#time to rep my favourite historical guy

[johannesgutenberg]

trixeratops -> johannesgutenberg

[ahintofpanic13]

Every time I see 'she deserved better writing' I want pull my hair out.

Did these people watch the same show i did????

Extremely long rant under the cut. I was having feelings and had to put them somewhere! I'm sure i missed some things, but you get the gist

S11: Soft reboot of the show. All new characters & all new villians. A slower 'monster of the week' pace to allow the audience to adjust and keep up without the 59 years worth of conviluted, contradictory storylines, whilst still having character growth and a full circle story with Tim Shaw. Also dropping the first hints of TTC in ep2.

Bonus mention to Demons of the Punjab which i think we can all agree is an instant classic

S12: Ramping up the pacing. Bringing back classic villians and Jack Harkness. Introducing the Fugative Doctor and TTC storyline which allows for a broadening of DW lore - which lets face it, with a 60 year show is necessary! Also, lets not forget: Dhawan!Master.

13/Flux: Extremely ambitious, long form story that was written and filmed DURING. A. PANDEMIC. The first time in NuWho that a story has been broken over so many episodes. It was exciting, visually stunning and gave us a bunch of fantastic new characters like Vinder, Jericho and Dan. Was the ending rushed? Yes, no denying that. It needed a few more minutes to wrap up the fallout of what state the Universe was left in post-flux. Chibs has spoken about all the restraints put on them by the BBC, forcing them to make compromises with lengths/episode numbers. However, putting that aside, they managed to bring together all those seemingly random, chaotic elements from the first 2/3 of Flux in a way that actually made sense, and none of it felt perfunctory.

Which brings me back to 'Jodie was great but she deserved better writing'

So there are the people who hate the premise of The Timeless Child. Ok. Fine. This is a fandom where portions of it are still angry about the introduction of the Time War when RTD brought the show back in 2005. That was nearly 2 decades ago. I'm not surprised that TTC is something that they can't get past and i'm not even bothering to have that argument. As far as i'm concerned, if you are willing to accept all the other world breaking nonsense that has gone on over the last 59 years, then TTC is no different.

Did it get too preachy at times? (Orphan 55 i'm looking at you). Yes. But this is DOCTOR WHO. It's social commentary has never exactly been subtle! A handfull of dud lines of dialogue hardly warrant denouching an entire era.

Maybe a few episodes were not to your taste. DW jumps around so many different genres that this is inevitable. There are epsidoes that i refuse to sit through again - none from this era, but they do exist.

Maybe Jodie wasn't your favourite Doctor. That's ok. We all have our Doctors. And sometimes our views shift when we revist the show. That's the genius of a show whose lead actor regenerates. If this current itteration isn't really for you, the next one might be.

The biggest fault i can see with 13's era is that the occasional episode is excellent right the way through, but then doesn't quite stick the ending. S12 & S13 could both have done with 1 extra episode to give the storylines a bit more breathing room and that would have resolved this problem.

Previous era's (specifically NuWho since my knowledge of Classic is nowhere near as good) have hardly been without their problems - from the treatment/rep of women and POC, to some damn right nonsensical storylines (the tardis somehow dragging the earth back into it's rightful place in the solar system anyone?) but no one seems to denouch the whole of the show for those things.

So unless I am missing something massive (which is entirely possible i suppose), i can't see that anything the Chibnall and his writing team did during 13's run was any worse than what has come before. In many ways he grounded the show back to where it always was. A quirky, at times ridiculous show with some heart wrenching stories, historical romps through time and some bad guys that somehow manage to be silly yet menacing at the same time.

Personal preference is personal preference, but if all you can say is 'jodie deserved better writing' but then can't actually explain what you mean by that then i'm sorry, but all that leads me to think is that you can't deal with the fact that a show which has historically been led by white cis men is now being led by someone else. Let's be honest, Jodie and Chibs shaped this iteration of the doctor together. The main story beats are done by Chibs and the writing team, but the show is led by Jodie. Her fingerprints are all over the characterisation and the tone of the era. So saying you 'love Jodie but hate the writing and think she would be great under any other show runner' is just a good line to throw out in order to not say what you actually mean.

Now i'm closing this rant off with some fun GIFs because this is my post and i can do what i like!

This dork i stg:

KATE! When i tell you how much a yelled when she turned up:

And Thasmin, because *weeps*

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

tagged by @captainofthefallen who likes to abuse her friendship privileges

last song: Ra Ra Rasputin by Boney M

favourite color: purple

currently watching: I'm watching House for the first time and having a blast with the medical malpractice show and the toxic polycule rep we deserve. these guys are bitches and I like them sooooooo much.

last movie: I think it was Across the Spiderverse

currently reading: I'm about to start reading Sarah MacLean's books because @extasiswings finally got me to follow the breadcrumb trail under the box propped up by a stick

sweet/spicy/savory: spicy

relationship status: down to fuck

current obsession: finding the time to paint my apartment

last thing I googled: 'historical apartments in los angeles' (as usual, it's fic research)

currently working on: painting my apartment, revising two of my original novels, and finishing my Buddie Halloween fics (specifically Fic #1 which is 55k and a little over halfway finished)

tagging @mistmarauder who will then proceed to tag everyone else in this fandom, you're welcome

[just-castlevania-imagines]

My Thoughts on Castlevania S3

So I cant sleep, I've binged this series twice now & I really need to get this out. For context on me as a person, I am an LGBT+ WOC (specifically Asian & bisexual). Castlevania is my favourite game series + the reason why I pursued Game Design as my career. The show means the world to me & I thoroughly enjoyed s3 for the most part. I acknowledge the flaws & these r just MY opinions, they do not reflect the other mods intentionally in anyway.

The art + animation was so CLEAN. There was not one scene that did not take my breath away. The attention to detail was phenomenal I have no words to describe it.

Some of the best fight scenes ever just ridiculous, it's like john wick. The action is upped every installment + its just so CLEAN

The entire team puts so much time + effort Into making Sypha such an enjoyable badass it's so amazing. I am never disappointed with her, never ever.

The lesbians. Striga & Morana, god I wish that were me.

Isaacs character arc was so good. Like the budget really went to Sypha + Issac this season LOL

Sumi + Takka, they meant so much to me. I love them, I really do. I cant say I'm not hurt seeing them at the end. I'm actually very hurt, my heart aches. I never thought I'd get to see representation like that in a series that I loved but felt idk invisible to. LGBT Asians in a historical setting outside of Asia, it was just...a dream for me. I fell in love w/ them instantly & I think that's why I tend to over look their faults a lot.

