#fantasticalnonsense18

[baenakinskywalker]

Hiya! I've seen a few posts on Severance. Is it really that good?

i promise i’m not intentionally exaggerating when i say that (TO ME) severance is one of the best tv shows…ever? it’s simply so good, and i’m always on the edge of my seat.

cannot recommend watching it enough!

[anghraine]

One of the things I love about Austen's work is how layered it is and the various ways it can be interpreted by readers. Nevertheless, do you think we tend to lend too much to the romantic angle, particularly in the case of Pride and Prejudice, and neglect the biting satire of Regency life and social commentary of the status of women?

This may be a surprise (or not), but I actually don't think so.

It really depends on what you mean by "we." If you mean fandom circles, that's how fandom is about pretty much everything. I don't think Austen's commentary on Georgian culture is at all uniquely neglected, and fandom often ignores things that are more immediately pertinent to our lives than the failings of Georgian England.

For instance, I'm very fond of Rogue One fandom in general, but I find the fandom's treatment of politics and revolution much more anodyne than the actual film's because of this, and it does bother me at times. It's not to say that Austen's critiques and satire have no relevance to modern life, of course, just that in the grand scale of fandom fixating on ships, it's nowhere near the most objectionable case to me and I don't really mind.

Also, we don't always know what people are paying attention to outside of what we see from their blogs/fandom presence. You wouldn't know from my blog that P&P plays only a very minor part in my dissertation, say!

And if we're not talking about fandom but are including academics and such as well ... IMO Austen academics are, if anything, vaguely embarrassed about the romantic elements of Austen's writing (esp with regard to P&P, the most iconic of them all). They constantly work to tie those elements to satire, social commentary, and/or nuances of characterization to legitimize their presence. In my experience, there's not much sense that the romantic angles have value in themselves or are really worth focusing on.

And I'd add that I actually think it's more justifiable with P&P than any other Austen novel to focus on the romance, because it's so central to the structure, main characters, and themes of the book. That is not true of every Austen novel, or most Austen novels in my opinion. But it's center stage for P&P and I think fandom's sense of the romance as particularly essential to P&P and to the general appeal of P&P is quite accurate. That's also true of Persuasion, but P&P is much more cheerful and in some respects more polished, so it's not surprising that it matches fandom tastes so well.

[belabellissima]

Hi Bela! How's the sequel to "Know You Better Now" coming along?

It's..... definitely slower than I'd hoped hahaha😂

but here's a snippet of what I do have!

Was it better to find out now? Or to wait, push it off and never face that particular question? Feyre pulled out her phone and sent a text to Lucien instead. How are things at work? Rhys has mentioned some stuff There. That was safe. She’d won Lucien in the breakup with Tamlin, and he’d ended up marrying Elain two years later. He’d tell her the truth, tell her if she needed to be worried.

[thethiefandtheairbender]

Rewatching ATLA Book I has made me realize that Aang was the first real friend Katara ever had. Outside Sokka, she's never been around people her own age, especially those whom she can bond with and have fun. In this light, Katara's moments of jealousy pre-Fortuneteller demonstrate that while she (likely) wasn't romantically inclined towards Aang yet, it still shows us how hugely important his friendship is to her and her fear of losing their relationship over someone, or something, else.

Right! Even before Aang starts showing off to the girls in “The Warriors of Kyoshi” she’s already jealous from them giving him attention at all. But he’s her first real friend her age outside of her brother, and the first ever bender she’s ever met besides herself. His opinion means a lot to her (like seriously, the look she gives him when he says “or two waterbenders”) and so does their relationship.

Even before she knows he’s the Avatar, she nearly leaves her village and tribe for him and throws all her weight behind him: “Fine, then I’m banished too!” 

And she doesn’t because Aang steps in, even if he was just as immediately taken by her (“Katara, I can personally fly you to the North Pole” and “Maybe there’s a bright side to all this” “I did get to meet you”) and is just as disappointed by their separation.

Ride or die best friends to lovers. Love to see it.

[thewollfgang]

@fantasticalnonsense18 reblogged your photoset and added:

#look at them all use Lucifer’s chosen name#mmmhmmm @thewollfgang

Oh, that is interesting! Epsecially given the etymological connotations behind “Lucifer” and “Samael”; in using Lucifer, they’re embracing their brother as a bringer of light rather than as God’s poison.

