#also clearly these are being reviewed by real human persons

[angelexotica]

your daily reminder to go to ‘settings > content you see’ and make sure the stuff you have no issue seeing is set to ‘show’ since this website automatically assumes you have the mental maturity of a fucking croissant

#even fully dressed women are censored here #hell website #also clearly these are being reviewed by real human persons #tumblr #community labels #censorship #sharing especially for the reddit and twitter refugees #ok to reblog

[assumptionprime]

I need to rant about the Fallout show

Because this is the person I am. Full spoilers, so I’m putting it behind a Keep Reading:

I’m a huge sucker for Fallout (yes even 3&4). And I went into the Fallout show with some… trepidation. Amazon has been a mixed bag on adaptations, we could have been blessed with a Good Omens, or cursed by a Rings of Power. But early buzz and reviews seemed positive, so I slammed the whole thing in one night with my spouse (we were staying at my in-laws house and they have Prime. Time was a factor.)

And y’know? I was really enjoying it! The characters were fun, the plot was engaging enough, and the costumes and visual design were extremely on point. There were some minor lore quibbles to be had: Ghouls needing some kind of medicine to not go feral. Really, more Enclave holdouts? Timeline and date whoopsies. Wait are they in California? Where the hell is the NCR?

I made a face at Shady Sands being bombed and the NCR collapsing. But I wasn’t completely out of the story. Based on what I had seen so far, I thought it was building to a reveal that the Brotherhood had done it. That the more zealous turn they took in Fallout 4, which has clearly carried to how they are portrayed in the show, lead them to bombing the NCR. War never changes, as they say. Maximus even says when asked what happened to Shady Sands: “The same thing that always happens.” Yeah, it leans into Bethesda’s weird desire to keep the Fallout world in a state of perpetual wastelands full of raiders and no civilization, but it wasn’t so terrible that I couldn’t still enjoy the show.

But then.

BUT THEN.

Episode 8, and the reveal of Vault-Tec apparently being the ones who dropped the first bomb in the Great War.

I was surprised to hear that some fans have apparently been debating over who fired first? Some even asked Tim Cain about it?

That’s really odd to me because, in the games, there is already a pretty definitive answer to which side sparked the Great War:

Who fucking cares?

The world ended. What does it matter who shot first?

There is no China, no United States, no communists or capitalists left to fight about it. 

It's a powerful little bit of lore.

For all the posturing, all the promises from each nation that their way is the true way, all the nationalism, the militarism, and blind loyalty to flags over humanity, they both lost. Everyone lost. All that remains of the ideologies and nations that were so important to the people of 2077 is faint echoes over vast expanses of radioactive ash.

Who started the end?

No one knows. No one cares.

It only matters that their conflict was so bitter, so all-consuming, that one of them dropped their bombs, and the other dropped theirs in return.

The truest legacy of the old world is the devastation left by their final, most horrific war.

Can we do better?

Then the show says "Nah, Vault-Tec did it. It's not a commentary on human nature and the futility of self-destructive conflict, it was actually these guys, these mustache twirling villains huddled in a darkened room literally plotting to end the whole world so they can rule what's left."

And I can see the attempt to make this a critique of capitalism. I actually paused the show to praise a bit of writing when Coop is talking with Charlie before the war, when Charlie tells him that the “cattle ranchers are in charge” to illustrate how capitalism and corporations hold too much sway over the government, it felt very in line with how in New Vegas one of the recurring critiques of the NCR is that all the real power is in the hands of the “brahmin barons.” Nice parallel, spot on!

But “we’ll set off total thermonuclear war so we can rule the ashes and have a True Monopoly” isn’t capitalism. It’s just dumb “we’re the baddies” writing.

And then Shady Sands was also Vault-Tec?! Forget any meaning in the NCR falling to the same corruption and/or factional fighting that consumed the old world, they were literally just bombed by the evil shadow conspiracy that apparently also killed the old world. Hank gives this speech about factions fighting and the futility of it all while we see the Brotherhood fighting Moldaver’s NCR remnant, and like, no! You can’t say that when you’ve made it so neither the old world or the NCR fell to war with another faction! It was you! You and your band of cryogenic supervillains!

I don't care that they changed it. Timelines and dates and little retcons don’t bother me all that much. I care that they changed it to something so much worse.

#fallout #fallout tv show #fallout spoilers #nerdy rant about shit that doesn't actually matter but has been stewing in my head for a week now

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 70 – American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

I’m honestly not sure I ever would have gotten around to reading this on my own, but ended up buying it through the ‘blind date with a book’ thing a bookstore in New York was doing when I was visiting (incredible gimmick, for the record). The fact that it then took me a solid three months to actually finish probably tells you something about how genuinely difficult a read I found it. Not in the sense of being bad, but just legitimately difficult to stomach at points. Overall I’d call it a real triumph of literature.

Not that anyone doesn’t already know, but; the book is spent inside the head of Patrick Bateman, high-flying wall street trader and Harvard blueblood at the close of the Reagan era. Also a serial killer. The story is told as a series of more or less disconnected vignettes, jumping from dinner conversations at one exclusive bar or club or another to the brutal torture and murder of a sex worker to several pages of incredibly vapid pontification on Nina Simone’s discography. The story vaguely tracks Bateman growing ever-more alienated and out of control as the year goes on, but there’s very much not any real single narrative or cathartic climax here. - most stuff just happens (stuff that’s either incredibly tedious or utterly nauseating by turns but still just, stuff).

So yeah this is an intensely literary work (obviously), a word I’m here using to mean one that is as much about the form and style of the writing as about the actual events portrayed. Bateman is a monster, but more than that he’s just an utterly boring and tedious husk of a man, traits which are exaggerated to the point of being fascinating– if you told this story in conventional third person narration without all the weird asides, it would be a) like half as long and b) totally worthless. The tonal whiplash of going from an incredibly visceral depiction of Bateman cutting out the eyes of a homeless man to six (utterly insipid) pages on the merits of The Doors is the selling point here (well actually I think Ellis goes back to that specific well probably one time too many, but in general I mean).

Bateman is a tedious, unstable monster, but as far as the book has an obvious thesis it’s that he differs from the rest of his social milieu only in degree. A symptom of a fundamentally rotten society, not a heroic devil among sheep. The book’s climax, such as it is, involved Bateman getting into a drug-fueled gunfight with the NYPD, shooting multiple people in the middle of the street, and then stumbling home and leaving a rambling confession to every crime on his lawyer’s answering machine – but despite very clearly wanting and trying to get caught and face some sort of consequence or justice, people just refuse to believe that someone like him is capable of anything like that. (It’s not, it must be said, an especially subtle book).

There is, as far as I can recall, not a single character who gets enough screentime to give an idea of their personality who I’d call likeable. Sympathetic, sure, but that’s mostly because it’s pretty much impossible not to sympathize with someone getting horrifically tortured and torn apart (at one point a starving rat is involved). The upper crust of New York yuppie-dom is portrayed as shallow and vapid, casually bigoted towards quite literally everyone who isn’t identical to them, status-obsessed to the point of only being able to understand the world as a collection of markers of class and coolness, and totally incapable of real human connection. Bateman is a monster not because of any freak abnormality, but just because he takes all of that a few steps further than his coworkers.

The book is totally serious and straight-faced in its presentation, and absolutely never acknowledges any of the running gags that are kept up through it. Which shows impressive restraint, and also means that none of them exactly have a payoff or a punchline – it’s just a feature of the world that all the expensive meals at trendy restaurants everyone competes for tables at sound disgusting when you think about them for a moment, or that the whole class of wall street trader guy are so entirely interchangeable that ostensible close friends and coworkers constantly mistake each other for other traders and no one particularly cares. Or – and I’m taking this on faith because fuck knows I’ve got no idea what any of the brands people are wearing are – that the ruinously expensive outfits everyone spends so very much time and money on for every engagement all clash comically if you actually looked up what the different pieces looked like. The book’s in no way really a comedy, so the jokes sit a bit oddly, but they’re still overall pretty funny, at least to me.

I like to think I have something of a strong stomach for unpleasant material in books, but this was the first work of fiction that I had genuine trouble reading for content reasons in I can’t even remember. I’m not sure it’s exactly right to call the violence pornographic in a general sense, but as far as American Psycho goes the register and tone Bateman uses to describe fucking a woman and torturing her to death are basically identical (and told in similarly explicit detail), and all of Bateman’s sexual fantasies are more or less explicitly just porn scenes he wants to recreate, so. Regardless, the result’s pretty alienating in both cases – his internal monologue never really feels anything but detached and almost bored as he relays what he does, sound exactly as vapid and alienated as when he is carefully listing the exact brands and designers every person he ever interacts with is wearing at all times, or arguing over dinner reservations for hours on end with his friends and lovers (though both those terms probably deserve heavy airquotes around them). He legitimately sounds considerably more engaged when talking about arguing over sartorial etiquette. It all adds up to a really strong alienating effect.

Anyways, speaking of sex and violence – perhaps because my main exposure to the story before this was tumblr making memes out of scenes from the movie, but I was pretty shocked by just how explicitly awful Patrick is ‘on screen’. The horrible murder, sure, but also just the casual and frequent use of racist and homophobic slurs, the pathological misogyny, the total breakdown he has at the idea of a gay man being attracted to him and thinking he might reciprocate – all of these are entirely in character for an asshole Wall Street ‘80s Guy even if he wasn’t a serial killer, but it’s still oddly shocking at first to see it so thoroughly represented on the page. It makes how comparatively soft-pedaled the bigotry and just, awfulness, of villains in a lot of more modern books stand out a lot more, I suppose? I have read a lot of books that are in some sense About queerness and/or racism in the last year, and no one in any of them holds a candle to good old Patrick Bateman.

Part of that is just the book being so intensely of its time, I suppose. The New York of this book is very much one of the late ‘80s, incredible wealth living side by side with social rot and decay, crippling poverty everywhere and a society that has to a great degree just stopped caring. Absolutely none of which Bateman or any of his peers care one bit about, of course – they’re too busy showing off the latest walkmans and record players, going to the newest clubs, and just generally enjoying all the fruits of Reagan’s America. Recent history has made the fact that Bateman’s personal idol is Donald Trump almost too on the nose to be interesting, but in 1991 I’m sure it was a bit more subtle in how telling it was.

Anyway, yeah, horrifying and exhausting read, triumph of literature, my god did Easton Ellis hate America (this is a compliment). Now time to go watch the movie!

#book review #literature #american psycho #brett easton ellis

[imagitory]

All right...for those of you who don't know my thoughts about Wish, yes, I wasn't happy with the finished result, but no, I'm not a hater. I'm mostly just disappointed that this project that had so many good ideas came out so half-baked, and THIS is a perfect example of what I mean.