But when you see yourself on screen in something you've dedicated years to & you're just finally seen its...its so hard. The last time I felt this full was Shiro from V*ltr*n and we know how that shit went down. Idk I'm happy for what I recieved, grateful even, for however short it was. I loved their characters, i love sumi + takka i just wish they got a better ending. They all deserved better

More info on Cho I really oof I could not have asked for more. This bitch was so extra & I love her

That music score, the sound design. Bruh I can't even with all this TALENT

I call episode 9 the Fuckening

The Portals to different worlds really confuses me but I am here for it, I hope it's just like an Easter egg to their future projects or that the writers were all high around then

I see u w/ that jojo reference, I bet you think ur all so slick

Hector's entire story arc, wtf was that? My guy you can't be like "Oh humanity is evil and stupid and eats shit" and then be that gullible I-ooof u frustrate me u beautiful boy. Like s2 implies he burns his family alive & I'm sitting here deadass like how the fuck did u even pull that off

The forgemasters being called pretty + their reactions were priceless

I want Richter Armitage to read me a bed time story

Trevor, Isaac & Sypha r just so well done this season

THE. HORSES. ARE. HEALTHIER.

Isaac rode a demonic purple unicorn around the world, he's my fucking hero

Alucard a confirmed bottom + bisexual thank u

The sex scenes were juxtaposed to the intense fighting but it felt awkward to watch but it was also very fitting in an odd way????

The dolls were hilarious

I learned a lot about toilet paper

The Judge being like "no kids run around in my village" is the equivalent to Mr. Mosby from Suit Life of Zack & Cpdy being like "dont u run in my lobby" AND I CALLED IT OUT AND AND WAS RIGHT

This show has taught me to never trust bald, old white men w/ interesting voices

Carmilla was just a hot ball of anger for the most Part & got annoying real fast, but that night robe tho. That was everything

I liked Lenore's character trope. Being that sweet innocent looking one, but shes really just this cruel evil bitch. Like everyone complains about Carmilla but at least shes evil to ur face until this fake bitch over here

Takka doesn't do mornings? Niether do I

Alucards wardrobe upgraded from deep Vs to fluffy Victorian Lestat cosplay

I really really want an empire run by 4 vampire sisters. Like I know they're all evil, cruel bitches but the sisterhood they showed for each other is such a goal. Women supporting women is amazing I just wish they weren't the fucking villains

A lot of my gripe is that all the rep I want & thirst for all falls into a negative category in some way/shape/form

This whole season feels more like a bridge to season 4. Kinda like a season full of fillers.

The ending hurts me I'm several ways, but objectively it is a haunting image and it really invokes so much on it's own w/o context backing it. W/ it tho, even more mindblowing and heartbreaking

Thank you so much for pronouncing Kolkata properly

I'm always blown away by character designs ur doing great sweety

The angel has the juiciest ass

Where the fuck is Cezar?

Aight I think that's all for now. If you got issues then come to me about it, not the other mods. But I'll let u know I will not tolerate racist shit (which I've gotten on IG already). I really needed to dump these feelings out. I stan Sumi & Takka, I love them and I'll carry all that on my own if I have to.

- Sincerely Mod Wall Chicken

[dippedanddripped]

In the first few moments of a YouTube video titled “Admitting I Own Fakes In-Front of My Fashion Class…”, Quentin Caruso, better known as Tripping, does just that. “I’m a sophomore in college and I’m taking a class about fashion, and in that class (we) were talking about fakes and replicas,” he explains, adding that he can “throw up some pictures so you guys know I’m not bullshitting”. Asked by his teacher if he knowingly owns any counterfeit pieces, the 19-year-old confirms the sneakers he’s wearing at that very moment – the highly coveted Travis Scott Jordan 1 Lows – are in fact fake. “And how do you feel about that,” she prompts. “I’m fine with it,” he wryly confirms.

Caruso is part of a growing community of fashion-savvy shoppers searching for ways to look runway ready on a high street budget – and, unlike many die-hard hypebeasts, they’re willing to own up to the fact their luxury garms aren’t exactly legitimate. In fact, many take pride in their ability to score a bargain, taking to subreddit FashionReps to discuss new releases, fawn over faux Yeezys, and ask each other for advice on where to pick up the best knock-off Off-White and Supreme styles.

The forum is a democratised, judgement-free zone in which people share a love of high quality replicas or ‘reps’, where members are friendly and even supportive. They help one another to find the best sellers and sites to buy from, while discussing discrepancies between retail items and their counterfeit counterparts – from stitching and logos, to details and finishes. Most users admit they can’t afford head-to-toe designer looks, and at times they even share budgeting tips. "I got into reps cause I didn’t have much money and wanted a few nice pieces," redditor godsip2 shared in August. "Now I have no money at all 'cause I'm addicted to buying reps and can't stop myself."  

While a lack of funds and a taste for luxury streetwear is a driving factor for many, for others it isn’t about the money at all. “Not to brag, but if I want a Dior coat, I can get it retail,” Dennis, 19, tells us. “For the same (amount of) money I can get four reps.” Dennis admitted his breaking point came after a shocking moment browsing resale markets where he saw his ‘grail shoes’ – a pair of Off-White Air Jordan 1s – show up for €3000. “I thought ‘Fuck this, I’m never gonna pay that for shoes that originally retailed for €150.”

It’s been almost three years since he came across the FashionReps subreddit, which he was initially skeptical of. However, since joining he hasn’t just sworn off resale products and full-price retail items, but also introduced his friends to reps. “A €500 sweater wasn’t in their price range,” says Dennis. “When I showed them my reps (compared to) my retail Yeezys, they were instantly sold.”

Historically, counterfeit designer items conjure thoughts of poorly imitated handbags on AliExpress, labels that read, ‘Fashing BALISG’ instead of Balenciaga, and stalls in alleyways, but FashionReps members know where the quality replicas are sold and claim that many knock-offs actually tend to be better made.  “The quality is the same, even better,” Netherlands-based 23-year-old Camiel admits. “I’ve heard of some Yeezys being better and a lot of high-end Louis Vuitton reps being way better than retail.” He believes that “retail Louis Vuitton quality is not so great…”

FashionReps members buy in bulk, spending hundreds of dollars on ‘hauls’ that they break up into smaller packages in hopes of evading customs checks. The risk is part of the thrill, and while some are unlucky and have their packages seized, others rejoice when packages filled with thousands of dollars of ‘drip’ arrive in the mail.

Camiel cites his favourite find to be a Palace red slub-neck, “which you can't tell apart from a real one – which I have one of,” he adds. “The quality is amazing and it's super comfortable to wear, it's my favourite (item) I have gotten so far.” But Camiel hasn’t always gotten away with his thrifty finds.

“In the beginning, I wouldn't wear an item if it had the tiniest flaw. Later on, I noticed that people know (very) little about brands and which items even exist,” he explains. While most people who recognise a rep are likely to ask for the seller or pass on a compliment, Camiel concedes he’s been called out before. “Some high schoolers were at the gym and I was wearing my Nike tech fleece joggers, which have some noticeable flaws, like the black stripe being too short and the cords being too short as well. They called me out on the logo, which I know is perfect. Bunch of clowns.”

For all the people excited about reps, their quality, and believability, there are just as many people out there looking to spot a fake. YeezyBusta, who recently gained prominence for spotting fakes on civilians and celebrities has over 760,000 followers on Instagram. He’s busted the likes of Lil Tjay, Blac Chyna, and Soulja Boy for donning fake Supreme and Yeezys, although his faux-detector has been known to malfunction.

