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welllpthisishappening · 3 years

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Welllp This is...Books. Lots and Lots of Books

That gif is something of a lie. Some of these books were not great. But! Some of them were very good! And some of them were marketed weird — seriously, what does qualify as YA — and some of them I read in, like, six hours and some of them I raged about for six hours after I finished them.

Or: 2020!Laura reverted to 2004!Laura and read just a lot of books and then her husband got her a Kindle and she read even more books and has thoughts on most of those books that she is now going to share with the internet while also making absurd category names. Note that these are only books I read for the first time this year. So, the list is missing some of the stuff I used as coping devices. ALSO SOME SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

FAVORITE BOOKS THAT MADE A SHITTY YEAR SLIGHTLY BETTER AND ALSO LIKELY MADE ME SWOON A BIT

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he's not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

— I kid you not, I had to do a lap around the apartment after reading the second book in this series. Why didn’t I read this before? Why isn’t there more fic? Why I am constantly falling for dark-haired sad dudes in love with their wives??? I cannot rec this series enough. It’s got world building and found families, and that dark-haired sad dude, and magic and lore and banter, and it’s so good and I don’t understand why it was marketed as YA. The literary world is weird, guys.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (and the Heroes of Olympus) by Rick Riordan

Accompany the son of the sea god Poseidon and his other demigod friends as they go on a series of quests that will have them facing monsters, gods, and conniving figures from Greek mythology. Do they have what it takes to save the Olympians from an ancient enemy?

— Straight up, how did you guys cope with Percy and Annabeth when you were kids reading this? I would have been OBSESSED. Quarantine felt like the perfect time to finally read all of these books, and I know it’s sacrilegious to like Heroes of Olympus, but I might have liked parts of that series more? Just because it felt like they were older and I was super into Percabeth being properly in love. Also, now I get why everyone was so upset about the movies. Fair.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

— Yet another YA series that I will admit to loving this year. Started off a little slow, but once the world building really got underway —and it gets underway — I was hooked. If I had read this at an age-appropriate time I would have been super in love Captain Carswell Thorne. I was still kind of in love with Captan Carswell Thorne. So it should come as no surprise that Cress was my favorite of the series, but I enjoyed the whole thing, really.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

— YO. Y O. THIS WAS SO GOOD. World building! Magic! Marriage of convenience! Well-written enemies to lovers! As soon as I finished this, I bought the sequel. And then got upset the third book in the series isn’t out yet! That’s a frustrating theme for me this year.

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She's the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara's childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it's also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there's a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn't looked him up on the Internet...

Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton's most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they're lucky, they'll help everyone else get lucky too.

— I LOVED IT. L O V E D. As I told Justin “there was more porn than I was expecting,” in that porn and the adult film industry was a legitimate plot point and not just a part of Josh’s character, but it was incredibly well written and interesting and I cared about the plot. Sometimes I also wanted to shake Clara, but that was kind of the point.

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn't know he's arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door...

As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he's forced to share his space with the owner's beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.

As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.

— More well-written enemies to lovers! It’s possible! Seriously, the banter was so good. The kissing was even better. Ridiculous and interfering family is one of my favorite things, and this had it in SPADES. It also made me want to eat samosas, which is kind of my base setting, but I really wanted Indian food whenever I was reading this. Also, the end scene was so goddamn cute I cannot believe it actually happened.

Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev

— The one that got away is one of my favorite tropes, and this modern version of Persuasion did it so well. Everyone was annoying, but in an almost understandable way that made me ache and I just wanted them TO KISS. And then they did kiss! And it was so good! Plus, at the risk of being a little self-indulgent, it was kind of Out of the Frying Pan esque and I liked that a lot. If there is a downside: it’s how quickly the relationship starts up again, like zero to 60 in two seconds flat, and that there were a lot of POVs. Which wouldn’t have been an issue if they’d been labeled, or weren’t bouncing around the timeline randomly. Sometimes I’d have to be like—wait, who’s talking about what?

Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn't a complete screw up? When she's asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She's a chef, what's the worst that could happen?Rico Silva, that's what.Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love, the man who ghosted her at the worst possible time in her life, only proves what Ashna has always believed: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster.FIFA winning soccer star Rico Silva isn't too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago almost destroyed him. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to Ashna that he's definitely over her.But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce...and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion...?

The Good Luck Charm by Helena Hunting

Lilah isn't sure what hurt worse: the day Ethan left her to focus on his hockey career or the day he came back eight years later. He might think they can pick up just where they left off, but she's no longer that same girl and never wants to be again.

Just when Lilah might finally be ready to let Ethan in, though, she finds out their reunion might have nothing to do with love and everything to do with improving his game. But Ethan's already lost her once, and even if it costs him his career, he'll do anything to keep from losing her again.

— HOCKEY ROM COM. HOCKEY. ROM. COM. Apparently this lady is regarded as the queen of “hockey romance,” which I kind of take offense to, but will give a pass on because this was a very cute book and everyone was cute in it and I was only marginally frustrated by those same people being idiots. As is required by rom coms. Hockey, or otherwise.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Fall in love, break the curse. It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom. A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

— Beauty and the Beast AU!!! Fantasy! Magic! Romance! I loved this, even when Rhen was being a whiny idiot. But he was also cursed, so like—fair. This dives into the politics of a cursed kingdom, puts a fun spin on the original fairy tale and also has a sequel. Which I read, and possibly enjoyed more. Only to realize the third book isn’t published yet, and then got annoyed by that.

QUESTIONABLY-GOOD FREE FANTASY BOOKS ON AMAZON

The Silver and Orchids Collection by Shari L Tapscott

What happens when a feisty adventuress, a lord looking to make his own way in the world, and a handsome sea captain set out to find Kalae’s rarest and most valuable flower?

Trouble—and lots of it.

— Snarky flirting! Adventure! Sword fights! Listen, this is not prize-winning fiction, but Lucia is a fun heroine, the rest of her adventure-seeking friends are an absolute delight and you don’t have to think too much while reading it. All four books wrap up their individual storylines, but help set up the next one and while the ending felt a little forced (and way too quick) I didn’t hate it enough to throw the Kindle across the room.

Forest of Firelight by Shari L. Tapscsott

After the sudden death of her brother, Princess Amalia is charged with what feels like an impossible task—she must choose the next king. Youthful thoughts of love are pushed aside as she accepts her fate, setting upon a quest throughout the kingdom to find a man worthy of her father’s throne.

Little does Amalia know, someone has already set his sights on her.

Rhys is a man of secrets, and his mission is simple: befriend the princess of Renove. Coax her to trust him, convince her to follow him.

Betray her when it’s time.

All goes according to plan until Rhys meets the princess. Amalia is a disaster. Never has he met someone so drawn to trouble. Never has he met someone so irritatingly likable.

He’s not allowed to fall for her.

She could never entrust him with a crown.

But, unbeknownst to them, their unlikely partnership might be the key to saving their entire world from a darkness that’s slowly creeping from the wounded earth that separates one kingdom from the next.

— FORBIDDEN LOVE! It’s good! Real good! I read this whole series (or the three books in it, so far) in a questionably short amount of time. Again, not the deepest story, and Amalia is occasionally frustratingly dumb. While Rhys is also sort of all-knowing in that fantasy hero sort of way? Y’know what I mean? Still, they banter very well, and eventually kiss even better.

LESS GOOD FANTASY BOOKS THAT PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE JUST BEEN AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON AMAZON

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia's family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess—a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.

For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She's endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside.

Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her hands and all hope of reclaiming her throne lost, she realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn't always won on the battlefield.

For ten years, the Ash Princess has seen her land pillaged and her people enslaved. That all ends here.

— I wanted to love this series. So much so that I read the whole thing. All three books. And I’m still not sure why. The world building, maybe. Which was very good, and the politics actually kept me interested, but every single character was the absolute worst and I kind of wanted them all to die. That’s not even an exaggeration. Spoiler, they didn’t all die. I was only marginally disappointed.

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

When the ruthless Pirate King learns of a legendary treasure map hidden on an enemy ship, his daughter, Alosa, knows that there's only one pirate for the job—herself. Leaving behind her beloved ship and crew, Alosa deliberately facilitates her own kidnapping to ensure her passage on the enemy ship. After all, who's going to suspect a seventeen-year-old girl locked in a cell?Then she meets the (surprisingly perceptive and unfairly attractive) first mate, Riden, who is charged with finding out all her secrets. Now it's down to a battle of wits and will... Can Alosa find the map and escape before Riden figures out her plan?

— Alosa was kind of the worst? Like, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER who had to keep reminding you how strong she was because she would kill anyone, and had an all female pirate crew. And the whole time I was just like, ok...cool. Still, I read the sequel too and that was slightly better.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.

2) Marry him.

3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King's power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she's going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra's not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?

— I cannot explain this book any way except to tell you it is so weird. Like, sometimes I remember I read this and all I can think is: why did this book happen? It felt like it started in the middle of the story, which is not a knock on the story itself, but mostly on the world building. Which was lacking to say the least. Also the resolution was super rushed and even more weird and I was like—why does he like her??? I still don’t know, honestly.

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne

Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie "Leo" Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, has only one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin?

But when Leo's childhood friend and first love, Elliot, returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one who got away, the boy Leo's family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now he's the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo's life miserable. But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.

— Another book whose lack of world building hurt it. Stuff just happened, and we were expected to understand it and be into it and I was neither. I had no reason to care about anyone in this book, especially Elliot who seemed like an asshole.

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian's heart to the Sea Queen and or remain a human forever.The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it's his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she's more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind's greatest enemy?

— This book did not go the way I thought it was going to. Not a bad thing, but also not the best and the ending was...bleh. The middle, though? That was legit, and the action was good. I am always a fan of sword fights. Still, there was something that left me waiting for the final push towards great and it just never really came.

ROM-COMS WITH ONLY PASSABLY FRUSTRATING PLOTS AND GOOD KISSING

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory

Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe's mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can't resist—it is chocolate cake, after all.

Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble—not just some privileged white politician, as she assumed him to be. Because of Max's high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?

— It was cute. Max was occasionally an idiot. The kissing was legit. Most of their problems could have very easily been solved, but that’s kind of this genre’s schtick.

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

A wedding planner left at the altar? Yeah, the irony isn't lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina's offered an opportunity that could change her life. There's just one hitch... she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials. Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he'll be working with his brother's whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they'll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina's ready to dish out a little payback of her own.Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn't interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again...

— Once you got past the hooking up with your ex’s brother thing, it was cute. Max was endearing in an earnest sort of way, even when Lina was STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER in a cliche sort of way. More solid kissing. Side note, why are so many rom com dudes named Max? Does it sound hip? Passably cool, but also approachable? Discuss.

Not that Kind of Guy by Andie J. Christopher

State attorney Bridget Nolan is successful in all aspects of her life—except romance. After breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, she's been slow to reenter the dating scene. To be honest, she has more important things to do like putting bad guys behind bars. But with her brother's wedding right around the corner, she suddenly needs a date and fast. Lucky for Bridget, the legal intern is almost done with his program.

Matt Kido is dumbstruck by Bridget—total love at first sight—but there's one problem. She's totally off-limits while she's his boss. But the moment he no longer reports to her, Matt asks her on a date. An impulsive decision takes them to Las Vegas where, as the saying goes, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Unless you put a ring on it.

— Having written the “wake up in Vegas married” trope before, I know it’s difficult to do right. Consent’s a thing, y’know? And stuff gets dicy with forgotten memories, and all that, but mostly what kept me from truly loving this book was the intern thing. Don’t date your interns guys, it’s weird and off-putting. Literally if he’d just been a junior partner, or a visiting partner or something else I would have been all in.

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

Kailyn Flowers was always calm, rational, and controlled—until she ended up sprawled all over Daxton Hughes, the former actor she totally crushed on as a teenager. Then she did the unthinkable: She became a mortifying fangirl in five seconds flat, which may or may not have included professing her undying love. And oddly, he didn't run away. In fact, their meet cute led to a friendship she never saw coming. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming, either...Now Dax needs her help. As guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister, he's in way over his head. And though Kailyn hasn't forgiven Dax, she isn't heartless enough to make him fend for himself, either. Soon their friendly meetings turn into flirty dinner dates, and Kailyn can feel their chemistry is as explosive as ever. But how can she possibly let down her guard again to a guy who has heartbreak written all over him?

— Once again here for the one that got away trope, even if this comes with dead parents and some sad storylines. It still managed to be cute. Everyone was cute in it. Occasionally Daxton was a dick. As rom com male leads are apt to be.

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

If faking love is this easy... how do you know when it's real?When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex's pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.Jamie Carter doesn't believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It's the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there's a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend...

— FAKE DATING THAT LEADS TO REAL FEELINGS. The ex-boyfriend was an assssss, the fake boyfriend was charming, everything was good AND THEN WE GOT TO THE END. Which felt more than a little rushed, unexpected and not really in line with the rest of the book?? Give ‘em a slightly better, in-character ending, and I would have been sold.

BOOKS THAT I WAS LIKE...EH, OK

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

— I think this book was too smart for me. The prose was gorgeous, and the whole thing was very pretty and I definitely swooned when Marco said he wished for Celia. And yet. By the end I was like...eh, ok. Maybe it was the timeline? Jumping around, or how little dialogue there was. I wanted to like it all so badly, and I’m just not sure I did.

Acting on Impulse by Mia Sosa

After a very public breakup with a media-hungry politician, fitness trainer Tori Alvarez escapes to Aruba for rest, relaxation, and copious amounts of sex on the beach—the cocktail, that is. She vows to keep her vacation a man-free zone but when a cute guy is seated next to her on the plane, Tori can't resist a little harmless flirting.Hollywood heartthrob Carter Stone underwent a dramatic physical transformation for his latest role and it's clear his stunning seat mate doesn't recognize the man beneath the shaggy beard and extra lean frame. Now Carter needs help rebuilding his buff physique and Tori is perfect for the job. It doesn't hurt that she makes his pulse pound in more ways than one.Sparks are flying, until a pesky paparazzo reveals Carter's identity. Tori is hurt and pissed. She wants nothing to do with another man in the limelight, but she's still got to whip him into shape. Can Carter convince Tori he's worth the threat to her privacy that comes with dating a famous actor, or will Tori chisel him down to nothing before he even gets the chance?

— Dudes have gotta stop lying about who they are. It’s not a great trope. Other than that, the kissing was good. The romance was like...eh. I honestly don’t remember much else.

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world's biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.

Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he's the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it's possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason... and whether "once in a lifetime" can come around twice.

— This book was...weird. The early romance was wonderful and delightful, but then shit hit the fan and Sam and Tate are adults and...weird. Like, I cannot come up with another word for it. Also, they didn’t really talk much? As adults? Working on the same movie set? W e i r d.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” And since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will?

It’s simply not in Fixie’s nature to say no to people. So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?

But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life, and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. As always, she wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?

— Let’s be upfront, I’ve read a lot of Sophie Kinsella in my life, and more often than not I enjoy what she writes. I mostly did here. It was a book. With obvious rom com problems, that could have very easily been solved, but it wasn’t horrible. So, that was good, I guess.