No, it's not because "Star Boy" appears in it -- at least, not by itself. I do actually like Star's "himbo" personality in this, even if I also completely understand liking the idea of a mute version of the character. (The downside is that the mute Star from the finished film honestly doesn't have much personality outside of just being cute, in contrast to other mute magical Disney characters like Tinker Bell.)

No, the lost potential here is two-fold --

Firstly, I once again felt more emotion watching this storyboarded sequence than I did at any point in the finished film. I smiled hearing the fun banter between Star and Asha, insinuating that they're becoming closer despite their contrasting personalities; I felt some suspense in how Star and Asha were going to get away from evil!Queen Amaya; I even laughed pretty hard at the cat-and-yarn gag! I didn't laugh once while watching the finished movie.

Secondly -- and this point is actually the one I want to focus on more -- is the commentary given about why this scene was cut. I truly think another unspoken reason behind the decision was that this sequence was clearly inspired by the transforming chase scene in Nimona, which Disney of course infamously dropped when they closed Blue Sky Studios and later got picked up by Netflix, only to receive glowing reviews from just about everyone...but one of the core reasons that Head of Story Mark Kennedy cites for why they changed this scene (aside from wanting Star to be mute and not a shapeshifter like other Disney characters, which I'm a bit confused about because yeah, Disney's done cute, mute non-human characters before too -- what about Dopey, Pascal, Maximus, Dumbo, Bambi, Magic Carpet, Sven, and again Tinker Bell?) is that they wanted Asha to be the hero and be able to "solve all her problems" without Star's help.

Up to a point, I understand what Kennedy means -- the theme of the film is supposed to be that we all have the power inside of us to make a difference, and that's great. But by making it so that Asha doesn't need any help from Star, it takes something away from their relationship. No human is an island, and relationships, both in stories and real life, are often built on that fact. Just look at Ariel and Eric in the original Little Mermaid -- Ariel saves Eric from drowning and from Ursula zapping him with Triton's trident, and then Eric saves Ariel from Ursula by skewering her with the broken figurehead of a ship. Even in non-romantic examples, we have Judy and Nick having to help each other solve the case in Zootopia; Buzz and Woody helping each other get back to Andy in Toy Story; the Parr family and Frozone all fighting together against Syndrome's robot with their unique powers in The Incredibles; Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver working together to save themselves and everyone else at the end of Treasure Planet; even Anna helping Elsa learn how to control her magical abilities through an act of authentic, courageous, selfless love that only she can do in Frozen. These characters needing help and deep emotional connections with others is what creates a bond between them, helps the characters grow and change into stronger people, and makes us as an audience enjoy watching the two characters together. We become invested in both the two individual characters and the relationship forged between them. Because they all have their unique strengths and weaknesses, they supplement and complete each other. Even perfect paragon Superman in most DC properties isn't an island -- when he's in the Justice League, there are plenty of times where he needs help from Batman or other team members to save the day. Even Superman is a stronger character when he has people around him who can balance out his flaws.

If Asha never needs help, that runs the risk of the challenges she's facing seeming far less consequential, because no human can handle absolutely everything, all by themselves. Yes, perhaps in the finished film, Asha asks her friends to help her liberate the wishes (a task which ultimately fails, leaving Asha to confront Magnifico alone again and realize exactly what everyone has to do to defeat him on her own anyway)...but just in regards to Star and Asha's relationship -- which even the filmmakers have said is something like a "soulmate" relationship, though not in a romantic sense in the finished product -- these two can't have a meaningful connection if one of them is completely self-sufficient. This is also why quite a few Disney fans didn't like that the Little Mermaid remake changed Ursula's defeat to have it be Ariel who killed her, rather than Eric, because it hurt the "equal" dynamic between the main couple where they both helped and supported each other.

In short, "girl power" shouldn't have to mean never needing to rely on anyone else...and honestly, looking at this scene concept, we don't see Asha relying on Star too much! She's the brains of the outfit -- she's making plans; she's providing Star some much needed common sense; she's using Star's light as a distraction so they can get away...she even escapes Amaya at one point by sliding right under her horse! Asha in this storyboard is a bad-ass!

What we see in this sequence is these two characters having to help each other in order to succeed. And that would've been a great foundation on which to build more dramatic stakes and a relationship with actual pathos, whether romantic or not.

#disney wish #wish (2023) #wish #disney #analysis #asha #star #storyboards #deleted scenes #opinion #Youtube

[anpanman95]

God DO I have things to say about this one here…

CONTROVERSIAL REVIEW AHEAD

Last Twilight: why Day’s character is a major RED FLAG 🚩🚩🚩

DISCLAIMER: I do not have anything against him as an actor. He’s a beautiful sweet talented cutie pie that is doing such an amazing job it causes me to hate the motherfluffing guts of this character.

To make this easier I’ve broken down this to five points.

Day’s personality sucks: first of all, he is a rich, spoiled child (I hope all of us agree on this one) who’s clearly full of himself, and only cares about himself. This is demonstrated in several ways, but the most blatant one is in how he believes that his tragedy is the worst possible scenario anyone could be in, and fails to have a single ounce of empathy for anyone around him unless, of course, it has to do something with him. Yes. What happened to him was horrific, and traumatizing, but he is not the only human being in the world who has problems. Which brings me to my next point.

Having a disability does not give you the right to be an asshole. “Oh but every person deals with their own stuff differently” Honey, no. The whole point is that having a disability does not make you any less than any other human being. Question: Doesn’t Day want for people to stop feeling pity for him? to not treat him differently?. Well guess what darling: that implies you also still have to be and function like a decent person. Yes, again, I’m very sorry about what he has to go through, which is a horrible and unexpected experience, and I could never imagine what that’s like, but literally no one in his life wished this upon him. He acts as if everyone around him is to be blamed for what happened.

Spoiled part 2: He has a roof over his head. A fancy one might I add. He lives comfortably. He has healthy, unlimited food, done by a professional chef, might I add AGAIN, and he does not appreciate his family and what they do for him, not even once. Does he not understand that his life could be much, much worse? I’m not saying he can’t be angry or depressed or deal with his trauma however he needs to be able to heal, but there’s a difference that he doesn’t seem to understand: being angry at a situation that is out of anyone’s control, and being angry or directing that anger to people who just want to help. Which brings me to my last two points:

Day’s crappy behavior towards his family: Lets start with the mother. She is, of course somewhat at fault for what Day has to go through. But only because she is being unreasonably overprotective, something that could have been solved anyway without Day being an absolute prick about it. (Also pick one of your children to give all your love and attention to and abandon the other? what is wrong with you). Now to his brother Night. Oh God. I don’t think you understand how angry I was when Day said “I forgive you for everything”. Bitch what the f? Forgive Night? for treating him like absolute garbage, as if he had never been your own brother? Like he planned the whole fiasco? He gets mad after the accident because his brother TRIES TO CHANGE for the BETTER. And accuses him from TRYING TO STEAL THE GOOD SON TITLE FROM HIM??! Be for real bitch. This circles back to point one: He only cares about himself. Night has been traumatized almost as much as Day because of the accident. It is obvious he blames himself and probably will never forgive himself fully for what happened. On top of that he gets an awful mother and brother? Nah. Count me out. I would have resigned from that family and go live with beautiful sweet Porjai to a small village and never be contacted by those people again.

Mhok: Oh dear. Oh dear. He is literally the greenest of green flags out there. Sure. He’s a little volatile. Sure, he has done violent things. But he would have NEVER hurt Day or any of their friends/family. My boy was just trying to do his job, cause, mind you, HE HAS NO MONEY OR FAMILY TO SUPPORT HIM LIKE YOU DO, DAY. The money and family you disrespect every single day. And what the f with telling him what to do with his life? Who the f do you think you are? Mr. Righteous? Mr. Perfect? More like Mr. Red Flag 101. Day basically broke Mhok’s heart because Mhok didn’t want to be away from him. So, first of all, I don’t believe for a second Mhok’s intentions were out of pity. Maybe they came from a place of WORRY and a little bit out of infatuation because he liked him so much and didn’t want to be away from him. But never pity. EVEN SO. IF Mhok felt “pity” for Day, the correct thing to do, as two fluffing functioning adults, is to TALK. Why did you have to go and tell him all this horrible things just so he’d leave? Why not tell him you’re proud of him, and ENCOURAGE HIM to take the job, ENSURE that it’ll work out between you? But nooooo, Mr. Red Flag had to go and break his heart cause he lacks basic decency and human empathy, only for Mhok, bless his heart, to come back after three years AND FOR SOME REASON, still manage to be in love with this awful person. And he tells him no? Break his heart all over again only for Mhok to have enough emotional intelligence for the both of them to actually come back after YOU GAVE UP ON SEARCHING FOR HIM AT THE AIRPORT LIKE A WEAK MEDIOCRE BI— ugh. If I were Mhok I’d gone and kicked his sorry ass and married a handsome Hawaiian.

Okay.

Also Day only coming to his senses after his mother tells him THE MOST OBVIOUS THING THERE IS.

“Oh Mother what was that? Loving means taking risks? It’s all about trust? and communication? Oh my, that would have never crossed my mind because I am such an idiot. Thank you mom I’ll go look for the love of my life now because you told me so”

like seriously what is up with these boys and their mommy issues? I swear the exact same thing happened in Hidden Agenda. Bro.

I love P’Aof, and his work. Loved Bad Buddy, loved Moonlight Chicken. I had super high expectations of this and, overall, the show is good. But I simply did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and it’s all because I couldn’t sympathize with one of the main characters.

In conclusion:

Fluff you Day, you do not deserve Mhok. sorry p’Aof I love you and will continue to support you until the very end.

oof. I needed to rant this out. don’t yell at me please I cry easily.

peace out!

#last twlight the series #bl series #thai bl series #thaibl #thailand #thai bl #thai bl drama #thai drama #thai series #mhokday #mhok x day #mhok last twilight #im very sorry about this but It needed to be said #metapost #meta post #my meta #my writing #last twilight

[lutawolf]

The Sign Commentary Review Ep 3

I'm saying fuck it and doing this commentary anyways, even though it's way late. (my kid got into a car accident. Fuck this year.) Anyways I think I'm hilarious so here we go.

Home dude really just let Tharn get kidnapped and looks so lost about it. Hahah! The friend group drinking at the idea of Phaya and Tharn having sex. So dead.

The way these coconuts are stirring up Phaya. And why did his brain go straight to shower. He is so obvious and doesn't even care. Then races out to call the man. Like, are you just now realizing what is going on. This is real life drunkenness, I swear. When Chalothon shows up in the camera feed, it's a total audacity of this bitch moment.

