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moonstone27ls · 11 months

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Unicorn Warriors Eternal ep 4

Sooooo... THAT happened.

THat by which was the most screwed up love rectangle/triangle?.... Love mess. Reincarnations man (glad they didn’t go that route with Avatar XD). Point is... okay so its established the Lady Fox/or kitsune is basically the evil they fight, TIME and time again. The fight scenes were good.

Whats getting old is this love mess. I can’t call it a love shape because technically Edred isn’t really after Emma. He wants his Melinda. Emma...is at most confused I think that whole scene was cute and I think she actually felt chemistry which again brings up to point.... since Melinda/Edred are reincarnated TIME and time again... have these two made their carnations (or caused) them to reproduce offspring together? I say that because the last episode clarified it sorta... we only saw “2″ or our three... so it would be correct to assume Edred’s incarnation (unless born a woman) had children with Melinda’s.

Part of me is annoyed with Emma. But I say part, because again the Creator stated that this is focusing on Emma’s arc. Adult me knows that... but also me wants to say “EMMA IF YOU ARE HAVING ANGSTS AT LEAST TALK ABOUT IT”. She’s been vocal about everything else the “I don’t wanna do this”, the “I’ve got two mes”. Fine I get that then just admit to your team that you are afraid to fully use your powers. Edred I get why she’s refraining... but I want to assume she’s on a better familiarity with Seng/Alfie and the robot. Gahhh I feel more would get done if this show was longerXD.

But its minor with Emma so I’m not entirely annoyed... what I’m getting annoyed with is the love mess. I admit the jealous side of Edred was not the most ... I’ll just be honest I hate love drama it ruins a character, so it makes it less enjoyable. Watching Edred/Winston fight over Emma/Melinda was veryyyy annoying and I almost wonder why she didn’t smack them both and go “I’M NOT PROPERTY”

But having said that... I do get why Edred is having trouble accepting this. Like Melinda they’ve been use to just being in control. Their incarnations have never talked back/or their lives never got in the way. So that much I understand... buttttt also Edred yeah you were a little harsh on Emma/Melinda in regards to her powers. And I feel even if that was technically Emma mad, he’s seen that look from Melinda. But again he went about it wrong, instead of actually talking/or apologizing he attempted to flirt with what he thought was his lover.

Then we get to Winston... I’m not gonna lie he’s annoying the hell out of me. Yes, yes, adult me and bigger picture he’s concerned for Emma. But COME ONNNN. That fight was literally over towns there is NO WAY he kept up that long. That was annoyingly cartoonish how he popped up out of no where. “Oh I followed you”... Me: BULLSHIT, you are not that fast and several things almost killed people.

Its not that I hate Winston its just his character does NOTHING for the story or Emma other than going “I love you”. If I thought he had SOME form of Sherlock Holmes fighting skill then maybe I could let it go. But he’s like reverse damsel in distress. He ALWAYS gets in the way. And like Edred, he’s also pushing Emma. He’s like “LEAVE”, “She can’t fight”. I’m like dude, BIGGER PICTURE GOING ON.

Winston’s character seems to flip/flop in regards to all the crazy shit going on. I admit it was kinda.. racist/or xenophobic(I dunno the PC terms in regards to supernatural creatures) how he kept making fun of Edred for being elf. Yes one could argue he doesn’t believe in magic. But again thats were the flip/flop comes in. If he’s been following Emma since the hospital... then he should have seen the POSSESSED statues, a LITERAL fox lady, his FIANCE and EDRED floating, ALFIE IS LITERALLY FADING AWAY! What more do you want? The hand of God to slap you and go “Buddy its real, get over it”.

Just haaahh Winston is so literally annoying. I would rather him go “I’ll wait for you”(cause again we don’t know what happens after the incarnations defeat the fox) or get some sense smacked into them that they HAVE to fight. But he literally brings nothing to the table and I’m so tired of him.

And whether Edred likes it. He’s fueled him to follow them more (which I get, again its Emma. Edred/Melinda are just technically spirits). But because Winston literally does NOTHING/and... looking at how he couldn’t even knock down the robot its fair to say he’s useless in a fight. He’s gonna get in the way or worse killed. I don’t want dummy dead, just out of the way 8B. Go and sit tea and wait for her dummy. Her parents are and thats her parents, they want their daughter back but I think that last quote her father said... it meant something. He knew it was something out of their hands.

Anything else.. a part of me wishes the Russian guy did take over Edred for a moment... or that Emma would talk to Alfie. Let her get some sense she’s not completely alone. I get the development will be solely focused on Melinda/Emma ... but it would be nice for the others to have some as well. See the trio bond together. Well four counting the robot.

EXTRA NOTE:: Because I forgot to add this. Whether its Melinda/Edred talking to Emma... I think they all do just need to talk. Admit into their humanity... what to I mean by that... I admit they’ve made mistakes. I admit thats another problem Edred is acting like a teacher. Which isn’t bad... whats bad is that he forgets this isn’t Melinda(fully?o3o). I mean yeah Alfie was as shocked. But Alfie kinda had his own thing(and again Emma isn’t voicing her anxieties, back to focus sorry). Edred and them need to remember that Emma/and probably Alfie(he hasn’t done much yet except make the mistake of trusting that fox plus he’s what I assume a child, .... I think? He was on a rival team against Winston’s ... so how old is he?oO) are not perfect. And although they’ve had CENTURIES of training. I don’t fully believe Edred and Melinda were born naturally gifted. I feel they both made mistakes and they both trained to control their abilities.

#unicorn warriors eternal

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slashingdisneypasta · 1 year

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Wheezy Weasel x Fem!Reader x Greasy Weasel || Oneshot

Plot: Inspired by 'Bro Code' by Brantley Gilbert. Reader and Greasy have been growing apart; He's rarely around to spend time with you, which is leaving you to spend a lot more time, alone, with Wheezy, and... feelings start to develop... Wheezy decides to do the respectful thing and warn Greasy about it.

Better show that girl a good time If you don't, it's gon' be goodbye And if you take it for granted You hand her to another man It's a matter of time, bro

It's a matter of time

Now, I know it ain't my business But I gotta insist that if this was somebody else Your deal is already finished because Bro code goes out the window Just be glad it's me lettin' you know, bro

Warnings: Me writing serious romance stuffs for toon gangster weasels. ... Love triangle? XD I'd say its handled pretty well though

"Hey Wheezy!"

"Hey- " You plop down on the couch with him suddenly; Your head in his lap. It honestly surprises him for a moment, the affection - though not unwelcome, - having come out of nowhere and could be interpreted as innapropriate, by some people... considering who you really belonged too around here. "Y/N... "

Giving a little, teasing smile, you dont address the elephant in the room- deciding to rather just move on, fiddling with your fingers above your stomach. "What are you up to, tonight?"

"Smokin'... " Obviously. "Was gonna watch some TV, too. Nothing much- nothing exciting, anyway. What are you doing? Wasn't Greasy taking you out somewhere, tonight?"

At this, the mention of your boyfriend, the bright light flickers out of your pretty eyes a little bit. You look away from his face, a frown tugging at your lips. Wheezy frowns, too, the three cigerettes he was puffing away on held away from his face between two fingers; This can't be good. "Oh! We were... " Your voice is polite, almost cheerful still in a totally fake, forced kind of way. "But, um... I guess we got our signals crossed, or something. I thought I was supposed to meet him here now, but Smarty says Greasy's out doing something for him tonight, so... " Giving little shrug, you force the sadness out of your eyes and take a deep breath. Wheezy's frown only worsens, though. That explains why you look so nice... well, nicer then usual. That seems to be happening damn often, recently, too. "I'm free, now! Was hopin' you might be willing to share your evening, with me?"

... There's a cheeky glint in your eyes that Wheezy can't help grinning back at, shaking his head. "Yeah, sure. Whatcha wanna watch?"

"Oh!" You hop up off his lap and into a sitting position, crossing your legs and picking up the remote- focused on the TV. "I have the best movie in mind. I think its started already, but not too long ago so we should be fine. You'll love it! Promise."

"This is the dumbest fucking movie I have ever seen Y/N- " Wheezy's saying, much to your dismay even though you grin- his frustration a source of amusement, to you. He's cute, you decide; His words are biting, but the expression on his face is soft, and relaxed. You like it. You like him- he's a good friend!

"No way!-" Giggling, you shake your head at him.

"Dont you show this to the boss, he'll blow a gasket. Is this supposed to be gang representation? Hell- "

"Its the best kind of gang representation!" You reply, not looking at him as he turns to give you most incredulous look possible. "... makes you guys look so dumb- fella's watchin'll think they can outsmart you and be so much easier to deal with, don'tcha think?"

"Pfft," Wheezy rolls his eyes, but he's grinning; Theres something cute about your theory, there. He's gotta admit. "We gotta deal with enough idiots, don't you be pushing any more on us."

"Hmm," Humming, you lean back into the cushions behind you; Eyes glued to the screen as some 'gangsters' play a game of poker. "Plus, they're all gorgeous... would you say that's misrepresentation, too?"

He scoffs again, shaking his head. "Depends on the gang, doll."

As soon as that slips out of his mouth, he just about has a stroke and freezes to the spot as you just continues to watch the movie, like she didnt hear it. Hanging out with your pal's girl all alone is one thing, even sitting this close to her can be interpreted as a close friendship, but calling her doll?? Thats got to be breaking every damn rule there is about pal's and their ladies. Greasy would lose his damn mind if he heard that, and Wheezy wouldn't really be able to blame him.

Except... you didnt react at all to him using that name with you- for you. As well as the fact that you haven't been seeing much of Greasy, lately. At all. He hasn't been around. And not just for a week, no- you two have been missing eachother for months now, slowly drifting apart. Greasy used to stress out like the damn Queen was coming over to the apartment if he ever had to dissapoint you, the two of you used to be so attached to eachother all the time that it made everyone else sick (And really uncomfortable, at times), you used to hang out in Greasy's room if he wasn't around when he said he would be... But not anymore. For weeks now you've been spending your time with him - Wheezy, - , almost treating him like your boyfriend...

