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nabrizoya · 3 years

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honestly would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the nikolai duology because i really only see blanket praise or blanket hate for it whereas I see a lot of wasted potential. Bardugo's actual writing was beautiful as ever for the most part, but the choice of the plot/beats feels baffling to me. I love Nina, but her parts felt so separate from the rest of the book until the very end, and even that felt off. I liked the first 2/3 of KoS enough, dealing with the monster, political tensions, 1/2

and even the cult of the starless saint was at least interesting because dealing with people trying to rewrite the narrative of their greatest enemy (who hurt these young leaders in deeply PERSONAL ways) was really compelling (making him literally come back was. a choice) but I feel like somewhere in the last third, KoS went in a wholly differeent direction, and RoW has this vibe of feeling like she definitely wrote it after reading the show scripts or even seeing some footage. idk. 2/2

I will try to be brief (1/12)

Hey anon! Thank you so much for asking this even though it took 38756588247834 years to answer this I’m so sorry !! The Nikolai duology was good—wonderful too maybe because of the myriad of themes and topics it discussed and explored, all in addition to how beloved these characters are. For me, it’s the end of KoS as it is for you, and the entirety of RoW in particular that irk me the most.

I have very little issue with KoS, and I agree with everything you’ve said. The political tensions, the sort of urgency in trying to secure a country at the cost of personal reservations, preparing for a war that seems unforgivably near the door, etc. was all thrilling. After all, it is the first installment in the duology, and it’s supposed to set the course for the upcoming books.

KoS managed to introduce the stakes and the circumstances, lay the rails for what the characters will face and what it might mean to a vast set of entities connected to the events. And it’s hardly out of sense to expect Rule of Wolves to pick up where the previous book left off and carry forward the themes and plot points introduced in the first book.

Except, RoW failed spectacularly in that aspect.

Rule of Wolves: the second book, and the supposed finale to the Grishaverse and the Nikolai duology; it fails to continue the other number of threads that KoS set up for it, effectively compromising the characters, their characterizations, the themes and other political tensions and stakes. The due importance that should be given to the heavy set of topics that get brought up in the povs are not through, nor are the small details that Leigh added to the conversations evolve into something worth talking about, which are the actual points that could have been given some more page time to explore than just making them facts or points of nostalgia for the characters.

If you take a step back and analyze the whole timeline, events, characterization, objectives of the arcs and the plot points etc. etc., all the way from Crooked Kingdom to Rule of Wolves, there’s so much that is left out and tied in, quite haphazardly, which leads me to believe that Leigh wanted to attempt writing a duology that is more plot-driven than it is character driven. And we know that Leigh writes character driven stories brilliantly, and SoC, CK and TLoT are testament to the same. Heck, even TGT has more consistency than whatever TND has.

So, objectively? Plot possibilities? Characterization? Potential? Personal goals? Addressing the very serious themes it brought up, in little or major light, but give no proper elaboration about them?

The lost potential readily compromised the characterizations of many characters, and it all amounted to their arcs being very underwhelming.

I’m dividing this into four parts and here’s the basic outline.

Writing and Plotting

The Plot, Possibilities and Potential.

Characters, Characterization, Character Potential.

Remedy (what I think would've worked better to tie this all up)

This can get very looong, so be forewarned.

I. Writing & Plotting

Now, Leigh Bardugo’s writing is exceptional, no doubt. The sentences are short and flowy, and convey the tone, psyche, environment and the setting and its effects on the pov character marvellously. It's also immersive. It’s the same in Rule of Wolves, except, a little or a lot weaker.

The two main parts of this is that one, that Leigh slightly overdid showing a lot more than telling, and two, that the RoW (and perhaps KoS too), was more plot driven than character driven, the latter of which is actually Leigh’s strength.

In Rule of Wolves, Leigh’s writing seemed very choppy and snappish. The descriptions were lacking, or maybe that’s just me wishing for more internal conflict and dilemma, and going back and forth in one's own head for a bit. It felt like she showed more than she told.

Example being how Zoya ‘snaps’, ‘drawls’, ‘scoffs’, or ‘scowls’ less, and even if that’s supposed to be show Zoya beginning to be a little less unpleasant than she usually is, the tone in those chapters was not strong enough to distinguish how and why the character was acting a certain way. Nor pinpoint an explanation on what brought that change about. (And there were many instances like this with many other characters), which resulted in the characters themselves feeling so off to me.

Leigh’s characters are important to the story. They carry tremendous weight and actively contribute to the plot. Except, by focusing a lot more on the plot, some parts of these characters’ relevance was not up to the mark. It is greatly due to how weak the plotting and pacing of the book was, tbh, more than just her writing.

Consider: Mayu Kir Kaat. She is integral to the story, but she is thrust into responsibilities, and that doesn’t give us much time to see her as a person, and then as a person with a duty, like we see with most other characters. Whatever parts of her we did see were very circumstantial and timed, which is probably the reason why not many we’re unable to appreciate Mayu as much as we should. (Maybe fandom racism also plays a part, so, well,,,).

Like, we know from Six of Crows and with The Language of Thorns, how great care went into describing the characters’ state of mind, which further heavily influenced their choices and decisions. This time though, I think she wanted it to be more plot driven, hence the whole crowded feeling of the book and general worry about oh my god too much is happening, how will all this be solved and all that.

And this, I think, greatly hampered Leigh's writing, leading to unsettling and rather unsatisfying character arcs. Not to mention that there was quite little space given for the characters to develop or let them grow in a satisfying way which touches on most of the elements and themes that get brought up with regard to their powers and potential,,, and when it was indeed brought up, it was all in vain since they were never followed through.

That's one of the biggest problems for me in RoW: Plot points brought up in KoS were not brought forward in RoW.

II. The Plot, Possibilities and Potential.

Phew. Truly buckle up because this train has too many coaches. And to discuss them all, let’s keep the starting point as Crooked Kingdom.

a) Parem

Now, by the end of Crooked Kingdom, we know some important things about the parem.

It's dangerous asf for the Grisha who have to sacrifice their will and capabilities for a short time superpower high that they didn’t even ask for

Which means they are more often than not forced to consume the drug

Shu Han is the creator of the Parem and are also creating a new kind of soldiers called Khergud (who additionally require Ruthenium, but we’ll talk abt that later)

Fjerda snatched the formula after kidnapping Bo Yul-Bayur, keeping him away in the Ice Court and in their possession, and used the Parem to further their own heedlessly heinous agenda

I think it’s easy to understand how KoS started off on the right track, considering that Kuwei Yul Bo is mentioned, the antidote and jurda is brought up and so come the political tensions alongside it (what with the impending war, the demon, the lack of funds in the coffers and security and peace for the country alongside safety for the Grisha).

The point is, parem is a character of its own. CK was its inception, and its fate was decreed along with its lifespan and its doom. Ideally, by the end of RoW, parem should have been vanquished while addressing its nature as a deadly drug, the addiction and aftermath, and the key person who will guide the plot: Kuwei Yul Bo.

Parem is a political tool that pitted countries against each other, making one another their allies or enemies. (Though parem is not the only one factor). Ravka doesn’t yet know about Kerch’s neutrality. The Shu made their move to assassinate in the end, just as Fjerda cleared the air about their goals.

Point is, parem is weapon, a new kind of warfare that keeps getting alluded to in KoS. The first book gave a glimpse of how the Shu and Fjerda are using parem, thereby exploiting, prejudicing etc. the Grisha in their countries. Khergud whose humanity is washed away with parem + ruthenium, and the Fjerdan Grisha (are targeted) drugged and exploited while be subjected to torture, training and imminent death, parametres of these outcomes being severely gendered.

Ravka too wanted to weaponize it and create a usable strain that would still give the Grisha their powers but at a minimal cost, until Nikolai’s conversation with Grigori convinces him out of it and to use only the antidote for the Grisha.

And when are the contents of this conversation brought up again?

Never.

Another aspect of parem (that the conversation also covers) is this: that what was once merzost, parem is its strange cousin. Parem parallels breaking the bounds of Grisha norms unnaturally, while merzost takes it a step further to break the bounds of nature itself, which comes with a heavy price. They're both the same with little differences. Amplifiers are in tune with this discussion, hence the conversation between Zoya and Nikolai about how, and whether or not the abomination in him, the parem, and the amplifiers are tied together. This gets brought up again in the conversation with Grigori.

Parem parallels the superpowers, something that Zoya too manages to achieve once the corruption of the amplifier business is resolved, which makes her realize how in tune with nature the Grisha must be, and how limited the Grisha powers until then had been. And why the amplifiers were a corrupted piece of magic.

Zoya was supposed to be the conduit in that sense that she reversed the Grisha norms and understood the importance and nature of small science. This is alongisde parem getting abolished or resolved in the least, be given a redressal.

Yet instead in RoW, we barely see any of Zoya’s powers, nor even her experimentation and hunger for power which would give her protection. We don't see how she begins to realize that while power was indeed protection, it was also a responsibility. Not clearly, anyway.

So like, not only is this entire discussion thrown away in Rule of Wolves, but no matters are resolved either. Parem did not reach its end like it was supposed to. Merzost with regard to parem would have been an excellent thing to address, with or without the Darkling being present, because the blight is there. But that doesn’t happen.

What happens instead? We get one chapter of Grisha getting the antidote during the face off at the start of the book, the women in Fjerda are not brought up again and instead we jump to Shu Han. Kuwei is also conveniently forgotten because hey, the Zemeni are here so it’s all sorted!

RoW could have (should have actually) sought to address both the political and medical (?) aftermath and implications. Maybe it did succeed in showing the political side of it, with regard to Mayu, Ehri, Makhi and Tamar’s storylines. But that’s only in Shu Han, whose state of affairs we had NO idea of until RoW. No idea, so much that it was completely out of the blue.

And what we did know (get to know about in KoS) is Fjerda and the affairs there remained… unsolved.

(...sorry).

b) Grisha Powers

Re: From the conversation between Nikolai and Grigori, and Juris and Zoya, about how parem and the amplifiers are parallel to each other in terms of being abominations, a corruption of Grisha powers. Now the theory of it is not entirely explained, but we do know that the parem and whatever Zoya learnt from Juris was meant to move along in the same direction.

