#so many great writers

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies” #serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited... #i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest. #it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!' #'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members... #..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)' #anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language? #maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value” #and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs) #happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills) #and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on... #...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works? #beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

[turnipoddity]

ok i watched saw for the first time last night after seeing your devolution journey (affectionate) into madness. it was so good i cant shut up to my friends about it. do you have any lawrence/adam fic recs? im desperate also i LOVE your art kisses hugs ily

OH THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!! always delighted that i can bring people to watch saw 😭❤️ here’s some of my favorites, although I’m sure I’m gonna regret it later bc i forget to include some other great fics, but here it is!!!

Strip The Paint, by fiddlestick

Give Me Shelter, Show Me Heart, by leetheshark

I Go Along With Nature, by punk_rock_yippie

Can You Feel My Heart?, by Vixenfur

1000 Words, by frigidphoebe

Dressed to Impress, by bleakmidwinter

I’m Your Secretary, by WolFGRRRL

I Shiver You With Anticipation, by whatifwekissedinthesawbathroom

#IM SOO SURE IM MISSING OTHER GREAT FICS BUT THIS IS ALL I GOT IN THE MOMENT #so so many talented writers out there!!! AMAZING stuff truly #you guys are my lifeline #saw #chainshipping #asks #make sure to check the warnings!! 🧎‍♀️

[princington]

Oh, how Beatrice wants. The wild thing beneath her skin, drumming a furious beat at her pulse points. It peers out from behind her eyes, watches avidly the way Ava swallows.

What does it mean to desire?

To take? To give? What, then? Give yourself over to someone else? Give someone the heat of your attentions, so they might warm themselves under your care? Beatrice feels that urge to bite, understands the blossoming hunger as a desire to consume. It is longing, truthfully. It need not be. And there it is, that sweet burn following the understanding of a new possibility: of reciprocation.

holy ('til you let me go) ch 3 by omomoification

#avatrice #ava silva #sister beatrice #warrior nun #fic rec #my art #not feeling super well so im just reading a lot and doodling a lot #so many great writers here #princington

[martyrbat]

seriously though i know im mostly a comics blog so complaining is expected and is second nature and there is a LOT to complain on (from disgusting writers to character developments being nuked) thats justified but also i love comics so so much.... i love this medium and how unique it is and the story opportunities it gives. i love seeing so many different art styles and writers and how comics can be dialogue or visual heavy (or a balance of both) and how theyre equally important or emotionally moving. i love how many stories and arcs these characters can have. i love when you can tell something is a passion project and when you can tell someone truly loves these characters. i love how long theyve been around and seeing the development of them and the way they been empowering or something to look forward to and bring hope or laughter or excitement since the 1930s. i love that i can not like something in a specific story but still enjoy the character or medium because theres so many different factors in that one story alone but also because theres so many different writers and stories and spin offs and solos and everything to still read and enjoy if that particular one isn't for me. i love how their timelines can be complete bullshit and how sometimes an event is important and sometimes theres no consequences and the only way to find out is to keep reading. i love the melodramas, i love the cheesiness, i love the camp, i love the passion projects, i love the dark themes, i love the slow and developing timelines and arcs, i love the tragedy and humor and horror and action and how many different genres it can have while still in this one medium and still about this one character. i love how any character, no matter how minor, can have a person that loves them and gets excited to see them. i love the community aspect of them (sometimes) and i love how so many different people can enjoy the same comic for different reasons and have their own community of mutuals that enjoy it the way they do. i just love comics so so much.

#im sorry im not a hater there is so much room in my big gushy mushy heart #like theyre such a unique and fun medium. how writers and artists can be the same or different. how many people can be involved or it can b #just one/two people doing it all. how it allows them to explore visual heavy stories and dialogue ones and both have their place and are #adored and are equally important. #like its easy to talk shit on them but thats only because im so enamoured with comics entirely. even characters i don't personally like #i just love that they exist in some way or form. art is beautiful and comics are great (until theyre not <3) #ransom note

[084392]

thinking about characters w missed potential.. about episode/scene/arc/even just a few lines that wouldve/couldve/shouldve reasonably happened and been SO worthwhile and interesting for a character if only the creators knew how to actually write and execute them, knowing damn well at this point that it will never happen...

