#least favorite books

[tathrin]

#yeah kiss my entire ass cormac mccarthy What's up with Cormac Mccarthy? I've only seen some of the movies based on his books. Are his westerns hollow or something?

Ohhh ha ha ha so. This may not even be entirely his fault? I don't actually know enough about him and his writing to say for sure, because the one book of his that I did read filled me with so much rage that I would sooner set myself on fire than read another.

I was in college (art school, majoring in comic books) and I took all the writing classes that I could squeeze into my schedule because I love writing too (storytelling is where my heart lies, and I thought I would do that with pictures at first, but turns out I actually like writing prose more, oops). Well, my Creative Writing professor had clearly ended up at the wrong school somehow and was deeply frustrated about it — because let us just say that most of the kids at this school were not in my boat re: love of writing, and they only took classes like these because they needed a few non-art credits to graduate.

So the level of interest/talent he got out of his students was mediocre at best. (They weren't there to write, they were there to draw or sculpt or design. Of course 98% of them were half-assing or less their non-art classes.) So he was really excited to have someone who liked writing and was good at it and was excited to be there...!

But. he liked Literature. And only Literature. And I used the Capital L there on purpose, because he was one of those folks where you can just HEAR the sneer when he says "gen-re fic-tion," you know? Looked waaaaaay down his nose at all the stuff that I would consider actually good and interesting books in favor of Boring Person In Boring Life Does Boring Thing That Changes Nothing About Boring World, Wow What A Commentary On The Human Condition That Was! So Deep! Much Thought! etc type books.

(So you can see what I thought of the stuff he liked, too.)

So here I am, turning in all these stories with spaceships and witches and robots and shit and it's the best writing he's gotten from one of his students in years. He's thrilled! ...and so distressed because Why Won't I Write Real Stories? I could be Such A Great Writer if I would just get over my interest in this Genre Stuff! Woe! Alas! Weeping! etc. Someday I'll Grow Out Of It, Surely, Because I'm So Talented! All that jazz.

He wasn't a dick about it; he was actually a very nice fellow. We were COMPLETELY incompatible, but he was nice and so I tried to be nice in turn even as I gave my very honest opinions about all the boring-af shit he had us reading lmao.

So, I'm being A Good Sport about it every time he assigns his Boring-AF Projects where I'm not allowed to put in rayguns and magic swords and alien species and all the stuff that makes writing fun. But I still put in effort, and turn in good (if boring-af) pieces, and participate in class (and argue very politely for The Merits Of Genre Fiction), etc etc. He's delighted to have me, and I have no doubt that I was one of his favorite students ever, even though I had Shit Taste In Books. So he decides he's going to give me a treat! He's going to make our next assigned book a Genre Book! I'm going to be Delighted!

He assigns us Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I don't know if you've ever read it, but: don't. It was intolerable. Second-worst book I've ever read. It's a Post-Apocalypse story about some dude and his kid walking across the world to...idk. Walk? Be a Metaphor? I don't fucking know. Nobody has a name because That's Deep. And because we're being extra deep, we're going to Write Badly On Purpose because it symbolizes the Breakdown Of Society!

And by "written badly on purpose," I mean we're throwing out the entire concept of Writing So Your Shit Can Be Read By Human Eyes.

Apostrophes no longer exist! Commas hardly do either! Or sentences! Or quote marks! Or any form of useful punctuation whatsoever! Just a bunch of either fragments or endless run-ons trudging away into the abyss until you're ready to throw your soul down there with them just to fucking escape. Paragraph breaks only happen when a scene changes! Your eyes skitter-off the page as though it was coated with teflon, your energy sinking into a bleak grey misery that isn't even alert enough to qualify as despair. Every section leaves you a little less alive than before. This is drudgery, the very concept of dullness distilled into ink and printed out for all to read and suffer. I give you an except, but I don't suggest you actually read it because I'm not that cruel:

Oh my gods it was unreadable. I think my eyes actually bled. And to make it even more of a slog, it was clearly written by some dumb-fuck who'd never actually read any post-apocalyptic stories, and thought that he was Far Too Clever to need to do any actual research on the genre that he was "elevating" with his "literary style" or what-the-fuck-ever, because every character in it was so bum-fucking stupid that there was NO WAY any of them would have lived five minutes in an actual fucking wasteland. Also every single Wasteland Cliche that you can imagine, without a drop of originality or subversion or even lampshading or clever commentary or anything. It was all just...there. In the shallowest, blandest way possible.

