#this was the weakest book imo

[andreai04]

Rage didn’t simmer. It burned.

[familyabolisher]

i'm with people re: gtn being the weakest of the three but i simply cannot extend that position into disliking gideon as a character.....Rip to the rest of you but that's my babygirl

[jusiri]

Am i extremely grateful we got another httyd story via How to train your Hogfly? yes

Did i enjoy it? Very much so

Have i also had a whole post about some issues i have with it that ive been thinking about ever since i read it? Absolutely i have

to be clear, by issues, i don't mean "this was a bad story", i just mean "you can tell Cressida hasn't written for this world in a long time"

[bunnyb34r]

Oh so the first time i saw the movie I teared up when Wovey died and this time I noticed Reaper calling to her, telling her not to go by the snakes 😭 I was so fucking close to crying

Reaper was such a good character like he was ruthless, but he also had a heart and didn't want the vulnerable among him to die or get hurt. He lost his mind when Dill died and that what made him make the graveyard. He made sure to give even the people who he killed, the ones who tried to kill him, a dignified death. He took the knife from Bobbin before he picked him up, he made sure to put the tributes hands over their chest like an actual funeral. He closed their eyes, covered them with the flag to hide them from the horrors they died in.

And I was thinking ab what if it had gotten to just him and Dill or him and Wovey as the last two tributes. If the games hadn't been disrupted and had been a normal hunger games. Would he mercy kill them? Would he kill himself so they could live?

At first I thought the latter, that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it. But then I thought more about it and I think he would have mercy killed them, in the kindest/least painful way he could. I think that his desire to keep living would overtake him. BUT that's assuming Dill lived/he didn't go mad when she died if it was him and Wovey at the end. Had it been the two of them post Dill's death changing him, he 100% would let Wovey win. But if it was him an Dill, I really can't decide which he'd choose.

Like does he let her win and get the chance to go back to 11? Or does he see that she's ill and wouldn't live long in 11/wouldn't want to leave her with that guilt that she won? Does his self preservation win out?

Idk I just like to think ab these things ahsgsgsgs like what if things ended differently

[fruixtii]

BOOO it should’ve been Ruggie

hahaha i agree though it wouldve been way more interesting if ruggie overblotted

[notemily]

Hey since it's the Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May, here's my favorite reading order for the Discworld books, the point of which is to read everything you need to read before you read Night Watch, which is the best one:

Guards! Guards! (Cop stories, film noir, and Tolkien jokes)

Men at Arms (The City Watch diversifies, there's a gun, clowns are creepy)

Feet of Clay (Discworld version of the ethics of enslaving robots)

Jingo (War, racism, xenophobia) (But like, it's funny. There's a Paul Simon "You Can Call Me Al" joke.)

The Fifth Elephant (Dwarf politics, vampires & werewolves)

Small Gods (Religion and philosophy jokes) (This is also usually the one I recommend to people who just want ONE Discworld novel to start with)

Mort (Death takes an apprentice)

Reaper Man (Death takes a holiday, there are Consequences)

Soul Music (So many rock & roll jokes! Death's granddaughter shows up)

Hogfather (Christmas jokes, tooth fairy jokes, this is the one where the famous quote about the falling angel and the rising ape comes from)

Thief of Time (Someone breaks time)

Night Watch (...and there are Consequences)

(I basically stole this reading order from someone's website. Thank you, person with a website.)

At that point you will probably have a pretty good idea of whether or not you want to read all the other Discworld books. I highly recommend the Witches subseries, which have a reading order as well:

Equal Rites (Granny Weatherwax is sort of still cooking here, but she's recognizably herself)

Wyrd Sisters (Shakespeare jokes)

Witches Abroad (fairy tale jokes, also voodoo for some reason)

Lords and Ladies (this time it's the kind of fae you don't want to piss off)

Maskerade (Phantom of the Opera jokes)

Carpe Jugulum (Dracula/vampire jokes) (Damn, it's really too bad this was written like 7 years before Twilight came out, can you imagine)

Then there are a bunch of other books, some of which are (loosely) connected, and the Rincewind books, which IMO are the weakest link in the Discworld (although I do enjoy Interesting Times, because of the China jokes).