Like a stand-in. But that doesn't mean that when you're together you aren't treating him like him- that you're using him as a place holder for Greasy at all, no- its just... like...

Instead of Greasy getting to spend his nights with your legs in his lap- it's Wheezy. Instead of Greasy getting to make you laugh- it's Wheezy. Instead of Greasy making you smile... its Wheezy.

And he doesn't think he should really have to feel guilty for enjoying it, anymore.

It's time to give Greasy a warning, Wheezy decides as he relaxes back into the cushions to watch the rest of this dumb movie that you like.

If Greasy doesn't buck up, soon, then he's going to let you know that he's throwing his hat into the ring.

Greasy's eyes are narrowed after what Wheezy says, disbelief and betrayal written all over his face. "... what, amigo?" His voice is quiet but emotionless, giving Wheezy one chance to take it back, his proclamation. His absurd, ridiculous, traitorous proclamation. If he did, then all would be fine- he would forgive and forget it. You're beautiful, and wonderful... he cant blame the man for falling under your spell for a moment. But if he doesnt-

"You heard me Grease." Intimidation is one of Greasy's favourite tactics- Wheezy's close to him, so he knows that. Plus... you can't really be intimidated by a man after you've heard him singing in the shower. "... I'm just warning you. As it is I'm not gonna do a thing, not unless she makes a move on me, because you're my friend- but if you don't start putting in more of an effort again, stop standin' your girl up... you're gonna lose her. And it might be, to me."

"Hm. Brave, fumador, you're very brave... So, am I to believe you haven't don't anything behind my back?"

"Yes."

... Greasy nods. He believes him- of course he does. Like Wheezy said, they're friends. He knows when he's lying and when he's telling the earnest truth, and besides he trusts him.

... and also- Wheezy isn't the lying type. Never has been. Greasy has never really had to worry about that, with him.

So... that brings him to a different thought. Another issue. One that makes his heart restrict inside his chest. "So then... Y/N... she has been sad? Missing m- "

Wheezy rolls his eyes deeply and groans, his hands in his pockets so he doesnt smack Greasy. "Of course she's been fucken sad, you little freak. She loves you, moron. And you've been everywhere but with her- where you should be." Some 'ladies man', this one. Wheezy thinks. Doesn't even know when he's making the biggest damn mistake of his life.

Sure, it might be Wheezy's gain... this mistake of Greasy's... but he won't take it lightly. This is a fucked up situation they're in, and whoever ends up with her is going to have to live with knowing the other is having to live without.

Greasy's heart squeezes and squeezes... forcing him quiet as thoughts rush through his mind about how bad he feels and how he didn't realise this, his working more lately, would affect her badly... and how if he had then he would have never...

Ugh, he thinks. He wishes he could say he was doing it for more money, to buy her an engagement ring or something... but he was not. Dammit.

... thats a prety good idea actually. Maybe he can still do that-

"What the hell are you two morons doing in my kitchen?" Smartass suddenly appears in the doorway, catching both their attentions with his frustrated tone. Greasy opens his mouth to explain, but their boss is already on it. "What I tell you??? No snacks past 6.30! Dinner's in the damn oven- what do you want from me here?? Damn vultures. What- you can't wait 15 minutes?? Sheesh."

This time Wheezy opens his mouth to explain for them both, but also gets cut off as Smartass pulls on two oven mitts. "And Y/N's just got here. Go bother her for a while, wouldja?? Both of you. Out."

Barely a millisecond passes and Greasy is already out the door, leaving a Greasy-shaped dust cloud behind him as he races to find you. Wheezy takes another moment, sucking in a good long puff of tobacco, before strolling after him.

When he finds you, standing by the billards table with Psycho and Stupid, Greasy's already attached himself to you like a damn leach.

"-so sorry, mi vida... Lo siento, Y/N... All my apologies... I didn't realise that I had been gone so much... " He's trailing kisses all over you- your cheeks, your forehead, down your neck... Psycho scowls at you both, before covering his eyes. Wheezy wishes he could do the same without feeling like a fricken 12 year old. "I mean of course I noticed you were away from me... and I missed you but-... you know? Why don't we go and spend some time- alone?~ " Finally he pulls back, looking you in the eye, a flirtation smirk on his face. "I will be sure to thoroughly make it up to you for my mistakes. Prometo~ "

Giving a giggle at it, you allow yourself to fall right back into familiar patterns, with him; Tucking hair behind your ear and letting your hands fall to his arms as he holds you, and tilting your head to the side. "I don't know~ Why don't we?"

You're just glad he's back.

Wheezy watches Greasy's wolf-like smirk broaden, all sorts of - likely, - depraved shit going in his head, and lean into your ear. He whispers something you that has your eyes widening and your fingers tightening onto his suit.

... you look cute as hell, but Wheezy would rather not know what it was that had that affect on you. Or at least not until he can figure it out himself.

Then Greasy's disconnecting from you, pressing one final lasting kiss onto your cheek, before heading to his room. You would follow in a moment, absolutely, but you're just reeling for a moment from how he went from 0 to 100 all of a sudden.

... woof. You give a smile, shaking your head. Whatever it was, you aren't about to question it. When you notice Wheezy standing in the doorway, smoking to himself, you catch his gaze and give a bright grin. He's back, you mouth, pleased.

He nods, blowing smoke. Yep... "Sure is."

Approaching him, you hold your arms behind your back and stand just beside him; Watching the Psycho and Stupid play billiards while Wheezy watches you. "I wonder what knocked some sense into him?... or who???" You ask, twisting in place and carefully peering up at him.

Immediatly he looks away, taking a draw from a cigerette. "Oh- don't give me the credit. It was allll him."

Without really thinking, you throw your arms around Wheezy; Giving him what was supposed to be a quick, warm hug. Of thanks.

But then he wraps his arms around you too, and you pull back not far... just enough to look at eachother and for a split moment, with both your heads slightly at an angle and your breath on eachothers lips you stay there; Inches apart and hearts beating erratically inside chests.

Something changed in the few seconds you were hugging him. The way you looked at him all of a sudden was different, like- realisation. Then surprise.

Then horror.

Quickly you wipe the wide-eyed look off your face and cautiously let go of Wheezy, stepping back. Theres a heat in your cheeks betraying you. Wheezy- you think, an odd and terrifying mix of shock and something really lovely and warm swarming inside your chest. Tall, laid back, sexy, comfortable... Wheezy.

You must look at him for too long, because he reaches out to grab your hand. "Y/N? Are you- "

Quickly you yank your hand out of jis reagh, surprising him. "Um- I'm fine! Yeah, I just- Greasy. I gotta go to Greasy. So- um- yeah. Uh, bye!"

Then you flash a awkward smile, to comfort him and show everything is alright, then rush up the stairs to Greasy's room.

#Wheezy Weasel x Reader x Greasy Weasel Oneshot #Wheezy Weasel x Reader x Greasy Weasel #Wheezy Weasel x Reader #Greasy Weasel x Reader #Toon Patrol #Toon Patrol x Reader #Disney Villains #Oneshot

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kaysutcliff-michaelis · 3 years

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Bright We Burn ending rant (SPOILERS)

Under the cut you will find my opinion with lots of spoilers, capitals and cursing about Bright We Burn (and the Conqueror’s saga in general) written by Kiersten White.

Quoting from https://booksandreaderssite.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/bright-we-burn/ “This book was ruined by the author falling in love with her own character: Perfect Beloved Radu“

I finished reading the book like an hour ago and I’ve been complaining, crying, and looking for reviews since then. I hate it, hate it so much, as much as I loved the first two books and the beginning of this one.

The impression I get from the ending is not one I expected to get from a book that had a strong female protagonist as its main selling point. Mainly because said protagonist gets the worst possible ending. I didn’t expect a happy go lucky ending, I didn’t even expect her not to die or the author to stray too far from historical facts. Just because of the title I expected her to be like a shooting star, briefly burning bright. But she didn’t burn bright, she just burn. What I didn’t expect was the ending feeling completely alien to the rest of the saga.

Lada is ruthless, strong, smart, a great tactician and has her sights focused on her goal, being the prince of Wallachia. And fuck Mehmed, Radu, her father, and whoever tries to prevent her from ruling her country. She gets the respect of her men and the people of her country, she’s a good and fair ruler even if she got there with rather bloody methods. But haven’t they all? The Ottoman Empire Mehmed and Radu are so fond of is built on the blood of the janissaries they have taken from vassal states and the blood of the Christians from Constantinople. Yet the moment Lada kills the boyars (who have been leeching off Wallachia for decades) and Mehmed’s envoys (who burnt a village first), she must be stopped. How dare a woman make life easier for the people of the country?

And for some reason, the author allows two men to ruin what Lada has built with blood, sweat and tears. And to add insult to injury, the men who should have helped her (Mehmed even claims “he gave her the throne” as the selfish and self-centered asshole he is).

And she loses everything and everyone who is important to her. Petru, Nicolae, Oana, Stefan, Daciana, and Bogdan. Oh, Bogdan. How I wished Radu lost an eye to compensate for his murder.

And in case that was not enough, the dragon that was so strong and fierce suddenly turns into a girl that is lonely and hurt and needs her brother to survive and give her back her country. The country that never recognised Radu as prince. The country that loved Lada.

HE FUCKING HAD TO GIVE HER WHAT WAS ALREADY HERS. A MAN. AGAIN. HE FUCKING TOOK THE THRONE FROM HER AND FUCKING GAVE IT BACK AS IF HE WAS A DAMN SAINT. ALL SHE DID AND IN THE END SHE WAS PRINCE BECAUSE A FUCKING MAN ALLOWED IT. HOW IS THAT FEMINIST??????????? WHAT IS THE USE IN HAVING SUCH A POWERFUL FEMALE CHARACTER IF THE FULFILLMENT OF HER DREAM DEPENDS ON THE WHIM OF A MALE EVEN AT THE VERY END?

AND HE EVEN GETS AN “I TOLD YOU” MOMENT!!! THE AUDACITY!!!