Good news, Chalothon is not having any luck controlling Tharn either. The faces Phaya makes at his phone.

HAHAHA! Phaya's face when he gets back to the table and sees all the guys. He went from being on top of the world to a no good, shitty day real fast. Poor baby, lol.

Phaya's book collection has me jealous. The music playing while he is visualizing the girl. Especially with those subs (mysterious music playing). 🤣🤣🤣 The whole scene with the sister, omg. (mysterious music) (footstep sounds) (footstep sounds) (mysterious music) Phaya's eyes shifting as if in panic. All very dramatic.

Grandma is so pretty!!! She's hilarious too.

Somebody got romance on the brain! I mean, I'm only guessing, between the closeness and the subtitles telling me that romantic music is playing. Then dreams of cuddling Tharn. Cute! I like how the lighting makes them look like they are underwater.

Boy woke up so confused. "I must have thought about him too much." Ya think?!?

Phaya is a talented artist. He has a lot of art of a boy also a side profile of a female. The one we can't see clearly makes me think of the dragon from the water. Is the cat a Cha Kla? Cha Kla is a mythological cat from Thailand.  Legend says that the Ch Kla are terrified of humans and will hide from them, but if they are seen or touched, that person will eventually die. However, they are usually black, where this is white with black surrounding it.

Grandma, "Are they twins?" Then Phaya goes on to fill her in on everything. These two have a very close relationship.

"Did I do anything weird last night?" Boy, that is a loaded question. Ya'll Yai is adorable. He is for sure one of my favorite side characters.

Doc... I'm having doubts that I'm gonna like you. You've barely talked, but you have slime ball written all over you. And what is up with Tharn saying that him and Phaya aren't that close??? Clearly he isn't that close to the Doc if he is hiding stuff.

Nong Khai!!! Nong (low area like a swamp) Khai (lost) is situated on the banks of the majestic Mekong River, one of the world’s longest and most iconic rivers. It's also a very important pilgrimage for Buddhist because of a revered Buddhist stupa that dates back to the 16th century and is believed to contain relics of the Lord Buddha. You know what else it's known for?? Nagas. These mythical creatures are semidivine beings that are serpent shape-shifters. Whether it is a human form, full serpent, or half serpent, half-human form, the Nagas can take up whatever shape they prefer. They are a strong and attractive species, who are regarded as guardians of treasure which resides in the underwater kingdom of Patala-Loka or Naga-Loka, a stunning place decorated in gems.

Now I'm really excited!

💜💜💜 I'm dying. "She's gorgeous." "I know that, but she's also very scary. I'm afraid of her." This honestly makes me like him even more. NGL. They are pretty close with the Abbott. Aww, poor Yai getting ganged up on. *Snickers*

Clues! "While you’re staying here. Let me warn you about something. Make sure you often meditate and dedicate the merits to those whom you have wronged in the past. So that it would help lighten the consequences of your karma. Got it?"

"Is he still not free from them? They’ve been after him since when he was born. That’s why he had to live at the temple. What do they want from him? Why are they so vengeful?"

Shot to sad Abbott and sad Tharn.

Phaya asking the Abbott if he remembers him. Give me answers! Give me! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, Finally!!! It's come out that he is the boy that was saved by him!

And we crash again. That's so fucking sad, is this why he thinks the people he loves dies??? "Everything has already been destined. His life is written by the karma he did in his past life." This is so fucking sad. But wait! There is hope! "His destiny has been entwined with someone since his past life. That person will lead him to experience bad things. But it is also that person who would be able to free him from his karma."

Okay, so the Rocket Festival they are talking about and why the date is significant. The Rocket Festival is usually celebrated on the weekends in the middle of May, just before the start of the crop plantation period (the rainy season). This ancient festival is a merit-making ceremony which involves firing home-made rockets towards the heavens to captivate the rain gods and hope for a good monsoon season before the crop plantations take place.

"Whether you’d be free from those whom you have wronged in the past... depends on whether you’d be able to find the owner of this amulet tonight." Damn, that's not ominous. Poor fucking kid.

Ahhhhh, this is when his visions started! No thoughts, he just dives in. This boy does not deserve to have to pay for his past life! I absolve him! You live by a river, and you're just shaking him? Fucking turn him over and smack his back!

Past, Phaya is so puppy dog.

Wait! You forgot to give him the amulet!!! Dumbass kids. Always forget the important part. I mean... Well, I guess saving a person from drowning is the important part, but you know what I mean! Oh good, Phaya found him.

"So, he would probably live for a very long time. But you have to be careful though. If both of your destiny are entwined like what I think... You would eventually find each other again."

And clearly, Yai has always been the way he has been since forever.

Naga! He dreams of Nagas! Usually the festival associated with Naga is the Naga Fireball Festival. Which is celebrated in the fall or Buddhist Lent period. In this festival, people gather along a certain stretch of the Mekong River, to witness glowing red 'fireballs' shoot up into the sky. The number of fireballs sighted can range from hundreds to thousands. The local people attribute this phenomenon to the mythical 'Phaya Nak', a giant serpent that they believe resides within the river.

Okay, I'll shut up now and get back to the show.

"He doesn’t know how to swim. But he still wants to go and play near the riverbank."

"Grandma, I really heard someone calling me there last night."

That's just a great kid. We almost saw the Darwin Theory in action. The stupid shall not inherit the earth. Gee wiz, I hear disembodied voices, let's go investigate near water where I can not swim. This is like me hearing a gun shot and going to check it out. No, I don't want to die, I'm not that noisy. The unknown can stay unknown. Phaya as a kid was so soft and shy. Boy has he changed!

WTF is not wanting to take the amulet. Don't be an ungrateful asshole, kid. Tharn takes no shit, even as a kid.

"What you saw wasn’t a dream. It was your karma." "Are you saying that... they are those whom I have wronged in my past life?"

We're getting closer to answers! Ahhh, we're talking more about the Naga!!! So Tharn was a Naga in a past life??

"You both are destined to help each other Trust each other. Only then, you would be able to free yourself from your karma. Your kind hearts are your best weapon. And remember to always trust each other. Help each other. And you both would live a happy life, like you’ve always dreamt of." Sounds simple enough... (dumdumdum aka thunder sounds)

Oh snap! We got some bad weather! Okay, so Naga have different classes. From the general Nagas who have large bodies like great serpents with a crest on the head and strong poison to the celestial ones who have several heads with lethal poison and supernatural power such as disguising themselves more than just as a human being. Furthermore, certain ones can effect rain. The power to bring rain or cause drought by stop giving it. Some beliefs say they can disguise themselves as rain clouds and/or rainbows. That is why the quote for the Rocket Festival is "How much water will the Naga give this year."

Ohhh, who could this be? The king of Naga? There are a few options, so I won't hazard a guess just yet.

Can I just say that I'm loving that Phaya is chasing after scared Tharn. Yai and Phaya hugging like they didn't just get drunk together the night before. 🤣🤣🤣

"It was quite dark, so I didn't know he actually looks like this." OMG, I'm Dead. Hahaha Yai... I can see why you and your gf fit together.

Ahhhh I'm loving this so much!! You see the Naga decorations on the bridge?? This is in association with their connection to rainbows. The rainbow signifies the bridge between earth and the underworld. Sorry if this shit is boring, you guys! Like I said earlier, I'm way late, and so I'm just writing about what I find interesting. Because I refuse to force beliefs on my children, I give them books on world religions and beliefs. I read it so that I can help them as they read what they are interested in. I find all this stuff so captivating.

The way Yai looks at his girl. So sweet.

Okay, I see what they are doing here with the dream, but I'm dead. That hair and his facial expression. Like he is seconds away from laughing at himself. I would love to see BTS of this part right here.

Look at Phaya just calling Tharn out. Like Bitch, try and run from me. "Why didn't you want to tag along with us."

Isn't that where he was sitting when he had the vision? Phaya, you wish he was hitting on you, lol.

Not matching clothes!!! Tharn bitching all the time but damned if he didn't put on the matching clothes.

He left her cause she was naga! What!

Yes, he is telling you that you are the cause of his bad dreams. But he still wants you to stick around so nevermind.

I love these fools. I love grandma. Now everyone knows that Phaya is the boy that was saved.

I like Sand.

"If what you said is true, Yai and I both love you like our own brother... but we’re still safe and sound."

"Don’t let what the Abbot has predicted come true." Grandma come back! Explain this to me...

Hahah! Tharn is so sassy. "Did you use this kind of story to hit on the girls in France?"

See, no hiding for Phaya. He just straight up tells Tharn that he likes him. I think evil jellyfish is a new favorite nickname for me. I really want to read this book but it's like 15 bucks. Crazy!

AHHH! They finally kiss!!! "And this is called a goodnight kiss."

Tharn's face when Phaya says goodnight. Bless the poor boy. Well fuck, we getting stormy weather over a kiss? What the hell is gonna happen when they do more!?! I think I liked it better when the sex just woke up the evil twin, not cause destruction of humanity. Tharn is cute but I don't know that he is Noah Arc worth it kind of cute. Just saying.

Running scared! But that's okay cause Phaya is very willing to chase. Even tackle.

"Do you want to get hurt?" Phaya over here like, yes please. With a cherry on top. I love the cockiness of both of them. I adore when Phaya puts his tongue in his cheek. These two! Thank you Saint! You are a blessing amongst men. I really enjoy this kind of foreplay. No punches were pulled. Noticed Phaya is wearing the talisman.

Ahhh, it's the forcing him to submit and then telling him he is a good boy for me.

I’m Police Major Akkanee Assawawaisoon, your team leader. Yay! He is back!

I love these coconuts. Tharn going and sitting by your brother, Phaya is going to kick your ass again.

Ahhhhhh. I'm so excited for this saturday!

#the sign the series #the sign bl #phayatharn #luta talks the sign #coconuts mafia

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Maybe I'm missing something, but your pretenstion review you mentioned Ladybug de-evilizing amoks and it made me think, why does ladybug have to de-evilize the amoks anyway? All the sentis ladybug hasn't de-evilized didn't cause any problems later on unlike the akuma from origins who the multiplied and all that. If Ladybug hadn't de-evilized, let's say reflekdoll, what if the amok weren't de-evilized? would she have spawned again like stoneheart? Then why didn't other non-de-evilized sentis like Ladybug or red moon spawn again?

