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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
phaedraismyusername
phaedraismyusername

Just chucking my 10 pence into the ring for Women in Translation month with a handful of recs on the off chance it'll be of use to someone

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

- a short novel about a Korean woman who decides to become a vegetarian after a bad dream and how the people (mainly men) around her react to the decision and her subsequent spiral into stranger and stranger behaviour.

Convenience Store Woman by Sakaya Murata

- the story follows a neuro-divergent middle aged Japanese woman who loves her job at a convenience store more than anything and just wants to be left alone to do what makes her happy and how the people around her pressure her into conforming to what society expects from her (finding a man, getting a "real job", etc) and how those expectations negatively impact her life.

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

- a strange winding Argentinian novel about a dying woman and a young boy sitting in hospital together and telling stories. I don't really know the best way to sell you on this one other than you'll have to try it to know if you'll like it lol. But if you like a whole lot of weird and appreciate narratives and themes around environmental abuse then this could be for you.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

- another Argentinian book but this time it's just a straight up consumption horror lol. It follows a man who works at an abattoir essentially in a dystopian society where animal meat is now poisonous to people so they've started breeding and mass-processing humans for meat instead. Does what it says on the tin and pulls absolutely no punches in the process lol.

Confessions by Kanae Minato

- an excellent little Japanese thriller. A class room of teenagers are sat down by their teacher on her last day of work to talk about her resignation after her young daughter died in an accident on school grounds, only for her to reveal that she knows that two of the students are responsible for her death, and the steps she's taken to set her revenge into motion. The rest of the book jumps pov every chapter as you watch the consequences ripple out from there.

and last but not least

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang

- a Chinese sci-fi novel that follows a group of Mars-born teenagers who, after a civil war between planets, have spent their formative years on Earth as delegates and are now returning to Mars and how they deal with that, basically. It's the longest book on this list by far at around 600 pages but the writing is beautiful and the conversations about Mars being a communist ideal while Earth has reached the pinnacle of what capitalism can create are done in a way that doesn't feel at all soapbox-y and feels very fair in exploring the pros and cons of each system. Just an all around excellent book.

aroaessidhe
aroaessidhe

Aromantic Adult Books - High Fantasy (mostly)

KAIKEYI /  historical fantasy/retelling / aroace MC

MOONSHINE /  1920s-ish fantasy / major side character who has some POV is aro bi

THE LANGUAGE OF ROSES / fantasy novella / aro MC

AN ACCIDENT OF STARS  /  upper YA/adult portal fantasy / secondary MC is a polyam married aro woman

A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT  / high fantasy / apparently one of the MCs is aroace, haven’t read it yet!

CITY OF STRIFE/ISANDOR SERIES / high fantasy / last cast includes multiple aroaces, demiros & greyros

THE WOLF AMONG THE WILD HUNT  / fantasy novella / centres a QPR between and aroace & enby

THE ORACLE STONE / NA high fantasy / one of the three MCs is aro pan

THE BRUISING OF QILWA / fantasy novella / MC is aroace


*as a note, some of these only briefly explore aromanticism, and/or explore the ace part of the aroace character more. If you want more details on how much things are explored, see my database!

sokkalore

Anonymous asked:

How about some Mu Qing insane and unhinged tm moments (so we can then work our way to Feng Xin unhinged moments and make ourselves a little Xianle Quartet set)?

sokkalore answered:

there’s something GENUINELY wrong with mu qing so this will be fun.

1. obviously have to start with when he, in disguise as fu yao, recited a poem about feng xin’s dick completely unprompted. this was what … chapter 3? like jesus christ.

2. the fact that he memorized xie lian’s various crown prince outfits to the point that he knew the statues in the caves were of him without ever seeing their faces just because of the way they were dressed

3. the fact that he is commonly known for destroying divine statues of himself that he considers not pretty enough, and then appearing in his believers’ dreams to yell at them for making ugly art of him. (also the fact that, in conjunction with this, he is known for kindness and generosity by his believers.)

4. this goes for feng xin too, but the fact that he was GENUINELY surprised/angry(?) that xie lian had easily figured out their disguises. like. dude. you made zero percent effort to change your personality and he’s known you since you were kids. what did you EXPECT…?

5. when his response to xie lian’s attempt at a bride disguise was saying that if he was sent a bride like that, he would kill her

6. when he heard about xie lian possibly committing a massacre and got like, really excited.

7. the literal next chapter when he shows up to give (throw) xie lian the medicine for his hurt arm and is like Well Yes 😏 Of Course It’s Me🥱 WhO Were You Expecting🤨… FENG XIN….?????? 🙄 i think my annotation during this part is just like “can you be normal. can you please be normal.”

