#expectations vs reality travel
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"Expectation vs Reality" - 30 Funny Travel Photos of Trips That Did NOT Go According to Plan
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Henry vs Julian
I have been thinking about this a lot. While Henry clearly admires and models his scholar self on Julian, their essential difference is in how they perceive the Ancient Greeks.
Julian's interest in the Ancient Greeks is true interest, he admires their high and exalted values. For him, the Greeks were the highest point of human civilization, and the closer he comes to his own time the more his disdain increases - the Roman Catholic Church he holds in contempt but it's still a 'worthy enemy' not as bad as the Presbyterian Church. It isn't mentioned but he must hold modernism and it's philosophy with disdain - modernist moral vacousness being a direct contradiction of the idealist values loyalty, honor, chastity etc. that were so exalted by the Greeks. Which is why he is always cherry picks, sees only what he wants to see, and invents what he can't - both for himself (his ambiguous involvement with the Isrami government) or for his students (encouraging Richard to lie about his life in California). Since he can't time travel back to Greece himself, he must try to live that life as much as he can and believe himself a character in a Greek play. But it comes, not from a place of wanting to escape his current reality, but true admiration of the ancient Greek way of seeing and doing things.
Henry is a true modernist. The monologue about feeling dead is central to his understanding his character:
Maybe it stems from his near death experience but he sees the world as inherently meaningless, God is dead and heaven and hell have been revealed to be man-made constructs, there is no punishment for evil and since there is no moral line. I think he subconsciously realised all of this before coming to Hampden, but to truly accept it would have been soul-crushing. So he tries to escape it by immersing himself in the Greeks, I imagine the absolutist values, vague representational ideas pertaining to each god might have interested him but really, it could have been anything else, the Medieval Age or the Victorians, anything. He just needed something to be obsessed with, to give meaning to his existence which he subconsciously knew to be meaningless. So is his adoration of Julian, he admired and wanted Julian's ability to almost half-live in another time when, in his view, things mattered more (we have divinity in our midst). It also explains the Bacchanal which is otherwise so out of character for him. The appeal was to escape the soul crushing knowledge of meaninglessness - even if for a while. To worship and call on Dinosiyus with the blind belief of the Ancient Greeks, a kind of belief that simply cannot exist anymore in the postmodern, post-Neitzche world. His harebrained plans also came from the same impulse, including the poison plan, and the one way ticket to Argentina.
I suspect that what subconsciously drove him to murder bunny, aside from the obvious fear of getting caught - is the same thing that drove Mersault to murder the Arab - it's the old existentialist question, if good and bad are relative and there is no punishment for evil, how far can one go? Bunny's murder was Henry's existentialist experiment with himself. And, I think in a way it confirmed for him what he already knew, they escaped unscathed and he didn't feel any of the fear or remorse he expected to feel. While it did give him the momentary sense of power, the feeling that he could now do whatever he wanted if he can be clever enough to not get caught, since he won't be punished for it otherwise. While it gave him enough courage to go get the girl he always wanted - it did confirm for him the inherent meaninglessness of the world. Also, conversely, Camilla could have been another experiment - something must matter, was it love? Camilla was the only girl he knew and he was fond of her - he may not even have thought of her romantically before considering he never cared to act on it in all the time he had known her. But either way, Julian's abandonment broke him.
Coming back to Julian, Julian's abandonment omakes perfect sense to me - he was disgusted by the modernist moral vacousness in his students. He himself was a moral man, but his morals operated on his own standards. He based it on the Greek sense of Honour, not the more modern sense of Justice. His basic instinct was the preservation of his own purity - he couldn't possibly keep on as their teacher. But also, to turn them in would be against his sense of honour - he must have very little respect for the police and law enforcement as institutions being the kind of person he is. Not to mention it would mean his having to be in frequent contact with the police and court. From his point of view atleast, leaving is the only thing he could have done, really.
For Henry however, he sees that his obsession with the Greeks as well as his admiration for Julian as the sham that it really was, is disillusioned with the world, shattered. Except for his fondness for Camilla he didn't really have anyone he loved, he saw his friends as pawns, wasn't close to his family, didn't have any goals in life with everything in his reach with his father's money - the only person he had really loved was Julian, and there he was betrayed. His obsession with the ancient Greeks was also thus tainted with Julian's betrayal - since it wasn't true interest at all, only a disguised attempt at escapism - it wavered and fell apart, and he didn't have a reason to live anymore.
.
Side note : Richard falls between the two. Like Julian, he had a real interest in the ancient Greeks, but he didn't put them on a pedestal like Julian did. He realised that like his own time, and like all other times in history the Greek civilization too had its own good and bad aspects, and he wanted to learn about it for its own sake. But he doesn't make it his life, or use it to escape his own reality - outside of his classes he was very much rooted in his own time.
#the secret history#tsh#donna tartt#henry winter#julian morrow#richard papen#camilla macaulay#charles macaulay#francis abernathy#bunny corcoran#tina rambles#lit
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Your in laws 😊
Your spouse relationship with their parents and your relationship with your in laws. Now some people barely see their parents or the parents won't really have any presence in the marriage.
Choose a four of wands photo or 1-4
Pile one
The mother in law or just family on the mother side in general sense
Your spouse's relationship with their mother, or more so, the feminine energy is one that is nurturing and healing. They are precious to their mom. The water energy of the queen of cups suggests that type of relationship where they will be frequently in contact with their mother. Your spouse is just the love of the woman in their family and close to their aunt. Your spouse was raised by another woman in their family. Your spouse's relationship with their mother, or more so, the feminine energy is one that is nurturing and healing. They are precious to their mom. The water energy of the queen of cups suggests that type of relationship where they will be frequently in contact with their mother. Your spouse is just the love of the woman in their family and close to their aunt. Your spouse was raised by another woman in their family.
Father in law
Now the other side of the family, but really the father-in-law (or just person b). The masculine energy feels that your spouse should be successful, and you were certain high expectations for them growing up. There was a talk about what a real man should do or live by those expectations. Even if your spouse is a woman here on the masculine side, they were still told to live by certain traditionalists. To go to the military, to learn to cook and fix stuff, and to be independent at an early age. (Etc.). The gossip card is here; It reminds me of a tweet that I read that said, "Think of the messy person you know, and it's a man." I only mention that to shame more of the negative aspects of masculinity. Your spouse's father did not stay long in their lives. Or left for years and came back only when his child was successful. They either heard or saw you do lots of kind acts for others. They expect kids to come out of this union. Their dad will even criticize your spouse for always treating you better. They will see the two of you as a power couple. They either heard or saw you do lots of kind acts for others. They expect kids to come out of this union. Their dad will even criticize your spouse for always treating you better. They will see the two of you as a power couple. A family vacation will happen between your spouse and their father. They feel that your spouse is lucky to have you in their life. That you light up a room every time you walk in and that you have strong charisma. That you command respect and that you are great at influencing others just by being yourself. That you have a nice sense of style and that they love your smile. They just love your sense of humor.
The mother in law expection vs reality
For the mother's side of the family, or just the mother's opinion of you. They will expect you to be someone who is superficial and only wants to be with their child for their looks and money. They will think that you are a greedy person, and that's because they will judge you based on what you wear and the images they see online. They think you are proactive. Some will make comments about you when you're staying or visiting the mother's side of the family, but they will wait for you to be alone. Your spouse will catch them doing this and get them to apologize. The father-in-law will also speak up for you because he will know more about your personal story than others. He just has a soft spot for you. What your mother thinks of you will shift into a more positive perspective. They see that you have a balanced lifestyle: being healthy, working on yourself, and being social or partying at the right time. They see that you are not a weak person but someone who has a lot of willpower. They would love to travel with you in the future and always want you to be there for the holidays and celebrations. They see that you are not a weak person but someone who has a lot of willpower.They would love to travel with you in the future and always want you to be there for holidays and celebrations. Honestly, both sides of the family see you as an attractive person and brag about you. I remember this scene from a TV show where the wife wanted to prove that her looks didn't determine her character or something.
Pile 2
The mother in law
Their child relationship with their mother is strong. The mother thinks of their child as Intelligent, intuitive, and someone that always will persevere. That their child will always be ambitious and even give up their own life to help others. Their relationships with each other is long distance but one where they still visit each other every now and then. Also have big family reunions or go on family trips. The mother or the mother's side as whole sees your future spouse as someone able to be anything they want to. Your future spouse does actually does have talent and pass on. The card here is the shape shifter, a person able to transform and adjust to any situation. The card here is the four of wands is a card of celebration, love between family here. The card that represents the dad relationship is the lovers which are the same girl hugging her mother (page of wands) in the four wands.She went through a transformation, as you see her brown hair is now, black and in the lovers she is embracing her crying boyfriend (knight of cups) after opening up about the relationship she went through.
Father in law
Now in the reading, your future spouse relationship with their dad is bad. Although their father does regret his past actions and wants to apologize, but he causes a lot of issues in both his child and mother of his child life. For some this will involve trying to use their child to pay off their debt. Your future spouse is close to a few people on their dad's side but not really. The mother was an active parent protecting their child against the father too. The mother in law will just want their child to be happy. So she does have a few exceptions but nothing over the top. Just someone willing to understand their child.Or while the mother in law has been praying, going to temples or church in hopes that their child will find someone that will take good care of her child. She will think of you as someone that makes up for what her child lacks. So for example her child can be more of dreamer at times, overthink and tend to overwork themselves. She will be happy to see someone that will be able to help their to relax, be on the more practical side. For others it will be a reverse situation where you are the more emotional person and more of a dreamer.