#SOOOOO MANY. so many.................. #like im never claiming to be a Great writer either but... 😔

[serctcnia]

A drunk Rolan at Last Light Inn, emotions and thoughts overwhelming him as his siblings are still missing. Tav/OC comes to sit beside him at the bar to talk with him but he's being so... Rolan... that they grow quiet. They give him a soft tap on the hand, tell him that they'll be in the next room, and stand up to leave. But being drunk, his tail acts before he speaks.

If Tav/OC is a tiefling, his tail quickly intertwines with theirs. If anything else, he grabs their hand. "Don't go." He slurs. "Please."

#do i wanna write this with my oc surana #maybe #i am completely normal about this couple #but there's so many great writers for rolan holy shit #and i haven't written anything in years #bg3 rolan #rolan x tav #rolan x reader #baldur’s gate 3 #bg3

[warper-in-training]

Some of ya'll need to start parcticing don't like, don't read the hell.

I'm sick of this fandom, ya'll harrass writers and artists away from this fandom over dark shit you can't stomach and ignore. all you did was ruining this fandom. I will publicly say that I'm anti-harrassment, and supprtive of problematic elements in fiction. the game's main story contains elements of incest, noncon, dubcon, interspecies ships, abuse, grooming, etc and some of ya'll are crying over someone HEADCANONING smth cause of their TRAUMA.

the fuck ya'll are attacking them for? they even mentioned they have trauma of what they wrote. don't like it? DON'T READ. I personaly don't like evil Michael hcs.

does that mean I get to attack the author? NO. me being uncomfortable or triggered cause of it has nothing to do with THEM. its MY problem.

writing & hcing grooming, problematic shit, etc does NOT mean someone does it irl. nor supports it. some of ya'll tend to find a small, not so well known person in the community to harrass. hell, i even I bet ya'll harrassed @/devildomwriter over their raph x belph post. ya'll made posts about @/boxbusiness on that confesson blog too so i donr except much.

I'm dissapointed at what this community has become. leave artists alone. leave people alone.

#rushed. will reblog & make few posts later i have to go now #but fuck off if you support harrassing creators and dont believe in DL;DR #like seriously #i didnt want to being this blog into shipcourse but i will not tolerate what ya'll are doing to my fav writers and artists. #weve had many great writers and artists that were kixked out for harrassment. your ffault. #im dissapointed. #so dissapointed. #rant #obey me #obey me community #obey me fandom #obey me nb #obey me nightbringer #obey me swd #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me michael #shipcourse

[boasamishipper]

i think the biggest problem of season 3 (of which there are Several) is the shift away from football being the crux of the story, which has undoubtedly resulted in the aimless, overstuffed, unfocused narrative we've been seeing for the last eight episodes. season one was as excellent as it was because whether richmond won or lost a match actually mattered; if they lost too many matches, they'd be relegated, and relegation was always treated as a distinct, tangible threat. there were stakes. and while season two had its issues with pacing and unnecessary subplots, no one would call it aimless. the characters had a goal (pun intended): to get promoted back to the premier league. if they lost too many matches, they would stay in the championship league. we as the audience were invested in whether or not richmond won or lost, and the narrative was all the stronger and more coherent for it.

season one asked us, can afc richmond avoid relegation? and we were invested in the answer. season two asked us, can afc richmond be promoted? and we were invested in the answer. now we're eight episodes into season three, and the overarching goal of the season, the question it is asking its audience to remain invested in, is...what? what are we building towards? is afc richmond's goal to win the whole damn thing? to beat west ham? to beat man city? to do just enough to avoid relegation again?