The obvious answer would be inconsistency and illogical lore , I just think it's so funny how the show tries to made a point that sentis deserve rights and all that, but the de-evilizing thing also sort of implies that senti beings are "evil". And even if one argues that the ones from Monarch are evil and those from argos aren't, there is no real difference bewteen them other than who created them. They're still unanatonomous beings controlled by an object. Besides, I think the ladybug one from mayura wasn't de-evilized and that didn't cause problems.

... Idk I'm probably thinking too much about it or miss something obvious, I just wanted to share my thoughts.

The thing is that, even though the show tries to about how Sentimonsters are just as alive as human beings, it tends to ignore why people are so opposed to Sentimonsters in the first place.

For two seasons, both Nathalie and Gabriel used the Peacock Miraculous to create Sentimonsters who were specifically designed to cause as much damage as possible (Heroes' Day, Reflekdoll, Miraculer, Ladybug, Miracle Queen, Truth, Queen Banana, Mega Leech, Guiltrip, Kuro Neko, Strikeback), and none of those incidents are ever mentioned. Even in "Emotion", the episode meant to make us sympathize with Felix, it only gave us more reasons to fear Sentimonsters because a single one created by a pissed off teenager nearly exterminated the human race. Clearly, this is the best person to teach us that Sentimonsters aren't all evil.

Other than Adrien, Felix, and Kagami, we never really see any instances of humans and Sentimonsters coexisting because, like you said, during Seasons 3 and 4, Ladybug de-evilized their Amoks and treated them as disposable minions for Mayura and Shadowmoth, and the two instances where it could have happened, they were instantly snapped away and nobody really seemed to care (Ladybug, Sentibubbler).

Intentional or not, the show presents us with an interesting moral dilemma it refuses to take advantage of: Should the heroes allow Felix to use the Peacock Miraculous to create more Sentimonsters that could possibly endanger innocent lives, or take away the Peacock while ignoring the potential the Sentimonsters have to help us by working together with humanity?

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #felix graham de vanily #argos #marinete dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #kagami tsurugi #ryuko #ryuuko #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #hawk moth #shadowmoth #shadow moth #monarch #nathalie sancoeur #mayura

[motziedapul]

Engaging with fiction in good faith allows you to build empathy by experiencing things through the eyes of other people

and refusing to engage with certain fiction because of a hard line moral stance against The Wrong Kind Of Fiction just makes you a less empathetic person over all.

The thing is, I engage with a lot of fiction that I would object to in real life. Sometimes I also run into fiction that I'm not particularly happy or comfortable with, but because the story is compelling, engaging, genuine and earnest and presented in a vulnerable, earnest, human way, my surface level distaste is overridden by my connection with a stranger who I've been given the opportunity to know.

I just read a comic by a gay man that has heavy drug use, written in a way that has an intimate knowledge of the kind of life and culture a lot of gay men run into, full of casual sex and hard drugs and sudden death and violence. The protagonist isn't a bad person, but he's also not the best person, but you root for him all the way through. And then he has a really bad trip and dies.

I don't feel particularly comfortable with any of that, but I was engaged all the way through. And by simplistic metrics many people might not consider it "good gay rep" or whatever because it involves a gay man doing all the hard drugs, being promiscuous and then dying, but it was written authentically, by a gay man who clearly has had experience with these things, and encourages you the reader to seek help and provides resources if you've experienced something similar.

I do not accept the idea that you should always have a moral stance on the fiction you consume. You don't have to make excuses, or have caveats, to justify the "problematic fiction" you've engaged with, maybe even enjoyed. Because a lot of fiction, particularly indie fiction, is a conversation between a creator revealing something honest and vulnerable, and a reader learning about the lives of others and experiences they will never have.

And it is a silly exercise to try to give that sort of conversation a (very ironically named) Common Sense Media review because it's got violence and drugs and kinky sex or whatever.

It is easy to stick to fiction you're comfortable with. I've done it, I do it. But in my experience, allowing yourself to engage with other people's stories, comfortable or not, is healthy for you as a human being in learning empathy and compassion for other human beings. Try reading some books in the local library, or do what I did and buy a bunch of indie comics and books from a convention full of indie creators (easy) and actually read them (Dark Souls Hard Mode).

And who knows, maybe you'll find something that'll change your life, or help you grow as a person. Or maybe you'll find a cool new thing you like.

#fiction #representation #media literacy

[heymrsandman]

Wanna Try Star Trek?

Hi tumblr! I love Star Trek, as do many of you, but it can seem intimidating to folks who are interested but don’t really how to approach such a large franchise. The thing is, Trek’s “golden age” lived in that delicious sweet spot where tv shows outside of soap operas were only just starting to learn about serialisation. These shows were built for drop in, drop out viewing. So I’m gonna write some beginner friendly summary/reviews of various episodes and you can see if it strikes your fancy. If you decide to watch an episode I talk about, please, feel free to talk to me about it!

Also, I made a big spinner wheel of all the TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT episodes and I needed something to do with it.

Today’s random pick is Deep Space Nine’s “Indiscretion”, episode 5 of season 4.

So real quick, Deep Space Nine aired between 1993-1999 and was set aboard the titular space station. It’s still the only Star Trek show not to be based on a ship. The long and short of the premise is that, after a long and gruelling occupation by the Cardassian Union, the planet of Bajor wins its freedom. Having no means of defending themselves from something like this happening again, Bajor reaches out to the Federation (the post-scarcity multi species utopia that humanity is part of) for protection. They send a Starfleet detachment to administer the space station the Cardassians left behind, commanded by one Benjamin Sisko, who has to manage the delicate political situation. This show is by far the most serialised of this era, but nowhere near the extent of modern shows.

First Officer’s Note: Starfleet is an all-in-one exploratory, scientific, defense and diplomatic service, and most of the shows and movies revolve around the various adventures of Starfleet crews.

Our episode today opens with DS9’s First Officer, Major Kira Nerys, receiving a call from an old friend named Razka Karn. He tells her that he’s found a lead on a ship she’s been searching for called the Ravinok. He won’t share the information over a video call, so she’ll have to come to him.

Ship Counsellor’s Note: Kira is a Bajoran, and was previously a member of the Bajoran resistance against the Occupation. Bringing in “one of Kira’s old resistance buddies” is one of the writer’s favourite ways to start up a plot for her. 

The station’s security officer Odo shows up for a scene where he’s giving Kira a security report, but her mind’s clearly elsewhere. Odo asks her what’s wrong, and Kira asks whether he thinks she should go after the Ravinok. He tells her it doesn’t matter, as he knows she’s going to go anyway, so all he’ll say is “good luck”.

Usually, there’s some hand wringing over whether or not Sisko will send one of his officers on these personal missions, but here we skip right to Kira packing for her trip, only for Sisko to give her the unpleasant news that the Cardassian government wants in on the search too. See, the Ravinok was a Cardassian ship transporting Bajoran prisoners when it was mysteriously lost.

Kira’s come a long way in her feelings towards Cardassians since the start of the show, so she does (huffily) agree to delay her departure by 52 hours to allow a Cardassian delegate to join her.

Science Officer’s Note: Bajor, and by extension DS9, has a 26 hour day. This is one of those little writerly worldbuilding details that stays consistent, and really helps sell the idea of Bajor being its own place. Take note, aspiring writers!

It’s b-plot time! Sisko has been dating a freighter captain by the name of Kasidy Yates. Jadzia Dax, the Science officer, teases Sikso that things are getting serious, which Sisko denies. Kasidy then shows up to say she’s got an interview to sign up as a freighter captain for the Bajoran government. She’d be around all the time, she could even have quarters on the station! Sisko is clearly scared by the idea, but Jadzia is having way too much fun encouraging Kasidy to care. She’s a cad.

Back at Ops (the command centre), the Cardassian delegate arrives - it’s Dukat! Dun dun dun! Ad break!

Tactical Officer’s Note: Dukat (whose first name is never confirmed in the show, but some of the novels name him Skrain) is a major recurring character on the show. Sometimes an ally, often an opponent, but never liked by the crew. He was the officer in charge of the Occupation of Bajor during its final stages, with the rank of Gul. At this point in the show, he’s recently been promoted to Legate.

On their way to rendezvous with Razka, Dukat, galaxy brained individual that he is, decides to debate Kira on the merits of the Cardassian Occupation. When Kira pushes back on this, he says “I have to desire to debate the merits of the Occupation with you”. Charming guy.

We do get Kira’s motivation here, which is that the Ravinok was transporting a prisoner by the name of Lorit Akrem. He was the man who inducted Kira into the resistance, and one of the many friends and mentors she gained during that time.

Back on the station, Kasidy is telling Sisko over dinner that she got the job and how excited she is. All he can say is “it’s a big step”, and before long Kasidy gets sick of this and storms out.

Razka’s come through though, in his new role as a scrap metal merchant. He’s gotten his hands on a piece of the Ravinok’s hull. Kira and Dukat are able to use it to track the Ravinok to the Dozaria system, which conveniently has one (1) habitable planet.

Arriving at the planet, the pair are unable to determine much more than the wreckage’s rough location and decide to land their ship and explore on foot.

Chief Engineer’s Note: Star Trek is famous for its “technobabble”, made up science-y sounding phrases designed to create and solve problems. Due to the “ionic interference”, neither scanning for lifesigns or using their transporters to beam directly to the surface are possible. Ionic interference is a favourite of the writers, great for when you want to make sure a problem can’t be solved too quickly or easily.

Sisko is busy commiserating the situation with Jadzia and the station’s Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir. They’re no help as Julian is also having entirely too much fun with this. Quark, the owner of the local bar, which is basically a space Dave & Busters, pipes in with his own two cents. Given that Quark is a Ferengi, and Ferengi culture is so misogynistic they make your average MRA look like a feminist ally, it’s not much help.

The Ravinok is found in short order, along with a series of 13 graves. Dukat sets about identifying the remains, and refuses to let Kira help. He claims that Cardassian funeral rites are very strict, and non-Cardassians must not view the remains. Hell, he even quotes a Bajoran religious leader to justify why she shouldn’t concern herself with the bodies of her fellow Bajorans. Luckily, Bajorans all wear earrings unique to their family line, so Kira can identify the bodies from those after Dukat excavates them.

Medical Officer’s Note: they’ve landed in a scorching desert, which Dukat loves. Cardassians are lizard-like and prefer hot environments. This was a major plot point in the season 2 episode The Wire. The desert shots were filmed in Soledad Canyon, California!

A little while later, Kira emerges from the ship’s wreckage with a passenger manifest to discover Dukat lost in thought as he stares at a piece of jewellery that she identifies as a Bajoran pledge bracelet. Dukat admits that he had an ulterior motive for coming on this trip, as he hoped to find a Bajoran woman by the name of Tora Naprem. She was his mistress, and he claims that the two were in love.

