One of my favorite parts of Dune Part 2 was the fight between Feyd and Paul, not only because it was epic, but because there was no background music or slow motion. It allowed you to be fully immersed in the scene without anything that made the scene over-dramatic, and I feel like that's not something that's common in current movies.

the emotional whiplash from hearing that Shadow and Bone is canceled and then getting a full trailer for Percy Jackson is real

So I want to talk about my experience with Dune as someone who is Gen Z. I've seen a lot of people comparing it to seeing Stars Wars or Lord of the Rings for the first time in theaters. I missed that experience because of my age, I wasn't alive when the Lord of the Rings or Star Wars movies came out.

Dune is my first epic cinema experience. Seeing the rich, epic, and stunning films in theaters is an amazing experience that can't be replicated. I'm so glad that Dune has given me the chance to see an amazing story on this scale unfold onscreen and that it lead me to read the source material.

It is something that I will probably hold with me and remember as I age. This is my generation's claim to cinema, I called it when I walked out of the theaters after watching Dune in 2021 and I believe this even more strongly after watching Dune Part Two yesterday.

hello this is your reminder that

Inej is not just a knife-wielding queen, she is a gentle soul who has been through severe trauma and struggled to accept the violence she committed to survive and doubted if her Saints would accept her because of it

Kaz is not just a brilliant thief and gang leader, he is a boy heavy with grief who is tortured by his bother's ghost in his head and has trouble expressing his needs and wants

Jesper is not just comedic relief, he is a gambling addict struggling to accept his Grisha identity due to his father's treatment of him after his mother's death

Wylan is not just an innocent boy, he has been severely mentally abused and managed to survive after his father attempted to have him murdered for simply being disabled

Matthias is not just the boy who worships the ground Nina walks on, he struggled greatly to change the horrible beliefs indoctrinated into him as a child soldier

Nina is not simply a confident Grisha, she was a child soldier who struggles with self-doubt, purpose, and addiction

Octavian's character will never not be funny to me. The man sacrifices stuffed animals in an attempt to see the future. He died because his flipping toga got caught on a weapon and he launched himself when he pulled the lever. His very existence is hilarious.

Does anyone else experience fandom envy? Not like "I wish I was in that fandom" but nostalgic envy? There are a lot of popular series I couldn't read as a kid or I joined a fandom late so I don't have a nostalgic tie to them and I wish I did. I wish I knew the stories inside and out from constantly rereading them. Or sometimes I read a series as an adult or late teen and thought "I would have loved this as a kid", but I don't because I'm older and my reading taste has changed. I wish I had the chance to experience the stories with child-like wonder and obsession.

We were robbed of seeing young Kaz snap in season 2. I wanted to see him crawl out of the harbor, and the horrible things he did after. I wanted to see him pointing and saying "Jakob f***ing Hertzoon". I wanted to see young Kaz go from being broken hearted with grief to a hardened boy with revenge written on his face. I wanted to see the birth of Dirtyhands.

As a religious person, I want to acknowledge the wonderful way Leigh Bardugo writes religious characters like Inej and Matthias.

I relate to Inej and Matthias because Leigh Bardugo wrote their faith as the center of their lives that realistically influenced their world view. I felt seen because aspects of faith and my personal journey with religion were shown their stories.

For Matthias, his faith changed based on his experiences with the Crows. He realized that the rigid and bigoted ideas he had about Grisha were wrong. Why did he think this? Because a powerful man, who was his mentor, brainwashed that into him. But once he got to know Nina and the others, he realized this dehumanizing view of Grisha was wrong. He then did not reject his faith entirely; his view of it changed. This reflected my experience. I was told I had to have these wrong beliefs in order to please God and I slowly realized that was not true after years of having so many strict rules drilled into my head.

For Inej, her faith in the Saints is something that she holds close to her. Despite all of the horrible things that have happened to her, she has faith that the Saints are watching over her. She does struggle with the idea that the things she has done to survive go against her faith and will upset the Saints. This is something I have to remind myself, that no matter what I do or what I am going through, God will not abandon me.

I love having characters in fantasy that I can relate a huge part of my identity to, it means so much to me.

Sometimes the fandom likes to depict Dex as a sweet cinnamon roll and I get it he's a great friend, but his intro is literally him giving a girl he hates a solution to grow her hair back after giving her one that made it fall out. And the solution makes her grow too much hair. Dex lets the reader know right away he is not to be trifled with.

SOC couples and their similarities

Something that crosses my mind from time to time is the similarities within the Six of Crows couples.

Helnik: Nina and Matthias are both former soldiers and are deeply loyal to their countries but they also know what it is to have your childhood stolen by war. Both where taken from their homes solely to become soldiers as children.

Wesper: Jesper and Wylan both have gone through childhood without their mothers and have had fathers that didn't accept them. I know Colm is a much better parent than Van Eck, but he still couldn't accept that his son was Grisha. Wylan and Jesper both have also put so much of their energy and time to living up to the expectations people in their lives had for them, even if it was impossible. Jesper with Colm and Kaz; Wylan with his father.

Kanej: Kaz and Inej both have aversion to touch. They both grew up in stable homes (not sure about Kaz since we don't know a lot about his life before he and Jordie came to Ketterdam). Point is, they grew up with family that loved them. They also know what it is to have that taken away because of exploitation. Pekka Rollins exploited Kaz and Jordie for money and Tante Heelen did the same to Inej.

I love Six of the Crows and the ships in it. They are so beautiful and layered.

Klaus: Can I ask a stupid question?

Five: Better than anyone I know

Can someone who's smarter than me explain why the almost affair plot line with Mrs. Wheeler and Billy was a thing? I understand why for Mrs. Wheeler because she feels neglected in her marriage but why was Billy a part of it?

I love that Lockwood and Lucy don't kiss in the books. They are still teenagers and they have so much pressure on them. They are children trying to navigate an adult world and responsibilities, there is plenty of time for them to explore their love and relationship later. And yet, there is absolutely no doubt in the reader's mind that these two love each each other despite the lack of physical touch and I think that's one of favorite things about the series.

I want to talk about Dex's reaction to Sophie telling him that she might go live with the Vackers. He gets angry and that's understandable. The Vackers represent everything that his family isn't: they have more social status, Alden and Della are considered a good match, everyone has a "good" ability, etc.

Sophie didn't care about Dex's family's status. She doesn't have that type of prejudice because of her human upbringing and that's why her and Dex are best friends, she didn't care about all the "flaws" elvin society says the Dizznee's have.

So, when Sophie says she might go live with the Vackers, Dex rightful responds with anger. He's scared of losing his best friend. He's scared those prejudices might be instilled in Sophie being around the "perfect" family and she won't want to be friends anymore.

Is that the best reaction Dex could have given Sophie? Probably not, she needed comfort and understanding in that moment but children can sometimes miss things like that.

TLDR: Dex's anger about Sophie potentially living with the Vackers is understandable

Five's conversation with Viktor was one of my favorite scenes in season 3 so of course, I have to analyze it, specifically the following quote:

"If you need anything, I'll always be there for you. But if you lie to us again, I'll kill you myself."

Five was alone for 45 years and that made him desperate to the point of becoming an assassin. Earlier in this conversation, he warns Viktor about becoming a villain by acting alone, maybe because that's how Five views himself.

My interpretation of Five's final sentence to Viktor is that he's saying that this family is a team and they can't afford to lie to each other. They will also always be there for each other, Five included. Lying to them might cause Viktor's death, either by Five's own hand or maybe by something else that's a consequence of Viktor lying.

Appreciation post for Sandor: he not only cares about Sophie's physical well-being, but her mental health as well.