and because we can't answer this question, the narrative has suffered greatly. how are we supposed to believe beard when he says man city is the team's white whale if we haven't even seen them play each other yet this season? if ted's total football epiphany was so life-changing for richmond, why did we speed past all the matches this episode where the team won using that strategy? if this is all leading to a final nate-ted west ham-richmond match, why haven't we spent any time with nate at west ham? why haven't we gotten to see him grow and develop as a coach? at one point, the team was doing so badly that higgins suggested firing ted, who has been visibly struggling on and off the pitch - and the narrative did not give that suggestion the weight it might have had in season one or two. we spent an entire episode watching rupert, rebecca, and chelsea fight over zava - and then two episodes later he was gone, and we haven't so much as mentioned him since. just last season, sam was being heralded as the star of afc richmond, highly sought after by other club owners - but we haven't gotten to see any of his alleged brilliance on the pitch this season at all. i have to kick a little ball around, which those same people love me for, sam said in 3.07, that is, until i fuck up or miss a penalty, or i decide to fight back - a speech that was excellently delivered by toheeb, but loses some of its weight because we haven't actually gotten to see any negative reaction to sam missing a penalty or fucking up or deciding to fight back (not even in season 2 after the dubai air boycott).

(all this to say: i do enjoy the show. i love the characters, i've been enjoying the episodes as individual units, and i'll continue to tune in week after week. but for a show that once boasted football was life, it's sure been suffering since it decided to stop focusing on that.)

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso critical #been thinking this for a few days now and had to get it all out on paper (so to speak) #yes this season is just as punny and heartwarming and quirky as usual but like. what is everything building towards here #like the only overarching plotline so far is colin's coming out arc and it's being handled great so far #but that can't be the overarching question of the season you know??? #too many questions not enough answers #they should have kept the episode lengths at 30 minutes; forced the writers to keep the plot as tight and focused as in s1 #45-60 minutes is a lot of time when you aren't building towards anything

[dahlia-molinas]

if you're worried about not having anything to watch during the writers' and actors' strike.. this is your chance to watch all those shows you've been putting off for years. maybe this is when you finally watch all 15 seasons of supernatural so you can understand half the memes about it. off the top off my head, here are some great shows you can watch (or maybe rewatch!) :

avatar: the last airbender

stranger things

breaking bad

queen's gambit

the sandman

good omens

community

brooklyn 99

the good place

lucifer

suits

manifest

outlander

the umbrella academy

the witcher

orange is the new black

the crown

fleabag

and so many more!

and this doesn't even include movies, or international media (there are some really great kdramas and bollywood movies out there)

so yeah, i wouldn't be too worried about your show getting delayed and the storm of shitty content that's about to hit us all- you've got a long list of shows and movies to get through

#please please add more shows there's so many more great ones out there that i can't think of right now #sag aftra #writers strike #wga strike #wga #sag aftra strike #hollywood

[nyoomfruits]

fics that are essential landoscar lore to you 3 2 1 go

[shoves the enitre contents of the ao3 landoscar tag at you] there you go :)

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS. this is so hard why would you ask this of me aaahhhh but OKAY.

(below a read more because uuuuh. this accidentally got really long)

how much can you fit (under your skin) by cloudcollector | E | 4,5k

Oscar has biteable thighs. Lando has teeth.

this one is self explanatory and what prompted you to send me this ask i think. anyway i've said this before but even if you dont like thighs you will come out of this a thigh lover. also 10/10 dynamic like everything is so!!! about this fic. introduced reading oscar to the world which i think should be a staple in all landoscar fics actually

Negative splits by leafmealone | T | 10k

So officially, Oscar Piastri, pretty good steepler and pretty bad pacer, was now a professional runner. They wanted him to steeple, mostly, though he’d be doing cross country in the fall, and Lando had pinky promised him, mid-distance guy to mid-distance guy, that if he wanted to get into the 3k flat indoor then he would get him in. Oscar didn’t really want to ask how he planned on doing that. Felt safer not to ask.

