“The day after Starbucks workers met at the Bat Cave we found ourselves working an understaffed morning shift but this time it was different. Instead of feeling the normal frustration, those of us who were at the meeting exchanged knowing glances and began implementing our plan of following every rule, thereby slowing down service. We also whispered to partners who were not in the know to slow down, don’t kill yourself. It was as if everyone took a deep breath and began working at a safe and thorough pace. The effects were instant. The speed of service dropped immediately. We ran out of brewed coffee because we were only brewing when the beeper signaled it was time. Everyone stayed in the positions they were assigned and acted only at the directions of the Store Manager. Every 10 minutes when someone was assigned to clean the lobby, we did a thorough job, ensuring everything was clean and properly stocked. Every drink and food order was perfect.
Dan, the Store Manager, lost his mind.”
Also sometimes referred to as “malicious compliance”, and it’s my favorite thing
I think the Hunger Games series sits in a similar literary position to The Lord of the Rings, as a piece of literature (by a Catholic author) that sparked a whole new subgenre and then gets blamed for flaws that exist in the copycat books and aren’t actually part of the original.
Like, despite what parodies might say, Katniss is nowhere near the stereotypical “unqualified teenager chosen to lead a rebellion for no good reason”. The entire point is that she’s not leading the rebellion. She’s a traumatized teenager who has emotional reactions to the horrors in her society, and is constantly being reined in by more experienced adults who have to tell her, “No, this is not how you fight the government, you are going to get people killed.” She’s not the upstart teenager showing the brainless adults what to do–she’s a teenager being manipulated by smarter and more experienced adults.
She has no power in the rebellion except as a useful piece of propaganda, and the entire trilogy is her straining against that role.
It’s much more realistic and far more nuanced than anyone who dismisses it as “stereotypical YA dystopian” gives it credit for.
And the misconceptions don’t end there. The Hunger Games has no “stereotypical YA love triangle”–yes, there are two potential love interests, but the romance is so not the point. There’s a war going on! Katniss has more important things to worry about than boys! The romance was never about her choosing between two hot boys–it’s about choosing between two diametrically opposed worldviews. Will she choose anger and war, or compassion and peace? Of course a trilogy filled with the horrors of war ends with her marriage to the peace-loving Peeta. Unlike some of the YA dystopian copycats, the romance here is part of the message, not just something to pacify readers who expect “hot love triangles” in their YA.
The worldbuilding in the Hunger Games trilogy is simplistic and not realistic, but unlike some of her imitators, Collins does this because she has something to say, not because she’s cobbling together a grim and gritty dystopia that’s “similar to the Hunger Games”.
The worldbuilding has an allegorical function, kept simple so we
can see beyond it to what Collins is really saying–and it’s nothing so
comforting as “we need to fight the evil people who are ruining
society”.
The Capitol’s not just the powerful, greedy bad guys–the Capitol is us, First World America, living in luxury while we ignore the problems of the rest of the world, and thinking of other nations largely in terms of what resources we can get from them. This simplistic world is a sparsely set stage that lets us explore the larger themes about exploitation and war and the horrors people will commit for the sake of their bread and circuses, meant to make us think deeper about what separates a hero from a villain.
There’s a reason these books became a literary phenomenon. There’s a reason that dozens upon dozens of authors attempted to imitate them. But these imitators can’t capture that same genius, largely because they’re trying to imitate the trappings of another book, and failing to capture the larger and more meaningful message underneath. Make a copy of a copy of a copy, and you’ll wind up with something far removed from the original masterpiece. But we shouldn’t make the mistake of blaming those flaws on the original work.
I… yeah. When the first movie came out, there was a tie-in makeup line. I don’t remember what brand, but it was called the Capitol Collection. And I was so incredibly put off by that. It was so completely missing the point of the books that it was practically comical. The Capitol looks nice, yes. They mask their atrocities in spectacle and high fashion. It’s horrifying. Anyone who’s read the books understands that it’s horrifying. And I just… disappointed but not surprised? I guess?
Side note: The Hunger Games were not a one off. I would highly recommend reading Suzanne Collins’ middle grades series, The Underland Chronicles, that she wrote before Hunger Games. I mean, if you want to see an 11 year old confronted with the horrors of war, that is. (It’s really good though. Like. Really good.)
how is it that neither of them have ever actually been married to geralt and yet there’s no way to describe this interaction besides the ex-wife and the current husband running into each other at a school function or exchanging the child for a holiday in the taco bell parking lot
a gentle reminder that you’re safe - safe from memories, people who hurt you, and things from the past that make you feel bad about yourself. they aren’t real, they don’t define who you are. be gentle to yourself as you heal - this compassion will protect you and help you move on as a new person. you can begin again, lighter, without burdens, but growth and learned lessons.
Friend: “Hey, I haven’t seen you in forever! how are you?”
me: “Fine, thanks.”
Lemony Snicket from outta nowhere: “Of course, in this case, ‘fine’ is only meant to reassure. She has never been less fine, nor was she ever fine in the first place. Here, the word ‘fine’ could be defined as ‘I am actually slowly dying on the inside, but don’t wish for anyone to worry’.
#i’ll ask a rich person where the trash is#and they’re like ‘oh right here’#then lead me down 2 hallways through a secret passage and into a cellar#and the trash is in the farthest corner of the cellar in its own closet#and it’s sensor-activated
why are these tags so funny
THE BIN OF AMONTILLADO
There is nowhere to throw away trash in a rich man’s house except in his face
Actually, it’s Henry Selick, who was the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The book was written by Neil Gaiman, though, and is far…far….worse.
