’t smile a genuine happy smile and didn’t know how to have fun and the girl who was an empty can and didn’t care for her emotions and even less for the emotions of others. They found happiness together (with Hyung’s help, of course). Also THAT CHEMISTRY!! It was on freaking fire. I remember saying I would never forgive this drama if they didn’t put at least one steamy kiss scene LOL and thankfully, I have nothing to forgive, because they delivered. And they even went all the way *wink wink*. I guess, I gotta thank Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Yeji for being incredibly atractive and have that amazingly sizzling chemistry. You did great guys.

ASDFGHJKDFGH!!!

Like I said, this story was character driven and that could only have worked if it had amazing characters, and thank goodness, it did. So, rather than missing this drama, I’m gonna miss our trio a lot. But it does makes me happy that they became a happy family and that they’re healing and had the courage to find their happiness. A very inspiring message this drama gave, without a doubt.

[undertheinfluencerd]

https://ift.tt/3zUSQTu #

WARNING! Major SPOILERS ahead for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

The Ten Rings have been part of the MCU since its beginning, but Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings finally reveals its full origin, along with that of its founder and leader, The Mandarin. The Ten Rings were among the first antagonists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with one of their cells kidnapping and injuring Tony Stark before providing him with the catalyst to turn his life around and become the superhero, Iron Man. Since then, The Ten Rings have had a series of small, yet notable appearances in MCU material, but Shang-Chi is the first properly to properly depict the mysterious and deadly organization.

The Ten Rings were seemingly the villains of 2013’s Iron Man 3, but the real villains turned out to be Aldrich Killian and his corrupt think tank, AIM. Killian and AIM appropriated the iconography of The Ten Rings and had washed-up actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) masquerade and pretend to be a warlord when he was, in fact, a fake interpretation of The Mandarin. This successfully covered up Killian’s Extremis experiments, but infuriated the actual Mandarin and caused the warlord to step out of the shadows and seek revenge. Thanks to the Marvel one-shot All Hail The King, the MCU established that the real Ten Rings were led by a man known as The Mandarin, and he was far more dangerous than the MCU had previously implied.

Related: Why SHIELD Wasn’t Aware Of & Didn’t Try To Stop The Mandarin

Shang-Chi effectively recontextualizes the terrorist group with a particular focus on their leader, The Mandarin, aka Xu Wenwu. A truly legendary figure who lives up to his seemingly exaggerated reputation, Wenwu’s humanity and complexity resulted in him being one of the MCU’s most compelling villains, especially when juxtaposed with his incredible powers and near-immortality. Although it took three phases of buildup, The Ten Rings and the true Mandarin were worth the wait, and with the Ten Rings continuing to exist by the end of Shang-Chi, the organization will continue to menace the world as they have for over a millennium.

The Ten Rings began with The Mandarin, aka Xu Wenwu. Wenwu’s exact age is unknown, but he may have discovered his signature ten bracelet-like rings before the Middle Ages. Legends say that Wenwu discovered the rings in either a tomb or a crater, but in any case, they extended his lifespan, allowing him to remain in his physical and mental prime well into the 21st century. The powerful Ten Rings also provided him with fantastic physical powers, allowing him to annihilate armies of his enemies single-handedly. Wenwu’s intelligence and wisdom, augmented by his longevity, soon inspired followers with undying loyalty to their leader.

The Ten Rings quickly grew in size and influence, gaining followers across the world for entire generations. From the shadows, The Ten Rings killed, stole, and manipulated as needed to influence world history. Jackson Norriss, the Ten Rings member who kidnapped Trevor Slattery, acknowledged the scope of the organization, referring to it as a faith. The description is fitting, considering the criminal empire’s sheer age and influence, not to mention its seemingly immortal leader, with even SHIELD and The Avengers unaware of its full breadth. . The Mandarin briefly took a break from leading his criminal empire upon meeting Ying Li and starting a family with her. Her tragic death, however, sends Wenwu back into the life of a warlord, and thus The Ten Rings’ sinister machinations resumed.

The Ten Rings’ first appearance in the MCU was in 2008’s Iron Man, in which an Afghanistan-based Ten Rings cell kidnapped Tony Stark. Upon building his Mark I Iron Man suit, Tony fought his way through their forces and escaped captivity. This cell’s forces were defeated once again by Iron Man, now in his advanced Mark III suit. Stark thwarted their attempts to use his stolen weaponry and rescued numerous civilians in the process. The cell was later betrayed by Obadiah Stane, who had their leader, Raza, and the rest of the cell’s operatives executed. After Iron Man, The Ten Rings had numerous minor appearances in MCU properties.

Related: Shang-Chi Ending Explained: 6 Biggest Questions, Answered

In Iron Man 2, Ivan Vanko is able to receive fake documents from a Ten Rings operative, thus allowing him to travel to Monaco and fulfil his ambition of killing Tony Stark. The fact that the Ten Rings was keen on killing Tony Stark is nothing new, however. The Ten Rings also appear in an Iron Man 2 prequel comic, along with similar promotional one-shot comics for The Avengers and Iron Man 3, where Ten Rings operatives are defeated by Black Widow and the recast War Machine, respectively. Vladimir Ranskahov, a Russian mobster featured in the well-received and critically acclaimed Marvel’s Daredevil season 1, is affiliated with The Ten Rings, as evidenced by their symbol tattooed on his arm. Similarly, a member of the Ten Rings shadowy organization is responsible for accompanying Mitchell Carson and his Hydra enforcers in 2015’s Ant-Man, before they are swiftly and soundly defeated by Scott Lang.

The Ten Rings and The Mandarin are the main antagonists of Shang-Chi, finally putting the organization at the forefront of an MCU property without any twists or turns such as those seen in Iron Man 3. In addition to revealing the leader and origins, Shang-Chi shows the Ten Rings’ most elite members, such as Razor Fist, Death Dealer, and Shang-Chi himself in his youth. The Mandarin perishes at the end of the film but is quickly replaced by his daughter, Xu Xialing. As the new leader of The Ten Rings, Xialing is now in charge of perhaps the MCU’s most dangerous and influential crime organization, and although Shang-Chi implies that his sister will dismantle their criminal operations, this remains to be seen in future MCU stories.