And her death... such a warrior, killed by a nameless assassin with a knife to the back. A nameless grave. So disrespectful to what Lada was. I don’t care if all the things I didn’t like were for historical accuracy’s sake. Lada was her character and deserved way better than that.

Moving on to the treacherous rat that Radu has become, I liked him so much and in this book I could only pray for someone to smack him as hard as possible. He goes from the poor and traumatised soul that is being manipulated by Mehmed and has lost his best friend and potential partner to enabling Mehmed’s actions while being fully conscious of how he’s being used, instantly healing himself from a trauma that is not relevant ever again, not giving a damn about killing people, sending Kumal to his death without sparing it too many thoughts, and having a cute little happy family while wanting to imprison his sister for the rest of her life and thinking he’s doing her a favor. He actually thought it was good and fair to plan a happy life for himself while destroying everything his sister had fought for. The sister he never ever chose.

Am I the only one who loved that the Danesti brothers started being problematic as soon as Radu gave them the throne?? Boyars will be boyars, and I don’t understand how he thought those two would be better rulers than Lada, they wouldn’t enter the castle and still wanted the money, the lands and the fancy stuff.

I honestly cannot believe how much this character has changed (for the worse), and how he acts like he’s so good and only looking for the best for those he loves when he’s a traitor, a liar, a killer and the reason why Constantinople fell. He cannot forgive Lada for protecting Wallachia, but apparently everyone and their mother have forgiven and forgotten all the blood staining his hands. Also I find it unbelievable how he sells the way the Ottoman Empire is run to Cyprian but then when Lada tried to use some of the things she had learnt there to run Wallachia it was suddenly the worse thing ever. Radu is definitely not the good Dracul sibling, he’s the toxic one.

Speaking about Cyprian, I honestly couldn’t feel happy for them. When he came back to Radu I was already too angry and wanting to send him packing back to Edirne. Amazing how Cyprian can give counsel about how to deal with Lada when all he knows about her is second-hand but he can forgive Radu for lying to him, making the siege worse for everyone, being the reason why his uncle is dead and his city was lost (and even if he doesn’t know about it, the reason why Giustiniani may have died).

And Fatima?? How she “took care” of Lada at the end? I can’t tell if she’s too broken or what, but it was creepy how she could take care of Lada when Nazira wouldn’t even stand being in the same room. Even if she was going to give them her baby, it makes me wonder how messed up she can be to be able to behave that way with the person who killed her brother-in-law and they were so adamant to condemn.

I won’t even talk about the baby thing because that was just so unnecessary for the plot and for Lada herself as a character.

Going back to Radu and before talking about Mehmed, I hate how he is 100% sure that Mehmed knows about his feelings and is using him and said feelings and he??? just??? allows??? it???? Still does whatever he wants, still appears at his doorstep no matter his trauma with Constantinople, still makes Nazira and Fatima leave their house though they had just been reunited and Mehmed didn’t care that much about finding Nazira and STILL at the end, 20 years later is in good terms with him. He didn’t confront Mehmed about using him, never called him out. Radu is the friend who will listen to you when you’re explaining how a common friend has abused you and then will keep being friends with the other person and abandoning you :D

I am not Mehmed’s biggest fan, but it’s like he isn’t even a character anymore in this book. Even if we never have his pov it always felt like this story was a triangle, but at the end it was like he wasn’t there anymore, he isn’t even the source of conflict because Radu isn’t in love with him anymore. Even for all their alleged worries about Theodora being Mehmed’s biological daughter, that issue was glossed over in a matter of three lines. I do wish he had stayed more relevant (and that he had never left Constantinople).

Surely I’m forgetting something but I think my point is clear XD Radu is a hypocrite who didn’t deserve his happy ending, Mehmed became so irrelevant that the plot was missing something, and Lada, our dragon, deserved way better. Oh, and don’t write a “feminist” YA book if the female character is the one who’s going to have the worst ending. It just feels like you’re telling women they will end up alone and dead if they are as strong and determined as Lada, and to suck it up because men will always be forgiven for the crimes.

#the conqueror's saga #and i darken #now i rise #bright we burn #lada dracul #radu dracul #mehmed #kiersten white #spoilers #book rant

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staysuki · 3 years

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i never thought of shipping y/n with seungmin but when you mentioned it last ask, a part of me subconsciously gets flustered 👁️👄👁️ hahahahhahaha kaw talaga may kapakan ng lahat, charot. scratch what i said, im shipping y/n with everyone. ill just support whoever seems to be winning the race :">

"you knew what you wanted, and Hyunjin wasn’t a part of it." 👀🤭

hala ang gago AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA omg umaasa na seungmin niyo uWu btw this was the part where y/n debated on telling seungmin about lias situation or not but proceeded to do the latter and told a lie about seungmin looking good. seungmin does look good tho 😠 he s smoother than my face, i want to cry. and wtf pasimple pa siya, “Not like anyone’s gonna see us enter at this hour.” -> oke beh 🕳️🚶

hahaha yes minho get your girl. yuhss omggg minho, we kenat let seungmin win 😠 bruh i actually dont know why i keep on denying on wanting to ship seungmin and y/n when i secretly want more cute scenes of them together ahhahaa yess minho you go girl ! YESS FELIX HELP AND BE CLOSER TO Y/N SO THAT THE OTHER 3 WOULD GET JEALOUS AF

OHH WTF THE CLOWN WAS HARLEY QUIN?? LMAO WITH A LOT OF AHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAH 😭😭😭 i still dont understand the 2nd-4th emojis tho,,,,“You can go have fun upstairs, I’ll be with Seungmin.” felix, my boy, mustve been heartbroken as fuck . <- colored red bc im serious xd

aaaaaa hyunjin, its ur time to shine pare 🤩 haha changbin, saksakin niyo na lang ako. the confrontation ive been waiting to happen for like 3 chapters (??) was finally going to take place but nO :<

“Uhhh.. I didn’t have anyone to hang out with.” 1. 👁️👁️👁️👄👁️👁️👁️ 2. 🕳️🕳️🕳️🕳️🚶🕳️🕳️🕳️🕳️ 3. 👼

he had good intentions, not in hyunjins perspective though :< idk but if i was y/n, id have long forgotten the main problem. i MEAN srsly with a seungmin looking like that in front of you? im not exchanging that for anything. EHALOJ, featuring THE lee heeseung 😎 hahaha seungmin:"> srsly tho, if seungmin has been chosen to be endgame all this time, i regret focusing on lee know and hwang hyunjin. felix, its fine, you ll get an smau soon <3 HONEST CONFESSION: i want seungmin to be endgame lmao (oh yeah i forgot, you havent decided who y/n ends up with, well 1 pt for kim seungmin ig)

omg so many things are happening between them aaaaaaaaaaa yes fix his hair cmon >:( EHALOJ, featuring THE solar 😎 LMAO JEONGIN WON? HES OUT THERE PLAYING NINTENDO 😭 let the child play in peace

omaygad yeji wat da fuuuuqqqqq "That crown is mine." -> another one of those famous queen bee lines 🤩 bruh i still cant hate her character, damn. i keep remembering (INTW- too long, forgot title :">) yeji, shes such a queen there i love her ugh.

"you’ve spent so much time staring into his brother’s that you got used to the stunning effect." YUHSS hyunjin still be out there saving y/ns ass. i hope hyunjins endgame uWu friends (?) 2 enemies (???) 2 presumably a one-sided crush 2 lovers, wut

omg eto na, bardagulan na dis PUCHA THATS WHAT THE 💅 MEANT LMAO pusa ka ate gurl? i thought it was hyunjins time to shine (2) already, but ig chan could do it. bruh r u srsly adding chan to the harem?? omg yuhs our girl y/n be out there collecting boys like pokemons, but unintentionally 😌💅 omg what if, y/n develops a crush on chan but chan be like nO sorry i dont like you SO this would be some kind of love triangle but one corner would be crowded with a bunch of ethereal looking men.

iza prank !!! i think you meant to write this scene platonically lols omg it is my dumbass turnt delusional LMAO anyways, i now know what the emojis were supposed to represent, all of them. YESS tapos na siya :(( idk whether to celebrate or be sad bc its alrdy finished :< OMGGG AAAAA SEUNGMIN AAAAAAAAAA HE SENT A HEART WAT DA FUQ AAAAAAAAAAAAAA HE SAID THEY D DANCE AGAIN AAAAA PLS SEUNGMIN ENDGAME 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 hahaha i look like a fool here screaming at my laptop

THIS was the best chapter out of all your works yet ! omg i didnt even feel the 7 and a half k. i dont how long i was reading it but it felt like less than 10 mins, legit. one more chapter left, right? aaaa i ll miss it so much. it did not just NOT disappoint, it was perfection. it felt tense with bits of humorous scenes that made it entertaining to the max level. hyunjins redemption arc prob in the next one? what abt yeji? 🤔 im really really excited for the finale. and yes, justice for president chans screen time 😔💔 and changbin :(

continuation in the next ask, im sorry but it was so long i felt bad for flooding your ask box :<

- bs

“i’ll support whoever is winning the race.” YES BESTIE, that’s how we win in gambling 😍❕and please, i’m here to make everyone flustered with the ships, i will NOT hesitate to pull everyone along and break their hearts 💢.

y/n really almost making seungmin commit vehicular manslaughter with one compliment. we stan 😭♥️. also the 🕳🚶 toOK ME OUT PLS 🤧 seungmin really pulling up with all of his flirting game rn.

yes minho time 😎. you literally have the “i will ship y/n with whoever comes up” vibes rn. o see look it’s felix’s time naman 💀.

felix really heartbroken rn :((( dw sadder stuff coming soon beh.

ALSO HERE’S THE EXPLANATION FOR THE EMOJIS 💀 parang qaqo lang yung hints, i’m so bad at emojis.

1) seungmin dressed handsomely giving y/n one single flimsy flower

2) yeji blocking the door from ryujin and yuna

3) yeji getting caught in 4k

4) chan watching the cctv footage on felix’s laptop

5) the clown mr. yang jeongin wanting to play some mario instead

6) yeji injuring y/n

7) the halloween coronation where everything went down 🤧

the confrontation was just a lil teasey tease mwahhahahaahah.