But we don't see another mention of it, except maybe we could dig a little deeper and realize that it all adds up because Zoya is the Grisha Queen of Ravka, Summoner, Soldier, Saint, all of it rushed and unnecessarily magical in a war so dire and realistic in RoW.

Welp.

c) Spy business

Just… genuinely what even was Nina up to in RoW? A spy, sure, but only to garner information on the pretender?

Why couldn’t there have been two responsibilities for her to uncover: the lies or truths about the pretender while the Apparat causes hindrances, and Nina trying to seek out more documents of the locations and labs where the Grisha women are being tormented and the other Grisha being weaponized? It could have been a leverage to discredit Fjerda in front of everybody in the Os Kervo scene. Imagine if Nina whipped out the documents of Grisha labs and brought the truth of the exploitation and killing and kidnapping etc. in front of the convention of all nations. All of it together would have upped the political tensions by quite the notch.

Even then, there’s a possibility that it wouldn’t matter either because the Grisha aren’t exactly valuable to all the nations. But killing and exploiting is still wrong so maybe it might have worked? Or see, even if it wouldn’t have, the slow and sluggish realization of Mila’s identity by Brum, and alongside writing it as a tragedy where Nina’s efforts seem to have gone to waste, or where Nina is telling Zoya about not accounting for Prince Rasmus’ word and she informs her about the documents she has snatched? Something could have been done here?

The point is, KoS focused on Fjerda and its unraveling, and it wasn’t continued with and through in Rule of Wolves. Instead it sought to find the problem in a whole new country, Shu Han, and fixed it within the same book leaving the other country as it is.

d) Ruthenium and the Blight

Ruthenium, the metal that is an alloy of regular metal and Grisha made steel, could have been utilized more significantly in the books.

I mention it in association with the blight because while on one hand it is true that the blight is an area full of nothingness, ruthenium as a metal could have been utilized to show the effects of rushed industrialization that is leading to the ground losing its essence. This is supposed to be advanced warfare after all. Besides, Makhi loses someone very dear to her. Perhaps ruthenium is more dangerous in Shu Han because the Shu use it to create the khergud, so the constant manufacturing of it has been leading to the metal leeching the lands of their fertility, along with the blight.

And so also to broker peace, Ravka could have provided aid in some ways. :

1) The Darkling sacrificed himself, as a result of which the blight vanishes. While the blight took away her niece, the possibility of a blight persisting despite the ending of RoW could be attributed to ruthenium.

2) Ravka could provide the reversing effect to the alloy of ruthenium and metal using Grisha and otkazt’sya engineering and ingenuity to replenish the lands.

All in addition to whatever will be Shu Han’s policies to bring lushness to their lands.

e) Women and War:

Holy fucking Shit, where do I start with this?

Whatever we saw in Fjerda was haunting, and we see it from Nina’s chapters. There’s literally no resolution for it, nor is it ever brought up again, at all. In Zoya’s chapters, we see through her eyes the brunt that Grisha faced with the war, and in a country that has refused to recognize Grisha as the citizens and considers them expendable.

Add to it her own narrative of how the women are never mentioned, let alone the ones that she has lost or has known to suffer, at the hands of the war, at the Darkling's torture and powers. The description of these women suffering, often being forgotten and thrown aside as mere casualties… where or when was it ever going to be brought up again?

Like, switching between such horrifying things happening in Fjerda to whatever was happening with Zoya and Nikolai and Isaak is such a contrast, horrifyingly demeaning and insulting, even more so when it failed to align with the importance of parem and offer a solution to both these problems.

Now switch to Rule of Wolves, where the Tavgahard women immolate themselves on Queen Makhi’s orders. Not only is that such a cheap and insensitive thing to do, it gets treated a simple fucking plot point in the book, and it barely gets addressed afterwards. Women in Asia have a vastly complex and complicated history with fire, and this is a serious criticism that culturally affects readers in personal ways. And what gets done about it? Fine, Zoya feels baaaad, sorry oops why would the women do that?!?!?

Where is the adequate sensitivity to the topic? Where is the continuation of the pain Zoya feels for many people, despite them being the enemy? How does she honour them? Where is all that dilemma and pain? Why does she not think of them or just get a line or two to talk about them?

Where is the due importance for this suffering given? Structurally and culturally?

f) Soldier, Summoner, Saint / Yaromir the Great

We never really get any explanation for why Zoya deserves to be the Queen, and why she is the best. But we do get to see why Nikolai isn’t the one supposed to be on the throne, and it’s not just because of his parentage but also because of his failings and doubts and the need for acceptance with the secrets he carried.

Here's the thing though; it’s not just about her showing mercy. It’s very subtle, and in good sense, should actually have been given a little bit more importance that be loosely brought up at random times.

Keeping aside the fact that Zoya is representative of Ravka—a woman, a Grisha, a Suli girl who changed the course of war and who knew what it was like living in poverty, being as an underprivileged person of the society in addition to the trauma from then and the state of living at her aunt’s place—which is meant to be covertly apparent, the other reason tracks back to Yaromir the First, who with the help of Sankt Feliks of the Apple Boughs—the one who raised the thornwood—lead Ravka at that time into the age of peace.

The Darkling testified that in his POVs, that while Feliks and Yaromir worked in tandem for Ravka, Aleksander worked for safeguarding the Grisha. In one sense, Zoya is supposed to reflect that moment in history in the present moment, except she is Queen and Sankta, and Grisha, all three at once.

It is brought up in one of the Darkling’s POVs and once in the conversation with Yuri in KoS. Other than that, we never actually get any more hints of this explanation in the text, which is the reason why the entire ending felt so so rushed, and like a fever dream, that even if it was a plot twist, it was kinda very baseless when it should have been more ohhhhh sort of a thing.

g) The Starless Cult and Saint Worship

This cult had immense potential to blossom into many things, some of which were indeed touched upon in KoS when Zoya says that she saw a bit of herself in Yuri, and brings up time and again how easily she’d been led and had not been aware enough of what’s right and wrong, just as she supposes Yuri is too. And to some extent, there is truth there, because in the Lives of Saints, we do see why Yrui comes about to hail the Darkling and how it parallels Zoya’s, of being helpless and ten being saved by a different power/ their own power, respectively.

That’s where it forks, that Zoya is older and realizes the path that Yuri has chosen and understands that it won't happen until he realizes it himself because the Darkling’s crimes are so obvious.

Even then, there’s still more potential: This cult could have been the mirror that would make Zoya reflect on the questionable methods of the Darkling, and the ways in which she might be mirroring them, despite or not it is the necessity because of the war. How she is training soldiers too, just as the Darkling did, and while the need to take children away from their homes just as soon as they were discovered Grisha was abolished, it was war, and they needed soldiers.

So like, there’s quite a big narrative going on here, how mere children are pushed into one path of becoming a soldier and the whole system that was that the Darkling followed to train the Grisha and all of that. All of this in addition to the juxtaposition to the Grisha being seen as elite despite them being hunted, and the people who are not Grisha frowning upon them. This is also the work of the Darkling, which actually paves the way to see how there can be a world where the Grisha are not feared or seen as abnormal, despite or not they are given a Saint-like narrative.

This cult could also have been the segue to discussing Yuri and his brainwashing, and the sort of cult-ish behaviour of believing in something firm when you couldn’t believe in yourself, or not seeing the magnitude of the crimes of their supposed Saint, alongside always staying focused on becoming a soldier only and never actually thinking beyond what is told.

Some of these are very subtle and some are brought up, but never given too much of an explanation.

Genya brings up another good point in the funeral chapter, about how Fjerda seemingly taking into the whole Saints thing could mean that if the Darkling moved there, he could very well sprawl his influence there to bring in supporters. Which leads to another discussion that gets brought up towards the end of the book: about Nina telling about the Ravkan Saints to Hanne and therefore to the Fjerdans,,, which doesn’t exactly sit right with me. It’s still a very nascent topic, and I think SoC3 will explore this path of faith and personal beliefs etc. but leaving it just there, while talking so much about Saints in both the countries,,, don’t exactly know how to put it into thoughts here.

But regardless, the cult of the Starless had different potential to talk of (blind) worshipping of an ideal without critically examining why the person must be put on the pedestal in the first place (and if it is simply power, then there is actually a narrative right there, which RoW gets right, about the people valuing the power still, as a result of which the monarchy still persists at the end of RoW. Even then, there’s more discussion awaiting there).

Not sure if any of this makes sense, but I’ll leave it at this here for now.

edit: 05/07/2021 | I think what I was trying to say here is that we do not have any kind of narrative evidence to seeing how and why it seems right that the Fjerdans will worship Ravkan Saints; is it merely because they are all Grisha? Or is it because of the segue explore this path of faith and personal beliefs and all of that, of the talk of the monastery and the Grisha there being of all identities, that a monastery is in Shu Han, that it has Djel's sacred Ash tree so far away from Fjerda... much to think about.

III. Characters, Characterization, Character Potential.

Mostly going to be about Nina and Zoya, but I’ll bunch up the rest of them at the end.

a) Nina

*head in hands*

I severely mourned how poorly Zoya was written in RoW, but then I realized that more than Zoya, it’s Nina whose potential was severely undermined and wasted. On one hand, I’m glad she uses her powers and quick thinking,observation and her own tactics to analyze the population and opt for the best way to make them see the truth she wants to show them (eg: making Leoni and Adrik and Zoya saints and also showing that the Grisha are the children of Djel via people’s belief to Joran and Rasmus’s mother).

But then, it’s like you said; her parts were so offbeat and outpaced and completely disjointed, when in fact, Nina is the thread that ties all the characters, their plotlines and potential, together. Nina is connected to Zoya and Hanne, two equally important characters and main characters of the duology. Whatever scope Nina has, they are greatly in parallel to Zoya and Hanne. And it’s all literally there, in the text! What a waste.

Though keeping aside these parallels, Nina’s own journey from Ketterdam to Ravka to Fjerda, while is spoken about, doesn’t touch some other parts that I see potential in. Or this is just meta.