In Marvel’s mainstream comic universe, The Mandarin and The Ten Rings have vastly different origins. The Mandarin, whose identity is unknown, discovered ten rings of alien origin, each one being worn on a different finger and granting him a different superpower. With his genius intellect and newfound superpowers, The Mandarin soon became the archnemesis of Iron Man. The Ten Rings, however, originated in the MCU but were introduced into the comics continuity in Ironheart’s comics, which starred Riri Williams, a new Marvel hero with similar armored suits to Tony Stark’s. The Ten Rings of Marvel’s comic universe are not affiliated with the classic version of The Mandarin. Given the popularity of the MCU’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, however, the two may be connected someday.

Next: Why Shang-Chi Calls Himself Shaun In America

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The post The Ten Rings Complete MCU Timeline Explained | Screen Rant appeared first on undertheinfluencerd.net.

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[redrascal1]

Why being permabanned from the JCF was one of the best things that could have happened to me

Ever since TFA I’ve been contributing to SW forums, because it’s interesting to see other’s opinions and also a source of information. Naturally not everyone agrees with you, so I’ve often crossed verbal swords. I quit one forum after being ‘warned’ for defending myself against a Kylo hater rather than reporting him; largely because I’ve never liked the idea of reporting anyone...it just isn’t me. I’d rather stand up to them instead.

Everyone is entitled to like or dislike a fictional character or ship, and entitled to argue the point. But I do not think I have ever come across such toxic hatred for a fictional character and those who like him as I have on the Jedi Council Forums.

I have been accused of ‘sexism’ for saying I didn’t like the way TROS ended with Rey as a perennial virgin( ironically I personally am, and likely to stay that way as I’m asexual...) because I found it unnatural (including myself in that) as Rey had shown a deep desire for family and children. By having her embrace the tired old ‘space monk’ code of the Jedi she is forever denying herself that. I have had the weary old ‘promoting the sexual abuse of women’ rubbish aimed at me because I was a reylo - until they destroyed Rey and reimagined her as a horrible judgemental prig. All this I’ve experienced before so I’m used to it...but what I really find disturbing is the attitude of Finn fans. And two Finn fans in particular.

I’ll call them A & J. Both are women. One confirmed white, not confirmed by the other. And their behaviour towards anyone who likes Kylo - even those who aren’t reylos - is nothing short of bullying.

A is a huge Leia fan. If you have the audacity to point out that the character was a neglectful mother, which Carrie herself confirmed (’ I never should have sent him away’; Leia’s own words) then immediately A accuses you of rampant sexism, and ‘how DARE you ‘demonise’ Leia like that!’

You are then attacked for saying a mother should not have a career (I never said that) and that Kylo was an ‘overprivileged brat’ who deserved ‘everything he got’ for the way he treated his ‘wonderful, heroic parents.’

A has chosen to ignore the fact that during the promotion for TFA, the cast actually stated that Han and Leia were less than stellar parents. Heroes, unfortunately, often are. Leia was focusing on the rebuilding of the Republic and Han was uncomfortable around his son because he was FS. Neither Harrison or Carrie, both parents themselves, were unhappy with this. It’s stated in several ‘canon’ sources. Which A has chosen to ignore, insisting that Bloodline pointed out Kylo as a ‘happy, normal’ child when that was what Leia believed him to be, despite not being around enough to know what he actually felt.

And not one mention of how it was TROS who truly demonised Leia. Whereas both the previous films showed her failures as well meaning mistakes, TROS showed her as a woman who chose not to train her own son when she was capable of doing it herself. It assassinated her character beyond repair and I often wonder if Carrie would have agreed with Leia being portrayed like that if she was still with us.

What worries me is that A is married and a teacher by profession - and also a mother, in real life. And she made one of the most disturbing comments I’ve read, that it’s a ‘good thing’ for women to put their careers before their children as it shows them ‘they are not the centre of your universe’.

We are entitled to like/dislike fictional characters.....but I’m really spooked because this comment by A has nothing to do with SW but is her personal view on real life. And I don’t think any parent, male or female,should put their careers before their families.

And ..then there is J, a dedicated Finn and JB fan. Again, her own choice. But does she really have the right to accuse anyone who doesn’t like either of being a card carrying, knuckle dragging white supremacist?

She accused me as ‘putting the white character before JB’s role as ‘black male lead’ because I simply said the ST ‘should have been Ben’s story’ in a Finn thread. Later, I was permabanned for mentioning Kylo in the same Finn thread - despite other posters often mentioning Kylo, Rey and Finn in threads devoted to other characters. But it isn’t just me. Anyone - anyone - who says the slightest negative thing about JB, such as calling him out on his horrible SM posts after TROS, is accused of racism. Anyone who criticises the Finn character is seen as racist. And although yes, I agree Finn was poorly handled in TROS, I can’t help but get angry when they accuse Rian Johnson of ‘destroying’ the character’ in TLJ when he gave him his own story arc and love interest and did a damn sight more with him than Abrams, who saw him as a lovesick groupie whose role was to follow Rey around shrieking her name every five minutes. 

Most of all, I am heartily sick and tired of them accusing AD and Kylo of ‘taking Finn’s rightful role off him’

Excuse me? Kylo had nothing to do with it, he was established as the villain and it certainly wasn’t AD’s fault. He simply played the part. Finn was on the ‘other side’. If his character was reduced it’s down to the survival of the Poe character (some fans, to their credit, have also said this) who was slated to be killed off but wasn’t. But if anyone ‘stole’ anyone’s thunder it’s Rey - she was meant to be the main protagonist of the ST, not Finn. Kylo was the ‘villain’. Finn had more screen time than Kylo did in all three of the films. 