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

Maddie and Theo have two things in common:

1. Alexa is their best friend

2. They hate each other

After an "oops, we made a mistake" night together, neither one can stop thinking about the other. With Alexa's wedding rapidly approaching, Maddie and Theo both share bridal party responsibilities that require more interaction with each other than they're comfortable with. Underneath the sharp barbs they toss at each other is a simmering attraction that won't fade. It builds until they find themselves sneaking off together to release some tension when Alexa isn't looking, agreeing they would end it once the wedding is over. When it's suddenly pushed up and they only have a few months left of secret rendezvouses, they find themselves regretting that the end is near. Two people this different can't possibly have a connection other than the purely physical, right?

But as with any engagement with a nemesis, there are unspoken rules that must be abided by. First and foremost, don't fall in love.

— Eh, this book happened. I still have no idea why they couldn’t be together from the get. Obstacles for the sake of plot, I guess. Also political side stories? I don’t know, guys.

WEIRD POST-ENDING FEELINGS WERE INDUCED

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

— Listen, I enjoyed this a lot. For the most part. It was funny, and introspective in a way that didn’t make me want to gag too much, and I wanted to defend January’s love of love with everything in me. But, then it—ended. And it was like...all tied up with this nice little ribbon and happily ever after, and I was like...oh, ok. Part of me that it was glad it ended like that, mostly because of who I am as a person, but the rest of me was also confused that after everything January and Augustus had been through and how messy their lives were it could just get all wrapped up in this HEA.

HITTING JUST A BIT TOO CLOSE TO HOME

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. The world may know him as Aeneas, star of the biggest show on television, but fanfiction readers call him something else: Book!AeneasWouldNever. Marcus gets out his frustrations with the show through anonymous stories about the internet's favorite couple, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone discovered his online persona, he'd be finished in Hollywood.April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she's long hidden her fanfic and cosplay hobbies from her "real life"—but not anymore. When she dares to post her latest costume creation on Twitter, her plus-size take goes viral. And when Marcus asks her out to spite her internet critics, truth officially becomes stranger than fanfiction. On their date, Marcus quickly realizes he wants more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. But when he discovers she's Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to keep from her.With love and Marcus's career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?

— Here for plus-size heroines who get the guy and don’t have their (entire) storyline defined by their looks. Less here for the weird fandom culture, the ensuing second-hand embarrassment that came from that and the thankfulness that both Colin O’Donoghue and Bob Morley appear to be happily married so it seems very unlikely they’re writing fic about their characters under pseudonyms. Stop using Ao3 in actual published stories 2k4ever.

RAGE-INDUCING BOOKS OF ABSOLUTE FURY

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Kristen Peterson doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen — especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.

— LISTEN THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE, BUT I FEEL LIKE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEM BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS A SECRET GUT PUNCH AND PEOPLE SHOULD BE AWARE. Not only is infertility, like, the defining theme of this book, but the BEST FRIEND DIES. Just—dies. It’s horrible. Absolutely God awful depressing. And for a second he looks like he won’t, and it’ll be fine, but then it is not and he’s just D E A D. I know, I know that sets up the sequel, but this was so goddamn heavy in an unsuspecting way that I have absolutely no intention of reading the next one.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

— FUCK THIS BOOK. And fuck Simon, specifically. Oh, you have a sad story? Cool, you’re still a dick. He was a dick. Listen, I know enemies to lovers is a hard trope to write, but it’s even harder to accept when those enemies just announce I LIKED YOU THE WHOLE TIME and then everyone starts ripping off their clothes. No, it’s dumb. I hate it. Apparently there’s a sequel to this book. Maybe that’s better.

Kiss My Cupcake by Helena Hunting

Blaire Calloway has planned every Instagram-worthy moment of her cupcake and cocktails shop launch down to the tiniest detail. What she didn't plan on? Ronan Knight and his old-school sports bar next door opening on the very same day. He may be super swoony, but Blaire hasn't spent years obsessing over buttercream and bourbon to have him ruin her chance at success.From axe throwing (his place) to frosting contests (hers), Blaire and Ronan are constantly trying to one-up each other in a battle to win new customers. But with every clash, there's also an undeniable chemistry. When an even bigger threat to their business comes to town, they're forced to call a temporary time-out on their own war and work together. And the more time Blaire spends getting to know the real Ronan, the more she wonders if it's possible to have her cupcake and eat it too.

— Listen, I wanted to like this one. There were plenty other Helena Hunting books on this list, so like—I don’t hate her. I just hate poorly executed enemies to lovers plot lines. Give me at least one moment where they are interested in each other aside from just being attracted to each other. Also: Stop Having Dudes Be Dicks Because Of Their Sad Backstory 2k4ever.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

You always remember your first love... don't you?If there's anything worse than being fired from the worst restaurant in town, it's coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else. Reeling from the humiliation of a double dumping in one day, Georgina takes the next job that comes her way—bartender in a newly opened pub. There's only one problem: it's run by the guy she fell in love with years ago. And—make that two problems—he doesn't remember her. At all. But she has fabulous friends and her signature hot pink fur coat... what more could a girl really need?Lucas McCarthy has not only grown into a broodingly handsome man, but he's also turned into an actual grown-up, with a thriving business and a dog along the way. Crossing paths with him again throws Georgina's rocky present into sharp relief—and brings a secret from her past bubbling to the surface. Only she knows what happened twelve years ago, and why she's allowed the memories to chase her ever since. But maybe it's not too late for the truth... or a second chance with the one that got away?

— HE WAS JUST PRETENDING NOT TO REMEMBER HER THE WHOLE TIME???? WHAT?? WHY??? D U M B. Dumb boys are dumb.

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher

Jack Nolan is a gentleman, a journalist, and unlucky in love. His viral success has pigeon-holed him as the how-to guy for a buzzy, internet media company instead of covering hard-hitting politics. Fed up with his fluffy articles and the app-based dating scene as well, he strikes a deal with his boss to write a final piece de resistance: How to Lose a Girl. Easier said than done when the girl he meets is Hannah Mayfield, and he's not sure he wants her to dump him.

Hannah is an extremely successful event planner who's focused on climbing the career ladder. Her firm is one of the most prestigious in the city, and she's determined to secure her next promotion. But Hannah has a bit of an image problem. She needs to show her boss that she has range, including planning dreaded, romantic weddings. Enter Jack. He's the perfect man to date for a couple weeks to prove to her boss that she's not scared of feelings.

Before Jack and Hannah know it, their fake relationship starts to feel all too real—and neither of them can stand to lose each other.

— This is actually the prequel to Not That Kind of Guy and I honestly can’t believe I read that after hating this book so much. They were awful to each other! Their whole relationship was based on lies! Mean lies! Horrible lies! Don’t lie to your significant other!

#book recs #fiction recs #rom com recs #fantasy recs #or: i read solely fantasy and rom com books in 2020 #this does not include any david eddings or meg cabot rereads #which also happened #and i endorse them wholeheartedly too #if you have read any of these books PLEASE share your thoughts with me #i am desperate for them #or your own recs of what you read this year #laura reads books #welllp these are books

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go-ldy · 4 years

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I have zero self-control, so, if you're up to it: best and worst episode(s) of Riverdale?

I love this question! Sorry for the delay in answering, I have had to give this the deep thought and contemplation it deserves! Best episodes is easier for me tbh because there are only maybe one or two episodes of Riverdale that I did not like. I’ve decided to break it down into my best/worst for each season.

I’ve tried to approach this being as objective as possible but.... you know, I am only human, and I am easily swayed when Betty and Jughead make out a lot.

Season 1

Best

1x10 or 1x11 with 1x11 having a slight edge. Obviously, the bughead angst content in both is A++ and what I am here for, but I also think that 1x11 in particular does a good job of moving the plot along while developing the characters at the same time (Riverdale is not always good at this ok so it is important to remark on it when it meets this bar!). We have Homecoming, and the incredibly awkward Cooper-Jones pre-Homecoming dinner, and Varchie sneaking into FP’s trailer behind Betty and Jughead’s back, and Veronica desperately trying to determine if her father had a role to play in Jason’s murder, and FP’s arrest (!!!) and Jughead running off at the end in a funk. There is a lot that happens AND everyone goes to a dance! It is sadly rare to have a Riverdale episode where everyone feels intertwined to the main story and where the Core 4 get to interact and develop. Plus, Jughead is so adorably excited about his and Betty’s family meeting even though they are 16 and have been dating for like two months. MY HEART. He was already planning their wedding.

Worst

1x09. It is the only episode of season 1 that felt filler. And I would still rank it higher than the other “worst” episodes on this list. But the main plot of Archie being used by the Blossom family is ehhhhhh. And frankly uncomfortable given his all too real recent past of being used by Ms. Grundy with no acknowledgment from the show whatsoever that these gross adults keep using this 16 year-old kid to serve their own purposes. So yeah, probably the worst of season 1.

Season 2

Best

I have to go with 2x14. Okay, okay 2x05/2x06 are probably better written and better plotted and have less dialogue that makes me want to end myself, but hear me out. 2x14 is the absolute essence of Riverdale packed into 40 glorious minutes:

Each couple has a spat with each other and then against each other, we get Betty versus Jughead, Archie versus Veronica, Bughead versus Varchie, and it is great???? yeah, you all fight over Hiram’s nefarious plot to buy up all the newspapers in town.

Bughead listens to Varchie have sex and the vice-versa like an hour later as normal friends do.

Betty and Veronica talk about abuelita (I must know more about abuelita!).

An entire scene where Archie wakes up early to chop wood?? At someone else’s house? Even though he’s only there for a weekend?? Again, very normal, every day teenage behaviour. And Veronica pervs on him while sipping coffee. Get it, V.

Some of the worst, cringiest dialogue this show has ever had, and that is a HIGH BAR including: “A Vughead Kiss? Right now, in the present, might be precisely what it takes to save a future Bughead from imploding.” THIS IS THE WORST LINE OF DIALOGUE EVER WRITTEN, LIKE OF ALL TIME, I CAN BARELY WATCH. IT IS NAILS ON A CHALKBOARD, END ME.

Archie doing push ups in his bedroom, because OF COURSE ARCHIE RANDOMLY DOES PUSHUPS BEFORE BED AND ALSO WHEN UPSET HAVE YOU SEEN HIM. And then Veronica propositions him for sex and Archie, still mad about Vughead, turns her down. And this is an actual scene that takes up time in a 40 minutes episode??? I love it.

Lodge Lodge

They play monopoly

And then get attacked by home invaders!!!

Who Archie chases into the woods only for one of them to be killed by Andre so that Hiram can later frame Archie for a murder he didn’t commit.

anyway 2x14 is the best episode of Riverdale maybe ever, tell your friends.

Worst

2x11 for the reasons @arsenicpanda has articulated before - mostly involving the clumsy way that the writers tried to parallel the Serpents to the plight of Native Americans. And Jughead’s awkward white saviour plotline, eugh. Although bonus points for Archie trying to wrestle to impress Hiram for some reason?? I can’t hate it.

Season 3

Best

Season 3 has a lot of contenders. I’m torn between the parentale breakfast club episode (which also featured crazy-G&G-Jughead, a fave of mine) and the Prom episode, but I’m going to go with 3x20, Prom Night because this episode is a sheer delight from start to finish. Hal Cooper fakes his own death by cutting off his hand and then he replaces it with a hook - legends only. CHONI FOR PROM QUEENS until the dream is killed by Edgar. U KNOW that is when Cheryl started reconsidering the whole Farm business even with the whole being able to talk to Jason’s corpse thing.

Bughead investigate shit and make great faces. Varchie go to prom as the least platonic “friends” ever and it is adorable. Everybody somehow wears the best outfits even though Bughead changed the Prom theme the night before. Betty being chased through the school by the Black Hood/her dad is legitimately terrifying. 10/10.

Worst

3x09, hands down. I have a lot of beef with this episode. My main beef is that 3x08 ends on this great cliffhanger and there is zero payoff? Jughead and FP come home to find the town is under QUARANTINE, no one is allowed IN OR OUT, and then in 3x09, he is snuggling in bed with Betty and it was like????? but what about the quarantine?? how did you get back in?? honestly the first time I watched 3x09, I thought I must have skipped an episode, but NOPE, the quarantine cliffhanger was waved off and I will never forgive them for this.

Secondly, most of this episode is spent in Archie’s feverish dream/hallucination and I just find dream episodes real dull, sorry Archie. I love that Archie tried to box a bear, I mean good for him, but the the dream sequences are boring.

Season 4

Best

A tie between 4x14 and 4x15. I just love these two episodes. The Preppies are legit the best villains this show has ever had (especially Donna, my love <333). There were real stakes for the Core 4, and even though I was pretty sure Jughead was not dead, I was still insanely happy to see him again in 4x15. Betty threatening Donna in the woods while wearing Jughead’s sherpa is a total bamf move, MARRY ME, BETTY COOPER. Jughead’s faux funeral is a+. Even the BA fake dating scheme (before it went horribly awry in the following episodes) is hilarious to me. Like, what kind of horrible plan is this?? if Betty seriously dated Archie following Jughead’s death, she would need therapy STAT, but the town of Riverdale is just like “oh ok I guess Jughead is dead.” Okay, sure. Plus Donna taunting Betty over the fact that she apparently can’t go two hours without needing to bone Jughead and therefore Betty’s plan was doomed to failure. How was this a real scene that happened. Oh my god, these episodes are so great.

Worst.

4x17. I mean, obviously. Please don’t make me have to explain.

#arsenicpanda #riverdale #riverdale discourse #bughead

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aclosetfan · 4 years

Text

Aight here’s a 16teen-esque mall au for the ppg that I’ll never write, but enjoy thinking about and have heavily outlined (its long, so most is under the cut):

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup aren’t related in this one, but you’d figure they were. Bubs/Buttercups are fraternal Twins (Mom/Dad=Keane/Prof)

Blossom’s mom is Ms. Bellum, who is dating Ms. Ima Goodwoman. Sedusa is actually a good woman in this lol, she just doesn’t vibe with blossom very well.

It also doesn’t help that Ima’s son, Butch, is now an even more permanent fixture in Blossom’s life. She had always thought school was enough.

Later on in the story, Bellum and Ima get married and Butch&Bloss have to come to terms with being step siblings (they break up their parents and end up having to parent trap them back together)

This new relationship between Butch&Bloss works out perfectly for Brick because Brick’s bestfriends with Butch and also has a low-key crush on Bloss. They have English class together and while he very much has a goth persona that he can’t compromise (obviously) by a preppy girl like Bloss, he still enjoys fucking with her. Too bad she has that boyfriend :(

Wait what happened to the mall part?? Here we go:

So, to preference, Bloss is a very smart young women. A real intellectual. Tons of smart extracurriculars. She’s definitely going places, but an Ivy League school costs money. So, she gets a job at the local mall in the bookstore. Bookstores in malls aren’t doing to hot financially and hers gets bought out. It’s going to be replaced by a more mainstream Barnes and Noble, but applications for employees don’t open up until after construction. She’s out a job and for some reason (maybe it’s her horribly inconsistent schedule) no one’s hiring her!! She’s worried about a gap in her resume, but her Mom ends up having the hookup. Turns out her mom’s boss (the mayor, who’s not the Mayor in this one) actually owns the lone hot dog (& pickle) stand in the mall, and it needs a new person to man it.