"I got into reps cause I didn’t have much money and wanted a few nice pieces. Now I have no money at all 'cause I'm addicted to buying reps and can't stop myself" – godsip2, FashionReps member

In an episode of Complex’s Full Size Run, hosts tasked the Instagram detective with discerning the difference between fake pairs of shoes from the real thing. After being handed a pair of bone-white Yeezy 500s, YeezyBusta exclaims, “Oh these are real!” Closely inspecting the shoe, he notices “The suede is right…even down to the stitching, the label inside the shoe looks right to me and the insole is right too.” The host, who finds it hard to hide his amusement, blurts out “They’re fake.” Behind his signature black surgical mask, used to hide his identity, YeezyBusta turns bright red.

“I can’t take him seriously,” Tripping admits. In a reaction video to a VICE documentary on YeezyBusta, the fashion student protests his motivation for hunting down counterfeit items so publicly. “It isn’t funny. Does anyone find that funny? To ridicule people online? That isn’t something you should be gloating about.”

Some counterfeit items are so believable that they’ve also slipped past trusted authenticators. The RealReal, one of the world's leading luxury consignment stores, claims that "every item we sell is 100% authenticated by an expert.” However, just last year, Forbes contributor, Richard Kentenbaum claimed the retail giant had sold him a fake Toile de Jouy Dior Book Tote bag for $3,600. What followed was a swift investigation by CNBC, who, after speaking with a dozen former employees and unsatisfied customers, and obtaining internal company documents, revealed that “many of the items on the site were being authenticated by copywriters with limited training.” and those who are doing this work are finding it increasingly difficult to spot counterfeits. Out of 1,400 reviews online for The RealReal, the top complaints are fake items.

It may come as a surprise to learn that this is something FashionReps also stands firmly against. In December, the group came together after Depopuser James’s Closet was spotted selling counterfeit items. Within a day, the subreddit had made efforts to liaise with Depop directly and reported the fake pieces resulting in all the listings being taken down. And this isn’t the only time the forum has rallied against people selling fake items moonlighting as cheap authentic ‘steals’. “People who willingly sell replicas as authentic items are the worst,” Tripping insists. “Knowing that a replica looks so close to retail and not selling it for a lot of profit is challenging for some people.”

Conversely, enjoying replicas as they are comes with its own baggage. Reports indicate that counterfeit fashion is a trillion-dollar industry. "One of the worst stories I read was where they had raided an illegal factory and the children were actually handcuffed to the sewing machines," Ariele Elia, an assistant curator at the Museum at FIT explained in a Complex documentary about the flourishing bootleg industry.

Fashion Revolution, a not-for-profit global movement campaigning for the systemic reform of the fashion industry, notes that there’s an “urgent lack of transparency.” Policy Director at Fashion Revolution, Sarah Ditty, told us that counterfeiting doesn’t usually come hand in hand with good rights and wages for workers. “Factories making counterfeit items are doing so illegally so it’s in their interest to operate completely under the radar and in doing so means we have no idea who the workers are making these products, what they are being paid, what conditions they’re working in, and what sort of poor environmental practices are most likely happening in these factories.”

To them, the moral standpoint is clear: “We would definitely encourage people not to buy fake luxury goods or any other counterfeit items because you’re almost guaranteed to be contributing to human exploitation and environmental degradation.” This is an issue that goes beyond fakes: when you look beyond the manufacturing level at the places where fabrics are made, yarns are spun and fibres are grown, even legitimate brands are guilty of obscuring working conditions.

But Tripping insists it's a media smoke-screen. “adidas and Nike were called out for their treatment of workers in the 90s and early 2000s, so now every factory in Asia is associated with bad conditions and child labour.” Tripping also claims that sellers are in fact increasingly transparent about working conditions, their treatment of employees and factories. “They show what their shop looks like, I’ve even asked sellers to show their shops,” he remarked in one of his videos. “And they’ve posted videos on the (subreddit).” One video posted shows a “top quality Yeezy” factory filled with workers. “Actually looks very clean and cool compared to all of the bad warehouse jobs I used to do here in the US,” Redditor highnnmighty comments.

“That’s like asking if I’ll ever go back to my ex, it was a fun time but in the end, you just feel shitted on” – Dennis, on whether or not he will stop buying fakes

Central to what makes FashionReps a great community isn’t the collective middle-finger to resale culture and hypebeasts or the internet-savvy tips, but the irreverent charm and supportive nature of young people who ultimately just want to look cool, and don’t want money to be the reason that they miss out. It’s rare, if not impossible, to find fashion spaces that aren’t hierarchical, based on wealth, social standing, and nepotism, but FashionReps manages to do all of that, and more. Camiel tells me that recently, the subreddit even banded together to target sellers who began taking higher cuts from sales. “I love how we sometimes work together to get something we want.”

Confronted with the fact that buying reps are taking sales away from workers, brands, and designers, Tripping is unfazed. “Once a limited shoe is released, and sold out in seconds, the company has made its profit. The average cost of manufacturing an Air Jordan 1 is $15-$16. The mark up of that shoe is more than 100 per cent. Nike has no problem with this. If you are wearing a replica of that overpriced shoe (on the resell market), you are basically advertising the brand. The culture side of sneakers is bland and fraudulent, replicas are there to stir things up.”

When asked if he’d ever give up replicas and return to buying retail, Dennis scoffed before saying: “That’s like asking if I’ll ever go back to my ex, it was a fun time but in the end, you just feel shitted on.”

[thevagueambition]

Tonks, Lan Xichen and my darling boy Bossuet, please sir :3

I shall provide! :P thanks for asking!

Tonks

Sexuality Headcanon: Mostly she's just vibing but she tends to date girls. Not super concerned with labeling anything, but will casually refer to herself as gay.

Gender Headcanon: A vague hand gesture followed by a shrug. She prefers a butch aesthetic and her bio would say "any pronouns"

A ship I have with said character: I don't super ship her with anyone tbh

A BROTP I have with said character: Mad-Eye as her mentor is super funny to me and she herself makes a good gay mentor for Ginny lol. I also want to see her make friends with Sirius and Remus

A NOTP I have with said character: Not as notp as some notps I have but due to the history of their relationship being used to crush gay readings of either character involved, Tonks/Remus. I really respect when people write that as very queer in and of itself but on a personal level I can't really get over 1) the intent it was likely written with 2) the way it's written in canon.

A random headcanon: She's involved with 90s zine culture

General Opinion over said character: I am extremely fond of her. Along with Remus, she's the most queercoded character in HP.

Lan Xichen (I probably have some unpopular opinions here lol)

Sexuality Headcanon: hmm so this is complicated by the psudo-historical context because... I see LXC as someone whose primary concern (or at least one of them) is living up to the ideal of a man of his status as defined by his society and I think what the setting is emulating is a society where a marriage to a woman is part of that and romantic sentiments aren't really considered abnormal in male-male friendships. And I see him as someone who is satisfied within that system. So if being "straight" is having a sexuality that is not at odds with societal norms, that is what I see him as. True, he doesn't show much interest in women, but frankly homosocial relationships were often the most emotionally significant relationships people had in heavily gender stratified societies like all of MDZS and particularly the Cloud Recess is, regardless of the presence of any sexual attraction. Idk. Like I genuinely feel like I'd need to read a great deal more about sexuality in the period of Chinese history MDZS draws its inspiration from to give an actual answer lol

Gender Headcanon: He seems pretty normatively cis male and indeed concerned with living up to his duties as a highborn man specifically.