Not buying that last part. Also, Dukat absolutely has a thing for Bajoran women. It keeps showing up throughout the show. He even hits on Kira every now and then.

Anyway, Kira’s able to use an old resistance trick to track the survivors.

Later that night, as they make camp in a cave, Dukat manages to get a giant stone spike impaled in his ass. The sight of him hopping around in pain as he rubs a medical doohickey of the wound prompts Kira to burst out laughing, and Dukat even joins in. It’s not really a bonding moment, but there is a certain energy to it. An abatement of hostility, perhaps.

Whatever it is, it gives Kira the courage to ask about Tora Ziyal, the name of a civilian she found on the ship’s manifest. Dukat admits the truth, Ziyal is his and Naprem’s daughter. Dukat’ sensing the Occupation was coming to an end, planned to quietly ship them off to a neutral planet to live out their lives in peace, as neither Cardassia or Bajor would accept them.  Kira, naturally, assumes he’s come to rescue Ziyal. Dukat says he’s come to kill her. Dramatic music sting. Ad break.

First Officer’s Note: Bajoran names follow Eastern naming order, meaning that Kira and Tora are family names. Also, Star Trek loves doing things in caves because they can build a new set out of the same few prop walls they have. It’s a fun detail to notice as you watch these shows.

The next day, Kira & Dukat are arguing as they pick up the trail. Dukat claims that he has too many political enemies, and a bastard child, let alone a half-Bajoran one, would give them ammunition to go after him. Kira accuses him of just being out for himself, but Dukat insists that he can only protect his family if he remains in power.

Are you getting a good feel for the kind of bastard Dukat is by this point?

This is all a bit much, how about another comic relief break in the b-plot? Sisko and his son Jake are having breakfast, and Jake mentions that he (and his friend Nog) spoke to Kasidy. As Sisko’s getting ready to give Jake a talk about the hard facts of life, Jake (having talked things through with his friend Nog) correctly diagnoses the problem as a fear of commitment. Sikso’s a widow, see, and it was his career that got Jennifer killed.

Sisko is rather bemused by this, but he can’t deny that Jake’s spot on. He asks if Jake said any of this to Kasidy. Jake says that he (and his friend Nog) considered it, but ultimately decided that Sisko should speak to Kasidy himself.

But now, at long last, we find the survivors. They’ve been taken captive by a mysterious alien race called the Breen, and are being forced to mine Dilithium ore from the planet. Presumably, it’s quite easy to do, as there’s only a few dozen survivors and no signs of heavy industry. There’s a young girl there too, presumably Ziyal.

Kira tells Dukat to go back to DS9 for reinforcements. Dukat refuses, and Kira’s obviously not going to leave Dukat with a chance to kill his daughter. Instead, they decided to mount a two person raid on the mines, which goes out without a hitch.

Well, except for the fact that Lorit died two years ago and a brief firefight gives Dukat a chance to slip away and find Ziyal. She instantly guesses who he is, having held out hope for the last six years that he’d come rescue her. Kira catches up to Dukat and threatens him at gunpoint to drop his rifle. 

It’s ultimately Ziyal’s words that sway him, and Dukat can’t find it within himself to mow down his own child in cold blood.

Back on DS9, Sisko apologises to Kasidy, who accepts, and Dukat says he’s going to take Ziyal back to Cardassia to live with him. Aww, maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all.

First Officer’s Note: Yes, he is.

This is a pretty great episode. It was directed by LeVar Burton, who had been a main cast member on The Next Generation, and is remembered by many as the long running host of Reading Rainbow. He did especially well with the location shoots, making the narrow Soledad Canyon look like an expansive desert. Marc Alaimo as Dukat shows yet again why the writers kept bringing him back. He’s smarmy, oozy, hypocritical, but still retains a certain charm.

Though he only gets two short scenes, Roy Brocksmith does great as Kira’s old friend Razka. He was a jobbing character actor in the 80’s-90’s and if you’ve seen American tv from that era, chances are you’ve seen him in something.

The b-plot is a needed reprieve from the heavy nature of the main plot, but smartly it’s not played for broad comedy. Instead it’s more subdued, more grounded and relatable. Luckily, Kasidy sticks around and has a sweet relationship with Sisko, built on a genuine chemistry between the two actors.

Would I recommend this as your first Star Trek episode? Conventional wisdom would say no, it’s too steeped in the lore of DS9 and the relationships of these characters, it’s the start or mid point of so many character journeys. Sod that for a game of soldiers, I say. This is a great little story, and even without context for everything you can pick up what’s going on well enough to understand the emotional stakes. That’s far more important than knowing all the lore and linking plot points.

So, what’s next? Time to spin the wheel, I guess!

Oh boy, we're doing Voyager!

#star trek #deep space nine #star trek deep space nine #ds9 #st ds9 #please share and interact! #wanna try star trek

[tangibletechnomancy]

Saw someone earlier say that the popular millennial/early gen Z reaction to AI tech is very comparable to Gen X-ish's reactions to GMOs, and...I can no longer find that post but I can't help but feel that to be true on a lot of levels.

As stated in that post, both technologies have their very legitimate problems - with GMOs, it's Monsanto being fucking evil and trying to monopolize plants and food, or GMO herbicide resistance being used so that major corporate farms can saturate the land with said herbicides without any short-term financial damage to the companies as if it doesn't harm the environment; with AI, it's any form of automation always appealing to the most abusive of corporate greed - but both ended up whipped into a dogmatic fervor about something completely not only irrelevant but made-up and reactionary ("GMOs are all POISON, nature knows best ALWAYS!" - which led semi-directly to the antivaxx movement btw / "it doesn't matter how different it is from the input taking inspiration from existing works the WRONG way is PLAGIARISM, you're rewarding LAZINESS, and REAL ART vs. FAKE ART is totally an objective distinction that can be made and certainly not at all a fascist talking point, and I want art made by HUMANS, the humans running these programs to express something from their human brains don't count!"), completely ignoring that GMOs have reduced world hunger and given us valuable conservation tools, and AI is giving people - real people, not machines - more expressive capacity, serving as a valuable research tool into what kinds of things people tend to associate, justly or otherwise; and even being used to augment human judgment for things such as reviewing biopsy results, finding cancers that otherwise may have gone unnoticed for months or even years longer. In fact, many opponents will full on deny any of these benefits - "what good does reducing hunger do if we haven't eliminated it completely AND we're feeding people POISON? In fact, why should I even believe that really happened in the first place!? if you wanted laypeople to be able to read these studies you wouldn't have made them so complicated, you CLEARLY have something to hide!" the anti-GMO warrior asks; "I don't believe those people who are so severely disabled that they couldn't draw or write without AI REALLY exist, your meditation on the nature of data doesn't COUNT, I don't care how many hours you spent on that piece you're TOTALLY being lazy, and I refuse to believe anyone who points out that it's not a copy-paste machine because you CLEARLY have an AGENDA to lie" the anti-AI reactionary claims. Both hold to a belief that ignorance is a virtue, and even TRYING to understand the Bad Side is tantamount to shoving orphans into a wood chipper.

But I'd take it a step further and say that AI is serving a similar sociopolitical purpose in that it's drawing a line in the sand and asking progressives at a certain stage in life - mostly from the ages of 25-35 - "are you willing to acknowledge nuance around subjects that are new and scary to you, or are you going to give into that fear and treat ignorance as a virtue because there ARE undeniably bad things about this and therefore EVERY bad thing you can imagine about it must be true?" Both serve as, essentially, an acid test - will you declare that it's IMPOSSIBLE to be reckless with GMOs, that Monsanto DESERVES to have sole control over the world's food supply because ~they've done so much good~, or that all GMOs are EVIL POISON and GOING TO KILL US ALL and they're also TOTALLY the reason we're all FAT now which is THE WORST thing a person can be? Or are you going to acknowledge that Monsanto is fucking evil, but GMOs as a whole are a complex thing that can, indeed, be created and marketed in some pretty evil ways, but also have the potential to save countless lives? Will you declare that AI is True Sentient AI, the cyber-utopia becoming real; that everything ChatGPT says must be true and OpenAI is our best friend, or that REAL art by HUMANS is going to be destroyed forever and anyone who benefits from AI is inherently evil? Or will you acknowledge that AI, while it has its drawbacks in the form of corporate overpromising people and compromising information reliability by doing so, on top of the perennial labor issues that come with automation and other potential abuses, also has the capacity to dramatically improve and even potentially save lives? Will you work to save the good WHILE rejecting the bad, or will you insist it needs to be shoved in either the good box or the bad box - probably the bad box, if you're an adult?

The answer, I feel, says a lot about the ideological trajectory someone has chosen for their adulthood.

#not art

[nobodywritingao3]

Shameful Company [ch 3] Lady Lie [2/4]

masterpost | previous | next

The village Tommy grew up in was located in a beast's territory, a man eating serpent's. Isolated from the world, all he's ever known is loneliness. When he's forced outside the safety of the town walls he meets a stranger who claims to live beyond the village. They become fast friends despite the fact that the man is clearly hiding something - but can you really blame Tommy? He's never had a friend before.

CW for entire fic: - Wilbur eats people lol - swearing title taken from 'Shameful Company' by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

chapter title taken from 'Lady Lie' by Rainbow Kitten Surprise inspired by the talented @beckyu and her story 'My Monster to Slay' (tumblr) (AO3)

also!! big thanks to beckyu for beta reading ty tyty

word count: 3.3k 🐍 read it on AO3

After reviewing his latest case and agreeing to take it on, Phil immediately flew to Technoblade’s lair for counsel. He hadn’t expected his son to be thrilled with the assignment given the target, but he’ll admit he was surprised when Technoblade had been adamantly against it.

He regarded Phil with an unimpressed, half lidded look. “Do you need to be put on suicide watch?”

Phil snorted lightly, but Technoblade sharply continued, “I could keep you here as long as I wanted. You know I’ve been looking for an excuse.”

Unfortunately, it was true. Being part of a dragon’s hoard had drawbacks, though for Phil’s sake Techno promised he'd make an effort to treat him as his own person. Nonetheless, Phil wasn’t blind to the fact that he regarded the whole thing as a courtesy he entertained despite it bothering him. Technoblade wanted true possession, and it was only love that prevented this.

None the wiser to Phil’s discomfort, Technoblade sat up, yawning and stretching before shifting into his other form. Through the clearing rosy smoke, he sauntered forward. He was around ten feet tall and with a hint of approval, Phil noted how healthy he looked. His muscular frame was padded out, and it was clear he was taking better care of himself since the last time they’d been together. He wore royal silks and lovely gold chains, and a priceless crown sat lopsided in his hair.  