(((This is a call back to when blossom, in the show, had to get a job at that hot dog stand 😂 she has to wear the same uniform with the stupid hat. )))

Her best costumer is actually Mayor, which perplexes Blossom because that can’t be a financially sound business move. His weird wisdom guides her.

ANYWAY, she takes the job and finds out the stand (and the embarrassing uniform) is unfortunately located in front of. . .

. . .HOT TOPIC.

Who works there??? Lol obviously Mr. Doom and Gloom himself--Brick!

So, Brick’s pretty much the manager there, right? Wrong, but he is a decent employee. He doesn’t actually need a job, but he’s a counterculture rebel, right?? And rebels go against their parents wishes, right?? And his dads (Mojo and Him) don’t want him working in a filthy mall because they’re rich and there’s better things to do. But he’s pretty anti-them so (🖕) he gets the job (Mojo also does not at all understand goth culture)

And then, because the gods favor him, not only does he end up getting to bug Bloss in English, but ALSO on his work breaks. He ends up eating more hotdogs then he ever thought he would in his life, but also, eventually, ends up becoming her study partner. Another fun and great thing for him is that as the story progresses he gets to watch her relationship with that-Jared-guy crumble right before his very eyes, which just adds fuel to his fantasy fire.

So tbh this story actually really works out for Brick. He gets to spend time with the girl he secretly likes and has a decent shot at getting her to date him!! Blossom, on the other hand, suffers, but who’s there to help her through this suffering?

Well, obviously, Bubbles (and BC)! Bubbles works at Claire’s. She does well on the floor, but does not at all like piercing ears. She’s not good at it. She messes piercings up too frequently and blood freaks her out. Her coworker Mary often has to step up and do it for her. Still, she likes all the sparkly stuff in the store, so it’s generally a good fit. As of right now, Bubbles really just vibes in this story. Her biggest source of conflict is with Boomer, who works at the Spencer’s across from Claire’s.

Boomer is what Brick calls a shitty scene kid. He isn’t, Brick’s just mean, but Boomer rolls with it. Tbh he just likes dying his hair a shit ton of colors. He isn’t an ideal employee and is often found taking one too many breaks, but he’s charming and doesn’t make too many bad jokes about the dildos on display in the back, so they keep him around. He should honestly be on Claire’s payroll instead, because when Mary’s not available he’s the one who does the piercings (and the right way too, he might add, not with that fucked-up piercing gun) for Bubbles. And while that might make him seem like an overall helpful guy, do not be fooled. Bubbles always pays a price.

Boomer also has a shitty mom (femme fatale; she didn’t want a son), so his at-home life isn’t great, but he puts on a brave face. Brick and Butch essentially share custody of the boy. He has a room at each of their homes, which throws Blossom for a loop because not only does she have to share space with Butch later in the story, but also with Boomer (who she ends up tutoring).

Speaking of Butch, he was fired from Spencer’s after Boomer got him a job there because he was “immature.” He was also fired from Hot Topic for basically the same reason. Then he landed a job at the Sporting Goods store, but again ended up getting fired (but this time it legitimately wasn’t his fault. His manager was just out to get him, as explained later) Now, he works for the malls arcade arena (they have go-karts and bumper cars; it’s one of those good arcades, ya feel?), so he runs a lot of kid’s bday parties. And to everyone’s surprise, he’s actually really good at it. Apparently, Butch really vibes with kids jacked up on sugar. Parents like him too because he flirts with the moms and pulls the dads into “friendly” but competitive go-kart racing betting pools.

The person doing the actual hard labor at the arcade is Robin. She gets stuck in the chuck-e-cheese-like costume way too often. She’ a good voice of reason for everyone else, especially Butch. She’s his favorite co-worker.

Going back to the sporting goods store. Buttercup works there. She’s the best sales rep they got. It helps that she’s crazy athletic and is on track to get a pretty decent scholarship with some D1 schools. (What’s she play? Idk? Whatever your heart wants) She can’t say though that she’s the most popular amongst her coworkers. She got in a fight with Mitch, which also meant she got in a fight with the twins that follow Mitch around. She definitely didn't get along with Butch when he worked there. And she thinks her manager’s kind of creepy and he’s only gotten creepier since his partner Snake broke up with him

She doesn’t know why Snake broke up with Ace, but she’s pretty sure it has to do with Butch getting fired

Now, this one’s going to throw y’all for a loop, but the reason she gets in a fight with Mitch is because Mitch was picking on her boyfriend Elmer (THATS RIGHT IM SHAKING IT UP—but don’t worry 😏 I love the greens too much).

Elmer works at the comic/geek shop with Mike. She obviously likes her boyfriend and is big buds with Mike. Elmer’s pretty insecure tho and thinks BC’s going to break up with him all the time. This really bums her out. She doesn’t get why he thinks that (b/c she’s out of his league, but she’s oblivious) because she really likes him. Unfortunately, it gets to the point that she eventually decides she has to break up with him because she can’t convince him to trust her (still their relationship is cutesy side plot for a long bit). It’s her first big heartbreak. A heartbreak that is. . .

. . .ideal for Butch because he’s realized he has more then friendly feeling for her. See they weren’t friends AT ALL beforehand, but his new sibling relationship with Blossom has catapulted BC squarely into his life. Slowly they end up going from workplace enemies to eh to friendly to friends to (😉).

A significant turning point in their relationship happened to involve Ace. Butch was on his smoke break and saw Ace making Buttercup uncomfortable. That same night he sees Buttercup trying to leave and Ace/his gang are trying to pressure her into following them. Butch takes offense to this and ends up walking Buttercup to her car. She argues she doesn’t need him saving her, which he readily agrees to, but explains that any excuse to beat that creep Ace up is a good excuse. Afterward, anytime BC has to work close, Butch walks her to her car.

Eventually, he explains to her that he was the one who inadvertently convinced Snake to get out of their toxic-ass relationship with Ace. Ace found out and that’s why he was fired. So, now, he has real beef with the guy. Him and Ace don’t get along at all. To the point where Butch was banned from the sports store, but he sneaks in to see his friends and mess with BC.

HAHA does the story ever end????

The story ends when Barnes n’ Noble opens. Blossom gets the job, ditches the old boring boyfriend, gets the goth boy, saves her mom’s relationship, and gains a sibling.

The format of the story would be pretty episodic, with a conflict/resolution in each chapter. But what’s written above highlights the over arching plot lines

and holy shit! how could I forget the cherry on top??? Brick and Princess are cousins, and she does NOT let him forget this.

((If you want more specific details ya gotta ask. there’s a lot more then just this.))

#ppg fic outline #I'm not going to tag this too heavily #i dont need people judging me on how bad and unoriginal it is lololol #because its hella stupid #but its been on my mind for a while #it's way funnier in my head #hey maybe one day??#ppg fic #my writing

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crowleystolemyshoes · 4 years

Text

ok ok so I've been redstringing like crazy to figure out what the hell's going on in rqg. so I'm gonna post my... theory? because I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on it and their theories. beware that this post will be pretty choppy

I'm pretty sure the cult of hades is kinda orchestrating this whole thing. so tesla's with them. the only talent that's ever really discussed about the simulacrum is that it can make more of itself. but if edison didn't design the simulacrum, he might not really know how it makes more of itself. so my thinking is that the blue veins are the simulacrum reproducing after it was reclaimed from the london sewers (no clue how the factory in damascus fits in here, though). given that hades is the god of the dead and the blue veins are sort of a death, I can kinda see that fitting? also if I remember my percy jackson hades is also the god of wealth or precious metals or something like that so. very expensive simulacrum.

mr.ceiling has HUGE acheron from udad vibes (update: having finally listened to the s3 q+a, it turns out that the acheron was actually an inspiration)--lots of dead brains running the world (and the entrance is underground, through a river), so it makes sense that the cult of hades would use it to control the economy and all that. and also, reproducing more of itself-- simulacrum-esque. pre-sasha-becoming-undead, lolomg were the only people able to come even close to taking it down, so it'd want to remove them, right? they're unnecessary. except brock was there. I think that's the only reason they lived at all. we had that whole discussion on memory alteration being death--more controlling the dead. and sasha becoming undead also fits pretty well.

I think the prague arc kinda speaks for itself here. kafka's book was something to do with hades.

the blue veins could have spread to the shoin institute before really getting a grip in london (that's where I get far-fetched), and the cult could have had an influence over the weather that way. I haven't yet thought of a legitimate reason they'd want to, though. I also have no clue where guivre, the seperatists, the seed (maybe like the pomegranate seeds???) or whatever earhart was carrying on her ship come into this, but I am willing to wager that if this is even remotely following greek mythology then the doom guy on the train to calais played the role of cassandra.

the (oh-so-messy) thought process:

please feel free to add on!

#rqg spoilers #rusty quill gaming #rqg #rusty quill... theories?#is that a tag?#it IS NOW #let's join together and bring down alex's maddness everyone

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aeondeug · 3 years

Note

for the relationships ask meme, what about good ol' Boruto's Dad?

This one is harder and will be less good as like I never did finish Boruto’s Dad and I know far less about it but let’s go. My favorite parent-child relationship - Boruto and Naruto. Controversial opinion but I like that Naruto is not a great father. He is not an actively horrible dad, but he isn’t giving the kids the kind of attention they clearly need and he’s overworked from being the ninja president. And Boruto is just...Pissed? In a way that feels very real. Without making Naruto actively horrible. Which I just kind of like.

My favorite sibling relationship - Boruto and Himawari. I just like that they’re like. Siblings. Boring siblings. Who do boring sibling things like fight over not bringing your stuffed animal everywhere like a baby. Except the little sister has her mother’s freaky murder eyes and will pressure point death her brother into oblivion for ripping her teddy. There’s just something great about that. If anything is GOOD about Boruto it is how fucking mundane the family drama with the Uzumaki family is. Like it’s not like oh nooo my brother murdered everyone in our clan but “Dad didn’t show up to my little sister’s birthday and I’m pissed about that why’s he such a deadbeat”.

My favorite family relationship (other) - Hinata and Neji. It’s...A difficult one. And I like that they like...It grows over time? I don’t think Hinata was handled the best. A lot of the girls weren’t from what I remember of Naruto, what I’ve seen of it. But like I do like that she starts out horrified of him and he starts out absolutely resentful of her because of their weird fucked up family shit and like...That gets worked on over time. And she names her son after the man who died before his time.

My favorite friendship between two people - THIS IS WHERE IT GETS HARD. So like whatever we’ll put Zabuza and Haku here. We will ignore that zabuhaku is The Ship and just focus on them as friends. Is their deal fucked up and weird? Yeah. It is. But it’s intense. It means things to them. Even if they act fucking weird about it and Zabuza’s a bitch who acts like he doesn’t give a shit till Haku is murdered. Nart relationships peaked here.

My favorite friendship between a group - I am a basic bitch who is fond of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke as a friend group. Because they are such a contentious little group of assholes who do not get along. But who do end up respecting one another over time.

My favorite mentorship - Might Guy and Rock Lee. Everyone else can go the fuck home. The pervy sage is great. Don’t get me wrong. But Might took this kid who can’t fucking do the cool magic shit and was like “We’re gonna make you the coolest ninja there ever was, kid.” And then by gods he did it. The crazy bastard.

My favorite rivalry - Sasuke and Naruto. This is like. Beyond Rock Lee and my Hyuuga obsession this is it. This is what I remember this fucking series for. These bitches just. Going at it. They have such good ass fights together. Their last one in the movie or whatever is so sick. And I like like...I really like why Naruto loses in the fights he does lose against Sasuke. Because Naruto wins through his ability to empathize and meet people on their level. But he can’t fucking do that with Sasuke because he loves that stupid asshole and is pissed at him. So Naruto can’t win. Naruto can’t bring him back to the village because Naruto can’t do the thing that makes him Naruto for Sasuke. He loves Sasuke too much to be able to. In my perfect world he is also married to Naruto and Sakura is off having a better fucking character arc.

My favorite hatred/antipathy - Naruto and Kurama. This is probably one of the coolest relationships in Naruto? Like period? It’s also not something I expected but like thematically it’s perfect. Like Naruto is the empathy boy who can learn to understand everyone. He talks through problems. And one of the biggest he has to talk through is this seemingly completely awful doom monster that lives inside him and that is the cause of his being a miserable orphan. Good shit. The fact that he’s dead now apparently is bullshit.

My favorite potential relationship between characters who never talk in canon - i legitimately do not know who talked and who did not talk in canon. due to not having finished nart. i want haku and hinata to become bffs. my reasoning is. uh. i like them. fuck it. just. stick them in a room together. except haku is dead. except he wasn’t for a bit? or something? I HEARD THEY CAME BACK BRIEFLY.

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dust2dust34 · 5 years

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"You wouldn't dare"

(Olicity, post-7x13; sequel to “give me something (to hold on to)”)

(read on AO3)

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I? Haven’t we been here before, Oliver, haven’t wealready visited this particular arena?” Felicity wiggled the electric razorwhere she held it over the railing of the balcony. He took a step closer andshe widened her eyes threateningly. “I’ll do it.”

“This is insane.”

She went very still. “Are you calling me insane?”

“No, no, of course not.” Oliver held up a placating hand,but when that got him nothing, he raised both. “I’m just saying… that this…”

Okay, maybe he was calling her insane.

When the words wouldn’t come, he just waved at her. His wifewas a sight to behold. Her hair was a riotous mess of sex-slash-bed hair, allof it topping off a thinning t-shirt with a cat on a laptop on the front and brightorange panties. And that was it. Thank god it wasn’t cold out. Not that shewould feel it. Her inner temperature had done a complete one-eighty sincegetting pregnant - where before she was always seeking out his body heat for warmth,now she was her own personal sauna. They’d tossed the comforter in the closetweeks ago.

And now apparently she had a new penchant for rolling out ofbed and launching into the bathroom where he’d been about to shave his head tosteal his razor. He’d barely caught a flash of color before she’d snatched the damnthing out of his hand and took off.

He tried another tactic.

“You’re going to hit someone if you drop that,” Oliver said.She faltered and Oliver stole the moment to take another step towards her. “Idon’t think we need potential murder-by-flying-electric-razor on top of everythingelse right now, do we?”

Felicity stared at him for a beat, her face unreadable. Fora second he wondered if he’d taken it too far before her lips quirked. With aroll of her eyes, she pulled the razor back from its potential doom. “It mightbe worth it, if it got you to stop shaving your head every two weeks.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow. “It’s bothering you enough to riskcracking someone’s skull?”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Felicity let out a loudsigh and looked down at herself. She pursed her lips, like she hadn’t realizedwhat she was wearing. Or doing. “Okay,I might’ve gone a little overboard.”

“A little?” Oliver asked, a smile playing on his lips. Itfelt safe enough to come closer. She didn’t throw the razor off the balcony,which was a good sign. When he reached her, Oliver smoothed his hands over hershoulders, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “I told you why I’ve been shavingmy head.”