A ship I have with said character: I somewhat ship him with Jin Guangyao but only along the lines of "acceptable" romantic sentiments because personally i really prefer that LWJ's homosexuality is uniquely transgressive within his immediate surroundings. if you see WWX as gay, which I think makes as much sense as seeing him as bi, then ofc once they get together it's not unique in that WWX is also being openly gay, but what I mean is the ways in which eg LWJ openly declares his love for WWX to LXC in the backstory, doesn't mind people assuming he's fucking Mo Xuanyu, etc

A BROTP I have with said character: Jin Guangyao as well, LWJ ofc (the literal bro B) )

A NOTP I have with said character: I REALLY don't want to see him with WWX lol

A random headcanon: In some ways he acted as LWJs parent due to the situation with their parents. Their uncle stepped in to do a lot or parenting, yes, but I think LXC is the type of older sibling who has a very parental relation to their younger sibling due to elements of how they grew up combined with general personality

General Opinion over said character: He's really great. The absolute gap moe of how calm he usually is contrasted with his reaction to the JGY reveal.... fantastic. Also every time he teases LWJ is so valid lol. Truly he is great Older Brother Rep lol

Bossuet

Sexuality Headcanon: Bisexual in the exact manner a lot of historical men who have sex with men were lol

Gender Headcanon: Cis male, albeit complicated by his sexuality, as it always would have been at the time

A ship I have with said character: Both Joly/Bossuet on their own and power triad Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta

A BROTP I have with said character: Bossuet and Grantaire have such great canon interactions! They're clearly close and imo Bossuet is one of the few people Grantaire sometimes listens to because Bossuet bothering to argue with him in Back Room of the Café Musain is exactly because they're good enough friends that he feels he can say it and should be the one to do so, as well that he has some experience of sometimes halting Grantaire in his Grantaire-ing

A NOTP I have with said character: Hmm nothing comes to mind really

A random headcanon: In some ways he's who Grantaire could be if he wasn't so deep in a pit of mental illness and self pity and Bossuet's aware of that to some extent, understands that who Grantaire is is not that far from who he could be if he lost his belief in Progress and didn't have Joly. IMO Bossuet is incredibly observant, particularly emotionally.

General Opinion over said character: Imagine acidentially giving up your spot at uni to another student because you got so annoyed with the professor that you began trolling him but it backfired and then telling this to the guy who you gave up your spot for but in a way where you frame it as if you did it completely intentionally and indeed you're thankful to him because now you don't have to go to law school all because you don't want him to feel bad about it and also it's funnier Bossuet Is That Dude

Honestly, he's one of my absolute favourites

[iohourtime]

Think Note Vol #88 Get Going

Myojo 08.2020

(Translated from scans by MoMozzz32 on weibo.  The photos are also from her account.  Please let me know if there are any errors.)

If you take my job away from me, I’m sure there’s nothing left.

As remote meetings and recordings started, the work that was previously stopped are moving forward a little. Yamada was one of the many people who had spent time at home facing himself and feeling like he lost a sense of normalcy.

---------

This month’s Think Note was done via remote interview. However, since we cannot do the photoshoot in the same way, I asked the staff, “Can you please use the photos from the past issues and create a mosaic?” So they used the 8000 cuts from previous shoots to create the commemorative Vol.1 photo. It was a shot of me holding my saxophone with the blue sky in the background and up to now, it is still the most memorable photoshoot to me.

Although I’ve said this for the 5th anniversary of “Shinku no Oto”*, my main motivation for keeping up with this column is that it is a continuation of Kimura Takuya-san’s column, which was printed on the last page of Myojo. I don’t think a lot of idols have been given such a historical space [to write], so I am really thankful to Myojo for choosing me. That’s why I have always intended to show my true self in the interviews; from now on, I hope to continue showing my unfiltered, real me at that time to you.

* Literally translated to “crimson sound”, this is Japanese name of the column and sounds the same as Think Note (well, the Japanese pronunciation of Think Note).

So, let me give you a recent update this month as well… since I am home for a long time, I have done a lot of cleaning! I think there’s probably not a speck of dust in my house; during this time, I also dealt with the mold in my bathroom and the water spots on the mirror (laughs). It’s been a while since I have a long stretch of leisure time. I did a lot of self-care and I got to understand what the best condition of my body is like. Before the lock down*, I could grunt and bench press 55kg for 5-6 reps max, but I feel like I can bring the weight up to 65kg now (laughs). Oh right, I talked with (Okamoto) Keito, who was similarly locked down in New York. One day, Keito was feeling very lonely, so he messaged the Hey! Say! 7 group saying “Do you guys want to do a group chat?”; although I didn’t reply since I was in the middle of a game, I started the group video chat right after**. I joined the 4 person video chat but I was still connected to my chat in the online game… (Nagase) Ren, who was playing with me, said “Eh? What are you talking about?!”; while I felt bad about the confusion (laughs), it was fun chatting amongst the 4 of us, which we haven’t done in a while, and we talked for a long time.

*Japan didn’t exactly lock down. It was more of the government highly encouraging people to stay home unless it was necessary to go out and there were opening restrictions on businesses, but I’m calling it a lock down for simplicity. I think New York was a shelter in place order.

** My understanding is that Chi & Yuto replied to the chat to try and set up a time for the video call, but Yamada-san didn’t respond to the chat. Instead he jumped straight into the video call before disconnecting from his game.

Reading manga, watching movies or dramas, playing games when I feel like it, eating ice cream and snacks on my cheat day once a week, and sleeping when I feel tired… Although I definitely don’t hate this laid back lifestyle, I also want to go back to work as soon as possible. Before the current situation, having work to do was a normal thing [for me]. However, when one day, these things were suddenly taken from me, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I once again learned that if I don’t have work, I’ll become a useless person. That’s why since I started to work remotely recently, I feel myself coming alive again. When the situation allows us to work together in person again, I want to go back on set for “Daikaiju no Atoshimau” (The Aftermath of the Big Monster Attack) as soon as possible and privately, I want to go to eat at a restaurant. I am getting tired of eating boiled chicken at home and getting takeout… Right now, I want to go to a yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant more than my favourite spot, Hawaii (laughs).

“Remote now!" - Ryosuke

[deadlyanddelicate]

tbh i get queer fans being mad/sad about kavinsky being killed off in that yeah, bury your guys can always be upsetting no matter the character. but it's weird to me when people go the 'he didn't DESERVE it blah blah' route because like, that has nothing to do with the trope. like i agree with queer characters always getting killed off being exhausting, but i don't get people going hard for this particular character lmao

hmm i… sort of agree. i guess i can understand fans being sad about kavinsky being killed off if they empathise with him, even though personally i just… can’t imagine relating to a character like that. but i honestly, genuinely don’t believe he’s an example of Bury Your Gays. it would be BYG if kavinsky was the only queer rep in the books, or even he killed himself specifically for being gay… which, no matter what people argue, he didn’t. but rather than give my opinion on it, i’m gonna take this chance to go through the trope systematically and explain why the shoe doesn’t fit. it’s meta time!