There were also like twelve other books published after Night Watch, and they're still great - Monstrous Regiment is probably my fave of those - but I do think Night Watch was the peak of the Discworld series. After so many relatively self-contained books and so much humor, I don't think anyone was quite expecting such a rich chapter of Vimes's story that also punches you right in the feels. It's so good, y'all.

As always, it's dangerous to go alone, so take the Annotated Pratchett File with you.

[evilsoup]

netflix three body problem is ok. I ended up staying up late watching it to the end, so i can't say that it's badly made or anything. it's a perfectly fine bit of television, if you like sci fi in general then you'll probably get along with it.

the decision to change the setting from china to britain is of course artistically bankrupt. It's 2024, surely western audiences can handle a tv series set in china, come on. And changing everything from this big co-operative international group of the best people in their fields to five friends who know each other already carrying all the plots was weak.

Spoilers below the cut.

the weakest part as an adaptation is the cultural revolution stuff. in the book there was just more of it, this huge buildup of stress and betrayals that make it plausible for the real heart of the novel: Ye Wenjie's decision to betray humanity to the trisolarans. The tv show just didn't manage to sell that moment, because there wasn't enough time given to allow enough buildup. I think these flashbacks needed to have gone on a lot further into the series, with more time given to the piling-up of events on her shoulders until it becomes convincing that she would actually do what she did (imo the rest of her actions from that point are driven by a desire to avoid thinking about the obvious mistake she's made -- if she were to stop helping the trisolarans then that would mean admitting to herself that she's unjustifably doomed humanity).

i think they also removed the dark forest hints that should have peen in one of her conversations with one of the protagonists, the "cosmic sociology" stuff. Are they feeling the need to dumb it down or something? I dunno.

Anyway. It's good enough that i'll watch the second season. It's just not as good as the adaptation which exists in my head.

[rachelclowny]

venti and the unexplained mysteries of mondstadt

venti remains one of the most interesting characters in genshin so far imo. he's the only archon we've met that seems to be truly deceitful. he lies and hyberbolizes in equal measures and his motivations seem to remain mostly unclear. i mean, we have a pretty clear timeline of old mondstadt but when it comes to gods and other higher beings? not so much. i mean, the istaroth ruins, rhindedottir, albedo ect. are all so vague and confusing, but it's really venti that makes it all confusing. his allegiances, allies and history are completely unknown apart from his creation and the overthrowing of the aristocracy. it's like every single one of his voice lines hides something deeper. he claims to be the weakest of the archons, yet power supposedly stems from the devotion the people have for their archon which is just a complete contradiction. he claims to have met the traveler previously yet has no qualms about us not remember his at all. he's a bigger enigma than any of the other archons we've met simply because of his dishonesty.

i mean, zhongli isn't exactly an open book, but everything he does share is honest, and everything he doesn't share is due to contracts and divine information. the god of contracts works under his own system based on cooperation and trade of information and goods and he remains consistent and up front about his desires and principles.

ei is an odd case seeing as she's been isolated for centuries and completely absorbed in her own grief since the archon war + cataclysm. inazuma has been in attempted eternity for years after all. besides she was always a warrior, not a ruler. i mean, you could make a case for yae miko being her counterpart; openly mysterious and full of alterior motives. she is the one we talk two at the end of the inazuma archons quests after all, she's clearly the one with the information, but she's not the archon. she doesn't have the power and she's clearly not the figurehead of the nation.

lastly nahida, of course is the god of wisdom. she shares almost everything she can with the traveler, even sharing some information from her deal with dottore.

but venti.. venti, man. what is he up to. we have no idea and he somehow remains unsuspected, ignored and underestimated by all of teyvat and possibly even celestia at this point. all these open ended questions, but we rarely get revisits to mondstadt lore, we haven't even gotten part two to venti's story quest, and what about varka? dornman port? alice? the hexenzirkel? i truly believe mondstadt is not just the beginning of the game, but also the end. there's too much left unexplained.

