EnixamYram

Current Obsession: Detroit Become Human! A fandom blog for various interests. Always open to discuss, love getting asks & deep diving into headcanons & theories. Top fandoms Include: - The Hunger Games - D.Gray-Man - Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss - Baldurs Gate 3

[enixamyram]

So I Finished "This Immortal Heart"...

Now because it's usually a debatable feature in any retelling, the first thing I'll say is that if you're a BIG (and I mean obsessively so) Greek Mythology nerd who is extremely strict on differing interpretations of characters, then this may not be the book for you.

Aphrodite obviously gets the majority of attention and in this story she is very soft and sweet, just bordering the line of being too much so (though never crossing it). Her character is in love with love and only wants to match people with their perfect someone and cares for all the mortals greatly. If you know of the stories of her in mythology, then this is definitely a much more goodie version of her. Zeus is somewhat a one-note asshole. It's not completely wrong but also not complete accurate either. He's clearly the tyrannical leader in this story and doesn't really have anything else to him. Hephaestus is also pretty simplistic in the sense that he's the soft nice guy everyone looks down on but is still so kind to everyone despite that. It's not over the top or too terribly written or anything, but I feel that if you're very into these characters for the complex depth, this book doesn't really do either of them justice. Otherwise I think everyone else is handled quite well. The story is from Aphrodite's point of view but the author still manages to nicely show a deeper layer to other Gods like Hera and Artemis in subtle ways that I really appreciate! There are very small scenes that blend with the rest of the story that had me quite giddy because those are two of my personal favourite Gods (along with Ares) and I really liked the way they were written in this. Even Poseidon, who is clearly another asshole villain, has some nice emotional layers towards the end that shine through just right.

With that long ramble out of the way, I just wanted to share that I thought it was SO damn good! I genuinely enjoyed it so much, I could barely put it down towards the last few chapters! I would definitely recommend it for anyone who loves Aphrodite and Ares as they're easily the best part of the story (which is good since the story is literally all about them).

I can't say it was completely perfect, but only in the sense that even I prefer some tiny features in the mythologies that this story changed up a bit. I won't say what, cause spoilers, but they really are tiny features, things I think "I prefer the other version" before shrugging it off and going back to enjoying this story for what it is.

I feel like Ares was brilliantly written as well. Where the writing for Zeus might not go into the complexity of his character, it dazzles with how it does for Ares. Same with the romance between Aphrodite and Ares. I normally hate hetero-couples-drama and maybe it's my softness for Aphrodite and Ares as a couple but I genuinely enjoyed their drama. It was soft and sweet, heart-breaking and painful but also hopeful and inspiring, everything you want from a romance story.

Without going into any spoilers, I really loved some of the tales this book touched on. When I recognised two names in particular, I had a little fangirl moment of "wait, she's doing that story?!" and I really couldn't put it down after that. I've read some of Jennette Saint's other stories and I always tended to have the same critic of them - that I liked them well enough but the endings always felt like they dragged on for too long. I am happy to say I didn't have that problem here, which makes it easy for me to say this is by far my favourite of her books!

[enixamyram]

So I finally got around to binge watching The Mighty Nein and all I will say is Caleb and Nott mean everything to me and if anything happens to mess with their friendship, I will emotionally break in a whole set of ways even I haven't thought possible...

[leoholzer]

I keep him safe so he can get better and stronger and achive great things. When I found him he was nothing. Just a scared little boy in the corner of an alley. The Mighty Nein 1.05: Little Spark

[enixamyram]

I wish I could afford the Hazbin Pride Merch so bad 😭😭😭

[enixamyram]

I've fallen firmly back into my Greek Mythology phase, reading new retelling books and watching different Youtube videos summarizing various stories. But it's never enough! So if anyone reading this has any recommendations, please let me know! I'm talking books, films, TV series, Youtube videos, whatever you got!

(Not necessary since I'll entertain any of the Myths, but for the record, some of my favourite characters: Gods: Ares, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hera Mortal: Cassandra, Medea, Atalanta)

[enixamyram]

Someone made a review about other Jennifer Saint Greek mythology book if you’re interested.

https://www.tumblr.com/sarafangirlart/765972320470876160/a-review-of-hera-by-jennifer-saint

So, either that post has been deleted or the author has me blocked or something... No idea why but I think the latter cause I couldn't even search their name.

So unfortunately I can't see that post but thanks anyway!

[lucylicious666]

[enixamyram]

Was browsing in Waterstones the other day and looking up possible books to buy since I'm falling back into my usual Greek Mythology phase. While searching online, I stumbled upon this...

An actual story that is fully focused on Ares and Aphrodite? I don't think I have ever pre-ordered a book so fast in my life!!!!

[giulia-lo-art]

A little comfort

[popart-vvv]

Appreciation for Ozzie and Bee

(TW for mentions of rape!) Reporting on more petty Hazbin/Helluva discourse, apparently there are people up in arms about how the Seven Deadly Sins are portrayed. And Asmodeus and Beelzebub somehow get the worst of it.

