#I'm sorry shakespeare I much prefer your tragedies | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sizhui · 1 year

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hi angie!! im jjst chilling today but today i plan to go out n buy my bday books!!!

anyways as a fellow bl intellectual i would like to ask u what u think abt general bl stock characters / archetypes!! also as someone whos doing shakespeare this year im curious abt how u would blend currently existing bl story formats w like more traditional lit genres / conevtuons IF YOU COULD!! WOULD U!!

how do u think bl being a mostly Not white people thing has affected its conventions like idk emotional intensity, typical tropes idk!!

looks at u like this 🥺

HELLO DEAR LAB!!!! i saw your birthday books, very good choices, i hope you'll enjoy! Now let us discuss one BL intellectual to another ^_^ as usual, I'll stick to danmei, since I'm simply not well read in Japanese and Korean BL to speak confidently even though I have experience with them...!

When googling people's favorite tropes, most people mentioned Enemies to Lovers. I do like a good conflict, but I like very specific shades of it... I like characters who are ideological opposites, but still hold some affection for each other since early on... Although i have been interested in thousand autumns in which the two leads start as straight up bitter enemies, so I'll see how I'm going to like that! Now, something slightly different that i really enjoy is characters being thematic opposites - demonic cultivator and orthodox cultivator, god and demon, soldier and librarian you name it! I have seen people call this the yin yang trope i don't know if that's a widely used term? I also enjoy slow burn - see Golden Terrace disappointed me in that regard cause they started sleeping together in like chapter 30 come on where is the drama the intrigue :(? I don't care for friends to lovers much unless it's written really well but i really much prefer strangers to lovers!!! A lot of people sigh at the trope of one Character being like "I don't like men it's..only for you ❤️" but i honestly think that's a convention you just have to accept when diving into the world of BL. I like badass shous that aren't annoyingly shy and talkative, charming gongs (sorry lan zhan is ok but strong and silent gongs usually piss me off) I'm probably one of the 5 western fans who actually like the gong/shou dynamic because like. Let's be honest there's nothing wrong with seme/uke in JPN bl either other than ukes being drawn as shotabait often, but since novel art for CN novels usually draws everyone looking like adults I really don't see anything problematic with gong/shou, heteronormativity my ass... i also kinda like when they call each other husband and wife SORRY. I also like the trope of the couple adopting a young boy. I'm not gonna call it found family I'm not gonna even try. I hate master/disciple and i hate school settings. I usually prefer the characters to be rougher men already hardened by life! I like reincarnation and revenge but i don't like Isekai ... Ummm what else is there? Nothing comes to mind rn , if you have some specific tropes you want me to rate, I'm here :)

NOW YOUR SECOND QUESTION HAS ME REALLY INTRIGUED...if i could, i would merge literally every literary genre with BL to be honest. Since you specifically mentioned Shakespeare, i think it would be fucking amazing to see BL adapted into stage plays - i don't mean those funny anime stage plays, i mean straight up tragedies on Hamlet level. Oh i would kill to see that!!! I would also love to see like, someone with an interest in narratology and metafiction write a super meta BL novel like enstars but like really properly yaoi. I don't think that danmei novels written by amateurs have "bad writing" - they simply exist on a different terrain and seek to communicate different ideas from traditional published novels, but i would love to see the two merged in some spectacular novel that takes inspiration from classics!!