Nina has grief not just from Matthias’ death but also from the loss of her powers as Heartrender. So much of the Second Army was built on being a soldier, and perhaps the Darkling was not outright disdainful of racial differences in his army, yet he still stripped every part of the children away until they weren’t children anymore in his view. They’re all soldiers… (albeit his soldiers, preparing them to do his bidding because hey, give and take right?). Nina was a soldier, and she is a soldier still under Zoya’s role as a General, but an ‘other’ of a soldier. That’s her only identity, and the loss of her powers means that she’s a different kind of soldier.

I imagine that this entire time, some small part of Nina longed for normalcy, or whatever settled as normal for a life like hers. In the sense that she wants to go back, but what is back and where exactly did she want to go back to? What was the before and after and where did things go wrong or change? There’s tragedy in the realization that whatever you were before what you became is not a place you can return to, and that’s a different kind of loss that she has to bear, and all by herself. She has powers over the dead now, a strange power she learns to grow to, but all the places she has been, all the lives she has led and people she had been, everything might seem like they’ve all been locked away in some strange place leaving her barren and indisposable.

She’s off to Fjerda as someone she isn’t, figuratively and literally. In KoS, Nina brings up many times how odd she feels as Mila and in some capacity longs to be Nina Zenik again. This ties in with the previous point of returning to somewhere, but where?, but is also a segue towards body dysmorphia, the thing that Nina and Hanne’s storylines parallel and connect too with in a small way. It’s a great line to follow to discuss what her discomfort with her body means to herself while it means something entirely different to Hanne, who is also not entirely comfortable being who they are. (This discomfort further which leads to gender dysphoria, while for Nina, it will be about learning to accept her powers. I’ll add on to this in a bit,).

I'm mourning the lost potential of that experience being a parallel to Hanne’s own feelings, of a discussion between people being uncomfortable with their bodies, something that can mean multitudes to each person and on their own accord.

In parallel to Zoya, I like to draw it from the fact about Nina wanting to go back to who she was, while Zoya actively tries to lock her past away and drown it somewhere or throw it to the storm, never to hear of it again. She has no identity other than being a soldier, and that’s enough for Zoya, because who she was before she was a soldier is not pleasant. But moving from being just another expendable shell of soldier under the Darkling’s rule, Zoya becomes the one third of the Triumvirate, and then the King’s general, all of which bring self-awareness of Zoya’s capabilities and challenges that are bound to excite her. But all of these also compel Zoya to be many other people to others as she slowly grows to realize that power is not just protection but also a responsibility, and it will inadvertently mean confronting her past of her lost identity, realizing the how of the Darkling, and how harmful it was. As Genya puts it perfectly in Rule of Wolves, that they were all taken away when they were young kids, not even barely children, and then thrust into responsibilities that didn’t allow them to be anything else other than what the Darkling told them to be.

Back to Nina; a few other great parts about Nina’s arc could have been about her connection to languages, as language being a mode of strengthening identity, in addition to growing to her powers. In RoW, there’s this line that goes ‘how sweet it was to speak her language [Ravkan] again’, and the feeling of homesickness. Like, Nina is trying to connect to Ravka through what she knows best—language, and then stories. In that, Nina realizes a part of her identity, which could also act as a segue to Zoya reclaiming her own heritage and ethnicity. Not only that but Zoya and Nina’s stories are literally so intertwined that it’s hard not to see how their choices and line of thought affect one another’s arcs, in the grief they have and how they choose to treat it, and also show why Zoya is particularly protective of Nina (and keeps wishing that she doesn’t become the monster Zoya had become, in the sense that Nina is more mature in handling her grief than Zoya was and the entire mercy plotline ties Nina, Zoya and even Genya together. More meta, haH).

And that’s why the ending doesn’t make sense. Even though the part about her not being comfortable as Mila is not brought up many times in the continuing chapters (and that’s why perhaps naming Nina’s discomfort as body dysmorphia may be wrong), there’s still the part of Nina readily accepting to be who she was a Mila and remain in Fjerda that seems iffy to me. Especially when Nina and Hanne literally a few chapters ago think about running away (it may be just another alternative they might be fantasizing about, but I think it still means that they both want to be their true selves without hiding any parts of it away). So her staying as Mila… well, it doesn’t exactly add up.

I’d also add the part of Nina’s story mirroring Leoni’s, and how she is from Novyi Zem and being a part of the Second Army meant that she had little to no connection with her past, her culture etc. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part that Leigh went for that arc.

edit: 05/07/2021 | I don't agree with my point anymore about Nina not having the kind of ending I assumed she might have, considering that it is very well possible for Nina to treat her identity as Mila as a fresh start, as a Grisha with a command over the the dead and begin a new normal that is suited for her. You can read more here.

b) Zoya

For one, white passing Zoya is not canon to me. I simply pretend I do not see it.

See, her race was handled very badly. Making her half-Suli was supposed to show the struggles and the trauma that the ridiculing of her identity by other people has caused to her. Except, not enough time nor text is given to thoroughly discuss it. Not to forget how problematic of a narrative in itself it is to make Zoya white passing.

It would have made more sense to make her dark skinned and predominantly Suli-looking than whatever yt bs she was put through. Her not being white-passing would have led to conversations about tokenization, or people caring little about her and not giving her any respect because she is Suli. Or being called beautiful to the face and praised just for it or a harmless tumble in their point of view.

So like, instead of making the ‘mistake’ of seeking for acceptance, seeking appreciation and love, from her mother at first and then the Darkling, Zoya instead makes herself someone to be feared, if respect was not what she deserved. The iciness is a part of her and has always been, but all of it soon became a shield, an armour that she vowed to harden her heart with. Just the sheer impact of this narrative and her reluctance, and seeing Nikolai love her for beyond who she thinks she is… if all of this was canon, I’m pretty sure I’d have built a shrine for this duology.

Let’s now talk about her grief, and...

…

Okay it’s not for me to point fingers at how Leigh chose to write about grief because there’s no one way or one proper approach to go through that pain, and if that’s how she chose to write about grief for Zoya, fine! But I really wish we’d have gotten a little more into her head to see how the trauma has affected her thoughts and how she struggles against why and what exactly it is that Juris wants her to do. That enough time and text was dedicated to Zoya’s feelings and the mayhem it caused her, as a result of which the dragon’s eye took its cue and made things more unbearable to her because she was the only one to bear them all.

Like, I feel like Zoya was overwhelmed throughout the book and in between she had some skyhigh responsibilities to discharge and it’s all so inconsistent and poorly woven,,, it completely dissolved her character from KoS and made it 10000000x more miserable for me to read her POVs. And honestly, what even were her assignments that the Kirkus review mentioned? Never an inch of text in RoW is given to decipher her complications of her mind, the muddled sense of hopelessness and fear that grips her time and again. Why overwhelm her so much that you fail to do her mental state and capacity any justice?

I’m not going to be harsh about how much David’s death bothered me-- no actually fuck that; what’s the point? Fine, he died. All because you wanted to make his death a plot device to make Zoya reconcile with loss and deal with it? Where was Genya’s grief? Literally no point of having a death in the book at all, and it didn’t even achieve anything. (I’m still trying to wrap my head around why David’s death was important and maybe if I find some straws, I’ll consider…)

There were so many other ways around it; could have brought back Lada and killed her off, or have the Darkling piss her off so badly or just. Something. Instead of whatever happened with David. I think this is too harsh and insensitive of me to say about Leigh, but still… there’s a myriad of other ways to have gone about it. Helping Zoya deal with her grief with Nikolai at her side, to understand that the rage that was fueled from her loneliness, like it had been in the past, could now be a weight that Nikolai was willing to carry with her… Helping someone with their grief, staying and choosing is also a love language you know?

So in that regard, I won’t regret saying how flat the garden scene was to me. Zoya’s lines, though tinged with grief, were so out of what I would expect KoS Zoya to say. Maybe it’s also because of how bitter I was reading about David's death, despite that part being spoiled for me.

The cost shouldn’t have been David’s death, especially not when his death too wasn’t properly handled at all, and Genya’s grief was never spared a second thought beyond bringing Titanium.

Now let’s talk about how Out of Character Zoya was throughout the book. Her punchy attitude was missing, and even if she was warming up to her friends, we see little of the iciness she continues to retain. Another part of this is about exploring her relationships, particularly with Nikolai and her growing feelings for him. I wish we’d have seen them grapple with more of their confusion and propriety, if only for the yearning™. Besides, no matter how cute their scenes were, they were mostly (like maybe some. 70%) awful to read them, simply because it felt so odd to see Zoya be so open with Nikolai, all of a sudden.

A part of this definitely has to be the fact that we don’t know just how much time has passed between the end of KoS and the start of RoW, and we never, never see any description of they regarded their feelings for each other and how they understood it themselves. I don’t actually know how exactly I can put this into words in a manner that will make sense, but the only scenes where I appreciated Zoyalai were in the Ketterdam chapters, ONLY. The rest was… bleh lmao. Their scenes were so cute and brilliant, and if only we’d seen more of the internal conflict and had given some more time for them to practically approach their feelings but still end up in the puddle of it. If only.

Their scenes apart were the good ones, because that’s where we finally see Nikolai feeling the loss, no matter how temporary (on the verge of being permanent since it’s the war), of not having Zoya with him, of not being there with Zoya because who else would it be if it wasn’t her? Zoyalai had good scenes but they barely lived up to the mark lol. Their feelings are never thoroughly explored, nor their mental capacities.

While we’re talking about Zoyalai, let’s also talk about how lame it was for Zoya to say that Nikolai was the golden spirited hero all along, from the very start, when canonically we know Zoya had little to do with him in the earlier books, that she may have only been physically attracted to him and never saw him as more than just some guy with a responsibility to manage, and had sooooooo much distrust about him. And that it was only in the next few years of working with him and alongside did she grow to recognize his efforts and relish in the hope that he was building for Ravka, inadvertently making Zoya hopeful too.

Nope. Instead, we’ll just throw in some destiny bs that he was the one all along rather than show that the beauty of their relationship did not stem what they perceived of each other, but was instead built on strong respect and admiration for one another and their capabilities. 100% destroyed their relationship for me.

