#truly living by the line anything can be BL is you try hard enough | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

beneaththetangles · 3 years

Text

Review: The Stranger by the Shore (Movie)

Good Morning, Good Evening, Good Afternoon! Josh here! You know, I’ve been an anime fan for a little over 20 years now, and over the course of those 20+ years, I’ve watched shows or movies where I’ve said to myself, “I really don’t think I’m the target demographic for this one.” When I heard the premise of The Stranger by the Shore, I originally thought, “Meh, this just looks like one for specific fans of this genre. Probably not for me.” But this past Sunday, I saw Twitter go crazy over this movie, heaping prodigious praise for this rather short film, so I figured “Meh, why not? I need to watch something to wash the tastes of Girlfriend, Girlfriend out of my mouth” and checked it out.

Three viewings later, and I can honestly say that I was, in fact, exactly in the target audience for this one. Why? Because it’s about love. And after watching the farce of Girlfriend, Girlfriend, I kinda needed to be reminded what pure, genuine love looks like, and how this particular kind of love has many challenges both internal and external.

So what makes this movie so good? Let’s get into it. I’m Josh, the Cajun Samurai, and this is my review of The Stranger by the Shore...and interestingly enough, this is my very first review of an LGBTQ+ anime!

Okay guys, time to be a bit serious here. I know, it’s weird coming from me, but don’t worry, it won’t last long. I am duty-bound to let you guys know that this movie is rated “TV-14” on Funimation’s website, and honestly, were I in charge of the rating scale, I would probably rate it a little more mature as it does feature talk about sex and features characters engaging in intimacy. While nothing is seen, much is implied. If you decide to watch this film, but are put off by this sort of thing, it starts at 47:00, and ends at 49:30 if you’re streaming on Funimation’s website. Okay, end of disclaimer. Let’s get into it.

The Stranger By The Shore is based off a manga series by Kanna Kii. It begins with Shun, a writer living in Hokkaido with his aunt after running away from home. Why would he run away? Simple. Shun is gay and would not enter into an arranged marriage with his childhood friend. His parents were naturally upset over this revelation (How dare you not marry the bride we picked out for you?! And how dare you have other preferences for who you love?!) and so Shun hot-footed out of there to his aunt’s house to work on his book.

One night, Shun sees a young man making like Otis Redding and sitting on the dock of the bay watching the tide roll away. Shun’s aunt explains that the boy, named Mio, is now an orphan after having recently lost his mother (his father died earlier). Shun decides that he wants to try and befriend the boy, but Mio is having none of it, misinterpreting Shun’s advances as pity over the loss of his mother. However, this misunderstanding is quickly cleared up and Mio apologizes, saying that he was actually glad and didn’t mind if Shun was trying to flirt with him. After a day of unsuccessful fishing and a delightful dinner of curry, Mio reveals that he’s being sent to an orphanage on the mainland of Japan, and would only be able to communicate with Shun by phone once he arrives. Shun is pretty down about this.

Time passes and Shun’s cousin is moving out to live with her girlfriend, leaving an open spot at the house. Who could possibly fill it? Why, it’s Mio of course. Our boy is now 20 years old and is able to make his own decisions in life, including but not limited to love. Mio is fully ready to start up a relationship with Shun, not caring what society thinks, but Shun, having been on the receiving end of rumors and teasing about his sexuality, tries to get Mio to think twice about his decision, not wanting him to be ostracized as he was. This results in a couple awkward moments where Mio really wants to take their “relationship” to the next level, but Shun dragging his feet, just barely able to say “I love you” to Mio.

Oh, and if that weren’t enough, later on, Shun’s former fiancé, Sakuraku, comes to the village with some news: His father is gravely ill and wants to see his son before he punches his ticket on the Midnight Train to Georgia. Naturally, Shun is not too excited to see the parents who shunned him, nor is he excited to see the woman who he was once engaged to (albeit through an arrangement). Mio meanwhile is showing some signs of jealousy and a little insecurity at this new arrival. Is this new girl going to take Shun away from him? Will Shun actually go back to the girl that he left at the alter? Find out next time on DragonBall Z!

So yeah guys, I really and truly like this one. As I mentioned, I’ve watched it three times so far since it came out. The first time I watched it on my own just to see what all the commotion was about. Then I watched it a second time to take screencaps and offer up Twitter commentary as I typically do, and the third time…well…it was because the movie is just that freaking good.

It’s awesome just viewing a romance play out over time and watching two people deal with their respective issues to find one another. That’s part of what drew me to shows like Toradora, Kare Kano, Yuri on Ice, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for an Otaku, and Horimiya. Watching a romance from the very beginning and see it work itself through to its inevitable conclusion is beautiful, and that’s what you get with this one.

I also love the fact that this just isn’t a typical high school romance story. Yes, I know how ironic that sounds after the last sentence where I praised a bunch of high school based shows, but still… sometimes you just want a story with two mature adults instead of two crazy kids who are probably operating more on hormones than true love…even though there are times when Mio, young lad that he is, REALLY wants to make his relationship with Shun more physical, bless his heart.

Another thing that I really loved about this story are the differences in how Shun and Mio see the world with regard to their sexuality. While Shun sees their relationship through a somewhat wary lens, and doesn’t want Mio to be hurt like he was, Mio is much more of a free spirit, not allowing anyone or anything deny him from what he really wants. Part of me feels like the differences between these two are because of the times they grew up in. Shun is older than Mio, and no doubt grew up in a time where being LGBTQ+ was something to be scorned, mocked and bullied for. Mio, being a more modern and in some ways a more mature young man, understands what he’s in for and yet has no problem with it because he knows he loves Shun and in his mind, that’s all that matters.

One other thing that I find refreshing with this movie is that it doesn’t have any complex or mystical story lines. While I enjoy movies like Weathering With You and Your Name, sometimes those movies can just be too complex for their own good, adding mystical elements to a story that can at times clouds the waters. In fact, there are two moments where the characters seemingly pass out at different times during the movie after highly stressful situations, and I couldn’t help but think, “Okay, here comes the magical mystical stuff…these two are the reincarnation of some long lost, Feudal Era star crossed lovers that are bound by fate by the red string of something-or-other and they have to find the mystical key of the twilight or something…” But to my great surprise, these dorks were just TIRED. No magical journey, no mission they have to accomplish, just…tired. That is surprising. The Stranger by the Shore pretty much makes the characters the standout elements. These guys don’t have mystical powers, there’s no legend they have to figure out in order to save the world, there’s no time travel or dimension portals… it’s just a love story like any other.

Speaking of things that aren’t a big deal… I feel the need to address the elephant in the room. Yes, the intimate scene between Shun and Mio. Honestly… it’s a non-issue, as it should be. It’s two characters that are of age sharing an intimate moment with each other and they just so happen to be two males. It happens in loads of different anime and it’s not a big deal. Honestly, I found the way the moment was executed to be very realistic, gentle and tastefully done. If you avoid BL anime entirely, (and no judgement whatsoever–it’s not for everyone; watch whatever makes you happy) I suggest you check out our recent articles examining yuri and yaoi anime and see if those give you some food for thought, and maybe make you more likely to try out The Stranger by the Shore. Yup, I’m a true southern gentlemen–offering up Food for Thought. You always offer food to your company, thought or otherwise. Now go and get your grub on.

If I could find any faults with this movie, it’s probably that it’s too short and doesn’t give the characters enough developmental time. There’s just so much more I wanted to know about these adorable dorks: What was Shun’s life before the arranged marriage? How did he end up becoming a writer? What was Mio’s father like? How was Mio’s time in the orphanage? At just under an hour including credits, it feels like this movie could’ve explored so much more and expanded this beautiful world it created. This movie does a great job giving us endearing and lovable characters, but not enough time to fall even deeper in love with them.

Also, as a somewhat unrelated complaint, Funimation, please do the streaming anime community a favor. Please, please, PLEASE fix your video player! It’s just a mess! Sometimes the volume bar would be stuck on the screen long after I adjusted it, thereby ruining any screen captures I wanted to get. Also, please add closed captioning to the English dub video. It’s really a drag that the hearing impaired can’t enjoy the writing in the dub like everyone else, and it also sucks when bloggers like myself don’t have the text at the bottom of screen captures for context of a particular scene. You are partially owned by Sony Pictures… you can do better than this! But, I digress…

Speaking of Funimation, this movie was dubbed and released by Funimation Entertainment with director David Wald in the director’s chair. Honestly this was quite a shock to me as I would’ve expected Sentai Filmworks to put out a title like this, as they have never been shy to license and dub anime with LGBTQ+ themes. Yes, Funimation has put out a few here and there, the most famous being Yuri on Ice, but in my eyes, Sentai has always been THAT company to go to for movies and anime series like this. In fact, Hi Dive, Sentai’s streaming service, has an entire section devoted exclusively to LGBTQ+ anime and movies. Funimation? Not so much. But I digress.

