RITSU SOHMA from FRUITS BASKET

JUSTIFICATION:

"listen. listen. imho the whole "he has constant anxiety and dressing feminine and being perceived as a woman" is SUCH a cis author fumble (along with the whole magic system depending on AGAB and it being "revealed" with Ritsu...) and "explanation" of what could easily be a trans narrative instead, its so obvious... anyways in my head the story ending wrt Ritsu is different in that she does not feel "confident enough" to literally detransition but instead embraces her transfemininity in the whole world, not just the contains of the Sohma estate. also Mitsuru is obviously a lesbian and they still date, but lesbianly" - @otto-von-stirlitz

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I’m sighing with d’Artagnan here, because I was so ready to love the new movie and then… didn’t.

I felt like the film didn’t quite know what it wanted to be - a period drama, a mystery, an adventure story? Political or funny? Suspenseful or a slow build?

The pacing felt uneven, the changes they made to the novel were, imho, not making the story better, and they left out some iconic scenes that needed to happen. (The Wine Cellar Incident™️!)

Some of the casting choices weakened the movie and erased a good amount of chemistry between several characters.

The action scenes were confusing because everyone looked alike, dressed in indistinguishable brown. (Whatever happened to the iconic blue in the Musketeer uniforms? Just a splash would have made such a difference!) I did like the very feathery hats, though.

Eva Green didn’t get the right moments to shine. She may still get a chance when she plays off Vincent Cassel in part 2, but so far I’m underwhelmed by her performance.

Aramis looked like an aging gigolo who smells of horse dung and bad teeth, and while that’s certainly authentic, this version of him has nothing to do with Dumas’ Aramis in the novel. The fact that they put guyliner on him mellows my grudge a bit.

Athos? Looks like he’s in his sixties and Vincent Cassel, too, couldn’t really showcase the full force of his acting skills. The writing simply didn’t allow for that.

Porthos gets an okay from me. I really liked his energy, his positive attitude, and I was very surprised and fully agree with the writers’ decision to make him snack both men and women. He’s a man with an appetite, and I am here for it!

D’Artagnan was my favorite in the movie. He has a sparkle to him, and a youthful headstrongness that is very book!d’Art. His love story with sweet, self-confident Constance was the best part of the movie for me.

They tried a bit too hard to make the film more political-historical. Would’ve been a good idea if they’d executed it well. But again: the pacing is off, sometimes it all drags, and except for creating a good action scene in the cathedral, it didn’t work for me.

I did like that they fleshed out Milady’s backstory in terms of how she became a criminal, and I hope they will use the changes they made to make her character more ambiguous in part two.

And the musical score? I don’t know. I can’t remember a single note. Nothing stuck. Nothing swelled. That’s not how it should be, is it?

That’s the short of it: The whole movie simply wasn’t compelling.

There are worse ways to spend an evening, and there are worse movies, but this is a French adaption of “Les Trois Mousquetaires”, and I really and wholeheartedly had expected something to come out of it that was more than acceptable average.

I’ll watch part two, because I’m still curious how they’ll wrap it up, and I still hope it’ll draw me in. But until then I’ll remain sadly underwhelmed.

I don't think RTD would have got drag appropriation comments mainly because 13's clothes aren't particularly feminine? Like theres nothing inherently gendered about her outfit- it's just a jumper, coat, trousers, all stuff men wear (it's not even cut in an unmasculine way)? Besides he depicted Simms!Master in a dress twice and that wasn't commented on

you make a good point but i’ve also seen bloodthirsty tw*tter stans dredge up worse Discourses so i still don’t think it’s out of the question that he’d be criticized for... anything and everything he does lol.

to those points:

tennant is so much taller/broader than jodie it would look small and cropped and possibly comical on him--unless they resized it and broke continuity

very few transphobic people care about the visibility of queer-coded villains, like when it’s the master cross-dressing, because he’s crazy and evil so of course he’s queer coded!! (/s...) but it’s way more criticized when it’s the heroes, so as i see it RTD has to end up weighing transphobic backlash against the established canon rules of clothes regenerating and chose the path of least resistance.

consider the scenario: jodie regenerates into david tennant, the shirt looks like a poorly fitted crop top on him (because she is literally 5′5 and he is 6′), and it becomes a transphobic meme for months that damages the DW brand’s reputation just as the most diverse cast in gatwa and finney is about to enter and make their marks on the show’s history

i don’t think RTD even sees those clothes as particularly feminine (though i can’t read his mind so ymmv); it’s that the state of the british press is so incredibly transphobic that they would jump on it as a cruel joke, and if he doesn’t want this era with the first-ever trans companion in yasmin finney + gatwa’s upcoming era to find themselves defined in the press by that--i think that’s fair. imho it’s not a perfect solution, and in a perfect world the backlash wouldn’t be a very real fear, but. again, it’s a lose-lose scenario!

anyway you can come off anon and message me if you want, i don’t bite and i actually wanna talk about this with someone who cares about dw and isn’t arguing in bad faith

Okay it’s not that ugly though

Rant: she fidgets

Upon rewatching this scene I've just realized that Tissaia has started fidgeting with things (the rings on her fingers) when she is nervous, as in this scene here where Stregobor tried to frame Yennefer as a betrayer.

You can see in the previous shot her right hand fingers were just resting on her left hand, but once Stregobor started accusing Yennefer of betraying the Northern mages, Tissaia started turning the rings between her fingers. The gesture was more clear to see as she studied other people in the room.

I, for one, still hate the addition of golden jewellery to her look with a passion, simply because they look gaudy as hell. Her complexion and overall character goes better with silver, like in the Ascension ball outfit; mother-of-pearl or ivory would also fare very well - but gold jewellery, and as crude as those the costume department added, would not. Then throw in the partly questionable partly enigmatic character development this season where she gave up the role of a simple school teacher, got tangled in politics, got laid with [fax machine noises] [AK-47 firing] [Ciri screaming], I cannot help but making a bad joke about midlife crisis behaviour, or worse (*).

I think it counts as half a win for book enthusiasts since Tissaia's OCD in the book was quite apparent. I have always thought it a shame that they did not make her that way in season 1, did not utilize an interesting trait of her that deserved to be translated on screen, I kept hoping anyway that they would add something subtle about her disorder in season 2. The rings could be to show her OCD. Since MyAnna's acting Tissaia-wise is precise and concise, I don't think the fidgeting is unintentional, especially when it started only when things started not looking so bright for Tissaia.

imho it is not too late to make Tissaia more book-like, yes, but symptoms of such disorder does not stop at, does not have to be just the fidgeting - it is plenty other kinds of compulsive behaviour. So while the rings might be a thoughtful enough addition (they are not impossible to spot, but neither they are in your face) - they do not seem particularly creative either, plus they do clash with her previous characterization. Remember, this is the woman who, on the most formal, dress-up kind of events, as shown at the Ascension ball, donned simple earrings and her everyday pendant and that was as far as jewellery went for her, no rings were to be found on her hand that day. I used to interpret that detail as a crucial trait of Tissaia: she is aware of her good looks, but she is practical, she is serious, she is stoic; and while she does not force herself to quit the small pleasures of life such as packing and lighting a pipe every now and then, frivolity and Tissaia are strangers grown.

So in short, am I pleased that they seem to include some book!Tissaia's traits to show!Tissaia? Yes, quite. Am I pleased at their execution? No, not at all, could have been done a lot better, the rings and her OCD were just a small part of book!Tissaia that they tried to bring into the show but seems not to go very well, but since Tissaia's story has not come to a close yet, I'll not draw any conclusion except for:

Damn, those rings are ugly.