Some good parts about Zoya’s arc in RoW was how she acknowledged her past mistakes, and the nuance that was touched upon in seeing sense in becoming a soldier from the start, that offered her a chance to be anything other than a bride. That some part of her was grateful for the Darkling for teaching her how to fight, while still keeping Genya’s words in mind about how they were mere kids, children who had only one path to traverse because the Darkling (who wanted their acceptance and loyalty) nor the Kings of the country let the Grisha be anything else other than pawns of the war. That she recognizes her mistakes as a teen and how self centred she was, that her being snotty had at times cost some peoples’ lives too. And she doesn’t take the blame all up on herself, because it’s not hers alone to bear. Super good.

Also, the way Zoya comes to view power as responsibility instead of merely as protection was something cool to read about. It’s not clear in the books, but Zoya actively tried to not be the Darkling while still continuing to build an army for the war out of necessity, and actually sharing some parts of the dream that the Darkling had for the Grisha. I can’t articulate this so perfectly, but the point is, Zoya trying to avoid becoming a tyrant like the Darkling was an active process that she was constantly trying to change, and where Zoya could not recognize her own feelings and inherent thoughts about warfare that in some ways did mirror the Darkling’s, by the end of book, Zoya is much more self-aware and conscious of herself and her power than she was at the start of the book. And this was well done.

Now, what is up with YA and making people turn into giants or animals lol wtf. Why couldn’t we have seen Zoya use her dragon powers in a way that symbolizes the conditions of her dragon amplifier and the power of the knowledge she obtained from Juris? She is a Saint, and we’ve seen that their powers allowed them to cause ‘miracles’ and such, as we see at the start of KoS and at the end.

Why couldn’t we have seen Zoya dabble with her newfound powers and completely lose her shit in anger during the wae, only to rein back in mercy, just as someone from Fjerda begs for forgiveness since they see her then as a Saint? Adrik and Leoni used their powers in Fjerda, so having Zoya bring about a conundrum of all orders and do something about it would also have been cool, wouldn’t it? In the funeral scene we see her turn water into ice, thereby making a path for Genya. Why couldn’t we have had more exploration of the importance of the dragon’s eye and the general nausea of being overly empathetic every. damn. time? Why didn’t we get to see her powers? Why couldn’t we have seen her fail in them and realize that the reason she was not perfect was because she was trying to be strong on her own and was not relying on others and joint effort?

Her turning into a dragon was genuinely the most baffling part bc here’s a war that’s so serious and dire with metals and bombs, and then here’s this magic that will solve all of it entirely. Like I’m not saying it was bad, (I am actually saying just that) but I also don’t know what I am saying, except that the ending felt like a fever dream.

…?

Not sure if I’ve managed to convey it properly, but well. Zoya felt out of character throughout RoW, and that the only place I saw KoS Zoya was in the final Os Kervo scene where Zoya finally agrees to be the queen.

c) Nikolai

Nikolai’s arc was very satisfying and brilliant to read about in RoW. In KoS, he seemed very much like a passive character, one of the reasons why his stunt with the Shu in RoW was appreciable, no matter how ill-timed of a plot turn it was. His journey throughout this book was also introspective to see why others deemed him unfit as the King, and even if they were his enemies who thought that in want to dispose him from the throne, Nikolai realizes that him being on the throne is not of much value and that this book was entirely about him seeing his privilege and making decisions to counter and correct the mistakes he’s made. That was nice. Oh, also his father not being an antagonist was a pleasant surprise.

I don’t have many complaints about him, except perhaps wanting some more internal conflict and elaboration about his feelings for Zoya. Them being apart was where it was satisfying, and then in the Ketterdam chapters. His arc could have been better in KoS, but that’s to blame the plot for the characterization.

d) Hanne

Now, from the very start, their arc was super good and it only got better and better until… the ending. Except it’s so odd that Hanne, a poc, has to now live as white person, while feeling comfortable in their transmasc identity. Icky, no? That you need to eliminate one part of your identity in order to feel safe and comfortable about another? Add to this the whole white-passing Zoya thing,,, doesn't exactly send off the right message.

Together with Nina, the ending seems uncharacteristic for both of them. Them coming to accept their powers and knowing to use their powers on their own accord was brilliant, though the entire husband business felt very,,, eh to me, even if it did make sense. The ending about their name and their new identity was too vague.

e) Genya, Leoni and Adrik, Kuwei, Mayu,

Genya is the one who faced the most disservice along with David. While there were exceptional parts to both of their plotlines, it's still sad that even if David's death was necessary, we don't get to see the entirety of her grief and the possible anger, and that her kindness is simply used as the justification for lack of portrayal of grief.

It really did take me by surprise, mostly because I wasn't a fan of the original Shadow and Bone book, but seeing David's conscience and self-awareness, along with Genya's (and Zoya thinking of how she wouldn't let any harm come to them, which shows a bit of her development towards her character development), was plenty refreshing. David and Genya were genuinely the highlights of the book and to kill David off was just. doesn't sit right with me.

Leoni and Adrik deserved more page time. They’re saints and immensely capable (no wonder they’re now the Triumvirate), but a few more pages for them to shine would not only have been nice, but also a necessity.

And now, Kuwei...

....

I mean,,, parem should have been the plot, alongside the entire weaponry and the discussion of making a city killer. But uh… that didn’t happen.

There's not much I have to say about Mayu, Tamar and Ehri, except that their plot was superb, only very badly timed.

There's more to talk about them in the remedy tho.

IV. Remedy

Here’s the deal. Before KoS release, there should have been a Nina novella.

Nina is a very important character. All of her potential, alongside many other parts of her personality--from dealing with grief, to accustoming to her powers, to growing stronger--there could be so much to do with her as a protagonist, alongside another character: Mayu.

A whole book dedicated to Nina in Fjerda with Hanne? Brilliant. Show Stopping. Mind blowing. It gives SO much page time to explore not just Nina and Mayu, Hanne, but also Zoya, Leoni and Inej. All together.

How?

Nina’s plotline carries the entire medical effects of the use of parem, just as Mayu’s will carry the pain she feels about her brother being a part of the khergud program. The novella will give ample time to flesh them out as characters and protagonists, each dealing with plot problems and problems of their own--like the loss of ones powers and newfound responsibilities, and the shared loss of a beloved person in parallel, even if neither Nina or Mayu interact on page.

Fjerda and Shu Han could be tied together with one chapter as a POV from Zoya (or maybe two), who, along with the Triumvirate and Nikolai, are completely at loss with the political scenario in the country, and are debating over what should be the course of action. Zoya receives news from the scouts, and missives from Nina, and Tamar takes care of the information she garners from the rest of the network, including Shu Han.

Like, the entire surprise of finding a Zoya POV, from a character whom until CK we’ve known as cold hearted and stern and not giving a fuck about anything or anyone, be humanized in that one chapter, thereby building up the anticipation for her arc,,, the very potential,,, *chef's kiss*.

And by the end of book, we could have an POV--or maybe a cameo if not a POV--of Inej meeting Nina on one of her travels of slave hunting. Inej could help take care that the women that Nina has rescued (as Nina does in KoS) reach the Ravkan shorelines safely. But, for a price.

The entire parallels between Leoni and Hanne and Nina could be set up, while also building up the narrative for the Saints’ plotline with Adrik's, Leoni's and Nina’s powers (like it was at the end of KoS). KoS and RoW would thereby continue it by tackling the weaponization and the antidote, Sainthood and the rest of the politics of it all.

Coming to Shu Han: one key aspect that I’d love to have explored would be the importance of art, during or despite the war. Of how war or pain chips away culture, while detailing on the ill effects of it from the commoners' perspectives, from the soldiers etc. Art is integral to Shu Han and could be portrayed by Mayu’s pain finding balm in poetry, of seeing glimpses of Ehri poring over poetry also mayri ftw, of politics that Makhi is weaving against Ravka, etc.

Or also add some more length to Zoya’s POV and explore a bit of Tamar and Tolya and Kuwei’s interactions and perspective added to it, of missing a home that they seemed to not know, or know; of discussing culture and differences on the basis of where they’re from (maybe the twins are from the borders, while Kuwei grew up near the capital or somewhere distant from the borders etc.), all while directly pointing at Zoya’s heritage and how it ebbs at her conscience, no matter how much she wants to bury it.

POTENTIAL !!!

Like,,, Nina novella would have been too powerful. It would have been perfect. I think I’d excuse bringing back the Darkling too if this was the case. (Or maybe not).

But welp.

Hey, thanks for reading! Not sure if you could make it this far, but if you have, you honestly deserve a medal for sitting through this all. I can’t imagine how tiring it must be to read through this, considering it seemed to take it more than month to compile this there’s also me procrastinating on it too so i’,mbhbdhshfsdn

Drop an ask if you want to talk more about this!

Sincerely, thank you!!!

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irandrura · 4 years

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A comment I meant to get to before, but seem to have forgotten:

shoes-that-cut-eyes-that-burn said: Honestly, it kind of feels like they needed Dimitri to “go bad” and do ~unnamed atrocities~ so his status as an exiled prince on the run from the empire trying to take over the continent isn’t as, well, sympathetic as it is. But since their vague description of his actions boils down to “he killed Imperials super hard!” which is what resistance movements do, it really seems like a bad take (½)

Especially when the invading army canonically turns unknowing people into mindless Beasts as tools of war? Like…the fact that the game never grapples with the Empire magically transforming people into monsters boggles my mind, especially when compared to PoR, which dedicated a whole chapter to HOW BAD THAT IS (2/2)

I’m glad that you said this, because by my recollection 3H never actually explained what the deal was with the Empire’s armies containing demonic beasts.

I think you get enough clues to figure it out - they were stealing crest stones because they can use them to turn people into monsters a la Miklan, somehow they have the magic to control them, I’m guessing that comes from the Slitherers, and they’ve been doing this in order to create elite shock troops and this explains how they were able to overrun the Kingdom so quickly - but it’s odd that it’s never directly addressed.

I can put all the above together, but the game never told me how they’re making the beasts, so for all I knew they were transforming volunteers willing to give their lives for Empire. In a way that might be better: it’s still absolutely horrific, but it fits better with the picture of Edelgard as a well-intentioned extremist, and provides some precedent for Edelgard doing it to herself at the very end too.