(He also never actually defined or even hinted at What Happened, I presume because he was too dumb to figure out a backstory this was Literature and not Genre and thus Proper World Building Wasn't Necessary Because This Was A Metaphor Or Something idk fuck it. Like...sometimes there were gas-masks? but also people didn't need them? and there didn't seem to be radiation in a way that hurt anybody, but there also seemed to be Radiation Aesthetics going on...? It was just. so badly done.)

And our protagonists were SO stupidly incompetent. Just, complete idiocy, countered with Incredibly Convenient Random Happenstances (you would not believe how many Untouched But Easily Accessible Stashes Of Food these fuckers stumbled over oh my gods) to save their asses from their self-inflicted imminent death over and over and over again. An absolute travesty of a book, written in the worst fashion possible.

Needless to say, the essay I turned in on the book tore it about seven new ones. I SHREDDED it from first word to closing paragraph. Did not find one single redeeming or enjoyable thing about that clusterfuck of a "story" (and I use the term loosely) and I made sure everyone knew it. I wasn't shy about my opinion of the arrogant asshole who wrote it, either, and what I thought of the choices he'd made in writing that way, and the lack of talent and intelligence he'd demonstrated throughout.

My poor professor was devastated. He'd thought this would be my favorite book of the whole class! He picked it especially for me, as a treat! And I LOATHED it. (I hadn't realized it was supposed to be a gift to before I wrote the essay, or I probably would have been gentler in my disassembling of it. But I only discovered that when he handed the essay back. Poor man. I did feel a little bad about that. But oh my gods the book was horrible.)

So I have no idea what kind of author Cormac McCarthy is in general, or whether he's more tolerable (or even hypothetically enjoyable, I suppose) when he's writing whatever he does usually. This may be a complete outlier: an attempt to try something new (that failed abysmally) from a guy who normally writes Just Fine. I don't know! And I'm not interested in finding out, because to me he will always be the egotistical shithead who wrote the most spirit-draining, eye-torturing travesty of a book ever printed called The Road and he will not be forgiven for that crime.

#rants #i'm not tagging this with his name because i presume there must be people who actually do like his books because they keep selling somehow #and so i presume that whoever is in the cormac mccarthy tag doesn't want to read me shitting all over im so we'll just once again go with: #yeah kiss my entire ass cormac mccarthy #which frankly feels like the only tag i'll ever need to have on my blog for navigation purposes involving him tbh #least favorite books #me

[tea-cat-arts]

More doodles (ft Xianle Trio mostly Feng Xin)

#heaven official's blessing #heaven official's blessing fanart #tgcf #tgcf fanart #xianle trio #xie lian #feng xin #mu qing #hua cheng #hualian #idk how Feng Xin ended up in the most panels given he's probably my least favorite of the trio #oh well #there will be more doodles later #thought i had while drawing this: do you think they gave Mu Qing his slutty little choker as a reference to the shackle he gets later on? #i might be reading too much into that #didnt let myself interact with the fandom till i finished the books #so i got a lot of catch up doodles to do now

[yourlocalgremlin]

Still thinking about the incredible amount of rage my world-building loving soul felt while reading The Atlas Six.

#seriously that universe was as flimsy as something very flimsy #least favorite books #no offense to people who liked it I just thought it was awful #but everyone has their own opinion #the atlas six

[wolfstardaughter-jj]

#canon event #every reader has experienced this at least once #the marauders #harry potter #marvel #stranger things #supernatural #wolfstar #spiderman #one more chapter #your favorite insomniac #criminal minds #books #books & libraries #booklr #ao3 fanfic #ao3 #archive of our own #wattpad

[why-the-heck-not]

making a new yearly bullet journal spread is serious business (I drew 72 mini calendar grids and my hand cramped)

#i don’t think i’ve written/drawn to the point of hand cramps since like middle school #it was bc did all the month’s habit trackers (5 per month) now in advance bc I think it makes more sense to get the full picture of all #months at once #and also those mini calendar grids are my least favorite part so now won’t have to bother with those anymore #bookblr #studyblr #booklr #aesthetic #books #study #reading #read #book #bujo #bullet journal #dark academia #january 2024 #2024 #i also have a page for books but currently it’s just a title so didn’t bother with the pic

[elleniemae]

✨Space husbands✨

Your honor they’re married, and no one can tell me otherwise.

#eli vanto #thrawn #star wars #thranto #math nerd x art nerd is now one of my fav ship dynamics #Literally my favorite school subjects personified #If Eli doesn’t get at LEAST a name drop outside the books I will THROW HANDS #(Mostly kidding)

[joaniejustwokeup]

DP x DC Prompt:

Summoning circles are more complicated than people give them credit for. They’re a bit like a mix between a thumb print, a name, a phone number, and a recipe; and at the same time, nothing like any of those things.