Sorry, I’m about to geek the hell out.
The movie is captivating, but the book is twenty kinds of terrifying, even now, ten years after I first read it. As disturbing as the movie may have been to some, the things Selick added really serve to cushion just how horrific the story really is.
First of all, the character of Wybie does not exist in the book. Coraline is facing all of this nearly alone, with her only help coming from the sly comments of the cat, a warning from the circus mice, and the stone given to her by her neighbor, presented with no comment but that it “makes the unseen seen.”
Second, the Other Parents are never quite as warm (and, dare I say, normal) as they are in the gifs above. They’re described as having paper-white skin and the Other Mother’s hair is said to move on its own, and her long, red, claw-like nails don’t ease any uncertainty that she is absolutely, positively up to no good. The first time Coraline meets them, they (and the rest of the Others) seem to be playing roles (for whatever reason, Coraline does not seem to pick up on this), like they all know what to say and what to do and are simply waiting for Coraline to make her move in their terrifying play world. This is shown to be partly true when the Other Parents tell her they know she’ll be back soon after she refuses the buttons - this time, to stay.
Third, the Other Mother commits atrocities that really should not have been in a book for anyone not fully grown up. She physically deforms the world around Coraline to slow her progress in their game beyond any mild traps the movie portrays, and, instead of turning the Other Father into the wandering pumpkin-thing seen in the film, she simply ceases to use him and throws his body away in the cellar, leaving him to rot with whatever bit of sentience he has left. She begins to lose her touch, as Coraline gains the upper hand. Her world doesn’t just become a nightmare - it falls apart completely. No creepy but oddly cool bug furniture here, just the house that now appears to be a child’s drawing. Whatever the Other Mother is (a beldame, but something tells me she’s much more ancient and powerful than that), she does not give half a hump about what she has to do to ensnare Coraline. Destroy the supporting characters of her twisted creation? Done. Allow herself to be dismembered to ruin Coraline’s life in the normal world? Not even gonna bat an eyelash.
On a final, personal note, imagine eight year-old me, ignored by my parents, absorbed in the story and identifying with Coraline from the start. Imagine me finishing this bloodcurdling book and immediately thinking of my basement, where there is still a locked door that my grandmother swears up and down is nothing more than a storage room, but has not once in my (or my mother’s) lifetime unlocked.
Can you see why this book still scares me?
Fun fact I learned from seeing neil gaiman speak: when he first wanted the book published, his editor said it was too scary. He suggested she read it to her young daughter, and then decide. So she did, and her daughter wasn’t afraid, and it was published. Years later, Gaiman was sitting next to that daughter at an event and told her this story, and she said “oh I was terrified I just didn’t want to tell my mom”.
Coraline WAS too scary to be published, but exists anyway because a girl lied to her mother.
@neil-gaiman, is this true about the publisher’s daughter?
It was my literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz who read it and said “you can’t seriously expect this to be published as a children’s book.” So I suggested she read it to her daughters. And she called me back a week later and said “They love it and they weren’t scared at all. I’ll take it to Harper Children’s.”
A decade later, at the Opening Night of the Coraline musical, I was sitting next to Morgan, Merilee’s youngest daughter, and told her how her not being scared had made the book happen. And she said “I was terrified. But I needed to find out what happened next. So nobody knew.”
i love cats because they will literally just smack anything they don’t vibe with
glass of water on the kitchen counter? the neighbour’s dog? other cats? your legs as you walk past? a GRIZZLY BEAR??? there are no limits. if it’s wack, it gets the smack.
The fact that Snape is one of the youngest if not THE youngest professor is fucking hilarious.
Like how does he get away with half the shit he does like almost everyone there has taught him since he was 11 and they just see this 21 year old just walk back in like “Sup fuckers I’m a professor now by force better so you better start treating me like one.”
7th years in the school are like probably “Didn’t this fucker graduate 3 years ago?”
Imagine being a fourth year who has done /said something to your classmate Snape and then in your 7th year he’s your TEACHER
THAT’S LOCKHART THAT’S LITERALLY LOCKHART LIKE
1. He Went to School with Snape
2. Got taught by Snape
3. Became part of the Staff like Snape
And the Fact that he’s acting like he knew shit about potions is hilarious cause you just got Snape in the corner like
“Listen here you little shit . I taught you. I’ve seen your test scores. I graded those shits and you coming in here talking about being able to come up with an antidote?…Sit down.”
The more people reblog this the more shock I am that they didnt know Snape started teaching at like 21 and he’s like 30 first book
People in the tags for the past week having been confused and going bananas so like we gonna forget about the movies. Because the movies got it all wrong
Snape is 31
Hagrid is 63
Professor Mcgonagall is 56
Lupin and Sirius and Peter (3rd movie/book) 33
Dumbledore is 112
Do what you will with this info fam
You forgot Burbage. In the books, she’s in her twenties.
Bringing this back around, when Snape started teaching in Aug/September 1981, he was 21
In Aug/September 1981, Lockhart was 17 :’)
lockhart, 17, never fucking learned how to read: actually professor ;-)
snape, professorially, as if he hasn’t just had his last growth spurt: on god, i’ll smack the shit out you. put—your hand—down.
