#still mad at her about it

[whetstonefires]

Do you have any opinions on Scholomance?

I do! I like it a lot. I really enjoyed all three books, blitzed through them easily and was much more excited to see how the plots unfolded than I'm used to these days, as a jaded adult, and I also really appreciated them as works of craft.

Especially the first one, I spent the whole time being all 'wow!' at how simple it was. So easy to read, but no waste. You really need to know what you're doing, to get that kind of pared-down elegance of form to work and still fit so much content in.

Like these are dense, there's a fantastic stylistic minimalism that allows El's character all the space it needs to breathe by making absolutely every other thing and person in the whole novel also do character work for her, which is exactly where the first person voice shines.

Also great use of character perspective to make the pacing feel really natural, so the fact that the first book takes three weeks, the second book takes one year, and the third book is like. Five or so incredibly stressful days spread out over the course of a few weeks? Doesn't feel imbalanced.

I actually got distracted from the story a few times by noticing the strength of Novik's technique. 😂 This is a me problem, in itself it's the opposite of distracting. Very low-profile.

I think the Scholomance is a great example of how far you can go in specfic when you aren't cringing from the label 'derivative,' because the Scholomance books feel very fresh ad clean specifically because nothing in them is concerned with standing out as 'original,' whatever that's supposed to mean, only with being well-executed and suitable to its task.

Hm, maybe that's where Liesel was born, the intersection of the efficient narrative style and the vast proportion of the story that concerns the maximization of utility and the instrumentalization of persons by themselves and others, and the forces that incentivize these behaviors. Or maybe she's just the narrative counterweight to Orion 'Head Empty' Lake lmao. How's that for a principle of balance, Galadriel?

I really did enjoy how beautifully it was laid out, over and over, in dozens of shades of humanity, how no matter where you go in an exploitative system almost everyone is being driven by the same survival instincts.

Because I don't think I've ever seen made so cleanly clear why you just can't expect any person or small group of people, no matter their level of goodwill or status, to unmake one of these systems from the inside; how it's not a matter of people being bad but of every single person being very...small.

And then not retreating into the idea of a person who is Big coming and breaking the cruel system from the outside as some kind of panacea, because 1) that is terrible, even if it's necessary and done in the best way possible and 2) that's not a sustainable answer to anything. Getting a balance between the protagonist being able to effect change and not subscribing to the great man theory of history can be really tricky!

Also did I mention, I love El, and I love most of the cast, even the dreadful ones. How am I going around with this many feelings about Li Shanfeng who doesn't appear until the actual climax?

The romance murdered me a bit, but it took up no more space than it absolutely needed to do its job, and I respect that. Also I appreciated Orion as a love interest; Novik has a slight record at this point of a version of that style of male love interest who's like a caricature of Mr. Darcy but old, which was shaping up to be my least favorite thing about her body of work.

...Orion is kind of like if you took the human king from Spinning Silver and gave him an alignment flip come to think of it, so he's not coming out of nowhere. Lmao.

Which reminds me (re: romance character typing) I've heard Novik didn't want it to be known she was astolat, which this series has renewed my sympathies if so. Because if I were a published novelist I wouldn't want people going 'you know, that resolution was really emotionally satisfying! reminds me of that fic she wrote where optimus prime and megatron get stuck in a hole underground and hatefuck about it.'

I don't even like Transformers. That fic almost made me cry. Actually I suspect it reads better if you don't like Transformers because I'm sure it does not give a shit about canon.

Anyway, whoever pointed out that one of the things El has going on is she's Enoby (and we're going to sit down and explore what the true reason to put your middle finger up at preps is, and what are some constructive ways to channel that socioeconomic wrath, and what it means that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism) was right and I'm not entirely over that either.

Fucking love El's mom as a character. Spectacular level of parent relevance and usefulness. A+.

Aadhya and Liu are also characters who fucking delivered.

Re: minimalism though, I laughed at the start of The Golden Enclaves when I realized that none of the enclaver characters who'd gotten development in the the first two books were from London, the enclave El was theoretically shooting for when we met her.

#ask #hoc est meum #Anonymous #scholomance #my sister's biphobia made an appearance when i was reading the second book and tried to tell her about this thing i was enjoying #still mad at her about it #anyway though #good! #wish i could ask novik what she was thinking by making a single-cell abortion work as human sacrifice #like is it just because magic works on intent so if you think the newly fertilized egg #that you couldn't know about without magic #is 'your baby which you are killing' #then it is? #for purposes of hole in reality making? #or does this story have a spot where its politics sharply reverse and human life begins at conception #spoilers #scholomance spoilers #especially in the reblog #lakjfaldkfs seanan mcguire has granted this rambled Circulation oh dear

[choccy-milky]

❌ no more dark magic!! ❌ ((inspo pic))

#no hairclip since this had to be before they were dating. if it was after seb woulda just dropped the book and made out with her instead LOL #sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow x oc #hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow fanart #hogwarts legacy fanart #also funny that i was working on this last night while also debating in discord about how seb shouldnt have used imperio on that one goblin #LMAO still mad at u guys STOP ENABLING HIM!!!! #choccyart

[mirrorhouse]

Your skull trembles. Your parasite wriggles. Lae'zel sees your memories of your confrontation with Kith'rak Voss.