ALSO WHAT DO THOSE EMOJIS EVEN MEAN. YOU’RE EVEN WORSE THAN ME 💀💀💀

if seungmin looked like that in front of me, i’d forget my name entirely 🤧. also hyunjin is the one with the future smau hidden in the basement 😔💔. the voting pLEASE, i thought you were in everyone’s side 💀. yes, i haven’t decided BUT i have narrowed it down to three choices hmmm 😏😏😏😏 try and guess huh.

so many seungmin x y/n moments this chapter, had to make up for the fact that the student council were all invisible all throughout the fic, justice for their screentime 😔💔

also hyunjin was supposed to win but i thought it would be funnier if it was jeongin 🙈. really pulled up in a clown costume, ran away from all his dates, played video games in a hotel room but STILL won the crown.

dw this will probably be the last fic with antagonist yeji 🤣 i love her too much too. NOW YOU’RE ON HYUNJIN’S SIDE PLEASE.

also who knows if it’s platonic or not hmmm 😏😏😏🤧🤧🤧. if y/n was collecting men as pokemon, who would’ve been her pikachu then 🤔🤔🤔.

YOU’RE BACK TO SEUNGMIN ENDGAME NOW? 💀 parang iba lagi sinusupport kada paragraph pLS.

i’m glad the humour was still there, i really didn’t want to make it feel too dark. i’m still going for the cheery slice of life feels and not really full-on dark academia vibes. :)))) tysm, i love hearing your thoughts and reactions so much so don’t worry about flooding my asks. i’m always waiting for it 👩‍💻

dw about the screentime, they’ll get their own arcs soon and the other boys will be the one left in the background 🤧 just had a hard time balancing so many characters in one fic omo.

also there’s still three chapter left 😎💢❕chapter 29 is the season wrap up because i wanted season two to start as “chapter 30” medyo perfectionist sa numbers 🤣. the next two chapters are the reactions and then the final one is another written part mehehehehehehee. i’m spoiling ya’lls.

i’m also dropping hints onto the future season arcs oop 🤭

#anon: bub stop.#ehaloj thoughts

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comicteaparty · 4 years

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February 10th-February 16th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from February 10th, 2020 to February 16th, 2020. The chat focused on Betrayal by Alex Lewis.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Betrayal by Alex Lewis~! (https://alexmakescomics.com/betrayal/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until February 16th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Delphina

Just finished reading! I really found the part with Aune's "book of secrets" such a heartbreaking sequence. Alex using the blue pen kind of reinforces the themes of differentness and being an outsider not only in her outside world, but even just in the context of being honest about her own feelings. https://alexmakescomics.com/2019/06/07/chapter-six/

I also really felt for her in Chapter 8, when talking about her relationship with Aune and saying "the more time I spent with her, the more of myself I lost trying to keep up with her. It didn't matter to me at all. I liked myself better when I was with her." Just again, this theme of finding something to define herself when she'd been adrift, but not always in an honest or healthy way. https://alexmakescomics.com/2019/08/11/chapter-eight/

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I like the art style - it's very unique!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I like the way the comic ends on sort of an open-ended note. It's not very often that we get completed comics here on CTP, and I think this comic's ending is weirdly satisfying in its incompleteness. Like we don't know whether Aune and Alex make up, but we know that they're both open to it, y'know? I also looked into the Harold Pinter play Betrayal (which this comic is partially based off), and it's pretty interesting the ways they're similar and different. Like the story regards a group of friends and their romantic relationships (and them betraying each other, of course), but the main group of characters is two girls and one boy rather than two men and one woman. I'm curious how many of the changes are due to it being partially a memoir of the author's life and how many are the result of just creating an interesting fictional story about high schoolers.

I also really like the comic's use of flashbacks to tell Alex's story - flashing back to her childhood contextualizes her experiences as a highschooler really well.

RebelVampire

I really like in general how the story is told with a non-linear timeline. Not a lot of stories can actually pull them off successfully, because you run a high risk of confusing the audience. However, despite this one time jumping around a lot, it was never confusing. I think I chalk this up to the fact that the focus on the comic is not the plot itself but the relationships. So you don't need to know the timeline exactly to be able to empathize, experience, and understand what is going on in the relationships. So this is something I really enjoy about the comic. I really love non-linear when it's done well, and this is done well in that regard.

What I enjoy about the beginning of the comic is just how damn awkward everything is. Like, everything about their interactions is exactly why ill never go to a high school reunion. Cause there's this expectation to be super impressed with ppl (hence shallow comments) while also being a mind reader (like knowing someone doesnt go by an old name anymore). It's embarrassing and horrible and the comic really hit at some of my deeper social anxieties that while I've grown from, never will quite be gone. So bravo for making benign horror XD(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Woah, I was not expecting to read a completed comic here! That was a nice change of pace. I really agree with the people praising the non-linear timeline. Using a highschool reunion as a framing device was an excellent decision

I wonder if the main character was gay or asexual?

Alex_makes_comics

Hello, I'm Alex. I made this comic - and I'm crying reading your comments. I've never had people review this book before. Some of the chapters only had about two views before this week so... This is very big for me. Hooboy. In answer to ongoing questions: changes to the Betrayal script from Harold Pinter's play were made to make it fit my experiences. The play is always a question of who is betraying who in a toxic love triangle. It's a jumping off point for me to talk about my memories. I went to see it and it hit a chord, after which I immediately sat down and wrote this. I love how the title of the play conceals who is betraying who: betrayal is a flexible concept. Hiding behind Pinter's words meanwhile ,when I have to, makes it easier to share my memories with others without self censoring. I am always terrified of people I know reading this book! In answer to the question of orientation, I'm bisexual if that helps anyone

RebelVampire

My favorite moment in the comic I would say is the ending. I like that it's open-ended and that there's no clear leaning one way or another. It's kind of up to the reader to judge the events they just saw. Not to mention, I feel the open-ending nature fits the mood of the comic in that relationships aren't straight forward and constantly in a flux. So having the ending be not entirely clear suits that well. As for a favorite character, I'm honestly not sure I could pick one in this case. Everyone is so human and I feel like picking a favorite would kind of be like picking a side. Or kind of like your friends trying to ask you to rank them in terms of how much you like them. That would be a challenge I'm not up for in this case. As for interactions, definitely Alex and Aune. The relationship there is fascinating from the way the story is told, so I'm never quite sure what to make of it, especially when knowing how the relationship sours. And since its through their interactions we get to know Aune, it almost feels like a character study in a way whenever the two interact.

Before I blather too much in one day, one thing I like about the comic is how different the kid versions of the characters look as opposed to the adults. I feel it's more true to life since a lot of adults do change a ton from how they looked at kids. So while theres definitely similarities, the age progression just felt really natural.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I agree with what Rebel said about the age progression feeling natural. If I could describe this comic in one word, I would maybe choose "realistic."

It does a great job of protraying that feeling of growing up and leaving things behind

Emotions and drama that feel so important as a child and as a high schooler turn out to really not matter that much at all

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Given the story’s title, in what ways do we see betrayal throughout the story, and which moment stuck out to you the most regarding the subject? What can be learned from the story in regards to dealing with it?

10. What do you think the story can teach us regarding the nature of relationships and how they change as we grow older? In what ways do these events perhaps relate to your own life or what about the storytelling makes them relatable in general?

11. What do you think the story has to say about growing up in general, both in regards to how we change and how the people around us change? If applicable, why do you think coming of age stories like this are important?

12. How do you interpret the end of chapter 10 where Alex and Aune finally interact? What do you think each character is feeling? Overall, do you think their relationship can be repaired after the damage is done?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

12) i didbt read the ending as starting to repair a relationship. I saw it as leaving your past behind. Also she doesn't seem to understand the damage she did to their relationship, so i don't think the main character would want to reconnect

Kabocha

Oh, dang. So I just binged the entirety of this comic, and there's something about this that feels a little... close to home, I guess? I really empathize with Alex -- the feeling of having someone who you love just kind of up and ditch you like that... That hurts. Granted, her situation was a bit more complicated, but... hhh. I think at best, she might go the route of wanting to be friendly with Aune later, but it just isn't gonna work out. That pain still exists, and even if Aune is past it, Alex pretty clearly isn't. And I think it's understandable. It's not a grudge, but more like that kind of awkward avoidance because you don't wanna get hurt again. just... aaaaaaaaaa. This was a very good read. Thank you @Alex_makes_comics.

RebelVampire

I do think what @Eightfish (Puppeteer) touched onto is the comic's strength: realism. Every event in this comic is so relateable since I think everyone can say they've at least been in a similar situation at least one of those times. So it forms a real connection with the reader so easily, thus allowing it to pull on the heart strings. Let's talk about themes and stuff though! So for in regards to betrayal, the moment that stuck out to me the most was the classroom convo between Alex and Aune where Aune is kind of distant and doesn't seem to really like anyone anymore and wants Alex to do break up dirty work. The reason this stuck with me is you can so clearly see it as a betrayal, and yet at the same time, it's such a benign thing. Like nobody is being literally stabbed in the back, nobody is having money stolen, no one is stealing anybody's lover. It's just...distance and a friendship falling apart for various reasons. Which I think is really the sad part. Since rather than dealing with betrayal, I think this story shows the many different forms it can take. And that sometimes its not this overdramatic thing. Sometimes its a slow burn that just singes for hours and hours.

However, I do like the story's maturity in that it shows us relationships are hard and need active maintenance. Cause without that, they fall apart. Additionally, as we grow older, its sad but common place friendships wont last. People change all the times, especially interests. So in the end those changes will drive people apart. At the very least I certainly haven't talked to my high school friends in years since many of them moved, got married, had kids, etc. Even during high school I had friends drift away. And I think these are pretty universal experiences, which is what I think makes the storytelling as relateable as it is.

