Though Condemned I Am To Split You Still I Worry That It’s Wrong, Though I Must Fulfill My Duty And

genuinely though, my condolences to the indie authors writing weird books, books without marketable romance, books without romance at all, books that can't fit the tropes du jour without stretching the truth, books that defy explanation, books that experiment. I'm trying to find you guys and it's so hard to track these books down!!!

really is a shame that the star wars fandom at large is so obnoxious about obi-wan because there is a really compelling character in there. insanely emotionally repressed constantly burying his head in the sand about everything and everyone around him tool of a corrupt government who is well-intentioned but nonetheless woefully unprepared to mentor the most powerful force user in the history of the universe. and everyone looks at all of that and goes ACTUALLY. what if he was boring instead.

i think what bothers me about a lot of "girl power" narratives is that they function on the implicit idea on the idea that women can become worthy of respect. and i happen to think that really caring about women means believing they already are worthy of respect. that historical seamstresses and soccer moms and forgotten sisters and sweet polite little girls and someone's weird grandma matter just as much as the warriors and politicians, even if they, personally, never accomplish anything "cool."

nothing worse than when the premise of something captivates you but then it sucks ass. bro you put this idea out into the world and you didn't even do it a shred of justice

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art teacher in the future: kids, now we have a BIG challenge: we are going to draw... without A.I's help. kids: WHAT? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE teacher: Trust me, it's not.

i love this bit sm in deathly hallows bc they were all so sad and yk scared that seeing hermione being "back to normal" in a way made them both smile at the normality.

ps. a little before this harry points out that hermione was so focused in what was happening in the moment and debating with ron that she forgot she was mad at ron and harry also was relieved by that lmao by boi loves them both sm i wanna cry.

this book has so many tiny moments like this that i love sm.

| when hands touch..

Lola Tung And Gavin Casalegno as Belly Conklin and Jeremiah Fisher In The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022 - 2023?)

I think Peter Pan (2003) did the best version of George Darling, especially with regards to the dual-casting tradition.

Not only did it let Jason show off his acting range but the explorations of masculinity were really fascinating to watch. George Darling is a nervous wreck who is constantly trying to prove himself as a 'proper' gentleman. "I must become a man that children fear and adults respect!" While he certainly scared the hell out of Wendy then, she still responded "Father? Brave?" to her mother's claims.

So, when Wendy goes to Neverland, she meets a man who is, as Jason Isaacs said, "strangely alluring yet repulsive at the same time, and looks like her dad". Captain Hook is the nightmare version of Wendy father. He's confident, he's aggressive, and he is a cruel, selfish asshole. But the sad thing is, he'd probably be more respected in Edwardian society than George.

Going back to George, when he finds out his kids are missing he literally sprints home out of pure fear and desperation to bring them back. He ran! That is a HUGE 'proper gentleman' no-no! Then when the kids do come home, he practically knocks himself out sprinting into the nursery and smashing his body against the door frame! He tries to put on the gentlemanly persona. Stiff upper lip, manly-man handshake, keep your emotions buried deep inside... but he can't do that. But that's a good thing! He breaks down, embraces his children, and their family is whole again. Rejecting Edwardian social norms was the right thing to do.

So, what I love about this version of George Darling and Captain Hook is how effectively they portray the best and worst forms of masculinity.