But you’d think it should be mentioned, especially since, as you point out, it is almost certainly the most horrific, evil thing that the Empire does. If they’re doing it to captives or innocents, then... yeah, Izuka wishes he could do something that awful.

As it is, if I think about it in the abstract, it’s not clear why the Empire ruling all of Fódlan is necessarily worse than the Kingdom ruling all of Fódlan. If we assume that Edelgard and Dimitri would be similarly talented rulers (certainly they seem to have similar ideals), then the major case against Edelgard is 1) that she started the war without any provocation, 2) that she makes demonic beasts, and 3) that she attacked and wants to destroy the church. The first can be contextualised somewhat by the Slitherers, and the third depends a lot on what you think of the church. The game has given you enough reasons to distrust the church (even in Azure Moon, it was easy enough to tell that Rhea is probably as mad as Edelgard in her own way), and the game never shows you Edelgard persecuting believers in any particularly tyrannical way (I noticed, when looking at chapter scripts, that at the beginning of CF Edelgard expressly says, “I have only made an enemy of the church, not of the faith”), so it doesn’t hit so hard. The demonic beasts thus seem like one of the strongest reasons to oppose the Empire.

...you know, with the benefit of a few days to think about it...

I wonder if Three Houses would be better if it had a single, unified plot like Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn? You can definitely keep the titular houses, but if Byleth were reduced in significance, and the player swapped between the houses from mission to mission, there might have been room for a more satisfying combined story.

After all, in Radiant Dawn you swap between the Dawn Brigade, Greil Mercenaries, and Royal Knights, even as they fight on different sides of a war. One of the most memorable parts of that game for me was storming a crossing as the mercenaries, and then swapping to the Dawn Brigade and having a hell of a time trying to hold back the faction I had just been playing as.

What if Three Houses were written like that? I would be happy to play a mission as the Black Eagles besieging Garreg Mach, and then a mission as the church evacuating, and then a mission following the vengeance-crazed Dimitri, and so on. Such a combined story might give every faction a little more room to breathe, and ultimately a more satisfying resolution. As it is, no matter which route you choose (as best I can tell), there are subplots that don’t get resolved, character arcs that get aborted, and a few nagging omissions. What if all three routes were woven together?

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ntnchamp2 · 5 years

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What books are on your nightstand?

George Saunders’s “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” and “Three Women,” by Lisa Taddeo.

What’s the last great book you read?

“So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away,” by Richard Brautigan.

Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).

Wine. Armchair. Raining. Or reading in the same room as someone else who’s reading. It’s rare, but there’s a particular sort of peace to it.

What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?

“I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild’s Pocket Book,” edited by Iona Opie and Peter Opie with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. It’s a collection of chants and rhymes for children that I was given by my very conservative grandmother. She didn’t realize what kind of subversive, morbid glory was in there. It haunted her for years as I learned everything by heart and recited it to her endlessly.

Which playwrights and other writers — novelists, critics, journalists, poets — working today do you admire most?

There are so many, but I’m perpetually in waiting — and I’m not alone — for Donald Glover’s next work. Kim Addonizio’s poetry gives me physical energy, particularly “For Desire” and “What Do Women Want?” Kate Tempest is our modern philosopher, Carole Cadwalladr changed the world and Natasha Gordon is one of the most exciting playwrights out there right now.

You were brought in to work on the latest James Bond script. Have you read the original Bond books by Ian Fleming — and if so, what do you think are the best and worst?

I hadn’t read them, but started while I was working on the movie. I don’t want to say which ones I was inspired by just yet.

What book would you most like to see turned into a movie or TV show that hasn’t already been adapted?

Daphne du Maurier’s “The Blue Lenses” would be a trip. You’d have to be high.

What character from literature would you most like to play?

Cathy Ames in “East of Eden,” by John Steinbeck, although Jodie Comer is perfect casting for her. I actually opened the pitch document for “Killing Eve” with Steinbeck’s description of his monstrous beauty. It’s a passage that stopped me in my tracks when I first read it. I’d never come across such a twisted female character. It was electrifying to read. Even her author was obsessed by her.

What writers are especially good on frustrated love?

Ernest Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway.

Has a book ever brought you closer to another person, or come between you?

I am always drawn to people who love “The Master and Margarita,” by Mikhail Bulgakov.

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?

That orgasms can be brought on by art, and vice versa.

Which subjects do you wish more authors would write about?

I wish more people would write from the point of view of tiny, witty animals.

What moves you most in a work of literature?

When someone finds a new way to describe love or grief.

Or when you realize that the storyteller has been doing something to you without you realizing. Sometimes just the artistry of the writing can move me! I love being manipulated!

Do you prefer books that reach you emotionally, or intellectually?

Agh, if I had to choose, I’d say emotionally. But ideally there’s both.

How do you organize your books?

I don’t! They are all over the place!

What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?

I’m a big fan of Charles Bukowski. He was an old dog, but I love how visceral his writing is.

Have you ever changed your opinion of a book based on information about the author?

“Frankenstein” took my breath away, but when I discovered Mary Shelley was 19 when she wrote it my head blew off.

Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Your favorite antihero or villain?

I do have a penchant for an antiheroine/hero. I prefer not to know exactly how I feel about a character. I definitely started walking like a badass while reading Lisbeth Salander. I was horrified yet set alight by the brutal amorality of Sebastian Dangerfield from J. P. Donleavy’s “The Ginger Man,” and I’ll never quite shake the impact of Cheryl Glickman from “The First Bad Man,” by Miranda July. Humbert Humbert in “Lolita” was the most unforgettable, uncomfortable relationship I’ve had with a character I can remember. There are so many!

What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you most?

I was obsessive about particular books. There’s no cool way of saying this but I was really into irreverent poetry for my first decade and a half. Most likely set off by my poor grandmother. I never went anywhere without my copy of “Thawing Frozen Frogs,” by Brian Patten. The Point Horror books were a feature, Roald Dahl was a champion, but Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy defined me as a young reader. I lived between those pages. I remember the physical ache of wanting to be deep in those worlds. I even wrote to Pullman asking if I could play Lyra. Still waiting.

How have your reading tastes changed over time?

I don’t really know. I just want to be transported. I’m still intimidated by massive tomes. Looking back, I started out feeling reading was an escape, then a chore, then a habit, then a luxury. Only now I’ve realized what a necessity it is, and how easily it’s taken for granted.

Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book?

Well, of course the sexy ’70s classic “Forever,” by Judy Blume, was banned from my school because a Certain Page was getting the students all sweaty. But any number of detentions were worth being caught with it and I had … one or two detentions. Not dissimilarly, years later, I picked up Anaïs Nin’s “Little Birds” while browsing Waterstones and stood frozen there, entranced, for about an hour until an employee had to remind my flushed face that Waterstones isn’t a library and I had to remind myself that erotic short stories should be read in private.

You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?

Definitely Shakespeare. I want to look that guy in the eye. I’d tell him there were other people invited, so he would definitely come. But in the end there’d just be an intense little table in a tiny room, lit by a single candle and me saying: “O.K. Come on. How the f—”

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

Ha. I’m not going to tell you that.

What do you plan to read next?

“Ghost Wall,” by Sarah Moss, and “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.

#waller-bridge #phoebe #fleabag #books #literature

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mst3kproject · 7 years

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902: Phantom Planet

You know, Captain, every year of my life I grow more and more convinced that the wisest and the best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful. If you just take the time to look at it. With that in mind, I would like to open by offering you some Good and some Beautiful, in the form of crème brûlée and Lupita Nyong'o. Fix your attention on them, cleanse your soul, and let's begin.

In the distant future of 1980, astronaut Frank Chapman and his philosophically-inclined first mate set out to search for a mysterious rogue planet that's been causing trouble in the inner solar system. Their rocket is damaged in a meteor shower and the other guy is killed, but Chapman himself manages to land on the phantom planet, where he is greeted by a civilization of tiny humanoids! After shrinking down to their size, Chapman is adopted into the culture of the planet Ray-Ton. He helps them fend off an invasion of the monstrous solarites and falls in love with the beautiful but mute Zeta. In the end Zeta helps him escape from Ray-Ton and return to Earth, where he will never see his true love again. The planet Ray-Ton, meanwhile, is doomed to collapse into a black hole.

It's hard to summarize Phantom Planet without making it sound like an action-packed adventure, but like so many other movies that couldn't afford to deliver what they promised, it's mostly a love triangle. The leader of Ray-Ton is a guy named Sessum – his daughter Liara immediately gloms onto Chapman, despite the fact that she's already got a suitor named Heron. Meanwhile Zeta also has a crush on Chapman but can't tell him, so she just hangs around pouting adorably until he notices her. I guess if there are four people involved, that makes it a love square? As usual in such cases, the romantic subplot is a lazy way to introduce tension – and as usual, there are far more interesting and compelling potential sources of tension that are completely ignored.

In this case, it's Chapman's status as stranger. He's a foreigner who's been accepted into this society basically because they have no choice – they can't let him leave and tell Earth about their existence, and they don't want to kill him, so they have to keep him. He has stated outright that he wants to escape, and yet when he asks to know more about their technology, Sessum happily explains. Why not have Heron fear that he's a spy or a saboteur? The idea of Chapman working for the Solarites comes up and is quickly dismissed, but what about him being a spy for Earth? Surely something could have been done with this, instead of introducing tension by means of a love triangle.

The other reason for having a love triangle is simply because movies are supposed to have pretty girls in them, and if you don't put them in a romance then you might have to make them important to the plot. The audience would never buy that. Dog-like aliens, shrinking astronauts, and gravity control, sure, but women with something to do? Bah, ridiculous!

Sorry, I'm bitter. Let's have some more Good and Beautiful. How about bruschetta and Jessica Chastain?