In reality, most summoning circles in spell books and ancient texts are incomplete, representing only a fraction of a particular spirit’s identity.

A complete circle will actually be a series of different summoning circles, with each concentric ring representing an aspect of the spirit’s identity and having individual requirements and/or offerings needed. Ghosts have an innate awareness of them and are able to draw and describe their requirements from any sort of inward reflection.

Ghosts will often give out incomplete circles as a means of communication and transportation. A single ring of the circle will only open the door, and each ring added makes the pull and connection to the summoner stronger. Ghosts will also sometimes use incomplete circles to mark and monitor their haunts and as a way of claiming territory.

A complete summoning circle will occasionally but inevitably change over time, as parts of the spirit’s identity change.

The circle will always be a closely guarded secret. This is because, much like giving your true name to the fae, giving out your full summoning circle will allow the summoner to not only capture you, but to command and control you.

After Danny was shown Dan’s future where he killed the world, he made Jazz memorize his complete circle and told her to use it if he ever turned evil. She thought he was being ridiculous, but learned the spell when she saw how frightened he had become of himself.

When the summoning circle of the Ghost King was added to his identity, he tried to make her memorize the new circle, only for her to flat out refuse, saying it’s not healthy for him to make these kind of contingencies. They get into a really bad fight and Danny flies off determined to find someone he can trust with his circle should he turn evil.

As he’s flying over his town he feels the slight tug on his consciousness indicating someone is trying to summon the Ghost King. He lets his awareness bleed through the summoning just enough to see that… yup it’s cultists again. At least there’s no sacrifices this time.

He’s about to shrug the summoning off like he has so many others when he suddenly sees someone fighting through the cultists. Oh! Make that several someones.

With a giddy sort of eagerness Danny watches Batman and his sidekicks cut through the crowd of religious fanatics, even taking down a couple that looked like they were using ghost-based magic. He’d always admired the Dark Knight, but seeing him fight in person is something else.

It’s as the hero is tying up the cultists and checking their injuries that a lightbulb goes off in Danny’s head, and, after a moment of steeling his determination, he lets himself be pulled through the summoning circle.

The Bats all tense up as the circle at the center of the room grows brighter, readying themselves for another fight. Danny tries to smile reassuringly as he feels his form materialize, though they likely can’t see it in the bright flash of light that accompanies it.

He frowns when he realizes the summoning had dressed him in his royal armor and cloak, the crown of fire burning above his head and ring of rage glaring from his right hand.

He tries raising his hands in an “I am not a threat,” pose, before realizing it looks exactly like the Box Ghost’s “Beware!” pose. He tucks his hands under his armpits, then awkwardly waves at the group of vigilantes.

“Hi there! Wow that was really cool- Thanks for taking care of these guys for me.”

The vigilantes once again tense up as Danny steps out of the circle towards them. Danny smiles sheepishly.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I really need to talk to you, Batman.”

Batman steps forward, approaching Danny as he stands just outside the circle, a living shadow that looms larger than life. Still, Danny senses something soften in his gaze as he looks over the teenage Ghost King, stopping just out of reach of him. Danny gazes back at his childhood hero, hoping he’s making the right choice.

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

#Red hood doodling these intense circular designs in the corners of his favorite books not knowing what they mean #Dick: Oooooh what’s that little wing? it looks cool! Jason: (blushing but can’t figure out why) Nothing! Fuck off! #Jason’s subconscious: he called me cool! :) #Jason storming into the Batcave - ‘WHERE’S MY COPY OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE- DEMON BRAT I KNOW YOU HAVE IT!!!!’ #Jason starts tagging the edges of Crime Alley #He’ll suddenly get on coms like ‘Get out of my territory Old Man!’ (How did he know we were here? He’s across town!) #dpxdc #dpxdc prompt #ghost king danny #summoning circles #summoning circle lore #danny phantom #batman #halfa jason todd #or at least some kind of undead #but I guess that’s only in the tags right now #my writing

[comradekatara]

my children whom i raised

#id in alt text #avatar the last airbender #atla #the gaang #the book 2 gaang. my favorite members of the gaang. at least #toph #katara #sokka #aang #art #mart #was trying smth w perspective #idk if it fully worked but oh well at least i tried #and i think the colors and expressions and such are still charming enough #so i'm postin it 👍🏼

[khaopybara]

Don't judge a book by its cover. An essay by Mew Pt. 2

Mew in his revenge era went shopping and thought, "you know what screams I'm gonna fuck you up, maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't? Floral/patterned shirts," and proceeded to buy a bunch of those.