Mother in law knows that you care deeply about everyone around you. You will have people randomly tell you their secrets or just other deep stuff someone passing away in their family. People see you as a natural healer in general. That's something the mother in law will see that you are someone that deeply introspective and good intuitive skills. She also loves how expressive you are with your face. The mother is easily able to tell how you really feel and she will see more casual side of you even if you try to have more of a cooler side to you. Your mother in law will either just see or hear from others how your really are at home , as an example in your pjs eating in bed , messy bed hair , unshaven acne face ,etc / just a more personal glimpse of you than the more perfect side you show in public your mother law also sees you as someone just beginning their career as you still have a good career, but they see you as someone who likes the youngest having to take care of others and not be taken as seriously compare to your peers. She will also see you as someone who is busy and stress out. She knows the amount work you put in and bring you food, bring you things like that. A breath of fresh of air I'm hearing that from her that she will love you because other people she met that her child has dated was more model like in not wanting to eat her food, or just act to good for everything more of superficial connection.
She just sees you as just being so real not boujee and like a mother to you and know exactly how you feel at the moment. The father in law relationship, sees you as a confident person, dresses in bold way and someone curvy a bit sensual. That's also their expectations of wanting their offspring to just in up with an attrativce person. The father will see you as someone who is nervous around them also it is a subtle tension between the two of you.
Pile three
Your spouse doesn't really have a good relationship with either of their parents. They were raised by other family members or people like family. Still, from what I get from their mom's side of the family they are treated as the outcast / illegitimate child the family. Their mom's side of the family is rich and has a generation of wealth. (Old money). Then on father's side it shows that he was never around or not even know who their father is. The mother in law will think of you as a good mother or father. As I got the mother archetype. They see you as kind, nurturing, and loving. They love hard working you are. The father in law will think you are a caring person. They think you can be demanding and see you as arrogant with them.
Pile four
Your spouse's relationship with their mother is one, and they were taking care of their mom. Generally, the main household earner Their mother has mood swings and almost feels like two different people. They had a good relationship.
With their father-son relationship, he sees his child as a warrior. Good disposition, willing to learn from their mistakes.
Their mother-in-law will think you are idealists, and they will think you aren't realistic enough. The mother-in-law will be shading you at times and thinking you don't know enough common knowledge, but later they will see you as a fun person to be around, and it will also be them just wanting to spend more time with your spouse.
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KH4 First Trailer
This is the first KH4-related translation post I've done (nearly two years late ;lakjsdf my how the time flies), and hopefully there will be many more to come. I'll be focusing on the dialogue and text in the trailer and not so much on the camera angles, character expressions, etc. this time around just because I want to keep the focus on the translations.
Here’s a general key for the kind of analysis I like to do:
JP: Official Japanese Dialogue
EN: Official English Dialogue
TR: My Translation (usually more literal and thus more stilted than the official English version. I’m not using natural-sounding English in order to stick as close to the Japanese versions of the lines as possible for the purpose of analysis)
Notes: things I found interesting, grammatical points, extra thoughts, etc.
One last note: media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Every work of art must be viewed through the cultural lens of the people who made it. Kingdom Hearts, for all its ties to Disney, is still very much a Japanese game, so it should be analyzed in light of that.
With that in mind, let’s continue.
JP 自分が望む結末ではなかったと絶望するのならー
EN If this isn't the ending you desired—if it brings you despair—
TR If (this) wasn't the ending you hoped for—if (you) feel despair—
Notes: Sigurd is apparently the character saying these next few lines.
The word for "ending" here, ketsumatsu, is an interesting word choice. It is often used in the context of stories (though it also has other uses), which fits really well with how KH4 will play around with the concept of reality vs. unreality. So on a meta level it's like, "If you didn't like how KH3 ended, if you didn't like how Sora ended up, then help him escape Quadratum."
Also, the word the official English version translates as "desired," nozomu, can mean "desire, want, wish for, hope for," and it's an antonym of zetsubō, the word translated "despair." So there's this nice poetic contrast going on between hope and despair in this bit in the Japanese version.
JP 他の世界に退場すればいい
EN then leave this world for another
TR —(then you) should leave for another world.
Notes: This particular word for "leave," taijō, can be used for leaving venues, stadiums, parking lots, rooms, sports games, etc. It can also be used for actors exiting the stage. Take a look at definition #1, which translated states, "Leaving venues, stadiums etc." and #2, which translated states, "Actors etc. leaving the stage" (Source):
I thought that was really interesting, because using a word with these specific connotations makes me wonder if this is more of that meta commentary, this time about how we should direct Sora the character to leave Quadratum if we so desire. Sure, the general sense of "leave" or "exit" is the main meaning here, but I always get so intrigued by word choice and all the connotations a word has.
Also, the phrasing isn't exactly the same, but there is a euphemism in Japanese for the place your soul goes when you die, takai, that uses the same kanji as hoka no sekai that we see in "another world" here, it just uses the onyomi pronunciation instead of the kunyomi pronunciation for "another" hoka/tai and has no no particle.
Googling hoka no sekai brought up a lot of images about parallel worlds and the isekai genre, so that's probably the most accurate connotation given Sora's world traveling adventures thus far, but I still thought that was an interesting tidbit, even if it's a complete reach on my end. Like sure Sora can go to other worlds, but he's still dead, so he's still going to more places where he's dead and can't go home where he'd be fully alive.
JP 選択肢は無限にあるはずだー
EN Your options are endless.
TR (Your) options/choices should be endless/limitless—
Notes: I really like how the English version contrasts "ending" with "endless." You don't like the ending Sora got in KH3? Your options for taking him to other worlds are "endless." The Japanese version has this interesting tidbit too where the speaker conveys an expectation. He says hazu, which means "expected," "should be," "must be." So he expects Sora's options are endless, but it has a slightly different nuance than if he'd just said they are endless.
JP 心は魂に宿り 魂は運命によって在るべき場所へ導かれる
EN The heart resides within the soul which in turn is guided by fate to its rightful place
TR (The) heart dwells in (the) soul, (and the) soul is guided by fate to its rightful place (lit. the place it should be).
Notes: There's not really any difference between the official English version and my translation. It's just interesting to break it down. For whatever reason the "rightful place" of the soul has the verb of existence for inanimate objects (aru) instead of the one for animate objects (iru). Not sure if that's a set phrase or if the soul in this context would be considered an inanimate object (time to go down a rabbithole about animacy in Japanese).
This bit also kinda reminded me of how Xehanort talked in KH3 when he was recounting the cycle of light and darkness. The language has a very "mythological"/storytelling feel to me, which makes sense given whoever is saying these lines is talking about fate, destiny, the nature of the universe, etc. And then the floating text in the darkness also reminds me of the Dive into the Heart sequences with the disembodied voice as well, so it could also be a reference to that.
JP 選択は再び委ねられる
EN The choice is yours once more.
TR (The) choice is left (to you) once more./(The) choice is entrusted (to you) once more.
Notes: Once again, this bit of text seems very meta. It feels like it's addressed to the fans, given how we're the ones who will be controlling Sora in KH4. And of course the image shows his chess piece with his crown symbol on it, so the implication is that Sora's heart will be the one guiding him once more, and his heart will be guided by fate.
JP あなたはこの世界に来て7日間 ずっと眠っていたの
EN You've been asleep since you arrived in this world seven days ago.
TR You came to this world seven days ago (and you)'ve been sleeping (the) whole time.
Notes: I don't love my translation because nanokakan more literally means "a period of seven days," but yeah I think I get the gist across.
Strelitzia refers to Sora as anata here when the norm is to refer to other people by their names in Japanese, even when addressing them directly, so either she doesn't know his name yet or she's being very polite, almost distant. She also ends her declaration with no, likely to indicate she's offering more of an explanation (it also makes her sound pretty cute and feminine).
Also, as I'm going through this trailer again, I'm reminded that Sora doesn't talk at all. He has the battle grunts during his fight against the Darkside, but he doesn't have any dialogue. I just thought that was interesting, because Xehanort commented on Sora not having a voice in Melody of Memory as well. Somehow that also told Xehanort where Sora's heart is located (foreshadowing for this game I suppose). I wonder if Sora will be similarly voiceless at first in KH4 or if he just is for this trailer for dramatic effect because Nomura knows everyone wants to hear him speak.
And then of course I have to mention the significance of Sora being asleep in Quadratum for seven days. Seven has a lot of significance in the KH universe, given how there are seven guardians of light. Seven is also the length of a week, and it's a number that has connotations of wholeness and completion in certain cultures.
JP ここは クァッドラトゥムー
EN This is Quadratum—
TR (This is) Quadratum—
Notes: Not really anything to note here other than the gorgeous graphics, how Sora doesn't look at all like his usual cheerful self (no smile to be found), and the colors in Quadratum seem very warm/brown/earth tones/"real" and not super bright and colorful like in the "main" KH universe.
JP 生者の世界ではあるけれどー
EN It's a world full of life—
TR (It's) a world of living people/the living but—
Notes: Seija is translated as "full of life" in the official English version, but it more literally means "living people" or "the living." So Strelitzia is pointing out that all around them are living people and yet, for her and Sora, it's still a world of death because she and Sora should be dead.
JP 私たちにとっては“死の世界”ってことになるみたい
EN but for you and I, it's similar to an "afterworld," I suppose.
TR —for us, (it) seems like it's "a world of death."
Notes: This is where I wish the English version was closer to the Japanese version. "World of death" or "world of the dead" would've been a closer translation, and I'm not sure why it wasn't used (perhaps to avoid mentioning the dreaded "d" word). I do like the pun-like quality of "afterworld," combining "afterlife" and the oft-used-in-the-KH-universe "world," and since the translators have access to information I don't about the game's lore, I can't say whether crucial lore has been lost in translation, but I wanted to point out the difference here.
Also, the grammar pattern Strelitzia uses here, koto ni naru, indicates something that's outside of her and Sora's control. This being an afterlife of sorts for the two of them was decided by factors beyond their control, in other words. She also uses mitai to indicate her speculation/observation.