(*): When you think about it that only after Yennefer had gone missing/been assumed dead and Tissaia had started having a relationship with [Roach neighing] that she started wearing tons of jewellery, the detail about the rings does not sit well at all. It looks as if a dick could make someone as intelligent and stoic as Tissaia dull and frivolous. To be honest I am quite close to calling that a sexist move from the writers, or a move so lazy it actually seems detestable, but again who am I to judge. Let's all hope Tissaia has been playing every side this season. Fingers crossed.

Do NOT bother to leave a reply I don't know how replies on tumblr posts work and cannot be arsed to learn, so if you want to feed me to sharks please do it with the reblog.

re: 'do you think stede saw something of the bullies who tormented him throughout his life in jack'- ABSOLUTELY- the other character whose remarks are DIRECTLY ECHOED in jack's 'who's the big girl then' comment is badminton, both living and hallucination, with his taunts on the boat-stuck beach iirc including ones along the line of crying like a girl and him literally being introduced with one of his officers pointing along his spyglass to point out 'one of them appears to be a heavyset woman in a yellow dress; there she is cowering there'- immediately followed by the excruciatingly awkward tea where... Stede is sat at the table fidgeting with a pained expression as an overloud man, who insists Stede is Performing Masculinity Wrong, forces him to laugh along with an anecdote that Stede does not find funny and is being told to underscore that he is not a part of the teller's in-group. And then to add insult to insult, Jack ALSO slags on his furnishings and interior design, except Badminton never used them for literal target-practice. Can't Perform Gentry to their satisfaction, and now it's being made clear can't Perform Pirate to /their/ satisfaction- I think you're right in drawing the parallels to Badminton and Jack being cut from similar 'All In Good Fun, Of Course' bullying cloth.

yes exactly! you're so right anon let me give you a little forehead kiss

They - Badminton and Calico Jack - are both the kind of men who are profoundly uncomfortable with gender nonconformity, and both grew up in a strictly hierarchical culture where someone always has to be at the bottom of the pecking order. Both take it as a personal insult that Stede "fails" to adhere to what they think is "proper" masculinity.

Jack has already identified Stede as a target for abuse before they even meet (lbh Izzy def complained abt Stede at length to anyone who couldn't get away fast enough; Jack definitely knows about him before they meet and from probably the most biased source available).

Right from the beginning, Jack thinks Stede is weak, he won't defend himself. And - more importantly imho - Stede is a threat to Jack's own masculinity. He's a bad influence. He's standing there in his silky dressing gown, with a little parasol, he's having tea out of lovely porcelain, and it scares the shit out of Jack. How dare he be so openly and unashamedly unmanly like it's normal. It might rub off. What the fuck.

With Badminton it's even worse. Remember they - he & Stede - met at boarding school. Real life British boarding schools were/are infamous for being absolutely rife with abuse. It wasn't even a secret; it was part of the pedagogical concept. Children were supposed to beat each other down, to bully and abuse each other into being good servants of the empire. They were supposed to become cruel and hard-hearted there, to be stripped of anything that was deemed weak - empathy, compassion. Individuality.

The child Badminton probably saw it as his duty to beat effemancy and "weakness" out of Stede. Like, yes, it's "all in good fun" to him, it's not real abuse, he just helped Stede grow! That's just what children are like, what they do to each other all the time right?? Right???? Some people just need to be bullied so they stop being so goddamn weird.

This has gotten away from me a little, but yes, you're absolutely right. Badminton and Jack might be from opposite ends of the class spectrum but they have very congruent worldviews and come from very similar cultures of abuse.

Also, I like the parallel that they're both killed by friendly fire <3

edit: whoops thought of the second Badminton there. whatever. point still stands.

D&D Quotes Without Context

Ravenloft, Dementlieu arc, part 4

OOC: Lets see if we can group team evil up for another fireball... GM: Oh they aren't falling for that trick twice. "Drat! The only weakness to our brilliant plans... Common Sense." "Its not as common as the name would suggest." Damiel: "Oh no, my racism has come back to bite me." OOC: How does he have a bloodshot glass eye? OOC: Starfleet security commander occupational benefit. GM: This thing is not interested in fighting. In fact near as you can tell it's not interested in anything. It's basically like a sad old man sitting in a retirement home. Marshal leans towards the others, whispers, "Did we happen to it?" Marshal moves to intercept Jonni's casting. With his face, if need be. 'I suggest you calm your pyromancer friend.' Gorbash: "<Will do. That's practically a full time job.>" “Guys, I’m coming back later and I’m gonna murder the shit out of that fish. He’s on the list.” "But you need crowns and processions and... pageantry to rule. Ruling behind the scenes is just.... it's like.... I don't know. Like a BLT sandwich with just the L and T." (So he's in an asylum, thinking he's napoleon.) Ooc: Worse, he’s Napoleon in an asylum, thinking he’s the head doctor. OOC: Quick, someone get a giant Napoleon hat to [put] on the Colonel {an aboleth}. Gorbash: "You know, it's not always Nima's fault. We aren't even in the same domain." "Apologies, you look like a servant of another necromancer we know and despise. I don't mean to be vitalist." "Begone undead hordes! Begone and return from whence you came beyond the shrouds of mortality!" Irost shouted, his voice booming with thaumaturgy. GM: This Deathlok is dressed in red robes, with a gold crown. Irost: "And tell me your tailor!" Gorbash draws his Sunblade. "Counter Proposal. Piss off back to your graves or we'll make you new ones." Jonni: “I will Rez this sack of crap and then skull fork them to death!" GM: You literally cut the ogre zombies legs out from under it, however it's still moving about on the ground, it's not dead yet. Marshal: "Yes you are, shut up." Gorbash: "She slices, she dices, she reduces undead horrors into mince." Gorbash: "WHY DOES THIS DOMAIN KEEP DROPPING ABERRATIONS IN MY LAP!" Irost: "Really... this is the third one today isn't it? First the play, then the not-whale..." OOC: The dark powers are those edgelord twitter trolls who are like "You triggered bro?" GM: The crowd cheers even as they are pelted with zombie bits. Jonni: “I am kink shaming this crowd. ME.” OOC: Psi deserves to stab the shit out of many many things. OOC: I want the zombolder dead. More Dead. It could be deader. GM: You have to desecrate the corpse to make sure. OOC: I will Weekend at Bernie's this thing to desecrate it badly. GM: Also I should note Damiel and Linxia are in the crowd, eating roasted chestnuts and enjoying the show. They have a little flag that says "Zombies #1". OOC: I could have stripped naked and not been hit. Granted, they’d have to fight through throngs of ladies to try. Jonni: “Nice try, asshole, you know how limber I have to be to play naked Twister!?” Jonni Wishes for L to come kick him in the happy sack. Nyx: "Damiel, I'm going to remember that later. My daggers haven't hit someone in the groin in a while, I'm going to remedy that." "No one hits my brother....except maybe me. But only when he's being a jerk. Which is not often." "Wait.. am I the ONLY one who got hit through all of this!?" Irost said, looking around. Jonni: “Hey, I almost got paralyzed outside of sexy times!” “I need to wash zombie off.” Gorbash freezes at the mention of the play. No he isn't going to be paralyzed by this. "No, Don't refuse on my account." Marshal: "I mean, we'll probably wind up going anyway, if only to save the victims." Jonni: “No worries, it’s gonna mind melt everyone there. Hey! We could get the box after the play kills him!” Irost: "We found out there is an old and very deluded fish guy in the aquarium..." "I think he keeps it close... Really close to the chest." “Pretty sure he keeps it in his Spark Chamber.” OOC1: No, death saves on something should not be happening until the mid tiers IMHO. ...that’s on wizards for designing that. I will speak to their manager and demand free transformers! OOC2: And ponies for Jenny. "I won't say a word...you're both very very Lucky. And if she ever breaks you heart I would be obligated to cut out hers and present it to you." And thus the tradition of Valentines was born.