Boyega is simply mad that he wasn’t Rey’s romantic love interest, despite DR herself stating the characters were meant to be ‘just friends’. He wasn’t interested in the fact that Finn had  two beautiful ladies interested in him, he wanted to ‘lay the pipe’ with Rey. And this lies at the heart of his dissatisfaction with his character’s direction. but is has nothing to do with AD or the Kylo character. Finn fans refuse to accept that as the blood descendant of the OT characters of course Kylo/Ben had to have a major role in the ST. Finn was never conceived as a ‘lead’ character, and it is both spiteful and unfair for JB and his fans to assume it’s because of his ethnicity.

I’m not the only one who has been targeted by J...she has driven three posters to my knowledge off the JCF, one who isn’t even a Kylo fan, with her endless spurious accusations. Yet she gets away with it....because A is a major supporter. And A is a moderator.

As for me, I tend to have a stubborn streak and although I repeatedly told myself engaging with the toxic fantatics permeating the JCF isn’t good for me, I just couldn’t stop. I just had to repeatedly defend Kylo and AD from the increasingly nasty comments, despite it doing nothing for my mental health and personal happiness. So, when I was finally permabanned for once again mentioning Kylo in a ‘some other character’ thread, I’m actually relieved, because I’m now ‘off’ the site. I still read it just to see how the other posters are getting on, and I’ve noticed most of those who like Kylo and even AD are disappearing. 

A and J are bit by bit destroying anyone who doesn’t share their opinions and driving them away, reducing the forum to a tedious one character love fest. In short, anyone who doesn’t agree with them isn’t welcome. So much for freedom of speech.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

The Silmarillion as a TV/Netflix Show (Part 5)

Season 5 centres on Túrin, Tuor, and Dior - and, later, Elwing and Eärendil. The last two seasons have looked hopeful for a while but ended on tragic notes (the Bragollach and the Nirnaeth); this season is going to flip things by being almost unremittingly tragic but ending on a hopeful note.

There are a few key things to do here:

1) Draw out parallels and common threads between our main characters. At first I wanted to shift the timeline a little and have key events in Túrin and Tuor’s lives happening at the same time: Túrin as outlaw, Tuor as thrall and then outlaw; Túrin in Nargothrond, Tuor in Gondolin; Túrin and Finduilas, Tuor and Idril. But it felt like there were too many big events happening simultaneously, and it was hard to fit them all in. Still, the parallels between the cousins are present.

Dior needs more characterization in order to be able to hold his own, narratively speaking; we have very little on him in canon.

2) The Fëanorians will be very important in the last few episodes of the season, so they need to be worked into the storyline of at least some of the earlier episodes to keep them in view. I’m going to go with them being based on Amon Ereb for this period; it fits some of Tolkien’s versions, and having them in Ossiriand at the same time as Beren and Lúthien and Dior would feel like a massive Chekhov’s Gun that is never fired.

So, with that in mind:

Episode 1: Túrin is going to take centre stage here, with the episode covering everything from his departure from Hithlum up to the death of Saeros and Túrin’s departure from Doriath. (And the episode will start with the Words of Húrin and Morgoth.) There will also be a few scenes from Tuor’s and Dior’s childhoods, which were comparatively more stable. Since Beren and Lúthien had such a large part in the last season it will be nice to see their experiences of parenthood. Lúthien, never having met mortal children, will be shocked at how fast Dior grows up. (He definitely ages on a Mannish scale - he’s married at 22, a king at 27, and dead at 30.)

Near the beginning, the episode will also include a scene where the Fëanorians attempt to invade Doriath and are turned back by the Girdle of Melian. It doesn’t function as a direct, physical barrier; it causes confusion and disorientation and strange visions and a loss of sense of direction, and you look around and find you’ve ended up outside Doriath again. This eerie, hallucinatory quality fits Melian’s background as a Maia of Lórien, Master of Dreams. (And hey, if you can work some subtle prophetic/ominous foreshadowing into the visions, all the better!) The purpose of the scene is to show that the Fëanorian’s aren’t idle; they do want pursue the Silmaril, but for the moment it is beyond their reach. The brothers will have varying levels of enthusiasm about the plan, with Celegorm and Curufin being the ringleaders.

Episode 2: Heavily focuses on Túrin’s time as an outlaw, from his first meeting with the bandits through to Dor-Cúarthol, the fall of Amon Rudh, and the death of Beleg. This is a lot of material - joining the bandits, becoming their leader, the first meeting with Beleg, finding Mîm and Amon Rudh, Dór-Cuarthol, and the fall of Amon Rudh and the death of Beleg. There may be a need to streamline it, with Beleg only finding the outlaws once they are at Amon Rudh, and staying with them then.

There’s a lot of good characters here, and a lot of good personality confllicts - it’s practically a short movie in itself. Particular care needs to be taken with Mîm, who cannot be allowed to become a caricature.

This episode introduces Anglachel, so it would be good to have a short Gondolin scene with Maeglin (bearer of Anguirel) to establish the symmetry. And also to keep Gondolin in the viewers’ minds. A short scene in Nargothrond showing their reaction to Dór-Cúarthol (positive: it is or was their realm, and he’s doing more to defend it that they are) will set up later events,

Episode 3: The focus splits between Túrin in Nargothrond - particularly his relationships with Gwindor and Finduilas, and his growing prominence, with him becoming de-facto in charge at the end of the episode - and Tuor as a thrall and later outlaw. Tuor’s personality really comes to the fore here: he’s patient, and steady, and kind. He puts up with considerable abuse an a thrall, escapes when there’s an opportune moment, and can’t be effectively pursued because he’s made friends with all of his captor’s hounds. (I especially like that last fact.) The episode ends with him leaving Dor-lómin by the Gate of the Noldor.

This is also a good time to build up the romance between Dior and Nimloth. Nimloth must be Laiquendi, as those are the only other people Beren and Lúthien would meet in Ossiriand; I rather like the idea of them being childhood friends, to offset some of the more love-at-first-sight romances. Dior is now in his late teens and - this is important - very, very good-looking, even by elf standards. He’s also very interested in his Doriathrin heritage, and asking his parents a lot of questions about his grandparents; that sets up his determination to be Eluchíl later on.

