may

June 01, 2024

Things I enjoyed in the month of May:

 Nghi Vo's, The Empress of Salt and Fortune:


Chih tilted their head to one side.

"Are you going to ask me if I understand? I am still not sure I do?"

"Well, something like this, you understand or you won't."



More than anything, I feel the success of this quietly defiant tale of generational, feminist outmatching of the monarchy most acutely in the way it’s told: in pieces, unreliably, encased within another story, a puzzle unique to the storyteller.

It's fed to us in ornately-encased morsels of history and memory, snippets of a larger tale unwoven enough to be quickly but scrupulously digested, and imperatively passed on, but it's brazen in its partiality.

No word from Rabbit, our memory-teller's mouth can be fully trusted as fact, untouched by time or emotion, it can only be catalogued by Chih, our cleric historian, like any other tale imparted by word of mouth: fractured, cradled, distorted, and hopefully remembered for the heart of what it imparts:



In-yo would say that the war was won by silenced and nameless women, and it would be hard to argue with her.



From the moment society and hierarchy were thought into existence, there has a been a clear tracery of women, both seen and unseen, who have broken and bent the trappings of their station to survive, to manipulate, to coerce, to exact change, to thrive.

In every culture, every society, every family there are those women.

Quietly, methodically, successfully battling their way.

They shake the walls of every room they enter without their "masters" batting not even an eye, and The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a diminutive testament to the brilliance of these women in the face of ceaseless manoeuvring in polite captivity and subjugation, no matter their rank.

This tiny tale is a gilded pressing of how they rend and roar when their voices are silenced, and how that noiseless noise if more impactful than any bellowed, beating of armoured breast, any bloody battle won.

But more so it's about how none of these machinations could come to pass without relationships with other women, and how that devotion can garner more loyalty and respect than fear, and ultimately, wovenly, enact greater change.



Rabbit smiled. "Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves."



We may not be able to trust Rabbit's story, or even Chih's accounting of it, but does that even matter?

We all innately know this story, from infancy through history, one way or another; it's bred into us and fought against, we don't need accuracy to know its validity, its veracity.

And ultimately, isn't that the point?



Do you understand?


.............................................

Emily Piak's Arrietty:

One of my favourite Ghibli movies, and this little ode to the eponymous tiny heroine is a pastel-textured feast.

⬆⬆⬆
Dream bedroom, FYI.

.............................................

Renegade Nell:

Basically, if Sally Wainwright writes it, I'll watch it.
If Louisa Harland's in it, I'll watch it.
#tvedit from WOMEN
(Orla will always be my equal fave with Clare in Derry Girls)

And if it's a historical, fantastical romp, I'll watch the shit out it.
So, really, this show was made for me, the ideal viewing experience, and I lapped it up like double-dosed chocolate Nesquik.

The thing I love most about Sally Wainwright's storytelling is how she swirls the light with the dark.
Take Happy Valley - her best work in my opinion, a classic tale of good versus evil and the many and varied forms they both can take.
Nobody's wholly, righteously good, nor are they devoid entirely of morals or humanity, they're just people who tip the scales either way depending on their character, their desires, and what happens when they intersect.
This is where Wainwright shines, in showing the ugly and wonder in both sides, in shining a light directly into the various shades of fucked up things good people will do to stop something infinitely worse, and the depths of human depravity from the minor to the major.
All whilst maintaining the dark humour we all use to survive.
And Renegade Nell's no different, with Louisa Harland adorning the mantle as one of Wainwright's heart of gold but absolutely don't fuck with them or they'll kick your teeth in heroines.
https://sandibullock.tumblr.com/post/746502877770612736/renegade-nell-101-dont-call-me-nelly

Tromping her way through eighteenth-century England with her fairy companion, doing her best to right a great wrong and protect those she loves.
image

And being fucking delightful while she does it.
Image

It's fun as hell, gorgeous to look at, the costumes are bonkers (the sartorial gender subversion is *chef's kiss*) and I had no idea I needed a bawdy, historical, fantastical version of Happy Valley in my life, but wow, did I ever.
Season two? Please? With shit-kicking bells on?
Image


Ps. Special note for Frank Dillane, who fucked me off so bad in Fear the Walking Dead (when he tried to make friends with the zombies, I just... *facepalm*) but is the most delightful himbo in this, and my love for him grows by the day.
Look at this muppet, he's perfect:
Image
Image

.............................................

