The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was (not really)

There've been too many orderly posts here lately. That's not what this blog is about. It's about stuff like THIS


Also books.

I'm gonna add a new tag for JLaw gifs so you all can find 'em if you're in need of EXTREME AWESOMENESS. For this has become a random repository of them.

I'm getting almost no reading done, 'cause opera, but what I HAVE been doing is watching Once Upon a Time, because fairytales. I mean, sure, Disneyfied fairytales, but fairytales nonetheless. And it's got an evil lady who is COMPLICATED, and -- look, can we stop saying we "actually" find the villains more interesting like it's some unusual thing, because almost everyone finds the villains more interesting. THE GOOD PEOPLE HAVE ONE THING GOING ON. With the evil people it's like "Ooh, how'd they get that way; they must FEEL things very deeply; oh they're such complex characters let me examine them."

I think it's highly impressive if an author can make a "good" character interesting. That being said, the Loki sympathy in Thor/Avengers? Don't have it, don't understand it. I mean, I UNDERSTAND it, but I think it's dumb. But then I think I have less sympathy for manpain than evil lady pain. Except for Michael Fassbender in X-Men: First Class, because I FELT that, damnit. You are an awesome actor, sir.

I'm starting to think I'll never
find a reason to use this so here y'go

Speaking of fairytales (two paragraphs ago) let's check those out. Because growing up, I read that whole edited by Andrew Lang, multiple colors fairytale collection. So there was like, the Blue Fairy Book and the Crimson Fairy Book and the Lilac Fairy Book and just kinda random colors, but it was published in 1889, so whatcha gonna do.

Anyway, these had kickass stories, and obviously repeated themes, like the youngest brother always being the one to achieve stuff, even those he is INVARIABLY THE LAZIEST, but he takes instruction well. I'm not sure why the older brothers are always dicks in that regard. Like, if a talking ocelot says "Lie down and when the red ant crawls all over you, stay still, but when the black ant crawls all over you, shake a lot," you don't do the OPPOSITE of that. Like wtf? Are you TRYING to be perverse? You're not gonna save the princess with that attitude, sir. Your younger brother is, and then you're gonna have to be his manservant or water bearer or something.

I remember in A.S. Byatt's Possession, she was all breakin' down the fourth wall and shit and being like "Because we know, don't we, that the third brother has to win" and I was like "FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB IS YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB." 

Also, the Andrew Lang books have the best illustrations and I specifically remember being small and thinking that this girl sitting by the pool was the prettiest girl ever (...it might be because she had long hair and I was not allowed at that age, 'cause otherwise I have no idea):

Bam

So there we are. Fairytales and manpain.