As for the end, I kind of interpret it as "not ready." From the expressions, I think both Alex and Aune clearly felt awkward. Like the elephant in the room. They both wanted to talk about it seriously, but also both didn't want to talk about it. Too many feelings still fresh, coupled with maybe not enough desire to fix everything yet. So while I do believe most relationships can be repaired given time and effort, both parties need to be ready. And I just don't see that happening yet from how things ended.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Kabocha

As I said before, I'm really glad I read this. It felt very personal, and it was kinda cathartic to read! It also was kind of nice to see someone else kinda express the awkwardness of meeting again with someone who you felt hurt by. And just... Yeah. Thank you for this comic.

Alex_makes_comics

Hi, Everybody. I'm not sure if this is the last day of Betrayal book club, or if tomorrow counts still, but I wanted to use this opportunity to thank everyone for reading and engaging with my work, before you start on the next webcomic. I have never been through a process like this. Most of the time, I make comics and release them into the internet, never to be seen again. It's a long and lonely process, full of self questioning and self doubt. You've all really restored my confidence. Just knowing that you read and genuinely got what I was trying to achieve is amazing. I was worried about the ending of chapter 11, that it might put readers off, but seeing you all bouncing ideas off each other about "will they"/ "won't they" get back together reassures me that I did the right thing. This was my first completed graphic novel,and I have learned a bit since making it. I am currently working on draft 2, which involves a full redraw. I have about half of the book done. The redraw is going to be 30% more cartoony in style, to give the book a clearer aesthetic. I am aiming for stronger lines and colour themes. I'm also adding new pages throughout. Part of this is to have Aune more visible in the background of scenes between Alex and Jonas, because they're all in one school: you can't avoid people completely in these situations. I'm also making some of the school scenes noisier to play on the "benign horror" elements - thank you for this term, Rebel Vampire! My goal is to redraw everything, update the website, then print a small batch to sell at cons. If anything bugged you about the current draft that you think I have to know, you are more than welcome to tell me. Otherwise, in case you want to know when the new version is out, I have a mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/e64c62c2d202/alexmakescomics Thank you again for everything. You really don't know how much you've helped me these two weeks. It's been mind blowing.

RebelVampire

What I'm most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic is just more people finding it. It's a really touching, raw, and personally gripping story. Not only is the storytelling well-done with its use of time, but just overall, its one of the few stories where I can actually say it really got me thinking about life, relationships, and other things. And not a lot of comics can do that.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Betrayal this week! Please also give a special thank you to Alex Lewis for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Betrayal, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://alexmakescomics.com/betrayal/

Alex’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexmakescomics

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #betrayal #Alex Lewis

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amazildoessomethingstupid · 5 years

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Chapter 95: Love Again

Hello folks, we’re back! I know I said I wouldn’t touch this series again, until I needed some motivation for working on False Idol but I’ve decided to kind of add an addendum to the rule. Now whenever I miss an update, I must read one chapter of BCB and make a rant in order to make up for the lack of content as well as being punishment for myself. As some of you know, if you read the author’s notes in the most recent page of False Idol; I had my wisdom teeth removed a week or so ago. Which kept me out of it and ended up making me miss an update. And as such we must pick up where we left off, here! And boy is this chapter going to be interesting!

See? This guy gets it!

We start the chapter off wi-

Oh my god, what’s wrong with your face?

Anyway, Daisy’s talking about her upcoming birthday party an-

OH MY GOD! What’s wrong with your face?

But anyway, Paulo’s doing his usual shtick now of giving Daisy that sub-zero cold shoulder. This time, by diverting his attention away to some random girl next to him and flirting with her. While at the same time treating us to a classic meme.

Oh Paulo, you silly fool. In either case, this part drags on a bit too long with Paulo remarking things a bit brash but par for the course for his new passive aggressive nature towards Daisy. It wouldn’t be too bad actually, if it was just this page but…

Oh…

Hello, Madison.

Your input and presence is always welcome.

It sure is interesting seeing her interact with new bitchy Paulo...

So basically, Madison is upset about Paulo flirting with the random girl. And she’s acting as a sledgehammer to drive the point home that we’re supposed to be upset about Paulo flirting with this random girl, even though we’ve clearly seen the context of the situation and know he was doing it primarily to be a passive aggressive douche and ignore Daisy. But oh I guess, this is still a bad thing. It just seems forced, I mean if you wanted to make this more serious why not have this sort of thing as its own chapter? Spend time showing us more of this to help strengthen this motivation, the only other time I can think of where Paulo was leering at someone else was with Sandy, before that was Boy Toy where it was more about Paulo trying to reaffirm his sexuality than anything. And you can’t really blame the guy for not wanting to tie the knot. Given his track record for romance, every time things start to get serious, or he tries to put his all into a relationship, it just crumbles apart and he ends up losing that friend and the bridge is never repaired. Of course he’d be scared the same would happen to Rachel if he was to try and do the same with her and he doesn’t want that. But why bring this up now? This whole drama should be its own chapter, why is it forced in here in this chapte-

Oh…I see…

youtube

I’m at the bottom of that bottle. Numb my senses, drown my sorrows, and I’m like “oh damn I’d done it again, oh damn I’d done it again.”

But back to the comic, we see Taeshi experimenting with some advanced paneling techniques. Specifically, out of box paneling with Daisy.

And as a fellow “artiste” I see that this is clearly meant to be a visual connection for how Daisy’s mood and the tone of the comic shifts from this scene to the last time she did this in the start of the chapter. As well as serving as a scene transition smoothly ushering us to this part of the story. It’s very well done, and quite brave.

Or perhaps, this is just Daisy finally achieving critical mass, and the comic can no longer contain her girth! She’s breaking out of the comic! She can not be contained! EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! SHE’S GOING TO KILL US ALL!

Okay, but all jokes aside, I actually like this scene. We see Daisy talk about her frustrations and guilt with Paulo, and Mike gives some helpful advice as we see them actually trying to work through this problem!

Oh shut the fuck up, Abbey! Mike for once is giving some good advice! Yes! Remember kids, talk things out and try to work through it! And this scene really helps us to empathize with Daisy, I can especially relate to her for this.

Don’t look at me like that Mike. You don’t know me.

In either case, I do appreciate this talk. It seems like Taeshi is finally having the characters take a proactive approach to their drama an-

It her! The moment we’ve all been waiting for! LOOK!

LOOK SAM! IT’S LUCY! LUCY’S BACK! ALL THE SUFFERING, ALL THE YEARS OF BULLSHIT HAS FINALLY BROUGHT US TO THIS! WE CAN FINALLY GET ANSWERS! WE WILL KNOW THE TRUTH! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER! WHERE SHE’S BEEN! THE CHARACTERS CAN GET CLOSURE! IT’S HERE! WE’VE MADE IT! ALL THESE YEARS, WE’VE FINALLY MADE IT!

And look! All the friends are gathering round and are just as excited! That’s right Mike! Cower in the corner there, this isn’t about you! (wait, how the fuck did he get back off to there when she was apparently inches from his face?) But…something doesn’t seem right.

And I’m not just talking about fucking creepy ass Abbey over here, looming over everyone with that ominously dead smile. Wait, what’s that?

Oh my god, what’s wrong with her face?

OH MY GOD! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?!

youtube

That literally looks like she doesn’t have a mouth, but rather she just took lipstick and smeared it on her face to look like a smile. Alright time for the big rant, here it comes! Because it was at this moment, that I realized this chapter was the birth of what is my personal biggest artistic pet peeve for BCB. FUCKING TRIANGLE MOUTHS! LOOK AT THIS SHIT! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? You know how much I hate this face? I HATE IT MORE THAN I HATE THE GIGANTIC HEADS! THAT’S HOW MUCH I HATE THESE MOUTHS! Because it’s not just lazy as fuck, but even more than that, it’s not just distracting, but it ruins what should be a very heartfelt and emotional scene! How the hell am I supposed to take any of these faces seriously?!

These triangle mouths are so fucking bad, that I can’t appreciate this scene and what’s happening. I can’t fully empathize or read how this character is feeling because of these mouths! It’s not just ugly, but it feels forced! It takes me out of the scene, because that’s not a normal expression! It’s the same problem I had with the XD face, Paulo made here.

Well okay, I had a much bigger problem going on with this panel than the expression. But I can accept this here, or at least overlook it, because this is meant to be a joke. It’s a stupid and unfunny joke, but it is a joke, and thus not meant to be taken seriously. THIS FUCKING SCENE WITH LUCY SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY! BUT IT CAN’T BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY WHEN ALL I CAN THINK OF IS

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?!

But whatever, y’know? We’re not here for that, we’re here for Lucy. At least she’s here, at least we can get some answers, and the characters care and are as hungry as we are for information what do we know?

Okay, she was in a private school? Uhh, okay. I figured she’d be in asylum or something, for some mental rehabilitation. But okay, I guess she went to a private school for the rest of her sophomore year. Cool, I guess?

Ahhh yes! Sue! Asking how she’s been doing, and of course not that well. Which, is a given. Not much info there. But come on! We as readers have been waiting with baited breath to know more about Lucy! This is a 50 page chapter I’m sure we’ll learn a bit about her recovery, and her experience, how she feels an-

Oh…Okay…that’s fine too. Uhh alright then, but-

Oh! Hello, Paulo!

And hello Abbey, where the fuck did you come from? Did your Paulo Senses start tingling, and you had to make sure we all were aware that you do not like him? That’s cool. Actually, I like this part of the scene. It brings things back to a more lighthearted flavor, and it’s very refreshing after everything else.

I especially like this joke. It’s a nice bit of fan service for those of us who remember and appreciate the lighthearted slapstick that Lucy and the comic used to bring. This scene really shows us more than anything else so far that this is Lucy. She’s back, and she’s still got that take-no-shit attitude. I love it.

Oh wait, no I mean

OH MY GOD, LUCY YOU FUCKING BITCH! HOW CAN YOU ASSAULT PAULO LIKE THAT?! HE WAS YOUR CLOSE FRIEND, AND HE CARES ABOUT YOU! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HURT EVERYONE?! MY GOD, HOW THE FUCK DOES ANYONE LIKE THIS CHARACTER? ABUSE IS NEVER A JOKE! LUCY IS A BAD!