Book snacks:

Book dragons don't share, we hoard and eat those brazen enough to come for our treasures.
...
85651 - safe, artist:theroguez, arthropod, dragon, fictional species, insect, feral, 2d, 2d animation, animated, book, eating, frame by frame, gif, male, reading, solo, solo male - Furbooru



I can't stop thinking about this.

be serious

...
falling again gif | WiffleGif



...
YARN | Indeed. Quite right. | Little Women | Video gifs by quotes | 8b5e30f3 | 紗

.............................................

Because I miss them ALL the time:
Aprilyn Cunanan

Marie Renaud

aneh

Holly James

`
tweedfeather

Cesilia

Kai

loves_unkind

Zoe Crystal

https://www.tumblr.com/camilleflyingrotten/726539949928841216/vavoom
https://www.tumblr.com/camilleflyingrotten/739946043775533056/wings-part-13
https://www.tumblr.com/camilleflyingrotten/743848761954009088
https://www.tumblr.com/camilleflyingrotten/744852521176170496/the-last-centaurs-aziraphale-and-crowley-and
https://www.tumblr.com/camilleflyingrotten/749653638342934528/thinking-about-the-good-omens-s1-body-swap
https://www.tumblr.com/camilleflyingrotten/749831713071448064/abandoned-creatures-today
https://www.tumblr.com/inkgoblinz/749669305777618944
camilleflyingrotten

...
Season three, please don't break me.
A Whumper at Heart — Good Omens 2x06

.............................................

How Interview with the Vampire Remixed Its Source Material Into a New Kind of Classic by Tyler Dean for Reactor:

If you were to tell younger me who loathed the movie (we're revisiting this, the campiness might hit now), or 2016 me who only just held back from yeeting the book out the window (it was closed, that's the only reason it didn't eat dirt) that she'd be reading analytical articles on Rolin Jones' tv adaptation of Anne Rice's queer as fuck vampire romance and it'd be her new obsession, that little emo fuck would laugh in your face, turn up My Chemical Romance, and go back to curmudgeoning.
Anime Sticker - Anime Stickers

This is what I love about stories.
One goblin's trash is another's treasure waiting to be adapted to star a slutty-waisted vampire-brat-prince and his sweater-boy husband.
https://fandomsmeantheworldtome.tumblr.com/post/720800980909899776

Bless Rolin Jones for all he hath given us.
which kind of bow for worshipping? : r/japanese

Genuinely counting the days until the UK gets the next season.
The minutes.
THE SECONDS!

An accurate representation of my current state:
MK aka. verymerryart

.............................................

Amanda Outcalt's little puffs:

Is that not just the best use of intaglio you've ever seen?
Ocean Life Inflation GIF by Jason Clarke

.............................................

Rewatching:
Fleabag

"It'll pass."

NO IT WON'T.
IT HASN'T YET.
IT NEVER WILL.
DON'T LIE TO ME YOU FOX-FEARING, PIGLET-CHAMPIONING, GUINEA PIG-CUDDLING, CINNAMON ROLL MOTHERFUCKER!
...
I've never been so mad at Andrew Scott than when he's being a hot priest.
For so many reasons.
https://cinemagifmaker.tumblr.com/post/695657979610005504/federicocesaris-hot-priest-fleabag-s02e03


One Day

I don't know why I did this.
It still causes this face:

But y'know...
I still hate it, the ending's offensive to the genre, but this adaptation is... it's actually really fucking good.
Perfect? Nope, not possible, but beautifully, sensitively made and eminently re-watchable?
Image
Image

I'm thinking... yeah! As long as you're cool with rage sobbing your way through the final episodes.
And I don't know about my goblin readership, but I love a good cry over fictional characters, even if sometimes I'm cursing the reason for the purging of eye fluids.
Let the tear ducts overflow, I say.
Lots Of Tears And That Catharsis Over That Thats It GIF - Lots Of Tears And That Catharsis Over That Thats It Thats All GIFs



The Artful Dodger

God, I'm soft for them:
#such an organic feast from the start! hard to do from Did you tell JJ?
#such an organic feast from the start! hard to do from Did you tell JJ?