BOOK KASIDET as MEW WITSARUT ( ONLY FRIENDS EPS. 7-12 )

Correction: I missed one outfit in ep. 6 and instead of remaking that set, I'll just post it below because it's actually the hottest Mew has looked, so I'm not even upset.

#only friends the series #ofts #only friends #mew witsarut #book kasidet #thai drama #thai bl #gmmtv series #gmmtv bl #th: only friends #:: fashionbaby #:: mygifs! #:: onlyfriendsoutfits #man ep 8 is truly traumatizing when you rewatch raymew's scenes #and i mean this with love but ep 8 was something else #anyway i think it's obvious that mew's style is the one that changed the most throughout the show (at least until now let's see nick) #from cute colorful stripes to very busy and right in your face shirts that we usually associate with ray but i'll say after doing this mew' #new style doesn't feel like ray. it feels like he's trying to mimic him and it's not quite there bc it still is mew. idk how to phrase it #but it's much more like if I change my style and wear the busiest shirts #maybe people won't read me as plain and won't cheat on me for being considered boring #something something #mew trying to mimic ray and ray channeling sand in ep 9 will forever be my favorite piece of storytelling #btw this gifset looking way less chaotic than the others and more linear? totally by accident

[sinusoidaldisfunction]

Luna. Moth girl.

#wings of fire #wof #wof fanart #wings of fire fanart #wof luna #dysfunction's designs #least favorite protagonist. last book ruined her

[fullscoreshenanigans]

(The Promised Neverland Art Book World)

Ah yes, one of my favorite genres of baby full score trio pictures: Isabella being openly affectionate toward Emma and Norman in front of Ray while being hands off with him.

(Chapter 2 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 165 | Chapter 170 | Chapter 177)

#and by favorite I mean “I am in physical agony. I am violently sobbing. I am eating the dry wall.” #Isabella before Ray's sixth birthday: man what is up with this kid he's more prickly than a porcupine (not even touching on his hair) #Isabella on January 15‚ 2040: ah. #The Promised Neverland #Yakusoku no Neverland #TPN #YnN #The Promised Neverland Art Book World #FSS Chatter #Full Score Trio #TPN Isabella #TPN Emma #TPN Norman #TPN Ray #Isabella and Ray's Incredibly Fraught and Complicated Relationship Tag #Pre-Canon #Introduction Arc #TPN 002 #Escape Arc #TPN 037 #Return to Grace Field Arc #TPN 165 #TPN 170 #TPN 177 #also with Norman's stark black & white morality this is why his reaction to Isabella's betrayal is so volatile #and why I think it's a shame his relationship with her gets the least amount of focus #especially when you think of their conversation on the way to the gate #“Hey‚ Mom‚ are you happy?” / “Yes. Yes‚ I am. After all‚ I was able to meet you.” #absolutely fucking wrecks me every time #the layers. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭 𝘢 𝘺 𝘦 𝘳 𝘴.

[cosmerelists]

How would you rank the Sanderson Secret Projects?

#Sorry Frugal Wizard fans--there just aren't enough poll options to do every iteration of book orders #And I kinda figure it's most people's least favorite of the set? #I could be hilariously wrong and ratioed #I would be okay with that as well #learning and growth #anyway #cosmere #cosmerelists

[pcktknife]

there are so many obscure early 2000s-2010 kids graphic novels that we don't know about guys

#im down a rabbithole looking for a book i read as a kid again #this one i have little to no info on unfortunately it was a group of kids that endedup in some alternate (fantasy?) universe and thats the #plot of so so many books old and new theres no way im finding it #i wanna go back to the library i used to get all these good ass books from and see if they still have em but its been at least a decade so #its unlikely. still curious about what the library looks like now..it was one of my favorites #kae.txt

[bonefall]

whats your take on the “palebird not caring about talltail leaving” scene? i always thought it was WEIRD, like yes she was a little distant because she was blatantly depressed, but not to the point where she would straight up not care about her first son leaving potentially forever?? it feels like one of those scenes the writers put in to make the The Woman look bad so the Bad Dad isnt aaaasssss bad.

I feel like many of my problems with it come from the end of TR being a mess. It sets up a ton of plot threads and either goes somewhere strange with them or drops them completely.

Palebird's is one of the ones that just gets dropped.

On one hand, I'm glad that Palebird isn't demonized, but they don't seem to know what to do with her. She's cold towards Tallkit and increasingly short and snippy as he gets older, reacts in a way that's pointed out as aloof and uncaring when he leaves and when he comes back, and Talltail takes it like betrayal when she moves on with a new mate... and then they just don't really have a thesis for that.