But Blessed Lucy just smiles and gives Daisy a nice little present and says “Shut up bitch cow. Go eat some bitch grass.” And the rest of the scene is centered around Mike cowering away from Lucy, until lunchtime where

Paulo tries to get her attention and bring her to the table. Lucy though, doesn’t want to join them. Seemingly due to not wanting to make things more awkward with Mike. But Paulo persists, wanting to catch up with Lucy and hopefully get more answers from her especially given how the last time he saw her she asked him to make out with her. But…

Holy shit, Sue are you…Are you pulling a…Gillete?

Is this the best a fan can get?

Sue says this, which I can understand. Lucy is still recovering from her traumatic experience, and of course doesn’t want to talk about it right now. Understandable, and Lucy of course is distraught by this. She doesn’t like her friends fighting like this, and is pretty overwhelmed and probably guilty for the fact her reappearance has only sparked more drama and in-fighting.

But then Sue and Paulo are so focused on getting what they want, Sue being too focused on being supportive and protective of Lucy, and Paulo being too focused on trying to get answers that neither of them realize that Lucy has already gone. Not being able to bear to watch her friends fight over her, and not siding with either side…

Oh wait, sorry. No that’s just what I would’ve liked to happen, since that would’ve made sense and line up with her behavior so far. No, instead Lucy smugly walks away and thanks Susan for fighting her battles for her like an asshole. And this is the moment where a big red flag went off, and sirens were ringing in my head. That this thing is not Lucy, or rather not the Lucy I know. Not the Lucy I love. But what you probably already know. Not the Lucy I write.

I know, it’s not fair to bring up my own stuff and compare it to the canon, but I feel compelled to given that Sue’s behavior here is very in line with how she acted in January.

Sue was VERY defensive of Lucy, (as well as very angry at Paulo) but the part where January actually deviates from the canon (unintentionally) is how Lucy feels about that sort of thing.

What that chicken scratch writing is supposed to say is, “I don’t want to be that person. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.” Sue was very protective of Paulo, but Lucy made it clear that she didn’t want that. She didn’t want her friends fighting and near the end she says this:

Lucy would not like seeing this sort of thing happen to her friends. She’d feel guilty as anyone else would to see the people they loved or at least cared for start fighting over them. Now, I know, this is my own interpretation of the canon and of course I’m fuckin’ wrong because I’m not Taeshi. But I bring up the comparison, because if you remember my previous rants you’d know that January was meant to be a faithful story to BCB. These points aren’t just because it’s how I want Lucy to be, or because that’s how I made Lucy be…It’s because this was honestly what I thought Lucy would be. When she’s broken, the reoccurring message from Lucy is:

Did you get the message? It’s that the last thing Lucy wanted was to make things worse for her friends (in the case of the January examples: Mike). But I guess this is just what I wanted to see, and I’m sure someone is going to be happy and wanted to see Lucy feed the fire, and see her friends act like this. And I’m sure all that they will get out of this part of the rant is me saying to the canon:

But anyway what’s happening in the canon? I kinda forgo-

OH MY GOD! Holy shit, things are getting heated! While everyone scratches their heads, wondering what’s going on with Lucy, Paulo goes straight to the source an-

OH MY GAWD WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOUR FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!? Seriously, that face is really undercutting the tension and severity of this scene. And this is a very tense scene, let me appreciate it.

Paulo is taking no shit right now! He is at his breaking point! He is fed up and wants some god damn answers! He’s going a bit too far, but it helps to show how fed up and frustrated he is. Finally snapping at Daisy, but of course now Abbey steps in to defend his lady’s honor. But it’s a bad move! Paulo is in his no-fucks mode! He’s finally gonna reveal what happened! And-

Oh what the fuck is that face?

Oh come on, not like this…

THAT’S HOW YOU’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT AND REVEAL THAT YOU WERE ASSAULTED? LIKE A SMUG ASSHOLE? WHY IS EVERYONE TURNING INTO SMUG ASSHOLES?! How am I supposed to take this seriously? THE CHARACTER HIMSELF ISN’T TAKING THIS VERY SERIOUSLY!

At least Daisy’s taking this seriously, but again!

WHAT IS THAT FACE?! I KNOW PEOPLE KEEP TELLING ME THAT I’M ALWAYS VICTIM BLAMING, BUT THIS SHIT IS WHY I LOSE SYMPATHY!

THE MAN JUST FLIPPED FROM BEING FUMING MAD, TO BEING SMUG AND SMARMY, TO NOW TRYING TO ACT SARCASTIC!

But fuck you, I’m not gonna let these shitty expressions clearly meant to paint Paulo as a bad person even when he’s completely justified and is actually the fucking victim here; ruin my catharsis, luckily Daisy is here to take this seriously.

That’s right, Daisy! Put his feet to the fire! Don’t let him get away with this! And Abbey, what kind of bullshit excuse is that? What do you mean by “the way he’s been acting lately” You mean being passive aggressive, ignoring Daisy, or as one might say…

Staying away from her? Wanna know why I hate Abbey? This is why.

Thankfully, Daisy is standing her ground and acting like Daisy and caring about her friend being hurt.

BUT OF COURSE ABBEY HAS TO MAKE IT ABOUT HIMSELF DOESN’T HE? OH YOU POOR THING, I’M SORRY I DON’T HAVE SYMPATHY FOR THE ABUSE VICTIM WHO ASSAULTS A MOTHERFUCKER WITH COWARDICE, WHILE STILL HAVING THE GALL TO ACT LIKE HE DID NOTHING WRONG! It’s like we’re supposed to feel sorry for Abbey, that Daisy’s turned on him and taking Paulo’s side. But how the fuck is she supposed to react to that? “Oh I don’t care that you got chokeslammed, Paulo! You’re still an asshole and deserved it, and Abbey was just protecting himself!”

And to make all this better,

MAH NIGGA!

I take back every bad thing I ever said or thought about you, David! You are a 100% certified Good Boy! You took the words right out of my mouth! You’re getting a treat tonight boy! You ain’t getting no kibble and bits tonight, you’re getting the fancy feast! I bet you didn’t know Fancy Feast had food for dogs! That’s how fancy it is! Good boy!

But anyway, the chapter then goes on to show Lucy wandering the grounds. Perhaps ruminating on memories there, or perhaps looking for something…or someone~

Or at least that’s how this chapter should’ve gone, instead we’re treated to watching a bit more Abbey. And we’re supposed to feel sorry for him. Oh boo hoo, I ruined my own relationship. Why does nobody agree with me. Actually hold on, I have something for this.

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“They called it assault, but it really wasn’t my fault! Everyone else is an asshole.”

But for real, why are we focusing on Abbey? Lucy’s here, shouldn’t we be focusing on her? What the hell could be happening to Abbey now that would warrant our attentio-

OH YOU LITTLE WHORE! WHY THE TRIANGLE FACE, JASMINE?

THEY LITERALLY JUST SANK HIS SHIP, AND YOU’RE ALREADY MOVING IN! MY GOD! IS TAESHI EVEN TRYING TO MAKE THIS SHIT SEEM NATURAL ANYMORE?!

Y’know, I thought I was a bit harsh back in the day when I referred to Jasmin as a cockwarmer. I thought it was just a funny, yet apt title for her character pretty much being created solely to be shipped with Paulo after Tess, and later to be thrown away when his true ship reveals itself.

BUT OH MY GOD, JASMINE LITERALLY IS JUST A NARRATIVE COCK WARMER! Cause this whole fandom and drama is centered around shipping, just can’t let one character go unshipped! Nuh uh, gotta force Jasmine in there to keep it warm! I hope you’re happy together in background hell!

But okay, NOW we can talk about Lucy. She wanders around until…

A wild edgy boy appears! And oh man…

I ain’t gonna lie.

I fucking love this scene. I feel like this is how this chapter and reunion should’ve been.

See this is why I get so mad about those scenes, because I know even with my cynical, jaded, hardened, and worn out heart. Taeshi knows exactly how and what to do to tug at my heartstrings no matter what. And this scene is an excellent example. It’s not just seeing these characters we love reunite, but the feeling and dialogue mirrors the feeling that we as readers felt reuniting with Lucy. And the good stuff doesn’t stop there!

Not gonna lie, this got a chuckle out of me. Seeing Lucy acting like herself again, talking like she used to. It’s the first time we see her open up and act like the Lucy we know and love.

Oh wait, sorry I mean.

OH MY GOD LUCY WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU’RE SERIOUSLY DOING IT AGAIN! HITTING THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT YOU! YOU FUCKING BITCH! HOW CAN YOU DO THAT, HE’S THE ONE PERSON WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT YOU AND YOU DO THAT! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO ABUSE EVERYONE AROUND YOU! ABBEY DINDU NUFFIN WRONG!

Shut up bitch cow, go eat some bitch grass.

But as I was saying, this scene is really the highlight of this chapter. Even when it turns our attention away from Lucy, it’s done with purpose.

It’s a well done scene that reminds us about Alejandro, and that he’s still out there, and that he is still a big threat to these characters. It’s a well done scene, showing the close relationship between Lucy and Augustus contrasted by her treatment towards her original friends. Not only that but we also are reminded of Augustus’ predicament and with it we get a good example of the amount of power Alejandro has over him. But even better, we see a bit of that fire inside Lucy that made us love her, that determined headstrong mentality that made Lucy, Lucy.

And I know I already did my obligatory January comparisons for the rant, but I just have to bring this back because I said it first.

And the scene ends with Lucy hinting at a dark missing piece of the past, before telling Augustus to meet her after class.

But enough of that good stuff, we need to spend some time with our-

Favorite character in the world. Even when she’s not being a mad bitch, she’s still not likable. Especially not with…

That…

Face…

Why must you be like this? I just gave you praise.

But aww isn’t this nice too?

Look at how sweet this is, Sam!

Aren’t you happy to see all this love for Rachel?