#baldur's gate #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #lae'zel #bg3edit #gamingedit #gamingladiesedit #videogamewomen #* #i thought she was gonna rip me apart over not taking her to find the gith patrol but instead i got a compliment yay #i mean she was still a little bit mad about it

[pinkshgum]

a little bit shy, but styled to die, everybody loves this goyle!

#oh to be a transgender french ghoul wearing a fancy dress #shes leaning on nothing shhhh #the trans colors on her dress are on purpose btw #still mad about the price. fuck you mattel #this took me a week bc school is stressful #monster high #monster high fanart #my art #rochelle goyle #fang vote #monster high dolls

[miabrown007]

the summer after finishing university in New York, Marinette gets invited to a camping trip with Alya and Nino and his best friend. which, honestly, is for the best. at least she has more time than the four years she's already had to figure out how to reach out to her one-time superhero partner, with whom she fell out of touch after the reveal.

only, it's Adrien Agreste waiting for them on the meeting point, beaming so hard at her that it's blatantly obvious they know each other well. in her panic, what is Marinette supposed to tell Alya and Nino to protect their identites, if not that they used to date?

(fake exes AU x there was only one tent)

#miraculous ladybug #writing prompt #ladynoir #adrinette #if you thought fake-dating was ridiculous enough get ready for: fake exes!! #Adrien is sunshine. his lady!! he's so happy to see her again!!! but also she did kind of ghost him for years is she mad at him? #Marinette is dying inside. maybe this would be easier if she ever fell out of love with Chat Noir and not just dated for sport during her B #Alya doesn't understand how could her best friend hide a relationship all throughout highschool but she wants to know all about it! #Nino's pretty sure Adrien is still in love with Nette which makes everything so much more complicated. couldn't they just stargaze in peace #I'm clearly having a lot of thoughts about it but I also do not think this is getting written unfortunately #poor boy sitting in my drafts for a year now. someone liberate him!!

[kermit-coded]

one thing i will say that gotham war got right is the characterization of jason and dick. it balances dick's anger (the scene where he beats the shit out of bruce) with his playful personality and it showcases his protective nature. it shows that jason does care about gotham and that he's a nerd and it retires the tired old "killing vs no killing" argument he's had with bruce forever, turning it into differing viewpoints on what works for gotham (no crime vs harm reduction) in a way that feels in character. idk i just think it was good in that regard.

#i don't know a ton about selina but i also liked her characterization in it #still mad that they didn't have babs in her wheelchair tho #soda speaks #dc #dc comics #gotham war #dick grayson #jason todd #bruce wayne #batkids #batfamily #batfam

[kedreeva]

Eddie Munson's message as a character should never have been that he needed to stop running and fight to be a hero. It should have been that heroism can look a lot of different ways. It should have been you don't have to be a hero to have worth.

#eddie munson #stranger things #yes I am still mad #no I will not be stopping soon #but you're going to get meta tomorrow about something else #no it will not make anything better #yes it will make you mad too hopefully #also not for nothing but #Literally El's whole arc was the same thing #they tried to play it like it wasn't #but after spending a frankly bullshit amount of time #showing us how she was floundering without her powers #they dropped Mike going you're a superhero and El going Not Anymore #and then she has to get her powers back to save everyone #which like yeah okay she's literally the only one who can do that #but listen‚ look me in my eyes #she really could have used someone like eddie #to teach her that she doesn't need to be a hero to have worth #she's not listening to anyone else because they've all experienced her with superpowers #But Eddie didn't even see her defeat vecna at all #idk I'm just. the possibilities!!!!! the character development!!! #they could have had narrative parallels!!! #ugh

[dootznbootz]

I'm happy that the "Helen is of Sparta, not Troy" post is getting seen and people are giving love to her as they should but I'm getting a wee bit frustrated by the Menelaus inclusion with the whole "She was a possession to others and never had a choice".

Yes, Helen is a victim of fate and multiple horrible circumstances. She gets kidnapped by Theseus and Paris. So much blame is being put on her when she really isn't at fault and doesn't have much choice.

A choice she made though? WAS MENELAUS!

The Oath of Tyndareus was all about how "If you want to have a chance of marrying her, you have to swear to respect her and her choice and defend their marriage if it's needed".