Director Wald does an amazing job with this production, getting outstanding performances out of Josh Grelle (Shun) and Justin Briner (Mio). These two are just AMAZING in their roles, and captured these characters perfectly. Just try not to think about that when watching the English dub of Dr. Stone, as these two guys also play the bodyguard brothers Kinro and Ginro respectively. Speaking of Dr. Stone, listen closely and you’ll hear Senku Ishigami (Aaron Dismuke) as one of Shun’s classmates in a flashback.

So where does that leave us? Simple. This movie ranks a prodigious 9/10 for me. A must see. The Stranger by the Shore features a story that’s simple yet beautiful, adorably awkward and engaging characters, and acting that is just top notch in the English dub. The only thing that you may find a problem with is that there isn’t more of it. By the time the ending credits roll, you’ll want more of this one. Trust me.

Yes, I know that the story of two guys starting a romantic relationship might not be in everyone’s wheelhouse and the intimate moments might be something that gives you pause, but honestly, wherever you fall in the sexual identity debate or however you feel about it on a religious level, I can’t stress enough that you owe it to yourself to give this movie a chance. Because, at the end of the day, A has much to say about love and acceptance, things we ALL know a thing or two about and long for—gay, straight or otherwise.

=====

The Stranger by the Shore can be streamed through Funimation.

#Anime #Anime Reviews #Anime Movies #The Stranger by the Shore #Umiibe no Etranger #Yaoi #LGBTQ #Articles #Author: Josh #Author: The Cajun Samurai

5 notes · View notes

sunflowersunshinevol6 · 4 years

Text

My Way

Chapter Five

Warnings: physical and psychological abuse, mentions of substance abuse, stockholm syndrome

Suddenly it’s sunny. She’s on the pier again. And this time she recognizes it. It’s the last place that her mother and father had taken her before her father died. That last, truly good, memory she had of her childhood. She looks up to see a woman pushing a carriage, she’s wearing a black dress, and walking away from her. Leah. It’s Leah again. Clara watches her, calls for her, but she just keeps walking, pushing the carriage along. She runs after Leah, trying to look around her and into the stroller, all the while calling her name. Finally Leah hears her. She turns, smiles and waves. Clara grins, her heart leaping with joy, she slowed to a jog, getting closer. Leah reaches down to pick something up, out of the stroller. Clara is only a few feet from her now, their eyes meeting, she slows to a walk, Leah begins to lift whatever is in the carriage-

Clara screamed, water soaked her whole body. It’s cold, freezing cold. She looked up to see Alex throwing a bucket into the corner of her small room, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he turns away. “Wake up. I won’t tell you again.”

Clara's life has become a shell.. Every day the same as the last. She was done. She just quit. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror the other day. She didn't look like Clara Montez. Not anymore. Alex made her dye her hair, twice within the last six months, the brown roots were starting to come out again, but the rest of her hair was now a washed out blonde color. She liked to think she looked like her mom, maybe. She can’t really remember what her mom looks like anymore either. Her eyes are sunk in and though she isn’t restricted food, she looks unhealthy, pale and frail. The waves never pull back anymore, she’s always drowning in anxiety. And no one is willing to throw her a lifeline.

Alex continued to fake kindness, and when that didn’t work, he switched to brute force. For the first few weeks Claa had fought, hard. Though he’d shattered the bones in her left ankle, she refused to give in to him, fighting him tooth and nail and getting beaten bloody. There had been days where she was completely blind and yet….he still apologized and said he loved her.

He reminded her all the time. That she should be grateful. That he saved her from the evil in the world. He convinced her that the only place for her was with him. Her mom thought she was dead. She didn't even know what State she was in. If he threw her out the door with only the clothes on her back, even worse things could happen to her. But he loved her and he wouldn't do that. Not to her.

Slowly over time she gave up. She stopped fighting, stopped getting angry. Just stopped being a person all together. She kept her silence and obeyed without hesitation. It wasn't enough to save her from abuse if he was really feeling it. But over time the attacks had lessened. The only thing She wanted anymore was peace. And when she listened, she got it.

Clara walked out into the living room to see Alex putting on his jacket, the tv was on in the background, which meant she was allowed to watch it while he was out. She didn't try to leave anymore. He would play games with her, make her think that he had messed up and she could escape, only to pop out just as she was almost free and beat her. He conditioned her to obedience and it worked.

“I’ve got some errands to run. You need to be in your room with the door shut by three.” Clara slid past him like a ghost, flopping down in his ratty old lazy boy chair. He was used to her silence. He would take that over her smart ass mouth any day. “I love you and I’ll see you later…” she didn't acknowledge him, face stony, she stared at the tv.

Sometimes when she was alone…..She did allow herself to think of Harry. She analyzed their week together over and over again, and had come up with some theories. The first one, which was also fact, Harry was using her. Maybe she didn’t want to believe it, ,maybe she didn’t want to know. But she wasn’t stupid. He took her to be a human shield. If the cops had stopped them at any point in time, he could have used her as leverage to get away. She knew that was true, no matter what he’d said about his ‘family.’ Two, no matter how hard he denied it, he really had enjoyed her company, and she wasn’t just a hostage in the end. She knew she had become a friend, at the very least. And even if she was wrong about that, on some level, he cared enough to not only save her from a drunk homeless man, but to also wash the sheets when she couldn’t lay on them, offer her alternative medicine when she couldn’t get her meds, and buy her coffee and a bagel for breakfast. He could have let her starve or suffer through her panic attacks alone….But he didn’t.

And she didn’t blame him for her current predicament. This was a long time coming. She’d known it for years. Alex would have found her and struck no matter where she was. She didn’t regret Harry coming into her life and shaking it up the way he did, if anything, going through that experience helped give her the strength to survive the one she was in. She believed meeting Harry really had been…. fate.

Don’t get used to me. Clara smiled at the memory, tucking her legs up under herself, she leaned back in the chair.

Leah is there. Just a few feet away. Clara runs to her, and this time she’s getting closer, Clara's heart pounds, maybe this time she’ll finally reach her. But as she gets closer Leah morphs, she becomes bigger broader….Clara slows down, realizing it was never Leah in front of her. It’s Harry. Harry Styles. She calls out his name. He lifts his head. She smiles. She calls his name again, and this time he turns to her. He looks different. Not so tired, no dark circles under his eyes. He looks younger. Happier. He reaches out, extending his hand, it all feels so real. Clara can smell the sea salt in the air, hear the waves crashing in the distance. The sun is warm on her skin. It’s real. Nothing hurts. She reaches out. Her fingers brush against Harry’s-

Clara jolted awake, not realizing she had fallen asleep in the chair. The front door had woken her, having been slammed shut as Alex returned home. She rubbed her eyes and stretched, trying to wake herself up when she heard a voice. A female voice.

Clara darted out of the chair she was in, looking around for some place to hide. If she tried to get to her room she'd have to walk right past them and Alex might get mad if she got caught. But there was nowhere to hide, so she sat back down, back straight, muscles tense and helplessness pooling in her stomach. He would not be happy.

She heard them walking towards her, her eyes darted to the clock, it read 2:45, which meant he was early, because he had said three, and it wasn't three yet. So maybe-

Before Clara could finish her thought Alex stumbled into the living room with a brunette girl on his arm. Clara gripped the armrest of the lazy boy, digging her nails into the faux leather. She tried to look calm and normal, forcing a small smile onto her face.

The girl saw her first, her own smile, dying on her lips as she took in the other girl, “Oh.” She said, catching Alex's attention. He turned his head, his eyes sweeping over Clara before his attention turned back to the girl.

“That's my sister, Leah.” He thought giving her that fake name would hurt her. It didn't anymore. Clara stood and cleared her throat.

“H-hi,” her voice was hoarse, and thick from not being used. It startled her, she almost forgot what she sounded like sometimes. She held out her hand. The girl looked at it for a moment, before returning her smile and taking it. It was smaller than Clara's but way warmer.

“Hi,” she replied, Clara could see the question in her eyes so she averted her gaze, afraid of what Alex would do if his date recognized her. “I'm Raven. Raven Reyes.” Clara dropped her hand after a firm and quick shake. She stretched her arms above her head, faking a yawn.

“I-It’s nice to meet you,” she was on autopilot, her voice monotone, no emotion in her face as she made her excuse to leave. “I'm not feeling well. Think I'll go take a nap.” She scurried around the two of them, keeping her head down. Once she was out of their line of sight she ran to her room, quickly shutting the door, she slid down in the corner, hoping and praying he did not come in. He didn't. So she crawled towards her bed after a few minutes of silence, flopping down onto it. The springs dug into her back and she could never get comfortable, but it was better than the floor. She curled up on her side, her mattress smelled and her blankets were worn and musty at this point, but she buried her face into them anyway, her arms wrapped around her legs. In fetal position, she wished and wished to go back in time and be born, again. She'd do so many things differently. If she had that second chance.