Russian Ladies Test Skates SP

Valieva definitely looks the best among the Eteri girls. Finally, finally, she actually listens to the music. Lines have improved a lot. Jump technique is messy, but her jumps definitely looked the best here and that axel was big. Choreo wise it’s a copypaste of last year’s SP, which i don’t really mind because at least Storm was nice. So yeah, nice. Also there’s like 95% chance now that Valieva will be the OGM. I mean look at her training mates.

Best program by a mile belong to Ksenia Sinitsyna, who was a joy to watch. Actual toepick on her jumps! Choreo! Lines! Skating skills! I love everything about her SP, from the music choice to the costume.

Nugumanova is great. Not original but solid 

Sasha’s SP... It’s not bad... Definitely not the worst thing to come from Danny G. The music is actually nice. And you can tell Sasha tries to perform it. Choreo is lackluster but there are some touches here and there. But her landings were rough today. Almost no flow at all. At least she’s got a correct picking technique, and not a lot of prerotation, so there’s that. 

I feel let down by Alena’s SP. Lackluster choreo imho. The music does it’s own thing, not reflected whatsoever by the skater’s moves, except for one bright moment which is the step sequence. Speaking of... That looked slow and laboured. Alena lacked sharpness and speed today. I hope it will get better as the season goes along. but idk, i feel like her basics have gotten worse? 

The other Beth Hart SP, has better choreo but Maia is all over the place. Limbs flying everywhere and her jumps are horrible. 

Anna’s SP... Nope... Jumps are as usual.

Tuktik’s SP does nothing for me whatsoever. I like the dress.

Sofya Samodurova’s SP otoh could be the bomb. Feels more like an EX than a competitive program but it’s fun, and it’s quintessential Sonya.

“You bastard.”

Series 1, episode 4

Let's put everything else that happened in the episode out of the way: Welcome, Mr. Branson. He's the new chauffeur. He reads history and politics. He stalks behind windows to see Lady Sybil's new "dress" (which is a tiny bit awful... and she looks like as if it's just escaped from a harem), but in a cute definitely not a stalker (ahem) way.

Anna, Carson, Robert, Violet, Cora and of course Matthew hold Mary into a very high esteem.

Isobel' tries to treat Molesley's allergies, but she gets the wrong diagnosis and is put in her place by Dr. Clark... no wait he sits there on his armchair leaving Violet to give the right diagnosis.

There's a romance in the making between Anna and Mr. Bates.

O'Brien is shown to be the mean-spirited antagonist/villain that she is by -gasp- refusing to be treated as a slave and do work that isn't part of her job description. Lord, you have to love this. They make it look so atrocious that she actually knows what her job is. Of course, being a kind hearted person is by far better than knowing your place.

There are things going on between Mary and Matthew, but Mary is a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, due to  slight self-hatred. I haven't really understood her real feelings in regards her night of passion (and loss of virtue) at the hands of the late Pamuk. Not that I have no idea how to examine them, but this is not the point here.

Thomas: Welcome to the dark side of dastardly deeds. Mostly antagonising William. (And someone's stealing wine... Carson says). So William wants to ask Daisy out to the fair and Bates tries to support him, but Thomas beats him to it (because YOLO) for no other reason than to beat him to it. I-like-one-bloody-bastard. Daisy is ecstatic (reasonably so), Bates calls Thomas a bastard. He does have a point. But, why does he have a point?

Because of Thomas' self-satistied smirk.

The audience has never actually watched Thomas being close to any man except for the Duke and Pamuk. Unless the servants of Downton Abbey were looking behind key holes at those instances, I fail to understand where the comments are coming from. And it's not just now. It's for the whole 6 series. Everyone there seem to have a better assesement of who's gay than Thomas himself. Mrs. Patmore is quite scathing trying to discourage Daisy's crush on Thomas. On multiple occasions. The narrative may make it seem as if they all knew but they weren't homophobic towards him, however, when Daisy quite dreamily says that Thomas could have been a sportman, Mrs. Patmore replies "Really? Which sport did you have in mind?" The story itself has proven, again on multiple occasions, the answer is to whatever sport he'd like. Cricket? In the same scene, while Thomas wonders where Mrs Hughes has gone, William says it's none of his business (which tbt it isn't) and Mrs. Patmore again: "Like most of what goes on 'round here." It's clear though that Thomas' wereabouts is their business.

Mrs. Hughes is seeing an old friend of hers.

"What did I tell you? She’s found her Romeo." When Thomas, with Gwen, Daisy and William see her with her friend, and he says she's found her Romeo they don't believe him. Except for Daisy, who as I type this down he thinks he can see the sun shining behind his dark hair and dark grey eyes. (I can identify... but... not really.)

"You’re hiding behind him, but he’s not what you think he is." Now, what does William mean by this? Is it that Thomas is not a good person? Well, Daisy sees everything Thomas says and does, or at least the parts everyone else sees. She can come into the same conclusion sooner or later.

So William means something else. Gee, I wonder what. And don't get me wrong, he's jealous. Of what I'm not sure why he's jealous if he knows that either way Thomas wouldn't touch Daisy with a five feet stick. Is it the idea that the girl he's interested in is interested in a man who is not going to want her back? Quite possible.

"He can disapprove all he likes, Mrs Hughes has got a fancy man."

Personally, I didn't know what a fancy man is so I had to look it up; "the man that a person is having a sexual relationship with, but is not married to" How did Thomas go from "Romeo" (and yes Juliet may have had sexual relationships with him, but it's the epitome of romance) to "fancy man" in a couple of hours it is a question. Or is it that he tries to be willingly impudent among the older people?

When Daisy laughs at the "fancy man" Mr Bates tells her it doesn't suit her to be nasty. As oppsed to Thomas, we may presume here. The question that arises is why? Why doesn't suit her to be nasty? The audience has to believe her bad behaviour is because of Thomas' influence killing Daisy's agency due to her age (and possibly gender). The future will prove Mr. Bates wrong. IMHO She can be nasty all on her own. But the difference is Daisy is not shown as the antagonist.

When Thomas, clearly tongue in cheek asks Ms. O'Brien, with whom it is clear he has a close relationship, if she fancies a promotion in case Mrs. Hughes gets married and leave, the reply could be amusive, but it's scathing.  "If she's got a boyfriend, I'm a giraffe."

Well....

The thing is, if you remove the vulgarity of "fancy man", Thomas is right. The only one who is right. But it's not shown that way.

Mr. Bates is concerned for William's well being. And when a smug and cocky Thomas says "What chance did he have up against a champion?" instead of laughing at the childish behaviour, he grabs Thomas and shoves him up against a wall. I have read a couple of nice analyses of the matter so I won't dwel on it. Considering the age difference between the two men, the violence is unneseccary, I think, but at the same time the narrative brought it here so it can escalate Thomas' dislike and want to have Bates removed from the Abbey.

If you think about it, until now, other than a few concerns in regards to whether Bates can do his job and ill-intended remarks, Thomas hasn't done anything particularly nastier than usual against Bates.

"Now, you listen, you filthy little rat. If you don’t lay off, I will punch your shining teeth through the back of your skull."