“I know,” she replied, bouncing a bit. There was a slightwhine in her voice that had him huffing out a chuckle. “And I understand, I do.But also, like… Oliver, the hormones this tiny little fruit-sized creature isshoveling through my body right now are literally driving me crazy, and I just…”Felicity lifted her free hand up to his head and made a clawing gesture where hairshould be. “I really miss grabbing itand touching it and how it feels onmy thighs and stomach and, god, when you do that thing where you put your head righthere…” She touched her neck as her lids grew heavy. “And you’re all sweaty andyou’re inside me and… and… and I’m just insanely horny all the time now andyour hair was so sexy and I just miss it, okay? Is that so bad? Am I bad personfor wanting that? Oh god, I am, aren’t I? I am. You have honest, legitimate, psychologicalreasons for keeping your hair short right now and I’m over here making you feelguilty because my libido is out of control! Okay, hearing all of that out loud,I might definitely be insane.”

Oliver laughed. “No, I don’t think you’re insane.” He kissedher. “I think you’re amazing. And incredible. And sweet. And sexy…”

He kissed her again, running his tongue over her lips. She openedfor him on a moan. Felicity pushed up onto her toes, winding her arm around hisneck as she deepened the kiss. Her passion swept him up and with a contentsigh, Oliver fell into her with abandon. William had been gone for almost amonth now and Oliver missed him with a fierceness he couldn’t begin to describe…But the ability to kiss his half-naked pregnant wife without worrying whethertheir son was going to walk in any second was definitely something he enjoyed.

The kiss quickly heated up, especially when Felicity archedher back and pressed her breasts into his chest, her hardening nipples evident eventhrough his sweater.

“I do miss you grabbing it,” Oliver admitted breathlessly,his lips barely leaving hers. She whimpered in agreement. “Pulling… and tugging…”

Felicity lifted a leg to wind around his. “Okay, now you’rejust being mean.”

He chuckled and pulled back to look at her. Her lips wereswollen, eyes glossy with need, her skin flushed.

Stunning.

Oliver kissed the tip of her nose before capturing her lipsonce more.

“I could try,” he offered.

“Yeah?” Felicity blinked and fell back to her normal height.“But I don’t want to push you into it. I realize that’s kind of what I’m doingand I don’t want to do that. Ignore me if I’m doing that. No, yell at me. Justyell at me right now. I’m not trying to make you feel bad for shaving.” At hisraised eyebrow, she added, “I’m serious, just yell at me, Oliver. Pregnancy ismaking my brain wonky. Well, wonkier.”

“No, I know.” He rubbed his hands up and down her back. “ButI think it might be good. It’s been months and… One step at a time. Right?”

Felicity smiled. “Right.”

“But I can’t start now.”

Her face fell. “Why?”

Oliver laughed when she tried to school her features and utterlyfailed. “Well, you sort of already started for me earlier…” He turned his headto show where a thick strip of hair had already been razed off.

“Oh. I did that?”

“You did that.”

“Oops. Well, I guess I’ll have to find a way to make it upto you then, now won’t I? Or me, rather. Or… us? I’m not sure who won here. Orif there is a winner. Is there a winner?”

He nuzzled her nose with his. “I think we both won.”

“Both. Yes. I like that.” Felicity hummed and kissed himagain. “Both is good. We should go back inside and… collect our winnings…”

Oliver would have laughed if she hadn’t just intensified thekiss, effectively erasing any thought from his brain.

“Yeah,” he managed. “We should… do that…”

And they did. :)

The End

Thank you for reading! Reviews literally feed the soul and muse (and “coffee” feeds me).

#olicity #olicity fic #olicity fanfic #olicity fanfiction #olicitysquee #oliver queen #felicity smoak #arrow #arrow season 7 #fanfiction #my fics #my fics: season 7 #just needed some fucking FLUFF IN MY LIFE #all i'm seeing are doomsday things about the flash-forwards #and i'm like 'nah not today'#so this happened #anonymous #bre answers

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bob-dude · 4 years

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Some Orange Jerk’s Hazbin thoughts, the longer version.

As I mentioned in a prior post, I thought the pilot was so-so. Don't hate it with a capital H but find everyone's love for this show to be... odd. Though considering the late 2000s Devinart vibe I get from the show’s art style, probably not too odd now that I think about it. So here’s my longer, more rambly, thoughts on Hazbin Hotel by some rando Orange Jerk on Tumblr. And as always, more power to ya if you do love it, obviously.

Art direction wise, I’m just not crazy about Viv’s color choice. The red and black and pinks give a Valintine’s day meets Wonderland Queen of Hearts vibe that just doesn't personally work for me on a visual level.

As for hell itself, I thought the background stuff like ‘Radio Hack’ and the main city being named Pentagram to be... eh? Like, that’s the kind of world-building we’re going with here? It felt less like Hell and more like a city with the trapings of Hell, at least for me.

So, main cast, the trio as it were. Eh. Meh. Like, Charlie is a Disney Princess of Hell... even though no one treats her as one respect wise which just strikes me as odd from a background perspective. And Charlie has that standard Disney nativity going on... even though she was born and raised in Hell? Like, why bother to make your most optimistic and native character a denizen of hell if she’s not going to look or act the part personality wise?

The reason the personality thing confuses me I guess, is that take Charlie out of Hell and we’ve seen her character a thousand times before: The bubbly sweet optimistic girl that’s been done so many times before. Is the ‘But in Hell!’ aspect really that much of a grabber for people? Guess it is and more power to em but it just strikes me as a strange creative choice where once again a character's personality doesn’t logically flow from their background.

Design-wise Charile is fine, red tux reminds me of the God from the 1977 Oh God movie so that gets a thumbs up in my book. Still a bit weird that a princess is wearing it but it makes sense with the Hotel set up and all so her outfit has a logic to it.

Then we have Vaggie. So, legit question here people: If you went into the pilot blind and Angle Dust didn’t make his ‘taco’ comment would you have ANY idea that Vaggie is supposed to be Latina? Because I legitimately had no idea that was what her design was supposed to say about her as a charchter. Also didn’t really get a moth vibe from her, either if I’m honest. As for her personality, she’s the standard ‘loving supportive’ GF but with an angry side protective side for Charile... and she’s a Latinia/Latinix. Does... Does no one else think that’s just a bit... off? Making the one clearly marked Latinia character the ‘angry girlfriend’ archetype?

Also, that weird pink X eye patch bugged the hell out of me when I was watching. Totally petty as shit nitpick, but I had to vent on that bit. Honestly, though Vaggie is also Meh? Like, she’s in a relationship with Charlie, cool and all but she just doesn’t strike me as a terribly interesting character if I’m honest. Gives me a sort of Lisa Simpson ‘stick-in-the-mud’ vibe.

And then we have Angle Dust. You know, in the words of Netflix’s Big Mouth, “Sassy and Gay” isn’t a personality. Angle Dust basically has that sort of ‘2000s Yaoi OC’ vibe and considering Vive once had a DA character sheet where she literally listed his personality is ‘Bitch’... Yeah.

Also, as I’ve said elsewhere, Viv and crew are doing too much with this guy. So he’s an ex mobster killed by his homophobic father in the 1920s (not mentioned in the pilot but it is a pilot in all fairness so you can’t throw all your cards on the table). And he’s a Spider Demon... even though per Word of Viv how everyone’s designed in hell doesn’t have anything to do with how they died on Earth (then why deign them that way?). And he’s a porn star (being ex Mob shouldn’t he be the one paying for porn stars as a power domination sort of thing?). AND he’s going for a Beetlejuice meets CJ from Regular Show sort of design.

It just seems a bit much, imo. Like, you could make him just a gay ex mob who mostly uses a Tommy Gun and design him to fit that and leave the Spider-Demon stuff out and it becomes a lot more manageable. Something like a simplified Zoot Suit, or the like. You could keep the sexual humor but throw it a bit more 1920s slang and pop culture references for characterization/comedy purposes (Vaggie, for example, has no idea what he’s talking about most of the time). Granted, I’d personally rather they ditch the ‘animal bits slapped on’ aspects of the designs as a whole but that, as always is just me.

For the record, I’m not ‘offended’ by Angle Dust as a character concept, I’m just not wowed or impressed, ultimately.

And then we have Alastor. Now, I LOVE Alastor as a character. He’s got that classic ‘reality warper’ vibe ala Bill Cipher or Discord but with a 1920s radio show host twist that I just think is amazing and the sound distortion they added to his voice was a really cool touch on top of it all. The problem, as always, comes more with the color choice. One one of your own characters can’t take someone seriously because they look like a ‘strawberry pimp’ that might be the time to maybe go with a different color pallet? Like, idk, maybe throw in some warm browns and brass golds to involve the 1920s radio vibe stronger? Radios of the 20s and 30s weren’t famous for being red, is what I’m getting at.

The other problem with Alastor is that he’s too strong a personality, ironically. He comes in at the tail end of the pilot and basically steals whatever interest a potential audience member (or at least fat orange jerks like me) might have had in Charlie's plight. It's like introducing Bill Cipher in the first episode of Gravity Falls. At that point whatever interest you might have had in the MC goes out the window and you think ‘what’s this dudes deal and can the show be about them instead please?’ Sure, Alastor in all of his pesudo deer (Those don’t look like horns in my opinion but whatever you say Viv) is fun to watch but he drowns out Charile through sheer force of charisma and showmen ship. Maybe the series itself will fix this but for the pilot at least I think it’s an issue.

Also, Nifty is Nifty and she needs her own spin-off ASAP. That is all.

Husk is literally Avocato from Final Space with wings and some gambling bits thrown in design-wise. That’s literally all I think of Husk, sorry Husk fans :(

The animation is good, but I do find it ironic that as much as people like the bitch about SU being off model, Hazbin I thought suffered from so many different animators tackling different scenes that it just felt jarring going from one scene to the next due to the difference in style and the shifts in animation pacing. Now, don’t get me wrong, a lot of it looks great but that switch in animators kinda just took me out of the experience in places. Well, that and the lack of proper scene transitions. Those are what also made the pilot feel like whiplash for me.

And now comes to Bob’s thoughts on the plot of the pilot and this is where the logical holes of the series start to get to me just a bit.

So. Charlie wants to reform the demons of hell of their sins so they can get to heaven and Hell can lower its population and angles down come down and deliver some righteous furry smiting on their asses. Okay. Stupid question but what the hell is Charlie basing this off of? I mean, was AD really THAT good an actor that Charlie thought going full steam ahead on the Hotel idea was the next reasonable step up?

Like, the Hotel was clearly a mess and her staff is literally just her and Vaggie and MAYBe Angel Dust. Even if the episode had ended with a horde of demons lining up to get into heaven by way of cleaning up their acts there’s no way two, three people could handle that (Or, you know, six if we throw in Nifty and Husk in fairness now that I think about it).

And that’s ultimately the thing with the pilot, the demons are assholes as you’d expect the citizens of hell to be but if they are assholes... why should we care if they get redeemed or not when not one of them is clearly interested in the idea? As cheesy as it would have been, the pilot ending with a horde of demons wanting to give this ‘become better’ thing a shot would have at least left the pilot on a better note to end on. As it is it just seems like Charlie is doomed to fail because no one but her gives a shit or belives about her idea for the Hotel and we have no proof that her idea will even work. Which just makes me wonder: Why should I care if no one else does?

Ultimately, the show has potential but the art style and aspects of the writing just don’t click for me. The show doesn’t say ‘adult’ to me so much as it does 'Hot Topic Teen trying to be adult' which works for a lot of people but for me I think Hellevua Boss as more potential concept-wise. And has scenes on Earth which do the red and black and pink and white colors of the demons a lot better visual justice contrast wise but that’s just me.

#hazbin hotel #sorry hazbin fans #your show is flawed and has room for improvement

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nancydrew65 · 5 years

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SKAM Austin Season 2 Episode 5 Reaction

So, I found out that Facebook has some kind of episode restriction and each season of SKAM Austin can only have 8 episodes. I do think this kind of hurts the story. Especially for Season 3 where every scene had a specific purpose. So far, I think it is working for Season 2, though.

The last clip of the episode wasn’t on a Friday which had me extremely confused, and then we didn’t get another clip until Sunday so I thought SKAM Austin was taking a week’s break. They are not.

All Good

Grace and Daniel are making out in an almost empty diner at 1 in the morning. Grace can not get enough of Daniel. She draws him back in for another kiss.

So, Daniel and Grace are finally eating those tacos together. A white girl saying she can make better tacos. Hmmm… okay.

The conversation about their eye colors was sweet. I liked that Daniel knew what color Grace’s eyes were without having to peek.

Daniel calmly accepted that Grace didn’t want to have sex until marriage. Thank you! That scene always made me uncomfortable in OG because William never seemed to take Noora seriously.

Those fries in his nose were very gross. It is a testament to Grace’s feelings for Daniel that she finds that endearing.

Not Okay

Jo and Grace are chatting as they head to the gym for dance team practice.

Then Pen-Joe walks by and doesn’t even acknowledge Jo’s presence when she greets him. Take back all that I said about Pen-Joe. He is a dick.

Kelsey is clearly pissed off as she is doing her sit-ups.

When Kelsey started talking, I legitimately thought she was going to call Grace out for kissing Daniel. But, she was just talking about the girls’ dance team auditions. Apparently, they didn’t do very well. Kelsey takes a turn getting a jab in at each girl. Of course, Kelsey is just taking out all her anger about Grace and Daniel onto the other girls. I do not think this is fair to the other girls; she should just talk to Grace privately. But I do think she has a right to be mad at Grace. Yeah, she is not reacting as well as Vilde did to the situation, but remember in OG, this episode aired one or two weeks after the episode where Noora/William first kissed. Vilde had a lot longer to mull over the situation and cool off.

Jo starts sharing about a new boy she has been talking to on instagram and Zoya tells her boys are horny and just want to have sex, that if they’re not having sex with you, then they are having sex with someone else. Obviously, this reminds Grace of her previous conversation with Daniel and makes her worried about his faithfulness.

Late for Class

So, we get a montage of Grace and Daniel kissing in a bunch of different illicit places on campus. Wow, I feel like Grace and Daniel are a lot more hot and heavy than Noora and William were. I noticed Grace’s outfit changed over the course of the montage. I don’t think that was intentional.

Zoya walks in on them! I repeat, ZOYA WALKS IN ON THEM KISSING!!! Wow, that is such a new development. I am intrigued. Her reaction was so funny; she just stared a bit and then backed out of the room, closing the door.

Complicate

The time stamp says 4:44pm, but there is no way there would be that many people still at the school that late after school.

When Megan went up to Shay, I thought she was going to apologize to her. Instead, she pretended nothing had happened and even had the nerve to question her about Marlon. What the hell, Megan?!!

Poor Shay. I can’t believe Nic broke up with her over that. I thought he was a nice guy, but… It is not right of Shay to use him as her cover-up for her sexuality, though.

Aw, Zoya! She sends a text saying she is happy for Grace. I am liking her more and more this season.

Queen

Grace joins Jo and Zoya, looking all disheveled from what I assume was a make-out session with Daniel.

Zoya being a true friend and secretly gesturing for Grace to fix her lipstick.

Zoya got nominated for Prom court! Good for her. Though I can’t help but be worried that there is something fishy going on and someone is going to try to prank her. Please let that not be the case.