Episode 4: Tuor’s meeting with Ulmo and his coming to Gondolin, the Fall of Nargothond, and Túrin in Dórlomin. The fall of Nargothrond and deaths of Gwindor and Finduilas form a nice counterpoint/contrast with Tuor’s meetings with Voronwë and Idril and his arrival at Gondolin. Túrin’s impulsive actions in Dor-lómin contrast with Tuor’s approach in the prior episode as well.

Episode 5: Focus is on Túrin’s story. Journey of Morwen and Nienor to Nargothrond and its consequences, and Túrin in Brethil, through to his slaying of Glaurung and his and Nienor’s deaths.

For extra bonus irony points, parallel the wedding of Túrin and Níniel with the weddings of Idril and Tuor and of Dior and Nimloth.

Episode 6: Wanderings of Húrin through to the Sack of Doriath and Beren and Dior’s fight with the dwarf-army. (Dior isn’t mentioned as being part of this fight in the Silm, but it’s an excellent moment to include him here.) The Fëanorians reenter the scene, attempting to intercept the dwarf army carrying the Silmaril, but arriving too late. This is the best chance they’ve had st recovering a Silmaril yet - they’re not going to ignore it.

The line “while Lúthien held the Silmaril no elf would dare assail her” is typically read as it just being something no one would consider on a moral level - and that’s a valid reading - but I like the idea that the Fëanorians aren’t going after her because they’re freaking terrified of her. This is the woman who defeated Morgoth single-handedly! Holding one of the most powerful artifacts ever created! Who knows what she could do! (The Fëanorians absolutely make concessions to practicality when it comes to the Oath - otherwise they would have attacked Angband sometime in the 400 years of the Siege, or after the Nirnaeth as a way to die pursuing their oath in a decent way rather than slaughtering kin. It’s only the final attack by Maedhros and Maglor after the War of Wrath that they attempt in the face of impossibility, and by that time I think suicide-by-Valarin-army makes up a solid portion of their motivation.)

Episode 7: The refounding of Doriath, the Second Kinslaying, and the capture and treachery of Maeglin. Broad theme of the episode being Bad Elvish Behaviour all round, with elves doing Morgoth’s work either directly (Maeglin) or on their own initiative (the Fëanorians).

My idea on the refounding of Doriath, and on Dior’s title of Eluchíl (Thingol’s Heir) is that this quickly and breifly becomes the core of Elvendom in Beleriand. Dior, as Lúthuen’s son and Melian’s grandson, likely has some degree of ‘magical’ power beyond what is usual for elves. Not enough to reestablish the Girdle of Melian, but enough to provide some general deterrance against evil forces. Doriath is also, for the first time, open to all the other free peoples of Beleriand, and is the only true realm remaining aside from secret and mysterious Gondolin. Not only do the Doriathrin Sindar and some of the Laiquendi and the northern grey-elves unite around Doriath, various Noldor, remants of lost realms and destroyed armies, join them. Dior is becoming in truth what Thingol claimed to be: King of Beleriand. All the more so when the Silmaril comes to him and Doriath blossoms like a memory of Valinor in the Ages of the Trees.

And this would fit with why the Fëanorians would regard Dior as ‘proud’, this would offend them more than anything, because what he’s achieving is exactly Fëanor once boasted that he would achieve, long ago in Tirion. This would fit with the sheer visciousness of the Second Kinslaying, with the abandonment of Dior’s young sons in the forest. Celegorm’s people aren’t even thinking in terms of hostages; they just want to destroy Dior’s entire family line, because his existence, his kingship, what he’s achieved are such an affront.

But Elwing escapes, and the Silmaril is still out of their hands.

(The attack is at Yule, whuch sets up a strong and deliberate parallel - Morgoth’s earlier attacks on the Lamps and the Trees were also at times of festival/celebration, so the Fëanorians’ actions are being deliberately equated with his.)

Episode 8: The Fall of Gondolin. This is your absolutely epic big battle scene. Balrogs! Dragons! Eagles! Maeglin acting like a cackling B-movie villain! (I have not read The Fall of Gondolin, but I’ve hear that Idril swordfights Maeglin in it, and this absolutely needs to happen.) Ecthelion kills a Gothmog! Glorfindel kills a balrog! It’s tragic, but it’s also extremely exciting television (unlike the kinslaying the previous week, which was mostly just really depressing and horrific.)

The episode ends with the survivors of Gondolin making their way to Sirion, where the survivors of Doriath have already settled. I think that the survivors of Nargothrond should also be there, to keep things simple and allow for some extra drama.

Episode 9: This one starts with a timeskip, so we can have adult Eärendil and Elwing. The episode is a quieter one, mainky setup for later events: the departure of Tuor and Idril, the marriage of Eärendil and Elwing, the birth of the twins, and Eärendil’s departure to seek the aid of the Valar. The voyage of Eärendil is dramatic and can take up some of the episode.

Episode 10: The Third Kinslaying, the destruction of the Fëanorian base on Amon Ereb, the voyage of Eärendil and Elwing to Valinor, and the Valar’s decision to go to war. The nain reason I wanted the Nargothrondim in Sirion is so that we can get Celebrimbor fighting against the Fëanorian forces here, because that just increases the level of emotional drama. The whole thing’s a traumatic mess. Fëanoruan solidiers throwing down their swords and surrendering. Fëanorian soldiers switching sides to defend the people of Sirion. It’s hard to overstate how teagic this is - here is almost the last remnant of elves in Beleriand, and they are being destroyed not by Morgoth (from whom they would be protected by Ulmo’s waters), but by their own people.

But at the end of the episode, Valinor is marshalling for war, and things are finally. finally, looking like they could get better.

[ellanainthetardis]

Alright, this will be my review for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes so obviously spoilers under the cut.

Also obviously, this is my opinion, I force no one to share it and I’m happy to discuss the book with anyone who wants to. 