If anything, Menelaus was her "prize"! Not the other way around!!! And they are clearly shown caring for one another!!! uyfuygluhyutfugy

#we technically don't know EXACTLY why she chose him but that doesn't matter with this. She still chose him. #She picked the goofy guy!!! :D She picked the silly sealy guy!!!🦭 #Menelaus: Hello! I'm Helen's Husband🥰 #Not people erasing women's agency even when it's explicitly stated. #Mad rambles #shot by odysseus #menelaus #helen of sparta #helen x menelaus #tagamemnon #greek mythology #fuck it. I'll use normal tags. I'm getting sad about this. More for Helen. #She didn't have a choice all the time but the time we KNOW she did and people will act like she didn't. #That's not even going into her yelling at Aphrodite and Paris and her knocking on the side of the horse! #this is very semi-unserious btw. I'm talking about the Sealy boy. That's clearly for the silly.

[bananonbinary]

as a certified Diagnosed Autist(TM) i cannot stress enough that i am not only pro- self-diagnosis, but also pretty anti- legal medical diagnosis. it is, at best, a cruel hoop we have to jump through so privileged people will deign to give us what we need. don't fucking do that shit unless you have to, it was disgustingly expensive, fucking humiliating, infantilizing, and dehumanizing, and would probably actively cause problems in my life if i didn't have some really good allistic (-passing) people in my corner and also wasn't so fucking disabled that it mostly doesn't matter.

literally get that diagnosis if you need it for job/school accessibility shit or SSI or whatever, and otherwise dont tell the government SHIT about yourself. there is zero good reason for them to want that information. that's between you and the people you want in your life.

#as a side note: this goes for gender too #dont fucking get a special marker on your passport or whatever #trying to get ssi has made me realize how deeply cruel the system is #never reveal any vulnerability you have unless it's absolutely necessary #do not do this stuff for validation the government is not your friend and you should seek emotional fulfillment elsewhere #hm this post turned out a lot angrier than i meant #guess i'm still mad about how awful the process was #it wasnt even long it was just. so *impersonal.* #this woman talked to me for two hours. went down a fairly bigoted checklist. #didnt ask me my own opinion on much of anything. and then declared a bunch of her impressions as if they hold weight just bc shes allistic #like how i have 'identity issues' (am trans and dont want a romantic partner) #and thats just. my permanent record of diagnosis! this two hour conversation with a stranger! she doesnt fucking know me #we paid like $500 for that

[iwasbored777]

I had to flip the image to see it better. Look at Gwen's face when she figured out that Miles is in the wrong universe, she looks so devastated 🥺

#why's every time miles is hurt in this movie her face goes 🥺 #always #I'm still mad that he doesn't know how much she loves him #i will never shut up about these two #gwen stacy #miles morales #gwiles #ghostflower #spider man across the spider verse #across the spiderverse #spiderverse

[emblazons]

"You Just Try Things On Until You Find Something That Feels Like You."

@stladies Appreciation Week (belated) Day FIVE: Favorite Outfits

#......this def had max gifs too. they just...got lost to PS being shit at saving files? I almost didn't post this at all I was so mad #but! we honor her lost legacy in the captions ig. i still feel meh about it but it was a LOT of effort so we're posting it LMAO #design forward #stladiesweek #stladies #my gifs #nancy wheeler #elmax #el hopper #jane hopper #in this house we love el hopper #tuserrae #userelz #tuseremilia #useraimz #tusermaddy #usermissjessie #tuserashes #userbaby #userhawkins #usergabby #tuserblake #stedit #strangerthingsedit #dailystrangerthings #strangerthingscentral #tvstrangerthings #strangersource #stranger things

[rindomness]

ummmmmm. something something normal being the only one to actually empathize with the doodler before they were dood and teenshaped and being the only one to empathize with hermie when hermie was alive. that's it that's the thought.

#i have no conclusions other than how fast im spinning normal in my head #dndads #dndads spoilers #i think . it's like. something about normal being so heavily ostracized for so long #he doesn't really consider himself part of the group and he doesn't really think anyone takes HIM seriously #so he connects with the doodler and he connects with hermie and he tries so hard to connect with scary #and all of it comes to nothing because now everyone wants to be friends with the doodler now that they're approachable #and hermie is dead and scary is doing better for herself and no one seems to be long-term mad at her #so where does that leave him who still is this weird extra piece #he's an extra piece in his family(he was an accident) hes an extra piece to the school(no one really wanted teeny) #and he hasnt really gotten the attention or the care he needs from anyone else so. what happens to the extra pieces no one wants #they either die or are otherwise discarded #anyway im really ordinary about him

[tragicotps]

Random gifs of Marisa Coulter smiling [7/∞]