I also think it’s interesting that the angels are still keeping tabs on Lucifer, their fallen brother who they’ve supposedly written off eons ago.

Let me pop this on a new post so we don’t clutter up the gif set but yes! I think its SUPER interesting that they’ve all been watching/keeping updated on what’s going on. 

It makes me wonder a little bit if there was some misunderstanding down the line, because Lucifer seems very sure and hurt by his family’s abandonment toward him. Considering celestial’s COMPLETE inability to communicate ANYTHING effectively, maybe Lucifer has the opportunity to rebuild more relationships than he might realize. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part that some of his brothers and sisters might be wanting to reconcile. 

A person can dream! 

[elisaintime]

Hi Elisa! I'm really enjoying Vampire Reviews. I find it both entertaining and insightful; it's allowed me to view vampires and their literary significance in a new light, all thanks to you. :) I've also noticed your interest in the 'Death and the Maiden' trope, which I'm also a fan of. Do you have any book or tv/film recs that utilize this trope well? Or other stories that examine immortals and mortals in love and all the emotional baggage that comes with it?

Thank you!! A couple of my recent fav Death & the Maiden themed books are Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. You should definitely read both of those (and their sequels!) if you haven’t yet. Strangely Beautiful by Leanna Renee Hieber also plays with this trope, but in a bit of a turned around way and is loads of spooky gothic fun. 

For shows, I recently devoured all of Lucifer and it is huge on that immortal/mortal emotional baggage. I couldn’t help comparing the buddy-cop-turned-angsty-monster-romance dynamic to Gargoyles (which I was obsessed with as a kid). I cannot wait for the next season! 

There is definitely a ven diagram for Death & The Maiden and My Monster Boyfriend with a really wide center, because even if the monster isn’t literally death or immortal, he’s often symbolic of it in some way (frequently some kind of killer, or even just viewed by society as affiliated with darkness). And I just love a mortal lady I can project myself onto getting mixed up in all that dramatic high romance nonsense. 

[droo216]

You continue to bless us with your amazing graphics! Great job with the new Disney series Drew! 😍

Aw thank you, Brenna!!

[allsoulstriogymusings]

I love ADOW a great deal, but my recent rewatch has me questioning character motivation. In 1x05 everyone tells Diana and Matthew that their relationship is a bad idea due to Covenant law/vampire nature/personal loss, but Hamish (who isn't ignorant of the aforementioned risks) urges Matthew on. Do you think this is an OOC moment on his part? Or is it a reflection of Hamish's faith in Matthew that he'll find a way to make it work, since their friendship has succeeded in drawing attention?

Thanks for your question @fantasticalnonsense18!

What is interesting to me is that in the book, Hamish discourages Matthew from pursuing Diana. The show’s writers changed his behavior, so you might say that it was out of character from what we know of Hamish in the book.

However, I really liked that Hamish encouraged Matthew in the show. It displayed a side of Hamish’s character that was not just the pragmatic politician but that also had a heart. Hamish is gay and has had to learn to hide his love relationships throughout the years. He knows how important it is to be true to one’s heart. Consequently, I thought his motivation in the show stemmed from that as well as his faith in Matthew’s ability to figure out how to have successful relationships with the other magical creatures throughout his long lifespan.

Hamish also knows that Matthew rarely falls in love and maybe he just wants his friend to finally allow himself to experience love again. 

Anyway, I like this side of Hamish and although it is OOC for “book” Hamish, I think a good case could be made that his behavior is in character for “show” Hamish.

ADDENDUM. After I answered this question I went back and read the parts of ADoW where Hamish is talking to Matthew about Diana. In doing so, I realized that Hamish doesn’t actually discourage Matthew in the book. He just wants Matthew to be careful and he also cautions Diana at the end of the book when she is about to go back to the Elizabethan period with Matthew. It seems he just wanted Matthew to be happy and if Diana made him happy that was okay with him. But it he also understandably wanted them both to be cautious–as did his “show” counterpart. As a good friend, this makes sense given all the danger their relationship posed for both of them.