Like in Terror from the Year 5000, the love triangle is a distraction. The time spent on setting it up and then resolving it could have been devoted to things the audience is much more interested in. Why not tell us more about the war against the Solarites? This is a pretty major plot point, and yet we have almost no background for it. Why are the Solarites and the people of Ray-Ton enemies? Why do the Solarites want the gravity control technology? Have they ever tried to talk to each other, and if so, why didn't it work out? Has the captive Solarite been questioned or tortured, or merely held? If they don't want to talk to it, why are they holding it? Is the recent attack a rescue mission?

All this could be interesting, but what would actually be even cooler is if the movie dropped the Solarites altogether. Sessum tells us that Earth's space exploration is dangerous to Ray-Ton, so instead of introducing these other aliens, why not have the people of Ray-Ton fend off an inadvertent threat from Earth? This would be far more emotionally effective, as Chapman is forced to confront the idea that he has harmed these people in the past without meaning to, and give him a better reason to be torn between his old and new worlds than the ending where he just has to leave Zeta behind. It really does piss me off when a script has a much better story just staring us in the face like that and yet completely ignores it.

What do Liara and Zeta see in Chapman, anyway? He's not good-looking and he spends most of his time on Ray-Ton whining and complaining, yet Liara attaches herself to him like a (excuse me) leech woman. At his own trial he is loud, abrasive, and ungrateful about his lenient treatment. He announces his intention to escape at every opportunity. Liara's aggressive interest in him only seems to make sense if she's trying to make her existing suitor jealous. It works, I guess, but since Heron was already prepared to announce that he loves Liara, any campaign to make him jealous seems unnecessary.

How about Zeta? She seems to be Liara's friend – they're frequently seen together – but as she cannot speak, she is a bit of an outsider in the community. Maybe she sees Chapman as a fellow misfit, somebody who might understand her a little better than any of her own people. Her consent is never an issue, since she makes her own interest in him clear whenever she can. When Heron accuses Chapman of harrassing Zeta, Zeta herself defends him as best she can. The problem with their romance is not that, but the fact that the movie presents Zeta in a very creepy, infantilized way.

In contrast to the aggressive Liara, Zeta is presented as almost entirely passive. She is clearly interested in Chapman – indeed, when she regains her voice she tells him it was love at first sight – but she never pursues him. Instead, she waits for him to come to her. The fact that she cannot speak limits her ability to assert herself, but if she wished she could still physically follow him around the way Liara does. She does not.

As well as passive, Zeta is childlike. Her disability renders her incapable of looking after herself, and like a very young child she cannot ask for what she wants or needs but must depend on others to give it to her. When the Solarite abducts her, she can't even scream for help. The suggestion is that Chapman's affection for her is rooted in a desire to take care of somebody who can't take care of herself, and the ending seems to bear this out. When Zeta gains a voice of her own, and therefore a measure of independence, circumstances force Chapman to leave her.

Even when Zeta can speak, Chapman talks about her in infantilizing terms. He compliments her looks not by calling her 'beautiful,' but by saying she has 'an adorable little face'. This sounds more like a description of a baby than of a grown woman! What we have idealized in Zeta, by both Chapman and the writers, is the passive damsel-in-distress, a woman who is decoratively seen but never heard, contrasted with the outspoken and ambitious Liara. Never mind the fifties, that's almost Victorian.

Ew. Time for another restorative shot of the Good and the Beautiful. Here’s butter chicken and Adriana Lima.

Women do seem to have some kind of status on Ray-Ton, as it is apparently not considered unusual to have an all-female jury. Or perhaps the people of Ray-Ton always have female juries, because they believe women are more fair and impartial than men. It's impossible to say, because Chapman's trial is pretty much just a plot device – it explains why he's adopted into this culture, but doesn't really do any worldbuilding. In fact, there's very little worldbuilding in Phantom Planet at all. We never find out very much about how Ray-Ton culture works. Liara claims nothing grows on the planet and her people can survive with very little food... but they must need some food, and if nothing grows there then they must have originally come from somewhere else. More interesting ideas to put into your movie that are completely ignored.

At the end, the narrator tells us that this is only the beginning, only the beginning, only the beginning of man's adventures in space! But in the context of the story we were just told, that doesn't seem to mean very much. It can't be only the beginning of a partnership with the people of Ray-Ton, because Chapman says nobody will ever believe him and Ray-Ton's gravity technology will keep any humans from ever coming near their world again. The planet Ray-Ton itself is doomed to fall apart under its own increasing gravity. What we've been shown is a situation that has no future, which rather undermines the movie's pro-exploration message. Depressing.

We'll close with a final dose of the Good and the Beautiful: key lime pie and Rinko Kikuchi. Good night, and may god bless.

#mst3k #reviews #phantom planet #60s

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twh-news · 7 years

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Taika Waititi on how he found the funny bone in Thor: Ragnarok | WIRED

Waititi is an auteur better known for making idiosyncratic indie films. So how did he go about making Thor more fun than thunder?

In 2015, Taika Waititi, a successful but relatively obscure independent film-maker from New Zealand, walked into the offices of Marvel and pitched himself as the director of Thor: Ragnarok, a multi-million-dollar superhero movie. Marvel's top brass were intrigued by Waititi. Films such as the 2010 coming-of-age comedy Boy, and 2014 vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows were small and strange, but big-hearted - an elusive mix of absurd and sincere. It set a tone for a style of film-making that defies easy description, though Waititi settles for "Taika-esque". When presenting his vision to a room of executives, he didn't express himself using words, but images - a pitch reel, clips from other movies, music, "colour, tones, the general sensibilities…" Waititi says. "I thought, 'I'm just going to put my voice 100 per cent up there on screen and Marvel will have to try and keep me in their lane." The ploy worked.

Waititi, now 42, pitched Thor: Ragnarok as a cross between Flash Gordon and Big Trouble in Little China: "a lovable hero bumbling through a crazy world, meeting crazy characters". It was ideal for what Marvel wanted, which, according to Waititi, was a more "fun and entertaining" Thor; a buddy movie in which the god of thunder himself (played by Chris Hemsworth) must work with Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, first to escape Sakaar, the planet they've been marooned on, and then to stop the coming of Ragnarok, the apocalypse threatened by Hela (Cate Blanchett), the goddess of death.

"I really wanted to tap into Chris's natural talent, which is comedy," Waititi says. "In the story, it's two years on [from Avengers: Age of Ultron], so Thor, through hanging out on Earth, should be a bit more colloquial and contemporary. By the time Thor finds Hulk, he and Bruce Banner are fighting for control of their body. He's volatile. It's fun seeing Thor having to deal with that."

Speaking of control, it's hard to look at Waititi - maker of much-loved indie films; an auteur of distinct style and tone - and not think of Edgar Wright, who, in 2014, walked away from Marvel's Ant-Man, citing creative differences. Wright would later clarify his reason as: "I wanted to make a Marvel movie, but I don't think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie."

So, is Thor: Ragnarok a Taika Waititi movie? "I can't speak to anyone else's experience," he says. "I came in knowing I'd never experienced this kind of thing before. So I was ready to learn how they do things; to open myself to having my ideas interpreted in different ways and having to collaborate. But I'll always fight for an idea that I think is worth fighting for, and if I feel like an experience is going to be really bad, I'd probably pull out of the project. I didn't really think I needed to compromise too much. In terms of tone, I was actually given a lot of freedom."

A prime example of this, he says, was his freedom to build a collaborative community on set - a loose environment in which actors felt free to improvise Eric Pearson's screenplay. One of the best lines from the trailer, in fact ("I know him! He's a friend from work!") was suggested to Hemsworth by a child visiting as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. "We did some crazy stuff," Waititi says. "We were throwing away lines all the time and just trying to keep it interesting, so there's enough room for credible ideas to come out. I was fully expecting that my way of working might be a bit more restricted than I'm used to. But it really wasn't that different."

Waititi says he used to be something of a film snob, but he can now see the art in superhero movies: "When you get older, and have kids, you realise the world is full of art." However, he remains unsure if he would make another one. He is, after all, a restless creative; a polymath who's done everything from painting to stand-up to photography. He's also used to juggling several scripts at a time - the last of which, the 2016 Sam Neill comedy-drama The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, became the highest-grossing film in New Zealand's history. "I've been really good on Thor," he laughs. "I haven't been writing. I haven't worked on other projects, I've been concentrating." But now? He's co-directing a stop-motion animated movie about Michael Jackson's pet chimpanzee Bubbles, of course - a project that's still in its early stages.

"I'd like to [make another Hollywood movie]. But I also have to do something different for my own sanity," he says. "I'm not sure if I'd want to do many of these movies in a row. I want to keep it interesting for myself and surprise myself. That's why I think Marvel's done well. They do something different every time. If I were to work with these guys again it'd have to feel very different. I don't want to get too comfortable or complacent."

#thor ragnarok #taika waititi

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greatfay · 7 years

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(I'm the one who asked about Blackwall): what do you hope to see return in da4 from dai and what do you hope is changed or cut out?

Ok just to make sure I got this right, what I liked in DA:I and would like to see more of and what I didn’t like in DA:I and would prefer they cut or altered? Cuz I have a lot tbh. More under the cut.

More Please:

Crafting system. I really liked it, love how you can change your companions’ armor (unlike in DA2 or ME:A) but it still has their “look.”

Banter. Memorable characters are a staple of the Bioware games, but unlike in Dragon Age II, I rarely triggered dialogue between companions in DA:I. Hopefully that changes in DA4.

Soundtrack. Trevor Morris was amazing… too bad most players don’t know this since the devs thought the game would be “more realistic” if the music barely plays. Even combat wouldn’t trigger music for me, all you’d hear is grunting and swords clashing. Ambience just made me feel empty in this game (which doesn’t help the large empty regions).

Pretty places. This game is really bright and colorful compared to the first two. I hope that if DA4 is indeed taking place in Tevinter, we get to see variety in landscape and regions the way we did with Ferelden and Orlais. Just fill it with some damn cities/villages! I hate empty worlds.

Clear cut story. I’ve heard criticisms that Inquisition’s story is oversimplified and pretty cut and dry compared to DA2 and some hail this as a drop in narrative quality in the franchise (psh, they should aim that criticism at the damn fetch quests). However, the game has a straightforward, classic hero’s journey plot that is overall very grand and enjoyable, and that makes it actually similar to Origins. I like that the story can be summed up in 4/5 big moments, with smaller plot points and subplots in between.