He did come in. Later. Clara had fallen asleep again. She slept a lot. Not much else to do when your entire life is restricted. He sat on the edge of her bed and watched her. The bruises and cuts on her face were healing, he felt awful for doing that to her. For doing all of it. But she had to learn. She had to learn to respect him. To love him, he was a good guy. He saved her. He deserved her love and gratitude and had felt rejected and hurt once again when she continued to refuse it to him. He reached out, gently touching her shoulder. She jerked, eyes snapping open, Alex moved his hand back, brushing his fingers over her hair. “Shh.” he cooed. “It’s just me.” she didn’t say anything, just looked at him with fear in her eyes. “You’re mad about Raven?” he always did that. Pretended she was jealous of the girls he brought home, maybe he hoped she was, maybe he hoped that by seeing him with someone else, something in her would change. But it never did. “If you loved me it’d be you, you know.” she turned her face back into the blankets, shifting back from him. He sighed, lowering his head, his hair hung over his face, shielding his eyes.. “ Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you.” more silence.

“I know.” He barely heard her say it. But was surprised and pleased when he realized she did.

Raven usually had a good gut instinct, and even if she didn’t want to listen to it, she knew something was off when Alex had taken her back to his place. The girl that had been in the living room, he’d said it was her sister, but she looked around, there was nothing she could see around her in that house that told her that was true. They’d been on three dates, talked about so many different things, and he never mentioned the fact that he had a sister? And a very ill sister at that? It just didn’t sit right with her.

She pulled out her phone and dialed his number. He answered after the fourth ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I was wondering if I could come by tomorrow?” Raven asked, she chewed on her bottom lip as she drove, one hand to her ear, the other on the steering wheel. She hoped he wasn't going to be suspicious. He wasn’t.

“Yeah? Sure. Thought you were leaving town after today?”

“I’ve decided to extend my stay.”

Clara was sitting on the corner of the mattress. She didn't look up or acknowledge Alex when he came in.

“I have to lock you in here tomorrow.” She looked up at that. Peeking through the matted mess that was her hair. Alex knelt down beside the mattress, level with her. “Raven is coming back tomorrow. And the only reason I'm not angry with you for being out there, is because I came home early….But you have to be quiet in here tomorrow. Absolutely silent. Like now. She can't know you're still here. I'll let you out when she leaves.” she flinched when he reached to pat her cheek. He didn’t notice.

Raven stood on the doorstep of Alex’s house for what seemed like forever. She had knocked, heard a muffled ‘coming.’ and then nothing more. She almost accepted that maybe she imagined it, but just as she was about to call him and see if he had maybe gone out, the door swung open. “Hi,” he said breathlessly. He wore a loose fitting black t shirt with a Nike logo on it and white basketball shorts. He was barefoot and breathing heavy. His face was red and perspiration dotted his forehead, Raven gave him a tight smile, cocking her head to the side slightly.

“Hey…..You busy?” she asked awkwardly.

“Oh no. You’re cool. Come in.” Alex shrugged and stepped back, allowing Raven to move into the apartment. She looked around, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of the girl that had been there the day before.

“Where’s your sister?” he looked at her confused for a second.

“My what? Oh-She’s at the doctor’s. She had to refill her medications.”

“On a Saturday?”

“Her doctor works really flexible hours.” Raven nodded, but she had seen him stutter, he slipped up. And now she knew something was definitely up. Alex shoved his hands into his pockets. “Follow me. We can watch a movie and hang out. When did you say you were leaving town?” he asked, turning on his heel, he away from her and walked back down the hall towards the living room. Raven followed hesitantly. She was looking around for anything that would give her a clue about the girl from the day before. She didn’t know exactly why it bothered her so much when she saw her, there was something dead in her eyes. Like she’d completely given up on...everything. Maybe that was why Raven just could not let this go.

She shrugged her jacket off and threw it over the arm of the couch before sitting down. Alex came back into the living room with a bowl of popcorn and a glass of what looked like red kool aide. Raven thanked him as he sat down next to her, turning his whole body towards her.

“I’m glad you came over.” he said in a low voice. Raven smiled.

“Me too.”

“What movie do you wanna watch?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Show me what you got.” Alex chuckled, and as he went to stand he knocked into Raven’s hand, spilling the juice all over himself. She stood, mouth open in shock as he white basketball shorts became stained with red kool aide.

“I am so sorry!” she feigned embarrassment. Alex shook his head, waving her off and dismissing her apology.

“Don’t worry about it.” he grabbed a blanket from the armchair and wiped himself off. “I’ll be right back. Pick out a movie.” Raven watched him, and waited until she heard another door shut, before moving from her spot on the couch, she moved to the doorway and poked her head out. There was a light on and shadows moving under the doorway to her left. So she turned right, throwing glances over her shoulder as she walled, making sure Alex wasn't following her. She dipped around the corner and down the hallway by the front door and came to a bathroom, and a second door that had a lock drilled to it. Locking the contents inside, from the outside.

Slowly Raven walked toward the door, she pressed her ear up to it. She couldn't hear anything. She paused for a second, hand on the knob, listening for Alex. After a moment or two more of silence she slid the lock and opened the door.

The stench hit her senses first. The room smelled absolutely disgusting. It smelled of piss and shit, vomit and sweat. It was filthy, dirty food wrappers and containers lie scattered on the floor. And tucked into the far right corner of the room was a dirty old mattress, a still body laid on top of it. Alarmed, Raven briskly walked over to the mattress, falling onto it, she startled the girl lying there, she rolled over with wide, fearful eyes.

“L-Leah?” She brushes the girl's hair away from her face. There were bruises, days old, scattered all down her cheeks, a thumbprint and fingerprint impressed was bruised on her chin. “Leah are you okay?” She helped the girl sit up, placing a starting hand on her shoulder. “Leah?” The girl did not respond. She only looked at Raven with an empty expression, as though her body was in the room, but her spirit was not.

“What are you doing?” Raven yelped, Alex stood in the doorway, eyes going from Raven to the girl and back to Raven. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Alex shut the door, standing between Raven and her way out. He crossed his arms. “ What are you doing?”

“I-I was…I was just…” Fear filled her she couldn't think.

“You're a nosy bitch….damn. I really liked you.” Raven backed up, only to corner herself. Alex lifted his arm, bringing his hand down palm up, he slapped Raven down. Clara moved back against the wall, her legs to her chest, trying to calm the panic and fear that threatened to spill out from her heart to paralyze her. Raven hit the ground with a loud, resounding thud and Alex fell with her. He sat firmly on her chest, placing his hands over her mouth and nose. Clara watched in horror. Raven kicked her feet, they scuffed against the hardwood floor making a screeching sound. Alex grunted, adjusting himself to put more pressure on her. Clara could hear the girl’s screams against the palm of his hand. She slammed her hands over her ears and screamed, unable to watch him any longer

“Alex! Stop!” He paused, looking over his shoulder, before refocusing on Raven, who was growing stiller by the second. “Stop Alex please! I love you !” The change in him was almost immediate. He froze, lifting his hands, he slid off Raven, who lay, barely breathing and unconscious. He looked at Clara with wide, disbelieving eyes. She sobbed brokenly. She couldn’t let him kill her. She didn’t want anymore blood on her hands. “I love you.” the dam she had built within her broke, and whatever was left of her pride and dignity flowed out of her.

“Clara….” Alex moved to her, cupping her face in his hands. He bent down and pressed his lips to her hard, ignoring the muffled sound of pain Clara omitted. His lips felt rubbery and cold against hers. She ignored the uneasy churning of her stomach, and allowed him to continue. Only when he stuck his tongue out did she pull away.

She looked him in the eyes, “Don’t kill her.” his eyes darted from hers to her lips and back again. He shook his head.

“She knows too much Clara.” He stroked Clara’s face with the back of his hand. “What other choice do I have?” Clara leaned forward, their noses almost brushing.

“Let her live,” she sniffed, “Let her live here. She’ll learn to like it here….I did.” she hoped he would listen to her, he would stop and just let the other girl go. Clara was desperate. She didn’t want anyone else to get hurt trying to protect her, or help her. He sighed, brushing some hair out of her face.

“If that’s what you want. But she’ll have to be chained to the mattress. Just like you were.” he smiled cruelly. "Let's hope she's smart and doesn't make things to difficult"

Raven had been in the apartment for two weeks, Clara did everything she could to protect her. She distracted Alex, and snuck her food. She would unchain her and let her go to the bathroom or bring her water when she needed it.

“Why are you helping me?” Raven had asked her on one such visit. She had thrown up all over herself, and Clara was dabbing a cold wash rag on her face, cleaning her as best she could.

“Just do what you’re told Raven...It’s a lot easier when you just submit.” she opened her mouth to argue but Clara cut her off, “I’ve been here a long time. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to be compliant, malleable, and obedient. Stay in your place and do as you’re told.” she shook her head, straining against the cuffs. She tried to look Clara in the eyes, but Clara kept her eyes downcast.

“Someone will come,” she whispered, Clara shook her head, “They will. People are still looking for you. They’ll look for me too.”

“No one’s coming.”

