Maria

[penrosieramble]

I hate when a book that I was excited to read don't fulfill the expectations that the people who recomended it to me gave me... My current reading is The Jasmine Throne, I really wanted to like this book but it was a very tedious experience.

It had potential to be one of the best romantical fantasies, it has an interesting world setting but the writing it doesn't do it justice. The fragmentation of the narrative in multiples points of view disrupts the story's rhythm, giving a POV to every even remotely relevant character (and some irrelevant ones, like the palace guard) didn't help make the story more complex; it just made various moments feel rushed, even though the story spanned so many chapters. I also didn't like how revolutionary resistance is written in this book.

I'm on chapter 63, and unfortunately, I'm going to finish reading this book only because I don't like abandoning a book, not because I'm enjoying the read.

I really want to find a better sapphic romantasy/fantasy book, bcs I really like this literary genre but it’s rare to find a book featuring sapphic couples as the protagonists, that's why I'm so sad that I didn't like this book.

[penrosieramble]

It's impressive the amount of times bree lost in the second book: the order betrayed and tortured her, her boyfriend was kidnapped, targeted by the order and demons, can't control well her powers, constantly confronted by the weight of her choices (and didn't make a single good decision throughout the entire book), made Vera furious, betrayed by arthur and had her body stolen... Even when she was happy and improving her realationship with sel, bad news was knocking at the door. She is stronger than me, bcs at this point I would just kms.

[penrosieramble]

What makes me like selbree more than any other ships in this series it's how complex Sel's role as an antagonist is: Unlike other characters who stand in Bree's way, he doesn't do so out of racial prejudice. Sel had genuine good reasons in the first book to be wary of her joining the Order, yet he defended and trained her simply because he disliked the discrimination she faced from the other pages.

He was a jerk sometimes, he was rude... But also he had a point.

I love how slowly this couple is built up across the two books; they have romantic tension, yet they still frequently disagree. Sel is the person Bree needs to see just how rash her actions are and how much they affect the people around her.

It makes perfect sense that he was the first to accept her as the king: just like Merlin, he is the king's councilor, his reprimands are essential for Bree to grow as the king and a person.

[chocomars]

The Painted Lady and her sidekick, the Blue Spirit.

[ceruleanette]

not surprising you've aligned yourself with the enemy, zuko.

[qirarey123]

Painted lady x Blue Spirit??? In the year 2026?????

[penrosieramble]

I hate how the comic's reboot erased every bad personality trait of stormer and downplayed The Misfits as main villains of the series. Bcs come on... They had a great toxic yuri potential and they wasted it with a lame love at first sight plotline with no depth. what made the ship famous is precisely the evolution of their relationship after leaving their bands: they went from mutual hatred to a musical duet, and then to a homoerotic friendship.

Yes, stormer was the kindest misfit and was constantly manipulated by her teamates, yet she was also complicit in their misdeeds and didn't treat Kimber or The Holograms well before temporarily leaving her band. She is more than just someone's girlfriend, and it is truly sad that she was reduced to that role in a project that offered far more creative freedom than an 80s cartoon.

[penrosieramble]

Ignoring that was jem's impostor, it’s such a weird behavior for Rio to vent his frustrations about his mistress to his girlfriend. Not knowing Jem’s true identity inadvertently turned him into one of the most toxic boyfriends in fiction.

[penrosieramble]

I'm watching jem and the holograms, the last episode of season one made me hate jerrica and rio's relationship. I'm sorry, Rio is a hypocrite who is completely emotionally unfaithful, yet he still thought he was in the right to humiliate Kimber and yell at Jerrica for not wanting to speak her secret. It’s a toxic relationship that lacks chemistry and goes nowhere; the show really dropped the ball by not having them break up.

[penrosieramble]

I'm in the first part of Bloodmarked and I really apreciate that even if these books are narrated in bree's point of view, it's not written in the way that make you think that she's aways right. When she argues with Sel, you can see why she made certain choises, but you can also understand why sel is mad.