[catilinas]

Hi you've mentioned steven saylors roma sub rosa books before ^_^ i was wondering if you have to read those in order and if not if theres any you'd recommend?

hi! i would recommend reading them in order because although the mystery plots mostly work as stand alones, the characters do go through significant development that won’t really make sense if you don’t read every book. also the historical setting is the late roman republic and the books cover big historical events, some of which follow on from one another.

my absolute favourites are catilina’s riddle, the venus throw, last seen in massilia, and most of prophecies. if you really want to you could probably skip arms of nemesis and rubicon (imo rubicon is the weakest book in the series)

the short stories are a mixed bag where some are just not that good and others (house of the vestals, cherries of lucullus) are more character studies than short mysteries, but they’re also Really Good character studies.

the prequels are also. interestinggg in terms of tone. in that the first one is closest to the silly short stories, the second one is a pretty standard and still quite silly mystery novel, and then the third one is really really dark. and also the best one :’) but you definitely have to read those three in order for them to make any sense at all :-)

[nostalgicfortomorrow]

something I have to say about the percy jackson tv show. no, please don't turn away if you're a fan because I really like it too, I'm just pointing something out. I will probably get blocked for this but The lightning thief was never my favourite. I hardly ever revisit it. For me, the first book was... ok, and then everything else following sea of monsters starts just getting better and better. Rick is understandably trying to revise his mistakes, ie medusa's plotline which I find incredibly tragic and they're using more hints towards The Last Olympian like it's the holy grail (which it is).

What I'm trying to say is that the first season is where they're literally just finding their grip. For me personally it never carried the same amount of magic that the other books had so we need to give it time to grow. 4 pearls? now that we know that uncle rick is good at inserting angst, something terrible will probably happen. Summer solstice happened? stakes are higher, we see them actually panic and freak out. Early percabeth hints? Honestly from this pov it just seems like we see the seeds but it's more like dammit I didn't expect you to end up being one of my besties so they're acting a bit embaressed. Acting is a bit stale? They're kids. it's the first season. They need to test the waters first and see what's possible and what's not. If they hopefully greenlight a second season we can actually start exploring the more emotionally mature side of pjo because my incredibly foggy memory saw the lightning thief as more of a romp while the sea of monsters had more dangerous stakes. Every first season or debut anything makes mistakes. Even in the books, the first one mainly relies on nostalgia to hold it together.

ALSO WE ARE HINTING TOWARDS A LOT OF POSSIBILITIES GROVER COULD BE DOING. Yes, grover should have been playing the kill the humans game but at the same time the happiness on his blissful face as he almost finds pan shows us that he is meant for something greater. Yes, percabeth sticks together but in the end it's grover who finds himself with a higher calling and this could definitely be tlaked about hand in hand with climate change so grover definitely has more to do.

Episode 6 was definitely the weakest IMO but Episode 5 and 3 were my favourites.

And to those comments about character development, Annabeth is definitely growing and maturing. the guys don't actually really mature until book 2 or 3.

[mzannthropy]

Sam Claflin and Adaptations (there's a lot more than you think!)

Articles and interviews be like: Sam, you have done so many book adaptations and then name at most three titles. Every fucking time. Luckily, I'm here to tell you about them! (Under the cut as it got long.)

Hunger Games Catching Fire and Mockingjay (books written by Suzanne Collins) - YA dystopia. The most obvious, of course. Sam plays Finnick Odair, the coolest character. (He's not dead, Katniss is lying.)

Daisy Jones and the Six (book written by Taylor Jenkins Reid) - story of a rise and fall of fictional band in the 1970s. Sam is Billy Dunne, the main male lead and a real rockstar!

My Cousin Rachel (book written by Daphne du Maurier) - Gothic thriller, 19th century. Sam is the narrator, Philip. This is my personal favourite.

Their Finest - adaptation of Their Finest Hour and a Half (book written by Lissa Evans) - Drama with bits of comedy. Set during WW2 in the film industry. Sam plays screenwriter Buckley, a member of a film crew working on a film about Dunkirk evacuation. Also features a side character who is gay and is alive at the end. More people should watch this film, imo.