8. when they were in the nan yang temple on mount yujun and he spent two hours (this is canon. literally TWO hours. look it up) talking about how the divine statue of feng xin statue was ugly, to feng xin

9. when feng xin is covered in blood because of hua cheng’s blood rain and mu qing just STARES at him while everyone else looks away

10. when he expresses his genuine affection and care for xie lian and then immediately tries to commit suicide by lava

(thank you to @ghostcity for helping me compile these i couldn’t have done it without you.)

an-ime-goil
an-ime-goil: “bookdragonwrites: “queenbananya: “notnormalme: “vanitasnocarteconfessions: “““Noe sucks tbh because every time he does something horrible people don’t realize it. It drives me crazy that people will blame vanitas for noe trying to...
vanitasnocarteconfessions

“Noe sucks tbh because every time he does something horrible people don’t realize it. It drives me crazy that people will blame vanitas for noe trying to assault him in the amusement park and even say vanitas “deserved” it or call it “hot” and “sexy” that noe tried to do that or saying both of them were in the wrong to make it seem like it was somehow an equal thing. I’ll always prefer characters like vanitas over noe because at least people will admit when characters like vanitas do something wrong unlike with noe. People can’t even admit something as simple like noe murdered vanitas and instead choosing to make up hundreds of dumb theories that noe didn’t really murder vanitas all so that noe can come out guilt free“

notnormalme

I think that people more want to belive that Vanitas is somehow still alive than Noe did nothing wrong but I totally agree with you

For people Noe always will be a sunshine, that doesn’t matter what will he do because “he doesn’t mean to hurt anyone”

queenbananya

Noé has his flaws. As does Vanitas. They’re both deeply troubled people with traumas and hurts they keep inside. In this scene, the way the two of them responded was extreme, as a response to the things they prioritize at a basic, unconscious level to cope: for Noé, it is protecting lives, as he failed to protect the one he cared about the most as a child. And when his close family Domi is in danger? Well no shit he will react like this. Any other option is unthinkable. And for Vanitas, protecting his past and memories is important enough that he would be willing to kill for it, to become the kind of people he despises.

I’m not excusing either, but I don’t think we can simply categorize their either one of their actions as “wrong”, or worse than the other. They were acting on survival-like instincts, to protect what is important to them.

What is amazing about it is how they were able to overcome that for the sake of their bond. They were able to go past it because of who they are and what they mean to each other. Vanitas wasn’t able to kill Noé, Noé was able to stop himself from fatally wounding him. Because Noé loves Vanitas, and Vanitas loves Noé.

They’re both complex characters, flawed. Noé might carry the attitude of never hurting a soul, but have you seen how violent he gets when it comes to protecting those he loves? He will absolutely kill for it. And in the end, I believe that is what will happen. He will kill Vanitas, because Vanitas has asked it of him. He will save him in the only way the two know how to save. And he will spend the rest of his life regretting it.

bookdragonwrites

It is also worth noting that Noé is 19 years old. Practically a teenager. Can we really expect a 19-year-old, especially one with his past, to know the right thing to do in all circumstances?

He’s making the best of things the best way he knows how. Of course he’s going to make mistakes and he won’t be coming out of this mess without having done things he’ll always regret. Does that make him a bad person, or a worse person than Vanitas? I wouldn’t say so.

an-ime-goil

To OP’s point it feels like some people can’t handle their cinnamon roll ever being in the wrong, but it’s also true that not all of the arguments are “excuses” - they’re simply about understanding the character: Noe is a *violent* pacifist, he’s 19 and still finding himself, and the narrative required things to escalate to the point where he’d lose it.

And of course he’s a foil to Vanitas’s more underhanded methods most of the time but you think a dude who would destroy a desk and kick it across a room just to make a point is a cinnamon roll? Nah man, Noe has major bottled up anger issues and the fact that he’s got these triggers and pent up trauma under the sunny optimism is exactly what makes him so interesting. The point is that the people you love can make critical mistakes and you have to figure out how to work past that.

makanidotdot

mycanismajoris asked:

Compared to BfA and Shadows Rising's portrayal, how did you like Sylvanas's portrayal in Before the Storm?

makanidotdot answered:

I think BTS was basically the debut of BFA and Shadows Rising Sylvanas… though I guess I could say it did feel like it got worse as BFA went on (her part in SR is so short it’s sort of whatever), so technically I liked BTS more than BFA lol, if only because in BTS she still displayed other emotions besides “cryptically smug-bored”. 