Why Kavinsky Dying is Not “Bury Your Gays”

[All quotes are taken directly from TvTropes, though the emphasis is mine.]

The Bury Your Gays trope in media, including all its variants, is a homophobic cliché. It is the presentation of deaths of LGBT characters where these characters are nominally able to be viewed as more expendable than their heteronormative counterparts. In this way, the death is treated as exceptional in its circumstances. In aggregate, queer characters are more likely to die than straight characters. Indeed, it may be because they seem to have less purpose compared to straight characters, or that the supposed natural conclusion of their story is an early death.

Kavinsky is never viewed as “more expendable than his heteronormative counterparts”. If you see Kavinsky as simply Ronan’s foil, then the reasoning doesn’t apply, because Ronan is gay himself, so he can’t be a “heteronormative counterpart”. However, Kavinsky apologists like to latch on to Gansey’s “We matter” quote to prove Kavinsky is treated as unimportant – but that’s a fallacy for several reasons. First, you’re taking Gansey to speak for the author, or for objective truth, when Gansey is one of the most unreliable narrators in the book, and his world view is extremely biased. Secondly, Gansey isn’t Kavinsky’s counterpart. Kavinsky is an antagonist, so you have to look at what happens to the other antagonists – his actual heteronormative counterparts. And, well: they pretty much ALL get killed off. Not just that, but they often get killed off in a way that does not have the emotional/narrative impact implied in Kavinsky’s death. By that reckoning, he gets the better shake. Additionally, we get 4 heteronormative villains killed off - Whelk, Neeve, Colin, and Piper. So in the series, queer characters are not more likely to die than straight characters (even among the protagonists, Gansey and Noah are the ones who “die”, where Ronan and Adam do not).

The reasons for this trope have evolved somewhat over the years. For a good while, it was because the Depraved Homosexual trope and its ilk pretty much limited portrayals of explicitly gay characters to villainous characters, or at least characters who weren’t given much respect by the narrative. This, conversely, meant that most of them would either die or be punished by the end. 

This is not applicable to TRC, as portrayals of explicitly queer characters are not limited to villainous characters; Adam and Ronan are both explicitly queer and they are treated with huge amounts of respect by the narrative. So Kavinsky isn’t being killed for being the odd one out/the Token Evil Queer; plus, there are other reasons why he doesn’t fit the Depraved Homosexual trope (while sexual molestation is a part of this trope, TVTropes encourages you to “think of whether he’d be any different if he wasn’t gay” – and Kavinsky wouldn’t. Not only because DHs are usually extremely camp while Kavinsky’s mannerisms aren’t particularly queer-coded, but also because he is not shown to have any more respect for women than he does for men, and his abuse would look the same if he was straight).

However, as sensitivity to gay people became more mainstream, this evolved into a sort of Rule-Abiding Rebel “love the sinner, hate the sin” attitude. You could have sympathetic queer characters, but they would still usually be “punished” for their queerness in some way so as to not anger more homophobic audiences, similar to how one might write a sympathetic drug addict but still show their addiction in a poor light. 

Again: Neither Ronan nor Adam – the two sympathetic queer characters – are punished for being queer, hence subverting this form of the trope.

This then transitioned into the Too Good for This Sinful Earth narrative, where stories would tackle the subject of homophobia and then depict LGBT characters as suffering victims who die tragic deaths from an uncaring world. The AIDS crisis also contributed to this narrative, as the Tragic AIDS Story became its own archetype, popularized by films like Philadelphia. 

Okay, this is DEFINITELY not Kavinsky’s case. Kavinsky’s death isn’t specifically connected to being gay (e.g.: a hate crime or an STD), and he’s never depicted as some innocent suffering victim. As for the “uncaring world”… eh. Kavinsky may not have a valid support system, but that’s just as much by choice as by chance - and when Ronan extends a helping hand and tries to save him, Kavinsky rejects it. Too Good For This Sinful Earth is definitely not in play. 

The only trope that kind of fits the bill is Gayngst-Induced Suicide… but only on the surface. As TVTrope puts it, Gayngst-Induced Suicide is “when LGBT characters are Driven to Suicide because of their sexuality, either because of internalized homophobia (hating themselves) or experiencing a miserable life because of their “deviant” gender or sexuality: having to hide who they are, not finding a stable relationship, homophobia from other parties, etc.”. Kavinsky certainly has quite a bit of internalized homophobia, but he is absolutely not experiencing a miserable life because of his sexuality – i.e. he’s not being bullied or taunted or subejcted to hate crimes. He doesn’t have to hide who he is: his parents are effectively out of the picture, his cronies worship him, and he constantly makes gay jokes to Ronan and Gansey. As for “not finding a stable relationship”… well that’s not exactly the problem, is it. He’s not looking for a stable relationship – he’s pursuing Ronan specifically, obsessively, through stalking and abuse. So even this trope is not applicable. 

And then there are the cases of But Not Too Gay or the Bait-and-Switch Lesbians, where creators manage to get the romance going but quickly avoid showing it in detail by killing off one of the relevant characters. 

Once again this is not the case with Kavinsky, as 1) there was no romance going between him and Ronan, and 2) he is not killed off before the nature of his obsession with Ronan is revealed – he gets the chance to both admit (sort of) he wants Ronan, and to confront Ronan about his sexuality, to which Ronan admits that yes, he is gay, but he is not interested in Kavinsky. So, there is no But Not Too Gay nor any Bait-and-Switch here. 

Also known as Dead Lesbian Syndrome, though that name has largely fallen out of use post-2015 and the media riots about overuse of the trope. And, as this public outcry restated, the problem isn’t merely that gay characters are killed off: the problem is the tendency that gay characters are killed off in a story full of mostly straight characters, or when the characters are killed off because they are gay.

This is a very good definition of the trope and why it doesn’t apply to Kavinsky: he’s not killed off because he’s gay, and he’s not killed off in a story full of mostly straight characters; TRC is definitely not overwhelmingly diverse, but 2 of the 4 protagonists are queer, giving us a solid 50% ratio (I’m not counting Noah because his “character” status is vague, and I’m not counting Henry because he came in so late, and also because his sexuality is the matter of much speculation).