Face creator. Honestly there’s a whole subreddit dedicated to the hot OCs you can make in this game and I’m here for it, I have now saved Thedas with an Angela Bassett look-alike (if she were an elf), a Rami Malek look-alike, and a much more idealized version of myself.

Could Be Better:

Specializations. First two games let you get two specializations, DA:I only gives you one. And I’m cool with that tbh, just wish they were a little more expansive and interesting. Also, companions used to get their own unique specializations and/or abilities, and in DA:I, this led to some questionable creative choices. Giving the big healing ability to Knight-Enchanter instead of Necromancer for example, then giving the time power to Necromancer instead of Knight-Enchanter (when the rest of the abilities support the other).

Also jumping into DA:I right after finishing DA2, I was disappointed to find that this new special Rift Mage tree just recycled the abilities of the Force Mage + firestorm.

Armor/Weapons. I actually liked most of the gear in this game (except the helmets, which looked ridiculous in design for the most part). Wish there were more! I feel like it should be possible to get every armor part and weapon that you can see in-game; it used to be a staple of the genre that when you defeat a boss, you get their stuff, but not every boss in this game drops their gear; some who do don’t even drop the same thing *cough, Alexius*. I remember searching for the Venatori Mage helmet for hours before finding out it’s not in the game (though you can get the regular infantry helm for some reason, and it’s ugly soooo).

Supporting characters. In DA:O and DA2, you’d see recurring characters pop up in other quests and you could get attached to some of them. In DA:I, most of the people you get quests from are forgettable and one-offs.

Enemy encounters. In DA:O and DA2, enemies come in hordes, making crowd control pivotal to survival. In DA:I, you get small parties of enemies (3 - 6) with high health and defense, making overall DPS more important. I think they did this to be more realistic, but this is Dragon Age. Zombies dig up the corpses of dragons out of the ground to raise their gods and elves are part-spirit and a trickster god stole a piece of the sky and horned gray-skinned humanoids go to sex doctors to pop their corks under an oppressive religious order. There’s no room for heavy realism in Dragon Age, let’s be real.

Narrative-based quests. I miss when quests would start with a character actually talking to me! With actual cutscenes and dialogue! In Inquisition, quests either start with a brief chat with an unremarkable NPC, or by reading a fucking note someone left on a table. This is so lazy and boring. Maybe Bioware didn’t have the funds to do proper quests, but I’d prefer a handful of real ones than the dozens of “Oh look, I found a letter on this door that says this person left treasure somewhere” quest.

Party AI. I’d love to have more control like in past games; I want to set it like the gambit system in FFXII, where you can say “If ally uses this ability, character A will use this ability on targeted by ally.”

No Thank You:

Fetch quests! “Collect x amount of these and return for XP” is so boring. What happened to more narrative-heavy side quests?

Inventory limits. I’m so over this, lemme hoard like the junk rat I am, gdi.

War Table operations. If you don’t follow guides on the wiki, you’ll have no idea what the results of these operations will be. There’s no riddle or clue left in the descriptions that suggest that choosing a particular advisor will result in the mass genocide of your Inquisitor’s clan (yeah, fuck that, do NOT choose Josephine for the Protect Clan Lavellan operation).

Miscommunication. The devs and the writers don’t seem to be on the same page. In cutscenes and dialogue, Cassandra will say “We should give mages a chance to prove they don’t need chaperones” and then you’ll give mages some freedom and she’s like “CASSANDRA GREATLY DISAPPROVES.” Happens with a lot of other characters, too.

Requisitions. They’re a waste of resources and I never do them as they have zero effect on my gameplay experience. Don’t even need them in the beginning, just finish 4 quests to get the power needed in the Hinterlands.

Some Ideas:

Integrate side quests into the main story. They’re already sort of mandatory; getting XP in this game is impossible without doing the side quests and you end up under-leveled for the main quests, so might as well write them to be more story-related and use them as opportunities to introduce recurring minor characters. The DLC for DA:I was great tbh, all tightly made stories that didn’t pussyfoot around. I finished Prey recently and that game did a great job with side missions; all of them felt personal, and having voiced characters in your ear as you finish objectives makes them feel more active.

The character classes you can pick in the multiplayer should actually be in the game. I think some of them are mentioned by name, but you don’t otherwise see them.

Loyalty missions. Mass Effect 2 did this best and there’s something like this in Inquisition, but not all of them are equal tbh, they don’t involve scripted events and cutscenes and plot lines that reveal more about your companions. Pretty much Dorian, Solas, Sera, and Iron Bull are the only ones that get it. ME2 gave us: returning to the facility where Jack was tortured as a child so she can blow it up, Garrus hunting down the former protege who betrayed his squad, Jacob locating his presumedly dead father crash-landed on a planet whose flora fucks with everyone’s mind, Miranda relocating her little sister (and her adopted family) to keep her creepy-ass father away from her, Samara hunting down her wayward serial killer daughter (the whole investigation + seduction scenes were dope), Thane trying to rebuild his relationship with his son who is trying to follow in his father’s bloody footprints—I could go on. Those weren’t just “Pop in here and beat an enemy and then leave” kind of quests, they were involved and offered the player choices and were super emotional.

#Anonymous #dragon age 4 #da4

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retrogamestoreblr-blog · 5 years

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prosciuttoe · 7 years

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Hi! So for the prompt thing, I recently just watched raiders of the lost ark and I could definitely see bellamy as an adventuring archaeologist/professor OR doing like a type of the mummy au except where bellamy is the librarian and clarke is his guide....or something? idk up to you completely if you feel like writing something along those lines. Thanks!

A|N: I decided to go with archaeologist!Bellamy, or to be more accurate, palentologist!Bellamy because I’m such a sucker for Jurassic Park.

__________________________

Generally, Bellamy’s job description doesn’t involve dealing with billionaires and their hotshot lawyers, and yet here they are.

“For the last time,” he huffs, his arm curling instinctively around her waist to haul her away from the excavation site, “I’m really not interested in advocating some theme park for extinct animals, okay?”

“Dinosaurs,” the girl- Clarke, he reminds himself- tells him, her mouth twisting into a frown. “And why wouldn’t you? Look, I don’t know what you’ve been told, but Jurassic Park is going to be a revolutionary experience. Thelonious Jaha has—”

“Jurassic Park?” he manages, a derisive laugh escaping. “Yeah, that’s the final nail in the coffin. I’m not advocating anything that sounds as if they sell brachiosaurus shaped churros out front.”

The crinkle between her brows deepens at that, and he tries not to appear too smug at having gotten to her. “It’s actually triceratops shaped, and they’re marshmallows.”

“So you guys couldn’t even get churros? That’s rough.”

She spins on her heel, stepping cleanly into his path and forcing him to stop short. “Look, Dr. Blake. You’re leaving this site in about two weeks, right?”

He stares, biding his time as he weighs the possible ways in which she could twist his answer into a less than ideal situation for him. Fucking lawyers.

“Yeah,” he says with exaggerated slowness, bracing himself for a fight. “So what?”

“So,” she goes, mimicking his tone, “tie up your loose ends, and I’ll personally escort you down to Isla Nublar after, where I’m sure Thelonious will be more than happy to discuss the possibility of funding your paleontological dig for the next three years.”

It’s hard to conceal his shock at that, though he does try his damn hardest. Dusting his hands off on his pants, he pretends to consider it for all about three seconds before he bites out, “It’ll be about two weeks.”

The obnoxious tilt of her chin makes him feel as if she’s the one issuing the challenge, instead. “Fine.”

“It means you’re going to have to stay here on site for two weeks, Princess.” He sneers, deliberately running his gaze from the office blouse she has tucked into her pencil skirt down to the delicate heels strapped around her ankles. “Sure you can handle it?”

Her smile is saccharine sweet; practiced. “I don’t think I’m going to be much of a problem, Dr. Blake.”

It’s impossible to miss the little jibe she made there, but Bellamy decides to let it slip anyway. “If you’re sure, Ms. Griffin.” He smirks, accompanying it with a mocking bow. “Make yourself at home.”

He catches her trying (valiantly) to pitch a tent a few hours after; heels sinking in the sand and immaculate updo a mess on the top of her head.

“Shouldn’t someone tell her,” Miller interjects, mild, “that we have trailers to stay in?”

“Nah,” he grins, watching as the unsecured poles sway and clatter back to the ground, her frustrated half-shout lost in the wind. “I think she’s having fun. Maybe it’ll help dislodge the stick up her butt.”

The look Miller shoots his way is pointed. “You do realize that this is the girl that’s supposed to assist us with getting funded for the next couple of years, right?”

“Uh huh.”

“So shouldn’t we be making sure that she gets out of this alive?” he goes, exasperated. “And like, make her experience here as pleasant as possible? Considering she’s the one with the connections to Jaha?”

He can’t help the snort that escapes at that, directing his attention back to the chisel in his hand. “She’s just a messenger. Plus, I’m pretty sure he’ll give us the funding as long as I give their stupid theme park five stars on Yelp, or something.”

“Right,” Miller nods, thoughtful. Then in a voice that’s way too innocent for his liking, “So, it’s not likely that she’ll rescind the invitation at all, right?”

“Not when they need me.” He snaps, though he can’t help sneaking a quick peek over at her. She’s gotten the poles secured this time, at least, though she seems to be struggling to get it upright with the howling of the wind. The look of grim determination on her face would be comical, if he didn’t already know how brutal the winds could get at this time of the year.

Scowling, Bellamy rubs at his face, gets to his feet. “Don’t start,” he mutters darkly, stomping over to her and flipping Miller off when he begins to laugh.

Surprisingly enough, she doesn’t stay cooped up in her trailer like he expects her to.

It’s not like he wants to notice her, really, but she tends to be a conspicuous presence; all infectious, lilting laugh and bright hair gleaming under the sunlight. It takes her a matter of days to charm almost everyone else on site, which annoys him for reasons that he can’t really fathom. Even Raven has taken to her, for fuck’s sake, and she hates about ninety eight percent of the entire human population.

