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rogueninja · 3 years

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gonna type up my thoughts on mando season 2 and the finale for anyone who’s interested and so I can process it....... (this is gonna be mostly negative thoughts sooo... thats your warning haha)

the mandalorian season 1 is something that brought me an immense amount of joy a year ago. i’ve always “liked” star wars but i’ve never really “loved” star wars, but I loved the mandalorian.... something about it. the small, western vibe, the mysterious main character with sexy armor, dad vibes, and a heart of gold. THE BABY YODA. the mandoLORE. the fact that it was completely its own little thing without having to be majorly connected to the massive star wars universe that we’re used to. and for sure it was a little clunky at times, but i loved it so much that i overlooked those things easily and even found it to be endearing.

i loved that it was created by people who knew star wars, had a passion for it, and a story they wanted to tell. they weren’t expecting to make a ton of money off it... like obviously it’s star wars, but i don’t think anyone truly predicted how majorly baby yoda would blow up or how popular the show would be with star wars fans. but of course.... then it did. and i hate to be that person but i think that’s when it all started to go downhill. like as soon as something becomes more about money and popularity than the story you’re actually trying to tell, you’ve already lost.

i won’t lie that just leading up to the mandalorian season 2, a lot of my excitement had fizzled out, but this was mainly due to the fact that other things have caught my attention in the meantime... but i was fully prepared to embrace the mando brainworms again. and like. the episodes were good! they were fine. i got enjoyment out of them. but something honestly felt.... missing? and it wasn’t until chapter 15 that i realized what that was.

season 2 is barely about din. it’s about... whatever else. boba fett. bo katan. ahsoka. luke skywalker. and these characters are fine on their own! and like... i honestly expected boba fett and other mandos to show up at some point (and i enjoyed boba’s time on the show, plus it makes the most sense for him to be there). but..... every episode became that thing that i hate that star wars and every other stupid reboot of every franchise does where they’re like. LOOK! look at this thing!!! u know this thing! well WE know this thing too!! and HERE IT IS!!! and it honestly upset me because YES there were a ton of star wars references in s1 but it was tasteful, yanno? it was more like easter eggs that the really dedicated star wars fans could appreciate and everyone else who didn’t get them weren’t really missing anything important and could still enjoy the show. but apparently now you also need to be familiar with hundreds of star wars tv show episodes so you can understand ahsoka and bo katan and it’s just ??? literally what is this even about anymore because it doesn’t seem to be about a mandalorian and his adoptive son. (dont get me wrong im fine with it referencing other star wars shows but i didn’t like the way it centered on these characters the majority of the time)

and then chapter 15 happened. you’ll notice that chapter 15 had no references to external star wars media (aside from boba fett, who was barely there), and was about din. it was about din and how far he would go to protect the child. doing the one thing they’d been building up to for almost two seasons by removing his helmet in order to accomplish this. it was awesome and i loved that episode so much and it really hit me during that episode how much i missed the show being about that. so yanno, i had high hopes for the finale....

which WAS... yanno..... fine.... like honestly i was having a good time there for a while. I liked seeing din go up against gideon... the buildup with the darksaber and the spear..... his only priority being the baby.... like, even seeing luke fight the bad guys i was like oh! ok neat i’m not against meeting luke right now and obviously he won’t run away with the baby because how would that make sense? there’s still definitely gonna be at least one more season and it would be insane for din to give up the baby and heck, we KNOW how luke’s jedi school went, after all 🤡... 🤡 🤡 ....🤡 🤡 🤡

so uh yeah. we get bad CGI luke (this is a whole other rant but like.... can we stop CGIing actors like just get a lookalike i am happy to suspend my disbelief save ur fx budget i promise it will suck no matter what). and we get.... we get a moment that i know others have already talked to death about but like.... din taking off his helmet in front of the entire room.... means what exactly?? he’s not a mandalorian anymore? he’s just gonna forsake his creed? that’s what we’re leading up to?? and it makes you realize that the helmet buildup they were going for this entire show really was that surface level. to the writers it was just about “yeah lets get din to tear down his walls! he loves his son so he’ll remove his metaphorical mask!!!” and not taking into account like. how they could have set that up so he wasn’t just straight up forsaking his creed....That should have been a private moment. Mandalorians are about family, and they could easily have made it about that. Grogu is his family. Din is accepting that at last. but.... nah