Phil knew without asking that it was real. Dragons tended against social hierarchies and leaderships, hence why so many attacked human kingdoms. Perhaps it was wrong, but he couldn’t help but to feel pride at the idea. He always worried that by raising Technoblade he had ripped him away from his heritage, but knowing that he’d been out raiding monarchs and filling up his hoard with their treasures was all the proof Phil needed that his child was turning out okay. He was satisfied with this, though with a slight turn of unease he had to wonder if there were any bounties out on Technoblade’s head. He quickly dismissed it as parental fussiness - his son was a dragon for heavens’ sake, there was nothing to worry about. And if there was, he could only hope that Technoblade wouldn’t be too stubborn to reach out for help.

He was snapped from his thoughts as Technoblade came to a stop before him. At his son’s request, Phil had been sitting on fancy cushion, a purple velvety thing, that had been set at the base of a mound of golden knick knacks. With Techno bearing down at him and a wall of gold at his back, he couldn’t help but to feel slightly caged in.

Exasperatedly, Techno began, “Are you stupid? Nagas are notoriously territorial and possessive, damn near as bad as dragons are, and if what you said about this one is true, then - ”

“ - then it’s especially dangerous and the stakes are even higher, I know,” Phil cuts in, “but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s just a kid. He needs help Tech, you know I have to do this.”

He huffed and smoke rose from his nose in a clear sign of agitation. “He’s torturing people - I don’t think he wants the kind of help you’re looking to provide.”

Phil resisted the urge to respond that the same case had been made to him about Technoblade years prior, and instead gently responded, “Even if he doesn’t want my help, it’s what he needs. And in any case, that should be irrelevant - if I’m equipped with the tears of a selkie, I should be fine.”

Technoblade shrugged in an affected show of nonchalance. “And if I don’t give you the tears?”

Phil gave him a look. “I’m going regardless. Unless you literally plan on keeping me with the rest of your hoard, you can’t stop me from doing this.”

He visibly clenched his jaw, but other than that his expression was stoic. Phil knew him well enough to know that he was sincerely considering holding him there, but he also trusted him enough to hope that he wouldn’t.

He leaned down and easily picked his father up in bridal style. Phil felt a lurch in his stomach as he was lifted, but he remained quiet, letting Techno fuss. He let himself be carried further into the hoard until Technoblade stopped and gently set him down on a decadent throne.

He took the crown from his head and idly slid it onto his father’s. “I don’t want a pissing match with a naga, Phil.”

“I won’t put you into that position.”

“But you are. Right now. Don’t ask me to let you go.”

Phil took one of Technoblade’s huge hands gave a few comforting squeezes as best he could. “I’m sorry.”

Technoblade’s face remained neutral.

“I have Chat.”

“I know.”

“And I’ll keep in contact, just as I always have.”

Technoblade pulled his hand away, and turned, stalking off.

Phil opened his mouth to say something, maybe to apologize or continue reassurances, but before he could start Technoblade had snapped open a chest and was rifling through it. He pulled something out and stared down at it, hesitation practically coming off of him in waves.

“If you’re doing this, I want more letters.”

Phil nodded, relief overcoming him. It was as much a blessing as he’d receive. “Once a week.”

“Once a week at minimum,” Technoblade corrected.

Phil laughed softly. “At minimum,” he agreed.

Techno came forward again, still looking bothered. “And if you don’t, I’m flying out there myself.”

He heard the warning in his voice. Dragons were a vengeful breed. If anything happened to Phil, the fallout would be brutal. He’d have to handle himself carefully around the naga, not just for his own sake, but for the kid’s as well.

Technoblade pushed an intricately carved flask into Phil’s hands. He turned it over, inspecting the design. A crying human lay across a moonlit beach, gazing longingly into the ocean at their reflection - an image of a seal. The tears.

Phil gave Technoblade a grateful smile. He didn’t return it.

~

The naga was a sorry state. He was thin and tired looking. His face lacked the sweet plump of youth and his hollow cheeks only exaggerated the purple bags under his eyes.

He would lie on the ground with a blank expression, breathing and blinking and sometimes shifting into a more comfortable position, but anything more laborious than that seemed near painful. Simply moving from one place to another took a massive toll on him and by extension, hunting was a struggle he only managed about once a day. He was constantly exhausted. If sleep came at all, it never came quietly. He’d always wake up writhing and screaming. The several minutes after were no better, for even as he sat up and cried into his hands he still seemed hazy and disconnected from anything around him.

It goes without saying it all broke Phil’s heart. He couldn’t imagine this child being capable of the violence he’d been sent to deal with and he started to doubt the claims. Perhaps there a miscommunication. Or this was a bounty he’d been hired on out of a discriminatory bias against nagas - it surely wouldn’t be the first time.

Desperate to see the best in someone so pitiful, he ruminated on these thoughts.

~

When he’d first arrived, Phil had noticed the community right away. It was smaller than a town but bigger than a village and surrounded by imposing walls on all sides. There was a single, highly reinforced gate, and judging by the fine layer of dust on the pulley system, the civilization was as isolated as it was sleepy. He dismissed it as irrelevant to his case and concluded that contact might be dangerous for all parties.

On the fifth day, a man exited the walls.

Phil watched, cloaked in a perception spell and a slight turn of dread in his belly. He took to the sky. Nearly half a kilometer away, he spied the naga slithering closer, eyes blown wide but otherwise expressionless.

Indecision suspended Phil.

Not only had he not collected enough information, but the antidote was still brewing. If he exposed himself, the village would demand an explanation and he’d sour his first impression with the naga.

But he knew what he had to do. He had to head back immediately and get the man out of there, cut off any risk for deadly contact. Play it safe. Give his cover away, messily insert himself into the middle and deal with the consequences after danger was averted.

…

He stayed where he was. He watched the naga moving closer and closer until he was creeping underneath where Phil hung in the sky, until he was past that and at the clearing.

He just couldn’t bring himself to turn back. The boy wasn’t exactly the picture of strength or cruelty that Phil had expected from the case details, and the reality of the situation became blurred through the days that he’d watched him.

Nonetheless, the choice to remain an observer would haunt Phil.

He flew back and landed in a tree bordering the clearing. The man stood in the center, decked out in iron armor with a heavy looking sword to match. Phil eyed him incredulously, his gaze sliding over to where the naga stalked from the shadows. The creature he saw there was nothing like the boy he’d become accustomed to in the past few days. There was a hungry look on his face, his body tense and signs of exhaustion nowhere in his demeanor. He was a big thing. Despite his frailty, he was still the most powerful creature in the forest. This man was delusional if he thought he stood a chance in a sincere stand off.

Doubt began to creep into Phil’s mind, but he clung to his resolve, his hope that the boy would show mercy. He kept an eye trained on the naga.

In a booming voice, the man announced, “Serpent! Present yourself! I, the great and brave Jared, have come to slay you. You have terrorized the people of my village for long enough, and on behalf of the council, I am here to unshackle our home from your control. Come out and face me like man!”

Phil cringed.

The naga started to move from the trees into the clearing. It must have been a terrifying sight for human eyes - the silent figure appearing from nowhere with a grim scowl and a tail that seemed to stretch on and on without end. He crept towards Jared, a mirthless smile plastered on his face.

“You wanted to see me so badly, are you not satisfied I’m here?”

With an unexpected cockiness, Jared fired back, “I’m absolutely delighted actually - I have you exactly where I want.” Quick as a lighting, he withdrew a potion dangling from a thread around his neck and downed it. A confident, punchable grin was the last thing Phil saw of him before Jared completely faded from view. An invisibility potion.

A horrified look crossed the naga’s face, but before he could properly react, he suddenly flinched and yelped out in pain, grabbing at a spot in his tail. Panic rising in his chest, Phil caught sight of a terrible wound that had begun to gush blood.

The naga’s hands were shaking as he pushed hard into his tail, blood leaking through the gaps between his fingers.

“A needle - it’s like having a needle stabbed all the way through your arm,” he gritted out. “Hurts like a bitch and your little pot trick was… neat. But really, if that’s all the harm you can do to me, I’m afraid we’re still unmatched.”

Still invisible and somewhere near his left, Jared let out a cackle. “Are you sure about that?”

The naga’s face contorted in rage and he swept his tail across the clearing in an attempt to knock him down.

“Beast!” Jared shouted, this time from behind, and before the naga could turn to face him, Phil watched as fresh points of blood appeared in the boy’s lower back. With each one, an awful scream and flinch.

He fell forward onto his hands, and suddenly the hilt of a sword - still lodged in his body - seemed to appear from thin air. Jared must have let go in surprise, so then the potions’ effects couldn’t have reached the weapon anymore.

The naga rose up from the ground, hand coming up to pull the damned thing from his back. With a squelch and whimper, he dislodged the little thing. A look of disgust and contempt on his face, he lay it flat against his middle and index finger and bent the blade down between them using his thumb. It curved like a paperclip until it couldn’t handle the tension anymore, and snapped into pieces with a metallic crunch. He discarded what remained.

There was a murderous look in his eyes when he raised his head and scanned the clearing. “What? No laughter? No insult? Haven’t you got anything to say for yourself?”

There were a few painful beats of silence where the naga waited, stretching himself out and running a hand along his back to feel the oozing blood.

“I can smell you, you disgusting little thing. I know you’re here, I know you haven’t run off. How long will that potion last? You should’ve fled when I was dealing with your toothpick. It’s a shame really - now you won’t get the chance.”

In the blink of an eye, he’d circled the perimeter of the clearing with his tail. It was a spacious, loop of a cage that Jared couldn’t escape from.

Phil inhaled sharply. He couldn’t stop this. He couldn’t stop this, could he? Oh fuck… He’d - he’d really fucked up. Fuck. Fuck. 

The naga started to tighten the circle, coiling the perimeter smaller and smaller with contemptuous glee. “Not so brave now, are you? I can smell your fear. Like I could smell your arrogance when you came and your joy when you stabbed me.” He let out a vindictive scoff. “Fuck you.”

Phil’s heart pounded in his chest and he took flight, circling the clearing from above, still protected by the perception spell. He needed to intervene. He was stupid and short-sighted to have stayed out of the mess, and he was sorry. He was so fucking sorry. If Jared died, his blood would stain Phil’s hands.

The naga was almost lazy as he tightened his coils. He was enjoying it, enjoying the terror. Phil wanted to scream at himself for ever thinking that this - this fucking monster was anything other than a beast.

Suddenly there was a faint popping sound and Jared stood, dumbstruck and terrified in the center of the clearing and as far from the coils as he could manage. The potion had worn off.

The naga smiled wickedly down at him. “Found you.”