For a comparison that will make it even clearer: take a show like Supernatural. Supernatural’s range of characters is almost entirely presented as straight white cis men (as of canon – despite much of the fandom’s hopes and speculation). They’ve had problems with diversity in general, with a lot of black characters dying immediately, and a lot of women getting fridged for plot advancement or male angst (a different problematic trope altogether). Now, apart from minor inconsequential cameos, Supernatural had ONE recurring gay character: Charlie Bradbury. And they killed her off for no discernible reason other than plot advancement and male angst, in a context that had elements of Too Good For This Sinful Earth (Charlie being a fan-favourite, ~pure cinnamon roll~, being killed by actual nazis, who historically targeted gay people). See, THAT was Bury Your Gays, AND Dead Lesbian Syndrome, AND Fridging…

However, sometimes gay characters die in fiction because, well, sometimes people die. There are many Anyone Can Die stories: barring explicit differences in the treatments of the gay and straight deaths in these, it’s not odd that the gay characters are dying. The occasional death of one in a Cast Full of Gay is unlikely to be notable, either.

…But that is not the case with TRC. As I’ve said above, there are no explicit differences in the treatments of the gay and straight villain deaths. Kavinsky’s death is not Bury Your Gays; it’s Anyone Can Die – even a protagonist’s foil who has magic powers and is present for most of the book.

Believe me, I would not be cavalier about this. As you rightly said, queer characters always getting killed off is exhausting, and as a bi woman myself, I am deeply affected by instances of Bury Your Gays. When Supernatural killed off Charlie, I wrote a novel-length fix-it fic and basically stopped watching the show – a show I had been following, flaws and all, for 10 years. I don’t take it lightly. But Kavinsky’s death isn’t Bury Your Gays, nor is it homophobia. Sometimes, a character death is just a character death.

[thecatprince]

oh you’re a book nerd? why don’t you talk about books(what are ur favs, why do you like them I need recs that will take me theee months to get to cat)

Buckle up buttercup because you are about to be bombarded with books!!

In no particular order we have....

- The Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo - this is the first amount of books in the Grishaverse universe, and I highly recommend it. The worldbuiding is amazing and the characters are very well crafted. The next series (in the same universe) is better in my opinion (and that is my next recommendation) but this is a good starting place, especially in terms of understanding the world.

- The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo - the second amount of books in the Grishaverse universe and these two books are genuinely amazing!!! It has an amazing plot and a diverse and complex cast of characters! There are six main characters, each incredibly unique and diverse, including LGBT+ people (two bi and two gay people) , people of colour (a black guy and a Romani girl), disabled people (a dyslexic boy and a boy who uses a cane (like properly and not just for the aesthetic) and all of the main characters have deep and interesting backstories and trauma (a couple of them also have ptsd). It also has a really good enemies to lovers plotline that is done incredibly well!! The plot is interesting and will keep you hooked. Honestly this series is so so good!!

- The Book Theif by Markus Zusak - this book has recieved a lot of praise and for a good reason. The writing style is captivating, and the way the story unfolds is honest, sad and beautiful. Some of the events are based on real life experiences from Zusak’s own parents. It is set in WW2 in Nazi Germany and is narrated by a personified Death and it is just an incredible story. Overall an excellent book!

- His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman - This book series is one I enjoyed immensely. The first book is set in a fictional world where people have something called dæmons, which are an extension of their soul in the form of an animal, and which are connected to them by an unbreakable bond from birth. The plot of the first book pretty simple and straighforward, and the main character, Lyra, and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, are very well crafted. The world is also enchanting. As the series continues, more characters, plot lines and worlds (alternate universes) are introduced. Overall it is an excellent book series.

- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - This is definitely an kind of old classic book. It doesn’t really have an overarching plot at all, rather it just sort of follows the life of a girl called Francie Nolan, who lives in Brooklyn. It is meandering in its storytelling, in a way that is rather enjoyable to read. It gives an insight into what it is like to live in poverty during the 1910s in Brooklyn America through the eyes of a young creative girl and her family. It is very interesting and enjoyable to read, but honestly I cannot find a way to explain it that will give it justice, so you just have to trust me that the book is better than I am making it out to be!

- The Matilda Saga by Jackie French - This one might be a little bit of a boring suggestion if you are not an Australian or interested in Australian history, but I am and this series is amazing! It is an historical fiction series that follows Australian history from the late 1800s to the 1970s mainly through the eyes of young women during those times. The first five books kind of focus on a different girl each book, but throughout the books all the stories of women become connected and intertwined. It has a strong cast of characters, including very strong willed women, indigenous people and disabled people. Honestly as someone who is incredibly interested in the (relatively short and incredibly racist) history of Australia, as well as loving Jackie French’s writing in general (she is known for her historical fiction for a reason), I loved this book series. (There is also an ace character!! He is not explicitly ace, but he is very ace coded and even though he is a side character and not the best person, it is actually pretty good rep of asexuality!)

- Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery - Now I actually don’t expect you to read this book because it is old and wordy and probably kind of boring to most people but this is legit one of my favourite books of all time, so I am going to recommend it! The main character, Anne, is very endearing and enjoyable and relatable and honestly this book is just my existence. I read and reread this book so so much as a kid and even now as a teen, and I have basically fallen in love with it. I understand if you don’t want to read it because it isn’t really everyone’s personal taste, and i get that, but I love this book so much, so I put it on the list!

Those were some in depth recommendations, but here are just a couple of good books that I will also recommend:

- Laurinda by Alice Pung

- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (Logan doesn’t lie, it is an excellent book)

- Good Omens by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett

- The Outsiders by S.E Hilton

And because I am a huge nerd here are some books I have studied in school that I genuinely enjoyed:

- The Crucible by Arthur Miller (a play about the Salem Witch Trials. It explores mass hysteria and it is very interesting)

- Lord of the Flies by William Golding (the nature vs nurture argument has always fascinated me)

- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Anyway, I hope I didn’t overwhelm you with books (although this is me you asked so I don’t know what you expected), and I by no means expect you to like or read all of the books I have listed, but this was an excellent question and a great distraction so thank you Emma!!

[swainlake]

Hello! So now that got has ended I'm looking for some tv shows that I could watch after I'm done with my exams. Do you have any suggestions? I'm not looking for anything specific, although if you have watched some good period dramas, I'd love some recommendations. Also wanted to add how much I love your blog, it's really beautiful

tysm that’s so sweet!! i love giving recs so i’ve got a bunch that you might like under the cut; i’ve put a ♡ next to my favs

period dramas:

NEW WORLDS (2014)this one is a mini series, only 4 episodes long, but please don’t let that stop you! it’s about anti-monarchism and rebellion and forbidden love in the 1600′s & is set in both england and america. i cried more than once but the ending is so bittersweet and hopeful!! 

POLDARK (2015—)i have a love/hate relationship with this one tbh. i started watching because of the main relationship but i ended up really into it for the side relationships instead?? the actual political plot doesn’t interest me but i love the drama between the family members. also i adore the women in this show, every single female character is well-written and realistic and you’ll love them all (even if at times you hate them). the men tho? the men are pretty much collectively the worst. “what’s wrong with the women in this family?” “the men.”

SPARTACUS (2010—2013) ♡i started watching this before i ever got into game of thrones but if you like the fight scenes in got, you’ll enjoy this! great characters, great fight scenes, great friendships. this one is based on gladiators who are fighting for their freedom.