Is the reaction in accordance to the crime? Or even crimes? Yes, Thomas is a disagreeable person. Always with a witty scathing remark, always on the other side, controversial, annoying, a little pest. But, he's a footman and Bates is a valet, Thomas is (a lot) younger than Bates, there are power dynamics at play here that Thomas seems not to particularly care about. Keyword: seems.

"Is this supposed to frighten me, Mr Bates? ‘Cause if it is, it isn’t working. I’m sorry, but it’s just not working."

Thomas and William are around the same age and have little difference in positions. Bates is his superior in every way that matters (position and age and even weight).  I don't understand why they thought having Bates in his undershirt was a good decision either. He seems overly menacing.

But of course, all that doesn't matter because in the next scene, Thomas is seen conspiring with O'Brien how they'll use the information about Mary and Pamuk. Not to mention that it continues with Thomas' bullying William. I mean, he just tells him to fix his appearance, and if it was said by Carson no one would bat an eyelid, but Thomas' tone and everyone's reaction to it is seem to be humiliating for William.

The way the Bates/Thomas and Thomas/William scenes are framed make the latter seem worse and Thomas' behaviour even more unaccepted.

And we go back to Mrs. Patmore trying to dissuade Daisy from making eyes to Thomas. Except for outright saying "he's not interested in you unless you're a man" she says everything else she can. 1. "He’s not for you, Daisy." Daisy thinks he's too good for her. 2. "No. He’s not too good." From one side this is good, because Daisy shouldn't see anyone as being "too good for her". But that's not exactly what Mrs. Patmore implies, is it. Daisy cannot understand her. 3. "He’s not the boy for you, and you’re not the girl for him." Unhelpful, really, really unhelpful. 4. "Perhaps Thomas has seen and done more than is good for him. He’s not a ladies’ man." Seriously, I repeat, it's as if the characters are part of the audience. And as confident as Thomas is (at least he was in the start), he hasn't been shown doing anything publicly to explain this. Zero dramatic irony. In the meantime, Daisy wants her man experienced. 5. "Daisy, Thomas is a troubled soul." I would assume a "troubled soul" would ensure having a bit more support from those around him. Except, it doesn't. Daisy still doesn't get it (and why would she? This is the 1910s!!!) and Mrs. Patmore gives up and moves on to dinner.

Let's compare it to Mrs Hughes talking to William: She likes listening to William playing the piano and tries to give him comfort. "You mustn’t let Thomas get you down. He’s just jealous. Everyone likes you better than him." Well, except for Daisy, I guess. And Mrs. O'Brien, if we are honest. "Then she’s a foolish girl and she doesn’t deserve you." At the very least, you have to give it to Mrs. Hughes, she doesn't deny Daisy's agency at being a foolish girl all on her own.

And then Mrs. Hughes talks with Mr. Carson, and guess what? Thomas had a point. Her friend did ask her to marry him. Who would have guessed? Of course, she denied because being the housekeeper of Downton Abbey is more fulfilling,  I guess.

There wasn't much Thomas so I had to improvise here.

PS. In case my intention is misunderstood, I clearly don't say Thomas is a poor misunderstood (sorry Rob) angel who is always right. On the contrary, he's a sneaky weasel at times (read most of the times). He tries to be as disliked as possible by everyone. I'm merely criticising the narration of the story telling & how unsubtle the whole thing is.

Holy shit I just realized something about my style that I have never realized before!

I have therapy tomorrow and I was just thinking about how I finally have jeans that don't have holes at inner thighs - and how my jeans also look really nice, imho, and they make me feel really good. I made some cuts on the knees because apparently I really like the shredded look with clothes now and I like them so much more now!

And then it hit me. Never before have I realized how I have always felt like people must think my style = my mental illness.

Let me explain to you what I mean. I like black, I like shredded clothes, I like this kinda punk/metal look, it's just my aesthetics and I really like it and wearing that makes me feel good. And I don't know where it comes but somehow I always feel guilty for it, as if people would think it's all due to my mental illnesses. As if people would think "oh they will start to dress up normally once they are healthy again".

I seriously don't know where does that even come to me??? I have never thought about it before, somehow I just feel that whenever I go to see a psychiatrist or therapist, they just look at me and think I'm a lost cause because of the way I dress up and dye my hair. I don't know if they even do that, I just now realized that somehow I just think that they do!

I have never even been confronted about my style or looks, neither in good nor bad. At home it was always okay, my mom was into punk when she was younger anyway and probably has tried every possible hair color and hairstyle (and she was also experimenting a lot), and my dad doesn't really care about style anyway, he's fine with pretty much anything as long as we're happy.

So, why do I think that people judge me by my looks/style and think I'm worse than them only because I dress up like this?

In a way it's possible that it comes from when I was 15/16 and a huge fan of MCR and the whole emo debate was still going very strong (there's even a song about it: "It's Not A Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish") and MCR was fighting against the label a lot because they wanted to help people to stand up and get better instead of wellowing in self-loath and self-harm which was connected to the emo fashion a lot. But I'm not sure why would it come for me from there because I was never an "emo", I didn't dye my hair until in 2011, and during mid 2000s I started wearing more black clothes but it was also somewhere on the early 2010s when I stopped wearing other colors altogether, even dark blue jeans. But I still don't think this is the reason behind all this.

S1E1: The Competition Begins

okie dokie first ever episode of dance moms rewatch starts now :0 i actually remember watching this the very first time it aired on lifetime because i was channel surfing and saw a commercial for it earlier that day. that was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. ah memories... i didnt know what to expect because i did dance when i was a kid but not on a competition team and it was mostly ballet so i was pretty unfamiliar with this whole world. 

anyway lets begin. this is probably gonna be a longer post than what i’ll end up writing for the other episodes in season 1 bc the first episode introduces so much info, just a heads up

Act 1: (aside: yes its insufferable to divide this into “acts” when its really just like “segments separated by commercial breaks” but thats how they’re called in actual tv scripts so im just going with that cuz i cant think of a better/easier way uwu)

god this is so fucking early 2010s lmao

i miss these days where they were just talented nobodies from pittsburgh on a low budget reality tv show that nobody even knew would be successful. and the bad hair and makeup but idk if that was also just a 2011 thing lol

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES GREEN SCREEN INTROS IM DYING

the chalkboard !!!! they werent doing the pyramid on the mirror yet 

(apparently abby never did anything similar to the pyramid thing but the producers made her and it became a whole Thing on the show and thats why the moms were like wtf is this bullshit the first week)

mackenzie looks like a toddler. chloe is so tiny. theyre the 2 who changed the most physically over the course of the show

i remember watching this for the first time being used to ballet lyrical and jazz but never having done or really seen acro/gymnastics in dance choreo and being SO flabbergasted. i was thinking “a chin stand is not dancing what the actual hell” and yknow what? i was right

melissa: “my boyfriend knows how much i spend on dance because he signs the checks...............hermehhemrherrmehermh” (the most awkward laugh omg)

maddie is wearing a fucking bumpit in her hair i cannot

melissa deadass just said out loud “im here for my daughter im not here to make friends” ok everybody mark that one off on your catty women’s reality tv show bingo card!

camera man accidentally getting in the shot filming right in front of the huge wall-mirror.... what is this, amateur hour? i’ll let it slide since its the first day of filming rehearsal but step it up, boys

aw i forgot about maddie getting sick and crying :/ poor kid

melissa saying “i cant stand a chid that’s sick” sounds so edited like the intonation made it seem to me like they just cut her off mid-sentence i love lifetime

oh this was still when they were wearing normal stuff to class/rehearsal like black leotards bc they werent getting sent a trillion crazy 2-piece dancewear outfits for free yet bc they werent famous, man those were the days