For the entire show, honestly.
There isn't a single character in this that isn't overflowing with chemistry, that doesn't bounce off another and make screen magic; it's really something to behold.
Fagin and Dodge always were the most interesting characters in the original story, stealing the show with one swindle to the next, but I didn't know I needed anything more from them, anything like this, but hell, I was beyond wrong.
The Artful Dodger turns surgeon in newly colonised Australia?
#such an organic feast from the start! hard to do from Did you tell JJ?
Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins GIF - Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins GIFs

Falling in love with his cutting, whip-smart equal?
image

Getting up to his old hijinks tricks with Fagin?
#the artful dodger from another gif blog

...
Thats Exactly What I Needed Michael Groth GIF - Thats Exactly What I Needed Michael Groth Mandjtv GIFs

So, do me a favour and sign this petition so it gets renewed for a second season and I don't have to cry into my Vegemite Marmite?
Hungry Breakfast GIF by Foodies



Little Voice

I'm here for the music, the pretty humans, and the soft storytelling.



Everything I Know About Love

I definitely didn't appreciate this show the first time I watched it, focusing too much on how irritating I found the lead character and her constant stream of fuck ups labelled as "experience".
But it's clearer now, the familiar freedom of being in your twenties and what that untethering can do to your self worth and your relationships.
Image

How you change during that time and the people you love either change with or away from you.
I can see that now, and I like the show better for it.
If only it hadn't ended on such a bleak note and with no second season on the horizon.
Hot Fuzz Shame GIF
 
.............................................

Cj Hendry:

Ever look at a piece of hyperreal art and think:
No Fuck That Adam Di Marco GIF - No Fuck That Adam Di Marco Randall Carpio GIFs

Brain no comprehend...

.............................................

Seanan McGuire's, Heaps of Pearl:

The way Seanan McGuire guilelessly drops these little nuggets of backstory for characters within the series that alter our perception of them entirely is nothing short of sneakily thoughtful.

Patrick and Dianda are two characters I can honestly say I haven’t spent a lot of time contemplating, purely because they seem so solid and stable, a true power couple that uses said power wisely and beneficently. Also they’re loyal friends to Toby and her rabble, which automatically makes them top tier people, so there never seemed a need to unearth their beginnings when their current state is so satisfying to behold - especially when Dianda bitchslaps someone with her tail; don’t fuck with the Duchess of Saltmist.

But I should’ve learned by now that no one in this series is unworthy of a little… informative digging, a minor deep dive into their history, and in the case of Patrick and Dianda, an adorable flashback to their meet-cute which is so them, it’s not even funny.



"Is there real food here? Because I will hit you with a chair if it gets me real food," she said.



Pin by kim horus on Inspiração para histórias | Mermaid aesthetic, Aesthetic gif, Mythical creatures


Seanan, you spoil us.

Also with glimpses of Simon Torquill, Amandine, and August before everything went horribly, heinously, hopelessly wrong.

I’ll say it again: spoiled, we’re so spoiled.

Lately Ive Been Feeling Like A Princess Spoiled GIF - Lately Ive Been Feeling Like A Princess Spoiled Loved GIFs


.............................................

Saira Vargas making all my Gormenghast dreams come true:

You don't understand...
Theyre Amazing Theyre Great GIF - Theyre Amazing Theyre Great Very Good GIFs

You see so little Gormenghast fanart out in the wild, which is a fucking crime because it's so visually rich, but when you finally find some, or someone you follow finally joins the Groan club, it's...
image

I see a rewatch in my near future as I daydream over the idea of a fully Saira Vargas illustrated edition of the series or even an animated series.
Such sweet daydreams...
Gormenghast — Gormenghast Gifs

.............................................

May Melodies:
Griff // 19th Hour and Into The Walls

Peach PRC // You're So Lucky You're Gorgeous

WESLEE // know now

Slow Pulp // Hanging By A Moment (Lifehouse cover)

The chokehold the original song still has on me...


Dan Mangan // Find New Ways

Tate McRae // we're not alike and guilty conscious

WILLOW // run!

Holly Humberstone feat. Medium Build // Cocoon

Michael Penn // Anchors Aweigh

No matter what you think of Girls, the soundtracks are immaculate.


Paris Paloma // boys, bugs and men

🎵 At the cutting of your tongue
All I hear is shredding wings
Before me is a man who cares not for little things
And now I have my answer, from when I wondered who
Those little boys became
Because they grew up to be you
You’ve been playing with your power for a long time
A long time


Riah // Bed

Christian Kura feat. Cautious Clay // Undecided

TS Graye // Mother's Genes

Troye Sivan // Honey

Abby Holliday // The Price

🎵 All at once
I realize
It’s not a crime to love somebody
And let it die
(If it needs to die)
If loving you was a crime
I’m still paying the price


Coheed and Cambria // The Joke and Deranged

Caroline Polachek // Starburned and Unkissed

Childish Gambino feat. Young Nudy// Little Foot Big Foot

Do we just not deserve Donald Glover?