Your destination is on the left. Harry slowed down, pulling into the driveway. There was a jet black and pick up truck parked next to him, and he thought it looked familiar. Just like his sister Raven’s. He pulled out his phone, flipping through the contacts and pressing on Raven’s name.

“Hey this is Raven, leave a message!” It went straight to voicemail. He hadn’t heard from her in days and his curiosity spiked, as he got out of the car and confirmed from the dented fender, that and the license plate that said R3Y3S, that it was her car. Why the hell would she be here? He walked up the curb and opened the screen door. There was a doorbell, but he preferred the sound of a good solid knock, to the chimes of a bell.

“Harry! Bro,” Alex opened the door and held out his hand, Harry returned his grin, going in for a half hug. Alex had been Harry’s connect for years, whatever Harry needed, he usually had. And it was the good shit. Alex closed the door behind him and clapped him on the back. “What can I do ya for?” he asked, leading Harry into the living room. Harry followed, noticing the sound of feet on the hardwood floor and a door shutting somewhere.

“I need some product. Going on the road again for awhile…..Is my sister here?” There was a black leather jacket draped over a chair in the living room. It looked old and worn out and he knew almost immediately it was hers..

“Who?” Alex asked as he left the room. Harry picked the jacket up and brought it to his nose. Irish spring. Raven hated the girly smelling perfume scented stuff labeled for women. Irish spring was her favorite soap. It was hers.

“My sister,” his eyes scanned the room, looking for something to incapacitate Alex with if he needed to, “Raven Reyes. We were adopted by the same man. That’s her truck outside,” he unplugged the cord from the stereo, wrapping it around his hand and hiding it in his coat pocket. “And this is her jacket.” Alex came into the room, holding a small bag of out to Harry.

“O-oh. Yeah we’ve been seeing each other….She’s in the bathroom right now. That’s quite a coincidence.” Alex’s laugh was shaky. Harry narrowed his eyes, the room growing awkwardly silent. Something wasn’t right. Harry was good at reading people and the vibes from this guy were off. Liar. Harry tried to control the flare of anger that rose within him at the thought of what this prick could have done to Raven.

“Scale?” Harry said, Alex shook his head, and turned towards a computer desk in the corner of the room. “You feelin’ okay?” Harry asked. He quietly stepped toward Alex, wrapping the cord around his hands.

“Yeah. Just a little out of it at the moment. Let me make sure that’s two grams-” Harry was fast, he sprang forward, throwing his hands over Alex’s shoulders, he pulled the cord taut against his neck. Alex gasped, throwing himself back, but Harry was stronger. He was bigger, and Alex barely made him stumble.

“What are you….” he rasped, fingers clawing at his neck so hard he was drawing his own blood. Harry held him there, letting the cord dig into Alex’s skin. He watched the hands on the clock. He didn’t take his eyes off the time until he felt Alex go limp, and slump forward.

“Did you hear that?” Raven asked as Clara brought the glass of water to her lips. Raven took it gratefully, filling her parched mouth and relishing in the coolness as it made its way into her belly.

“Alex probably has a guest. We have to stay in here.” She brought the toast to Raven’s lips now. The girl grunted, her wrists hurt, the cuffs had rubbed them raw.

“Are you serious? We should run!” Clara shook her head, sitting back on the bed next to Raven now.

“No….It’ll never work. And we’ll get beaten.” Clara looked at her dirty feet and Raven felt sympathy wash over her. Clara just looked so...Broken.

“My God. He really fucked you up didn’t he?” she was astounded. Over the course of days the two of them had spent together, Clara had told her the story. She told Raven about being kidnapped and driven from her home, only to be taken again by a man who was obsessed with her and killed her first love. She shared everything with Raven, it was like word vomit, and once she started talking to her, she couldn’t stop. Clara had figured that neither of them would ever get out of there alive, so it really didn’t matter if she poured her heart out to this stranger. The old Clara would never have done that. But that Clara died six months ago. The only thing she kept to herself, the only thing she never told Raven. Was the identity of the man who had taken her at the gas station. She kept that to herself.

“Look Raven….I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried to run. I’ve asked his friends to help me before, and sometimes they are even worse than he is. There’s no way out.”

Harry tied Alex to the toilet in the bathroom before making his way through the house. He searched the rooms, looking everywhere for his sister. He didn’t know why she was there, or what had happened, but he didn’t think about finding her dead. He refused to think of that. He rounded the corner down the hall, coming to a second bathroom and a door with a sliding lock on the outside. He took a deep breath, “Please let her be in here,” and kicked his foot through the door, making it fly off its hinges. Shrieks of surprise let him know there were people in the room, he stepped into it, cord in hand and flipped on the light.

Raven was handcuffed to a bed, she looked pale and gaunt, her eyes sunken. As her eyes moved over to him, he watched relief flood her face, she jerked forward.

“Harry!” Harry started to walk towards her, but froze when his eyes finally moved to the other person. His face paled and his heart began to pound. He was seeing a ghost.

There was another girl. Sitting beside Raven, her hand on his adopted sister’s knee. She had dirty, blonde hair, that was obviously dyed. Her skin was sickly pale and she was very thin, her lips chapped and bruises and cuts covered her face. As brown eyes met green, hers widened in recognition and Harry almost pissed himself.

“Clara?”

“H-Harry?” she said in equal shock. “What are you doing here?” he found the strength to walk again and knelt down in front of Raven. He placed a hand on the side of her face. Her skin was clammy and cold. She didn’t look too good either.

“Hazza.” Raven sobbed. He leaned forward, placing a quick kiss to her forehead. Clara watched his tenderness numbly. There was a small part of her that wanted to cheer, wanted to shout, but the rest of her was crippled with anxiety.

“Where’s Alex?” Clara asked. She could see Harry’s jaw twitch as he tried to uncuff the handcuffs with a bobby pin. He didn’t answer her question fast enough so she repeated it. “Where’s Finn.”

“You don’t need to worry about him Clara. We’ll take care of him.” he turned his attention to Raven. “I saw your car in the driveway, and your coat in the living room. You know this guy is a dealer right?” Raven rolled her eyes.

“I’m cuffed to a bed, with a stranger sitting next to me and you’re going to scold me for a tinder date?” her voice dripped with sarcasm. She nodded towards Clara, hissing when he finally got her wrist free. “How do you know her?”

“Uh….” Harry trailed off. The room became quiet, something silent and unseen by Raven passed between Harry and Clara. “I just do.” he finally said, freeing her other wrist. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, Clara looked away, embarrassed by the display of affection.

“Where’s Alex?” she asked again, quietly. Harry pulled away from Raven. There was something different about Clara. He didn’t know how long she’d been here, or what had happened….But it had to be bad, because when he looked at her, the light he’d seen before was gone. There was no good, or bad or pure or innocence about her. She was bland, unchanging. Her voice monotone. Her gaze far away.

“Let me get you two to the van. And I’ll take care of him.” Clara felt her body spike with fear. As Harry went to stand up she grabbed his sleeve, gazing up at him with pleading eyes.

"Just take her and go.” Harry looked at her confused.

“What? Clara-”

“Take Raven. And go. This is my home….Alex….He takes care of me. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly. A place to sleep….Just go and leave us here. Please.” Harry placed his hand over Clara’s. She looked utterly lost, and distraught. Anger began to boil beneath his surface. That’s when it dawned on him, who this Alex person was to her.

“It’s him...The guy who stalked you? The guy who killed your girlfriend?” Clara didn’t say anything, just gripped his sleeve tighter, tears welling in her eyes.

“Take her and go. Alex’s gonna be really mad if he comes back to find you here….please. I’m trying to help.”

“Clara. You don’t have to stay here-”

“Where else am I gonna go Harry? I don’t even know where I am .” she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, “But I do know that Alex isn’t so bad sometimes. And I have nowhere else to go….No one to return to. No one missing me. Everyone gave up...So please.” she smiled, looking at Raven and then back at him. “Just go.”

“Clara-”

“Please.”

“I can’t just leave you here. I won’t.” Clara began to speak again, but was cut off by a low moan emanating from the bathroom. Harry took the opportunity, and while Clara was distracted placed the handcuffs on her.

“What have you done?!” she roared. Harry bent down and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. She tried to kick him, but he wrapped his arm around the back of her knees, effectively blocking her blows. So she settled for shrieking and squirming.

“Shut the fuck up!” Harry forgot how annoying she was. But this wasn’t the Clara he had met all those months ago. This Clara actually scared him. “I’m not leaving you here with him. I’m not doing it.” Harry swung himself left, not so accidently making Clara smack her head against the wall. She fell limp.

“Was that really necessary?” Raven said with disapproval. He shrugged.

“What are the neighbors gonna think if they see me carrying a handcuffed girl out of here, kicking and screaming.” Raven hummed in agreement.

“Where is Alex anyway?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry said stepping outside. Raven walked ahead of him to the van. She threw it open and watched him toss her into the back on the old mattress he kept. “Just help me load him in the back of your pickup.”

#harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fic #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #solo harry #hs fandom #hs imagine #hs fanfic #hs2 #hs1 #imagine harry styles

15 notes · View notes

jbuffyangel · 5 years

Text

It Ain't Nothing but a Family Thing: Arrow 7x17 Review (Inheritance)

“Inheritance” is equal parts necessary exposition and filler episode. Not quite sure how the writers accomplished that, but they did.

Let’s dig in…

Emiko and Oliver

Soooo… here’s the problem guys. I don’t really care about Emiko. The whole time I’m watching this plot line unfold I am thinking, “Couldn’t Thea have gone all evil?”

Take a pause and give that a good think. How awesome would it have been for Thea to take a deep dive down the evil hole? It would have been amazing, which is why I loudly demanded it for the six years Willa Holland was on the show.

Watching Oliver try to pull Thea away from the Ninth Circle would have been a good time.

Not so much with Replacement Thea. The problem is I just met Emiko this season. I understand that’s typically the case when it comes to Arrow villains, but I’m supposed to bond with her character as Oliver’s sister and then be horrified when she turns out to be a villain.

Arrow even tried to fast track my bonding by making Emiko into Oliver 2.0. I’m not really seeing the individualism except for evil. Every week the writers were hanging a sign out that said, “SEE? SHE’S JUST LIKE OLIVER!” by mimicking previous OG Oliver Queen scenes. Just in case you missed any of the visual cues or copied verbatim scenes, the other characters are here to verbally proclaim Emiko is just like her brother.

Eh… keep it. Unfortunately, none of this has accomplished Arrow’s intended goal which is for me to give a crap about Emiko.

It should be noted that when Arrow does the “SEE? SHE’S JUST LIKE OLIVER” with Mia or “SEE? HE’S JUST LIKE FELICITY!” with William (and vice versus) I love it. Yes, I am aware this is a double standard. Maybe it’s because the kids have more personality than cardboard. Sorry Emiko. Facts are facts. Maybe it’s because they are Olicity’s kids and therefore my investment is virtually guaranteed. I don’t know. I don’t care. It’s Season 7 and I’m gonna do me.

The only thing keeping me mildly entertained with Emiko is that she is evil. I’m not really interested in watching her be redeemed either. I know I know. The season theme is redemption, but come on! Someone has to burn in the fires of Hades for all eternity. It doesn’t mean anything if every character is redeemed.

Typically, I am down for Robert Queen flashbacks whenever possible, but in order to make this storyline work they had to turn Oliver’s father into a tremendous pile of stinking douchebag. Robert was always kind of a douchebag what with the whole killing a man by accident, lying about it and then getting embroiled in Merlyn’s plot to destroy half the city because of his guilt.

But he had gravitas. The class of an elder statesman. Maybe it’s the silver hair and grumbly grandpa voice I pray Oliver Queen will have some day. Maybe it’s because he put a bullet in his head to save his son. Annnnd… also murdered someone else in the process. Alright. Robert was a douchebag, but he was a mildly noble douchebag and I love him okay? I DON’T KNOW WHY!

But the Robert Queen in “Inheritance” is a misogynistic, slimy, cheating, coward who kicks his mistress and love child out of the swanky apartment he was putting them up at and tells his daughter, “Life isn’t fair. We don’t always get what we want.” Wow.

That’s a great way to create a villain, Robert. Watch Batman or Star Wars or ANY HERO STORY EVER and learn fool.

Emiko worked hard to get her father’s approval or acknowledgement of her existence to the world. She wanted to run Queen Consolidated, but nope that’s a man’s job sweetie. Oliver Queen and his penis, which was whoring its way through Starling City at the time, are destined for CEO. Emiko takes Robert’s misogyny in stride and simply asks him to back a company of her own, but he balks at that too. This is the last straw in a very long line of straws.

Unfortunately, Emiko doesn’t tell her father where to stick it and cut off all contact. No, that would be reasonable. Instead, she decides to go super villain on him. She impresses Dante after stealing from him and he agrees to train her. Emiko vacillates between being a Queen and joining the Ninth Circle for years, but the final brush off from Robert is the tipping point. She decides Dante is right and the Ninth Circle is her real family.

Oliver follows Emiko after Bl*ck S*ren warns she may not be playing for the home team and he sees her with Dante. Oliver confronts Emiko and she sings some song and dance about not knowing who the real Dante was when she signed up with him. Now she’s trapped. It works. Oliver buys it hook line and sinker, because blindly ignoring blatant warning signs is what he does when it comes to the Queen family.

He smartens up once he figures out Emiko sabotaged Felicity’s Archer program to protect Dante’s location. DO NOT MESS WITH THE WIFEY’S TOYS.

Oliver and Emiko face off in a fight that’s a lot about her ponytail. It had a life of its own.

Sadly, this is one of the worst fights I’ve seen in Arrow’s history. I really hope Sea Shimooka isn’t taking acting tips from KC, because it sure looks like it.

WHO IS SHE LOOKING AT? I’m not putting all the blame at her feet. Stephen upped his cheese factor about ten notches too. The whole scene felt awkward, choppy and forced.

Source: smoakmonster

Diggle sits Oliver down for a much needed Yoda talk. John warns him not to be so invested in Emiko’s redemption that he ignores the threat she poses. Ah yes, the evil sibling plot line also happened in Season 4 with Diggle and Andy.

Yeesh, alright it’s time for this show to end. John’s need to save his brother ultimately cost L*urel her life and he doesn’t want Oliver to make the same mistake.

It’s time you left yourself off the hook on that one, Diggle.

It was all win from where I sat, so stop being so hard on yourself.

UGH. I tell the man to be Jesus and then he starts acting like Jesus!!! The nerve. Oliver, being a fully realized superhero doesn’t mean you save EVERYONE. Jesus didn’t save every – never mind. The point is, after seven seasons, now the pine tree listens to me? He could’ve popped the question in Season 3 and I’d be on my way to a second set of triplets, but nooooo.

Oliver wants to redeem Emiko because then it means he’s redeemed the family in some way.

Source: olivergifs

Why isn’t enough that you’ve redeemed yourself Oliver? You’re a Queen. You count. Yes, you were a massive douchebag once upon a time, but you stopped sleeping with Lance sisters (thank God), fell in love with sunshine, and embraced monogamy & commitment like the squishy teddy bear with abs we always knew you were. You also fight for the city, save lives, and cook your pregnant wife yummy veggies to munch on. You’re evolved dude. Cut yourself a break. And Thea isn’t exactly the Mistress of Satan. She’s off saving the world too. Two out of three ain’t bad.

This whole “Right my wrongs” needs clarification. First it was the list, but it morphed into saving the Glades. Then Tommy died and things kind of snowballed. So, how many wrongs are we talking Bobby? Let’s get specific. We’ve only got 15 episodes left. Did you sell Iran nuclear weapons? Use Moira’s toothbrush and not tell her? Steal candy from babies? Are there a dozen more Robert Queen kiddos intent on world destruction?

Time is a wasting. I have a spin off coming and it needs to not be about your bullshit man.

Team Arrow ultimately foils Emiko’s plan. Well… kind of. They miss one drone, but no worries! It was just a demonstration. They’re worried about the next time, when it’s not a demonstration, but I was more focused on the few extra tidbits delivered in the final moments of the episode

Not only does Emiko choose the Ninth Circle, she is their leader.

She is also targeting the Archer program, which means nothing good for Oliver, Felicity and their children. Despite, my frustrations with Emiko’s character I am glad they are tying this all back to Robert and the Queens. Family is where this story began and it’s where it should end.

Dante gave Emiko a gift when she was struggling between being a Queen or joining the Ninth Circle. It was the most hilariously unrealistic looking invoice from Merlyn Global, but it showed the location of the bombs on the Queen’s Gambit. Emiko knew about Merlyn’s plan and she could have saved her father’s life if she simply passed on the information at their meeting. But he rejected her once more, so Emiko sent Robert to his death and unknowingly condemned her brother to five years of hell. Damn.

What Emiko doesn’t realize is that by keeping quiet about the bombs on the Queen’s Gambit she helped set her brother on a path to become someone who can stop her. In the immortal words of Leo McGarry, “ "It ain't nothing but a family thing.”

Felicity Smoak

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Felicity wins Walter White.

This is something many fans have been saying for years, including yours truly, so I am quite happy the writers agree.

Felicity continues to slay at all three, but a key part to “having it all” is knowing when you need help. Felicity asks her friend Alena to join the company as CTO. Look how excited this human rainbow is. She melts my heart.

Source: felicittysqueen

Unfortunately, I don’t really trust Alena. Yes, I know she’s helped Felicity in the past, but I still feel uneasy about her. Perhaps that distrust is unnecessary and her interactions with Felicity will continue to be adorable and on the up and up. But Archer is corrupted somehow in the future and I’m keeping an eye on Alena in present day.