While they both have their own personality flaws, Ozzie and Bee are still pretty likeable characters for the most part--at the very least, they should be appreciated for standing up for Blitzo during "Mastermind". Even if it didn't go anywhere, but hey, A for effort.

Yet the two of them tend to get bashed for being "terrible representations of the Seven Sins", for starters "being nice". Honestly, I don't know where that criticism is coming from, I just like that the in-universe reps for Lust and Gluttony don't conform to the usual associated stereotypes. For starters, compare them both to the presentation of Lust and Gluttony from Fullmetal Alchemist (no shade!)

Not to mention, Ozzie and Bee's own respective characters offer some analysis into how Lust and Gluttony can manifest.

Asmodeus hates love potions and forced displays of Lust, such as rape. "It's an art, to be earned and enjoyed", he explains in "Oops". There is a further explanation to this: Rape is nonconsensual, thus only one party enjoys it while the other party very much does not--hence, Greed. It's also forceful and is known to get violent a lot of the time, so Wrath can also be sensed in that way. (glares at Valentino)

Bee, meanwhile, shows concern when Blitzo overindulges in her Beelzejuice.

People called this moment "the nadir" of Bee's portrayal, but if you noticed Blitzo's behavior throughout the episode, you can tell that he's not overindulging out of genuine desire--he's depressed and despairing because of an earlier incident at Ozzie's club. Essentially, there could be a pragmatic angle to Bee's concern for Blitzo--he's not drinking because he wants to, he just sees it as a way to numb his emotional pain. Indeed, if you overindulge as a means to an end instead of because you enjoy it, then it stops becoming "Gluttony" and becomes more "Despair".

So basically, Ozzie and Bee having standards isn't meant to purely show them as "nice", they both have a certain idea of how their respective Sins should be enacted. And they both have a point! And "nice" isn't all they are--they're both still members of the Seven Deadly Sins, with all the moral ambiguity that entails.

My train of thought is losing steam, but basically, it sucks how Ozzie and Bee get hated on just because they don't fit the general public's one-dimensional ideas of "Lust" and "Gluttony". I'd say it's about time these two showed some nuance to those very concepts. But also, again, we should appreciate how these two characters are pretty reasonable, at least compared to the likes of Mammon and Satan--genuinely, they would be pretty fun to hang out with in real life.

When did it suddenly become "unacceptable" to play fast and loose with established mythologies...

[enixamyram]

As someone who loves both Full Metal Alchemist and Helluva Boss, this post has made me so damn happy! Just yes, yes, yes to everything you said! Because honestly lately it just feels so much like people are punished for not following trends and that's such a depressing step in the world of media and creation.

[autisticblitz]

quick screencap redraw of Via 🩷

[enixamyram]

AND THE HYPE IS BACK!!!

[iwanttobepersephone]

My view of Lucy Gray Baird!

She reads as very Romani to me, although my mother argues she may just be any old traveling band. I tried my best to get good references, but if I've accidentally included some horrific stereotype or something, PLEASE let me know!

Also, I purposefully did NOT look at the movie version, so this is purely the book and my imagination!

[iwanttobepersephone]

"We never really knew you" - Coriolanus Snow,

[citrusfables]

watches project hail mary. fucking loves it. finds out the whole thing was done with practical sets/puppets and minimal CGI. starts reading the book. gets on tumblr to see what people are saying. they are headcanoning ryland grace as aroace and talking about the power of friendship. they are calling the genre “cosmic hope”. chat we fucking won

[enixamyram]

@truffletrinket - This was gonna be a short reply... And then I kind of babbled and ranted off on one... Hope you don't mind! Feel free to ignore if you look at this and think, no way am I reading all that 😂🤣🤣😂

But if you are still interested! I will add, these are based on my opinions and how I personally feel and if you or anyone enjoyed the hunger games stage show or disagree with me, that's totally fair.

1st - While we were sat in District sections, the actors very much treated us like Capitol. We were encouraged and sometimes even directed to cheer and clap at certain points that were frankly inappropriate. There was a brilliant moment of choreography for the initial bloodbath but it was followed by a weird dance number that made no sense and felt very performative and silly. Even during Rue's death, the actress was very over dramatic (I mean scream crying the entire time right up until she very suddenly went silent) and the moment was broken up repeatedly with Capitol citizens partying around them. This could have been a good commentary except Rue's actress being so over the top and frankly feeling more like a SNL skit, made it come across like it was meant to be a comedy. All these things were ignoring the serious tones of the children dying and instead came across like a big party play that we were meant to be laughing and dancing along with. Even smaller things like Haymitch being drunk on the train and falling over constantly, the audience all laughed at again and again. This was right after Effie tells them they're basically dead without his help - why are we laughing at an alcoholic and children who will be relying on him to survive?!