Kelsey seems so supportive of Zoya… at first. And then it kind of seems like she and Jo pressure Zoya to accept the nomination. Like she and Jo are making about the group, rather than about Zoya.

Secret

Again, like I said. Grace and Daniel feel more sexual than Noora and William right off the bat.

When Daniel stopped himself, I thought it was because he thought he might go too far if he kept on kissing her. Out of all the Williams, I can really see Daniel as a teenage boy.

While on the one hand, I appreciate that Daniel wants to make their relationship public because he is so into Grace, I’m also like… Dude, you created this awkward situation by using Kelsey to get to Grace.

He did seem very vulnerable when he asked if she only wanted to be with him if it was a secret.

Look at Them

Damn, they are really speeding through material. The fight scene is usually at the end of episode 7, and we are only on episode 5.

Zoya is talking to Hunter, and that still feels incredibly uncomfortable. I really hope they do not enter a relationship.

Then Abby walks over and warns Zoya about Hunter. Zoya shuts her down and talks about how crazy Abby is and how she ruined her relationship with Hunter and whatnot. I’m here like… what if Abby is genuinely looking out for Zoya? Ohmygosh, I just had the best theory in the world. What if… what if Daniel’s brother is just a dick? What if Hunter is the one who is involved in the sexual assault storyline? That would go along with my theory of Abby being Mari in this version. That would be such a plot twist. I really hope I am right.

Then the St. Paul’s guys roll up. Things are about to get ugly. Grace walks right up to Daniel and pleads with him not to do anything, but he just tells her to leave.

So, this scene felt very weird for me. For one, the beer bottle seemed to appear out of nowhere into Daniel’s hand. Like in OG, you saw the bottle in William’s hand and you felt an impending sense of doom because you had a feeling about what was going to happen. I guess, in this version there is the surprise factor, but it still felt off to me.

And then the weirdest thing about the whole fight. Daniel didn’t even hit the guy who pushed Pen-Joe. He hit a completely different guy who was doing absolutely nothing. Now, this really colors the rest of the scene for me because that was a completely uncalled for action.

I was kind of disappointed with the girls’ reactions. Only Megan had a very shocked look on her face. Grace just walks away in disgust and horror.

General Thoughts

Well, this episode felt rather stilted, mostly because they had to shorten and cut so much to fit the storyline into eight episodes. I am very intrigued by the Hunter storyline. I want to see where it goes. Also, we better get to see Prom. I need to see what goes down at that high school dance. I am glad they are making it such a big part of the story because prom is huge in America, especially in states like Texas. I am still meh on the St. Paul storyline, like I was about the Yakuza storyline in OG, but oh well. I think next episode is where Grace will black out. I don’t know if I’m ready for that emotional exhaustion, but I am interested to see how SKAM Austin handles it, especially in this #metoo age.

#skam austin #skam remakes #skam reaction

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alexwinfield-blog1 · 5 years

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There’s a ‘Price’ to pay for meme trolling.

There is no doubt that the social media world are lovers for a good ol’ meme. Need a conversation starter? A witty reply? Or cheering up on a gloomy day? A meme will guarantee you a laugh. However, what constitutes a well-curated, humorous meme? Well, as we all know, humour is subjective. What you and I find funny will differ, of course. But what criteria needs to be met in order for a meme to go viral? What do the creators of memes set out to achieve when sharing them online? Most importantly, is there a line to be crossed? At what point can we agree that a meme no longer has a shared meaning?

I want to look closely at the memes created online targeting Harvey Price, but firstly, let’s get to grips with what we mean by a ‘meme’. Dawkins (2006) describes the practice of ‘memeing’ to involve “participating in the creation or distribution of a powerful, original idea”. He also proposes that a meme is a “unit of cultural transmission”, an idea or collective conscience that a community share. We share this culture like we share genetic characteristics. Like “biological organisms evolve based on the natural selection of genes, cultures evolve based on the natural selection of memes”. Despite what this wishy-washy, too-poetic-to-be-true analysis may suggest, memes speak volumes about the humour and beliefs within society. Remember these?

With the relationship between the image the caption having no etymological meaning, the caption of a meme can be chopped and changed depending on the intention of the creator. Examples which spring to mind are “Cash me Outside” and the compilations of Arthur memes, in which the captions are often quite predictable. Nonetheless, the meaning of a meme is not always required to be clear and linear. Most of the time they are abstract and nonlinear, in fact. Above all, the most important function of a meme is to depict ‘coolness’.

Virality and Memes: the good, the bad but mostly the ugly.

Kim Kardashian, or more specifically her career, is a perfect example of how virality can change a life for the better. All thanks to a leaked sex tape in 2007. You can guarantee that this certainly wasn’t one of her finest, most glamorous moments, but I’m sure she’s never looked back. This scandalous footage landed her a career of fame. And now? Over a decade later we spend our lives Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Most recently, with her half-sister Kylie Jenner competing with an egg to get the most liked photo of all time on Instagram, and her step-father Bruce Jenner’s latest transition in becoming Caitlyn, there is no doubt that this family are familiar with being the centre of media attention. With what seemed to be the world going crazy over an egg, this was an attempt, an extremely successful attempt, to promote mental health, specifically how the pressures of social media can make us ‘crack’. Harmless virality, right? What may have once been perceived to be attacks on the Kardashian family, have ultimately led these stars up a path of wealth and success. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see roaring headline complaints about them loathing this lavish lifestyle?

But it isn’t always this rosy…

What is the first thing that comes to your head when you think of a troll?

This one?

What about this one?

Or perhaps this one?

Both through her own career as a supermodel and TV presenter, and since the birth of her son in 2002, Katie Price has experienced, first hand, the ugly truth of virality, specifically in the form of trolling. Tweets, memes, death threats, you name it, attacking her son for the colour of his skin as well as his disabilities. Unlike the Kardashians, Harvey is blissfully unaware of the extremes to which he is taunted daily online. But why do we live in a world which allows people to get away with such disgusting behaviour? On a mission, not only to protect Harvey from this online abuse, but anyone who has ever been subject to trolling, in 2017, she started a petition. This eventually received over 200,000 signatures in a bid to make online trolling illegal. Despite her best efforts at exposing these trolls herself, she discovered there to be little, if any, law enforcement in place to protect victims such as Harvey. Being what Goldhaber (1997) describes to be a “star”, fortunately, she was equipped with the tools to attract mass media attention about the issue of online trolling, to which she appeared on many day time TV programmes informing people about ‘Harvey’s Law’.

In spite of her good intentions, it was no shock that trolls not only continued to fire hate filled tweets about Harvey, but curate memes mocking things he has said on TV appearances, as well as taking content Katie had uploaded to her own social media of Harvey as inspiration.

Any mum would agree that just because she’s in the public eye, it should not mean that she should be deterred from posting photos of her children on social media to protect them from being targeted by trolls.

A clip which many may be familiar with is their appearance on Loose Women, in which he swears on live TV. Although trolls immediately took to photoshop to mock this display of innocence, many could argue that this is part of the viscous cycle of attention economy (Goldhaber, 1997). In order for trolls to give Harvey attention, they need a source to retrieve it from. Contrary to her pledge to protect Harvey from the doom and gloom of social media that we all know and love, she was recently slammed for ‘baiting trolls’ (The Sun, 2019) by setting Harvey up with his own Instagram account. Is this ultimately an invitation for trolls to attack him? Does it provide trolls with the ‘new’ and ‘original’ content they so desperately desire? What do we think, is she now responsible for the trolling Harvey will now be exposed to online?

youtube

A more recent adaptation of memes, known as GiFs, has also been a platform explored by trolls in order to attack Harvey further. During my research into this topic, from simply typing into my search engine “Harvey Price”, this result appeared…

As if memes weren’t exhilarating enough to fulfil the trolls in their cyber-attacks, GiFs of Harvey can now be generated through this site, ultimately allowing people to express themselves in online conversation through indirectly mocking Harvey. But to them it’s nothing serious. Just a passing comment. What angers me the most about this GiF generator is the use of the term “popular”, suggesting that people visiting this site will have access to nothing but the best GiFs - what the trolls would label to be most successful in terms of their virality. First and full most, who is spending their time designing these websites, and secondly, are they proud? Are they THAT disconnected from their emotions that they don’t view this young man as a human being?

But do these memes live up to the definition of ‘memeing’ proposed by Dawkins (2006)?

Are they powerful?

Definitely not.

But perhaps in one way? They’re powerful for delivering the message that no matter what your race, your sexual orientation, your disabilities or your religion, there will always be people in the world who disagree or are opposed to it. Sure, trolls can hide behind their twitter username, but can they hide from their own insecurities? This is important to consider. What is the need for them to create this content? For how long is it funny? A day? A couple of hours?

Are they original?

Most certainly not. If anything, they lack originality. Well, put it this way, I can’t hear anyone applauding these creators for their outstanding pieces of work…

Is it cool?

You must be joking?

The creators of this content might have themselves fooled that they are some- what inspirational to the rest of the nation, or that they’re admired by their fellow meme-ers for their hardcore memeing. But the rest of the nation? The decent human beings of the nation? Disgraceful. Unintelligent. Bullies. A valuable point to be made here is that creators of memes believe they’re in a superior position to those they are ‘memeing’ about, hence why when these memes are shared and distributed online, they appear ‘funny’ to those who perceive Harvey as inferior to them.

And this is why we can’t have nice things…

Phillips (2015) argues that essentially, trolls “are the reason we can’t have nice things online”. He suggests that the online space is meant to be a community where people can feel safe in sharing their thoughts; through tweeting, or sharing snapshots of their life via Instagram. It appears that sadly, this is no longer the case. Trolls are “born and embedded” within dominant institutions. As a result, the saddest, and most frustrating thing of all about meme trolling, is that as long as trolls have the community to support them, and until social media platforms build stronger, much more stable networks which block out these trolls, there will be no end to trolling. This “unapologetically racist humour and legitimate corporate punditry” will only seize to exist online if the threat of the law was to stand between the troll and the ‘send’ button. Why, in those “golden years” between 2008-2011 in which the trolling subculture became “crystalized”, did establishers of these social networks make a stand for this unwanted behaviour? Why is a mother, regardless of whether she’s famous or simply just the mum next door, forced to make a pledge for this internet craze to be wiped from our screens?

How can we make a difference?

It is important to not turn a blind eye to this kind of behaviour online. Although it may not directly affect you, there will always be someone else is in the firing line. Avoid retweeting, sharing and even posting content online which may later come back to bite you. As someone who has been a present, and an active user of social media since my early teens, during this time, I was extremely naïve to the content online. I’m sure there have been posts which I would look back on now and think how my online presence has changed. My humour has changed. What I like and post about has definitely changed, but most of all, social media as a 20-year-old seems a much scarier place to be than when I was 13. Do you agree?

References:

Phillips, W. (2015). This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Dawkins, R. (2006). The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gibb, J. (2019, January 28). Katie Price accused of ‘baiting’ trolls. Retrieved from: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/8300554/katie-price-accused-of-baiting-trolls-by-giving-son-harvey-his-own-instagram-account-and-failing-to-protect-him/

#week4

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onimiman · 5 years

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Film Review: Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (2009)

On the tenth anniversary of the film Watchmen’s theatrical release, I decided to rewatch the film, only this time, I would watch the film’s Ultimate Cut. Whereas the theatrical cut ran approximately 2 hours and 42 minutes (including closing credits), the Ultimate Cut ran at 3 hours and 35 minutes (again, including closing credits). Having watched this film as a teenager and loving it to the point that for a few years, I’d called it my favorite film ever, I went into watching the Ultimate Cut with trepidation; I had feared that now that I was in my adulthood, I might not look so favorably toward the film as I had when I was a teen. I also feared that if I were to still enjoy the film, I hoped that it would not stem from a blind sense of nostalgia and that I would look upon this less favorably anyway. A similar feeling came over me a few years ago when I had rewatched Tim Burton’s Batman.

So what did I think of the Ultimate Cut of Watchmen? i absolutely loved it, and what few gripes I do have with it are so minute that I wished I wouldn’t even have to mention them here. And I can say with utmost certainty that not only did this movie stand the (albeit so far small) test of time of a decade, but if anything, it made me wonder if this film would have been more successful, critically and financially, if it had been released sometime this decade, what with R-rated films like Deadpool and Logan being so successful in both areas.

But enough about all this prelude. What was it that I loved about this film? What I love about this film, as I did when I was a teenager, was something that had been simultaneously praised and criticized even at the time of this film’s release, which was its faithful adherence to the source material and making only the most necessary of changes for it to be at all filmable. The film’s strength stems largely because of the graphic novel from which it is based, as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is not only considered to be one of the greatest comics of all time, it’s considered a landmark piece of English literature in general such that it, as a piece of the superhero genre, can be studied on serious thematic levels in colleges and universities (I’d cite my sources, but admittedly, I am quite lazy in that regard; but don’t take my word for it, look it up).

The film, like the graphic novel, is set in a fairly realistic world, much like our own in 1985, but with the twist of superheroes existing within it. The story showcases these heroes’ now-outlawed influence on this world, as that influence (namely from Dr. Manhattan) has led the U.S. and U.S.S.R. to the point where nuclear Armageddon is more of a possibility than even during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The plot follows the investigation of one such outlawed vigilante, Rorschach (who, btw, is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction), who is looking into the death of the Comedian, a controversial (to say the least) hero who has been mysteriously murdered. Rorschach’s investigation leads him to a “mask killer” theory that, as time goes on and the threat of nuclear annihilation looms ever so closer, gains more credence as more of his fellow heroes, including himself, are attacked by an unknown powerful figure. With the aid of Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre, two of his former colleagues, Rorschach aims to find out who the mask killer is and ultimately uncover the possibility of that killer’s involvement with the impending global doom.

The film’s plot, like the novel, is given a fair amount of focus and does get a resolution that is as satisfying as it was unexpected (something that Rian Johnson seems to have trouble with when it comes to Star Wars: The Last Jedi). However, both the film and comic’s attention on the plot itself is surprisingly minimal compared to its focus on its own character studies, which is the core strength of both the film and comic. So let’s go into our six lead characters.

1. Rorschach: As I mentioned before, Rorschach has been one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, and here, he is probably given the most faithful depiction on the silver screen. Jackie Earle Haley’s performance as Rorschach is, in my opinion, more Oscar-worthy than something like Black Panther, as it is abundantly clear just how well Haley understood this character. He portrays an incredibly damaged sociopath with an uncompromising view of black-and-white morality so well that it makes me sad that Haley never gets the respect for playing this character as well as Ryan Reynolds does for playing Deadpool, Hugh Jackman for Wolverine, Kevin Conroy or Michael Keaton for playing Batman, or Robert Downey, Jr. for playing Iron Man. My hat goes out to you, Mr. Haley. Your performance here rates 10/10 for me still. :)

2. Nite-Owl a.k.a. Dan Dreiberg: As a teenager, I had an underappreciation for both the character of Dan Dreiberg and for Patrick Wilson’s portrayal of him. While I thought then that Wilson had done a good job playing Dreiberg, I didn’t much care for the character in general as a teen, as I thought that he was just a boring everyman. As an adult, however, I found both the character and Wilson’s performance to be as important as, if not more than, Rorschach and Haley’s performance of that character. Wilson’s portrayal of a defeated, pathetic sad-sack of a human being who has an underlying anxiety concerning the threat of nuclear annihilation is an important emotional anchor point for the film (and comic, of course); as entertaining as Rorschach is, I can imagine that not a whole lot of people can relate to him on a deep level. If Rorschach is the Jack Sparrow of what I can loosely call an adventure here, Dreiberg is Will Turner; you might not like him as much as the guy who gets the attention for his craziness, but you realize you need him as the everyman if you want your story to really work.