Loren Kramer // Gay Angels

...


Braden Bales // EVERYTHING IS QUIET

Mark Wilkinson feat. William Fitzsimmons // Movie Scene (acoustic)

Bat For Lashes // At Your Feet

The Twin Peaks audacity.
Twin Peaks GIFs | POPSUGAR Entertainment

.............................................

Ainsley of lousydrawingsforgoodpeople:
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/750197880314331136
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/750016611529998336
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/747509688212537344
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/746935586345074688
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/744579735647076352
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/743859465686827008
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/742500408434606080
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/741775338592518144
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/739872760531222528
https://lousydrawingsforgoodpeople.tumblr.com/post/737153221072666624

Choose your fuckery!

🦎 Spray foam
🦎 Don't sit on my bed
🦎 Mysterious bruises
🦎 Web MD
🦎 I woke up like this
🦎 Problematic houseplant

...
Im A Gift GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY

.............................................

Seanan McGuire's, Full of Briars:

This changed everything I thought I knew about Quentin, for better and worse.
In all honesty, I've always been quite charmed by his devotion to Toby, a devotion that at times borders on idolatry:

🪲 He follows her every lead - and not just out of squirely duty.
🪲 Stands up for her even when she's kind of being a twat - often, she's often a twat, one of the many reason I love her so.
🪲 Rarely questions her decision-making - he should, someone should, she's bled so much in just eight books.
🪲 Defaults to her when things get too much, too scary - I'm not sure you'd call her his surrogate mother, but definitely a loopy, dives head first into trouble, aunt.

She's his person, his friend, his family, and I thought his awestruck-tendencies towards Toby were those of a young kid, sent far from home, finally finding his place and some solace/life-threatening situations to hone his fae skills in.
More fool me, because Quentin is far more complex than some wide-eyed kid struck down with a serious case of hero worship; more calculated, more thoughtful, and more, let's be honest, judgemental.
But after the reveal of his sovereign heritage in The Winter Long, his inner monologue in this short actually makes a hell of a lot of sense: he was born royal, with royal privilege and the inherent arrogance that comes with it, he knows he's important and being stuck as a glorified servant isn't his natural place.
And this is something that's not especially evident in his characterisation within the series, instead he's always presented as a reliably good kid: not subservient, not a pushover, but more than willing to do his job, respect people along the way, earn his place, and earn it well, without fanfare.
Who knew at the beginning of his time at Shadowed Hills, and even his first experiences as Toby's squire, he was holding so much back, so much in, and not all of it kindness.
I know for some seeing this side of Quentin was jarring, so out of character that it put a dent in their love for him, but I genuinely think it's important to see how much Quentin's time with Toby has evolved his view of the world and the people/creatures in it, and not just the fae, but humans as well. He's a better squire for it, a better future king, a better person, and knowing he isn't perfect, that he doesn't hold Toby on a pedestal and acknowledges her flaws, that he actively wants to remain as her aide even though he's a king in waiting, it makes me love him more.
He's real, he's fallible, not just a pointy-eared Ken doll who'll follow Toby around like a doe-eyed puppy every time she runs head first into trouble - which is all the time, let's face it, because who's gonna if not Sir October Daye?
That's far more interesting, and a part of me thinks I should've known it already, for one simple reason:

The Luidaeg

Yes, that glorious sea-bitch, my number one curmudgeon, the baddest motherfucker in sea town.
If there's one thing to be relied on with ol' Lu (if she as real, she'd turn me into a jellyfish for calling her that), it's that she suffers no fools, wouldn't waste a breath on anyone unworthy of her anciently majestic time.
And she adores Quentin, has gone out of her way for him, buys cookies just for him (I'm not sure she's even fed Toby, and they're blood related!), that alone should've told me that all was not as it seemed.
Note to self:  The Luidaeg always knows and she's always right.
A good life lesson in general, that one.
But I can't discount his other found family:

🐞 Toby, who I'm 99% positive would've started a war with his parents if they tried to take him from her - the 1% is Tybalt holding her back, physically and sensically.