The end of his tail shot forward and he wrapped the man up, squeezing just enough to elicit pained noises but not enough to kill him. “You’ve been a real pain in my ass today. Normally I kill my prey before I eat, but for you? Hah… I think I’ve earned an exception.”

Without so much as a blink, he tossed the screaming man into his mouth. He shut it with a click and swallowed, faint cries still emanating from inside him.

Fuck. Fuck.

Phil turned away and flew. He raced to his cave and when he finally got there, he crash landed through the entrance, landing in a spilled heap on the floor.

He didn’t save Jared. He didn’t save Jared and he could’ve. He should’ve.

The naga was a sadist. Why was he surprised? He’d been warned over and over again - just because he was young didn’t mean much at all and he was so stupid for thinking -

Oh gosh, Jared -

Technoblade had warned him and he still didn’t listen, for fuck’s sake, what was he even doing there?

His mind flashed back to when he’d seen the naga approaching and had weighed the pros and cons of flying back to Jared or leaving the two to work it out on their own. He’d been riding on what - hope? Hope that stood in defiance of everything he’d been told. Right, right - that was fucking bullshit. Jared’s death was his fault.

He’d been hired to slay the serpent. Not rehabilitate him or save him, but slay him. It should have been him fighting the serpent, not that poor idiot. How many people had warned him? Why had he ignored the warnings?

He passed out on the floor.

~

Phil had been sitting on the ground and staring at a wall for the better part of an hour, wrestling with regret and horror when something smacked him in the face. He yelped and flinched backward, losing his balance and falling in a rather undignified manner.

There was a squawk of laughter and Phil sighed, feeling his heart start to slow and his jumpy fear be replaced by irritation. He eyed one of Chat from the floor, and suppressing the urge to yell, he gave the bird a meaningful look. It cooed apologetically.

He sighed, sitting up and rubbing a spot on his back that was bound to start bruising soon. “It’s fine… How’s Tech doing?”

The bird ruffled its feathers and loudly cawed.

Phil gave it a look of sympathy. “I guess I figured.”

He held a hand out and the bird obediently flew to his fingers. He carried it to his makeshift desk and rifled around until he found a portion of dried meat and seed. Chat gratefully dug in, and he thumbed its head affectionately before retrieving the small envelope it had used as a projectile weapon.  

He sat at his desk, his companion’s soft eating the only background noise, and pushed a knife through the top of the envelope.

Phil, I hope you’re well. I gave thought to you and your mission and I wanted to you to know About the naga, I 1. more letters 2. message reg. naga Thank you for your last letter. I’m glad you I regret I was jealous I think that Phil, Nagas aren't pleasantries? no that's stupid Phil, Bring him home. You were right that he’s a kid and deserves a second chance. I’m glad we’re allies. It made my life better, and he deserves this as much as I Perhaps I was too quick in my judgment. He and I have a lot in common and it wouldn’t be right if Send me word back. Quickly. And often. Take care of yourself. - Technoblade

He read the page a few times, small curls of amusement and affection in his chest despite the circumstance.

“Chat?”

The bird cawed in response, if not a little absentmindedly as it was still digging into its meal.

“You grabbed the draft.”

Chat momentarily stopped eating, hopping over and cocking its head down at the letter. It made soft purring noises and Phil chuckled in agreement.

“He’s kind of… silly, sometimes.” He stroked the bird’s head, sinking into thought and occasionally rereading a few lines of Tech’s letter.

He didn’t know what to make of it.

He closed his eyes. He saw Jared.

“He and I have a lot in common…”

Did they? Technoblade would have never -

…

But he had. Many times.

Guiltily, Phil thought back to when he’d first broached the subject to Technoblade. How he’d thought to himself that the two really were quite similar despite his son’s protests.

But that was just on paper, a part of him insisted. It was easy to say that the two were similar when he didn’t have any real reference for the naga.

And now he did! And he could say that he was wrong.

...

No…

It still didn’t sit right with him.

He grunted, pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes.

Chat cooed worriedly and he gave it a reassuring scratch. “I’m alright. I just - ” He cut himself off. “I have a lot to think about.”

#tiny!phil #giant!wilbur #naga!wilbur #mcyt gt #mcyt g/t #shapeshifter!wilbur #sizeshifter!wilbur #mcyt fanfic #adoption #angst #fluff #fantasy au #character death #giant!techno #minigiant!techno #dragon!techno #shapeshifter!techno #nobody writes #sc (fanfic)

[mask131]

It is always a fascinating experience to see people describe their dislike or hatred of, for example, a fantasy series or a fantasy book, when you, yourself, you know that it is objectively good - as in, in term of literature and of book it is good, no matter if you actually like the story or the characters.

In general, it really makes you realize how one's reception and appreciation of a book recently has turned away from actual literary quality, and is now mostly tied to the reader's personal life-experiences and personal world-views.

For example recently - this is why I picked up a fantasy series as an example - I read a fantasy book which had as a main character a composer of music, and made music a part of its plot, a key part. I myself do not know anything about the technicalities of music, but I recognized that there was a real work of information and knowledge placed into this, and despite not knowing anything about higher musical arts, I still perfectly got everything the author was trying to carry - and it worked very well for non-experts, while also clearly being written by someone who knows what they're talking about.

And I randomly found this one person on a blog that said that this was one of the weakest and most dragging parts/aspect of the book because, and I quote, "I get people would be into reading about sword-fighting, or languages, but music? Seriously?"

This person basically said that because they found the subject silly and uninteresting outside of the book (in real life, as this person clearly has no interest in the making of music), the parts dedicated to exploring it and using it for fantasy were bad. And that was it. It wasn't about the handling of the topic, or the writing style, or how well it carried in the plot, it was just about... "Music doesn't interest anyone, so this book who is third about it is already of bad quality".

And I'm not even going to point out the obvious problems a person has when they think that nobody should take interest in music... In fact (and I am a bit jumping around here from point to point), this is something I noticed in online forums and so when it comes to fantasy reviews and fantasy audiences - at least the English speaking ones. One of their very first complaints is "Fantasy books are too generic, they're too cliche, they're too stereotyped" but when someone tries to do something new or bring something added to the table, the same people will criticize it as being too weird or unusual or not interesting enough. And with this specific "music" comment, we can unload a whole can of worms about this sort of strange "reverse-geek-bullying" in fantasy reader groups.

One of the things I appreciate with fantasy stories is variety, the exploration of new territories, the use of new sources of inspiration. A very easy way to do this is simply to focus on a part of life, a trade, a job, an element of culture that hasn't been focused on by "traditional", "archetypal", "stereotypical", "done to eath" fantasies. There are epic fantasy stories about music and the making of it. There high fantasy series about cooking and the art of food. There are weird fantasy series about poetry and how to write a poem. There are mythical fantasy stories about making books, and the numerous jobs surrounding the existence of a book. There are so many stories which aren't about just digging up treasures in lost temples, and making war against evil overlords, and having sex with pretty girls saved from human sacrifices. Fantasy series where people often overlooked in fantasy - cooks, writers, musician, poets - will have a prominent place and an important role. And what happens?

Some idiots just come in and mock this/insult it, and they typically do what bullies in real-life do when they call someone's interest or passion "geeky" or "nerdy". The two words are never spoken or outright written in their reviews, but when you consider their sentences, their points, their logic, which is "This author has a passion for a specific craft or a specific hobby I do not enjoy/I find boring/I find weird, so this is bad", you actually can hear in their unspoken word the same cries of "Look at this nerd!" or "What a geek!" bullies shouted upon seeing kids enjoy video games, play role-playing games or reading science-fiction books ; talk eagerly about math, or share a love for classical literature, or enjoy computer coding.

This is literaly the same logic, but in a very bizarre way, applied to fantasy reviews and the appreciation of fantasy literature.

I don't know if that's related to specific fandoms and authors fan-base in the fantasy world, or if it is a recurring phenomenon everywhere - but there's clearly a faction of "fantasy readers" and "fantasy fans" you must be aware of, who will complain if something is too "that was done before" and be unhappy if they are given "something that hasn't been done before". They want non-archetypal character, but standard plot-focus ; they want stereotype-breaking worlds, but that the author has the same interests as them ; they want to not see specific tropes they know too well, and yet they refuse to read about stuff they do not know about. They're just infuriating little bugs, who somehow manage to perpetuate within the world of fantasy enjoyers the same behavior little school-bullies had towards fantasy-enjoyers back in the old decades when fantasy "wasn't cool".

In fact, I wonder if this behavior isn't somehow related to the fact that fantasy became much more widespread, normal, recognized and "cool" - meaning the type of idiots who mocked non-usual and deemed-weird subjects got "absorbed" within the fantasy sphere, and simply switched from "Let's not care about fantasy cause it's weird and not real literature" to "Okay, fantasy can be good since everybody is into it, but let's still disdain and reject weird stuff within fantasy".

#another one of my vague rants #fantasy #fantasy books #fantasy literature

[three--rings]

Manner of Death (2020) Review/Rec

So I’ve just finished watching this Thai BL, and it’s absolutely excellent.  So in the custom of....me.  I’m gonna tell you about it.

I’ve talked before about the things that I generally don’t enjoy in BL dramas, and how I am not really a huge fan of most shows.  So that’s context.

Manner of Death is the best attempt I’ve seen of any BL show at being a “real” drama, with quality plot and writing, that just happens to also involve a m/m romance as well. 

But rather than just say it’s good, pretty much the whole reason I’m writing this post is that the trigger warning list for this show is EXTENSIVE and I feel I have to talk about that.

Manner of Death is a mystery-thriller about a series of mysterious deaths in a small Thai town. 

Trigger warnings for: Murder, autopsies, sexual abuse, drug abuse, forced drug abuse, abortion, illegal abortions, abortions gone wrong, rape, coerced sex, coerced drug abuse, suicide, sex trafficking, human trafficking, police corruption, and probably more. 

All of those are involved in the main case, not the romance.  But parts of the show are ROUGH in the way things play out and how some characters are treated and what is onscreen.  So while much of the show is fine and pleasant, exercise care.

Main Characters:

Bun (above right) - Dr. Bunnakit, a medical examiner who has recently returned to his hometown in a rural area after becoming jaded by like in Bankok.

Tan (above left) - a tutor and mysterious person who Bun suspects of murder. Also someone he saw once in a bar and immediately kissed while incredibly drunk.

Also all of those people.  ;)

Plot:

I don’t want to spoil things because it’s worth going through the story blind.  But, generally: People start turning up dead, and as the medical examiner Bun isn’t satisfied with the police conclusions, so he pursues the truth on his own.