Isn’t this nice, Sam? You love Rachel! She’s the best character, right? Don’t you love Rachel?

Sam? Sam, why are you crying? What’s wrong? This is a happy scene! Aren’t you happy that Rachel has such close loving friends, Sam? How could you be sad about this?

Okay, but for real this scene can fuck off. I know what you’re doing Taeshi, and it’s MEAN! THAT’S JUST MEAN! On top of that, this whole section has nothing to do with anything else in this chapter. I would’ve glossed over all of this part if not for

What. The. Fuck. Is. This. Character.

But luckily we’re back to Lucy! Look Sam!

It’s Lucy! You love Lucy, don’t you? We’ve waited three long years, seen characters get destroyed, characters rebuilt, we’ve gone through all the pain, but it’s all worth it. We can finally spend time with Lucy, and Augustus! We’re gonna get those answers! We’re gonna see how she’s been! She’s going to turn this train around! She’s gonna-

WHELP! FUCK YOU TOO, I GUESS!

Well at least Augustus calls her out on that melodramatic bullshit, but for real. What is this?

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At least we can spend some time with Lucy’s family, and it’s nice to see how much they care. I just wish Lucy would reciprocate that a little. To quote my friend from the discord, paraphrasing Lucy, “As you can see I am largely unscathed. Unlike when I attempted to kill myself recently.” And people thought that Lucy having Mike feel her scar to show the truth was her being rude and manipulating.

Still, I can appreciate the chemistry, and it is pretty fun. If not a bit hollow, but that might just be this giant hole in my chest cavity that Taeshi created.

But Lucy drops the bomb, and

OH HO HO! OH NO! OH I KNOW WHAT’S COMIN’ YOU LITTLE SHIT!

Oh ho, you motherfucker I know what’s comin’. You all know what’s comin’ and I am gonna be ready to lay on the hurt. I only saw two pages of this scene, but I already have more than enough to say. I’m about to get surgical on your ass. This rant is already hella long, and I don’t want this scene getting shuffled in with all this other crap. Oh no.

This scene… It deserves my full and undivided attention.

#Bittersweet Candy Bowl #rant

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midnight-in-town · 6 years

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BTW I still can’t get over the fact that Sorachi-sensei gave us the Love Potion arc, because it’s one of the best written comedy arcs of the whole series: I love how you can either take it at face value and say it doesn’t mean anything, or you can try to see a little beneath the surface and acknowledge how meaningful it is on some aspects, just like all the other comedy arcs.

Knowing how popular and famous Gintama is, it’s logical that Sorachi-sensei will never voice a clear position about which ships he probably has a soft spot for, but it’s not like he gave an arc or several to all the possible ships of Gintama. And I’m not talking just about GinTsu.

For example, is it really a coincidence that the other ship getting a lil’ focus in this arc is the love triangle Kondo/Otae/Kyuubei? Is it? Considering the Dekobokko arc or even, later, Kyuubei’s own resolution along with Tsukuyo’s about being a woman and being in love, during half of ch620? Or even just Kondo’s failed gorilla marriage in the last arc?

I don’t think so. :)

(more rambling under read more)

Anyway the whole arc is presented as being comic relief and as not to be taken seriously for those who don’t like the ships it is focusing on (that’s Sensei’s skill right here), but still Sensei subverted the whole thing and that’s what’s so unbelievably cool about this arc.

Like, I love how the introduction is that “whoever smells the aizen kou drug will fall in love with the first person they see” but even tho’ he applied that to Kagura and Shinpachi for a short while, Sensei ended up throwing even that to the bin, especially when you see how the arc went for Tsukuyo and Kyuubei.

The first thing Tsukuyo saw was Gintoki’s dick after she smelled the drug but the whole arc is about realizing her feelings for Gintoki, the man.

On the contrary, you have Kyuubei who ended up going after dicks for most of the arc (no matter who the guys were), even tho’ I doubt that she actually saw a forest of dicks right after she smelled the drug.

So it’s interesting how Sensei adjusted the very first rule of the arc to eventually make it about what he wanted to explore for his characters.

Even when you see the monologues for Otae and Kyuubei, it does seem to reflect what their personal arc is revolving around: Otae always had conflicted feelings to sort out about Kondo; Kyuubei always had this hesitation about whether to live as a man or a woman (until she made her final choice in ch620).

Granted that poor Kondo himself is often reduced to comic relief, but it should be pointed out that his monologue only reached us after Otae kinda manhandled him so, ahem, hard to have any conclusion on what he said, even if it’s not like his feelings about Otae needed any clarification. :)

It gets trickier for Gintoki because, on the one hand you could argue that “he smelled so much of the drug that he lost his sense of reason” (something I’m sure a lot of readers who disliked this arc did), but on the other, why shouldn’t he also get serious/honest moments in this arc about his own feelings when everyone else did?

Sensei is just way too good at hiding these moments amidst all the jokes, so that no one can complain about him having a soft spot for a few ships in particular.

Anyone who’d argue that Gintoki was never serious once in this arc is just shooting their own foot actually, because Tsukuyo acted way unlike herself because of the drug several times and so did Otae, Kyuubei and Kondo.

So even though Gintoki did/said stupid stuff because of the drug, if everyone else did too but also got to face/admit about some of their inner feelings, then it’s logical to think that the same happened with Gin.

And that’s what’s so amazing about how Sensei wrote this arc: I’m not saying that this arc is implying GinTsu is ever going to get canon (tbh I doubt it, even if Tsukuyo is the one who got the most focus about her feelings for Gintoki out of everyone), but to say that Gintoki has literally 0 interest in Tsukuyo would be misreading in my opinion.

If anything we already know that she’s physically his type (that pool episode/chapter with the Shogun) xD

Anyway, Gintoki has way too many issues about not wanting things to change + being scared of getting too attached to many people (because of everything that happened with Shoyo and the consequences of his choice back then) that this arc could only go max comic relief in appearance, as far as he was concerned.

Since the last arc is finally targeting Gintoki’s whole emotional trauma surrounding his choice towards Shoyo back during the war though, I guess that if Sensei wanted, he could choose to hint towards a Gin ship maybe becoming canon at the very end after daily life kicks in again, but as I said I doubt that, mostly because of the massive ship wars (tho I’m also all for Gin/Hasegawa :)).

Final thing: if anyone were to argue that this arc is only comic relief and can’t be taken seriously on some aspects, then I guess they wouldn’t see the homeless arc and its heavy focus on Katsura’s complicated dynamic with Ikumatsu as being literally the same thing but in another context, because Zura just didn’t need the aizen kou.

Just like Hijikata didn’t need it either when it came to Mitsuba.

tl;dr Sensei is good at crafting the tone of his arcs depending on what he wants to address for his characters and that obviously includes the love potion arc, which is in my opinion one of the best examples of a comedy arc that’s actually hiding a lot of meaningful stuff.

An arc is hardly ever a stand-alone in Gintama anyway, so the love potion arc can’t be meaningless if what took place ended up having consequences at some later time (like ch620 or even the last arc, post time skip).

Dissecting the narrative isn’t going to lead anywhere: no one “has to” ship Gintsu or enjoy the Kondo/Otae/Kyuubei triangle, but let’s not pretend that the characters are oblivious to each other and that comedy arcs can’t strengthen their feelings, whatever they are.

#gintama #sakata gintoki #tsukuyo #gintsu #kontae #kyuutae #yagyuu kyuubei #shimura tae #kondo isao #sorachi hideaki #i don't know why i am in a rambling mood today #my analysis

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bookishreviewsblog · 5 years

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Kiersten White: And I Darken (The Conqueror's Saga #1) | Lara

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

“Souls and thrones are irreconcilable.”

Ladislav Dragwlya is Vlad Dracul’s, prince of Wallachia, second legitimate child, but also a daughter. In a time where her gender represents a problem in accomplishing her dreams, she will have to be everything more – more brutal, more ferocious and more determined. Her brother Radu is everything but ferocious, and, when taken to Edirne as a guarantee their father won’t betray the Ottomans again, he has to learn other means of staying alive. Court schemes and secrets are no strangers to him at the age of sixteen, while Lada spends all her time training with Jannisaries and dreaming of returning to Wallachia. As they befriend future sultan Mehmed, and their friendship grows into something more (feelings develop for both of them), their allegiances start to switch. Radu finds a new home there, both in Islam and Mehmed, but Lada refuses to let go of her homeland until she realizes there is still something holding her there.

Who would say that I’d start reading a book set in the exact location and time period as my history lessons? I actually had no idea what was I going into until I started this book, but it turned out I already knew a lot about this topic which only made it more interesting (plus, now I have less to study for my history exam xd).

And I Darken is set in Ottoman Empire, following a story of Wallachian siblings and heirs to Draculesti line. I immensely enjoyed reading about events on the political scene of 19-century Europe and politics regarding the Ottoman Empire and its vassals. White shaped a really inspiring story of cultures, religions, wars, politics and court intrigues while following perspectives of two really different figures. It was really diverting to read about historical schemes and military tactics, yet still remaining inside the frame of YA literature – characters I could wholeheartedly relate with. The cultural sphere this book covers was really inspiring, especially representing differences between two religions and cultures that come with them.

The biggest problem of this book represented the lack of dynamics within the plot. As much as life at one of the biggest empires in the history of mankind sounds interesting, the absence of action makes it monotonous, even slightly boring to read. About the first third of the book covers events from Lada and Radu’s childhood and then starts their imprisonment and life with the Ottomans. Novel mainly focuses on the characters and their development, the way certain circumstances and happenings shaped their personality. And that is mostly it – aside from a lot of character development and their accommodating to a new life and growing up, there isn’t much else this book has to offer. It was pretty weak with action and any attempts to heat things up. The culmination of the plot was achieved in the last few chapters, and even that has been pretty short and predictable. In fact, the best part of this book came at the very end, when each character was faced with a painful decision regarding their future and further growth.

Lada

So, Lada Dragwlya is such a highlight of this book. Every other character I came across annoyed me, except Nicolae – Lada’s biggest bromance ship.