JP だがー
EN However—
TR However—
Notes: This is back to Sigurd speaking, and very ominously so.
JP 一度退場すれば元の世界に戻れると思うなー
EN if you do leave this world behind, don't expect to return to the one from which you came—
TR —once (you) leave, don't think (you) can go back to (your) original world—
Notes: This ends on a rather ominous note. Again the word taijō is used here for "leave" much like earlier in the trailer. I remember this dialogue when I first watched this trailer because it was such a wham line. What do you mean Sora can't go home? He can go to other worlds but he can't go home? What will it take to bring him home then? Something pretty drastic from the sounds of it.
Also, I like the formal wording of the official English version. Sigurd sounds like he's from a different time.
Then of course this next bit cuts to Donald and Goofy, searching for ways to find Sora presumably:
JP どこにいるんだろう？
EN I wonder where he is.
TR (I) wonder where (he) is.
Notes: Nothing really to talk about, just that the "I" and "he" is implied in Japanese (Japanese tends to drop pronouns in places they would be required in English because there's enough info provided by context, verb conjugations, etc. to figure out who the speaker is talking about).
JP 手がかり見つかるといいね
EN I don't know, but I sure hope he can help.
TR I hope (we) can find (a) clue.
Notes: A bit of a difference here, Goofy is focused more on finding a clue in Japanese whereas in English he's hoping "he" (Hades, presumably) can help.
JP おい
EN Hey!
TR Hey!
Notes: Hades' Japanese VA has a very distinctive voice, and so right from this word you know it's him a;lsdkjf and he's as snarky and blunt as ever lol.
JP どこへ行くんだ
EN Just where do you think you're going?
TR (Just) where (do you think you)'re going?
Notes: I love the sass and snark of the English translation, and it captures the vibes of the Japanese version well (Hades uses ~nda at the end of the sentence to indicate he wants more information out of them). They found Hades, but now they'll actually have to deal with Hades...
And that's what I have for now! I am curious about what promo material will be released next and what new tidbits we'll have to speculate on. Fingers crossed we get more info around the anniversary this year!
The Japanese trailer is here.
The English trailer is here.
#kingdom hearts#kh#kh4#kingdom hearts 4#sora#strelitzia#kh sora#sigurd#hades#donald#donald duck#goofy#kh analysis#phoenix translates#phoenix-downer#kh4 spoilers#kingdom hearts 4 spoilers#long post
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Nobara has so much wasted potential
Oh the jjk queen of wasted potential and what could of been one of the best female leads in shonen but dam did that fail so badly.
Hot take but Iam not fully against nobara actually being dead and not coming back but if that happens/ if it was geges intentions I don't think he did it well considering that characters like maki and Gojo just forgot about her. Her impact in the story also seems to have lessened significantly and we would be lucky if yuji thinks about her whereas we have nothing from megumi's side of the story.
Nobara first starts of as a character that is quite ambitious and ignorant. This can be explained from the fact that she comes from a quite,secluded and small village, a village that she hated the traditions of and felt somewhat trapped in. These feelings are what influenced her desire to travel and go to the city. She got the opportunity to travel and study Jujutsu in Tokyo Japan and took it. She then chose to enjoy life and create new memories leaving the village behind. That doesn't mean that she forgot about fumi or saori rather she is reminded of them through her Jujutsu work.
Gege is great at presenting nobara as an ambitious teenage girl who just does whatever she pleases. There are multiple scenes where we see nobara casually vibing with itadori and heck being a bit bossy (a she should) and just having overall fun around her friends. Nobara is very protective of those that she cares about and this is further emphasised when she is shown to care and like maki whereas she hates and dislikes mai. When momo is describing the stuff that mai had to go through she dismisses it saying that she doesn't truly care for it because she doesn't like Mai but we see her have a talk with yuji before the fight saying that they should help maki. We see nobara being sympathetic over what maki had to go through and heck even trash on zenin traditions yet Mai doesn't get this treatment from nobara. I personally find this to be an interesting writing choice, it shows just how protective nobara is of the people that she cares but how cruel (it's not the right word but similar to it) she can be to others that she doesn't care for.
I have mixed feelings when it comes to the nobara and momo interaction. Momo, a second year reveals the reality of the jutusu society to nobara. Due to nobara's closed of upbringing and her naivety she does come of as ignorant in this situation. Momo talks about the inequality and misogyny plaguing Jujutsu society and how that has affected both maki and Mai. Nobara does acknowledge the inequality and harshness that maki faces and she also acknowledges Mai's yet she states that she can't bring herself to be empathetic or really care for mai considering that she hates her. Nobara's response to this situation is quite ignorant but it is to be expected after all she is a 16 year old who is sheltered to the truth of Jujutsu society by her late grandma who was rightfully against her joining jujustu high. So she makes this into a woman Vs men type of thing and her response is how she loves herself and does whatever and whenever. In my opinion this is an alright and flawed response, it could of foreshadowed that this is something she needs to work on. Gege could of used nobara's character as one that tries to fully understand the idea of feminism and not the heavily teenage marketed girl boss feminism that she seems to take on board and care for, yet he doesn't.
I love that nobara has such a strong character, she isn't afraid to show what she is thinking and she will do whatever, whenever while also deeply caring for those close to her. That doesn't mean she doesn't have her own flaws, she is heavily ignorant in certain areas and can come if as unsympathetic towards those she doesn't like it care for like Mai.
The idea that nobara cares deeply for others is displayed throughout the series especially through her ideology and understanding of life. Nobara only has enough space in her heart to care for those that she likes and views her life as a bus ride where there are seats for people she cares for and they live life with her. She says this to yuji after they defeat the painting womb brothers and we see a clash between yuji and nobara's ideals. Nobara however states that some stuff that happens in her life are out of her control and that there are people who come in and intrude brining their own chair into her life and joining, becoming a core member of her life like yuji itadori. This ideology comes up again before her 'death' where we see her surrounded by loved ones sitting on chairs but also see many empty chairs which could symbolise how many other people she has a space to care for in her heart or how the chairs will never be filled with people considering her death.
Nobara will do anything for the people that she cares for. This can be seen where she is willing to keep megumi's secret from yuji so he isn't hurt by the knowledge that it's sukunas fault for the painting womb incident or how she seems to fully want to murder mahito and says that she hates him for hurting her loved ones aka Yuji. Nobara has also been seen protecting maki and being very sympathetic towards her. Also in shibuya nobara was heavily concerned for nitta and Gojo after hearing what happened.
I also love the platonic relationship between nobara and itadori. How they met for two weeks and his death had a huge impact on her or how she got violently upset at how momo was dehumanising yuji and labeling him a curse. This is also reciprocated by yuji who full on started to sob after her death, how she was one of the reasons why he was going to get revenge or how he felt guilty for having fun with Hana and thinking about how he might be replacing nobara. their platonic relationship is everything to me !!!!! And I love seeing them goof of together.
That is to say that I think nobara and megumi's relationship is heavily underdeveloped on the other hand. Yes, they do have their moments but they are few to none. I admit that nobara and megumi got a chance to bond after yujis death and they seemed to do that, they also had their moments in chapter 64 with osawa and trying to figure out if yuji has a gf, megumi also trusted her enough to tell her about his theory of the attacks being sukunas fault and he trusted her to keep it a secret. However, other than that they don't have many moments which is a shame.
Now there are two ways nobara's character arc could of went. Both of them could of been beautifully written if gege actually tried to focus on her, however I do prefer option 2.
She actually has a canonically confirmed death in shibuya. Nobara would be the first jjk character to actually have the "perfect death" well this is from nobara's view anyway. From nobara's view she has done everything that she wanted to do, she got to explore and do what she wanted, yes there are things that she didn't get to achieve like meeting up with fumi and saori again but most of her life she did what she wanted to do and that was enough for her. Her death can also be the first death that doesn't actually curse anyone, heck many characters died and their last words harmed a character one way or another even if nanami never intended for his death to harm yuji. It still burdened him since he took nanami's pain and he vowed to take on said burden. Nobara on the other hand only wanted yuji to tell everyone that it wasn't that bad, she had a good life that was cut at a bad time. Nobara's death also could of been a parallel to haibara and representing the death of innocence within the younger generation of Jujutsu society, her death also makes her more tragic. Nobara never got to grow up, she never got to do what she wanted to do or she never never never got to develop out of her less desirable characteristics like her ignorance and developing a better understanding of feminism. Nobara also never got to become a strong sorcerer and so much more. Her death creates a what if scenario for the readers where we know that none of it will happen because she is dead and confirmed to be so. If her death was cannonically confirmed by gege we would of also gotten a scene where all of her Jujutsu sorcerer friends actually get to have a proper reaction to it and where yuji can at least share her last words to the others. I always hated how her death was basically unconfirmed and she just ended up being forgotten about with no one including her closest friends like maki not having any reaction over it. We got something in chapter 143 but it wasn't even a confirmation and honestly didn't serve nobara any justice. Also a cannonically confirmed death would of made ch 210 where yuji is worried for replacing nobara more impactful and would of given us a proper insight to how yuni is grieving nobara's death, how he thinks thay he is being selfish enjoying himself while nobara is dead and he couldn't do anything, heck he didnt even manage to kill mahito. Also, we would of gotten a proper burial or had a little sentimental scene where Jujutsu high/ nobara's friends make a little memorial for her.