3. Silk Spectre a.k.a. Laurie Jupiter: Unfortunately, while my opinion on Nite-Owl had changed, my opinion on Laurie Jupiter, as well as Malin Akerman’s performance, has not. I hate to say it, but she’s essentially the female equivalent of Dreiberg, and while she does have some interesting emotional turmoil going on, I don’t find the character to be particularly likable. And I think the biggest reason for that stems from Akerman’s performance; I find her to be too wooden and bland in her delivery. While Akerman does make the character more likable than in the comic, her eye candy appeal doesn’t distract me from the unconvincing performance that she delivers throughout the film.

4. Dr. Manhattan a.k.a. Jon Osterman: A character, and performance courtesy of Billy Crudup, that I gained more appreciation for, like Dreiberg and Wilson’s depiction of that character. The nihilism and disconnection from humanity that serves as the basis for Dr. Manhattan is one that is properly delivered by Crudup’s deliberately robotic performance, and as a character, he stands out as incredibly unique in fiction. As a fan of Rick and Morty, I find Dr. Manhattan to be what Rick Sanchez would be if he had less personalty and gave even less of a shit about the universe in which he inhabits. A nihilistic character can be hard to pull off without coming off as boring, yet the writing and Crudup’s performance manage to almost perfectly convey someone who maybe layered in disinterest, but who, at his core, still retains enough of a sliver of humanity that he wishes to find any reason to still be a part of it.

5. The Comedian a.k.a. Eddie Blake: Now here is a character that you probably wouldn’t see much of in the superhero genre. As unique as Dr. Manhattan is when it comes to his nihilism, Edward Morgan Blake is probably what would happen if Rick Sanchez were actually grounded in reality and his actions had legitimate consequences. Jeffrey Dean Morgan manages to play a despicable human being so incredibly well that even though he says and does some genuinely heinous things, like attempted rape or shooting a pregnant woman dead out of anger for slashing his face with a broken beer bottle because he wouldn’t agree to raise the baby that he impregnated her with, he still manages to come off as understandable and believably human. This is especially highlighted in a scene where he actually breaks down crying to someone who had been his enemy for decades. It’s a shockingly real depiction of a monster who is still all too human and it’s one that I don’t think would be depicted in the mainstream media these days.

6. Ozymandias a.k.a. Adrian Veidt - As a teen, I thought that Matthew Goode’s performance as Veidt was dull, but now, like with Wilson and Crudup’s performance of their respective characters in this film, I now consider his performance to be an incredibly strong one. While giving this character a much more sinister and menacing air than the more tragic atmosphere surrounding Veidt in the comic, I can now assess that Goode is able to deliver a performance that is quite respectable for someone who can be reasonably argued to be the film and comic’s true hero rather than its villain. I don’t find it to be nearly to the same caliber as Josh Brolin’s performance as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but I’d say it’s at least within the same ballpark.

Now that we’re past the characters, I have to mention the extras that are part of the Ultimate Cut of this film and whether or not I think they add or subtract from the film’s quality overall. I can really only think of two scenes that I thought were unnecessary. The first is one early on that I thought made no sense, in which Rorschach somehow managed to survive being shot by a cop without even so much as flinching; it wasn’t even something that was from the book either, so what the hell? Also, I thought that including Hollis Mason’s death in the film was unnecessary, as it doesn’t really have a resolution, and that’s a criticism that I levy at the comic as well. However, in spite of these somewhat weak bits, I felt that the film’s inclusion of the Tales from the Black Freighter is one that lends some very interesting thematic weight to the film’s main story, just as that did in the comic. The Black Freighter sections were incredibly well animated, Gerard Butler put in a fantastic performance as the Captain, and it was a great representation of the comic-within-a-comic; I have no complaints here, but I do understand why it had to ultimately be cut from the film’s theatrical cut.

In conclusion, the film adaptation of Watchmen, as bolstered through most of the extra material of its Ultimate Cut, is not only an excellent adaptation of its source material, even if Alan Moore didn’t want his name attached to it, but it’s also a great film in its own right that I find to be incredibly underrated. I rate this movie 9.5/10.

#watchmen #watchmen movie #watchmen ultimate cut #film review #369

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closetofanxiety · 6 years

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NXT to the Main Roster: A Haphazard Examination, Part 1 (2014-2015)

I am, if nothing else, always willing to test my hypotheses via data, so let’s take a look at every NXT call up since I started watching the WWE network (February, 2014). This does not include the FCW call ups, because that was before I started watching, but they are, all in all, a pretty spectacular group. IMPORTANT: I am grading the main roster tenures of the Superstars(tm), not them as individuals. For example, I think Neville is great and hope he tears it up on the indies (although please don’t let him go back to calling himself PAC), but it’s hard to see his time on the main roster as anything but, ultimately, a dud.

Paige

Call-up date: April 7, 2014. She debuted spectacularly, and then kind of hit a plateau where they didn’t know what to do with her. She kind of shared a gimmick with AJ Lee (”the anti diva”), flopped from heel to face with no real direction, was absent for a long time because of injuries and Alberto del Rio, and came back only to get a career-ending injury. I actually think she’s grown into her role as GM; this might be my favorite incarnation of WWE Paige. At best, though, this is a partial success, and clearly not what they had in mind for her future.

Grade: C

Rusev

Call-up date: April 7, 2014. Rusev has done pretty much exactly as well as I expected, spending time as a reliable mid-card presence with occasional breakout moments (his feud with John Cena, this “Rusev Day” thing that feels like it will never end). I enjoy his matches, he’s used well, the crowd responds to him. There’s nothing wrong with being a credible midcarder. Not everyone can be in the main event.

Grade: B+/A-

Lana

Call-up date: April 7. 2014. The former FSU Cowgirl was initially one of the best things about WWE TV, playing the icy Russian blonde to perfection. Vince hates managers, though, so it was determined that her Character Must Develop, and it did, disastrously. Remember the denim-clad Dolph Ziggler alliance? Remember the Dancing Lana vignettes? She still accompanies Rusev at times, but they’re now trying to make her a wrestler, and this is not really what she does best. She doesn’t even always remember to speak with the accent anymore. Without Rusev, she would have gone the way of Summer Rae long ago.

Grade: C-

Adam Rose

Call-up date: May 5, 2014. God, they bungled his arrival, but how over could he realistically expect to get with a kind of Russell Brand gimmick? He was all entrance in that character. Also, Personal Demons doomed his WWE run.

Grade: F

Bo Dallas

Call-up date: May 23, 2014. A fantastic heel champion in NXT, Dallas has been lost on the main roster. He’s a great example of a phenomenon we’ve seen repeatedly: a subtle, engaging gimmick that works in NXT (in his case, eerily motivational weirdo who is secretly a psycho) evaporating on contact with the WWE’s mass audience and hamfisted creative team. He’s only recently gotten anything resembling a push, which they’ve spoiled by rushing the B Team’s redemption story.

Grade: C-

The Ascension

Call-up date: September 9, 2014. A formative experience for me: being mystified as to why these Road Warriors knockoffs were so hugely popular with the Full Sail massive. Whereas Bo Dallas’ NXT gimmick could have worked with a better creative team, it seemed clear to me these guys were always going to be local heroes. They’ve vanished completely; it’s incredible they’re still on the roster.

Grade: F

Kalisto

Call-up date: February 27, 2015. The Man Who Would Be Rey has managed a respectable career on the lower midcard, racking up two U.S. title victories, which is kind of like the WWE’s version of a perfect attendance trophy. He’s found new life on 205 Live, to the extent that matters. He’s done about as well as a masked luchador not named Rey Misterio is going to do in Vince’s company.

Grade: C

Neville

Call-up date: March 30, 2015. Now Available For Indie Dates. He was a terrific fighting babyface champ in NXT, and was saddled with a fucking cape as soon as he came up to the main roster, a sure sign the creative team didn’t know what to do with him. He helped revive 205 Live from its initial doldrums, but then Problems With the Office ensured his stay in Vincetopia would be short. Despite his talent and popularity with hardcore fans, it’s hard to judge his tenure as anything other than a missed opportunity.

Grade: F

Kevin Owens

Call-up date: May 18, 2015. The first guy to get called up from the triple A club since Seth Rollins who was also a holy-shit big deal in the indies, Owens was initially handled so well, beating John Cena in his debut main roster match and coming off like the prizefighter that made him a star. In that crazy, heady time of 2015, I actually saw people wearing Kevin Owens shirts outside the context of wrestling shows, and it seemed like they had a breakout star on their hands. It did not work out that way! Although he’s had some stellar moments since then (the disintegration of his friendship with Jericho was a legitimately great angle), he’s settled into being the whiny pussy on the upper midcard who can occasionally be slotted into holding pattern feuds with babyfaces they’re priming for the top spots. He still does everything really well, and has his fans, but it’s hard not to imagine what could have been. I don’t see anyone wearing Kevin Owens shirts outside wrestling shows anymore, that’s for sure.

Grade: B-

Sasha Banks

Call-up date: July 13, 2015. She seemed like the odds-on favorite to be the breakout star from NXT’s women’s division, and although she’s been intermittently used well and has a high level of popularity, the stop-start booking, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it title reigns, and the inexplicable decision to make her mostly a vanilla babyface have dimmed her star a little. There are a lot more chapters to be written in her career, though, barring injury.

Grade: B+

Charlotte Flair

Call-up date: July 13, 2015. An undeniable star, they’ve built the women’s division of the main roster around her, and although she absolutely belongs at the top of the card, the push still feels a little ersatz. She’s good in the ring, but not the best, and her promos are passable, but she doesn’t have Alexa Bliss’ off-the-charts charisma. She’s less Ric Flair than she is Bob Backlund (early ‘80s version), which is not a terrible thing. I don’t know why the people who complain about Roman Reigns being overpushed don’t feel the same way about Charlotte.

Grade: A-

Becky Lynch

Call-up date: July 13, 2015. After initially being stuck in NXT with a hideously bad Riverdance gimmick, she became a fan favorite thanks to her charisma and wrestling chops. Along with Sasha and Charlotte, she spearheaded the “Women’s Revolution,” became the first-ever Smackdown Women’s champion, and then ... well, not much. Stuck in a succession of pointless midcard feuds, marooned with a gimmick that made her seem like she had a mild brain disorder (DO YOU LIKE PUNS?), she was treading water until her recent “heel turn” that is really a babyface turn.

Grade: B-/C+

Braun Strowman

Call-up date: August 24, 2015. BRAUUUUUUUN. As tired I am of his vaguely one-dimensional shtick, there’s no denying how insanely popular he is with the main roster crowd. He’s not only got a great look as a big guy, he’s also a surprisingly capable athlete who plays his character well. Even the WWE creative team could not screw this one up. He may never cross over to mainstream notoriety, but he could potentially slot into the Kane or even the Undertaker role, although Strowman’s gimmick would need a little spicing up for that.

Grade: A+

Tyler Breeze

Call-up date: October 22, 2015. In the late fall of 2014, I saw Tyler Breeze vs. Neville at a WWE house show in Springfield, Mass., and the crowd went from total indifference in the presence of these unknowns to ferociously hating Breeze within about five minutes. I said then, “This dude is an undeniable star. He is going to be absolutely huge.” I AM NEVER WRONG. No, of course he didn’t become a star. The main roster creative team took one of the most reliable heel gimmicks in wrestling (Tyler Breeze is, essentially, Gorgeous George) and somehow managed to make people feel total indifference to it. He was saved from Ascension-esque oblivion only by the Fashion Police skits, which Vince reportedly loved. But where do you go from there? Don Muraco main-evented a trio of Madison Square Garden matches against Hulk Hogan near the white-hot zenith of Hulkamania, and then, after the “Fuji Vice” and “Fuji General” comedy skits, was jobbing to Dino Bravo at SummerSlam. Tyler Breeze has so much talent, but I imagine we’ll get to see the full range of it during an indies-and-Japan sprint.

Grade: D+

That’s it for now! Tune in eventually for the Class of 2016.

#NXT #WWE #official rankings

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filmstruck · 6 years

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Let’s Face the Music and Dance: Two Sad-Eyed Musicals by Herbert Ross by Nathaniel Thompson

If you polled critics or movie buffs about significant American film directors, it’s highly doubtful that Herbert Ross would appear anywhere close to the top 100. That’s not a slight against his abilities but rather the simple fact that he doesn’t fit the auteur idea of a director who puts an indelible stamp of authorship on every film he touches. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a great auteur to be a solid director—Hollywood is loaded with dozens of skilled craftsmen who were never lauded by the critical powers that be—and Ross fits the bill with a pretty astonishing run that kicked off with his underrated 1969 debut, a musical version of GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS, and continued all the way through, more or less, to at least STEEL MAGNOLIAS in 1989. There’s been a lot of discussion lately about how rare it is for directors to have a “hot streak” of more than four films in a row, but Ross managed to pull it off a couple of times over.

Somehow you also never hear of Ross cited as a significant director of musicals, though he dipped his toes in at least three times – or four if you count the dance-crazy FOOTLOOSE (’84), his biggest box office hit. You can see two of them in FilmStruck’s five-film spotlight on Ross, and it’s interesting to note how they snugly fit in with his recurring theme of nostalgia as both a soothing mental snuggly blanket and a dangerous pitfall that can blind you to the harsh realities of life if you aren’t careful. That also goes for his other third bona fide musical, FUNNY LADY (’75), which is also worth tracking down and far more interesting than most critics like to admit.

Now, as they like to say in school, let’s compare and contrast. GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS was an easy target when it opened among a slew of doomed Hollywood roadshow song-and-dance projects that went down in flames, most notably STAR! (’68) and PAINT YOUR WAGON (’69). No one seemed to hate it (after all, the film earned a couple of Oscar nominations and, for what it’s worth, snagged a Golden Globe for Peter O’Toole), but audiences were a lot more eager to see sexy ‘30s outlaws and counterculture motorcyclists than Vaseline-lensed odes to Hollywood’s musical tradition, so the odds were stacked against this one before it even opened. Luckily time has proven the strength of Ross’s film, an inventive and emotionally effective adaptation of James Hilton’s classic novel (earlier filmed as an Oscar-winning 1939 production starring Robert Donat).

I have to be upfront that I’m a little biased since I’m a sucker for just about anything with Petula Clark, but there’s an infectious charm to this film that makes the emotional punches land even harder. It’s clear that former choreographer Ross relished the opportunity to pull out all the stops here with a widescreen 70mm period film set over multiple eras, and a splashy score and book by John Williams and Leslie Bricusse, a luxury similar to what Bob Fosse would be afforded the same year with his colorful and often exhilarating big screen take on SWEET CHARITY (which has also amassed a dedicated fan following). Stepping in for a departed Richard Burton, O’Toole brings a sweetness and slightly dizzy sincerity to his part that pays dividends as his character ages through the film; you really believe his mannerisms and body language as he transforms through the various phases of Mr. Chips over the course of the running time. Just throw out any comparisons to the classic black-and-white version of the story and you’ll find this one has continued to age quite beautifully.