Act 2:

[obligatory b-roll footage of downtown pittsburgh] 

the maddie chloe paige trio !!!! this is making me feel so nostalgic

“knees together, paige. you’re bow-legged, you need to fix that”

“you’re tall, you’re skinny, you’re a beautiful girl, you can do better than this. FOCUS” shes like 10 abby what the hell

“people think im tough and i guess i am but i would rather be the one to make your kid cry in the privacy of my studio than at an open-call audition in front of hundreds of people”

okay unpopular opinion alert: i agree with a lot of what abby says about stuff like this but her delivery is flawed, to but it euphemistically, that being said i think the production team of the show and the fame inflating her ego changed all of this somewhere over the course of the second season and its really sad to see :/ i can expand on that thought later tho

aw paige crying bc abby correcting her (but not saying anything personal or out of line, just technique corrections (at based on what we were shown, we dont know everything she said oop)) shes a sensitive kid she never should have been put on this show :( 

paige looks exactly like her mom i didnt realize that before

nia and holly were done so dirty throughout the whole series in terms of the narrative the producers set up about nia being the weakest link :/ 

Act 3:

cathy’s entire involvement in the show from the very beginning was so painfully obviously scripted (or at least heavily staged) 

vivi was also done dirty by the show’s narrative and she was only 6 and they presented her as like the butt of the joke bc her mom’s “character” was crazy and also she wasnt good at dance. i wonder how she feels about the show now that shes a teenager hmm. she really seemed not to give a fuck about dance for better or for worse when she was a kid tho so maybe she doesnt care ?

in what universe would an owner of another competitive dance studio bring her own kid to another studio more than an hour’s drive away, AND be under the impression that she could compete with them in a week, especially when they showed the kids’ and moms’ shocked reaction at the start of the episode to having to learn a dance in a week and compete it? like really what is the point of cathy and vivi being a part of this show im so ????

Act 4: 

THE MINISTER DAWN OUTBURST HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THIS

this fight is about 50% of what got them a full season 1 and then things took off from there tbh. the other 50% was the electricity dance but thats a point for next episode..... :)

“you’re a minister act like one” “YOU’RE RIGHT I AM A MINISTER! LET’S PLAY THE BIBLE GAME ABBY, WHEN JESUS SAW THINGS THAT WERE WRONG HE WENT AFTER THEM, AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DO THIS TO MY KID” ma’am i think the wrongs jesus addressed were of slightly more importance than a preteen being told she cant take a dance class if shes violating the studio’s dress code

this is so good bc it wasnt staged afaik and there are regular students all throughout the building just STARING at them like lmao what even is going on, so im pretty sure this is real???

regardless, yeah dont wear socks and a tshirt to an acrobatics class, thats common fucking sense

another cameraman-in-mirror sighting, but its hard to think about angles when filming spontaneous drama like this, so i wont count it against them

“you called me fat” (i remember that being in the episode but thats not on the episode available through lifetime on demand that im watching from my moms tv hmmmmmm) “i told you to close and tuck in your two-piece costume, theres a big difference. HOW CAN YOU REMEMBER THAT BUT YOU CAN’T REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR FEET OUT” uh scream

she really called the police on this woman i cannot handle this. can you imagine being a police officer responding to this call? 

“we have a parent thats out of control. pardon? no shes doesnt have weapons, just her mouth” iconic

im sorry im still not over the hair and makeup. the flat hair with the side bangs. the black pencil eyeliner applied all the way around the eye. why did any of us think this was a look :( why did we do this :(

Act 5:

they went all the way to phoenix to compete 3 numbers, only 2 of which are shown in the episode.

i think this is the only time they ever went to west coast dance explosion because its an actual competition and they wouldnt allow filming after this lol i think they did go to wcde one weekend in addition to a competition where they were filming but it wasnt shown or mentioned at all

abby not wanting brooke and paige to have a french manicure on stage if theyre the only ones in the group with the french tips is perfectly valid idk why it was framed as some crazy micromanaging shit

i also am really not a fan of the whole “high functioning alcoholic wine mom/crazy stage mom” schtick they were pushing for the first few episodes of this show

in retrospect i feel like so many of the quips in this episode were intentionally fucking crazy just to get the audience engaged enough to want to watch more episodes...

“see those girls down there, those girls with the legs? thats who you’re up against, so step it up”

abby warning them that its dangerous for their little party hats to slip when they’re doing aerials and pirouettes and stuff: “what if you were at radio city music hall and they had the ice rink out and you were doing a side aerial and fell 13 stories down and died, huh?” fantastic point abby thank you for saying that to 5 girls ages 8-12 less than 5 minutes before they went on stage. perfect time for a teaching moment like that :)

i forgot how bad the camera work was in the first few episodes for footage of their performances. like they really didnt think the show’s audience would actually want to watch the kids dance, the producers and editors thought we just wanted to see stage mothers yelling at each other lol

also the mic feed over the music of abby talking to herself giving them corrections while watching them dance on stage.... im so glad they quit doing that. i dont remember them doing it like that for any other episode, i hope im right

this choreo is very basic and its a cute dance i guess but its very cringe in some places and for the first episode this is such a forgettable group routine

their scandalized reaction to placing third and the sad piano music is so funny honestly

and maddies reaction in the interview which was almost definitely fed to her by the producers where shes like “i win all the time i dont really know what its like to LOSE i always win or get runner up” so many of maddies lines from season 1 interviews sound so fake and she was probably too naive to know they were getting her to say that stuff so they could paint her as a conceited brat (she was EIGHT)

the trio costume was so ugly im sorry (is it supposed to be like a 50s pinup bathing suit?) (and the headband thing looks so bad) and also the music is bad but they had no real authority over that bc of copyright stuff

chloe’s headpiece coming forward and the ensuing drama was another moment in the episode that really solidified public interest in the show imho.... 

“YOU’RE IN THE BAR HAVING A DRINK AND YOUR KID’S HEADPIECE IS FALLING OFF” “it did not FALL OFF it CAME FORWARD it was FINE!!!”

“mistakes happen, we’re human.” “YOU are. mistakes like that dont happen to me”

and then the “next time on dance moms” with the WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE electricity dance, of course. genuinely that was really smart of the producers in terms of structuring things to generate intrigue lol. and obviously it ended up working....

What are y’all’s thoughts on people who use the word “mudblood” casually either in fics or as a username? Like I see some people who write fics where mudblood becomes a term of endearment between Draco and Hermione or like their username will be something like “Dracos_Mudblood” or whatever. I get that the world is fictional but the word itself is still not good in the context of the story so is a bit off putting when I see fans use it so casually.

It’s a term made up for a fictional book and isn’t a slur in real life. I don’t get bent out of shape if someone wants to use it in their user name. I mean... I follow someone on AO3 for another ship whose user name includes the word masturbation, which is kind of weird to me too.

That said, I don’t see mudblood realistically being a term of endearment like darling or sweetheart, and IMHO, if someone is going to use it in a story, it works best in darkfic, dystopian Voldemort wins AUs, or stories where she has a specific kink involving degradation and is okay with him using it. In the latter, I would rank it up there with bitch, slut, and whore in terms of degrading names someone might get off of on being called during a more BDSM-type sex scene. It’s not really my thing, but to each their own.  I know there are people who equate mudblood with the N-word, but I don’t and I would consider the N-word FAR worse and not something I would ever want to see in a story. An actual racist term connected to a history of real violence and oppression is far worse - and far more likely to be triggering to a reader - than something made up for a book series that has no meaning IRL. 