🐞 Raj, who, well, this:


A patch of shade peeled off and became a teenage boy about an inch shorter than me, thin, brown-skinned, and lanky, with black-tipped russet hair. Raj didn't walk across the room: he slunk, moving fluidly and without seeming to use any actual bones. He paused when he reached the table, long enough to give my parents a lingering, utterly shameless look. Then he fell into the seat beside me, slinging his legs over mine before reaching across me to snatch the roll off my plate and begin munching. Between my body and food, he was claiming me as his property in every feline way he knew.
Dad frowned. "Quentin?"
Right. "Mother. Father, meet Prince Raj of the Court of Dreaming Cats."
"And his best friend," said Raj, not bothering to swallow his mouthful of roll first. His voice was muffled by the doughy mass, but not enough to take the edge of his words. "I know your son in all ways better than you do. Remember that, as you consider taking him from me."
[...]
The door to the private dining room opened, and Toby and Tybalt stepped inside. [...] "I see you've found my nephew," said Tybalt, once they were close enough to speak without shouting. "I apologize for anything and nothing he may have done. Anything because he is my nephew, and hence my responsibility; nothing because he is a cat, and hence fully capable of extricating himself from any holes which he may have dug for himself. Raj, please, I beg you, stop treating the future High King of the Westlands as furniture. It's untidy."
Raj did not remove his legs from my lap. "No," he said. "They want to take him away. I don't want him to go."
"So you're just going to sit on him and make sure he doesn't get up?" Toby shook her head. "What, is that a genetic thing with cats?"


Cat-boys, you gotta love 'em.

🐞 Tybalt, who even though he has a... let's call it fractious relationship with Quentin, would do everything in his power to keep him safe, to champion him, and not just because of their mutual relationship with Toby - she would murder him if anything happened to Quentin and he didn't help, though; he's got nine lives, it's fine.

🐞 And May, who might be scarier than Toby when it comes to defending her family - don't fuck with May, she'll bedazzle everything you own.


"And there's one thing everyone is leaving out here, which is that we love him," said May. We all turned to look at her. She looked back, unrepentant. "He's our Quentin. We don't care that he's a prince. He's just the kid who hogs the TV on Saturday mornings, and argues with Toby about who ate the last of the Pop-Tarts. He's your son, and please believe me when I say we would never belittle that connection, but we love him, too. We care about him, too. We only want what's best for him, and right now, what's best for him is staying exactly where he is."
"It's rare for a prince to be among those who love him for who he is, and not for who he may one day become," said Tybalt, and there was an old sorrow in his words, almost buried in the haughty tone he always assumed among strangers. "Please believe me when I say that your son is blessed beyond words to be who he is, and where he is, surrounded by people who met his revelation with shrugs and an absolute lack of concern."
I snorted. Toby's response to finding out I was the Crown Prince had been anything but unconcerned. But that wasn't the point now, was it?
"I'll probably get him shot again before his training's over," said Toby. "That's sort of what I do. I'm a knight errant. It's not even that I'm a magnet for trouble; it's that when there's trouble, it's my job to go and hit it until it goes away, and right now, it's Quentin's job to follow me and see how not to die. If you want to know that he'll be absolutely safe and protected and never get bruised or scarred, I'm not your girl. But I think . . . I think you knew that when you trusted him to me in the first place. And at this point, there's no one in the world who'll fight harder to keep him safe, except for maybe the two of you."


Why would you ever leave them when they say and feel things like this?
Or when you have a new crush - which kinda came out of nowhere but honestly, who cares? - to be fucking adorable with:


[Dean] reached over to take my hand in his. His fingers were cool, with the ghosts of webbing extending from his palms extending halfway to the first knuckle. We sat there on the edge of the dock beneath the mountain, and we watched the tide roll out, and for a little while at least, it seemed like there was nothing else to say.


We love a bisexual king.

.............................................

Annabel Lee of lazylibraryknits and her wearable Secret History:

...

I need to learn how to knit immediately!
Imagine the knit one, book one possibilities...

Here are my immediate-come-to-mind-first choices:

📚 Cloudstreet
📚 Magic Bites
📚 Titus Groan
📚 The Song of Achilles
📚 Expecting Someone Taller
📚 Wyrd Sisters
📚 Persuasion
📚 If We Were Villains
📚 Radiance
📚 Prince's Gambit
📚 The Raven Boys
📚 Fangirl
📚 Heartstopper
📚 We Have Always Lived in the Castle
📚 Strange the Dreamer
📚 Lore Olympus
📚 Rosemary and Rue
📚 Ninth House
📚 Gideon the Ninth
📚 Summer Sons
📚 Heroes and Villains
📚 The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

My gods... I'd never have to make a clothing decision ever again...