#his dark materials #hdm #hdm edit #marisa coulter #marisa smiling #it looks like she's all soft smiling but she's ACtuaLLY evil plotting #im still mad they didn't keep her hair like this the rest of s3 #there are worse things to say about s3 but still #mine #my edit

[itwasabeautifulwebbing]

baldur’s gate 3 really is the game of all time for the gays who want to celebrate both sad pathetic wet men AND women’s wrongs

#baldur’s gate 3 #bg3 #astarion #minthara #minthara baenre #i am still thinking about that post i saw a couple of days ago #where OP was mad about men being categorized as babygirls and women as the only braincell havers #and OP was right that the latter girlboss-ification of women while subsequently never letting the narrative focus on them #(or having fandoms actually focus on them) #is depressing and exhausting #but that’s why!!! bg3 is so great imo!!! #the women characters in bg3 are absolutely the main appeal of this game!! #like yes astarion is extremely popular and with good reason #but he is not the only character with a delightfully feral and dedicated fan base happy to excuse all his wrongs because of his big sad eyes #/flourishes both hands @ minthara baenre will smith style #look at this sad war criminal and her big sad eyes and her arrogance and her insecurity #and her devastating sense of humour #she is hyperfixation material

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

also a nice thing about the finale for roman is that i think he was really denying his love for gerri after logan died, and he was acting so awful and cold toward her in his grief, but we see him fondly thinking of her in the video scene and the martini scene here (in addition to pretty much having a panic attack at the thought of being in a room with her as the magnitude of what he lost sets in now that his feelings are more cracked open) and you know what, i’ll take that as progress. he’s kinda getting back to his heart.

#still mad we didn't get more gerri time though that's dumb #i get that she wasn't a main character but she was. TO ME. #and to roman #we can also deduce from our crumbs that she still cares about him due to all her funeral behavior #in short a textually supported win #dollsome's deep thoughts #romangerri #roman x gerri #succession #succession spoilers #we are gonna have fun on ao3 y'all i just know it

[inkskinned]

one of the oddest arguments i've ever gotten into was like. i had agreed to give a dude a chance. we were on a first date. and he got. just. so mad. because i had told him i read about 2-5 books a week.

but he found out it was actually that i listen to 2-5 audiobooks. he was dead set on the idea - that's not reading, it's just listening. that i was lying, somehow, by implying i'd "read" the book.

language has a beautiful ability to adapt over time, particularly in the face of technology. when i "connect to the internet" i'm referencing the oldschool method of literally plugging into the internet - which i very rarely physically do. i roll down my window, which is a reference to the circular mechanical action it used to take. hell - the floppy disc remains our resolute save file icon. when i say i "ran to the store," nobody expects me to actually run - and what my version of running to the store looks like and your version are probably pretty different.

i told the guy, baffled: i look at things through glasses, that's still seeing. nobody complains i'm filtering the image.

he says: that's not the same and you know it.

i use audiobooks because i have adhd, and it makes it so i can actually focus. i am using it to help a medically diagnosed condition.

language also has a really cool ability: when we read something, our brains look at a word and make an image. when we hear a story, our brains hear a word and make an image. whether we hear it or read it - the word means the same thing, written or spoken. there is no quantifiable difference in the knowledge-encoding experience - i still happily hallucinate while i'm listening.

and i just kind of stared at him while he was telling me that "claiming" i had "actually read" a book that i had actually-listened-to was lying

and my only baffled response was like: "... are you gatekeeping the experience of... reading?"

#1. do you think someone who listens to 2-5 books a week DOESNT read with her eyes? #2. i was fucking BLIND for TWO MONTHS #so YEAH maybe im SENSITIVE #3. shut the FUCK up i am not DESTROYING SOCIETY by being like ''hahaha this experience is basically the same for me'' #i am still fucking engaging with the literature dude #4. i consider it reading. die mad about it #5. this is just a personal note but they are LITERALLY equivalent to me #bc i mean i guess 7k posts in i should probably finally admit #i have a lowkey form of synesthesia #to be fair i didn't know until like this year when my therapist was like #''... you WHAT'' #but like when im talking i see words and when im writing i legit hear them #like HEAR THEM #i just thought everyone had that #thats called thinking #but it turns out the fact that i sometimes mishear a word and write down what i misheard #means maybe i am fuckt a little in my head #anyway obvi when i read i hear the word too #i cAN sometimes see other people's words but it's usually just my own #and i was like #(again) #thats just like how . people talk #but it turns out if u sometimes misread what you're supposed to be saying #something might be . uhhhhhhhh #not normal #fun fact. #it turns out (i havent googled but she said) #that it's not UNUSUAL for neurodiverse people to have like #SOME lowkey form of synesthesia #but we only associate it with REALLY severe cases so we just assume like .... couldn't be me