She manages to come back and joins the fight later on. Iam all for nobara waking up after shibuya and developing RCT when she needed it the most considering that in dire situations someone has developed RCT like higumara. Nobara manages to come back and considering that she didn't get the perfect death because she came back is ironic and I really like it. Now not many people know that she came back aside from a handful at the beginning like shoko. She then tries to join back with the others yet shoko encourages her to act from the shadows and just overall act from behind. Nobara witnesses yaga's death and hears about yuta being sent to kill yuji. She then decides to go and explore what the higher ups are doing and if theres a way she can help and get Gojo out. During that mission she meets Yuki tsumoko and they have a talk, nobara talks about her CT and Yuki talks about her studies of the soul. I like to think that they would of developed a mentor and student relationship with nobara being a higher up spy and sharing information to Yuki when needed. Nobara heard of the culling games and sees what's happening from the outside, she hears of what happend to megumi and tsumiki and feels bad for them. she ends up leaving the higher ups and going back to her hometown hoping that her grandma maybe left something that can help her or she can find out something by going back to her roots. She enters and goes back home, there she reunites with her parents and they tell her what her grandma was doing and the full extent to what the straw doll technique can do especially if embedded with RCT. She takes what she finds from her grandma and makes her way back to Jujutsu high after learning that Gojo has been unsealed. As she travels she meets many reincarnated sorcerers and learns from them various things like how Kenny managed to bring them back or what he plans to do or what sukuna is up to in general. With all of this information she goes back to Jujutsu high and by the time she arrives it's a day before the battle or the day of the battle. Nobara has a reunion with her friends and informs them of what she learnt. With the last finger in gojos possession both yuta and nobara half the finger. Yuta consumes it to develop sukunas CT and nobara is going to use it to weaken sukuna and attack the soul with itadori. She is also helping shoko with the injured by using a bit of her RCT. When arriving back she learns of yukis death and the truth as to what fully happend when she was gone. Throughout her journeys nobara ends up learning of different things and honestly has her views challenged many times. Her time working for the higher ups with a scar on her eye has made it difficult and she comes to understanding of what momo was talking about and learns how truly corrupt and unfair Jujutsu society is.
I love nobara she genuinely had so much potential and I hate how the narrative treats her. Heck I don't care if she is dead or alive gege could of and should of given her better than this!!!
#jjk critical#jjk manga#jjk#jjk analysis#nobara deserves better#nobara kugisaki#jjk nobara#jujutsu nobara#i dont mind her dead but the aftermath of that is done dirty#theres two ways her thing could of went and gege flopped both#still waiting for a nobara comeback#jjk meta#jujutsu kaisen#lowkey she should of came back#rewrite i guess#rewrite#jjk rant#jjk rambles#jjk ramblings
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I've never done a fic rec list before but A Meal to Remember seemed like a good opportunity to start. In no particular order.
One of our reportes is missing by angstosaur. IWTV crossover with The Newsreader. Rated M. Louis/Lestat/Armand, Helen/Dale, Dale/Tim, Helen&Tim.
Louis sees Dale Jennings on the News and travels all the way to Australia to figure out what the hell Lestat is up to now. Obviously the logical way to go about this is break into the guys appartment and kidnap him.
This is just the best thing I've read in ages. The epic clash of firmly rooted in reality Newsreader and 'consequences aren't real if you're immortal' vampire world should not work as well as it does and it's a real joy to read. I particularly loved how beutifully the relationship between Tim and Helen was handled, as well as Louis getting to know Dale and seeing a lot of similarities between them I didn't expect to be there vs the chaos thrupple at peak insanity being generally horny and incompetent. It also has one of the greatest entrances of a character I've come across in a long time.
Renaissance by siahatha. Post canon. Rated M; Louis/Lestat
Louis and Lestat trying to make their relationship work in the modern day after Lestat spend a few decades in therapy. Louis still has some ways to go in that regard.
Deals a lot with Lestat's mania and Louis eating disorder. Also involves some genderfuckery.
Something about this one just really grabbed me. There are a lot of really cute moments that just show really well why Loustat are so great when they work and the heavy moments scatch that itch of 'why can't they just talk to each other' by putting them in a place where they can do that while still being true to their characters.
Practical Ethics by @prouvaireafterdark. Human AU. Rated E; Armand/Daniel, Louis/Lestat.
The famous Ethics Professor Louis fic. I tend to think of it as the Philosophy Student Armand fic but, eh, semantics.
So much fun to read and such a great set up. Strikes the perfect balance of keeping the characters who they are, especially with regards to Armand and his trauma, while toning the insanity to levels that wouldn't get them institutionalised in the real world.
And what I thought was gone by @nalyra-dreaming. Reunion fic. Rated E; Louis/Lestat.
Basically the part of TVL between Lestat putting out Rock videos and Louis coming to him from Louis perspective, set the amc universe. And then the reunion.
Nalyra has such a great way of getting into these character's heads. The journey from Louis thinking Lestat is still dead to realising he isn't to getting his hands on the videos and the book to finding him to them talking things out is so beautiful and emotional.
The Human Perspective by @bandedbulbussnarfblat. Part 1 of The Human Condition series. Rated T; Daniel/Armand.
Armand talks to Daniel about a mortal he once loved, whose memories he had to take so he could live a life.
Another one that hit me right in the feels. The longing! The dramatic irony! Having Daniel comment as an outsider on his own relationship is such a clever thing to do and very well executed.
Reformation by verseau.
Human AU. Rated E. Louis/Lestat.
Just Louis and Lestat being Louis and Lestat really. And Claudia. But make it human.
That is really the best compliment I can give: If those two were modern day humans this is what their relationship would be like: chaotic, toxic, destructive, co-dependent, full of issues, hang ups, addictions and love bordering on insanity. And brilliantly done, too. Pretty much all the trauma is acounted for and makes sense (in a human context), we get differnt POVs all perfectly in character and each giving interesting insights into their family and the different issues they run into over the course of their relationship.
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Weird question for you, non-royal. How do you feel about people (and I'm assuming its mainly us American people) planting a tree/buying a plot of land to be "given"a title? I'm on Scotland travel group and a few people said locals HATE that. I can see irritation if one expects people to call them by the title but in my view, it's just charitable giving vs harmful. But I'm American and our tendency to "pay more for better" may have made me jaded.
It's a great question :) If someone buys it as a gift for a friend and they laugh to themselves and move on with their lives, I can't stop them. If they bump into a Scottish person and announce to them that they have a "Scottish title" that's an issue. There's a few things:
What you are purchasing is the right to use their trademark. So it's like if I trademarked Lady of Jessicatown I could charge people to be able to use that. That's it. 1) You're not buying a title; partly because this company has no authority to hand out titles that actually mean anything but also because even if they were giving you the right to style yourself as Laird or Lady or whatever, that's not actually a title. Laird is basically a descriptor that shows you own land. If you've ever watched a period drama and heard an English character being referred to as a squire, that's what Laird means. It's as much a title as Mr or Mrs. and 2) you also aren't actually buying the land. They can't sell the same plot of land to multiple people, but it can't be legally registered so you don't own it. I'm sure you can imagine if I waltzed over to the US and said I'm not from the US but I bought a title and some land in your country when in reality you knew that was bollocks, it would annoy you!
Being "charitable" doesn't make something good. I personally cannot point to any discernible benefit these companies have provided. I also think if you really want to support the Scottish environment, just give to charity. If you step back and think about it it's someone looking at another country and only giving money to a community project so they could get what they believe to be land and a title in exchange, in a deal brokered by someone who isn't from the country either (the two biggest companies were set up by people from England and Hong Kong). That is absurd!! So that's why I don't buy when people claim it's for charitable reasons. It's because they want what they think is a title, and the charity part makes it feel ethical. If it was about charity they'd do some basic research and find out within a few minutes these companies don't really provide much benefit and are not respected by environmental organisations or local communities. Which should be enough.
There is a very painful history around land in the Highlands, where most of these companies have land. I won't go into too much detail but from the mid 18th to the mid 19th century there was a period we refer to as the Highland Clearances. Due to a combination of factors - the agricultural revolution and the desire to wipe out Highland culture - landowners set about forcibly removing the local farming communities who'd worked on their land for generations. People had their homes burned to the ground by wealthy landowners, tens of thousands of people were forced from their communities, and lots of people died because they had no food or shelter. This is still an issue today in some ways as Scotland has a real problem with private land ownership. About half of Scottish land is owned by around 400 people. Many of them are absentee landlords - they own huge plots of land but only come up to go hunting a few times a year. They also often don't protect the farmers who rent their lands, just like they didn't in the Highland Clearances. A lot of them do real damage to the community: demolishing homes, cutting the land their tenants have for farming, poor environmental policies. And these "title" companies have to come in and buy huge swathes of land in order to be able to pretend to sell you some of that land. So because of historical and present day issues, there is an innate cultural sensitivity around land ownership in the Highlands which these souvenir plots tap into.
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I got tagged in a fandom meme! I haven't done one of these in a lot of years, so thanks @endless-season
I'm putting my disappointing answers under the cut, so you can enjoy this photo of a snail instead and scroll along.
3 ships you like: I'm... not the type to talk about that... They exist.
first ship ever: Oh man, no idea. Something from Greek mythology maybe? Or from one of those compulsory readings in middle school? Maybe earlier?
last song you heard: This. Also in French. It's apparently based on an actual love curse song and I can't stop listening to it.
favourite childhood book: Either a two-volume book on Greek mythology or the Mary Poppins series. I received the Greek mythology book when I was about 6 and it was the first "serious" book I managed to read all by myself (I'd only read some Bamse beforehand). I used to like the first volume, the one on gods, better than the second one which focused on the heroes, which I found sort of boring. I wanted to read about cool powers and the like, not guys doing things. I lent the books to a friend a few years ago and haven't seen them since, but I recently leafed through the volumes at another friend's house (every kid has them), and noticed my tastes have sort of reversed now.
As for Mary Poppins... I still remember that frustrating Midsummer Eve volume which created more mysteries instead of answering longstanding questions. Immortal Mary? ??? Also that Halloween chapter where I would mentally replace the park and lane with the park across the street and my own street. My mental image of the MP world was half whatever I read, half my own home. (I only watched the Disney movie much, much later and found it rather disappointing.)
currently reading: - A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I had forgotten how verbose he is! I appreciate the irony/dry humour but there are so many unneeded passages. It's also quite quotable, in fact it contains my favourite quote ever that I learnt of before knowing the book.