THE WHITE PRINCESS (2017) ♡okay firstly and most importantly: jodie comer stars in this so you know it’s good. it’s also got michelle fairly (catelyn stark) in it though tbh she wasn’t my favourite character in this and i didn’t find her likeable at all. it’s not very historically accurate ofc but the relationship between henry/elizabeth is honestly the perfect enemies to lovers rep & always lowkey reminds me of book!sansa/jon possibilities

PAN AM (2011—2012)this one isn’t like game of thrones at all but it’s only one season and it’s super cute and has a lot of famous actresses in it like christina ricci & margot robbie. based on the adventures of a crew of pan am stewardesses, this is a good combination of lighthearted fun and chilling cold-war drama. an old favourite. 

THE MUSKETEERS (2014—2016) ♡i’ll be gushing over this for years to come tbh it’s really just that perfect. the relationship between the musketeers is so lovely, the personification of ‘brotherhood’ really, but also the romantic relationships are really good too?? which for some reason i personally hadn’t expected. my fav couple is aramis/anne (anne is played by the actress who played roslin frey!) because the forbidden love & the respect and adoration between those two is just perfect but really every relationship (even the ones that don’t become endgame) are written very well

OUTLANDER (2014—)i haven’t watched every single episode of this one but from what i have seen it’s very good, and has some similar themes to game of thrones!! the sex scenes are epic, the main relationship is lovely, and overall its a very realistic show that features supernatural elements!

THE LAST KINGDOM (2015—) ♡i’m not going to lie: i started this series by skipping straight to 2x7 because i’d seen gifs of the relationship between aethelflaed and erik but it was so good i ended up going back and starting from the beginning! this show reminds me of ‘vikings’ more tham game of thrones but it’s not as gory and the characters aren’t all assholes. side note: if you love sansa stark as much as i do you’re gonna love aethelflaed, lady of mercia! she’s actually a real person but this show is based on a book series that looks super interesting! honestly the main character also kind of reminds me of jon snow

HARLOTS (2017—) ♡oh my gosh how do i describe this show?? the family dynamics are so! intricate! and! beautiful! honestly just stunning. everything about this show is s t u n n i n g. the costumes are colourful and vivid and honestly i’d recommend watching just for that but the storyline really does keep you hooked!! also: liv tyler and jessica brown findlay are love interests in this which is honestly a dream come true

BLACK SAILS (2015—2017)okay full disclosure; i haven’t actually seen this but i’ve heard very good things and it’s on my list!! it’s about pirates, i think there’s some queer rep (can anybody confirm??), and there’s lots of amazing women. again, allegedly. 

dramas:

THE SOCIETY (2018—)i literally watched the entire first season in a single night so it must be alright, right? basically all you need to know about this is that a town full of teenagers go on a field trip & then return to find all their parents mysteriously missing and their town closed off from the outside world. it’s basically lord of the flies but modern! with some kick-ass friendships! and amazing young women (one literally teaches herself to be a doctor can you believe?)! 

SHARP OBJECTS (2018)if you haven’t heard about this one yet idk what rock you’ve been living under but welcome back! this one is a m a z i n g but also hella chilling and the ending is such a shocker if it hasn’t been spoiled for you yet!

THE BOLD TYPE (2017—) ♡i always describe this one as ‘sex and the city for millennials’ but i’ve never watched a single sex and the city episode in my life so i honestly don’t know how accurate that is?? but it’s about a group of 20-something year old women who are best friends and work mates and they love each other so much?? the relationship between the girls is my favourite thing about the show but the show honestly tackles a lot of relevant issues; trump, age gaps, queer rep, immigration, racism, etc. i can’t recommend this enough!

CODE BLACK (2015—2018) ♡you know those episodes in greys anatomy where everything is life-or-death and you’re on edge for the whole episode? that’s basically every single episode of code black. this is hands-down one of my most rewatched shows ever. i love medical dramas and this one balances well written characters with action-packed medical miracles so honestly what’s not to like?? 

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES (2018—)okay admittedly the only reason i watch this show is because of the main couple but i can’t help it when they’re just so gosh-darn cute!! they love each other so god damned much! i wasn’t completely sold on this straight away but by ep 3 i was HOOKED. if you like supernatural romances/dramas that are more mature than your usual cw show, this one is a good choice!

THE OA (2016—) ♡i can’t even put into words how much i adore this?? but also: it will confuse THE SHIT out of you. no matter how smart you are, this one will leave you scratching your head. basically: a group of people who’ve had near-death experiences get kidnapped and experimented on. it’s not as brutal as it sounds, in fact the show is exceptionally beautiful, but it does deal with some hard themes and the good guys don’t always win. 

12 MONKEYS (2015—2018)do you like time travel? do you like forbidden and yet totally-still-devoted-to-one-another-anyway love? then this is the show for you! this one is dark and gritty and deals pretty realistically with the concept of time travel & self-sacrifice and what people will give up to create a better world. it’s got a happy ending & you wont regret watching!

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE (2018)oh this one will make you cry. in a good way though! long story short a family grows up in a haunted house and it affects them in ways they cannot imagine. it’s hauntingly beautiful and poetic and everybody should watch it at least once imo

comedies:

THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL (2017—)okay so this one counts as a period drama as well but it’s about a COMEDIAN so i put it in the comedy section lol. okay so long story short, a woman is left by her husband, she’s worth 1000 of him & everybody else knows it because you seriously can’t help falling in love with this woman but ofc there’s period-typical sexism she has to face as she struggles with being a single woman, a single mother, and an up-and-coming comedian. def recommend.

SANTA CLARITA DIET (2017—2019)drew barrymore is a zombie!! who lives a normal life but also eats people!! it’s only weird for the first couple of eps. the family dynamics are snarky and witty and they manage to make gore funny?? honestly this entire show is legit laugh-out-loud darkly hilarious.

[rotzaprachim]

For the bookish questions: 3, 4, 6 😊📚

3. What is the oldest book you have ever read? (Based on its written date)

Epic of Gilgamesh, of which the oldest written versions are from 2000 BC? In translation of course, so have to count the fact that it was probably translated in the 20th century. 

4. What is a book series that everyone else loves but you do not?

Maybe I’m just not smart enough, but I have a realllll hard time focusing enough on a lot of high fantasy, esp. Tolkien and the ASOIAF. Like Tolkein more than ASOIAF, which kind of just gets on my nerves for being a white guy’s Idea of What Fantasy Should Be without much interesting worldbuilding or a lively writing style and too many pseudo-anglo-germanic names. 

6. What is your favourite stand-alone book?

Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union really reconfigured in my mind what interesting uses and themes that “fun” or less “prestigious” genres could have, as well as the uses of a good snapping alternate history! And world building! 

I also can’t rep Elaine Castillo’s America is Not the Heart enough (though! all! the! content! warnings!), both in providing a form of rep I’d never really scene of myself and making me reconsider my own family’s history and priviledges in the Philippines. The plot made me again reconsider the rolls women can take in stories and that they’re denied in historical fiction. 