And then yeah he just yeets baby yoda off to luke skywalker who just like.... have i mentioned i really liked that this show wasn’t about the skywalkers..... it was a nice streak we had goin.... like if he had just come and gone without taking the literal lifeblood of the show I honestly would have been fine with it but.. nahhhh

and of course seven minutes left at that point had me hoping they would show din changing his mind but nope LOL they just were gonna tease the next star wars show..... and like last week when they announced like ten different star wars shows everything really clicked into place for me. like, oh, so that’s why this season felt more like an ad than a show about the mandalorian. we don’t even know if there will be a season 3 and honestly like... even if they do how would they go from here.... like without grogu what even is this show. either he’s totally gone which would be a huge mistake for obvious reasons, or they have to contrive some reason for din to get him back from luke, which will feel cheap. the only other option is... the show is over lol. neat. i guess they could make it about din becoming the mandalaore but uhh... pass.

overall just like. i was pretty disappointed with this season overall and for a while i thought I was just being grumpy until the last 2 episodes made me understand exactly why i haven’t gotten the same enjoyment i used to. FEELSBADMAN!!

#the mandalorian spoilers #anti mando finale #im not like... articulate but my thoughts are there #and it felt good to get them out #WHEW good thing i became a naruto blog amirite #hahahahahhaa.... *sobbing*#i honest to god got GoT season 8 vibes #metalorian #the kat diaries

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wetalkinboutbooks · 5 years

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The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

Summary

The Bird King is a 2019 fantasy novel set in 1491, the novel takes place in the Emirate of Granada during the territory’s final days. The story concerns the flight of Fatima and Hassan, a concubine and mapmaker, respectively, from service to the Emirate’s last sultan. (Taken from Wikipedia)

We follow Fatima and Hassan on their search for the Bird King as they avoid soldiers of the Spanish inquisition, and meet a variety of characters along the way.

Our Ratings:

→ Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

→ Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: The Bird King is an amazing book that manages to be complex yet light-hearted. It touches on subjects like faith, love, and friendship. The characters are engaging (and absolute drama queens) and the plot is fast-paced so there’s never a dull moment. The dynamic between the characters leads to the funniest situations that will have you dying. In summary, reasons to read this book if you haven’t already:

A- ONE SUPER FUNNY BOOK PLZ READ IT

B - THE DRAMAAA OF FATIMA AND HASAAN

C - Vikram

D - Stupid

~ Spoiler-full discussion below ~

The Good:

→ Hassan and Fatima’s Relationship

Geena: The best thing about the bird king (aside from the horse named Stupid) was Hassan and Fatima’s friendship. IMO it was so wholesome and they were so in love (PLATONICALLY!!!!). When Hassan said seeing Fatima walking around was like seeing his heart outside his body…… a BITCH DIED!!! Also, the fact they would take shots at each other constantly? Loved it. HOW COULD I FORGET… HASSAN CONSTANTLY BEING HORNY AND FATIMA BEING LIKE “CAN U CHILL!”

Kae: OKAY MOOD LMAOOO. So boom. Geena covered it. We love this book! Hassan and Fatima are the definition of the 💯 emoji. But these bestie-bitches are DRAMATIC af. I’ve never seen two best friends who love each other as much as they do. They’re hugging and crying one moment, then the next they’re jealous that one of them is talking to someone else. DRAMATIC. I love it. Have we talked about Gwenny and Stupid yet?