Alamut by Vladimir Bartol. It's ok so far, I'm only ~70 pages in, so I can't draw a conclusion, but I can't say I'm awed or anything. I'd be tempted to blame the translation, but it might also be my expectations (cool assassin action yeah!) vs reality (newcomer learns about stuff in painstaking detail).
The House on the Borderland by W. H. Hodgson. Literally just started it, I'm looking forward to being spooked. I've only read two other things by Hodgson, The Voice in the Night, which I can't remember for the life of me, and The Night Land, which I read the only time I worked in an office and I still can't tell whether reading that book or working in an office was worse. I Very Much Dislike working in an office if you couldn't tell.
currently watching: The Last Kingdom. I quite like it, despite the biker vikings and the ridiculous premise that everything in (future) England worked thanks to 1 (one) guy™ and some REALLY unneeded character changes (historical power couple turned into lil bitch husband vs long suffering wife who fucks the protag of course). Can't talk yet about the writing quality after Netflix took over (started season 4), but I do appreciate the better costumes and accessories. People finally wear rings, necklaces, brooches, armbands etc! Wew. I do not appreciate the Middle Ages filter even though some colour does manage to make its way on screen from time to time. I also miss the battle tactics, but well, as long as the character interactions are nice...
currently consuming: Coffee in a coffee appropriate cup I randomly found in the kitchen. Where do all these cups even come from?
currently craving: Infinite time to read what I want to read and enough money and warm sunny weather to travel. I miss Naples! My love 🥺
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Anyway Another End is great. I’ve reread it multiple times today and I smiled all the way through everytime. I’m blown away by how substantial it ended up being for a free booklet.
It’s mainly focused on St. Lucia which makes sense because it’s doing the job of wrapping up the plotline that was left unresolved at the end of the anime, because GouSotsu’s scope as a story is way bigger than that (and I doubt GouMeguri is going to be much different in that regard), especially with Satoko understandably rejecting the idea of ever going back there in the last episode? I mean, we did have Mei doing an alternate, more wholesome take on the St. Lucia stuff but it makes sense Ryukishi wanted to do one himself. I’m glad we have multiple takes because they’re both good in their own unique way.
It’s basically a more traditionally romantic take on their high school life rather than the one rooted in betrayal and trauma that we see in the anime and manga. It’s true that Satoko is vengeful at first and her quest to become the best in St. Lucia is motivated by her desire to take Rika’s happiness away after being betrayed, but those feelings of resentment, revenge and betrayal gradually evolve into more of a friendly rivalry the more they compete because they’re both enjoying the competition and how it reminds them of the days they spent in Hinamizawa together.
It’s interesting how witch Satoko and witch Rika (or Lambda and Bern if you wanna go there) are an allegory of sorts for travelling to a world of their own making where they can be together forever. It feels very reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena’s ending where Anthy and Utena leave behind the cyclical world of Ohtori Academy which is a dead end world to be together in their own one and have their desired future.
I also appreciate Ryukishi re-examining his opinion on what a person can do after being granted limitless power other than going completely crazy and abusing it. It’s good to have an alternate take on that where the witch side isn’t portrayed in a negative way?
A looper’s biggest flaw has always been that experiencing so many realities always ends up warping their mindset in such a way that they start perceiving reality in a completely different way from the average person and they become very detached as a result. The answer to this issue in Saikoroshi and Sotsu was “give up on being a witch and live as a human” and while that may be the preferable solution, Another End is all about how being a looper isn’t necessarily a lonely existence because if you manage to find a person who’s similar enough to you, you can create a universe together, where you’re not alone because it’s the two of you, and you can find happiness and fulfillment together (which is an answer that was always lingering in the background of GouSotsu and GouMeguri).
I love that we’re leaning into Satoko and Rika’s parallels as loopers. I’ve always argued that the decision to make Satoko into a looper in sequels is good because it gives Rika someone who’s capable of relating and empathizing with her experiences as one (and basically puts them both on an even field) and who’s better for that than the one character who’s always been her narrative foil.
I’m also SUPER obsessed with the stuff about two people creating a universe together. “Only the same thought shared by two people can create a universe” YES AND THAT THOUGHT IS LOVE. It legit feels like a gay marriage allegory especially with all the blessings in the last pages. The chandelier is their giant marriage crown.
Satoko has always struggled because of her queerness. It’s an issue of childhood vs adulthood, and that fear that she can’t continue her lesbian relationship with Rika because she’s expected to grow up and get married to man. Which is part of the reason her motivation is always centered on the idea of rejecting growing up altogether. It’s always been part of the subtext of GouSotsu and GouMeguri. It’s also practically spelled out in Mei. BUT SHE PRACTICALLY GETS LESBIAN MARRIED TO RIKA HERE AND THEY’RE GOING TO BE TOGETHER FOR ALL ETERNITY.
They literally hug AND nuzzle their noses together while giggling and talking about how they need to go somewhere where they can be alone. THEY’RE GOING SOMEWHERE PRIVATE TO KISS AND YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE BTW.
Also. Are we going to talk about the fact that that some of Satoko and Rika’s followers ship them. Like literally. One of them even tells Satoko her stubborness towards Rika is love and describes them as “two intertwined lilies”. Lilies are symbolic of love between two women. They are the symbol of yuri. Ryukishi definitely knew what he was doing with this. If anyone still thinks Satorika isn’t canon after reading this I’m afraid they’re beyond help.
I’d love to have a take on all this from the human side in Meguri but I’m also in love with this. GouSotsu Another End is fantastic.
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i saw another ask you got asking about your expectations vs reality with astral travel and i was wondering the same except with your experience with faeries?
i guess the biggest thing is that i hadn't really been planning to work with faeries to begin with? then it just sort of happened without my meaning to and fast forward to 2023, here i am
the sight runs on one side the family so interactions with the other side and the good neighbors weren't really strange. usual tricks like hiding the remote or calling my name so i'd go ask my mom what she wanted with her swearing she never called me. or even spookier were the times she wasn't in the house at all. then there was a time that both my and my youngest brother were both being tormented by some entities in the house until mom2 handled it when i was in my junior year of high school i think?
then i just forced myself to not notice these things that by the time i started looking into witchcraft and seeing so many branches of it, that it didn't really cross my mind to pursue hedge witchery of faerie witchcraft
back then the idea of potentially getting lost in the astral and never finding my way back seemed scary. and there was a LOT of fear mongering about avoiding the fae entirely that it made me decide not to
but somehow i got pulled into working with spirits anyway, i can't really remember how it happened it just did. from there, so did a desire to astral once i started reading stories of people's adventures about it. then came the research about faeries, more in-depth this time and looking back on some old experiences with new eyes
some were fae, some were definitely ghosts and i went back and even read about how some of my fav entities in folklore were faeries too. so outside of perusing folklore wiki articles and books were looking at the fae witch tags of tumblr and learning about other people's experiences
that pretty much kickstarted my desire to actually want to work with faeries even though i made no move to do anything beyond research. i pretty much wanted to be 100% down on etiquette and faerie species before doing that since i was worried about pissing something off
i've always been interested in fae like selkies, banshee and dullahan but it strangely never crossed my mind in the research phase to pursue working with them. it was just a desire, i think i thought my first experience with fae work would be with brownies since i'd been told as far as introductory interactions with faeries that was something pretty name and recommended by other fae workers. same with flower pixies. and i'd overall been told that working with seelie fae was the better option since unseelie fae could be quite hostile
before that i think i was imagining that my experience with the folk would be more... transactional? i'd leave offerings, they'd help with spells here and there and occasionally i'd see some signs of fae activity in my home. something along those lines since it sounded similar to what everyone else was going through, then again it could be that that was all of their practice they were sharing
i wasn't expecting the intimate relationship i'd have with the folk i became so close to either. everyone's relationship with the faeries they know are different, special and unique to them. the deeper you go into it, the more that's true. i've also found when it comes to such intimate fae work where you're actually learning and conversing with these folk that you slowly become aware of what is and isn't okay to share even without them saying anything
so i can understand now why certain things about faeries you might find online sound so similar when looking at fae work experiences. you can't always share the more intimate details about your practice
i guess i also thought that my work with fae would be more general to my neighborhood? i've interacted with local fae like the hair toucher, even met one of her friend's a small pixie that was from the lake court. but honestly the large bulk of my interactions with fae come down to selkies, banshee and dullahan
my first experience with faeries wasn't anything concerning house fae or floral fae though, it was selkies. i won't go into all the details about how i met the pod i worked with but because of the unique way we became acquainted, we're more akin to a familial bond than anything else. like i said previously, selkies are pretty family-oriented, once you're in you're in
there's nothing transactional about that sort of relationship. i was always fascinated with selkies, like i said, so when the realization crossed that i could interact with them if i wanted to try i was still pretty much at a stump. gotta say so that rather than going out to find selkies, selkies found me- by accident. but a happy accident
and while i can't really go into the specifics of it, the relationship i have with death fae is quite unique. i've never been scared of banshee or dullahan. but like with selkies i wasn't really sure how to interact with them or show i was interested in working with them besides a one off conversation i had with a banshee back in 2018 thanks to a spirit friend of mine introducing us
it wasn't until i connected with the morrigan, my goddess, that i started seeing an increase of death fae in my life, acting as a sort of gateway into learning more about them and getting to interact with them. learning more about death magic and seeing the cycle of life and death through their eyes
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Idealistic Vs. Realistic: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
Each person has a unique personality, perspective, and set of experiences that make them different from everyone else. We come from different families, have different ethnic backgrounds and cultures, and have different personal experiences. Likewise, we want different things from life and different things from each other. We have different dreams, goals, and expectations.