First off, I won’t go into all the deep themes in the books. It seems obvious to me there’s a very clever allegory for a contrat social at work here but since I am not very much interested in that, I will leave it aside. It’s well done, I think, but I am more a character driven sort of reader than theme driven and the debate over “are we the product of our environment or is man a beast at heart” is a bit null here. Surely enough, as one of the quotes at the beginning implies, the whole book more or less struggles to show Dr Gaul somehow turns Coryo into a monster to her Frankenstein… Sure, he seems to hesitate between right and wrong, the nature of the two etc etc. But, really, I have troubles relating to a character questioning the nature of man when that character is so plainly a psychopath himself.

I’m sorry. I said it.

Did I love Snow in this book? Sure. Even when he was being bad, I loved him. What’s not to love? He’s completely over-dramatic. All the time. He’s a complex character with Draco Malfoy vibes and who tries to do well by his family. But he is also sick in the head and that predates Dr Gaul’s little mind games. Can we argue it’s because of his traumatic childhood? Maybe. It doesn’t change the fact he equals love with possession, does not seem to experience remorse nor guilt – or at least not very long and he’s  very quick to rationalize it – and has a natural ability to mimic or force himself to act as is expected in any given situation. He doesn’t react  to things, you will notice, he behaves the way he thinks people expects him to.

So, he is sick. And since he is sick, the whole debate through his head about the nature of violence, men being beasts without laws, freedom versus enforcement, right and wrong, etc seems void.

Let’s leave that aside for now.

The question you will probably ask me is: did you like the book? And the answer I will give is yes I did. I did enjoy the book. At least the first two third of it.

It’s fast paced, it’s engaging, it’s easy to read…

What I like most is the worldbuilding. What a difference a 3rd pov makes… I mean we finally got all the world building we deserved. And the names. Actually, there were so many names in there I’m pretty sure she threw them as a joke. But, yeah. Everything I reproach Thg was fixed here: we have a more consistent idea of how the Games work out of the arena, we know the currency used is dollars (which we didn’t up until now), we have a  better idea of how the Capitol works as a society, about the working of Peacekeepers and Districts… I quite enjoyed learning more about the 1st war and the post war world too.

I also enjoyed the Capitol families Cameos – and I was very wary about them if you read some of my posts pre-released. They were nice nods, it wasn’t too on the nose…  I am relieved beyond measure not to have seen a mention of an Abernathy or a Trinket – or an Everdeen or a Mellark, I guess – mostly because that means we are still free to stick to our own hcs. (it’s not that important but still).

The cast of characters were all great – with two notable exceptions but I will come back to that.

I loved Snow’s family. What a surprise to find out Tigris is a Snow? But what joy she is. I really enjoyed her character but I have to say I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get to see (or at least were told in the epilogue) how they grow apart or how she comes to have whiskers. The Grandma’am was an awesome addition too. Lucy Gray, the Coveys, the Peacekeepers, Sejanus, the other mentors…  They were great.

I will argue that maybe Lucy Gray, as a main character (second main character? She’s the yin to his yang in this book) could have been more fleshed out because when it comes down to it, she seems to float around in the story only in relation to Snow. This being said and the pov being mostly Snow’s, it’s coherent with his egocentric view of the world. And I’m sure a lot of people will argue the case that her only purpose being to die so he can get over love is a bit problematic better than I could.

The two characters that I think were disappointing were the “villains” of the tale: Dr Gaul and Highbottom. They were actually so disappointing that I spent a good portion of the book convinced that here was some kind of secret plot, that there would be a conspiracy or something. But no, they were just that… flat.

Highbottom first: the creator of the Hunger Games who, obviously, didn’t mean to and ends up doctoring himself with morphling to forget. And seems to hate Coryo (yes that’s Snow’s nickname) for no obvious reason. I was sure there must be some twist but no, it just turned out he hates Snow because his father stole his Hunger Games idea to pitch it to Gaul for a grade and now he’s responsible for the death of kids. Which, I mean, is valid. But since it’s only here to bring into contrast the “is Snow really bad or have the circumstances make him bad” when, really, he’s a psycho, it ends up being very disappointing on discovery – never mind as the final reveal of the epilogue.  

As for Gaul. Is she terrifying? I mean, for a young adult book, sure, I guess. She’s too obviously mean and crazy scientist for me though. I like my villains a little more subtle. She spent her times torturing her pet rabbit and various animals ffs. All she needed was a mustache to twirl. She’s cliché and, again, I’m sure it was like that for rhetoric purposes but… She’s Frankenstein and Snow is her creature, we get it. Why though? She takes a shine to him and proceeds to groom him so he can deliver the world she wants? So he’s her legacy? Because she’s a psycho too and she needs an apprentice? I thought that part was a little fishy because, at the end of the day… I don’t know, it seems a bit random.

But, I suppose, yet again, everything has to revolve around Snow in the book and in Panem.

And we’re touching to the part that annoyed me to death, that really really angered me and that, right now as we speak, I am a little disgusted by.

A short word first about the fan service. And there was plenty of that to go around. All the little wink wink, nudge nudge made me smile at first (like the grandma saying it only takes a spark for fire to catch, that sort of things), it was subtle so it worked. But as the book goes on, all the references built to the point I was sort of terrified Katniss would end up being related to Snow. And while she is not, I am fairly convinced she’s descended from the Coveys, it makes a lot of sense.

Ok… Where to start with that part and be coherent…

The less offensive (yes, I am using that word because it was offending to me) thing was Snow’s recurring reflection about the mockingjays. On hindsight, of course, it has so much more meaning than what is going on on paper, so it made sense and while it was a bit sold too thick, it was also interesting. That’s something I’m willing to grant was good.

I also liked the “it’s not over until the Mockingjay sings” saying. To be honest, I was 100% confident the epilogue would be a flashforward to the end of MJ and that quote would somehow come back into play but apparently not, that’s for us to fanfic instead.  

