multifandom blog and proud of it. I read a lot, watch a lot, and fangirl a lot, so expect posts from all the fandoms, haha. check the tags for a more comprehensive list!
kristina | 23 | storyteller •
infp. ravenpuff. happily single •
meraki (v) - the soul, creativity, or love put into something; the essence of yourself that is put into your work.
One of the (many, many) beautiful things about the Strange the Dreamer duology that I haven’t really seen anyone talking about is how Laini Taylor weaved several different narratives together through the themes of conflict and redemption, and how she treated the characters involved in those storylines.
Each of the four main groups (Tizerkane, faranji, godspawn, Mesarthim) had a character who had caused or was causing conflict because they’d had unkindness inflicted on them at a young age (Eril-Fane, Thyon, Minya and Nova). ALL the major conflicts in the duology stem from adults inflicting unkindness on children. Eril-Fane was kidnapped and raped by Isagol when he was just a teenager, Thyon was brainwashed into putting on airs and beaten by his father, Minya was forced to witness and do horrific things during the Carnage, Nova was torn away from her sister and brought, sold and raped.
And rather than present them as lost causes or just as monstrous as Skathis, Taylor makes us root for them to grow and change. Anger and hatred holds all of them back and stops them from growing and healing (literally, in Minya’s case) but each of them is able to find closure and begin the process of healing when they come into contact with someone who shows them kindness and forgiveness with no ulterior motives - those people, in most instances, being Lazlo and Sarai. And I just love that even though Lazlo and Sarai were the main characters of the duology, they probably wouldn’t see themselves as protagonists - their main role was to be good, empathetic people who helped others find closure in their own stories.
tl:dr: the Strange the Dreamer duology is full of complex, dynamic characters who do awful things at a young age because they’ve been exposed to awful people, but learn to grow and change when exposed to kind people and that’s just… excellent characterisation and such an important message for young readers, especially in today’s political climate.
As a library worker, there’s something I want to say to you.
You do not have to apologize for the books you choose to read.
At all. To anyone. You owe nobody any explanations; you need no excuse or “good reason” to be reading the book.
You do not have to be ashamed for wanting to read “bad” books. You wanna read Twilight? We got Twilight. Need a banal, cookie-cutter-plot mystery or thriller?Those are always fun. Our regulars check them out by the towering stack. Ask Betty for recommendations; she’s read them all. 50 Shades of Oh Fucking No? We’ve got it, we even got it in large print. Have fun. Check out the rest of our porn too. Oh, and the sex manuals are a MUST if you want to “experiment” yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask; they’re here for a reason.
Want to read a book written by a huge asshole everyone hates and agree was a monster? Yeah, we have those. No, we don’t think you’re an asshole for wanting to know what was actually written in there, or judging things for yourself.
You are not too old for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Babysitter’s Club, or Captain Underpants. You are not too young for Sherlock Holmes. There’s nothing wrong with a boy reading The Princess Academy or Sweet Valley High. There’s nothing wrong with a girl being into The Hardy Boys or Artemis Fowl instead.
You do not have to pull the shame face and offer me an excuse when you check out your books. I don’t care if I got so angry at that book I threw it against a wall when I read it: you have the right to read it, and enjoy it if it’s enjoyable for you. THAT’S WHY THE LIBRARY HAS IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. If we only stocked pure, unproblematic literature everyone approved of, by authors of unquestionable virtue, we wouldn’t have any books at all. Or music. Or movies. It would be utterly fucking boring. And it certainly wouldn’t be a library.
Dove chocolate and Dove soap are two different companies who havent sued each other because they have different trademarks lol
Damn and I really all this time just thought dove (the soap people) had a meeting one day and were just like “…. we might fuck around and make some chocolate”