Concerns aside, I did have myself a petty little cackle. Technically speaking, Felicity had a built in CTO for Smoak Tech on Team Arrow – Curtis Holt. Instead, the writers ship him off to D.C. and bring in Alena who, shady or not, is far preferable to Curtis. I just didn’t think Beth would agree with me. She’s like friggin Santa Claus.

The biggest issue I had with the spinal technology was it didn’t really connect to the Team Arrow storyline. A character feels isolated on their own show whenever that happens. My concern was Felicity’s great individual storyline was going to cut her off from the action.

The genius of this season, and the retooling of Felicity’s company, is the writers have found a way to weave it in with the vigilante storyline. Smoak Tech no longer feels like an island they are placing Felicity on, but rather it permeates almost every facet of the show – both past and present. This means Felicity permeates every facet of the show.

Last, but certainly not least, Felicity continues to be a bad ass wife as she manages more Queen family drama. The man is an Adonis who cooks, but oy does he come with family baggage. At least, Oliver’s reaction to this type of drama is predictable and Felicity doesn’t miss a beat.

When he comes back from the field empty handed Felicity knows immediately how to make him smile.

Source: olicitygifs

She tells Oliver he’s hot. That’s it. That’s how Felicity cheers him up.

He compartmentalizes and hyper focuses on stopping Emiko, but Felicity tells Oliver to take a beat and process.

Source: olicitygifs

Of course, Oliver ignores her and becomes frustrated with the team when they aren’t moving fast enough. So, Felicity tells him to cool it.

He ignores her AGAIN, but at least we are blessed with this glorious response.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Where has this gif been for the last seven years? If Oliver is going to be a stubborn ass then at the very least his wife is going to drag him for it with some patented Felicity Smoak snark.

I think Felicity and Diggle have a system for deciding who talks to Oliver. Maybe it depends on circumstance. Diggle seems like the obvious choice because he had an evil sibling too. Maybe they rock paper scissors. Whatever the system, it was Diggle talking down their boy this week.

We did, however, get some quality husband and wife crime fighting team work. YOUR OTP WOULD NEVER.

Source: olivergifs

After a long day of supporting her husband, incubating their child and stopping criminals, Felicity returns to the loft to work on Archer with Alena. And this was a light Felicity Smoak episode. Damn. Queen of DCTV is right.

Sweet holy Moses, how are we going to do ten episodes without her?

I love Oliver Queen. He is my favorite character, but I think we can all agree Felicity Smoak makes him infinitely more tolerable. Oliver can be stubborn, grumpy pine tree left to his own devices. Hopefully, he’s evolved enough that all of Felicity’s hard work doesn’t go down the tubes the moment they are separated. He is supposed to be Jesus now. I think Slabside is evidence it won’t, but ten episodes without Felicity Smoak feels like a daunting task. It feels like climbing a mountain...

only to get stabbed in the chest and chucked off the edge once we reach the top.

Bl*ck S*ren

BS decides to follow Emiko and gets spliced with an arrow because she sucks at covert ops.

Source: nyssaalghl

She goes to Olicity’s apartment to speak to Felicity about her Emiko suspicions, but unfortunately the wifey isn’t home. Bl*ck S*ren turns to leave when she realizes the only person available to discuss her suspicions with is Oliver. I believe there's 0% chance of L*urel falling in love with Oliver and 99.99% chance she's already in love with Felicity.

Not to be outdone, Oliver offers to bandage up her bleeding wound. He takes out antibiotic and gauze and SETS. IT. ON. THE. KITCHEN. COUNTER.

It’s a very large kitchen counter too, so it creates the wide berth these two require to stand being in a room together.

Source: nyssaalghl

We’ve gone from main love interest to stay on your side of the room. I died.

I don’t know how we got here family, but we’re here and it’s fabulous.

The writers are more anti L*uriver than I am, which is an impressive level of hate - if I’m being honest.

I need to put on a sweater whenever Stephen and KC film a scene because brr it’s cold!

The L*uriver fans expecting sexy bandage time must have been deeply disappointed. Or at least the two fans left were deeply disappointed.

Of course, Oliver doesn’t believe BS because duh. My dog could’ve called that one. He tells her to mind her own business and pretty much kicks her out the apartment. Obviously, L*urel is right about Emiko, but Oliver telling her to shove it never gets old under any circumstances.

Then Dinah accuses her of murdering a witness

Source: nyssaalghl

and L&urel is righteously indignant.

Of course, L*urel is right. It’s not like she has ever murdered before. Why on earth would anyone ever think that?

Dinah even has the nerve to bring up her dead boyfriend again. She really needs to let this Vince thing go because L*urel played lawyer for the last seven months and helped get Oliver out of a jail. See? All better.

BS is redeemed now, so Dinah really needs to stop bitching. Arrow is my life tutor, so following that same logic I’m going to murder a baby and then buy a puppy because it will even the cosmic balance.

The best moment is when Emiko releases images of Savior of the World L*urel L*nce meeting with Ricardo Diaz.

Source: nyssaalghl

It’s going to be pretty tough for BS to keep up the pretense she is law abiding, justice yielding District Attorney L&urel L*nce when she’s hanging out with one of Star City’s most notorious criminals. I take it back. Emiko is awesome.

Of course, I’m not delusional enough to believe Arrow is going to give BS an arc that actually qualifies as redemptive. Helping Felicity was a good start, but it doesn’t wipe the slate clean for me. Not by a long shot. Neither does being a fake lawyer. I would like to see L*urel pay for her crimes the same way Oliver paid for his by going to PRISON, but I doubt the writers will give me that much Christmas. I am very curious to see how “Lost Canary” shakes out. That said, I have very little doubt BS will betray her one true love.

Stray Thoughts

“Which doesn’t mean she’s bad.” I told you Olicity wouldn’t care Emiko killed Diaz. They brought the marshmallows to his bonfire party.

“On your own.” Stephen read that line super diva and it cracked me up.

“Being a father is more than just blood.” I hate to agree with a villain but damn he’s right.

Every time Felicity touches her stomach I happy clap. Source: olicitygifs

L*urel’s shoulder pads have to be stopped. Just say no wardrobe department.

Forcing me to go without this adorableness for an additional ten episodes is not oka. I’ll go through Felicity Smoak withdrawal which is hazardous. Source: ebett

Does Emiko visiting her father’s grave make a damn bit of sense now that we know she played a role in his death? Nope. Didn’t think so.

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x17 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

#arrow #arrow 7x17 #arrow spoilers #arrow review #anti emiko queen #oliver queen #felicity smoak #olicity #arrow reviews #anti laurel lance #anti katie cassidy #anti lauriver #anti black siren #arrow season 7 #arrow season 7 reviews #arrow season 7 review #season 7 episode review #season 7 episode reviews

76 notes · View notes

circlesandsoundwaves · 7 years

Text

"It was a huge empowering thing for us to accept and almost embrace the fact that we were gonna do this record ourselves.": Interview with Ben Lieber of Head North

Interview by Molly Louise Hudelson.

Photo by Eli Ritter.

Buffalo, N.Y.’s Head North released their debut full-length album The Last Living Man Alive Ever in the History of the World on June 2, and it was a long time in the making. Their last official release was a 2015 split EP with Microwave, and while they put out the first single, “God (Bring It Back)”, last July, “music industry bull crap” meant it was nearly a year till the album was released. The choice to self-release the album- an ambitious effort that’s also a concept album, revolving around a world where both God and love are forbidden- ended up being an empowering choice, leading to “an insane amount of confidence in ourselves.” Regardless of any external forces, the band- consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Brent Martone, drummer Ben Lieber, bassist Alex Matos, and guitarist Eli Ritter- believe in what they’re doing more than ever. The Last Living Man Alive Ever in the History of the World sounds substantially different from the Microwave split or their prior EPs, Bloodlines and Scrapbook Minds, but it’s worth spending some time with. The “cosmic rock” album has 15 tracks and is 49 minutes long, and while they all revolve around the same theme, fitting together into a story line, each one sounds different. The earlier tracks hit harder but the second half is ethereal and ambient, and even features a spoken word installment (“Somewhere, n.D.”).

I spoke with Lieber a few days after the record was released, and we dove in to the recording process, their change in sound, and what fans can expect on their upcoming tour with Gates and Vasudeva. Read on for the full interview.

CIRCLES & SOUNDWAVES: For the record, could you state your name, what you play in Head North, and a fun fact about yourself?

Ben Lieber: My name is Ben, I play drums, and I like avocados.

C&S: You just released your debut full-length record- The Last Living Man Alive Ever In The History Of The World- that's a tongue-twister.

BL: It's a mouthful.

C&S: Yeah! The record came out last Friday, and it premiered the day before over on Substream- in the days leading up to the album coming out, what was going through your head?

BL: The record got put on hold for a long time, and for a while I was wondering if it was ever actually gonna come out, so for us to finally get in the motions of everything- we put out a song, we put out a music video- as it started to really happen it [was] kind of hard for me to grasp it. Initially, I feel like it just came out of nowhere; it happened really fast after such a long period of waiting that maybe I didn't get to bask in it as much as I hoped, but it's still- now it's out, finally.