Now, as for the rest… I am going to speak as someone who loves Haymitch Abernathy an unhealthy amount, and while I speak as someone who loves Haymitch, I also feel it is only minorly about Haymitch and a lot about Katniss, Peeta and the rest of the victors. But Haymitch is my favorite character in the series, Haymitch is a big part of why I have dedicated so much time writing fanfics and contributing to the fandom, I am very protective of Haymitch. And, on his behalf, I am so deeply, deeply offended.

In this book, Suzanne Collins makes Snow a victor.

We can argue the semantics. Naturally, he didn’t actually win the Hunger Games.

Or does he?

Because there are no winners, only survivors and by that very definition Coriolanus Snow is a victor.

Coriolanus Snow walked into an arena, was forced into the arena.

Coriolanus Snow fought in the arena.

Coriolanus Snow killed someone in the arena.

Coriolanus Snow walked back out of the arena.

He survived.

It makes him a de facto victor. He is actually literally called that a couple of times throughout the book. It’s reinforced by the idea that mentor and tribute are a team, even.

And this very idea that Snow is a victor, has been a victor all along, is so deeply, deeply upsetting to me. The bond between victors, it’s something very special, I feel. Victors share something nobody else can understand – my very favorite part of the whole series is in Catching Fire when they hold hands, it is such a strong emotional moment, it always moves me, always. And Snow being a part of that defiles it. Worse, that means a victor was actually the one imposing such horrors on other victors all along.

And that’s… I mean, probably in terms of themes and the story as an independent object, it’s all very ironic and dark and full of great meaning about man and it’s condition. But for someone who loves Haymitch, it is very deeply offending to learn the man who has taken everything from him went through the same experience he did, that they share that bond, that they have so many similarities.

Too many similarities actually. And here we are going to branch out on TBOSAS in relation to Katniss more specifically.

That’s another thing I am not sure I liked: how similar Snow’s conditions were to our beloved characters. The starvation, the very similar experience they had growing up.

At first, I didn’t mind it. I thought, even, that it was quite fitting. But the problem came when so much of Katniss’ story was being… stolen, turned around. It started feeling like this book was subverting the powerful story in THG, not just the main plot, but everlark, and the character building. So, of course, here again, it’s probably a matter of questioning if, stemming from the same conditions, you become a hero or a villain. Nature or nurture. That sort of things. And, again, it depends if you look at the big picture and analyze it calmly or if you react with your guts as a fan, I guess. Yeah, no surprise, I’m going the fan route.

So there were a lot of parallels to Katniss.

The starvation. The strong sense of family. Lucy and the singing…

And it wasn’t limited to Katniss, it touched to everlark too.

The star-crossed lovers thing comes to mind obviously (and I want to talk about the ship too but after). Then, there was the bread thing that was both Snow’s and Lucy’s favorite and the fact that Snow brings her food all the time.  The poison in the arena we can land at snow’s door since it’s his weapon of choice, but still poison in the arena, my mind goes straight to the berries… (I will tackle the hanging tree song after)

At this point (before she goes in the arena), I was still mostly okay with it because I thought it would somehow have a reason later. Like either Katniss would turn out to be related to Lucy or it would remain light enough to turn out to be foreshadowing for THG.

Then came part 3. And that’s where the book mostly lost me.

There are eleven other Districts in Panem. So why Twelve? And if it had to be Twelve why pollute everything Katniss loves? How are we supposed to see those things the same way again when we know what we now know?

The meadow? The meadow where the toastbabies are dancing and running? Where so many people are laid to rest? Snow has been there, kissed his girl there. And let me tell you, as a Haymitch fan, knowing that Haymitch never gets to reunite with his girl in the meadow because of Snow, it’s a special kind of pain to read Coryo frolicking there in the grass “with his girl”.

And then, of course, I don’t know what is worse… The lake or the song?

Let’s start with the lake. Where do I begin? The lake that is so special to Katniss? The little shack where she stocks everything? The lake that features into so many fanfictions and that, if some people feel the same way I do, can never be used again the same way? So, that lake was where Snow murdered (possibly) his “love”. The lake, thus, becomes a part of Snow’s narrative.

It’s stolen away from Katniss.

And to better stress that point? The scene with the Mockingjays taking up the hanging tree when Lucy is about to get murdered. (let’s make a digression to say oh boy how fun it must have been for Snow during mj, I’m very tempted to fanfic THAT). It’s all very full of symbolism, of course, but with the hindsight? It’s another great important moment stolen away from Katniss. Highjacked. Not unlike a mutt, actually. This book is a mutt XD

Which brings me to what really, really made me angry: the hanging tree song.

That song is so symbolic of MJ and everlark. I mean, there’s one thing I will give MJ the movie and that’s this scene with the song. The people attacking the dam and getting butchered while humming that song? Iconic. But more prosaically, book based, that song is such such a powerful moment. It’s special. And not only because of all the thing with everlark and the tree and midnight.

And suuuuure there might be a lot of symbolism in that song being not strictly about but still intimately related to Snow. Sure. But you know? It’s also another thing that now is about Snow. So even as Katniss was singing that song, getting the Districts to rebel, showing Peeta that District 12 was gone, letting the Mockingjays by the lake take up the chorus… It isn’t just about hope or freedom anymore. Now, it’s about Snow and about how terribly ironic it is this particular song comes to be his demise, how it’s fate or karma or whatever you want to call it. Because now, we can’t unread this book, we can’t unknown what we know.

And I hate that.

Because Katniss’ journey in THG? It’s now so deeply linked to Snow’s story that if you take a step back and think, it’s more all about Snow than it is about her, or her sister or the Districts. Snow lands on top, right?

And you know what really irks me?

The book is actually good as a character study book (not really so much as dystopia because in terms of actual plot, I feel there was really little) but it didn’t have to taint so many elements of THG the way it does.

Let’s say for a moment Snow isn’t Snow. Let’s say he is a wealthy Capitol fallen from grace and that character who is not going to be the President of Panem has the same journey Coryo does. Let’s say at the end of the story, he moves on to become a famous Head Gamemaker or a close advisor to the President?

