In the first half of the fifth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Holiday<\/i>, Dairine meets her new (temporary) housemates. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.<\/p>\n
I simply cannot get enough of this.<\/p>\n
I know a lot of my logistical questions are mostly likely going to be answered in the remainder of this chapter, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll save them for later. (They might\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0be answered.) This is going to be me freaking out because Duane has committed to this, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real, and I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T BELIEVE IT.<\/p>\n
And look, I appreciate that. After spending so much time in the\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0universe, I expected a similar attempt from\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>: lots of bipedal, humanoid aliens. However, Duane has managed to branch out for alien life, and the result of that is breathtaking. Centipede-like creatures. AN ALIEN THAT LOOKS LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE. And\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Roshaun. Oh, Roshaun, you are so easy to dislike! Even in that, Duane demonstrates a willingness to go places that the reader does not expect. Up to this point, every wizard we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve met has been, in a general sense,\u00c2\u00a0really nice<\/i>. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t automatically agree with one another, and I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all one big happy family either. But the nature of the Speech means that, on a very basic level, everyone respects one another. The whole honesty thing plays a huge part in that!<\/p>\n
So while I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go into this scene expecting Sker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ret or Filif in any literal sense, I\u00c2\u00a0did<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0assume that things would be awkward and weird once all of the exchange wizards showed up. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all about to visit Earth for the first time,\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a planet where they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t walk around openly. (Oh god, I said I was gonna save this for later, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. HOW WILL THEY EVER LEAVE THE HOUSE.) As expected, this was the case, though it was adorable to see how these characters adjusted to such a radical change.<\/p>\n
AND THEN THERE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ROSHAUN. While Sker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ret and Filif ask a ton of necessary and innocent questions, Roshaun makes the worst first impression imaginable. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s haughty. Rude. Pretentious. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even introduce himself in a friendly way! Worse, he insults Dairine repeatedly within the first few minutes of their acquaintance. GOOD JOB, ASSHOLE.<\/p>\n
But I wanted to talk about one specific thing that comes of this:<\/p>\n
Dairine flushed as hot as if someone had insulted her, or her dad, or Nita, to her face. There was something insufferably superior about Roshaun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s delivery. I have to be imagining this,\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>Dairine thought.\u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve known this guy exactly two minutes.\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much too soon to believe that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a complete asshole<\/i>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
THIS IS PEAK RELATABLE. I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a sensitive person, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel compelled to go into the reasons\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case. But I understood this reaction! Deeply so! Dairine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s instinct is kicking in and telling her that this dude\u00c2\u00a0sucks<\/i>. However, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conflicted because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, how could she make a judgement call so quickly? What if this is just a cultural difference and he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intend to be mean? What if Dairine has misjudged this situation? Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the thing: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not\u00c2\u00a0impossible<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that she has misinterpreted this. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe she has, especially given the word that Roshaun used for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153people\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the Speech. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a jerk, most assuredly. But I recognized that kneejerk reaction, too, that voice that says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re too sensitive, you misread everything,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because that voice has been in my head for a long time.<\/p>\n
I theorized in the video that\u00c2\u00a0maybe<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Dairine feels subconsciously betrayed because she had an instant attraction to his photo, and he turned out to be a megaturd. I HAVE ALSO DEALT WITH THIS. This is speculation, too, but I know that I second-guess myself because so often in this world, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been shamed and conditioned to accept this awful default state of humanity, and therefore, my feelings aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t valid because I deviate from the norm. So I wonder if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not some other dynamic at play here because Roshaun is, in simplistic terms, a rude guy. Aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t men\u00c2\u00a0supposed<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to be like this?<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just an idea, you know. I personally believe Dairine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s instinct is spot-on. Her mind is telling her that this behavior is not okay. So, how long until she tells him so? Dairine isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly a shy person. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME OH MY GOD. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait.<\/p>\n
I am thrilled to confirm that I will be a Guest at CrossingsCon 2017! Badges are now available, so COME HANG OUT WITH ME THIS SUMMER<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d0WUK5yPZq8<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b>
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the first half of the fifth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Holiday, Dairine meets her new (temporary) housemates. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[525,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-4109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wizards-holiday","category-young-wizards","tag-diane-duane","tag-mark-reads-young-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}