Geena: WE HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT THEM, the perfect accessories to the Hassan-Fatima duo. Gwen is the token white boi, there for Hassan to thirst over and Fatima to learn how to sail a ship. Stupid on the other hand…. God bless that horse all it did was drown and then LIVE!!!! The absolute legend. BUT Kae HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE GWEN AND STUPID? HMMM

Gwen: I only love God

Also Gwen: *sleeps with Fatima on the deck of the ship while Hassan is 3 feet away*

Kae: Well... Gwennec. Ol’ Gwenny Gwen Gwen. Gwen, the Monk who FUCKS. PAHAAHA. Gwen was a new Monk who was at first, totally against helping our favorite bestie-bitches. But Fatima was all “Don’t test me white boi I will kick ya ass.” And Gwen lowkey thought it was hot so he let them slide. He taught Fatima and Hassan how to sail while Hassan made googly eyes at him and definitely wanted to tap that. But, as previously stated, Fatima and Gwen got it ooonnn. Hassan found out and as like “Fa, I can’t believe you slept with my husband who doesn’t know we’re married yet!”, and that was basically that.. Then we have Stupid. The horse who was just as damn stupid as his name. The horse lived to spite the Grim Reaper just to prove it would breathe another day. We also haven’t mentioned our Jinn friend and their literal lifesaver/guardian angel, Vikram.

Geena: VIKRAM, aka another dude/djinn/dog man that Hassan wanted to fuck but couldn’t :( Vikram was essentially the only one in the group that had a substantial amount of brain cells, and spent most of the time trying to make sure Fatima didn’t accidentally kill herself. The fact that he saw his death and it was in the arms of a “beautiful woman” should sum up his character really well.

Kae: Geena is sooo right. Vikram was the only one with brain cells because Fatima and Hassan both shared two. Our loveable, dramatic, but also a little dimwitted faves wouldn’t have survived any of their adventure without Vikram. He lead them through a Jinn filled tunnel that Hassan made. Escorted them across the land with the Inquisition right on their asses, and fought off whoever tried to hurt them. Initially, he agreed to save them because of a debt he owed to Fatima’s Sultana. But in the end, Vikram helped them because he wanted to. He was a weirddog/man/Jinn who just wanted Fatima and Hassan to stop being dumbasses for five seconds. But they couldn’t so he was constantly annoyed and probs wanted to eat them to shut them up. BUT WE STAN THAT FURRY LEGEND BECAUSE WITHOUT HIM, OUR ESCAPEES WOULD BE DEAD-EEE. Also he was one suave, smooth talking mofo and I feel like if he walked up to you and said “You’re lovely, but you’re an idiot. It’s okay, because you’re pretty tho.” that compliment sandwich would go right over your head and you’d thank him.

Geena: ok FIRST OFF I would be like “why do you have a tail” but god Kae you hit all the points.

The Bad AND The Ugly

→ The Sultan and His Mom Being Pedos

Geena: Ok so, Fatima is 17 and I’m assuming the Sultan was in his mid-thirties, because he has kids Fatima’s age 👀. So I am sure it was historically accurate, the fact that the old ass man had a 17 year old concubine, but that doesn’t make it any less gross!!!! What’s worse is that Fatima’s mom was originally a slave for the sultan, so when she was born the sultan’s mom raised her and had her instated as a concubine when she was 15!!!!!! Scuse me while I 🤮.

Kae: Yea, Geena said it all. The Sultan was ewww. Fatima was his favorite and I guess he talked to her like she wasn’t a concubine? She was treated very well. For a concubine. Probably better than any concubine I’ve read about Like, she had rights and could talk shit without punishment. But still, DISGUSTEEENNNG. Our girl was groomed so we do NOT stan the Sultan.

→ Luz

Kae: we also have our main villain, Luz. She arrived at their palace to play peaceful, but she had ulterior motives that involved her spreading the word of the LORDT and taking Hassan in to be tried for Witchcraft and all that magic shit. Because if we didn’t say it before, Hassan can draw anything on a map and make that place a reality. Luz has this little worm in her eye that basically makes her super weirdly strong and badass. But fuck Luz. When Fatima finds out that Hassan is to be tried for witchcraft, she goes to him so they can both escape. Fatima wants to be free and she doesn’t want to see her bestie die. So what do they do? They dip. And now our friends are on the run.