Though it was made only 12 years later, Ross’s PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (’81) might as well be from a different planet in terms of its target audience and philosophy. Once again, we have a big-budget musical revamp of a preexisting property, in this case an acclaimed Dennis Potter miniseries that originally aired on the BBC in 1978. It’s also a true MGM musical and the last legitimate gasp of the studio in that realm, which seems wistfully appropriate. Steve Martin (whose extensive musical talents are still often overlooked) and Bernadette Peters, a real-life coupe who had just starred in THE JERK (’79), teamed up again here for a film that’s anything but a comedy as Potter transposes his original London-set script to Great Depression-era Illinois. Otherwise the story’s the same, as traveling sheet music salesman Arthur Parker escapes from his dreary reality (including an unhappy marriage to the always welcome Jessica Harper) by drifting off into the starry-eyed tunes he hawks. After hooking up with schoolteacher Eileen (Peters), he’s subjected to several cruel twists of fate far removed from the optimism of his daydreams.

The mixture of bleak Midwestern tragedy and glitzy musical numbers is still a powerful one that distinguishes this film from its more scaled-down BBC presentation, but the overriding philosophy is the same: entertainment might be an easy way to escape for three minutes or a couple of hours but using it as a yardstick for reality is only going to ruin your life. It’s a message that moviegoers of the early ‘80s really, really didn’t want to hear and the film flopped at the box office. That’s a shame as it’s chock full of classic sequences, most notably Christopher Walken’s scene-stealing tap dance number as a charismatic pimp (a scene that was cut out wholesale when this used to run on commercial TV) and, my personal favorite, Martin and Peters miming the timeless FOLLOW THE FLEET (’36) performance of “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. (Astaire’s very vocal disdain for this film probably didn’t help, but don’t let his opinion dissuade you from watching it.) Even more than GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS, Ross feels like a kid in a candy store here with rows of dancing chorines, instrument-playing school kids and an eye-popping array of glittering costumes. It’s the sort of film you never forget once you’ve seen it, and you don’t have to look much further than films like DANCER IN THE DARK (2000) or even the unflinchingly downbeat INTO THE WOODS (2014) to see how unexpected and potent its influence continues to be. Like much of Ross’s work, it’s a resilient and crafty little number that has a way of winning you over in ways you might never expect.

#FilmStruck #Herbert Ross #Goodbye Mr. Chips #Pennies From Heaven #Steve Martin #Peter O'Toole #Petula Clark #Bernadette Peters #musicals #StreamLine Blog #Nathaniel Thompson

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wellimagine-that · 6 years

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Smoke and Mirrors Pt. 2

Summary: The Bat Family prepares to help you finish solve the case you’ve been investigating. After a bitter six months separated from Jason Todd, your reunion might be a bit messier than expected. Part 2 of a series.

Also, for everyone out there about to take/taking finals, best of luck to all of you! You’ll all do amazing things! (:

Part 1

Word Count: 1242

Warnings: Mention of human trafficking.

You wake up to the patter of typing fingers. A disruption. What you make out to be a slurp. The typing gets faster, aggressive but restrained. Tim must be looking at the details of your case. You prefer to work your cases out the old-fashioned way, on paper, in notebooks, so there isn’t much to see in the notes on your computer, which Tim has already hacked into. Once he sees what’s there, he looks at the footage near the park. He begins finding the cars you’ve identified as belonging to the ring. He’s preparing the team for what he thinks you’ll push them to do.

The limited rest you got was full of forgettable fits. Not quite awake, you’re sure of one thing: the Bats will get you into wherever the metas are being held, and get them out before they can be shipped into an unimaginable fate. The case ends tonight. Sitting up, you can feel the stiches in your arm shift. Alfred did a good job, and you can feel the painkillers coursing through your veins. Artificial strength. But you’re used to that.

“Y/N’s up!” You hear Tim call, along with disarrayed footsteps coming clearer into focus.

You swear, your last intention is to make eye contact with Jason. But his eyes are the first thing you see, and you’re stubborn enough to not look away. You can tell he looks angry, but mostly worried. Back when you were together, you could have expected him to give a lengthy lecture at this moment, which you would find immensely hypocritical. He had trained you, after all.

Jason remembered those sweet winter nights in the first few months, after he had revealed himself to you. Under the helmet, he was a warrior with hundreds hours of training that rivaled some of the greatest fighters of the world. When Gotham was cold outside, he would bring you down here, and you would warm your limbs by sparring endlessly. At first, it was easy to tell he was taking it easy on you. When you started to notice he was getting sloppy, you got faster, sometimes even dictating the pace of the fight. After months of sweat, close moments on the mat, and endless practice, you could hold your own. And he knew it.

Hell, he’d even taught you to shoot. Before Jason, you refused to touch a gun, thinking you would probably shoot yourself in the foot. But with his callused hands on your hips, lining up your sight of vision, his breath on your neck, demolishing the target became half the fun. You were a decent shot, and went to the range sometimes to clear your mind of a case and get a better start on a lead. You had learned to steady yourself after the kickback of the pistol without a man’s perfect form behind you. Sometimes you could smell him, filling you with inescapable hope and dread, but eventually decided it was the gunpowder playing mind games with you.

You knew it was reckless to walk on the scene in the park. But you also legitimately believed you had no choice. Your conviction started to wane as you stared into Jason’s hard eyes, so you looked immediately at Dick and explained what you knew. Schedules. Patterns. Locations. Theories. Everything out on the table. It felt good to unload all you had on a team. You had to admit that you had started to get a bit obsessive about this case. Slowing dragging yourself out of a hole you had dug too deep. You could still feel Jason’s eyes pouring into you, almost looking for an opportunity to strangle you during your speech.

It took a few hours before the team was able to come up with a concrete plan. Tim used his connections to track the traffickers down to a warehouse owned by one of Gotham’s most notorious mobsters, and lined the blueprints of the old factory across the screens of the Cave.

“There’s data being sent to a few locations out of the warehouse. It’s encrypted, but the code looks like it was done pretty lazily,” Tim said, and you can already see the way the dots are lining up in his head. He’ll be done organizing the information in minutes. “Looks like most of it is being sent to an office building in the Financial District.”

So, two primary locations. The information on Tim’s screens is overwhelming: data from medical experiments, customers, travel dates. It’s hard to believe that such a small number of meta-humans, (you’ve estimated the group operates with ten at a time) can garner so much information.

Bruce is all business. He can feel the same sense of doom over the abduction of a new metahuman and the group’s new sense of aggression. Already donning the cowl, he splits the team into two as soon as he gets a refresher on the new information you’ve brought to the team. Dick, Tim and Damian will accompany Bruce to the warehouse to break the metas out. When he says that Cass will provide you and Jason cover for entering the office building, you nearly jump of your skin, ready to protest, but Jason beats you too it.

“Bruce, that’s pretty obviously a bad idea. There’s no way in hell I’m walking in with her. She’s unstable.” That’s petty. Even for him. He knows how much that word drives you crazy.

As much as it pisses you off to think that Jason now thinks you can’t handle your own, the urge to prove him wrong has a stronger hold on you.

“I can handle the office building,” you say, with more confidence than you probably should, “with or without Jason.”

That shuts him up. You can practically feel the heat coming off of his skin. You’ve also made the assumption that Bruce wants you to continue collecting information by going straight to the source, and you’re the expert here. Everyone makes their moves to prepare for the ambush, leaving you with Jason.

“I’ll be on my bike in five. If you’re late, I’m leaving without you.”

“Fine. I’ll be there.”

As he walks away, you can see the tension in Jason’s neck. He’s fuming, and the extra anxiety you’ve given him might make him a bit more reckless. You push each other’s buttons nowadays. A year ago, you would have placed a soothing hand across his chest to ease those fears that consumed him. Now, you found yourself a scapegoat for his rage. Then again, you weren’t going to forgive him for what he had done anytime soon.

As Bruce makes the final preparations to lead the rest of the team across the other side of Gotham, you check the condition of your pistol and notice a still figure.

Preoccupied, Red Robin had yet to move. You can see Tim scowl at a large collection of information being sent to a location in England. More than would be necessary for a single buyer. Or even a plethora of buyers. Thousands of files, labeled with names you had never seen before. When he looked at you, you could tell exactly what he was thinking: this operation was bigger than you had thought. With international implications. If there was any night to understand the magnitude of the case, it was in the ambush tonight. And you were prepared to use any amount of force necessary to get that information. Even with the heaviness of Jason’s presence by your side.

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lightchildofthespring · 3 years

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The fantastic adventures of Takeru Takaishi

Chapter 5: Old foe

Summary: As Sora faces the man responsible for her father's death, Taichi has to decide how far he's willing to go to save his sister.

Before they headed to the mansion, the group stopped close to a huge lonely tree on the field. Underneath it was one of the secret spots where the revolutionaries kept extra guns, in case of emergency. After digging in the dirt and retrieving a chest, Yamato opened its lock with the back of his shotgun. Once the chest was open, Koushiro reached out to get one of the weapons, but Yamato stopped him, reaching his arm to keep Koushiro at a distance. The others, who were surrounding them, observed silently their exchange of gazes.

“Who are you?” Yamato asked Koushiro, coldly.

“I thought we were past introductions at this point,” Koushiro told him, seemingly annoyed.

“I'm not lending you a weapon until I know I can trust you,” Yamato stated.

“Yamato, didn't you see how he was willing to die to help us?” Sora asked.

“He also warned us about the invasion! He saved our camp!” Daisuke pointed out.

“He kind of saved my life without even knowing me...” Ken murmured.

“Just because he's clearly a conman doesn't mean he can't be useful for us,” Miyako gave her opinion. “His fake death trick was really convincing.”

“Besides, we're already letting a henchman of Yamanaka join us. Koushiro couldn't possibly be someone worse or more suspicious than Ken!” Iori commented.

“I'm not a henchman!” Ken protested.

Yamato closed the chest, putting one foot on its lid. He crossed his arms and kept staring at Koushiro, refusing to be distracted by anything.

“Who are you?” Yamato asked again.

Koushiro had a somber look on his face. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and began to say:

“I was just someone trying to help my friend Hikari... I wanted to bring her back to life, and then I made everything worse... not only was I cursed, but I also doomed Taichi, Hikari's brother... my best friend...”

“You were trying to bring someone back from the dead?” Sora asked, softly.

“To be cursed with endless resurrections for trying to resurrect someone is quite the dramatic irony!” Takeru sounded impressed. “Was that how you got the clairvoyance as well?”

“No... that was before... it's not really relevant now...” Koushiro muttered, looking away.

“Is Taichi like you? Does he die and resurrect?” Daisuke asked.

“Taichi is invulnerable,” Koushiro replied. “He's incapable of getting physically hurt. He can't die nor age... and he also believes that if he kills me for good his sister will-”

“Who cursed you?” Yamato interrupted. He observed how Koushiro paled after hearing that question and grew more suspicious. Nevertheless, the other gave him an answer:

“It was a woman with a blue staff... she was guarding a door...”

“What woman? What door? What does that mean?!” Yamato was losing the little patience he still managed to have.

“That's enough, Yamato! Leave Koushiro alone!” Sora reprehended him.

“But he hasn't given us any satisfactory answer!” Yamato protested, turning to Sora. “How can you expect me to trust someone I know nothing about?!”

“You knew nothing about me back when I barged into your farm all those years ago and yet you trusted me right away!” Sora reminded him. “If you can't trust Koushiro yet, then trust my judgement about him.”

Yamato sighed, feeling defeated. For a long time, he had found himself unable to deny a request from Sora. He heard a smirk from his right and saw Takeru smiling maliciously at him.

“Soooo... she barged into your farm, huh?” Takeru teased. “Was it love at first sight? Why did you trust her so quickly?”

Yamato felt blood rushing to his face and stuttered:

“T-That's not r-relevant right now!!!”

“Hey, now that I think about it, I never heard how you and Sora met!” Miyako said.

“Yeah! She just showed up with you one day and told us 'it's a long story!'” Daisuke added.

“Like you were a lost animal she had taken in because of pity,” Iori commented in a serious tone.

“You're kind of a harsh person, aren't you, Iori?” Ken observed.

Iori narrowed his eyes and looked at horizon as he stated:

“Life is harsh.”

Relieved that he no longer was at the center of attention, Koushiro approached Sora. She had been watching Yamato being interrogated with an amused face.

“Thank you for defending me,” Koushiro told her, bowing slightly.

“It's alright!” Sora said. “Don't mind Yamato. He might seem difficult now but once you two get to know each other better you'll be friends in no time.”

Koushiro lowered his head, bearing a depressed look.

“Anyway,” Yamato spoke again, turning to Sora. “We still have to discuss what we're going to do once we reach Yamanaka's place.”

“What is there left to discuss?” Sora asked, giving him a serious look. “We'll kill him.”

“That would be a terrible idea,” Yamato told her. “Remember how the revolutionaries of the Pine Tree Archipelago were villainized after they killed their nobles ten years ago?”

“Don't you think they deserved to be villainized after what they did?” Takeru questioned. “Aside from murdering innocent wealthy people, they're Devil worshipers who dance naked around bonfires and eat children for breakfast! I read all about it on the Imperial Press!”

There were a few seconds of awkward silence. Then, Miyako and Daisuke began to laugh.

“W-What is so funny?” Takeru was confused.

“See?” Yamato talked as if he had proved a point. “That's the kind of imperialistic propaganda they'll use on us if we kill Yamanaka. They'll turn the people against us and the revolution will lose! We can't kill him!”

“Are you suggesting we should let that tyrant live because otherwise people would spread lies about us?” Sora inquired. “I don't know if you noticed it, but we're already villainized! You heard what Ken said about the revolutionaries earlier!”

“Sora, we have to be smart! We can't afford to make mistakes now!” Yamato stated. “If we kill Yamanaka, we'll be risking everything we've ever fought for! The Empire will strike us at full force!”

“Oh, because the Empire hasn't been striking us so far? Is that what you're saying?” Sora retorted. “I suppose all the people we've lost were due to the Empire going easy on us!”

The tension between the two of them was making everybody nervous. Takeru decided that he should do something to bring those two into an agreement. He couldn't refuse an opportunity to use his mastery of oratory for a good cause.

“What if you put Yamanaka through a trial?” Takeru suggested. “You could assemble the revolutionaries and prepare a public trial, in which you'll list his crimes and get testimonies. And you have to make sure everybody on Turtle Island will follow the trial. A talented public speaker could convince the people of his villainy. Also, get someone to be his defender, so people will see that it's a fair trial.”

“That's... actually a good idea...” Yamato murmured, seemingly astonished.

“I have to say, Takeru, that's the smartest thing I've heard from you!” Daisuke praised Takeru, enthusiastically.

“I suppose a trial could have a positive effect for our cause...” Sora muttered.

“I still think we should kill Yamanaka while we have the chance,” Ken said.

“No, a trial would make things more legitimate,” Miyako told him.

“It'd be a way to expose all the bad things he's done,” Daisuke added. “We can't underestimate how many supporters he still has.”