(Fine, maybe he’ll admit that it’s a little unnerving that she’s turned this supposed charm on for everyone else but him. Not that he’s keeping track, or anything, but considering the way she glared at him when he helped himself to second servings this morning? Yeah. Nothing’s changed on that front.)

He’s dusting off what possibly might be a velociraptor skull when she plops down next to him, drawing her knees up to her chest. “Dr. Blake.”

“Griffin,” he says tightly, sparing her a quick glance before getting back to work. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Not much,” she shrugs, running her fingers idly over the series of brushes he has lined up next to him. “I just came over to see what you’re working on.”

Arching a brow over at her, he sets his brush down on his knee. “I didn’t think you were interested in fossils.”

“I’m a lawyer for someone who’s opening up a dinosaur-themed amusement park,” she says, in a voice that suggests the statement be followed up with a pointed duh. “You’d think I’ll do that if I had no interest in dinosaurs whatsoever?”

“Honestly?” he snorts, raking his gaze over her once more. She’s changed, though he’s pretty sure the clothes aren’t hers from the way they hug to her every curve. Her skin is pink from the sun, a splattering of freckles evident against the side of her jaw, and he tries not to think about how nice she looks with her hair loose. “Yeah, probably. I don’t have a very high opinion of lawyers.”

That pulls a disgruntled noise from her. “Oh, yeah. You definitely kept that under wraps. Couldn’t tell at all.”

“Shut up,” he grouses, bumping his elbow against hers. “Besides, it’s not like you made the best first impression. You came down in a copter, which disrupted our work for an whole hour. You started off your pitch by telling me how lucky I was to be hand-picked by Jaha.”

Clarke makes a noise of mock-outrage at that, slapping at his arm lightly. “Please. I had a script to follow, okay? I didn’t think you’d take it that personally.”

“Well, I’m really in touch with my feelings.”

“Duly noted,” she deadpans, rolling her eyes at him. “Though to be entirely honest, Jaha wasn’t the one who picked you. I did.”

He frowns, turning over to look at her. “You did?”

“Yeah.” She says briskly, averting her gaze. “I looked at a bunch of files, and I thought you were the best candidate. I mean, you weren’t under consideration before, but I added you in because of the paper you wrote, and—”

“You read my papers?” he laughs, grinning when her cheeks pink in response.

“Fine, I did.” She mumbles, folding her hands in her lap. “So, uhm. Maybe your paper on viewing dinosaurs as cultural icons is what made me decide to approach Jaha in the first place.”

It’s a little hard to keep his smile from showing at this point, and he finds himself trying to catch her eye despite her sudden shyness at being caught out. “Wow. I can’t believe my own impact, sometimes.”

“It was a really well-written paper,” she argues, crossing her arms over her chest. Then, a little dramatically, “Too bad the author is kind of a dick.”

Whistling, he picks the brush up once more, twirling it between his fingers cockily. “You’re just mad because you revealed yourself to be one of my groupies.”

“You wish, Bellamy Blake.”

The rest of the afternoon passes exactly like this; bickering and talking and maybe a little flirting, too, and by the end of it, he’ll willingly admit that maybe he can see the appeal that Clarke Griffin has going for her.

(Okay fine, he definitely gets the appeal now.)

He doesn’t object when she starts joining them during digs, snapping photos or dusting off fossils right alongside him; her brows furrowed in concentration and tongue poking out from between teeth. Besides, she’s pretty helpful, and it’s nice for him to be able to talk about his discoveries at length without worrying about boring her. She starts joining him during mealtimes, too, always settling in next to him like she belongs there; to the point where he starts looking for her when she doesn’t show up.

If he was being totally and entirely honest with himself, he’d admit that they’re sort of- kind of- friends, now. Or fun work colleagues, at least.

It’s probably why he can’t help feeling a little excited about the whole Jurassic Park venture, even though he’s willingly spending hours stranded in a tiny, cramped helicopter. Swallowing, he adjusts at his seatbelt; his pulse skipping erratically when she reaches over to adjust the headphones clamped over his ears, grinning.

“Ready for this, Dr. Blake?”

He’s not sure what possesses him to say it, really, but he finds himself telling her, “It’s Bellamy, okay? Just— stop being all formal, already.”

Her grin is fucking blinding under the light of the rapidly setting sun, and he’s not sure if the swoop he feels in his stomach is in reaction to her or the jerk of the copter as it begins to ascend in the sky.

“Clarke,” she says, mock-solemn, a small smile playing on her lips as she offers her hand out to shake. “And now we have that out of the way— you ready to go?”

He can’t help squeezing at her palm when he slides his fingers against hers; warm and reassuring and filled with some sort of possibility that makes him grin stupidly at her. “Bombs away, Clarke.”

#y'all have no idea how badly I wanted to expand on this and by expand I mean write a whole 10k fic #buT I SHOWED RESTRAIN #bffnet #bellarke fanfiction #ems writes #prompts #leaderblake #asks

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cancerunit7-blog · 4 years

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Up in Arms About Behavioral Meeting Questions and Responses Pdf?

Ok, I Assume I Recognize Behavioral Meeting Questions and also Solutions Pdf, Now Tell Me About Behavioral Meeting Questions as well as Answers Pdf! You have actually got to think they are conscious of problems. Badly scripted a fantastic read can not just nullify the advantages of individual study, yet on top of that lead product advancement down the inaccurate path. When you ask behavior meeting concerns, you can focus on vital behaviors your client wants. Behavior meeting concerns are a substantial section of most of job meetings. They have come to be a huge part of the meeting process as employers try to really feel out the candidate's core expertises as well as abilities required for the position they're trying to fill up. There are great deals of practical behavioral interview questions it is possible to ask your candidate. Possessing a very supply answer might not fit the particular wording of their inquiry. Whether you want it or otherwise, you have to prepare to have a fantastic answer. Comprehending exactly how to effectively supply enough response to the recruiter's behavioral questions can offer you an upper hand on the competition and can soothe a variety of the stress gotten in touch with speaking with.

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From that point it was simply a question of guaranteeing costs were paid punctually. Fairly just, you want to recognize what questions you desire answered. An example leadership-focused inquiry might ask for that you describe a scenario where you needed to delegate a job to somebody else. As soon as it's vital for you to ask the proper questions to establish an applicant's ability to do the job for you, do not fail to remember that applicants have rights shielded by federal as well as state legislations. All things considered, it's basic to ask leading concerns, however additionally basic to prevent them. As quickly as you have actually identified a remarkable research inquiry and made a decision that talking to individuals is the excellent method to answer it, you have to identify what to ask the people who you are interviewing. Just take a rapid appearance below if you wish to figure out more regarding it. go to this site than likely have an excellent idea about the prospect abilities and also potential to grow. Quite merely, you kinda know what concerns you would like to ask. Much more negative research study is made specifically to provide assistance for an existing remedy. Demonstrate how you remain in a position to collect and arrange the vital information as well as identify the optimum solution. You ought to ultimately have a list of competencies you have actually established they are likely searching for, dependent on your analytic reading of the work description. You'll see the above collection of core proficiencies is rather general. You should ultimately have a list of the expertises you think they'll be looking for in your interview. You should currently have a total collection of inquiries which you wish to ask your participants, and the extremely last thing you'll need to do currently is to purchase them. Your ability to connect successfully is vital for any kind of graduate duty, specifically in scenarios where you're most likely to be managing clients or customers on a basic basis. There are Continue Reading of opportunities from numerous reputed businesses on the planet. Success in a behavior meeting has to do with preparation. The chance to provide fantastic client service and generate a wonderful perception is in their hands. In instance you were laid off or got fired from your prior job, the reply is rather tougher. The function of conducting a meeting is to discover actual, genuine answers to inquiries which you have. It's better to check out the job needs as well as responsibilities, so you might straighten your responses based on what they are trying to find. In other words, credentials and abilities aren't adequate to ensure that a prospect will be prosperous in job. To help you figure out the objective credentials of a person, take into consideration asking these concerns. The Allure of Behavioral Interview Questions and Solutions Pdf You're searching for prospects that are service-oriented as well as who truly indulge in speaking with individuals. Poor prospects simply uncommitted as well as will not get enthusiastic whatsoever throughout the interview. Make certain that you are speaking with the best Cashier prospects. People are normally fearful of job meetings. As a company, there's no ideal technique to hold a work meeting. Have actually persuading responses gotten ready for the behavioral meeting inquiries you make certain to face in your job meeting. You might be asked by your job interviewer to define a time anywhere your interaction skills were evaluated. The interviewer would like to understand whether you're aggressive as well as prepared to create practical ideas. Couple of interviewers share rubrics of what it is that they're trying to analyze. Phone meetings particularly have a lot of concerns that you can do in order to develop your experience better. The interview should not be a waste of time. Departure interviews use closure for the two events. You will be a whole lot far better prepared to have an outstanding meeting and also obtain hired, and also you're additionally producing mini lift pitches that'll be helpful for you for the remainder of your firm career. During the onsite meeting treatment, there's a bar raiser interview.

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trigafy · 7 years

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Answer Cancer

Product Description Is it possible that cancer and most chronic illnesses are actually produced by the mind? And if so, can the mind be used not just to heal such ills, but to prevent them in the first place? Stephen Parkhill, a noted hypnotherapist, answers these questions and many others. Filled with fascinating case studies from Steve’s professional history, this book gives positive proof that the cure for many debilitating diseases exists within the mind of each and every one of us.

Sleep Hypnosis Find Your Higher Purpose, Mission, Life Direction (Spirit Guide / Guardian Angel)

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This session will work for both one specific question on the next step or to find your overall mission or purpose in life. Remember that all the answers lie inside of you; my words are just an enabler or guide, but as with a guide you are free to follow or take a different route.

This leads on well from the session on Spiritual and Emotional Healing and you may notice a continuity from this previous session in some ways.

This is a peaceful and reassuring session that simply taps into that subconscious wisdom that we often repress to fit in with the norm. Don’t be afraid of what makes you different because it is also what makes you wonderful. All the answers to your questions lie inside of you. When we relax the conscious mind, the subconscious can provide answers.

This MP3 is available on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/sleep-hypnosis-find-your-higher/id1168680716