“I think of you like a sister," he said. "Like a brilliant, violent, occasionally terrifying sister that I would follow to the ends of earth, in part because I respected her so much and in part because I feared what she would do to me of I refused. "

She nodded. "I would do awful things.”

There is just so much about her that I love – courage, determination, and viciousness. From her birth things have been denied from her for a sole reason she was a girl, so she decided to destroy everything that is in her way to accomplish her goals. I was just so amazed by her love for her homeland and determination to go back and claim what is her no matter what. She was born a fighter and a leader and was tired of being left behind for being a woman. Although I could really see a spark between her and Mehmed, those two aren’t for each other. Both have big ambitions towards to different goals, and, even though I could see what kept Lada in Edirne the whole time, *spoiler* I was so glad she went back in the end.

And so she cut out her heart and offered it as a sacrifice. She would pay whatever price her mother Wallachia demanded.

“Make me prince,” she said without feeling.

Radu

Oh oh, Radu. As the second mc, he was supposed to be as important as Lada, but I just couldn’t see him as anything but a sad side character. His cowardice and lack of attitude towards anything was extraordinarily annoying. He never considered fighting back and he practically made himself everybody’s pawn. I understood his love for Mehmed, but he let it shape his entire being and lead his life getting him to a point where he was only being used. The only things I liked about him were the way he started going around the court and doing something and the way he described Islam and his conversion – he understood that religion and found himself in it.

Mehmed

Mehmed is practically a side character and even has no pov, but is extremely important for the plot itself and characters. I have mixed opinions towards his character because, for starters, he is pretty complex. He wants to be a good sultan and has to sacrifice everything to do great things, but that still doesn’t stop him from loving Lada and Radu. Their relationship is extremely complicated and even toxic from time to time because their love is poisoned by betrayals. Mehmed was all cool until he started using Lada and leaving her behind, so I guess he got what he deserved xd They are good together and I like them as a couple, but they need sort their things alone if they ever want to function together.

#books #book reviews #kiersten white #and i darken #conqueror's saga #young adult #historical fiction #realistic fiction

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bombshellsandbluebells · 6 years

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Side note as the #LetWomenBeFriends anon, I know the nature of the show sets everyone at odds but seeing Raven, Emori, Echo (and for that brief moment Harper) express a closeness and trust really hit me and I was like “but why?” And I realised often women on this show don’t really get to build the strong friendships that maybe others do? I’m probably picking up on nothing but I wanted your opinion I’m sorry XD

Hey, no worries! Don’t apologize for asking my opinion!

Here’s the thing - women in media generally suffer from this problem. Fiction is usually a lot better at portraying interesting friendships between men than with women, because usually there just aren’t that many women characters or they get pitted against each other in love triangle tropes. So it might just be in general that you’re excited and relieved (and maybe kind of surprised) to see close, positive female friendships portrayed because they’re so lacking in media.

One of the things that always struck me about The 100 (and still does, honestly) is how….very non-sexist it is. Especially for a show created by a guy. The 100 certainly has its host of problems and it sometimes screws up representation or hard issues it tries to tackle, but it’s always been refreshingly lacking in sexist tropes or cliches.

There’s so many interesting and complex female characters in the show. All of them have different storylines and are different kinds of people. They’re driven not just by the men in their lives but other things. Several of them subvert classic female tropes. Clarke is a badass but also emotional. It’s just accepted that the women are leaders and warriors and brilliant without comment.

Even the two love triangles on the show ended in ways that kind of subverted the trope in positive ways and didn’t pit the women against each other. (Even when the fandom was.) Both of them ended up with the two female characters becoming friends or coming to a truce and not turning on each other.

The 100 is actually pretty shockingly pro-female and anti-sexist and it’s really refreshing.

So I don’t think the problem is really that the show refuses to let women have friendships (because it does), but more that…..The 100 is just kind of bad at writing friendships honestly, with a few exceptions.

I mean in a lot of cases, this show suggests or starts to write friendships, but then over the course of the seasons no longer lets those characters interact. It feels like every season the show switches up who gets to be friends with who and what relationships they’re focusing on - and it doesn’t just happen with the female friendships.

Look at Bellamy and Miller - a friendship the show suggested in season 1….only to never put any more focus into it until they want to reference they’re friends. All of Jasper’s relationships outside of Monty and Harper were completely dropped in season 4 because the show spent time focusing on other relationships. Clarke hasn’t had a strong friendship with anyone in a few seasons. Raven and Bellamy are portrayed as close friends, but apparently couldn’t talk to each other about their personal issues in season 3 despite being in the same place.

This show likes to set up friendships and then go seasons without reestablishing or developing those friendships, and then suddenly throw those characters together again and try and remind us that they’re really close friends - even if they haven’t seemed to care about those people at all for several episodes. Or, they just set up friendships and then drop them completely, never to be seen again. They’ve done with Octavia and Clarke, Clarke and Raven, Miller and Harper, Bellamy and Miller, Bellamy and Raven, Octavia and Jasper, Raven and Jasper, etc. etc.

It’s one of the biggest weaknesses of this show. They’re really great at establishing or setting up friendships. They’re not really good at keeping them going in a way that’s believable.

So while I’d say that this show has definitely screwed up writing female friendships, I wouldn’t say it’s because they involve female characters (which is a fair critique for a LOT of other media.) I agree, though - it is still refreshing to see them show close platonic relationships between female characters, and I really hope we get more interactions between Echo, Raven, Emori, Clarke (and even maybe others like Gaia?? Niylah?) next season.

Thanks for the ask!

#ask #the 100 #the 100 meta #my meta

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darkzorua100 · 6 years

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Our last recap episode was episode 38. With the reveal of episode 48-51 summaries, it doesn’t look like we will be taken a pause anytime soon to do any recaps. With that in mind, it will be around 13 episodes since our last recap episode. Usually that would be around the time that we would have gotten one by now. I was for sure we would have gotten one for 47 since that would have actually been an appropriate time for one but we didn’t. So what do you guys think about this? You guys think we will still be having a bunch of recaps for season 2 of Vrains or do you think that was just a season 1 problem and Vrains has finally got the support it needs behind the scenes to finally get this show moving?

I just wanted to know what you guys though about this topic since I found it interesting to bring up. Now let’s get to the main event: 48′s summary and 49, 50, and 51′s titles because oh boy, things are picking off right off the bat.

So is anyone else getting Zexal flashbacks or is that just me? I guess that is to be expected. Yoshida Shin was the main writer for Zexal and now for Vrains.

Why am I bring this up? Well episode 48 is reminding me of episode 78 when Shark had to go recuse Rio and episodes 49 and 50...yeah...if you seen the titles, you guys know what I’m talking about. We are going to have to deal with Vector 2.0 over here.

So he’s episode 48′s title and summary:

(The Arrow of Judgment)

Playmaker chases after the mysterious individual who attacked Jin, and challenges him to a Duel. However, he has a hard time trying to deal with the mysterious man’s never-before-seen cards. In order to achieve victory, Playmaker uses the new card he received from Ai to counterattack!

Playmaker vs Bowman from the looks of things and it looks like Bowman has taken Jin hostage. Well at least it isn’t one of the girls for once and hey, I’m happy to finally get to see Jin on screen and hopefully we will be getting some brotherly moments between him and Kusanagi before and after the whole kidnapping. If this turns out like anything in episode 78 of Zexal, then Jin should finally be getting involved in the show. Also judging by the summary, it says that this mysterious man (again I think it is Bowman because of the arrow part in the title) is using never-before-seen cards against Playmaker so I’m going to take it he is going to be using one of the different summoning methods. It also looks like I might have been right about the Ignises giving their kids their own form of different summoning because I’m pretty sure that new card Ai is going to be giving Yusaku is his Ritual support. Blue striped Playmaker is coming guys!

Now for episode 49′s title:

(The Duelist Clad in Flames)

Soulburner’s debut is a guaranteed for this episode. The thing that I am wondering though is is this episode going to be just plot involving him or are we going to be seeing him dueling. Honestly, I don’t think we will or at least fully anyway. I think we will be seeing him facing off against someone but they were only show him winning in the end with his monsters being silhouette. Considering how much they are building him up with these episode titles, you see what mean with 50, I don’t see Soulburner’s first on screen duel being anyone else but Playmaker because I’m convinced that Soulburner is going to kick Playmaker’s ass during that duel.

Now this is what I mean about Vector 2.0 for episode 50′s title:

(The Transfer Student, Homura Takeru)

Well Takeru’s here in RL this time and I’m super excited for this episode because of just the title and who is writing this episode alone says a LOT. Yoshida Shin is doing the script and again, Zexal flashbacks to episode 76 when another certain psychopath transfer into the main protagonist’s class at the beginning of their second season. Oh god, Yusaku is so dead, even more so if Soulburner is revealed to be using Fusions. On the plus side, more action in the RL and Yusaku might be getting his own fanboy XD

Calling it now, there is going to be such a huge love triangle between Yusaku, Ryoken, and Takeru after this episode airs if Yusaku and Takeru do become “friends”. Also Yusaku, I’m sorry that your love story is basically Twilight. One white haired antagonist left you heart broken so now you had to go and replace him with a new white haired-more then likely-psychopath who is going to end up destroying your precious heart even more. I’m sorry that the show is deliberately pairing you up with albino assholes.

And finally episode 51′s title:

(The Man Who Cast Away Charisma)

Unlike the other titles, this one is kinda hard to figure out. I’m thinking that it is either someone is targeting the Charisma Duelists, such as Blue Angel and Go, or Go has finally had enough, again, and decides that he doesn’t want to be a Charisma Duelist anymore. Either way, I feel like this could be a Go focused episode, regardless if its him deciding to quit or that someone is targeting him. Not much else I can think of until we get the summary for this episode.

So those are my first impressions to the new news for season two of Vrains. Like always, I am hyped to see what we have in store to see during this new arc from our new characters, our old ones, and especially if we do end up getting the other Summoning Methods used other then Playmaker’s Rituals.

#vrains #vrains spoilers #Thoughts #theories

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