Well, the themes explored then remained the same, the conclusions remained the same. We lose the visceral signification of his connection to the mockingjays but is that really important? The Hanging Tree now has a resonance for another character in that world, the meadow has probably seen countless lovers reunions and someone killed someone else at the lake, those things happen. The problem is they happen to Coriolanus Snow.

And baring that, let’s say we keep Snow as a main, why did it have to be Twelve? Again, there are eleven other Districts in Panem. He could have come to the very same conclusions in any other place.

Twelve is only relevant in relation to what happens in THG, to Katniss, to Peeta, to Haymitch.

Lucy and the Covey could have ended up stuck in any other Districts. It didn’t have to be Twelve. It didn’t have to spoil the Meadow, or the lake or even the Hanging Tree song.

Is that why Snow hates Twelve so much? Is that why he kills Haymitch’s family even if it’s completely stupid and leaves him without a leash around a Quell’s victor’s neck? Is that why he bombs the Districts into complete oblivion ? Not to punish its victors but because he so intimately hates the place? Because he walked in their very shoes? Because, for a brief time, from his Frankenstein’s experiment, he played in the mud?

For that matter, is that why he has this weird relationship with Katniss? Because she reminds him of Lucy? The similarities are there if you look…  Is Katniss a sort of ghost to him? Come back to haunt him after all those decades? Is that why it feels so personal between them?

I will say a quick word about the ship: I was into it at first. Then there was this scene at the zoo after the snake attack on Clemmie and I felt everything started going downhill from there. The ship is rushed. They go from attraction to love in ten seconds FLAT. I know it’s YA and concessions have to be made (although I will argue I read plenty of YA and some ships don’t seem this juvenile), I made them on account of the fact they’re both young and prone to being drama queens.

(I’m making a brief parenthesis because, rereading this, I realized I did say when the book announcement came out and we all very obviously predicted the romance, that as a hayffie fan I hated the thought Snow would have a Capitol/District romance, but on that account, I have to say after reading I don’t even care because it felt so immature and so not actual love, that I don’t feel it really counts? But at the same time, it’s definitely something I have to think upon in terms of hayffie and Snow because would his own experience play in the way he sees them/manipulates/threatens them?)

All in all, though, that ship didn’t convince me. I couldn’t believe it was real. On either part. On Snow’s part because I’m  not certain he’s capable of love. He equals love with possession,  “his” girl, she “belongs” to him, he liked her better locked in the zoo because he knew where to find her, he constantly questions Lucy’s loyalties… Every  time she sings something, he’s like “is it about me? Is it about me? It’s not about me? Who is it about? I hate her. She’s dead to me. Oh but now she’s singing she’s over him. So I love her again”. Being in his head is a journey, let me tell you.

As for Lucy, it’s frustrating. But with Collins, I learned long ago to be frustrated (hey, hayffie fan here XD. You know the two characters you need to build your own hc about if you want to use them with some depths). You can feel there’s this whole backstory about her but we never get to really touch that and so we’re treated to this very strange scene with the ex-lover but we don’t really care because there is  no passion, nowhere… In fact, as a character, outside of her singing, her being a show girl, and her little discourse about how man should be free, live and let live yada yada yada, Lucy’s character is very flat in the third part of the book. She’s here only to allow Coryo’s character development.

I would argue that Sejanus actually makes more of an impact on Snow and the general plot than she does in part 3 – or, if you think about it, in the book in general. Lucy is the trigger that gets Coryo’s reflection starting about the hunger games but it’s really Sejanus that challenges it and keeps it going. Sejanus is, in fact, the District character since Snow keeps telling himself the Covey aren’t really Twelve.

I  also want to say, on a completely unrelated note, that the constant mansplaying of songs by Snow was unbearable. And that’s not his fault. So, Mrs Collins, I know how to interpret a text thank you. And I’m sure everyone else does to. It broke the pace and the emotion so much for me when he started randomly explaining. The Lucy Gray ballad was the worst. “she’s dead.” NO KIDDING SHERLOCK.

And while we’re in that Lucy Gray thing: very subtle foreshadowing here, btw. Didn’t see it coming at all.

Ah and also something that made me cringe and that I felt was very out of place: the livestock cars and the cages at the zoo. Not to go all social justice warrior but when I read, it immediately hit home and not in the right way. It felt like a prop to stress how inhumane and racist the Capitol was being, they were easy references to loaded terrible horrifying history events and I truly, truly thought it was borderline because, like I said, it was used as a prop.

To conclude.

Is this book great? Yes and No.

I think if you take it independently of THG, it’s a very good book. It’s interesting, the characters are compelling, there is a moral for you to reflect on… It’s not the best dystopian book I’ve read in recent years, it’s not the best young adult book I’ve read in this lockdown (Hi, do yourself a facor, check out the Shadow of the Fox trilogy and then come shout at me in my ask box) but it was still a good read. And I forgot to say but the first half of the novel is actual crack. It was hillarious. Might not have been the intent but come on. It was funny. (and I’m satly they sent him in the arena but they sent him with a can of pepper spray and that will make me laugh forever) I had  a good time and, at the end of the day, that’s what you ask of novels.

However, in the general context of the series, loving thg as much as I do, it tainted some of the iconic things, twisted them, insulted some of my most favorites characters, and that really dampened my joy and made me angry. So as a fan… I’m not sure I can say it was great, no.

It certainly didn’t let me indifferent though and that’s already something.

And, I mean, it is so much better than the cursed child I feel I cannot complain too much.

 It also does leave the door rather open to a sequel, doesn’t it? I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another announcement soon.  

[ask-spiderglass]

🕸SPIDER-SONA AU: VILLIANS PART 2/???🕸

Wow more Villains? Yes ma’am! This time we’ll focus on the members of the Sinister Six!