Enola Holmes (book written by Nancy Springer) - kiddie Sherlockian pastiche. Sam plays Mycroft Holmes, at least that's his character's name, but it's not the usual Mycroft; his version is dumbed-down and cartoon-villainised so that the eponymous teenage girlboss can have her story.

Adrift - adaptation of Red Sky in the Mourning (book written by Tami Oldham Ashcroft) - survival drama of a seafaring couple lost at sea after a hurricane. Sam is the main character's love interest, Richard.

Two mini series from Sam's early career (that I haven't watched so can't give you any info):

Pillars of the Earth (book written by Ken Follett) - TV mini series set in 12th century about building of a cathedral. This was Sam's very first role.

Any Human Heart (book written by William Boyd) - TV mini series, chronicles a life of a writer in 20th century. Sam plays the youngest version of the main character, Logan.

Adaptations of plays - it counts, okay?

Journey's End (play written by RC Sherriff) - WW1 war film, but not a regular one (there's no battles). Covers a week in the trenches in March 1918. Sam plays Captain Stanhope, an officer at the edge of nervous breakdown. One of his best performances, if not the very best.

Riot Club (play written by Laura Wade) - contemporary film about a posh elite club at Oxford. Sam's character, Alistair, is a spoiled brat, Draco Malfoy-like. (Not the good fanon version, the bad canon version.) Btw, this is no Dead Poet's Society, no dark academia - the titular club is based on Bullingdon Club (of which Boris Johnson was member). They book a table at restaurants, trash them and then hand the owners a cheque to compensate. You see now why we have all these problems...

You can make an argument for:

Snow White and the Huntsman - (folk tale recorded by Brothers Grimm). It's a darker retelling. Sam plays William, the prince charming of the story.

Snow White and the Red Shoes, (as above) an animated film, he voices a character named Merlin. No idea what this is as I haven't seen it.

Okay now I'm stretching it

Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides - adapted from a Disneyland ride. BUT the ride itself was inspired by legendary tales of pirates, among others the books of Emilio Salgari. So, not that crazy. Might be the weakest of the franchise, but Sam's storyline--he plays the missionary Philip--is what saves it, his romance with the mermaid is just the cutest!

So that's it. Thank you for reading and I hope you check some of these out.

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

“Her approach was: I know everything but I want you to control me so I can rebel against it”, said someone familiar with her modus operandi.

Weirdest part of the Camilla article imo. It's unambiguous now that she had full knowledge of Diana because that was Diana's public signature - youthful rebel with fuddyduddy old grey suit courtiers.

The problem is the palace really has changed since those days, and she found herself faced with working with lots of women and a gay American. Still she needed to keep the Diana cosplay going for Harry, so she ended up doing nonsense acts of rebellion, like failing to wear tights, which only made her look dumb rather than daring.

None of the staff actually wanted to control her, they wanted to help her fit in. This was problematic so she started to provoke and belittle the staff, causing Harry to 'come to rescue mummy'. However he also needed to see evidence of 'mummy's kindness', hence the distributed freebies, ice cream, and calligraphy thankyou notes.

The full 'new Diana' delusion also needed a friendly Fergie sidekick. That was to be Kate, so intimacy had to be quickly established. Wedding invites, shopping trips, and makeup sharing was demanded. Kate didn't go for that, so she was turned into something else - cold, nonhugging, so frigid her husband is looking elsewhere.

Harry's mind must be mush at this point. But as he only knows Diana through images and films and books and TV, however awkward the cosplay is, Meghan seems to fit in with his highly glamorised image of his mother. After all, that's where she knows Diana from as well.

Her big issue is the fact that none of the royals or staff got the memo to continue to try to contain her. Staffers found the working conditions to be so bad they quit asap, and the royals felt it easier to let Harry's long term drive to leave happen.

Now she's at her weakest point with him. As long as the palace says nothing, then she can't be rebelling with a snarky statement like 'service is universal'. He can't save her from silence.

Good analysis, except I think the “Fergie sidekick” was meant to be Eugenie. The tabloids, however, didn’t make that connection.