Now your third question i would rather turn into a discussion with you, because while I've consumed a lot of East Asian media since a young age i don't claim to have such a good understanding of the cultures to be able to trace how the culture influenced BL literary conventions, but I would love to hear your thoughts on it and compare to what i know! I definitely find it interesting to compare East Asian BL with LGBT media made by white Americans and Europeans, cause they tend to rely on very different things, with American and European gay content being very focused on the issue of homophobia and stuff like family and cheating and coming of age, while Asian BL, despite tackling those sometimes, is more internal conflict-driven, less focused on orientation. I actually prefer it a lot for that - there are only so many coming of age homophobia stories i can watch -_- boring! I see some western fans annoyed that Asian BL rarely discusses orientation and stuff like LGBT solidarity and such, but i like, don't care cause i feel like they're too focused on realism and forget that bl is a genre not meant to perfectly mirror irl gay relationships, but rather provide romantic fantasies for women! Something just came to mind, i recently chatted with a classmate who is a white American, and she said that she finds Asian media confusing because emotional intensity seems amplified to her in anime and donghua, and that she just feels that emotions are expressed differently than in the American media she's used to. I think she's weak and stupid for giving up on watching just because it's different from what she's used to, but since you mentioned emotional intensity, i would like to hear your thoughts about it!

I hope my answer wasn't disappointing, and looking forward to hearing back from you!

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meetmeatthecoda · 2 years

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Oh gosh i had this dream where in the s8 finale liz actually killed red like he asked but then she got shot and bled to death in the street anyway??? And that was just the, end of the show? And when i woke up it took me like an actual twenty minutes to realize that was a dream WELP

Hi, anon 🥰 Omg 😳 .....to be honest? And this might be a controversial opinion, so prepare yourself... *whispers* this would have been a better ending 😭🥲😐 I mean, certainly not preferable, but at least there's some poetic symbolism in it all. Like, Liz was the death of Red like he always feared she would be, Liz's stupid-ass quest for answers & her stupid-ass ridiculous past still came back to bite her in the butt like she always feared it would & - most importantly - they would not have had to contradict canon by saying that Red could possibly live without Liz which is naturally the only important thing to me as a die-hard Lizzington shipper lmfao fml Like... is it an equally horrible, depressing, & useless ending for the show, rendering every original plot-point & struggle since the pilot completely & utterly moot?? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY. Does it make slightly more sense & give slightly more emotional closure than the bullshit they tried to pedal in the finale, albeit in the most heart-breaking, Shakespeare-level tragedy way?? .....I mean, maybe lmfao Anddd that's the really sad part imo 🙃🙃🙃 Anyway, I'm sorry you had to suffer through this awful dream, anon, it sounds horrible & I think your brain should apologize to you for cooking it up LOL but thank you for sharing with me & much love to you, of course!! ❤️

#The Blacklist #Lizzington #season 8 finale #thoughts #speculation #mine #ask #anon #ugh #how sad is it #that literally one of the worst possible endings for the show #is still marginally better & more sensible than what we actually got #omfg #still bitter #forever & always #anyway thank you anon!!#much love my friend!!#here's hoping for only happy lizzington dreams for you from now on!!#❤️

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spaceorphan18 · 4 years

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Re: bookish asks -- you realize I'm going to do to you the same thing you did to me, yes?

Yes, I’m self indulgent like that ;)

Since it’s the end of my vacation - what better way to get into the swing of things again by answering a bunch of book questions.

Which book would you consider the best book you’ve ever read and why?

I don’t know if there’s one that I’d consider best thing ever... I think the most engrossed I’ve ever been was reading And Then There Were None for the first time.

Are you an Austen person or a Bronte person?

There aren’t a whole lot of things @ckerouac and I fully agree on, but I’m pretty much on her with this one, in that I’ll be thrown out of the book fandom, too, cause I don’t really care about either one.

Are there any genres you will not read?

I mean - if something’s recommended to me by someone I trust, I’ll read just about anything. However, fiction wise, I tend not to read historical fiction -- just not my ham. Non-fiction - I think business books might be the most boring subject to write on (and there are a thousand of them at bookstores). Probably won’t be touching anything related to theology. And then there’s all the technical, how to guides that I really don’t have any use for.

Are you a fast or slow reader?

Medium reader. It depends on the level of the writing. Young readers I can do in a day. Classics will take me quite a long time. The faster I go, though, the less comprehension I usually have, so I try to slow it down.