Lizard/Martha Connors: Amari’s AP biology teacher, middle aged Florida Woman, and the widowed mother of her teenage son Billy. In 2005, her late husband, Dr. Curt Connors, had been found suspiciously dead off the side of the Everglades Parkway. Leaving behind his life’s research and work on cryptid magic for a Miami based PLEA, Martha would come across classified documents that he had stolen from his workplace detailing a method of accessing cryptid magic. Believing that her beloved husband was murdered by PLEA officers, she decides to avenge his death by using cryptid magic. However, due to her inexperience with magic and the vengeance in her heart, she was turned into vicious humanoid albino alligator. Going into a rampage at sundown, she would kill a couple PLEA officers, regular law enforcement, and anyone else who got in her way. Upon sunrise the following day, she reverted back into a human woman, though the things she did as a monster haunted her. While she wasn’t deemed a suspect, Martha ultimately decides to leave Florida with Billy, moving to New York to become a mild mannered but strict AP teacher in 2010. While she hasn’t since looked at that document for a decade, the gratifying rage of the Lizard beckons her every night, begging to be released once more...

Sandman aka “Sandy”: The Guardian of Coney Island and the unwanted son of a sand elemental and a boogeyman. Born on the beaches of Coney Island in 1880, Sandman grew up loving his home and due his parents being absent from his life, he ended up seeing the humans who visited Coney Island as his own family. For most of his life, he dedicated his life to making Coney Island a safe place for everyone from the shadows, especially the children, protecting the area and it’s patrons from the unseen and malicious. However as the years go by, Sandman began to feel unappreciated and overlooked by the people who protects. While he doesn’t harbor ill will towards all the humans, he feels incredibly upset with how he’s been treated by the people in power who carelessly polluting his environment. While he hasn’t really tapped into his boogeyman abilities in nearly a century, there are times he feels that it is necessary...

Mysterio/Quinlan Beck: The Lich of Broadway. Once a struggling Hollywood starlet and stage magician’s assistant in the 1920s, Quinlan was often overshadowed by her magician boss on the stage. Always feeling resentment towards him for being cruel towards her, she would end up stumbling upon a secret occult society in the underbelly of the glitzy city. Once she managed to convince a member to let her join, she climbed up the social ladder within the society in order to learn more about their teachings on magic. Upon learning a method of achieving immortality, she would make a plan to “deal with” her boss. On one fateful performance, her and boss were performing the Bullet Catch Trick, with Quinlan holding the gun. Unbeknownst to the magician, Quinlan would end up switching the wax bullet out for a real bullet at the last moment before showtime. She would end up shooting him in the lung, killing him in front of a horrified audience. Using her acting chops to manipulate others into thinking that this was nothing more than a tragic accident, she would manage to convince others that she was devastated by his “untimely” death. Once the press died down, she would fake her death, transform herself into a Lich, and start a new “life” on the east side of the country, taking interest in Broadway as the Lich known as Mysterio....

Kraven the Hunter/Sergi Kravinoff: The Patriarch of the Kravinoff Family, an Ex-PLEA Officer, and current Mercenary. Sergi was the son of Russian Aristocrats who fled from St. Petersburg to London during the Bolshevik Revolution. Born in 1957 and raised within an old family of monster hunters with deeply embedded traditions, Kraven grew up taking great pride in his family’s trade, hoping to one day recapture the wealth and glory his family once had. While he was the favored son of his harshly critical father, Kraven never felt like he quite measured up to his dad’s achievements, and he would overcompensate for this by masking it with vicious machismo. Once turning 18, he would begin traveling abroad to seek out opportunities to get more experience with monster hunting, growing more infamous as a hunter as decades passed. Eventually, he would be contacted by an American based PLEA to serve as an enforcement agent. But, due to multiple workplace disagreements and Kraven’s open disapproval of their “modern methods” he would be dishonorably discharged from his position. Even at the age of 63, Kraven still seeks out glory and riches, coming to reside in NYC for merc reasons and to continue his hunt even in the concrete jungle of the city...

Chameleon/Dmitri Smerdyakov: The Illegitimate Member of the Kravinoff Family, Half-Brother to Kraven, and Double Agent. Dmitri was the illegitimate son of Kraven’s father and a Nopperabō woman, born in London in 1962. Often ignored by his father who preferred “his own son” over him, Dmitri spent most of his time as a child honing his shapeshifting skills he got from from his mother’s side. His older brother Sergi used to bully him, mostly consisting of Sergi mocking him for “acting too much like a girl” and for being “too weak to be a real Kravinoff”. Once Sergi began to travel abroad, the two would go their separate ways and lose contact with each other for years. In the meantime, Dmitry decided to use his talent to become a spy, with his career bringing him to various places worldwide. Eventually he would become a double agent spying on a PLEA known as the Avengers and meet with his brother again, becoming a new resident of the supernaturally criminal underworld of NYC...

Dr. Octopus/Dr. Odyssia Octavius: The Lead Cephalopod Biologist of the New York Aquarium, Visiting Marine Science Scholar of Empire State University, and Vessel of an Ancient God. Odyssia Octavius was born in 1989 as an only child raised in a dysfunctional and emotionally abusive household. As a lonely autistic girl, she often found retreat from daily life in academics and her lifelong main special interest in cephalopods. From the day she first visited an aquarium during a field trip in elementary school, she had her sights firmly set on becoming a marine biologist, seeing the beauty and wonder in discovering new species. Eventually she would reach grad school where she would be involved with a fellow grad student, Mary Alice Anders, whom she would begin dating. However, her parents disapproved of the relationship and forced Odyssia to break up her. Odyssia sadly complies, but would eventually cut herself off from her parents after receiving her doctorate. After getting her job as a cephalopod biologist, she would have a fateful encounter during a research expedition where she and her team would discover a strange cephalopod-like entity in the Atlantic Ocean. While her scientists were deeply disturbed by the creature they saw, Odyssia would become enthralled and fascinated with it, managing to capture it and having it housed in the aquarium research center away from public viewing. While studying it, it began to speak to her. Despite the physical and mental toll it took on her to merely behold it, she was fiercely determined to learn more about it, seeing it was awe inspiring rather than horrifying. The eldritch entity, appeased with her dedication, offers her its power and knowledge in exchange for her service. She, in the name of science, accepts...