2nd - More specific things like Cinna. Katniss makes a point of saying he's a very simple man, which makes him stand out amongst the Capitol extravagance. In the show they had him very flamboyant - not an issue on its own except in the books Katniss makes a point of saying she expected that and so was surprised by Cinna. He also wore outlandish clothing that was sometimes even more than the Capitol background actors. Again, complete opposite of who Cinna was and thus taking away a massive part of why Katniss trusted him so quickly. Cinna was a branch character: Showing Katniss Capitol citizens that she deems normal and thus can help her connect with and see them in a more human light. It's one of the reasons she doesn't turn out as extreme as Gale and will defend Capitol citizens and District 2 enemies. Making Cinna act and look just like Capitol citizens really kills that.

3rd - Ignoring how Snow's actor was awful (getting a celebrity to record his lines might not have been bad on its own by Malkovich sounded like an AI bot), there was also some strangeness of having Snow decide right after the bloodbath that he wanted Katniss gone. She hadn't done anything yet! There were other scenes undermining Capitol control by having them constantly beating District 12 residence for no real reason - like for using the hand sign during the Reaping even though it wasn't a symbol for rebellion yet, but rather a way to say goodbye to someone. They also randomly tased Gale during his goodbye to Katniss, again, for no reason! The whole point of Snow was that he carefully controlled the chaos of the Districts because if you go too far one way or another it would lead to their fighting back.

4th - Having Gale give Katniss the Mockingjay pin, whether intentional or not, completely changes its meaning. Originally it was given to her by Madge, niece of someone who died in the games, and in the movie it still came from the District 12 market. By having Gale be the one to give it to her, it makes it no longer a symbol of the District and people within but a love symbol from one of her maybe-boyfriends. (This is not helped by Katniss' actress being odd with line delivery, often making herself sound more like a swooning girl in love with Gale right from the start.)

This isn't even everything I have issue with (honourable mention to them having Foxface randomly eat the berries off a bush instead of stealing from others and yet still claim she was smart for it???) but it is some of the biggest things that I think ignore and misunderstand characters and plot themes.

[enixamyram]

The Hunger Games is my favourite series ever. Like ever. But I don't really talk about it as much as other things I like and I wouldn't really say I am involved in the fandom really apart from an occasional post or reblog every now and then. I've kind of tried to get more involved but the truth is I'm not entirely comfortable in it and I think the main reason is that I think I have a lot of unpopular opinions.

So this is what I think are my most unpopular opinions. As usual, I don't know how unpopular they really are since I'm not deep in the fandom, so these are just things I've seen people talk about a lot on Tumblr and TikTok (mostly TikTok) that I have strong feelings about.

I don't like that Katniss is connected to the Covey. This is a hard one to explain but it kind of goes back to the "chosen one" trope. I hate that trope because to me, it takes away the importance of a character if there is no decision on their part. If they were just destined to it, it doesn't feel as important to me. It's much more meaningful if a character chooses to be a hero rather than the universe chose them. A bit of a ramble but basically: I think Katniss is a much stronger hero and symbol if she really was just a random girl from a random District who happened to end up becoming the symbol for resistance and freedom. Having a blood connection to the Covey means she's connected to Lucy Gray who just happens to have been a major figure in Snow's origin story. And thus, it feels very "chosen one"y and destiny-y that a relation of Lucy Gray (Snow's first love) is the one to bring him down. I prefer stories where important characters connections are made by their end choices, not their origins of birth.

I've said this before but I'll throw in it here as well. I think Effie is overused in the books/films and I absolutely loath Haymitch and Effie as a couple. I think the idea of them is insulting considering how Effie behaves and everything Haymitch lived through.

I don't mind Finnick or Prim's death. I say that in a writing point of view. Emotionally, they both tore me apart and I cry every damn time without fail. But from a writing perspective, I like realism. And for Finnick the idea that all of the people Katniss had a connection with making it to the end and living happily ever after would have felt a little too convenient for me. Meanwhile for Prim, I feel like it was a tragically good way for Katniss to properly stop taking care of others and start taking care of herself and living for herself.

I think Coin was worse than Snow. They're very similar but to me Coin is slightly worse.

Gale hate is overdone. Gale defence is also overdone. I can hate his character while also acknowledging why he is the way he is. Going from one extreme to the other doesn't do his character any more justice.

I dislike so many fan theories for a number of reasons but there is one that genuinely annoys me. I hate that there are so many people who genuinely believe Foxface killed herself. I think it takes away from her entire struggle and situation (that of a girl doing everything she can to survive) and also minimalizes her talents (she wasn't a genius in all things plants but a survival smart in a specific way).

I love the books and I enjoy the films, but I struggle to enjoy everything since Hollywood very much acts like the Capitol, completely missing or ignoring important themes for the sake of sales. I saw The Hunger Games On Stage mostly because I felt I should as a huge fan of the series and it was disgusting how much of an obvious tone-deaf cash grab it was. Now, whenever I see any kind of advertisement, I understand it's to promote the film and books and bring more people in, but I also worry how the messages of the story are getting lost in the most ironic way possible.

There are some other minor opinions I have but these are the main ones that bug me most...