very important landoscar lore to me personally which if you've been following me a while you probably know why. anyway 10/10 and a must read makes me feel very insane every time. also leaf did put the sports boys in another sport as well which is also mandatory reading in my personal opinion.

only found by eisenberg | T | 7k

“Hey, well. No strings attached, right?” Oscar says, strategically. Lando smiles and says, “hell yeah. And now that that’s established, what’s your stance on aliens? Also, do you still want your cake?” -- cinderella soulmates au where whatever you lose, your soulmate finds. except: oscar has a soulmate and lando is a No-Match, a person who doesn't have a soulmate.

what is a mandatory reading list without a soulmate au truly. AND LET ME TELL YOU. 10/10. dynamic is of the charts fantastic, beautifully captures the differences between lando and oscar but why they work anyway and gaaahhh. sometimes i just stare at the ceiling for three hours and think about this fic no biggie

what would you do (if I went to touch you now)? by laceyamethyst | E | 30k

“Okay, so they both like each other. We need to get them together.” “How? Lando’s too freaked out to think straight and Oscar is the human embodiment of the standing man emoji.” Charles purses his lips for a moment before he snatches his boyfriend’s phone up from the other side of the table. “What are you doing?” “Initiating Mission Landoscar.” “Did you just make that up?” Charles waves at him dismissively as he begins texting, and Max lays his head down on the coffee table and prays for strength. *** In which Max tries to prove to an oblivious Charles how glaringly obvious it is that Lando is head over heels in love with Oscar. When Charles finally gets with the program, Lestappen go on A Mission™ to get the two idiots to admit their feelings for each-other, but it’s easier said than done.

first of all this fic is perfect, show stopping, laugh out loud funny. SECOND OF ALL this fic is the best way to bully your lestappen friends into shipping landoscar because it actually has a super sweet established relationship lestappen side plot. also this whole fic is from max's pov which means you get a beautiful outsider pov look at the complete chaos that is lando and oscar pining for each other. delightfull really.

Your Plans (And Those Slow Hands) by xxcelientje | E | 4k

He could probably fit both of Oscar’s hands in one of his own, he could for sure use one hand to hold both of Oscar’s wrist and an idea entered his mind. He smiled at Oscar. ‘You like my hands?’ Oscar’s cheeks reddened even more as he nodded, his eyes still on their joined fingers. ‘They fascinate me,’ he admitted, biting his lip. OR: Lando and Oscar have some fun (and share some feelings) after the Belgium GP

just like the thigh fic will give you a thing for oscar's thighs this will give you a thing for lando's hands. gaahhh their dynamic in this is just so!!!!!!!!! the way theyre so HORNY for each other 10/10

carried away by venerat | E | 22k

“Oscar,” Lando said. “Don’t hate me, alright, but I've—”

did you really think i was going to do a mandatory reading list without a venerat fic???? lmao. anyway all of venerat's stuff is mandatory but this one is my personal fave i think. TOP TIER dynamic truly, and its FAKE DATING. what more can a person want really

change the weather by sharls | E | 5k

Lando knows what a thong is, of course he does—but the team needs content, the team needs clicks, and he just so happens to be well-versed in the art of going viral.

is a mandatory landoscar reading list really complete without a thong fic??? i think not. and this is so!!!!!!!!! everything about this just Makes Sense. if you told me this had actually happened i would be like. yeah. that checks out. very incredibly in character and just !!!!!!! very hot and funny and perfect.

all right theres a lot more but??? i promised myself i would rec only 5 fics and this is already 7, so... i'll stop here. for now

#landoscar #mctwinks #twinklaren #fic rec list #we truly have so many great writers in what is actually a relative small fandom its insane!!!!!!!!!

[stardustthetempest]

HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT‼️‼️

HIGHSCHOOL AU. LOSER/DIRTBAG CROWLEY X NERD/BOOKWORM AZIRAPHALE. SOMEONE PLS MAKE THIS HAPPEN. I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS.