In a literary sense, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe and “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” by Sir Walter Raleigh are two connected but contradictory poems that are prominent from the Renaissance literary period. Even though two works refer to the same subjects, they have different functions as one poses a question, while the other answers it. Forby, two perspectives were driven into conflicting ideas where readers may have realization of their point of preference.
The two poems are unquestionably promising pieces of literature and I think readers should not view the points as a conflict between the authors themselves. In my perspective, we can have our preferences and we can even choose our side between the two contradictory poems. Thus, literature is present for people not just for pleasure but also for realization.
Hypothetically, I observed that the differences in the two poems could be seen as reflecting the differences in their respective authors. Whereas Marlowe was a dedicated poet and playwright, for Raleigh, writing was only one of his many interests and passions. Marlowe came from humble roots and never rose to power the way Raleigh did, nor did he travel the world or experience firsthand the hardships of war.
In the same matter, Raleigh also had more documented experience in matters of courtship than Marlowe, such as his longstanding relationship with Queen Elizabeth I and his marriage to Elizabeth Throckmorton. Perhaps this experience gave him insight into the realities of love that Marlowe did not have or was not interested in considering. Raleigh might also have viewed Marlowe's poem as naive and juvenile.
In a nutshell, these poems taught us that there are no superior nor inferior perspectives. We may differ in our interpretation which can influence our acceptance of other people's thoughts. Nonetheless, we have our own riddle, which makes us unique.
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04/22
Kon- Paprika
This was a nice movie. When I knew it was made by the same director as Perfect Blue, I had a strong feeling it would be something mind-boggling, but I didn't expect to see the same reality vs dreams switching.
Now, we have only grown characters, though I noticed Paprika seemed to look more youthful than Dr. Chiba, but I guess it's a little weird to determine a dream's age.
Also, the ending was quite unexpected with Dr. Chiba "changing her last name" to Tokita. I think Paprika telling the detective Dr. Chiba to change her name might have been her way of letting him go without inviting him on. In a way, I can sort of see why she would send a note via Paprika rather than telling him in person when they are already acquainted after he kissed her when she was unconscious and without consent.
I think Paprika telling Dr. Chiba how it was the doctor who was a part of Paprika, not the other around, was an interesting idea. Unlike Perfect Blue where illusions of Mima are part of the real Mima, even if it's a delusion, it was more like Dr. Chiba wanting to become more whole by becoming Paprika. In other words, Dr. Chiba did not save the world by accepting Paprika as a part of her identity, but Paprika was the identity she was meant to become all along. Not that Dr. Chiba was the lesser half, but Paprika is simply the "other me" she has been trying to find. And when she is "reborn" like the chairman, she becomes the person she wanted to be not through Paprika, but when Paprika and Chiba fuse to become the light. It is not the darkness that consumed her but her own light that she already had that was able to consume the darkness and reset the balance between reality and the dream world. Dr. Chiba's choosing to save Tokita shows that she has become Paprika. Even Paprika herself said she didn't know what to do. Without Dr. Chiba, Paprika is just a shell. She may be a caring hero who can understand and help people, but Dr. Chiba is the smart one who can create solutions. Without the other, the two alone could not have won. I also like to think Paprika can be seen as both the standalone (given how she was able to travel freely in the fused worlds like she was familiar with them and when she would save Dr. Chiba in the real world) and a piece of Chiba (when she understood why she needed to enter the Tokita robot to be the extra spice to Chiba herself).
I also thought it was strange and sad that even at the end of the movie, we never really knew who the detective's friend looked like. I don't know who the Radio Club bartenders are, but given how they and Paprika helped the detective on the side deduce the meanings behind his dream, his friend's face is still obscure. I also admire how even when Paprika saves him during his dreams, it is when Paprika is in trouble that he can save himself from his fears. By remembering his past and saving himself by ending his nightmare his way, he was able to accept his past as the past. I like to interpret him changing his dreams as to how people change their own aspirations. It is true that he once had a filmography dream, but he "woke up" from his first dream and "went to sleep" into a new dream. But he didn't keep his dream as a dream; he made it into his own reality by working towards it and becoming a detective and a hero like his own dream. So, by entering and realizing a new dream he is both awake and asleep.
Whenever a character enters a dream, we can actually tell this time. The moment we see the inanimate parade, that is a sign that this character is experiencing a dream.
This is the first time I have seen a Monkey King character as a woman. Kind of makes sense because like Sun Wukong (Son Goku since this is a Japanese culture class), he represents humans and their holy ability to defy the social order, including the holy order between the elitist deities of Heaven and the chaotic demons, and it took pain and suffering to learn his mistakes (and a journey to the west) to not get or find enlightenment but to learn it by enlightening himself. Or maybe they just wanted to use his flying cloud as Paprika fell through the skies into a dream and gave her clothes because it's a neat reference.
-04/21/24
One more post!! Then exams because no homework does not mean no work for me :(
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A few tiny things off top of my head that Yelan's SQ that ended up staring me right in the face, even if they oversold some of them a little bit at times (or done a little oddly)— but it's all about nuance, nuance.:
— Tianshu. She wasn't joking about being interested in the position of the Qixing's Tianshu, Uncle Tian didn't just take her at her word, he actually simply read her well. Regardless of whether she denies it by the end of the SQ, it is a position that someone with a mind like Yelan's is perfect for, and she knows that. The SQ does a decent job of showing that she understands multiple facets of intelligence (planning ahead and oversharing vs. adapting and divulging information only when the situation calls for it), she understands the difference of when people are driven by their emotions or their logic (and how to adapt to both), she knows how to socially play right into people's hands in ways that appeals to them; all in all, she's perfect for a position that revolves around information and people. Perfect. The only problem is that it takes her out of the field, and being in there is exactly what she enjoys the most. Her entire character plays around the defiance of boundaries, so why would she willingly place herself within such constraints? Besides, there is also the question of the Chasm. It is my firm belief that as dangerous as it is, and how monumental of a problem it's posed for Liyue in its history, she will never let that responsibility fall onto anyone else's shoulders. So in essence, to become Tianshu, she would have to restructure the entire position to be able to properly forego the bounds that Liyue Harbor would pose on her and leaving, which just like she is vulnerable to now, puts her at risk of capture or death. That is too high a risk for someone that would fill such a monumental position. So was Uncle Tian wrong for reminding her of the 'joke' that she made? No, for it was never a joke— it is simply not something she wants to turn into a feasible option. In other words, Uncle Tian is also very good at what he does. Good man.
— Identities. Here I go again, but this time to note: I'm not too big on how they depicted this bit in her SQ when we're going about the harbor's wharf. She fumbled a little too much at coming up with identities on the fly (and Paimon/Traveller gave her too much praise), or in better words: she hesitated too much. I understand that this may have been done to give her some flaws (or I'd have to account it to sub-par writing), but making something so baseline of her profession to hold a clear flaw isn't consistent with her character, her achievements nor her reputation. Numerous of Yelan's flaws lie in her personal life, they are pointed out in her character story, but they are minimal in her work. This isn't unrealistic, she's written to be an exceedingly rational and logical individual who thrives in her work, and it doesn't require to hold the same flaws as the other portion of her life to be well-written. Any way, I digress; another reason why I found this element of the SQ to be a bit inaccurate in terms of consistency: Yelan primarily operates within Liyue (Harbor), why would she be so careless with her identities and how she presents herself? Now of course I don't expect Hoyo to change her entire look simply for her SQ, but her first character story does seem to insinuate that she changes up her looks to match her identity— she frequents the same pharmacies without the pharmacists recognizing her. So realistically, I think we can deduce from this that, in all reality, she would have changed up how she appears at least a little: a coat, a hat, a change of hair. Someone she re-visits going 'Have I seen you before?' versus 'Ah, it's been a while since I've seen you!' are two vastly different things. On top of that, madam does not fumble— she actively shows in scenes that she is very patient, and we've seen her smile and take an extra few seconds before she speaks, that's how she handles 'hesitation', rather than being too hasty and speaking much too soon.
#[ mini study. ] that which hides inside her… that constant calling; it is the blood of heroes which has been howling for 500 years.#[ i tag it with mini study but is it really a mini study? ]#[ at this point 'mini study' versus 'meta' is... are there multiple bullet points? yes? then it's a mini study. ]#[ a meta is on one single topic. >.> ]#[ or at least that's how i'm justifying it. ]#[ also can i just say that wriothesley's gameplay is everything i've wanted in a game for years? it's so engaging and active. ]#[ and it's so utterly rewarding. ]#[ especially when combining him with yelan's constant uptime of her ult? jesus. ]#[ and benny. ugh. bENNY YOU AMAZING HUMAN. ]#[ any way i digress aGAIN [my life story honestly] -- i'm in love with yelan and i have too muc to say. ]#[ i genuinely need to talk about how she functions in terms of identity creations. truly. ]#[ like even when she presents herself in fontaine to neuvillette and wriothesley-- they obviously know she's... ]#[ tied to liyue. tied to the qixing. but she won't divulge more than is necessary. literally there's no need to. ]#[ diplomacy isn't always about information. ]
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Persecuted, septic and forced to give birth: the realities of a post-Roe America.
For many the reality is far worse than they could have ever expected so some are fighting back, potentially a fight for their health, liberty and the future generations to come.
The repeal of Roe vs Wade in June 2022 may not have taken a lot of people by surprise, especially after the initial majority draft indicating that the court was going to strike down Roe v Wade was leaked in May 2022 but the devastating impact of the abortion bans that have since come into effect have been unprecedented. As of January 8th 2023 there were 14 states including Texas, North Dakota and Mississippi that had bans in place that mean abortions are prohibited in almost all circumstances with one of the most extreme bans being in Texas.