This gets him in danger, and the mysterious Tan appoints himself his protector.  Because reasons they end up living together and acting Extremely Married while investigating the mystery that keeps getting more complicated.

Verdict:

A+ honestly. 

It’s still clearly made on a limited budget but the production has clearly tried to do the best they can on their resources.  The severe color grading gives it a moody but dated air and covers some of the budget issues. 

But this really feels like it fits in with some of the other shows I’ve recced, like Beyond Evil and The Devil Judge.  It’s not quite at that level, but it’s trying REAL hard and I admire it.  PLUS it’s got explicit queer romance that is REALLY satisfying.  Like the ending is...SO HAPPY.  I fucking MELTED.  Out-Loud Squeeing from me. 

The gender politics aren’t flawless, in that we get a good amount of female victims and the focus is mostly on the men.  The victims do get their own stories but they aren’t really...empowering.  I don’t know.  It’s not a deal breaker or worse than typical US crime shows, but it’s not perfect and I feel I need to acknowledge it. 

Anyway, given all of that, please go watch it if you’re interested.  It’s not the easiest show to find online, unless you are a WeTv subscriber.  So you may have to do some searching, but it’s worth it.

I mean look at Bun and Tan’s first meeting:

#manner of death #thai bl #threerings' recs #threerings' reactions #also you should probably block manner of death if you don't want spoilers #cause I am gonna reblog a lot of posts #I won't spoil the mystery tho #threerings recs TV Shows

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 56 – Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

I consider myself a pretty big fan of Gladstone’s, but until now I’d only ever touched his standalone works – I was previously a bit put off by the length of the Craft Sequence and so never actually tried it. So, thank you to the people who recommended I give it a try anyway! Despite being the first in a series, Three Parts Dead is a perfectly fine self-contained story and not relying on you reading the sequels to finish anything important. While it’s not the best thing of Gladstone’s I’ve read (Last Exit my beloved), it’s not the worst, either.

The book takes place in an industrial fantasy setting about a generation out from the apocalyptic, centuries-long war between the old gods and the ‘deathless kings’ – human sorcerers who had learned to master magic such that they could face them and tear the world apart in the crossfire. Tara, the hero, graduated from basically-Hogwarts entirely because there’s a binding preventing the school from doing bodily harm to its students – the next second they literally threw her out a window at 10,000 feet. The story follows her as she’s hired as a junior associate helping a world-famous lawyer/archmage as she’s hired by the church of Kas Everburning to investigate the sudden and mysterious death of their god. What follows are several hundred pages of convoluted scheming, legal proceedings, forensic accounting, and bloody magical duels and assassinations.

There are a few twists I genuinely didn’t see coming, the plot overall hangs together very well, and the pacing was just about perfect for the kind-of pulpy mystery/adventure story it was. Overall just a great time reading it.

That said, the setting’s probably the main thing to really sell people on this book. It’s just fun, and actually pretty damn original. The basic conceits are that a) magic is real, and b) so is capitalism. Kas Everburning is the beloved god and protector of the city, and also a highly leveraged legal entity loaning power across the globe whose death would catastrophically destabilize the global financial/metaphysical/political system. Mages can fly and raise zombies and enscroll people, but it’s all done in the idiom and with the vocabulary of contract law.

Beyond the basic conceit, Gladstone just clearly delights in layering weirdness on weirdness. Vitally, he does actually have a bit of restraint with the exposition – the book’s full of off-hand comments about different places and institutions that make you (me, anyway) incredibly curious about what the hell their deal is, but the actual explanations are restricted to what’s actually relevant to the plot and what the characters actually need to know. I still really want to know what’s up with King Clock or the Iskari or a half dozen other things, though. So, top-tier worldbuilding.

The themes are not exactly subtle, but I very appreciate that Gladstone lets them mostly remain as worldbuilding subtext and manages to make them feel like they emerge very naturally. I appreciate the slight restraint it takes to let the reader draw their own conclusions about the fact that the city’s police force is so empowered by strength and lack of need for doubt when on the clock that it’s literally addictive, or that one of the main antagonists is a brilliant older academic whose masterwork is a system where his star pupils (including a disproportionate number of attractive young women) are magically networked together to achieve incredible results he can take credit for while their lives and personalities are drained away to nothing. Being able to literalize the subtext a bit is half the fun of secondary wrld fantasy, after all.

Anyway, yes, very fun read. Four stars.

#book review #sff #three parts dead #craft sequence #max gladstone

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall

4/5. Re-releases (in audio) on 2/20/2024.

Vibes: RAINY DAYYYYS, indoor guy/outdoor guy, recovering from a breakup, redemption of the douchey ex

Heat Index: 3/10

This audiobook is actually a bind-up of two novellas. In Waiting for the Flood, we focus on Edwin, who's dealing with the dissolution of his decade-long relationship by being a shut-in (in the house he bought with his ex, Marius) and restoring old books. When the flood of the century begins to hit his neighborhood, he meets the gentle, charismatic, and undeniably hunky Environmental Agency employee Adam. The question is, can he open his heart to a new risk?

The second, Chasing the Light, brings Marius into focus--he's basically lost himself and is trapped in apathy both personally and artistically. Until, that is, Leo comes into his life... and they end up truly stuck together (forced proximity fans, this one's for you).

I love Alexis Hall, everyone who knows me knows this, and while these novellas aren't Glitterland level excellent (I mean... it's hard to follow that book) they're gently funny and emotional in a way that, as per Alexis, feels so real. And frankly, I love the concept of reading these novellas in sequence. Because like. When two people get together as young as Edwin and Marius did and stay together for TEN YEARS, the breakup is very rarely this truly one-sided thing.

To me, Edwin's side of the story, which I did love, makes it easy for people to classify Marius as this villain. As they would! While Edwin never makes Marius sound horrible, this is the ex that he's spent literal years moping over. Seeing Marius's perspective really humanizes him, and like--sometimes, the person who broke up with you deserves love, too.

Quick Takes:

--These are very easy, mellow reads, and I LOVE SO MUCH THAT THEY'RE LITERALLY CENTERED AROUND A FLOOD. Look: floods bad in real life. But rainy days? So good. And this is a perfect rainy day read (or listen). And I finished it on a very rainy day! I win! Alexis describes the weather in conjunction to the general mood of the story so well. I love his prose. I love love love it. You know this.

--Again, I find it really cool that Alexis added this novella about Marius that doesn't take away from the bad place he's in (a lot of the deterioration of his relationship with Edwin clearly had to do with his own deadness to the world and general issues) but also humanizes him. He's prickly. He's not an easy guy to like immediately, the way Edwin is, while very sad, and easy cuddly sad boi to feel for. But... I liked 'im. I liked his love story.

--Because these are novellas, those love stories are quick, reliant on you buying into immediate chemistry, and sort of set up the romances versus telling the whole story. However, I totally believed that we were basically being introduced to people finding their soulmates. It worked for me. Novellas can be tough, but these sold the relationships.

--As much as Edwin is Baby, I also appreciate that like... The story called out him moping a lot. It called out the fact that sometimes relationships just END. Sometimes, people, or one person, falls out of love. You can't do anything about it. Eventually, you must break up.

That doesn't make it any less painful, especially when a relationship is as long as Edwin's and Marius's. But acknowledging that reality made it a lot more impactful to me.

--I'm focusing a lot more on Marius and Edwin because the novellas are from their perspectives. But Adam and Leo were also very charming--I mean, especially Adam. He was a like, competently hot and sweet and ooooooh I was into it.

I really enjoyed these funny, sweet, snarky novellas. They aren't my favorite things Alexis has ever written, but they are very comfy and snuggly and rainy day perfect.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#romance novel blogging #arc reviews #netgalley #romance novels #book reviews #book recs #books

[alderwoodbooks]

alrighty y’all.

I’ve been a bit afraid to write up my final thoughts on Red Rising by Pierce Brown because this book series has a cult following, and I’d love to sit here and tell you I understand why, but I truly can’t. A reminder before I get torn to threads that taste is subjective and I’m not telling you that you can’t enjoy these books! I’m just saying, I very much did not. <3

This book felt like a dumpster fire from start to finish. I posted earlier, when I was less than a quarter through the book with some of my issues with the book (the lack of originality, the insufferable main character, the clunky dialogue and overall just poor writing in general, and the way that all women are portrayed in the book as less than) and unfortunately for me, it did not get better. I read a review from someone else that said this book felt like if an angry 12 year old boy rewrote the hunger games and it made me laugh because I couldn’t agree more. There are so many elements of the story that remind me of other stories and it just makes the whole story fall very flat and feel very unoriginal, and very try hard. Despite the brutality in the story, it very much reads like a bad young adult dystopian novel, and good lord have I read my fair share of those.

One of the biggest issues I had with this book was the extreme misogyny. All of the female characters are constantly treated as less than, they are never seen as strong leaders, and if they are, they are quickly defeated by you guessed it, the strong macho men. The women are seen as prizes to be won in the games of war, the amount of extreme violence against them was astonishing. To me- it didn’t fit within the world of the book. These women are literally genetically modified to be the best humans in the world/universe, and so why are they seen as weaker and smaller and frailer than the men, and then dealing with all of this violence against them? Maybe it was supposed to be a “lord of the flies” type of moment, but if so, it was not written clearly enough, and instead just reads as misogyny coming from pierce brown himself? I’m not sure, but it didn’t feel right, and it was also painful to read. I was told that there was a reason behind it and that it gets explained at the end of the book, and maybe I’m just missing something, but I didn’t catch it, and also, I don’t want to have to sit through an entire book of misogynistic and at times, extremely homophobic (the pixies comments throughout the book feel a little ick to me personally, I dont love it.) bullshit for no real reason.

I’ve read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy this year, in fact, I’ve read almost exclusively sci-fi and fantasy, and Red Rising was probably one of the worst books I’ve read this year, but, it’s so loved by many, and I was encouraged to finish it because “it gets better!” I am still debating on reading the second book because again, I’ve heard it gets better, but I’ve also got three other sci-fi books on my tbr list that I know for a fact are going to be good (the second murderbot diary’s book, the new edition of the bone season which I’m so excited to dive into as soon as I finish my current read, which is the traitor of baru cormorant, which is such a nice pallet cleanser, and then I’ve got two neil shusterman books I want to dive into) and so I’m not so sure I want to devote the time or energy into it.

All in all, I went into this book not expecting much, just knowing that I heard many mixed reviews. I wanted to like the story, I really did, but it felt like a poor rendition of a bunch of other, better written, better executed, dystopian stories, mixed with some white boy misogyny, homophobia and rage. I ended up giving it a 1.5 stars out of 5 and I still feel like that’s being generous.

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