I know it has negative connotations, but so does the dark mark, and so do some of the characters, but go to any HP con, and you’ll see people dressed up as Death Eaters. One of my kids even went as Bellatrix Lestrange for Halloween one year. For me, I draw a distinction between “there are words, characters, and symbols used in this work of fiction that are meant to remind readers of terrible things and people in history” and “reverence of symbols and people and ideologies that resulted in the deaths of millions of people.” 

- Elle

This might, honestly, be one of my favorite chapters of this story. It’s very simple and (imho) very sweet :)

Once again, so many thanks to: @cspupstravaganza, @sherlockianwhovian, and @lassluna

Tag list: @quirkykayleetam, @squidvisious, @carpedzem, @kmomof4, @revanmeetra87, @capnjay21 (Message me to be added!)

AO3 if that’s your jam: Prologue | Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7

I’d Pick You (and Your Little Dog, Too)

A Captain Swan Pupstravaganza Story

Summary: According to everyone in the known universe, Emma Nolan’s dog is supposed to lead her to her soulmate. But she’s not even sure if she wants that. Soulmates are pretty idealistic, don’t you think?

Chapter Five:

Six Months Later.

It shouldn’t be a surprise when David brings up the topic of his moving out when they meet for lunch, just the two of them. Emma should have seen the conversation coming, really, but she’s been so caught up in her own romance, in having someone to share her innermost thoughts with, in Rascal having a playmate besides Princess… that she’s completely caught off guard.

“Mary Margaret and I are going to move in together,” David tells her, spaghetti sauce lingering in the corners of his lips. Emma opens her mouth to interrupt, but he keeps going before she can. “And we were thinking that maybe we could just… keep doing what we’re doing. I’ll move into the loft, and Killian could move in with you--”

“I’m sorry, what?” Emma nearly yells, but then lowers her voice, remembering that they’re at Granny’s, in the middle of the Saturday lunch rush, in a town full of gossips. “You moving in with Mary Margaret… sucks, if I can be selfish for a second, but... it makes sense. But why would you think Killian and I would move in together?”

David looks at her like she’s grown an extra head.

“Because he spends literally every single night at the apartment with you?” David offers, but Emma sits silently, staring daggers at him, so he continues. “Emma, you spend nearly every waking moment with him. You’re soulmates. It just… makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Emma thinks about it. She tries to remember the last time she slept alone, one side of her bed cold, with only Rascal at her feet instead of the extra weight of a second dog. Or the last time she woke up to the smell of her brother’s burnt coffee (or worse, nothing at all) instead of the delicious pancakes Killian’s taken to cooking for her.

It had happened so naturally that Emma didn’t even notice. One night, she was sleeping alone in her too-large bed, her brother snoring away in the bedroom down the hall, and the next, David was away at Mary Margaret’s and Killian had taken up residence against Emma’s side.

And then it just sort of stayed like that.

More often than not, they fall asleep on the couch, watching movies and old TV shows, Rascal and Procella curled up together in the armchair. Usually, they wake up together and the four of them trudge to the bedroom and resume their snuggling in a much more comfortable way. Occasionally, when Emma’s had a long day or hasn’t been sleeping well, she’ll fall asleep on the couch and wake up in her bed, with no recollection of getting there. Killian blushes whenever she asks him if he’s carried her down the hall, telling her that she just must not remember waking up.

The man carries her to bed.

All told, dating Killian is simple. There’s no grand gestures, which tend to make Emma self-conscious, and there’s no begging for sex, which Neal had done constantly. It’s exactly like it was when they were meeting for lunch every week, except that they’re together almost all the time.

Plus she gets to see a lot more of that chest hair.

It’s actually kind of gross - the sickeningly sweet relationship, not the chest hair - and Emma is constantly surprised at how comfortable she is with it. Must be a soulmate thing.

But still. Moving in together? It just seems so fast.

“I don’t want to scare you, Emma, but you’ve got a really wistful look on your face.” David is smirking now, and Emma knows he’s right, really. That swapping out names on a lease won’t change anything, that they’ve already been practically living together for six months.

At that exact moment, just as she’s weighing her options, debating the fear she’s feeling versus the idea of something more permanent, Killian and Mary Margaret walk in the door of the diner.

Any stress Emma feels completely dissipates when her eyes meet Killian’s, and she knows she’s lost the battle. And she can’t even be that upset about it.

“We’re not here to interrupt,” Mary Margaret chirps, all heart-eyes as she looks at David. “We’re starting our own Saturday tradition, but it also involves Granny’s. So… we’re just taking it to go.” She leans down to give David a chaste kiss, and then looks at him meaningfully. “We’ll let you get back to it.”

Emma watches the two of them, and imagines the conversation they must have had that led them here. Or, more likely, conversations. Plural. Because Emma knows her brother, knows that he knows all of her insecurities and her fears and she’s sure that it would have taken ages for him to work up the courage to talk to her about moving out.

Especially after last time.

But, Emma rationalizes, this time is different. For one, Mary Margaret is clearly David’s soulmate. There’s a reason they’re together all the time, a reason they practically live together. Moving in together isn’t just the logical next step in their relationship: it’s literally the only next step. Emma’s seen David looking at rings online during their many hours of downtime at work. She’s not stupid.

Plus, she thinks to herself, I’m not exactly alone, am I? She looks up at Killian again. At this man who chose to get to know her agonizingly slowly despite knowing full well that they were meant to be. Who’s never pushed her or made her uncomfortable.

Her brother is right.

After an uncomfortable amount of silence and meaningful looks on both sides of the table, Emma rolls her eyes and grabs the end of Killian’s jacket sleeve. He settles in beside her, casually throwing an arm around her shoulders.

“You can join us, Mary Margaret. We’ve already talked,” Emma says.

“We have?” David asks, eyeing his sister carefully.

“Yeah, we have.” She smiles and David seems to catch her meaning because he smiles back, crinkles forming in the corner of his eyes.

************

As Emma climbs into her brother’s truck, she’s struck with the strangest sense of deja vu. She turns around, sees the piles of furniture and boxes tied up in the truck bed, and she realizes that she’s done this before.

She knows, obviously, that her brother moved out before. She’d helped him move. But those memories are so surrounded by darkness, loneliness, and downright sadness that she’s shoved them out of her mind until right this moment. But this time, she feels a little hopeful.

Just a little.

“Ready?” David asks as he climbs into the driver’s seat.

“Yeah,” Emma says, and it’s not a lie.

When they arrive at the loft, Mary Margaret and Killian are waiting outside. Just the sight of him makes Emma smile, which then makes her cringe.

Sickeningly sweet, she thinks to herself. But she can’t bring herself to be upset at the simple happiness she’s feeling. She surprises him -- and herself -- by wrapping her arms around his neck when she steps out of the truck.

“Hi,” she says, followed by a soft kiss on his mouth.

“Well hello, love.” He’s smiling. She smiles back.

“Uh, are we moving today or are we all just making out on the front lawn?” David asks, his arms folded across his chest, but there’s no anger on his face. Just a small smirk in the corner of his mouth.

“Sorry, Dad,” Emma groans, separating herself from Killian and grabbing a box out of the truck bed.

When it’s all over, and David’s moved into the loft, and Killian’s moved into the apartment, Emma collapses on the couch. Rascal hops up beside her and situates himself with his head in her lap.

“Tired?” Killian asks her.

“Are you not?” Emma knows he must be. Her muscles are screaming, her eyes closing of their own accord.