.............................................

House of Gucci:

Okay, hear me out.
...
Would this have made more sense if it was The Muppets?

...
Am I Right Or Am I Right GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY

.............................................

mr.anderson.x's skateboard murals:

If I possessed even a modicum of physical balance (inner equilibrium? Who's she?) or a shred of pain tolerance (Charlie Bear sliced the pad of my middle finger - I deserved it for gently prodding his paw pad with a tiny twig, obviously 🙄 - a few weeks ago and I was unbearable), I'd've strapped myself to a longboard, never gotten off, and thrown all my monies at mr.anderson.x to make it oh so pretty.
But alas..

.............................................

Patricia Briggs', Burn Bright:

"...maybe we can work a little magic, you and I."


I've been trying to start this review for days and my brain is just...
Boykiseer Blink GIF - Boykiseer Blink Blinking GIFs

There's genuinely nothing in there but the void.
If a doctor was to diagnose my current state, it'd be with an incurable case of Head Empty, No Thoughts.
I'm Goldie Hawn in Overboard when she's buh, buh, buh-ing, except I don't have a Kurt Russell to dump me in a water tank to shock my brain cells into reanimation.
(The way I've been crushing on them in this movie since I was in single figures...; top five rom-com, no argument)
And it's not like I'm unfamiliar with this brain-exit-stage-left-pursued-by-its-last-working-cell feeling, it happens quite frequently when I've finished reading something and I've either enjoyed it and don't feel the need to comment, or it was so bad that it sucked the soul right out of my body and reviewing it would be the last step into crispy husk-dom.
Anna Geller on LinkedIn: When you are forced to read AWS documentation and are on page 38 out of… | 13 comments

It's not worth the industrial strength moisturiser, to be frank.
But then there are times like this, where I'm midway through a series I love, coasting along with reliably nourishing stories, not a worry in the world, and bam: a so-so story.
And it always knocks me for six, simply because it's so unexpected.
Burn Bright is not a bad book, not in the slightest, I don't think Patricia Briggs is even capable of writing a bad story, but this one sorta... dragged.
As if, maybe, it was the book before the book? Like the second in a trilogy that meanders its way through narrative placing and pacing to set things up for the next or final instalment. The book that holds back so the impact of the next will be all the greater.
That's what Burn Bright felt like, and possibly/definitely explains why I kept falling asleep whilst reading it, which is not something I normally do when immersed inside Brigg's Mercyverse - looking back, this is the first time I've ever rated anything in the series under four stars.
Normally it's an edge of the seat situation, where I'm holding my breath as Mercy runs from hungry Kelpies (that scene will forever fuck me up), or Charles and Anna are fighting fae critters with a taste for kiddo (think Meg Mucklebones and you get the idea... *shudders*) - Milady Briggs does not shirk on the tension and the drama.
And that can be said for this chapter of the series also; as we neared the end of the story there was a level of intensity that did have me reading too fast and flicking my eyes impatiently over to the next page, as I tend to do when stories get really good and my fight or flight instinct kicks in.
Burn Bright is an important story swerve that introduced new players, new ideas, new enemies, new challenges solely for Anna and Charles, and it also expanded the little corner of the world the Marrok's pack exists within, opening its boundaries, possibly permanently so.


We are all of us wolves, but sometimes the only answer is fang and claw.


And that's perhaps the problem: the scope of the story is greater than the way it was told, which makes me wonder whether its time for Briggs to give some of the other characters a little air time.
I'm always happy to spend time with Charles and Anna, they're a certified good time, and I'm more invested than ever in where their story's headed, but at this point I'm questioning whether they're the ones who should be leading the charge into whatever battle is coming with both the Fae and the Black Witches.
They're of course both vital to the story: Charles being the second son of Bran and his Shaman/Witch-born gifts, and Anna as the only Omega in the pack and mate to Charles; they hold significant weight within the story and its trajectory, but isn't Bran, as Marrok of the Pack, perhaps a more crucial player?
Or Asil? Terrifying, beautiful, could charm the knickers off a horse and they don't even wear them, Asil? Always with a story to tell and wicked grin to spare.
Or Leah, Bran's mate who, after reading this story, is far more than the nasty piece of work I so readily dismissed her as and is instead a complex, intriguing character who holds a notable amount of undisclosed power. Power that could derail the story entirely.
And even Bran's wildlings hold endless possibilities, with their age, instability, and wealth of enemies dogging their heels.
Isn't it their time to take the narrative wheel?
If only to give my beloved mates a rest?
Think Schitts Creek GIF by CBC