In 2021 Texas enacted a trigger ban that meant extremely restrictive abortion measures would come into effect almost immediately if Roe was overturned and the S.B.8 bill was also enacted that essentially put a ban on abortions at six weeks, which is often before a person would know they were pregnant. This piece of legislation allowed private individuals to pursue legal action against abortion providers or those who aid and help with abortions and the effect of this extreme legislation was almost immediate; a nearby abortion clinic in Denver saw an increase of 520% in patients travelling from Texas. Technically women should be allowed an exemption to the six weeks ban if there is a ‘medical emergency’ where the mother has a ‘life threatening condition’ while pregnant or there is a ‘serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function’.
This exemption doesn’t account for any situation where the foetus is diagnosed with a fatal or life limiting condition and even a pregnant person who is often having a medical emergency may struggle to be awarded an exemption to the extreme ban. In many cases medical professionals and hospitals are fearful of the threatened jail time and potential six figure fines if they provide emergency healthcare that could potentially be seen as an illegal abortion. There is such a lack of clarity surrounding what care medical professionals can provide when someone is experiencing pregnancy complications that there is often a delay in care or patients are so worried about being accused of having an abortion they don’t seek help until it is almost too late.
Recently Kate Cox sought an abortion in Texas after she discovered that her unborn child had a fatal condition that according to her physician would have meant the child was unlikely to survive birth and if Kate continued with the pregnancy it would have likely impacted her ability to become pregnant again in the future. Kate already had two children with her husband and had been clear that she wished to have more in the future so this wasn’t a choice she made lightly but she felt as if this was the best choice for her and her family.
In the eyes of her doctor Kate should have received a ‘good-faith exception’ to the abortion ban to allow her to safely end the non viable pregnancy but the Texas Attorney General got involved in the case after a lower Texas court granted the exemption. The Attorney General responded by threatening Kate’s doctors and the hospitals they worked at with criminal consequences like 99 years of jail time and the loss of medical licences.
The Texas Supreme court refused to uphold the decision made by the lower court but by the time the ruling was made Kate had left the state to have an abortion elsewhere, as she should have been free to do in her home state surrounded by her loved ones. Regardless of a person’s personal circumstances any person capable of pregnancy should be free to make their own medical choices under the advice and support of their medical team. Especially when the consequence of not being able to do that is having a child in a country with no guaranteed paid parental leave, extremely high levels of child poverty and an unacceptably high maternal mortality rate, as of 2018 there was a massive 17.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Not to mention that any reason a pregnancy isn’t the right choice for the person carrying that pregnancy is a perfectly acceptable reason to have an abortion, it doesn’t matter if that person already has kids and can’t afford anymore or simply doesn’t want to bear the burden of pregnancy and child rearing.
When Kate first researched her options she found that many other women in Texas had also been unable to have an abortion in medical emergency situations and had come together to tell a court about their experiences. Kate decided that she also wanted to go public with the heartbreaking and frustrating situation she found herself in, at the time she became the first woman to sue for abortion access while pregnant since the repeal of Roe v Wade.
For many, Kate’s story particularly resonated with them and sent the message very clearly that the Texas laws are too extreme and border on cruel. It makes it seem like Texas has very little regard for people capable of pregnancy and their concerns about their welfare and their future health. Doctors have been forced under these laws to delay life saving treatment and watch a patient almost reach a point of no return before being able to act under the fear of legal and professional repercussions.
While the repeal of Roe v Wade has undoubtedly increased the persecution and fear associated with abortion there has always been situations that seem to be examples of law enforcement criminalising reproductive healthcare. Between 2000 and 2020 61 people, including 7 minors, were criminally investigated or arrested for either helping someone end their pregnancy or ending their own. In many of these cases ‘self-managed abortions’ are not actually banned and only 14 of these cases were illegal under ‘self-managed abortion’ laws but in many of the cases they were charged under laws that prosecutors were able to make fit their criminal case.
In these cases, which could absolutely be seen as a state is using its power illegitimately to wrongfully charge people, 54 cases involved adults and of the 42 that made it to criminal court 40% of the cases involved people of colour.
People of colour are far more likely to be disproportionately affected by the repeal of Roe v Wade and the further abortion bans especially when states limit organisations and clinics like Planned Parenthood. In 45% of the cases that were reported to the police for a suspicion of a ‘self-managed abortions’ a healthcare provider or social service worker were the ones who tipped off the police. People of colour are more likely to experience racism in the healthcare sector and are often at a much higher risk for complications and death during birth but the injustice in their reproductive freedoms doesn’t end there.
Historically, abortion was fairly common and unregulated until the mid 1800s with the limit usually being around the four month mark before a woman could feel any foetal movements but over 50% of those who were supplying reproductive care were black women, some of whom were enslaved, as white men were rarely involved in anything obstetric before the civil war. While abortion didn’t become illegal until after the civil war the rules for black women and white women were vastly different and the systematic racism black women face when accessing reproductive healthcare now has a dark history revolving around slavery and the idea that white men had the ultimate say.
According to the laws pre-civil war a white woman could have an abortion with the help of a midwife, who were massively trusted and important parts of the community, yet a black woman couldn’t. Under law, a white man would own his enslaved women in all ways including their reproductive systems and by ensuring black women had children he was able to continue the cycle of enslavement.
Some enslaved women had access to herbs that would stimulate menstruation and essentially end the pregnancy but they would often have to do it in secret and if anything were to go wrong there would be no time to recover or access medical care. While slavery may have been abolished over 150 years ago black women and women of colour in general still face far harsher judgement around their choices regarding having children or not. Yet black women in particular have to take into account the dangers associated with giving birth as the rate for maternal mortality in black women is 2.6 times higher than the rate for white women.
This figure depicts maternal mortality rates by race and Hispanic origin in the United States 2018-2021 and clearly shows how disproportionately black women are affected by the maternal mortality crisis in the US, in 2021 alone black women had a maternal mortality rate of 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. Contributing factors to this include the deeply entrenched racism in US society and doctors' seeming unwillingness to believe black women when they are in pain or feel as if something is not right, this causes higher maternal deaths but also leads to black babies being more likely to die or be born prematurely.
Angelica Lyons is a black woman from Birmingham, Alabama who worked as a public health instructor at the University of Alabama and when she became pregnant with her first child it was a time of great joy and excitement yet it soon turned into a painful and terrifying experience. Angelica began to experience extreme stomach pain that sent her to the hospital on more than one occasion but she was often ignored and just sent home despite her extreme pain and begging for help. She was ignored until the pain became so bad that her baby’s heart rate plummeted and she had no other option but an emergency caesarean where it soon became clear that she had been suffering from an undiagnosed case of sepsis.
This healthcare scenario had nothing to do with an abortion or Angelica being forced into pregnancy but it has everything to do with the experiences black women have when it comes to making choices surrounding childbirth, pregnancy and contraception. Alabama has the third highest maternal mortality rate in the country and has an almost complete ban on abortion but why should a black woman be forced into pregnancy when she is 2.6 times more likely to die during birth? Situations like this make it so unbelievably obvious that while the ‘pro-life’ movement claims to be about saving innocent lives or advocating for those that can't, they are willing to ignore systemic racism that negatively impacts millions of adults and children.
Black Americans experience higher rates of illnesses like asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s largely in part due to having less access to medical care which also means their life expectancy is shorter. For a long time black people have almost been blamed for their health conditions as if their genetics or lifestyle choices were mainly responsible but in reality things like housing restrictions and lack of access factor massively. In the past two decades alone the increased mortality rate in African Americans means there have been an additional 1.6 million deaths compared to white Americans.
Now more than ever the lack of paid parental leave, high maternal deaths and deeply entrenched racism in both society and the healthcare system are incredibly important issues as by losing the legal protection Roe V Wade provided millions of people capable of pregnancy it means they no longer have full control over their own bodies. For many people who are capable of pregnancy the Supreme Court's decision to send the United States of America back decades if not more in terms of reproductive healthcare and liberation was a devastating blow and something that made it seem as if their country is making choices that are not only unpopular but dangerous.
The US is one of four countries in the past 30 years to have rolled back abortion protections alongside Poland, El Salvadour and Nicaragua making it a part of forcing 40% of women of reproductive age to live under restrictive laws, that is around 753 million women. Not only was the choice to repeal Roe V Wade extremely dangerous and a choice that I personally found deeply upsetting, it was also a decision that massively goes against what the majority of Americans believe is the right thing to do. Around 80% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some form with around two thirds of women disapproving of the decision and 52% of people saying that the overturning is a ‘step backward for America’.
Currently ongoing in Texas is a lawsuit that was filed by ‘The Center for Reproductive Rights’ on behalf of seven original plaintiffs but that number has since grown to over 20 but when it was originally filed it was on behalf of five Texas women who were denied abortion care and as a result faced risks to their health, fertility and lives. Alongside those five were two doctors (obstetrician gynaecologists) who felt trapped by these extreme bans and as if they were unable to help their patients in any meaningful way.
Amanda Zurawski is the lead plaintiff in this case and was denied an abortion despite experiencing preterm labour while only 18 weeks pregnant and when she went to a Catholic hospital was turned away as they could still detect a foetal heartbeat. Only three days later she returned to the hospital showing signs of an extreme infection and was diagnosed with sepsis but by this point the only option was an emergency abortion that caused her to spend three days in intensive care fighting for her life.
The infection damaged her fallopian tubes to the point it has permanently closed and has impacted her ability to become pregnant again and she now has to rely on IVF which is both an expensive and very invasive process. Surely the Texas exemption on the basis of there is a ‘serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function’ would be applicable here but Amanda was left to suffer for far too long and her situation is unfortunately a perfect example of doctors and hospitals living in fear of the backlash of performing abortions to the detriment of their patients lives.