In the end, Talltail never stops and teases out his feelings on her, they never show a conversation where some characters talk about why she acts that way, Tallkit's upbringing isn't contrasted with his halfsib's upbringings... their last talk is actually about Shrewclaw and the kits his wife's going to give birth to. Talltail's BULLY.

This book that shows an abusive father and a nasty little jackass redeems both of these boys, making a sharp 180 to say they Weren't So Bad, but has barely any interest in Palebird. When she gives Tallstar one of his 9 lives, it's laughably short;

That's it. That's the resolution. She doesn't even act happy to see him return, they have a conversation about Talltail's bully, and then after she's dead he's like, "I'll never doubt she loves me ever again."

Like, ok? All right?? Did we just miss the falling action or did Ms. Hunter not feel like it that day?

In general I have so many feelings about Tallstar's Revenge... I can't say I HATE it because it is fun to read, and I like a lot of the things it lays down, but I can't LOVE it for how every step forward it feel like 2 steps back. And the differences in the narrative's sympathy towards Sandgorse (emotionally abusive and committing child endangerment because his son is disappointing him) vs his wife Palebird (completely unsupported while displaying a near textbook case of PPD) are like a tiny little microcosm of the problems in WC.

Sandgorse gets a whole journey dedicated towards finding out he was actually a hero who gave his life saving Sparrow, abuse forgotten, but Palebird... exists, and Talltail's mad she had new kids until he's suddenly not.

So in a nutshell, my take is that this soup is bland and watery. Look at all these complicated potential feelings they just cast out the window so they can talk about Shrewclaw the Bully and his Very Sad Death.

There's much better individual examples of how the narrative tends to treat their male and female characters (which is why I compare Sparkpelt and Crookedstar more than I compare Crookedstar and Palebird), but Palebird's a good place to talk about the pervasive disinterest that WC has in its girls. And how much of a waste it is.

#Tallstar's Revenge is one of those books that I WANT to like. There's so many things in it that are appealing to me #but they can't bring them together #It's like an itch you can't reach. Scratching it would be so satisfying... but you can't. You can't get it. #In the Wise Words of one of my favorite critics; The discussion of misogyny and bad writing are not NOT related #It's not a CAUSE of the bad writing but it's like this terrible symptom. Because a lot of bad writing comes from thoughtlessness #And when you're thoughtless to interesting potential conflicts or don't really have a conclusion in mind (or at LEAST a vague roadmap) #then you end up just. missing things like this #warrior cats analysis

[remitro]

scribble assortment . for fun

#scribbles #qsmp fanart #qsmp pomme #qsmp sunny #qsmp empanada #qsmp tallulah #pactw #nihachu #tried a pink vers of my em design (forgot her apron rip) #not really a fan either it'll need more tweaking or blueberry em is back :3 #fun fact pomme's entire. deal is heavily based off the very hungry caterpillar bc that was my absolute FAVORITE book as a kid #cniki and ctubbo are my roman empire btw tubbo isn't in here but i think about both of them at least twice a week

[okanra]

An update (or an announcement, not sure but whichever is fine) while i’m working on THE UNSPOKEN webcomic offline:

So i’m currently writing and working on the groundworks for the pilot comic volume that I hope can be released with limited numbers soon. It’s good news because it means that I’m dedicated to it, but the reality is it’s a lot of work for a one man team, plus my life schedule that gets busier every year, I won’t be able to be online much like 2 or 3 years ago, and will have to focus my drawings on my career more (I do draw for a living). So whenever I can draw here, it’ll be about this webcomic aka my favorite personal project and what I can and want to share with you guys.

The real announcement is, while working on the groundworks for the webcomic, I realize that since this comic with a Dragon Ball semi-adapted script draws from life more than from fantasy, it’s better to make it something more “real” that people can relate to. And that also means I’ll be visiting China next month, specifically the Zhangjiajie area, or better known as James Cameron’s Avatar moutains, for a short research trip and take real references since it’s also my main inspiration for THE UNSPOKEN’s Son Goten (or Sun Wu Tian - 孫悟天 in Chinese dialect)’s hometown.

If you like this series and want to support it, that’ll be great since this work runs mostly by the supports from its loving fans.

Maybe the next time I post here will be the old groundwork stuff I posted on twitter/X in 2021.

#the unspoken webcomic #truten in high school au #dragon ball #goten #son goten #trunks #my comic #my art #look how dedicated I am #my favorite low-budget indie project #will try to at least pump out one proper comic book the best I can #truten