#good omens #neil gaiman #aziraphale #crowley #good omens 2 #aziracrow #someone pls make this #i need to see this happen #if someone does this pls tell me i would be delighted to read it #i have so many thoughts #so many ideas #im not a great writer or artist tho #PLSSSS #SOMEONE #DO THIS #IM BEGGING YOU

[brookheimer]

just love hearing kieran culkin talk about succession/roman because he always talks about, like, the process of it and it’s so interesting — the scenes that are kept, the scenes that are taken out, the choices writers made he didn’t agree with, the choices he made that the writers (originally) didn’t agree with…. always really hammers in not only how collaborative the show is in that input from the actors is taken very seriously but also just how much culkin cares about roman like as a character? which i mean ya know all actors do. but culkin always talks about being a fan of the show first and an actor in it second and i think that’s such a huge thing. like, the way he cares about roman isn’t just as the actor playing him, it’s as a fan of the show — he’s approaching it not just from, like, a This Is My Job angle but also from the perspective of a fan who is just genuinely invested in the character of roman and would feel frustrated if they saw him do something that didn’t feel in-line with his character! kc would hate tumblr just like he hates all social media but he would indeed kill it on here

#i specifically love it bc that’s the exact way i am as an actor. i’m not a bitch to directors bc ultimately it is their project but if my #character does something that just feels unlike them then i say something #which maybe feels obvious but idk in my experience i’m usually one of the only actors to kind of approach it from that kind of angle idk #and to each their own!!! i just get invested in my roles and it feels like a betrayal when i’m made to do something they wouldn’t do like i #just feels Wrong #and i’ve never really heard any professional tv etc actor openly talk ab doing the same thing #like it’s always just oh the directors/writers are great they give lots of lee way but i do what they say etc etc etc but kc’s answers r so #interesting and just really emphasize how like. invested he is in roman. in the same way so many of us losers are #idk not working this well i’m tired #succession #kieran culkin #and also like. how he openly admits when he was making the wrong choice and realized it eventually and it played better doing #it a different way! idk. i just feel like i never see actors talking this candidly about how episodes are actually MADE #like you never hear about the arguments offscreen about what a character should or should not do #but it's so fucking interesting like i could listen to him talk about it all day and night!!!! i wanna know more!!!

[leprousarmadillo]

Going on record to say Rings of Power absolutely slaps, as a lifelong Tolkien fan I'm so disappointed the way people tried so hard to judge it before it even aired and wanted it to be bad so much that they've literally convinced people to be afraid to watch it and judge for themselves. The visuals are STUNNING, the costumes are phenomenal, the creature design is haunting and so visceral. And the characters and world feel so *lived* miss me with that shit about it being low effort or budget, you can't judge a show by a handful of promo stills. I'm glad I didn't listen to the bs takes from people who are mostly just trying to hide their bigotry behind Tolkien worshipping zealotry.

#i love the man but he wasn't some paragon or god amongst men #he was a war vet and a linguist and historian and a writer #he made mistakes and he did great things #he was just a human guy who wrote some really great works but that doesn't mean there's some perfect purity to them #and i've been in this fandom for almost 3 decades #don't let anyone convince you this show isn't worth watching #hiding behind virtue signaling bullshit it's so disappointing how many friends and acquaintances I see falling for it #most of them are just mad they dared to say elves can come in more shades than ivory but know no one will listen to that #so they couch it in buzzwords and concepts no one would dare call them out on #rings of power #lotr rings of power #lotr #fandom critical #fandom discourse #sorry for the rant #i was gonna keep it to myself but it's all over all of my timelines and dashboards and i needed to get it off my chest

[elbiotipo]

The great irony with so many libertarians in science-fiction and space interest communities is how life in space, fundamentally, promotes cooperation and a strong state. You need strong state investments and research to build the infrastructure necessary for space exploration (where do you think SpaceX's money comes from?), and big organized societies with perspectives for the future rather than short term profit to maintain them, much like any big scale technological project or research (which is why anarchism of any kind couldn't sustain large-scale scientific research)