[mermaidsirennikita]

almost done with Darling Beast, the Maiden Lane I remembered least and considered the most mid of the series (there's not a BAD ML, but this was the weakest imo, having... not read the very first book yet oops I'm sorry I should but it's one of like two full length Hoyts I have left!!!).

and it's so good????? Like we have:

--a giant ugly hero (I love an ugly hero, especially when he's Big) who can't speak for the first half

--a kid who actually works mostly because he's there to be like "THIS GIANT MAN I FOUND IN THE WOODS IS MY BEST FRIEND" while the hero is like "well I guess"

--SEKRETS

--some legit rockin' sex scenes, and I did remember that this book had great sex scenes, but I forgot that it included like, him launching onto her puss with one leg thrown over his shoulder, him fucking this girl on like a table while being like "ONE DAY I'LL FUCK YOU IN A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM", this whole thing where she's like bent over in yet another inopportune location, "presenting herself like a mare"

--because, and I should add this, one of the best things about the way Elizabeth Hoyt writes sex scenes is that she tiptoes riiiight up to the point where her descriptions might seem a little gross? but she has the balance you need, so instead it's very EARTHY, and even though you're like "oh, like a horse?" (and it's not that she writes the most insane sex scenes EVER, but I do think they kind of get closer to a Grace Callaway-type scene than most trad historical authors, and they are...... pretty hot) it's like................... I don't know how to say this other than like, her writing evokes the way real sex IS, while maintaining a degree of romance novelocity; like, real sex is kind gross but also fun and most of all very physical even when you're emotionally connecting with someone, and I think a lot of romance authors do miss that mark and she never does

--my point being that the sex scenes in this book are very good

--there's a whole murder plot but there's also the fact that Asa Makepeace is still desperately trying to make his THEATER ENTERPRISE work because otherwise his holier than thou family will LAUGH AT HIM FOR SURE, and then you have random Valentine Napier cameos where he like, cackles evilly but also helps the leads like a horrible fairy godmother

--she's setting up the next book by having James Trevillion, the Maiden Lane Jim Gordon, desperately try to be an effective officer of the law even though he got like medically retired, and at the same time he's like "NOBODY TOUCH THIS GIRL CHILD I'M PROTECTING" because he has to think of her as a girl child and not the grown woman she is because otherwise he'd have to admit that he wants to throw down

--towards the end my boy, Maximus, Duke of The Home Gym, BatDuke He Is The Night TM, shows up to be like "everyone leave my wife's stupid twin brother and whoever this bitch he's with is alone, or there will be consequences", and basically they tell Trevillion that they called Maximus rather than THE MAIDEN LANE POLICE because he'd be "more effective"

--and I'm like AT WHAT???? like normal ducal intimidation???? or were they like "worst case scenario Maximus kills this man because he's, you know, CRAZY, and because he's a duke nobody will arrest him"????

anyway great book would recommend am going to raise my rating on GR and StoryGraph for sure and idk maybe listen to a billion more of these books all over again

[destinyc1020]

Sunday Confession:

Tom is not viewed as an actor by some because he is not doing the prestigious roles that can help win stan war arguments. So now the new twist is that Tom is unemployed because no talented director wants to hire him. People can't believe or accept when Tom says he is not interested in doing a role just for award recognition it needs to be a role that challenges him and interest him. More importantly Tom is one of the few young film stars that actually carved out a work life balance.

First and foremost my interest is in Actor Tom. How he conveys emotions and brings the audience along is impressive. There is a reason why most people remember the blimp scene in Avenger, the reunion scene in The Impossible, the death scene in How I live now, Aunt May dying. Tom is also able to do accents really well. I respect actors who understand how important it is to the character and work on it. Tom issue isn't talent, because even in the work that has bad reviews, he is never the weakest link. If Tom couldn't act and didn't have talent we would have seen clips last year with TCR. There were countless people on Twitter who wanted to expose how bad an actor Tom is by showing clips online like they did with Harry Styles, but they couldn't because Tom was never the issue with the show. Tom's issues is that he picks his project based on what appeals to him instead of picking things that for sure will interest the public. It is his choice, but that doesn't diminish how talented I think he is.

Thanks for your confession Anon. 😊

I appreciate your viewpoints. You made some pretty good points! There were just a few things that I didn't quite understand, so I'm going to mention them below.