What was your relationship with books like as a child?

Oh, I loved books as a kid. My mom was a librarian, and she always read to us - so books were super important in our household.

Are you the type of person who will read a book to the end whether you like it or not, or will you put it down straight away if you’re not feeling into it?

I should put them down more often than I do - cause I feel guilty (for some strange reason) about stopping. I have been better about it lately. RB is right - why waste the time?

Have you ever despised something you have read?

Yes. I hated Catcher in the Rye with a fiery passion. There have been others. It’s not worth it to get angry at a book - at that point, one should stop.

Do you prefer to read first person or third person?

Doesn’t really bother me either way. I don’t notice all that much.

Are you for or against multiple narrators in the same book?

As long as it’s a good story, and it’s clear who’s POV it is, I don’t mind how many narrators there are.

Bookmarks, dog ears or leaving the novel open and face down to keep your spot?

Bookmarks! We aren’t heathens here...

Do you prefer to read at a certain time of day?

Usually at night, I have a tendency to fall asleep while reading.

Do you need to finish a book before you can move on to the next one, or will you have multiple books going at once?

Nah, I usually have a good ten or so going at one time.

How do you chose which book to read next?

There’s no process to it - whatever sounds interesting at the time.

What is your favourite children’s book?

I’m gonna have to agree with RB and say Goodnight Moon.

Do you agree that Jane Eyre should be considered a feminist novel?

Um, haven’t read it... sorry.

What’s your favourite of Shakespeare’s plays?

You know, I’ve only ever read the tragedies. I’m gonna go with MacBeth - though, I was obsessed with Romeo and Juliet as a kid.

Do you know any poetry by heart?

Nope. I know part of one about trees because my mother made me memorize it.

Did you enjoy the Hunger Games?

I’ve never read it. Nothing about a story where children are forced to murder each other sounds appealing to me.

E-reader or traditional book?

Traditional book! Ug, don’t get me started about ereaders.

Do you read in the bathroom?

No, that seems unsanitary.

Ideal reading position?

Sitting in a nice chair. I move positions a lot.

Hardcover or paperback?

Trade paperback, they’re the easiest to handle.

Nicest edition or cheapest edition?

Whatever is the easiest to hold. The only nice editions I have for things are special classics. One day, I will own that illustrated version of Lord of the Rings

Do you prefer happy endings or sad endings?

Happy endings. Mostly. Unless it’s like And Then There Were None - that gets a pass.

Do you enjoy concepts in books to be concrete or abstract?

I mean, what are we talking about? Would I enjoy reading James Joyce’s Ulysses? Probably not, that sounds tedious. Depends on the subject material

A book you studied in school and ended up loving?

Anything by Oscar Wilde - I found his writing fascinating.

Classics or modern literature?

Modern Literature, though there are some classics I do enjoy.

Thoughts on adults reading YA?

Oh goodness, okay... Yes, plenty of thoughts. I think that YA, in general, is much, much better than when I was a kid. We had things like Sweet Valley High and Christopher Pike, and a lot of it was suuuuuper problematic for a lot of reasons. So kids today have a huge variety of things to read. With the abundance comes both good and bad. There are some fantastic YA novels out there right now. There’s also, still, a lot of crap, and the pretty covers sometimes make it difficult to weed things out.

That said - while I am glad there is a lot of good stuff out there - I only read YA occasionally. Being in a teenager’s head gets tiring after awhile, and I kind of want to go back to living in an adult world. Besides, there’s just an overload of questionable fantasy and dystopian novels right now (cause YA goes in cycles).

But that’s me - in general - if you enjoy YA, more power to you!

Have you ever read a book in another language?

The only time I have come close was reading The Little Prince in French for French Class.

Have you ever written your own book?

Yes, yes I have. Some day, maybe I’ll even publish something.