“Oh, certainly. But I’d hoped we could celebrate.” He pulls out a bottle of wine from behind his back.

“Celebrate what?” Emma snorts. “You know we’ve been doing this for six months now, it’s just that now your stuff is in my closet instead of all the way back at home. You can actually get dressed in fresh clothes in the morning.”

“And that’s not cause for a celebratory glass of wine?” Killian asks, putting the bottle down and walking back to the kitchen to get two glasses.

“One glass, Jones.” She holds up a finger to emphasise her point. “And then you can carry me to bed like the gentleman you are.”

“Oh, I think I can handle that.”

It turns out living together is exactly like practically living together, in almost every conceivable way. Emma has to make room in her closet, but they’ve got a spare room now, so she just moves her shorts and her summer dresses into David’s old closet and leaves her thick coats and heaviest shirts in her own room until the winter chill finally subsides.

There are still pancakes every morning, and most nights they still fall asleep on the couch for a few hours before slowly migrating to their bed.

Their bed.

It’s all very domestic, and Emma slowly stops waiting for the other shoe to drop. She stops waiting for the morning she’ll wake up and there won’t be a handsome Englishman waiting for her, stops hesitating before she opens up the door for fear that his stuff will all be gone.

She stops being afraid.

Women Who Support Misogyny

This morning I scroll through my twitter timeline, I saw some tweets showing screenshots of igstories (whoops, the social media cycle about to happen). The screenshots talked about the op’s distaste on feminist women, particularly those who are active on campaigning female body authority, to be more exact; those who are supporting women’s freedom on dressing preferences. The op claimed that feminist women who support women wearing ‘more open’ clothing (based on their own preferences that is) only whine when those women got sexually harassed, saying that it is the men’s fault (it is). She also proceeded to say that they know nothing about fitra, that it is men’s nature to ogle on women’s bodies. Idk, to me it sounded like she’s saying that it is in men’s nature to be a sexual harasser and/or offender.

What I want to talk about is not that screenshots in particular, but the responses to that post since we’re all familiar to the nuances of misogyny in her opinion. I want to highlight a reply:

Imho, I don't think the misogyny is worse when it's shown by women, it's the same irrational hate taught deeply into all of us after all no matter what gender we are. Patriarchy *needs* misogyny to thrive, it will be planted on anyone living under it. No one can actually run from it unless they try to unlearn it. I'm one of those who's still trying to unlearn every bits of misogynistic values internalized into them too. Maybe it looks worse to some because they expect women to support each other since they are 'the same', they expect women solidarity only because of that. 

But in reality, women never really are grown in a society which promotes women solidarity, they never really are nurtured in such supportive environment. Instead they are taught to seek men's approval. They are taught to be palatable to the patriarchy in order to survive the oppression. From submitting themselves into the patriarchal ideas of how women should be and do to trying to lick men's asses by proving that they're not ‘one of those girls’. Any ends are the same, they are obliged to tear each other down, forced to compete against each other in order to be approved by patriarchy whether they realize it or not that their decision on doing it is never their authority. And in op’s case, she’s just showing what she has been taught, what she has been conditioned to be; a misogynist.

When it comes to misogynist women; embrace them first, she's also an oppressed victim. It's just that she copes with the oppression differently in order to survive. Her statements are stomach churning, but it came from someone who’s been taught to be so vile towards women. It's not like she has control to the environment she lives in and which values are getting internalized into her, right? While it’s true that men also are conditioned to be misogynists, they will always be advantaged and gain from it no matter what. Unlike women who gain nothing and will always lose in the end even when they try to assimilate themselves into patriarchy.

I know some of the responses meant well through the replies, I try to get it, you don't want her to support misogynistic values anymore. But must you mock her, from telling her she’s stupid to the extent of saying crude and cruel things about her physical looks? Be a little kind when you’re commenting online. You could also try to understand where such statements came from. And maybe next time try to admit how you also had similar thoughts to her in the past before you criticize women like her. I can hardly believe there is anyone who’s grown up and nurtured in such egalitarian (?) environment, because if there were anyone, then they won’t even be making such statement in the first place. 

p.s. the tweet was from a man

p.p.s. yes, I use night mode and what about it

Kissed by the Baddest Bidder: Eisuke Ichinomiya Route Review [SPOILERS]

“I'll let you stay with me. You're the only woman who's ever stuck with me this long.”

Hello! If you like Eisuke, I recommend you stop reading now. Rant incoming. :)

Quick recap: Kissed by the Baddest Bidder is basically the edgy adult otome version of Ouran High School Host Club. In this universe, MC, a hotel maid, finds herself sold at a black market auction to a group of shady dudes who happen to run said black market auction, after she accidentally breaks an expensive vase. And in this particular route, Eisuke, the main dude in charge and asshole extraordinaire, decides that he’ll be the one to “own” MC: “I bought you, got it? So I can do whatever I want with you.” Charming.

After forcefully undressing and taking a look at MC’s chest like the classy and respectful man he is (he has some stupid excuse for it later in the route), Eisuke decides that MC will serve as his fake girlfriend. The goal: to ward off a mafia boss’ daughter politely, while simultaneously trying to forge an alliance with her father. Turns out all the women love Eisuke for some bizarre reason, even though he’s a total bastard with no redeeming qualities whatsoever (actually, it’s even scarier when the dude pretends to be nice in this route, not gonna lie...). 

(that is the smile of a monster)

Eisuke insults the hell out of MC while giving her the obligatory makeover to become his fake girlfriend (“The worse something looks, the more fun it is to dress it up”). He also gives her a pager, and expects her to run when called within five minutes - one of his favorite hobbies is calling MC over when a text would’ve sufficed. Oh, and he kisses MC twice without her permission, under completely unromantic pretexts, to boot. Real winner, this guy. :/

One interesting thing we learn in Eisuke’s route is that the boys have a policy not to sell any woman who’s unwilling to be sold at the fancy black market auctions (in the route, a woman sells herself to escape her yakuza boyfriend and get “bought” by another love interest - I wonder what could possibly go wrong with that plan...). In any case, the whole thing really begs the question: why the fuck did Eisuke let MC get put up for auction in the first place?! Is it just because he’s a total douche canoe with too much time on his hands?? As the route goes on, we learn that Eisuke has some stupid tragic backstory about losing his parents and getting taken in by a rich zaibatsu​ family, and MC develops sympathy for the guy. Oh boo hoo...MC’s an idiot.

And here’s the absolute worst part of this route. Eisuke breaks his non-relationship with MC off abruptly towards the end of the route to protect her from an external threat (not that he tells her the reason, or anything, because communication is for plebes). And MC has this TOTAL FREAKING SWEETHEART of a coworker/manager?? who’s been steadily wooing MC for the entire route, who’s all willing to sweep in and is amazing, but nooo. MC’s developed Stockholm Syndrome in looove with Eisuke. Ughhh.

So when the external threat resolves itself, Eisuke returns to charm MC with his sweet nothings: “I can't promise anything. I'm going to keep doing what I want to do. And if MC ends up being hurt because of it... Well, she's the one who wants to be with me.” ...Fuck this guy. And not in the sexy way, either. He doesn’t even confess to MC in the end like a proper otome boyfriend (“Let's get to the point. Tell me how you feel”)! Asdkfjqofjqfidfs >(

Look. I’m not necessarily always against “problematic” otome boys. They can be fun. Case in point, Soryu, who freaking kills people for a living. Or IkeSen Kenshin, who’s so crazy he makes Jumin Han look sane, but is also kinda my favorite guy at the moment... <3. But besides being really really ridiculously good looking, there’s basically nothing positive about Eisuke. Maybe once in a blue moon he’s only mostly an asshole as opposed to totally 100% an asshole...? In short, imho Eisuke is one of the most infuriating characters I’ve ever encountered and I def. do not ship him and MC.