Tom is not viewed as an actor by some because he is not doing the prestigious roles that can help win stan war arguments. So now the new twist is that Tom is unemployed because no talented director wants to hire him.

I'm sorry but.... Is being in a Solo Film Franchise about one of the most POPULAR comic book characters in history under two of the BIGGEST studios (Disney/Marvel) in the industry not a "prestigious" role? 🤔 Serious question here.

Cuz ummm.... That's not just a small role imo. That's pretty HUGE. It's not some obscure little film or role we're talking about here.

JA Bayona, Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman, The Russo Brothers, etc. Are they not pretty famous and talented directors?? 🥴

People can't believe or accept when Tom says he is not interested in doing a role just for award recognition it needs to be a role that challenges him and interest him.

But isn't that what MOST actors are doing?? 😅 MOST actors choose roles because of the challenge that it brings them, or because they have always admired a certain director and they want to work with them. Most actors aren't even thinking about awards before they take on a role. Some actors (especially those that aren't as famous as Tom is) are just thinking about putting food on the table and getting their next gig.

Why is Tom being given a hard time when he's basically doing what 90% of actors out here are doing?? I just don't understand that. 🥴

More importantly Tom is one of the few young film stars that actually carved out a work life balance.

I don't get it....Don't MOST actors have this?? 🥴

Keep in mind too that Tom is also very fortunate for being in the Marvel films because he can actually AFFORD to take longer breaks in btwn films (if he wants to) because he has that Disney/Marvel money. Most other actors do not have that. Just saying...

First and foremost my interest is in Actor Tom. How he conveys emotions and brings the audience along is impressive. There is a reason why most people remember the blimp scene in Avenger, the reunion scene in The Impossible, the death scene in How I live now, Aunt May dying. Tom is also able to do accents really well.

I totally agree with this! 😃 Tom really does a good job at conveying emotions really well! That's his strongpoint imo.

Tom issue isn't talent, because even in the work that has bad reviews, he is never the weakest link.

Exactly!!! Tom is very talented. He's never the weak link.

Tom's issues is that he picks his project based on what appeals to him instead of picking things that for sure will interest the public.

But hold on a second.... This is what I don't understand. This is what MOST actors are doing out here. They pick roles that appeal to THEM. 100%! Just listen to ANY actor out here who talks about why they picked a role. You will hear the same thing over and over again.

Plus, didn't Tom audition for Spiderman?? That's a role that "interests the public". So I don't get it. Again, I'm not understanding.... Tom is basically doing what 90% of other actors are out here doing. I don't see the problem? 🥴

Forgive me if I'm coming across as harsh, I just don't understand some of your claims and comments.

Tom is doing what 90% of actors are out here doing. It's FANS and HATERS who are saying that what Tom is doing is somehow "bad". That's what I suspect. He's really not doing anything different from what most actors around his age are doing. 🤷🏾‍♀️

**You all are allowing Twitter to dictate how you FEEL about what Tom is doing. That's my theory.

[librarycards]

hi!! i'd love some book recommendations! here are my 5: The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor, Bestiary by K-Ming Chang, A Psalm for the Wildbuilt by Becky Chambers, and Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. thank you!

omg i think this is the first ask where i've read every single book you list! great choices all around. here are some recs:

Kawai Strong Washburn, Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Sabrina Imbler, Dyke [geology]

Nghi Vo, The Empress of Salt and Fortune (and whole Singing Hills Cycle! This first book is actually the weakest in the cycle imo, and they get much better after this)

Kim Un-Su, The Cabinet

Niki Tulk, O.

Hiromi Goto, Chorus of Mushrooms

[xenofiction-design-project]

Finished the Farthing Wood show! It was...kinda mid.

Dgmw it definitely had some good elements but there's also so much working against it (obnoxious characters, tonal inconsistencies). Half of the character deaths left no impact on me bc I didn't give a fuck about the character in question because they were usually annoying as hell.

Season 3, while having he best animation, is also the weakest writing-wise imo. And the rats are very annoying and underwhelming villains. Scarface was far more effective as one.

I'm also currently reading book one of the series so I'll let you know what I think of it later.