Geena: UGH Yes, can I just say the moment that Fatima realized that Hassan would get canned she was like “fuck all these people” and peaced out with Hassan? Friendship goals… But yes LUZ!! I enjoyed reading her as a villain because she genuinely thinks she’s a good person and that her life’s mission is to “Save” people like Fatima from people like Hassan. You really end up liking her in the beginning, and then she turns around and murders a few people and you’re like…. Ah…… i see….. aND THEN it turns out she was being controlled by some brainworm that was also trying to get to the Bird King and you kind of wonder…. How much of what Luz did was her being a violent inquisitor and how much was the worm controlling her… you kno? She redeems herself by dying, so I guess she gets…. Like one (1) right.

Kae: Damn girl! Well said!!! LITCHERALY that is a perfect summary of Luz’s character. I can’t say anything else because it’s been SAID. Villains are always interesting when they don’t see themselves as the bad guy. They’re righteous and unforgiving because they believe they are doing the right thing. That’s what scary about them.

Conclusion

Kae: Okay, so in conclusion. This is an amazing book and in all honesty, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I was never bored reading it. Hassan, Fatima, and Vikram had quite the adventure and all the dramatics of made it that much more enjoyable. They left the palace in hopes of freedom. Hassan and Fatima got the idea of The Bird King from a story they liked to read, but never knew the ending. So they continued the story on their own, making it up along the way. In hopes of escaping their new fate to Luz and the Inquisition, Hassan drew up a map to the Bird King in hopes to find it. Their journey took them to meet Gwennec who sailed them to said island, where they discovered used to be inhabited long, long ago. Soon, others began to show up on the island. Hassan even got him a MANS. A DOCTOR. Whew. He’s got taste. The island is also forever changing and some of the remaining inhabitants are Jinn.

Geena: Kae summarized the story really well!!! The journey to the end was an absolute trip, but G. Willow Wilson tied up the story neatly. We get to see Fatima become less dependent on Hassan (thanks to his doctor bf who told her to chill out) and Hassan finally find the happiness he deserves. Gwen, unfortunately, doesn’t make it to the end (press F to pay respect). Luz essentially sacrifices herself by taking the map Hassan drew, getting off the island, and ripping it up. Why does she do this? Because to make a place or passage Hassan drew disappear the map has to be ripped. And leaving the map to the island wasn’t an option because the Spanish inquisition never stops!!

Kae: And if they ripped the map on the island, the island would cease to exist! Upon arrival to the island, everyone had their ships wrecked. Luz got fucked up on the shipwreck and that worm thing got ripped out of her eyes and then it became a monster on the island that was NOT to be trifled with. Since Luz got all jacked up, she was gonna die anyway and no one wanted her to stay--

Geena: Everyone said “u cant sit with us” to luz. OKAY DISCUSSING THIS BOOK MADE ME REMEMBER HOW MUCH IT MADE ME LAUGH, GENUINELY ONE OF THE FUNNIEST BOOKS I’VE READ. 10/10 FOR ME!!

Kae: LMAOOO HONESTLY. XPECIALLY FATIMA NEVER HAVING WALKED SO FAR BEFORE AND BEING A BIG OL BABY. but she DIIIID have messed up shoes that blistered so I’ll give her that BUT YES HASSAN WAS A DRAMA QUEEN “waaah, I have red hair and im pale BUT I'M STILL HOT AND I LIKE TO F U C K” But yeah, Luz got voted off the island and voted herself off the island, ripped up the map, and then they were safe and lived happily ever after. Vikram even made his final appearance to say his goodbyes to Fatima, even though he hates goodbyes. I give this book a 10/10. It was funny, the characters were likeable and relatable, and it was just a good adventure read.

#the bird king #G. Willow Wilson #diverse books #book review #the bird king review #book blogging #booklr

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