C&S: You announced the name of the album last July- what took so long for it to come out?

BL: We got held up with music industry bull crap pretty much. We had finished our deal with our last label and were trying to find a home for this record, but it was a combination of having been off the road for so long and the record being, obviously, a huge departure from our previous sound- a lot of things played in to labels being very hesitant on picking this record up. We pursued avenue after avenue, talking to, you know, this new person who's gonna connect us to this label and yada yada yada, and it finally just got to the point where we realized that it had been so long since we'd had any sort of hype whatsoever- we had no movement behind us at this point- and we realized that there was no way that we were going to get any movement, get a tour offer or an offer on the record, if we didn't just put music out. We realized that that was the only way that this band was going to start gaining traction again.

And from the moment that we realized that, it was a huge empowering thing for us to accept and almost embrace the fact that we were gonna do this record ourselves and handle it on our own terms, and it's been awesome! I can't complain because we've had amazing support and it's been a really cool thing to go through putting out an LP ourselves. It's been crazy- a lot of work but it's been fun.

C&S: It sounds like the work has paid off.

Do you pay attention to what kids are saying online? Some bands are very in tune with what everyone's saying on Twitter and YouTube and whatever, and some purposely hold back.

BL: I take it with a grain of salt. I try not to care too much, but I also do value the thoughts and opinions of the people who care about listening to is. I feel like their voice is just as important as our voice. So, you know, I do read everything- I spend time talking to people and I think that that's really important- but at the end of the day, I don't weigh everything on it and I know that the record is sick as hell regardless of what anyone says about it.

I feel like what's come along with the whole self-release thing is an insane amount of confidence in ourselves and just knowing that, regardless of who wants to put money into us, we know that we're a good band and that this record is awesome and deserves to be heard by people. So- yeah, I don't know- I guess the answer would be I take it with a grain of salt. I do value it but not over-zealously, I guess.

C&S: No, that makes sense.

So you touched on it- I mean, anyone who's heard the record can say it's definitely a departure in sound from what you guys had done before, and it's a concept album as well- when you were first starting to work on this record, did you go in with this idea that it was going to be a total departure in sound and a concept album- or was that something that just kind of happened?

BL: Yes and no. We had this backbone idea for the storyline, I guess, but it wasn't uber-developed at the point when we started diving in to the record but [Brent] had had this idea for quite some time.

In addition to the- for lack of a better word- fictional story that the record tells, there's a lot of real life personal elements in there as far as what happened with the band, and why we stopped doing things, and us growing as people and moving out and whatever- and they kinda intertwined with each other- but as far as the story goes, the backbone was there.

As far as the sound- I have to give a lot of credit to the- truly, like, original sound that I think this record has- to the engineers that we worked with, Brett Romnes, Gary Cioni, and Kevin Kumetz at Barber Shop studios. This was our first time ever recording anything at a studio that wasn't in Buffalo and we just wanted to try something different. We connected with these guys in the studio through our booking agent and we did the one single "God (Bring It Back)" as a test run to see if we wanted to do a record there-which is why that song came out and then nothing- but we really, really liked it and then scheduled the recording time.

As far as recording techniques and everything, we just really did a lot of out-of-the-box, strange stuff, like- this is the first time we were able to have the whole studio to ourselves for two weeks- so we left everything set up and that allowed us to- A, go song by song instead of instrument by instrument- and B, jump on any spur of the moment idea that we might've had- and we had enough time to where it was okay for us to like, spend three hours on a random trumpet part idea that we had even if we don't end up using it, because we had the time, we had already paid for it, essentially, and the whole studio was at our fingertips for this. So that was incredibly conducive to us getting in the zone and [getting] our creativity flowing- like, I had never been so enveloped in a musical experience for that long- we were there for a little over two weeks, I believe, and the whole time I was just extremely down in it. I can go in to nerding out about weird recording techniques and stuff but the point is, we did a lot of weird shit that we've never done before and we kinda just ran with every idea that we had.

I feel like a great example of that is the bonus track, "Broke"- there's just so much weird stuff on that song. We were like, "Okay, this song is the bonus song, it doesn't really matter, we can put all this random shit on it."

C&S: Why is it the bonus track?

BL: Because it didn't fit the story of the record. It didn't really fit in any specific place. The rest of the songs were like, "Yeah, this song is gonna go here in the outline of the record because it fits, it makes sense"- but "Broke" never really had a spot in that. We were done recording the record at that point and we had a couple days left and we were just like, "Screw it, we'll just record that song and make it a bonus track." And we just had fun with it.

C&S: You are heading out on tour with Gates and Vasudeva in a couple days, and you had a tour in March with Heart Attack Man; when you were touring in March- you had announced the album title but I don't think you had announced the release date at that point?

BL: No. We played a lot of new music on that tour, too.

C&S: How did that go over? Did people get it?

BL: I feel like- yes and no, again. I feel like it went over well in that people vibed with how it sounded live; obviously you can take live music with a grain of salt cuz you can't really hear the vocals, whatever- but general consensus was people dug it, but they didn't get the full picture- they hadn't heard the full record- and we really feel like the full record needs to be heard to understand what we're trying to do here. There was definitely that little bit of, "Okay, this is just weird but I kinda like it"- but you know, regardless, it was cool to play songs and we did that as a kind of transition into this new, I guess, era.

C&S: On the Gates tour, you'll be headlining the Buffalo show, can people expect to see you play, the whole record front to back, or is it gonna be mixing songs up from this and from older releases?

BL: I don't think we'll play the whole record front to back, simply because we haven't practiced that and we don't have another opportunity to practice before the tour. But we're gonna play a lot of new songs; we have most of the record rehearsed and ready to go. We're only playing new music on this tour; we're not playing any old stuff. That's kinda the deal.

C&S: Are you ever going to be playing old songs again? Or is that pretty much…

BL: Maybe. Probably... but we feel like the last tour that we did in March was people's chance to hear old songs again; and it was like, "Oh this band hasn't toured in a year, I wanna go hear 'In the Water' again"- and that's totally cool and we really appreciate that, but the record's out now and we're moving on, and we really wanna play new music.

C&S: Definitely. Wow- so you were not touring for a year- did you get restless at all? I mean, in 2014 and 2015 you were hitting the road hard.

BL: Oh yes, Molly. It was the hardest year of our lives, needless to say.

C&S: So you have this tour with Gates and Vasudeva coming up; what else can people expect from Head North this year?

BL: More tours. We're getting ready to grind- that's all I'm gonna say.

C&S: That's gotta feel good. Well, thank you so much Ben- anything else that people reading this should know?

BL: Thanks for your time and hope you like the record.

Thanks Ben! Be sure to keep up with Head North on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their official website. The Last Living Man Alive Ever in the History of the World is available now; you can purchase a digital download or vinyl copy here and stream on Spotify here. Read our 2014 interview with the band here. Dates for Head North’s upcoming tour with Gates and Vasudeva are below.

#interview #molly #head north #the last living man alive ever in the history of the world #tllma #the last living man alive #buffalo #buffalo ny #music #music blog #band interview #band interviews #gates #vasudeva #heart attack man

2 notes · View notes

jonathanbelloblog · 6 years

Text

Prototype Drive: 2019 McLaren Senna

SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, England — Five minutes after intentionally cutting-short my first six-lap driving session on one of the world’s fastest Grand Prix tracks, I excused myself to the pitlane bathroom and unceremoniously tossed up my entire English breakfast. Mind you, I’d been feeling dicey all morning—probably a bad egg—but I’m quite sure that, under normal circumstances, I would’ve managed to soldier through without any restroom histrionics necessary.

This was no normal morning: I was test-driving a prototype of one of the most uncompromising, technologically advanced, and violently quick supercars ever built, the all-new 2019 McLaren Senna. Trust me: Even without an aperitif of food poisoning, the Senna is such a whirlwind of g forces, so Krakatoa-like in its speed and braking power, in only a lap or two it could easily reduce a NASA astronaut to a trembling, babbling impersonation of Linda Blair.

Back in February, when I first traveled to England for the unveiling of the Senna prototype, I remarked on the considerable, seemingly impossible challenge McLaren had undertaken in attempting to produce a road car worthy of its namesake, the late three-time Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna. “Anything less,” I wrote then, “would be a discredit to the Brazilian maestro.” That was putting it mildly. The stakes for McLaren cannot be overstated: In the history of motorsports, Ayrton Senna is one of the all-time icons, arguably the greatest race car driver who ever lived. In his home country of Brazil he’s a national hero. In Japan—which produced the Honda engines that powered his McLaren F1 cars to all three of his world titles—Senna is revered as a god. Even a “very good” effort would have been viewed as a failure. No, to be a “Senna,” McLaren’s new supercar had to be spectacular.