Her choices put her life and the lives of others at risk, Sel's position was at risk because of the consequences of her actions. It's understandable that she wants to prove herself as Arthur's scion, especially in an organization that looked down on her, but she's not rewarded for being reckless.

Some books and other media portray their protagonists as moral paragons who are right even when their actions have negative consequences, but Bree is directly confronted by this. It's refreshing to read and adds further to her character development.

[killerseliza]

His love and happiness ♥️

This is a crossover of Sasuke and Sakura as Stephen and Clea from the Marvel universe!

Clea’s dress is from ‘The Death of Doctor Strange’ run and Stephens from ‘Strange’, Clea’s solo run!

[penrosieramble]

After three weeks I finally finished reading Legendborn. I really liked the cultural aspects of this book, the rootcraft thing (it reminds the afro-diasporic religions of my country, specially Bree's mediumship) , the two sides of bree's ancestry and how trauma and psychological disorders were treated.

About the love triangle, I don't feel conected with bree / nick as a couple, >for me< was too fast to sells me that was a strong love. But I like the other aspects of their relationship, them as scion/squire and the friendship that was built is something very beautiful to read. As a ship i really prefer sel/bree as a couple, even though it was a reaaally slow burn and they don't share romantic interactions in book 1, I liked how the parallels between the characters were developed and the way their relationship progresses; it made me feel a chemistry that made me ship them.

A character I hated from the start till the end was Victoria (I'm not calling her Tor, nicknames are for friends and Victoria Morgan is no friend of mine) , I hope she dies in the next books.

[keithisbae1]

All my commissioned art done by @sorceressmyr for my Mershark/Mermaid fic so far. I've been meaning to post them all together 😆 I really love how they look 🥹🥹

You can read the fic here:

Mershark/Mermaid AU - Panda28 - Naruto [Archive of Our Own]

[arietroswell]

Just a quiet moment under the crescent moon... 🌙 Deep down, we all know they should’ve been endgame.

W/ or w/o background? Let me know in the comments! 💙❤️

[penrosieramble]

I started reading legendborn this week and alice is lowkey pmo. Like, okay I can understand why she's upset with bree in the beginning for the party, she takes her academic life serious. But in the chapter 8 when Alice starts hostilely confronting Bree when she comes back to their dorm? When bree keeps saying "no i dont drink anything, I didn't pass out" and all she does is calling her friend "vulgar" and "You're delirious" ??? Girl stfu

Maybe I change my mind by the end of this book, but for now alice is annoying af.

[penrosieramble]

yep... maybe I will not change my mind. Bcs after reading chapter 18, even if Alive had good intentions and was genuinely worried about her friend tell all to bree's father about the last incidents was so wrong, to me is that's a real reason to end a friendship forever.

If you can't trust someone to keep secret a false information that you came back to the dorm drunk, then you can't trust that person with anything.

"Oh but she's a teenager" when i was a teenager me and my friends knew how to keep things secret, sorry.

[penrosieramble]

As a black latina, sometimes I get mad at latino rep in USA medias bcs cmon...

I've reached chapter 16 of Legendborn, and sarah was speaking of her ancestry:

"— No. Not until later. He's a sworn and betrothed vassal… it had to be before they got married… but most of what he knows is dinners and tickets to operas and formal balls. Not that he's very well received at those events.

— Why?

— He's Venezuelan. But I look white, so people don't realize I have Latin ancestry. Or they forget. They say racist things to my face all the time."

First of all why do you count venezuelan as ethnicity or a race, it's a nacionality. Second, why do you mean by "But I look white, so people don't realize I have Latin ancestry." ? Are you a white passing black / indigenous ou mixed person or a white latino who just happened to born under USA territory and is using "Latino" as your ethnic identity?

I don't hate this book or anything, I'm actually enjoying reading... But as I said, for someone like, with this specific racial background, i'm sick and tired of racially vague latinos in books, movies and animations.

[penrosieramble]

It’s so funny when the other Pages introduce themselves in chapter 12, talking about their lineage and when it's bree's turn she's just say "i'm briana, my father's daughter :)".