Once you get and live in space, you have to survive in the most hostile enviroment to human life. To do this, not only you need to rely on others and all the people supporting you back on Earth, but also you need to manage your resources to support each other; you can't hoard air or water, you can't go 'OUT OF MY PROPERTYYYYY' when the whole habitat you live in needs to be managed for the good of all. you can't disobey regulations or turn back on your community when they are the ones literally keeping you alive. If anything, space communities are places for strong states rather than rugged individualism.

also, you know. Sputnik. Laika. Gagarin. Tereshkova. I could go on.

#cosas mias #the thing is Heinlein (the blueprint) saw space as an extension of Usamerican Manifest Destiny #as in there are several of his novels that are like 'we will go to better planets and live like in the Old West Frontier' #'oh and they will have even MORE land and breathable air than Earth so we will escape that stupid State' #Heinlein was a great writer in many aspects but his ideology seeps in from every part of his work as well as many other authors #and whatever the fuck Frank Herbert was on

[nametakensff]

Oh vibrators I have missed you 🥰

#also honestly some of the stories on serotica still go so fucking hard #there are so many good lesbian fics on there #i guess 'good' is subjective but what some lack in story-telling and accurate depictions of wlw relationships #they make up for in sheer fetishy horniness #there are also some great cheesy gay fics and plenty of het ones too god I love being bi #anyway thanks for the orgasms years later serotica writers #nttalks

[mydaylight]

The thing that I appreciate the most about Story of Minglan is how pro-active its female characters are. It’s not just a show meant to highlight the exploitation and vulnerability of women in the context of the Song Dynasty society (although we certainly get to witness that); but one that lets their fierceness and determination and agency shine. It’s so remarkable that the majority of the plots in the show are centred around women and resolved by women. Even when it comes to the case of antagonists like Lin Qinshuang, Xiao Qin-shi, Old Madam Wang, the empress dowager etc, they are imposing figures with complex motivations that contribute to all the important developments. When little Minglan gets orphaned, it’s Hualan’s advice to Wang Ruofu that appeases the Wei family and Old Madam Sheng who steps up to take Minglan under her wing when her own father wouldn’t. When Molan has an affair, it’s up to Wang Ruofu and Old Madam Sheng to take the initiative to speak to the Liang family about a possible marriage. When Gu Tingye proposes marriage to Yu Yanhong, it’s her mother the one who needs to give the final approval and in the end cuts him off. When Qi Heng gets threatened, again it’s Princess Consort Yong pulling the strings. Consort Rong decides to murder the Yong Family (the family of the prince about to inherit the nation, mind you) to get revenge for the rape and death of her younger sister. Shulan’s divorce is negotiated by her own mother and grandmother, and not her father. When Auntie Kang is killed, it’s Old Madam Wang the one going to imperial palace to scheme against Tingye. Minglan gives up on ever expecting her father to give her justice so she steps up and takes extreme measures to get revenge for her mother’s death, and her contribution is what helps Yanran, Shulan, Kang Zhao’er, Zhang Guifen, and finally Old Madam when she gets poisoned. Even Concubine Wei, who always insisted on keeping a low profile, was ready to go to the Kaifeng Court to prove Xiao Die's innocence (so you see where Minglan gets it from). And Lady Bai was ready to divorce her husband and walk away with her children after finding out how she was used. Even that small moment of Mingyue asking to have her family’s slave contracts returned to them so she can escape being forced to become a concubine to a man she doesn’t like is so satisfying to see. It’s just so great to get a show like that that’s not just trying to make a point about the suffering of women, but actually lets its female characters be active participants in their own stories and take control of their lives instead of being subservient to male character, or reducing them to the role of the love interest or a passive sufferer.

#the story of minglan #cdrama #all the credit goes to 关心则乱 and the 2 female writers of the show 曾璐 and 吴桐 #for crafting so many great female characters #minglan rewatch