[bondsmagii]

would you ever write soviet rpf

technically, I have written Soviet RPF, lol. really, when you boil it down, RPF is just fiction that includes real life people, and a lot of books – especially historical fiction – do it. I’ve got books in my house that include Stalin as a character; Beria, Yezhov, Khrushchev, damn near the entire Politburo. one of my favourite books (Declare by Tim Powers) features Kim Philby, a real-life Soviet spy, as one of the main characters. I’m also currently reading another book that features Philby as a character, as well as several other real-life historical figures from his life, some of whom tell the story from a first-person perspective.

several of my own works of fiction also include real-life historical figures. I’ve written Kim Philby and Guy Burgess before (among others in their circle); I’ve included Stalin and Beria in a supernatural-themed historical story. I’m working on an alternate history historical fiction story with @karlacton which includes a lot of famous faces of the time. it’s all technically RPF. I’m not entirely sure why RPF has gotten such a bad rep in fandom (probably because of the creepiness of shipping real life people who are still alive? maybe?) but I’m here to tell you that there are literal published books out there including historical figures as characters and, yes, some of them fuck.

[redorblue]

Chanceverse questions

  - If you could ask Karen Chance to write a novella/short based on one character or ship, what would it be? 

I’m absolutely fascinated by Mircea, so I’d love to read about pretty much anything in his life, especially how he found out about Dorina and went looking for her. A nice short about Artemis and Roger, and maybe baby Cassie, would be interesting, too. I’m very suspicious of Artemis and her motivations, but I kinda started liking Roger in RtS, and I’d love to see how they felt about each other and interacted with each other, since that’s still pretty much a blank spot for me. Shipper-wise I’d probably be sold instantly on anything involving Radu and some nice guy who appreciates his beautiful legs, because Radu is kind and quirky and smart and overall great, so he deserves an equally great guy (although I don’t know who that might be), and because these books could use some more LGBT+ rep.

- What is your favorite time traveling scene? 

Not sure I have one... I like it when time magic is visualized as a book, like when Cassie tries to help Jules, and she just catches glimpses of somebody’s life, or of the years she passes by mentally. I like books, so this image appeals to me I guess. Apart from that I like the scene when Cassie tries to get Agnes to teach her because it has historical references, Agnes and Cassie are both very much in-character and both funny and a good team, and because of Roger’s introduction it’s one of those scenes that are a lot more significant than they appear to at first.

- If you lived in the Chanceverse, what would you rather be: vampire, were, clairvoyant, or mage?

Weres - no idea what their life’s like Mages - best pick probably, huge variety of skills, plus the chance to be a coven witch and sigh about men’s shenanigans all day long Vamps - cool in theory - if you’re powerful enough to make your own choices, and that’s a big if. Plus, voices in your head all the time, so better not Clairvoyant - way too stressful, and if you’re any good you’re almost certainly part of the Pythian court. Maybe with Cassie it will be a good place to grow up at some point, but so far it seems like it really wasn’t, so no

- If you could change anything from any storyline, what would it be? 

I’d very much like to skip Tomas entirely (by the way, he’s still hanging around in Faerie somewhere, right??). And I think the mission to save Pritkin was a bit too drawn out, one book in hell and one in Wales would have been enough for me. It eats up so much space that the parts about the actual war in the present time feel a bit crammed in.

- Which character would you most want to spend a day with, and what would you do?

Date-like stuff with Rhea. Get her some great unhealthy food and a big bowl of ice cream, maybe go see a movie, go window-shopping in a pretty city center or take a walk outside the city... Normal, relaxing stuff where you can have a good conversation and get her to think about something else than her 500 responsibilities for a change.

- What are your: OTPs, BROTPs, NOTPs? 

OTPs: Dory and Louis-César get the top spot. I liked Cassie and Pritkin in their will-they-won’t-they phase a lot, too, I’ll have to wait and see what they’re like when they’re officially a thing. And Rian and Casanova, screwed up as they both are. BROTPs: Mircea and Marlowe, and Mircea and Radu (literally haha). And Dory and Ray, and for some reason also Dory and Zheng-Zi although trashing a convenience store is really not the way to work out insults. The Dory books are generally stronger on platonic relationships which is why I actually prefer them. NOTPs: Cassie and Casanova, and Dory and Marlowe. Sorry, I just don’t get the vibe.

- Do you have any crackships? If so, what are they? 

Never thought about it, so I guess not.

- What scene from either series made you laugh the hardest? 

There are quite a few that made me laugh out loud, but my absolute favourite is the condom buying scene in the Dory books. Bragging Ray, the incredulous salesperson, exasperated Dory and a jealous LC on the phone  are so great.

- What scene from either series made you cry the hardest? 

I’m stonehearted, so none, but the moment when Dory realizes that Mircea had really loved her mother, and might still kinda love her, got to me. Generally the moments when Dory’s perspective of Mircea changes, like when he saves her from Lawrence and then needs saving himself, make me emotional.

- What are your unpopular opinions? 

Pretty much every positive thing about Mircea in any other role than father to Dory, probably^^ I agree that it’s high time for him and Cassie to finally break up, and it has been like that for four books now, but I hope they’re able to maintain a platonic relationship after that, and I don’t lay the blame for them not working out solely on Mircea. Yes, he’s secretive and manipulative and over-protective, but for me that’s a reason why they shouldn’t be together, not why he’s a bad person per se. I like it that for him, family and probably also the war (and not romance) get the top spots on his priority list and that he’d do pretty much anything for either one. Concerning the latter, his might not always be the best option available, but objectively speaking, he has almost 600 years of experience in politics, war, and life in general, against Cassie’s 24 years which she spent mostly cut off from anything supernatural, so... I don’t blame him for thinking he knows better. Especially considering that the not-talking-thing is mutual, so neither one of them has much reason to trust the other. It doesn’t show as much when it comes to Cassie because when he asks something important, she normally has a long interior monologue about what it is exactly that she can’t tell him and why, so it’s harder to notice that she never answers his questions either, much as he doesn’t answer hers. Cassie obviously isn’t the best source for neutral evaluation of Mircea’s actions and motives anyway, so I think that when it comes to him, it’s necessary to take a step back and try to objectively see why he made the choices he made instead of repeating how terrible a person he is.

Mircea-related rant over, sorry. I agree with @freespeechfandom that Pritkin could use a bit more of a story of his own. I guess this is why I like the young version of him so much - he has an independent agenda, a life and friends and a purpose, and none of it is related to Cassie in any way. It’s obvious that he had a life before she showed up and will have one after she vanishes, in contrast to modern day Pritkin whose life revolves around one single person. I get why he became that person, but I don’t think it’s romantic, and character-wise it would do him good to have a bigger role than help Cassie sort out the messes she gets thrown into and cheer her up in between. His “resurrection” would be a good place to start giving him that: I’d love to see how his relationship with Rosier unfolds, now that Rosier has helped save him and even started to accept his life choices, and with his knowledge about the Fae he could also be a valuable asset for the war independent of his role as Cassie’s bodyguard/partner. So loads of unfulfilled potential there.

I’ll skip the tagging part because I have no idea who’s left (or who’s here in the first place, except for those few people who actually update regularly), so if you want to do this, go ahead, I can tag you afterward if you like :D