But if you’re still interested in his route and you haven’t read it yet, it’s free on Love365 until 7/9 11:59PM JST. Enjoy...? 😬

Choice quotes: “All you have to do is be quiet and attend to me.” “Will you be freed after the deal with Bucci succeeds, or will you disappear from the face of the earth? I can't wait to find out.” “If you go out with him, he'll keep pushing you around. Are you okay with that?" "Yes. I want to be with him.”

Personality: 0/10. I hate this guy. HATE.

Appearance: 9/10. Can’t fault Eisuke on his looks...

MC: 2/10. MC NO. ...Why didn’t you run away when you had the chance :(

Plot/Payoff: 6/10. A flaw: the side characters felt like cartoons - the mafia boss daughter in particular was super annoying. That said, the route was snappy and interesting in its own way, and I can understand why so many people love Eisuke. Things certainly aren’t boring around him.

Personal enjoyment: 5/10. You’d think I’d give this a 1 due to how horrible I think Eisuke is, wouldn’t you? Truth is, I at least enjoyed the process of hate reading this story. Haha.

Masterlist

Shinylitwick reads Wheel of Time: final thoughts on the series

Overall thoughts on the Wheel of Time series now that I’ve finished the main books:

(Spoilers, obviously)

The good:

-magic

The magic in this series was exactly what I look for in magic in fantasy series. It allows our characters to do all sorts of cool things, there are some rules but not too many, and nobody is shoving a rulebook down my throat.

From the start I loved the idea of the divide between saidin/saidar, with saidin being tainted, and I felt like it never ceased to be an interesting aspect of the series, even by the later books. The male/female relationships themselves were a bit stupid sometimes, but I loved how the male/female magic divide was worked into the world.

-characters

Jordan’s focus as a writer is clearly characters,and it shows. We get to know our main characters very well, and we are introduced to a secondary and tertiary cast that contains hundreds maybe even thousands of names.

Rand, in particular, is a very rare thing in fantasy fiction - a main character who is simultaneously the most interesting character in the series. I loved following Rand’s internal conflict. It always felt believable and even when he did something incredibly stupid, you could see where he was coming from. I really liked how he turned out at the end too.

My other favorite character has to be Nyneave, although Egwene does a pretty good job in the later books too. I liked Nyneave form the start. I liked that she was a little older than the main cast. I liked that she felt responsible in some measure for this group of basically teeenagers. I liked how she struggled with her dislike of Aes Sedai while simultaneously becoming one. I liked how she handled her block. I liked her relationship with Lan. I liked how she managed to stay by Rand’s side until the very end, even while he was in completely crazy mode. There were moments where she felt a little annoying/childish, but I’d argue that’s a problem that affects pretty much the entire cast on occasion.

-the differences between fictional cultures

Specifically the differences between the mainstresm “we(s)tlander” cultures and the Aiel and the Seanchan.

The cultures on the main continent are all pretty similar to each other. Each country has one or two defining characteristics and perhaps the Borderlands are a little different from the rest of them, but all in all they’re pretty similar.

Which is what makes the contrast between those cultures and the Aiel on the one hand and the Seanchan on the other so fascinating. I loved both of those cultures so much! They’re quite alien, but here is enough there to make you believe they are or could be real. The Seanchan are slightly tougher to sell than the Aiel, because pretty much everything about them is fucked up, but if we think about it for a moment, many of those things have happened IRL. They just weren’t all concentrated in the same place and at the same time.

I also like how Jordan picks random bits of our world’s cultures and sort of mashes them together to make his own. It doesn’t always work, but at least it’s an effort, and anything that can help not replace a fictional country with the name of it’s real world counterpart is pretty good.

-the role played by trust, or the absence thereof, and miscommunication

It’s kind of a key point in this series that nobody trusts anybody. And the more they mistrust, the more paranoid they get and the worse things tend to go for them.

While at some points it almost had me screaming at the characters to just talk to each other already, it also seemed very realistic that so many of them wouldn’t and I liked seeing the consequences that had on the rumors that were spread and tehe assumptions that were made by other characters.

Probably one of the biggest examples of this in series is what happens with Morgase. Rand kills Rahvin, but Morgase had already escaped and so he assumes she is dead, as does Elayne. Morgase and everyone in her court had no clue who Rahvin was. Nor did anyone else in the world. Therefore, they assume that Rand killed both “Gaebril” and Morgase. And this assumption affects how a lot of characters behave, particularly Gawyn and even Galad, in a way. None of it is truly cleared up untill Morgase herself talks to someone who knows who she is and someone else tells her who “Gaebril” was.

-backstory

I’m normally not a big fan of “fantasy as a fallen future” as a trope, mostly because it tends to twist the fantasy I love too far into sci-fi. 

Thse books somehow manage fix this. I loved everything involving Lews Therin and the Age of Legends backstory. I wish we’d had more of it in the books, or just that there were more WoT fanfiction out there, so that I could keep reading about it.

I really liked the idea of the Forsaken having “mundane” jobs in the Age of Legends - Moghedien the accountant, Ishamael the philosopher, Mesaana the schoolteacher - it completely changed my perspective on them and made them feel more flawed and more real.

Lews Therin himself also strikes me as a huge asshole that I would be curious to know more about. I mean, out of 13 Forsaken at least 4, possibly 5, turn to the shadow because they have a problem with him, specifically. That’s a pretty big personality right there.

-it’s finished

Let’s face it, I would never in my life have picked up a 14 book series otherwise. 

The bad:

-too much...everything, really

I wrote this in almost every single one of my individual reviews for each book and I will write it here again: this series is much longer than it should be. Jordan clearly loves his world and is deeply immersed in it, and that’s great. However, there is such a thing as too much description. We don’t need to know every inn, every dress, every blade of grass. Mention it if it’s important of course, but otherwise, just leave it out.

The same criticism applies to certain plotlines that could have been much, much, much shorter, or just cut out altogether. There are far too many chapters of padding, or just focusing on secondary plots that the reader is never truly made to care about. There’s an entire book that barely has reason to exist at all!

-gender relations, aka men are from mars, women are form venus

First things first, I understand that Jordan is trying to make a point about a society where men are seen as having caused the end of the world, and so the world in general has a more negative attitude towards men. It’s an interesting idea, but it is, IMHO, poorly executed.

Because what Jordan did was not invert our world’s sexism, it was add extra sexism on top of it. So now instead just of having men be sexist towards women, we have women being sexist towards men too. 

 And everyone in this world sees almost every single interaction from a male vs female perspective. And it’s so, so exhausting. The men all think women can’t walk down the street alone without needing to be saved and the women all think that the men are stupid bumbling idiots. And they complain about it all the freaking time.

It’s a shame, but I do think this is probably the biggest failing in the series - it certainly seems to be one of the main factors that puts people off it, and it’s the thing that makes people hate some particular characters pretty extremely. I’m pretty sure my own dislike of Mat and a lot of readers’ dislike of Elayne and Nyneave and Egwene is due in large part to them all being so incredibly sexist. 

- the slump is real

It is. Which books will be the slumpiest for you will depend on what characters and plotlines you are the most or the least interested in, but everyone seems to agree that CoT is the worst of the bunch, and I agree with that too. Fortunately it is also the shortest one.