In August 2023 a judge ruled on this lawsuit and stated that the state’s abortion ban is far too restrictive for women who are suffering from severe pregnancy complications and that doctors must be allowed to act in their best interests without fear of criminal charges. This ruling could have been seen as a potential victory but almost immediately the Attorney General blocked this ruling and sent an appeal to the Texas supreme court much like what happened with Kate Cox.
For Amanda Zurawski the brief joy was immense when it seemed possible that a court in Texas might actually side with those who are suffering the consequences of these extreme and cruel bans and for her and the other plaintiffs it felt worth sharing their experiences and trauma despite the immense pain it causes them.
Yet why should these women have to expose themselves to extreme hatred and vile comments from the right wing when all they want is to be able to access the medical care that is guaranteed to them by their human rights?
On a personal note, I find the choice to overturn Roe V Wade one I physically feel ill over and while I do not have to live under these bans myself the idea of how many people are going to be forced into pregnancy, child rearing or trapped in a dangerous situation due to their pregnancy makes me so deeply sad and frustrated. This very much feels like a step backwards for millions of people and I am not sure who this choice benefits but I know for a fact it is going to more harshly impact those of a lower economic class and people of colour.
Being able to make their own choice regarding abortion for some, is the difference between life and death and by taking such a personal medical choice out of the hands of the individual it effectively places them at the mercy of their state and often the conservative politicians and judges that sees these abortion bans as the right way forward.
Is there any recovery from this or is America doomed to be the land of the free but only for those without the capability of pregnancy?
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Ooooh what are your story ideas and meta in the works?
ahh !! i have a good handful,, most of them are merlin related so forgive me spn mutuals ;-; but i'm just going to list them off bc i fear if i give an in depth response this post would be one of those long ones that make your app glitch and phone burn to a crisp in your hands
bbc merlin:
meta:
- gwaine being more observant than he's given credit for pulling a classic "oh i just drink and make jokes" silly guy move as a cover
- arthur, merlin, and mordred and their roles in the prophecy/ties to the old religion and triple goddess
- destiny in bbc merlin being a living breathing entity that lives through feeding off of tragedy
- gwen and her flower motif !!
- morgana and merlin being two sides of the same coin
- the different sects of the old religion and those that believe in the once and future king vs those who don't
- magic and its relation to gender throughout the entire series and how it is often a punishment for the women in the series
- gwen and lancelot being foils for each other
- gwen and elyan's sibling relationship (this one is mostly head canons based off the scraps we get throughout the series)
- more in-depth exploration of the main 4's character thesis
- difference between merlin and emrys and where the line blurs
- druids and their expectations of merlin
fic ideas:
- key trials: merlin and arthur have to enter the kingdom of the sidhe and stop the ever growing plague that has begun destroying all the crops and causing an abundance of monsters in albion,, this one investigates the double standard merlin holds for arthur vs himself, the lies they've told themselves and arthur internal bias from being raised anti-magic, as well as merlin being a liar
(i've stated writing a few chapters but lost motivation n school n work once again took over my life)
- dragon's ire: heavy political intrigue, prince merlin au, focuses heavily on the reality of merlin and morgana's ill-fated friendship and how merlin telling morgana about his magic could've definitely made things worse in the long run, kingdoms at war and gives more background to the knights as well as blacksmith!gwen who i hold close to my heart
- fae circle fic: really just guilty pleasure of seeing genderbent morgana and gwen if i'm being honest,, silly fun :3
- elwaine fic idea: moments where traveling blacksmith elyan meets gwaine multiple times but working with him as a knight gets a bit more difficult from there prolly just smth short n fun :)
//
spn:
meta:
- sam and dean and hoodoo/voodoo in spn and how many times they should've died after using it... i do not know how to stress that not only are these practices closed off to non-black folk but then also like,, even black people that do not have practitioners in their bloodlines do not fuck with these practices because the repercussions are just that !! bad !! 😭😭 (ofc ik the 'god favor' and more realistically this is bc there were probably no black writers in the room but DAMN,, it's just insane)
- probably low hanging fruit but,, song genres relating to each member of tfw and their arc in the story
- i'm sure someone has done this before too but bela/dean parallels and similarities
fic idea:
- jock!castiel... that's all i got 😭😭 i've only recently gotten into spn and castiel is very close to my heart,, but i keep seeing fics where he is a gardner/knitter and while i think he'd be interested i think he'd also drop them very quickly bc he strikes me as a person(?) that likes the idea of taking things slow but when it comes down to it much rather would prefer things get done immediately or at least he can move his body and feel like something is getting accomplished,, he's also incredibly charismatic and i would love to see him leading a team in something without feeling like it could become a cult
it's kind of just a guilty pleasure lol not too much backing
anyways thanks for the ask hope any of this is interesting 😭🫡
#some guy talking#bbc merlin#spn posting#bbc merlin meta#spn meta#bbc merlin fic ideas#spn fic ideas
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Romancing the Duke. By Tessa Dare. Avon, 2014.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Genre: historical romance
Series: Castles Ever After #1
Summary: As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities.
And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one.
Ugly duckling turned swan?
Abducted by handsome highwayman?
Rescued from drudgery by charming prince?
No, no, and… Heh.
Now Izzy’s given up yearning for romance. She’ll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who’s never even been kissed?
This one.
***Full review below.***
Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, ableism, reference to bullying
Overview: I'm in a bit of a reading slump, so I figured I'd try to get back into things by picking up some Tessa Dare. I loved the Spindle Cove series, so I figured I'd try Castles Ever After. Overall, I liked this book more than I thought I would. Despite some pacing problems and a male love interest that is an archetype I dislike, there was something thematically satisfying about how everything came together in this novel. So for that reason, this book gets 4 stars from me.
Writing: Dare's writing in this book contains all the characteristic humor balanced with sincerity that an avid reader might expect from the author. There were moments that were silly alongside moments that were more serious, and it was a comforting reminder of why I enjoy Dare's work so much.
But what I really liked about this book was the way all the thematic threads came together. This book is concerned with a number of things: fairy tales (or fiction, more broadly) vs reality, feeling like one cannot live up to expectations, etc. All of them complimented each other and wove in and out of the individual character arcs in ways that I found incredibly satisfying.
Plot: The non-romance plot of this book follows Isolde Goodnight, the impoverished daughter of a famous children's author. After the sudden death of her father leaves her penniless, Izzy receives a letter from a mysterious solicitor, informing her that she has inherited a castle from an admirer of her late father. Izzy travels to claim the castle only to find that the previous owner - the mysterious and surly Ransom Vane, Duke of Rothbury - is still living inside. With both Izzy and Ransom unwilling to give up their claim on the castle, the two resolve to tolerate each other until the legal matters can be settled.
There were parts of this book that I found a little silly, but on the whole, it was charming and light and I got swept up in the fairy-tale dramatics of it all. I liked seeing the push and pull between Izzy and Ransom, and I think the theme of inheritance and fraud was interesting without being overpowering or distracting.
I do think, however, that the last 25% of the book or so was incredibly rushed. There was a moment when Ransom had a change of heart about Izzy's father and his stories, and from that point on, it felt like Dare was racing to the end. I think Random's change would have felt more natural if we had seen more of the process from his perspective. As it stands, the scenes are structured in a way so that Ransom pops off page for a while and comes back completely changed, and we learn of what changed him through expositional dialogue. As a result, a lot of important things are told to us, and the action being described is dramatic enough where I would have actually liked to see it play out.
But even so, the plot came together in a way that I felt did a lot of justice to the book's themes, so even with the pacing issues, the plot was crafted well enough to impress me.
Characters: Izzy, our heroine, is admirable for her stubborn refusal to give up on her security and for her refusal to back down from Ransom. I liked that she could outsmart Ransom and get the upper hand, and I liked that she often used that power to do things that benefited both of them. I also really liked that Izzy was inexperienced without being naive. Since she has never been kissed and has grown up on fairy tales, one might expect that she has unrealistic expectations of romance, but I found her down-to-earth (yet not too austere) attitude refreshing. I also very much respected Izzy's awareness about how appearances affect one's place in society and how not meeting people's expectations can damage relationships, especially between (for lack of a better word) celebrities and fans.
Ransom, our hero, is of an archetype that I don't enjoy much: he's grumpy and self-loathing in a way that feels too self-indulgent, and he's constantly telling the heroine how much of a dangerous monster he is. Given his background and the themes this book is playing with, I understand why Ransom is written this way, but even so, I've kind of had my fill of heroes like him.
Supporting characters were rather charming in that most of them were loyal, devoted supporters of either Izzy's father or Ransom's mother. I loved that Izzy was kind to people who were just a little too devoted to her father's stories, seeing them as well-intentioned and worthy of respect. I also loved the dedication and affection Ransom's valet, Duncan, had for his master and how he challenges the definition of "family" for Ransom's benefit.
Romance: The romance between Izzy and Ransom was entertaining in that they were constantly at odds with one another, trying their best to get the upper hand. It was amusing to watch them go toe to toe and for Izzy to almost single handedly be responsible for Ransom wanting to rejoin the wider world, learning that asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It made the emotional intimacy more powerful, and I felt like both characters grew together as individuals and as one half of a couple.
The only thing that irritated me was that there were a few moments when Ransom's forwardness felt a little too aggressive, though my observation might be based on personal taste. I'm not a fan of heroes who don't necessarily care for their virgin partners properly, and it seemed to me that there were times when Ransom prioritized his own pleasure over Izzy's comfort.
TL;DR: Despite some pacing problems and a hero who is a bit too broody for my tastes, Romancing the Duke earns a higher rating for its stubborn heroine and its effective exploration of complex themes. Though there were some things that I wish were different, overall, this book was fairly entertaining and did a good job incorporating various fairy tale and gothic elements without feeling too naive.
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