But whatever does come next for Anna and Charles, which I imagine will be as stressful as usual, I'll never be sorry to spend that time with them, even if it does end with dropping the book on my face as I periodically pass out.
It's a wonder I haven't permanently dented my face yet in the name of lupine escapism.
Trang Book On The Face GIF - Trang Book On The Face Sleep GIFs

.............................................

Ego Rodriguez:

Queer artists celebrating queer love.
It always hits.
And I'm particularly fond of Rodriguez almost exclusively drawing bears.
We love a bear.

.............................................

The Invitation:

...
Did this circle back around from god awful to campily... good?
Masks Looking GIF by Sony Pictures

You have to possess a certain fondness for the campy vampire genre, which I absolutely do: Dracula: Dead and Loving It was watched an embarrassing number of times in my teenage years, as was Love At First Bite, Fright Night, the Buffy movie, From Dusk Till Dawn, and of course, The Lost Boys.
I love a bit of farcical, fang-based behaviour, and I wouldn't necessarily say The Invitation quite fits the quota but it does have a certain air of the ridiculous soaked in hysterical creepitude.
Oh My Gosh Omg GIF by Sony Pictures

Like Ready or Not but not fucking fantastic, but likeable enough to be appreciated even though it's lacking?
And I think... I think I might be here for it.

Let me have a second helping, just to make sure.

.............................................

House Andrews bringing the joy once again:

So... I'll be yelping internally and trying to divine whether the contents of this photo are a clue to the theme of the new series (if it's Arthurian, I may pass out) until HA announce themselves and put me out of my misery.

I love tv, couldn't live without it, but it's a fairweather friend in comparison to the author(s) you find and love and who just keep. on. giving.
God I Love Books GIF - Mlp Mylittlepony Books - Discover & Share GIFs | My little pony books, My little pony characters, My little pony friendship

.............................................

Helluva Boss:

My sisters forced me to watch this, an unfinished series, something I never do because I'm really not good at waiting, but like the baby sister I am, I didn't like being left out of the loop - baby sisters must know all the things, it's written in our infernal contracts.
And they told me I'd love it more than Hazbin Hotel - which I'm an absolute monster for, they assured me I'd flop to the Boss-side, and they were... half right.
With almost two seasons (like I said, unfinished ... *isn't bitter*) under its belt, Helluva Boss is definitely a story with more depth - at this point - than the princess of hell's pursuit to rehabilitate the demon population in Hazbin; it's definitely had more time to delve into the character's backgrounds and build the foundation for further storytellling.
But it just didn't grab me by the scruff of the neck and wiggle its demon-y finger around in my heart with the same immediacy as Hazbin, which from the moment Charlie started singing about happy days in hell, I was a goner, completely fucked.
And I truly thought it'd be the same with Helluva when Stolas sang a soothing lullaby to baby Octavia in episode two, which took me the fuck out, by the way, but as the season progressed I wasn't loving it as much as I thought I would, as much as my sisters insisted I would.
But then.
Oh, then.
These two showed up and that feral stamp of YOU FUCKING LOVE IT got smacked firmly into my brainpan/heart with indelible, sulphuric ink:
image
image
image

Your infernal honour, I love them.
Helluva Boss Fizzaroli GIF - Helluva Boss Fizzaroli GIFs

I love them as much as Huskerdust - clearly I have a type, and this ship is actually canon!
Look at the babies, look at their sweet little demon faces:

There's nothing sweeter than a fragile imp-clown and his brunch-demon daddy being unapologetically in love.
Nothing, nothing, nothing!
Well, maybe Fizzarolli being entirely relatable:

Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh.
And now to wait for those last few episodes and not curse my sisters out for doing this to me.
*prays to Luci and his depression ducks for patience*


Fanart!:
Aiwa

zero_lawliet

Ying Fern

Sator Rotas

CoffeeiTea

Rebecca Hughes

7月

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
© midnight hagette. Design by FCD.