#ckerouac

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malvoliowithin · 6 years

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so I went to a shitty high school and never got to study Shakespeare but I want to try it? I'm not really sure where to start, though. (I don't really want to read Romeo and Juliet because I know what happens.) Which would you say is the easiest? Also, is it okay to just look up the text online or is it better to watch people acting? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this

This is a fine place to ask! I’m not a Shakespeare scholar but I am a fan and have done my share of studying it so here goes:

To start with, I would both read the text AND watch the acting. Reading the text means that you have more time to absorb and understand the language - you can look up words you don’t understand, for example, and take as much time as you need to fully get the gist of a scene before you move one, whereas with acting you can’t really do that. However, acting will provide context and dialogue clues that the text doesn’t have. A line you read on a page may not necessarily seem comedic until you see an actor read it out.

As for which you should do first, reading or viewing, that’s up to you. Some people prefer to watch plays and then read them, some prefer to read them and then watch them. Oftentimes it IS easier to find the text online then it is to find a good filmed version, but not necessarily! I personally learned by reading the texts first and then watching them, that was how I learned it in school. But it’s up to you! Try and see what you think.

Once you start reading, don’t be afraid to look stuff up, either. Sparknotes and other reading aides are there to help you, although do keep in mind that there are multiple interpretations of the plays and some guides only include one interpretation. Many editions of the plays have footnotes that translate the more archaic language; I would recommend tracking those down but if you just want to read the plays online without them, that’s doable as well. The trick is to get an understanding of the language, and really, it’s not as hard as you might think.

As for what plays to start with; I can recommend a few:

For tragedies, I know you said you didn’t want to read Romeo and Juliet because you know what happens, but I would still recommend it as it’s short, a fairly simple plot, and since you know what happens you’ll have a framework to work off of instead of just jumping into a plot cold-turkey and trying to figure out both the plot AND the language in one go.

But if you don’t like that, try Macbeth. It’s also fairly short, fairly easy to follow, and doesn’t have a ton of long speeches. There’s a bit of moving around, location-wise, (the characters jump from Scotland to England) but it’s still very manageable.

Othello might also be good. It’s a bit difficult for a first play, but it’s very common in schools and isn’t too hard to grasp, and you’ll be able to find a lot of information on it. It has a lot more in terms of speech and soliloquy than R&J or Macbeth. It’s also my favorite of the tragedies.

For comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the go-to play for beginners because it’s one of the better written ones, and it’s easy to follow and doesn’t rely on jokes that are too outdated or need a lot of context. Plus it’s just fun to read.

Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing are also good ones. They’re a little bit harder to follow in terms of plot because they have multiple interwoven subplots (Midsummer does too, but Midsummer’s are a bit more clear-cut) but even so the language and character distinctions shouldn’t be hard.

I wouldn’t recommend reading a romance or history play as your first play because they tend to have more characters and the plot lines can be harder to follow, but once you’re confident with the language, they’re definitely worth it. If you really do want to start with a history, props to you because I had a hard time with them at first. I would recommend Henry V or Richard III, both of which have standard plots and can stand on their own, as opposed to being better read as part of a sequence.

For romances, maybe try the Tempest. It’s a bit like Midsummer, more difficult to follow I think than Midsummer is, but very entertaining.

Keep in mind two things; one is that you may read a play, or even a few plays and not be thrilled. This doesn’t mean you should give up entirely; lots of people have one play in particular that hooks them and turns them into fans. For me that was Twelfth Night, which was something like the eighth play in the canon that I read. And then again with the Henry VI cycle (which is fabulous, by the way). Shakespeare plays are very varied, and what one person may love another person may think is tedious and silly.

The other thing is; these are all guidelines of course. It’s entirely possible you could pick up a history play as your first, read it, love it, and not have to consider anything I said above. I’m just going off what most people (including me) have said are the better plays for beginners and the more accessible methods of experiencing them.

Good luck with the plays, and I hope you find something you love!

#this got long sorry!

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