It is. I had an inkling of that when I first reviewed the specs and technical details of the car back at the February reveal. On paper at least, the Senna looked savage. But it was within minutes of arriving at the Silverstone Circuit for my test of the car that I truly knew I was about to experience a performance monster, a machine possibly unlike any other road-legal vehicle I’d ever driven. “Because you haven’t been around this track before,” said one of the McLaren handlers as our small group gathered in the pitlane, “first you’ll go out for some warm-up laps in a McLaren 720S.” Uh, okay … so we’re going to warm up in a 720-horsepower, 211-mph exotic car that just won a coveted spot on the 2018 Automobile All-Stars list? Just how fast is this Senna thing, anyway? For a moment I looked down at the fireproof Nomex suit McLaren had loaned me for the day and wondered, “Hmmm. Maybe I should wear two.”

Do not mistake the Senna for an upgraded 720S. While the two cars share some basic hardware, the Senna is an entirely new automobile—the new pinnacle of McLaren’s Ultimate Series range. Unlike the hybrid powerplant in the McLaren P1, the Senna uses the same basic twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 found in the 720S—but with such improvements as a revised air intake and inlet manifold fed by a dramatic roof-mounted scoop, revised cams, and dual high-flow fuel pumps. Power climbs to 789 hp at 7,250 rpm and 590 pound-feet of torque (a boost of 22 lb-ft) at 6,700 rpm. A slightly reworked seven-speed dual-clutch paddle shifter carries over from the 720S.

“But wait,” you say. “The gas/electric hybrid powertrain in the P1 made a combined system output of 903 horsepower. Isn’t the Senna’s 789 hp a step down?” Perhaps on a long stretch of unlimited autobahn, where the P1 could theoretically push to 217 mph versus “only” 211 mph for the Senna, you’d have a case. But you’d be missing the point: McLaren built the Senna to be the ultimate roadgoing track car. And on the racetrack, the only venue where it can truly strut its stuff, the Senna leaves the P1 sucking its super-heated exhaust fumes.

Consider a few comparisons. With its towering, constantly adjusting rear wing, movable front aero blades, and purposefully sculptured bodywork, at speed the Senna can produce nearly 1,800 pounds of combined downforce—40 percent more than the P1. Almost every piece of the Senna’s bodywork—including McLaren’s latest Monocage III tub—is made of lightweight, super-strong carbon fiber. Even the nuts and bolts have been fussed over to be 33 percent lighter. Thus, the Senna—at about 2,900 pounds curb weight—undercuts the P1 by roughly 400 pounds. And then there’s this: Going into the famous Stowe right-hander at the end of Silverstone’s long Hangar Straight, McLaren’s test drivers are braking 25 meters later in the Senna than in the P1. Next time you’re inside a football stadium, take a look at how far the 25-yard-line is from the end zone. Yeah, it’s a lot. As a track car, the Senna is simply in a different league.

After my morning breakfast cleanse I felt fine when the time arrived for my afternoon lapping session in the Senna. I also was beginning to feel comfortable with the line around the track. We were using Silverstone’s truncated, 1.9-mile “International Circuit,” but that still included the Hangar Straight, Stowe corner, and Abbey, a turn-one right-hander taken—in the Senna—in fourth gear after the briefest dab of the brakes from 150 mph. Time to give McLaren’s new wondercar a good push.

Riding shotgun was McLaren test driver and current British Touring Car racer Josh Cook (a brave soul indeed). During our morning sessions in the 720S and the Senna, Cook had kept our helmet-to-helmet intercoms busy with advice on braking markers, turn-in points, and potential pitfalls. For instance, carry too much speed into the long, long right-hand Club Corner leading onto the International Straight, and you could easily spin into the inside wall and end up on the front page of London’s Daily Mail: “Yank Stank! Pinhead Pulverizes Priceless Prototype!”

After a lap to warm up the tires, coming out of Abbey I pushed my right foot flat to the floor and instantly the air was gone from my lungs. The acceleration of the Senna is insane (for you numbers types, that means a quarter-mile time of just 9.9 seconds). As I crested the hill into the quick left-hand Farm Curve, Cook was in my earphones: “More throttle!” We were already traveling plenty fast but, still in fourth gear, I dutifully pressed deeper into the gas and, impossibly, the Senna just bit down and hammered through the bend without so much as a bobble. Such is the frightening magic of working with a high-downforce, active-aero car: more speed produces more downforce, which produces more speed and more downforce! You wonder, will the cycle ever end? (Well, yeah, eventually it will—at which point you’ll find yourself launching straight off to Scotland.) Suffice it to say, in my second six-lap stint I never got close to that almighty limit. It was hard enough to keep my head upright as it was.

To produce the cornering force of a tetherball smacked by an angry sixth-grader, the Senna relies upon a symphony of systems working in perfect synchronicity. The rear wing moves constantly; under braking, it pops up fully for maximum drag. On the Hangar Straight, it would essentially flatten-out into what an F1 car would feature as DRS (Drag Reduction System) mode—allowing the Senna to slip through the air as effortlessly as possible. In-between, the wing works in-concert with the front aero blades (which also constantly adjust in angle) to maximize cornering balance and grip. Also incorporated into the bodywork: a “Gurney flap” above each rear tire, which creates a low-pressure void in back that helps suck hot air through the huge radiators mounted in front of each rear wheel. The carbon-fiber splitter under the Senna’s nose is so huge it could almost pass for a locomotive’s cow catcher.

The aerodynamic aids enhance the prowess of the RaceActive Chassis Control II system, an evolution of the P1’s suspension upgraded with revised software. In Race mode, the suspension lowers a dramatic 1.5 inches closer to the asphalt. And then there are the incredible brakes: lightweight carbon-ceramics, each disc requiring seven months to produce and operating at reduced temperatures for greater resistance to fade. The huge binders sit inside McLaren’s first-ever center-locking wheels, the single, F1-like bolt allowing an odd number (nine) of spokes, further saving weight. Each wheel wears a high-performance Pirelli Trofeo R tire specially developed for the Senna.

The cockpit is a cinch to enter, thanks to the large opening afforded by the upward-swinging doors, and inside awaits a space of brilliant minimalism. The carbon-fiber seat shells wear just enough pads for driver comfort and support; Senna buyers (every one of the 500 cars has already been sold) can have their seats custom-fitted. The gear-selection and launch-control buttons move fore-and-aft with the driver’s seat. The Alcantara-wrapped three-spoke wheel is completely devoid of buttons, switches, or other distractions. Engine start/stop, chassis-mode selection, and even the door-opening switches are mounted in a pod above the rear-view mirror. A folding digital display screen glides up into position when you’re ready for tachometer and other info. The view to the front is sensational—almost as if you’re sitting in a single-seater.

Hammering out of a tight left-right chicane and onto the Hangar Straight, the Senna’s digital speedometer spooled up like a bathroom scale being stepped-on by an elephant. I was reaching the top of fifth gear, just more than 160 mph, before pounding onto the binders for Stowe. The stopping force was like slamming into a parked dump truck. Yet every time, Cook would say calmly into the intercom: “Next lap, try braking even later.” On my final lap, going into Stowe I braked so late all the nearby pubs closed—and still the Senna turned-in without so much as a hiccup. The car’s combination of grip and poise is nothing short of mind-blowing. (As an interesting side note: For my second lapping session I switched from a full-face helmet to an open-face one. The new lid allowed me to look down through the transparent panel in the driver’s door at the rapidly passing asphalt just inches away—dramatically increasing the sensation of speed.)

By the time my six laps were over and I turned into the pitlane, I was toast. Heart pounding, breathing in gulps, Nomex suit soaked with sweat. The McLaren Senna is an absolutely vicious performance car, with limits as high as anything I’ve ever experienced in my driving career. Yet, amazingly, it’s an absolute sweetheart to drive: smooth and accurate steering, unfailingly predictable chassis, effortless shifting and braking response. Though I did not try the car on the road, I have every expectation that it would be docile enough to be a fine daily driver.

For a car to deliver so much performance—indeed, McLaren has clearly produced one of the quickest road-legal sports cars of all time—yet be so approachable is a staggering achievement. I had my doubts when I first heard about this hugely ambitious project, especially given how much I revere Senna myself. But now, having experienced what the car can do first-hand, I can say this with confidence: Were he alive today, Ayrton Senna would be proud that this remarkable new McLaren bears his name.

2019 McLaren Senna Specifications

ON SALE Fall 2018 PRICE $958,966 (base) (all 500 sold) ENGINE 4.0.L DOHC 32-valve twin-turbo V-8/789 hp @ 7,250 rpm, 590 lb-ft @ 6,700 rpm TRANSMISSION 7-speed dual-clutch automatic LAYOUT 2-door, 2-passenger, mid-engine, RWD coupe EPA MILEAGE N/A L x W x H 186.8 x 77.1 x 48.4 in WHEELBASE 105.0 in WEIGHT 2,900 lb (est) 0-60 MPH 2.7 sec TOP SPEED 211 mph

IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4

0 notes

jesusvasser · 6 years

Text

Prototype Drive: 2019 McLaren Senna

2019 McLaren Senna Specifications

IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk WP Feed 4

0 notes