“That way, more people would see Yamanaka as their enemy and not just as the enemy of the revolutionaries!” Iori concluded.

“I guess it's decided, then...” Sora said, looking down.

“It's the right way to do things. Everything will work out,” Yamato promised her.

Sora smiled at him, but there was no joy in her eyes.

Daisuke and Miyako tied Yamanaka to a chair while Ken and Iori kept aiming their shotguns at the old man. Sora observed the scene a few steps away, keeping her arms crossed. Although she tried to remain calm, the fury in her eyes was evident. Yamato, who couldn't take his eyes off of her, could only imagine how difficult it was for her to be close to the person responsible for her father's death.

“Why don't we just kill this guy now, anyway?” Ken wondered.

“We're not having that discussion again!” Iori replied. “We must assemble the other revolutionaries and put him through a trial!”

“And what do we do with him before the trial?” Ken asked. “Throw him in jail?”

“You bandits wouldn't dare to incarcerate me!” Yamanaka shouted. “I am a noble! The very rules of the universe dictate that I am a superior man!”

“Oh, be quiet already!” Daisuke ordered while tightening the last knot. “Your reign of terror is over! It's time for you to face all the people you've hurt, Yamanaka!”

The old man's eyes widened in terror when he heard that. But then his scared expression was replaced by one of outrage.

“You wouldn't dare to touch me!” Yamanaka roared. “All the disgraces of the world will befall you if you hurt me in any way!”

Miyako slapped Yamanaka.

“Oh my goodness, look at this!” she said in an exaggerated surprised voice. “I hit a noble man and nothing happened to me at all! It's almost like the so-called divine nature of monarchy is a fraud designed to keep mediocre people in power!”

The look on Yamanaka's face was of someone who had been slapped fifteen times in less than a minute. Meanwhile, Ken looked at Miyako with profound admiration.

“How are you more blasphemous than that damn monk?” Yamanaka asked in a weak voice. “He was spitting some crazy nonsense about the Devil but you, young lady, really outdid him! What are you going to say next? That all humans are equal and deserve equal rights?”

“All humans are equal and they deserve equal rights!” Miyako stated.

“You really are crazier than the monk!” Yamanaka affirmed.

“Stop talking to that man already!” Sora ordered, startling everybody. Even Takeru, who had been observing Koushiro and the monk staring at each other at the garden for a few minutes, turned his attention to Sora.

Yamato looked at her with concern. Sora's body was shaking and her eyes shone with tears she refused to let go. Being in the presence of that man was clearly too much for her.

“Those eyes of yours...” Yamanaka had malice in his voice, “could you possibly be Takenouchi's daughter? Tell me, how much did she like the death I arranged for her husband?”

The fury that Sora had been controlling for so long exploded and she advanced in that man's direction. Yamato put himself in front of her just in time.

“Sora, you can't let him play with you!” Yamato pleaded.

“Right! Sora! That was the name of their daughter!” Yamanaka laughed. “My men told me that your father died crying both your name and your mother's! I wish I had been there to watch, it must've been tremendously entertaining!”

“Shut up!” Sora shouted. She wanted to hit Yamanaka with all the pain she had borne for years, all the heartbreak that he had caused. But Yamato wouldn't let her do it. No matter how much she tried to evade him, Yamato continued to block her path.

“Get out of my way! Why are you protecting him?!” Sora inquired.

“I'm protecting you, Sora!” Yamato answered. “Don't fall for his mind games! You have to be strong!”

“I'm tired of being strong!” Sora cried, at last letting the tears she had been holding back flow. “I'm so tired! He has to pay for what he did!”

“He will! I promise you that!” Yamato assured her.

He gently wrapped his arms around Sora. She hugged him back and buried her face on Yamato's shoulder.

“Pathetic!” Yamanaka mocked.

Miyako hit his head with the back of her shotgun, which made the old man lose consciousness. That action made Ken's admiration for her grow even more.

“I'm going to go get Leader and the other revolutionaries,” Miyako announced. “I'll be back soon, unless I get hit by divine punishment.”

“I'll go with you,” Daisuke offered.

“Thank you...” Sora said, letting go of Yamato. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and showed the others a small smile. “Let's do things properly and bring justice to my father and every other person wronged by Yamanaka.”

They all nodded.

“Hold on, what happened there while I wasn't looking?!” Takeru suddenly shouted, pointing at the garden. Taichi had pinned Koushiro against the grass and crossed the redhead's heart with his sword. A puddle of blood was forming around them.

Taichi was expecting Koushiro to give his usual excuses, like he always did.

The redhead's lies had long lost the ability of deceiving Taichi. Nevertheless, Koushiro always insisted that he wasn't the villain Justine had made of him.

However, Koushiro also never denied trying to rescue Hikari's soul. Nor did he deny that she was sent to Hell because of him. Those facts alone were more than enough to prove his guilt. So what if Koushiro had good intentions? His excuses wouldn't save Hikari. Only the purging of his soul would.

Taichi never enjoyed taking his friend's life. Because of that, Taichi always tried to do it as quickly and painless as possible, always hoping that Koushiro had finally died enough times. But he kept coming back, asking Taichi to trust him... promising that he could still save Hikari but couldn't tell him how. Taichi could only wonder if his friend would ever get tired of repeating those lies.

Judging by his current silence, Koushiro seemed to be done with the lies at last.

“Have you finally given up?” Taichi asked, slowly approaching the other.

“Never,” Koushiro replied.

“Are you going to fight me, then?” Taichi inquired.

Koushiro put the shotgun on the grass and kicked it to his left, out of his reach.

Taichi was a few steps away from him, close enough for the tip of his sword to touch Koushiro's chest. Koushiro didn't flinch.

“When I kill you this time... please, don't come back...” Taichi pleaded. “She told me that you just need to yield. Just say that you've learned your lesson and this will all stop. Our souls will be able to be at peace. Hikari will go back to Heaven and we all will be together again. Don't you want that? Give up now! Let me save you!”

Koushiro gave him a serene look, as if Taichi's words weren't affecting him at all. Could he really be that heartless?

“Hikari told me that she wanted to leave Turtle Island and see the world,” Koushiro said.

“Enough with that story!” Taichi roared. “Hikari was happy on Turtle Island! The three of us were happy together! She would never say such a thing!”

“To you, she wouldn't,” Koushiro let him know. “She was always trying to protect you. Even in her deathbed...”

“How many times do I have to tell you the truth until you get it?!” Taichi was losing his patience. “Hikari had accepted her death! She accepted that she was sick and nobody could do anything about it! But you...” Taichi pierced the other's chest with the sword, “... you just had to play the savior, didn't you?! You went there and played with forces you didn't understand and because of that my sister is in Hell and I am a monster!”

Taichi sunk his sword in Koushiro's chest. Not satisfied, he plunged his body to the grass. Koushiro kept looking at him, not breaking eye contact even once, no matter how much pain he was feeling. Taichi kept pushing the sword, until its hilt was touching Koushiro's body. Its blade was nailing him to the ground. At that moment, Taichi was kneeling by his side, watching as life faded from his eyes like he had done so many times before. Once Koushiro took his last breath, Taichi closed his friend's eyes.

And then, the sword was forcefully pulled out of Koushiro's body by an unknown force and launched into the sky in such high speed that Taichi lost sight of it. The wound in Koushiro's chest rapidly closed. In a matter of seconds, the redhead opened his eyes and stood up again.

“You had never come back this fast before...” Taichi muttered, in shock.

Koushiro had an exhausted look on his face. He took a step forward and nearly fell, but was able to stay on his feet.

“I don't think I can afford to take breaks anymore...” Koushiro murmured. “You can kill me a thousand times... one billion times... and I'll return right away...”

“Stop it!” Taichi ordered. “Don't you understand that I'm trying to save your soul?”

“Even if you were to break my resistance, that woman wouldn't bring Hikari back...” Koushiro told him. “When will you understand that she sees you only as a tool to use against me?”

“Quiet!” Taichi shouted, grabbing Koushiro by the arms and pulling him closer. “How is it possible that after everything I've done, after all the times I've killed your body, you continue to be as blasphemous as you were back then? What will it take to make you yield?”

“I promised Hikari...” Koushiro said; his voice was so weak it was barely audible. “I can't stop... I can't stop now...”

At that moment, a distant memory resurged in Taichi's mind. In the room where he had been watching over his sister's body, Justine appeared before him. She told him what Koushiro had done and what he, Taichi, had to do. He could hear those words again, almost as if she was muttering them in his ear.

“Angel of Death, I give you wings made of holy fire. They will protect your body from everything and purify anything they touch.”

For all those centuries, Taichi had refused to resort to that. To submit Koushiro to that kind of death would be unforgivable. But what other choice did he have? If Koushiro wasn't broken by the countless deaths he had gone through, that one had to work.

Taichi summoned his wings.

They were six at total. Each one of them had two to three meters of wingspan and were made of orange flames.

With one flap of them, Taichi took flight with Koushiro, rising several meters into the air.

“Yield!” Taichi ordered.

Koushiro didn't say anything. He stared at the fire with eyes filled with horror. Taichi could feel his friend's body tremble, despite the heat emanating from his wings. Koushiro couldn't resist that, he just couldn't! He had to give up!

“I know you don't want to die like them,” Taichi told him. “I don't want to put you through that, so, please, just yield! Koushiro, I'm begging you... please, don't make me do this...”

Koushiro began to shed tears. It had been a long time since Taichi had seen him crying.

It had been a couple of months since Taichi and Hikari had rescued him from the sea. Koushiro barely talked to anyone and seemed to be scared all the time. They didn't really know anything about him.

Koushiro had said that he was from Shrimp Island, but gave no explanation about how he got to the middle of the sea. When asked if he had family, Koushiro looked down and muttered “not anymore.”

Taichi tried everything he could imagine to cheer the other boy up and make him talk more, with no effect.

During an afternoon when the siblings were spending time with Koushiro, who was brushing the Izumis' horses, Hikari said something that shocked both boys:

“I dreamed with your parents last night.”

Koushiro stared at her, astonished.

“Hikari, you shouldn't joke about that kind of thing!” Taichi scolded her.

“I'm not joking!” Hikari retorted. She then turned to Koushiro and continued “Their names were Ame and Shunsui, right? You really look like them, especially your mother. Her red hair was very beautiful...”

“How do you...?” Koushiro began to question.

“They asked me to tell you that you shouldn't feel guilty for running. They didn't want you to die with them... they didn't want you to burn...”

Those tears were just like the first ones Taichi had seen Koushiro shed. At that moment, Taichi realized he couldn't do that to his friend. Even though he was determined to save Hikari, that was a line he wasn't able to cross.

Then, Taichi felt something strange, a piercing sensation that seemed to set his nerves on fire. The sword that had been launched to the sky had fallen back. It made a hole in one of Taichi's wings and crossed his right arm.

The pain and the shock made him let go of Koushiro, who fell towards the garden. It should be impossible for Taichi to get hurt. But then, he noticed something else that was even more disturbing. There was a weak blue hue coming from the sword. He had only seen a hue like that once.

Taichi flew away. There was only one person who could give him answers.

“He's dead... he's actually dead this time... it's not a trick...” Miyako murmured, horrified, looking at Koushiro's body lying on the crater created by his fall.

“Don't worry, he's going to be okay!” Daisuke assured her. “How many times have we seen him resurrect today?”

“This isn't like one of his fake deaths, Daisuke! He fell from a really high place!” Miyako yelled. “He must've broken all his bones and his organs... I don't even want to think about his organs!”

“Miyako, you're the only one who still thinks he wasn't dying for real before,” Iori said.

“How can you deny Koushiro's supernatural nature after we just saw...” Takeru took a deep breath before continuing “... an invulnerable monk with wings of fire! How amazing was that? That man has to be on the cover of my book!”

Yamato kept observing Koushiro, waiting for him to come back to life like he had done before. He was getting apprehensive at how much it was taking for the other to resurrect.

Once again Koushiro found himself in that dark place. The cold wind whipping his face felt as painful as all the other times.

“I can't waste time here... I can't... I have to go back... I finally found Miss Sora...” he repeated to himself, trying to walk against the wind, “I can't stop now... I can't stop... I'm so tired... so tired... no, I can't take a break... I can't stop... Hikari... I can't stop...”

Then, he saw something he had never spotted at that place before. It seemed like a bar of flickering blue light floating a few steps in his front. The shape and the color of it reminded Koushiro of the staff used by that woman to curse him. Koushiro took a step in the direction of the light bar and stretched his arm, but a familiar voice made him stop.

“Don't touch that! It'll break your soul!”

He turned around and saw Hikari surrounded by pink light. She was wearing the white kimono she had when she passed away.

“You have more important things to do than coming to my rescue every time I get stuck in one of these...” Koushiro muttered, looking away. “I'd find my way out eventually...”

“You said that last time, and it took you 52 years,” Hikari said, giggling. “There's nothing to be embarrassed about, I help people in your situation all the time. Escaping Hells is my specialty.”

She approached him and offered him a hand. After Koushiro held it, he felt Hikari's warmth fill his soul. Almost instantaneously, the dark space was replaced by a flower field. The morning sun gave him a peaceful sensation. As he looked down, he noticed that there were no blood stains on his skin nor on the clothes Yamato had lent him earlier that day.

“Do you want to rest for a while?” Hikari asked.

“It's too easy to lose track of time here, and I can't afford it anymore, I finally found Miss Sora!” Koushiro replied. “We're so close now, closer than we've ever been... I can finally be more of help to you!”

“Don't burden yourself too much, we have many allies helping us,” Hikari told him.

“You have many allies helping you here... on my side, I'm alone...” Koushiro reminded her.

“Not anymore! You've found Sora! You've been waiting for her for so long, and finally you're with her! And her friends seem like good people,” Hikari said.

Koushiro frowned, thinking about how Yamato was still suspicious of him. There was no doubt in his mind that he would inevitably be betrayed by that man down the road.

“I know how hard it is for you to trust people after everything you've been through,” Hikari acknowledged. “But not everybody you befriend will turn against you. Trust me on this.”

“You're not the one who has clairvoyance...” Koushiro commented.

“My intuition is just as good as that,” Hikari affirmed, smiling.

He smiled as well.

“I need to go back...” Koushiro said. “I need to help Miss Sora get to where she has to be... I can't risk the plan by getting separated from her. And Taichi... I have to find a way to save Taichi...”

“We will find a way to save him,” Hikari assured Koushiro. “Don't burden yourself! There's nothing wrong in asking for help, you know?”

Koushiro didn't say anything. He let go of Hikari's hand, closed his eyes and felt himself fall. When he reopened his eyes, he found Sora, Miyako, Daisuke, Iori and Ken surrounding him. They all had relieved faces, but Miyako also seemed perplexed.

“You really can return from death...” Miyako muttered. “Are you... an actual demon?”

“I'm not a demon,” Koushiro replied.

As he sat up, he thought to himself:

As a matter of fact, I am the Devil.

#the fantastic adventures of takeru takaishi #basically supernatural taishiro angst #with some revolutionary Sora angst as well #koushiro izumi #izumi koushiro #taichi yagami #yagami taichi #sora takenouchi #takenouchi sora #au fic

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