And because it’s been a while since I’ve actually specified why I felt like BTS Sylvanas was such a departure from her previous character, here’s an attempt to get down to the core of it.

In Before the Storm, this introduces a Sylvanas that has no real connection to the Forsaken as a people. She is portrayed as purely possessive and pitying of them. One of the main narrative objectives of the book itself is to actively drive a bigger wedge between Sylvanas and the Forsaken.  

Taking her character in this direction does not directly contradict anything explicitly stated about her in earlier content, there’s just a number of implications and themes in previous stuff that make this seem like a suuuuper questionable direction to take the character.  There are other little characterization problems I had with BTS, but this is the core one.

I will explain further because this is an essay blog now.

Keep reading

lily-orchard

Honestly fuck Hazzikostas

styro3

I agree with most of the above, but I also feel that BtS had some attempt at providing political reasoning behind Sylvanas’s actions. When she kills the Desolate Council, she explains it to Nathanos: they were defecting, the mere act of bringing Arthas’s sister is provocation, Calia might be plotting to reclaim the crown etc. The readers could still stand behind her, and see her as a calculated leader, reigning with an iron fist and using questionable methods to achieve her goals. It aligned nicely with her general theme of ruthless-but-effective.

The Sylvanas inner monologue on BtS suggests her ultimate goal was to raise entire Stormwind as undead, for “unity”, and to spare them the pains of living. This also aligned with her previous goals, of wanting to bolster the ranks of the Forsaken, to protect herself from death (did they forget about her remaining val’kyrs btw? Where did they go?)

At some point on BFA, they just stopped explaining Sylvanas’s actions in a convincing manner. The burning of Teldrassil was done on a complete whim, to upset a low-ranking elf captain, without her standard careful plotting and scheming. The 4th war is only explained by hinting Sylvanas tried to get as many people killed, because she’s working with The Jailer to feed souls to the Maw and empower herself.

This is not convincing, because the Jailer never existed in BtS or in Elegy/A Good War. The Jailer does not come up in the Sylvanas perspective chapters, and was definitely not a part of her plan. It’s obvious that The Jailer was fit into the story retroactively, rather than the lame “Sylvanas met him a decade ago during Edge of Night, and has been working with him since” explanation).

There was never a good motive for the 4th war. They never wrote one. It was a conflict for gameplay purposes only.

The BtS Sylvanas has a fine balance to her, because as merciless as she is - there are tiny bits reminding the reader that she’s not entirely a monster (I love the part where she thinks pandarens are soft, round and graceful, uwu). Shadows Rising has her just-evil, cartoonishly so, with poor explanation if any. In the past, they made her likeable despite everything, and all of a sudden that’s gone. We’re not crazy to like her - we’ve been told a very different story for the last two decades. Why would a storyteller try so hard to sever the emotional connection of the reader to their character, it’s just counter-productive.

I hope they’re not clumsily mismanaging her story, and the situation might be irreversible. If Makani stopped drawing Sylvanas because she turned uninteresting, that speaks for itself (I miss her witty Sylvanas art more than anything!)

poisonheart

Reblogging again because added comments have my own thoughts that I didn’t have time to write since I feel like I’m running in circles when I try to think about Sylvanas and what I interpreted of her throughout fifteen years versus what I’m getting now or will get later.

makanidotdot

@styro3  ty for more input!  ill elaborate some more

The act of killing the council actually isn’t something I have a problem with, and similarly @asklittlepip‘s bringing up Koltira being mind controlled/tortured- I think both of these things fit just fine in the parameters I think her character should follow.

I think she should care about the Forsaken- like genuinely care, just like part of her still genuinely cares for her sisters and Nathanos.  Does this mean she never does anything bad to them, manipulates them, treats them unfairly?  Not at all.  I just think she should deep down care about them- the Forsaken people as a whole. I think she has and should pursue things for them that are arguably, at times, heroic… but I don’t think she herself needs to be a hero.  She can still be a nasty petty witchgremlin who gets pissed Koltira is out picking flowers or some shit with his Alliance buddy instead of doing his job.  

The problem with Arathi isn’t that she kills the council, it’s that when she does, it’s emotionless. It’s just like an inconvenience at best?  Or straight up convenient?  We hardly see any description that gives a window into her mind at all, she’s mostly like “Take care of this quickly!  Where’s Calia >:D”.  Actually you put it best- she DID do all that just for political reasons… and that’s the problem.  This should have been an emotional act for her.

And just listing more specific BTS things I had a problem with and why:

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