#A Redbird Christmas

[desdasiwrites]

– Fannie Flagg, A Redbird Christmas

[hunty627]

A couple more stories that Grant can make up with his model trains when he rebuilds his model railway layout.

Isabel’s express service. Isabel the Great Western autocoach had been listening to Oliver the Great Western engine and Toad the Great Western brake van tell their stories over and over again, which were Toad’s adventure to Vicarstown with James and Oliver’s escape from the scrapyard. Isabel wanted an adventure too. And that’s when Gordon the big engine needed an extra coach because lots of passengers want to travel to Crovan’s Gate on the express, so Isabel was coupled to Gordon’s express train.

Bus brawl. Kayley the railway maintenance bus had been rudely taunted by Bulgy the double decker bus. Bulgy says Kayley is a disgrace to buses everywhere, which made her very upset.

A toy for Poy. Poy the small green engine was shunting freight cars when she saw something on the line side. It was a teddy bear. Her driver brought it to the lost property office in Knapford station. Poy wished to keep it. Later on, when Poy was steaming past Redbird station, she saw Dexter’s big sister Dee Dee looking very upset. Her teddy bear, Mr. Fuzzums had gone missing. And that’s when Poy figured it out. The teddy bear she found was Dee Dee’s teddy bear! Will she return it to her before Dee Dee loses her mind?

Sidney sulks. Sidney the forgetful engine was sulking in the shed. He says he forgot why, but he was still feeling cross. The other engines wanted to cheer him up.

The little Christmas twins. Skarloey was very excited for the holiday season. And he and the other little engines got to meet two new steam engines. They were a pair of narrow gauge tender engines named Holly and Jolly and they are twins. Will they be very reliable during the Christmas season?

A brake van of many colors. A new brake van arrived on Sodor for the pride month celebration. His name is Charlie and he looked like Toad, but he was painted in all 7 colors of the rainbow.

The undead engine. Smudger was telling his friends a story about a blacksmith engine named Smoother. He told them about something that happened to him that caused him to become nothing more but a literal death machine.

Jennings’ joust. Jennings was delivering some cargo trucks to Ulfstead Castle and saw a horse. It turned out that it was actually Barnaby, Becky’s pony! She had escaped from her family’s farm after getting such a fright that she would change at anyone before giving them powerful kicks. Will Jennings be able to soothe Barnaby?

[katsotherworld]

Book 3 Chosen House of Night

My ramblings throughout the book.

Shawnee is described as caramel colored.

"Man purse" as opposed to just a purse or a bag?

I totally agree that birthday gifts that are holiday themed just because its the day of or right before/after is stupid, unless the birthday person is obviously and overjoyously a fan of said holiday.

Like you don't give Christmas themed gifts on Christmas, so why would you if they're born in December?

Heath coming in to save/ruin the day by revealing Zoe's birthday hatred lol.

Ok, 16/17 is old enough to realize that 50 something isn't that old.

Of course The People of Faith have their own edition of the Bible.

I hate that Linda was manipulated and abused into cutting off her daughter and mother. And when she wanted to free it was at one of the worst moments.

Also, does Zoey never miss her siblings? She doesn't seem to care about them at this point in the series.

I'm definitely remembering why I hated Eric, like I remembered but now I'm really remembering.

Also, Zoey's slut shaming is fucking annoying, like honey, it's normal to be sexually interested if you're interested in sex.

I want Stark, not Eric, like I just want my archer baby not the asshole actor who has a lesson to learn thst isn't learned for a few more books.

"Kinky Freak Boy" that's just so gross Zoey.

And Eric is right about Loren looking at Zoey not like a student and he's her teacher.

Teenagers should be taught what Grooming is, I wish they'd have called it that in these books because its Grooming and teens are so unaware about things that they don't realize an adult shouldn't be interested in them.

"Shawnee's chocolate colored eyes"

"He called me a woman." "He always mademe feel so grown, so womanly" statements made from a teen girl about a adult man grooming her.

"I've always been drawn to confident woman. You don't any idea how how special you are, do you Zoey? You're unique, not like any of those other fledglings. You're a goddess among those who think themselves demi-gods."

"I thought adult vampires weren't supposed to have relationships with fledglings.

"We're not supposed to, its highly improper. But sometimes there's an attraction between two people that transcends the vampire fledgling boundary, as well as age and impropriety. Do you believe in that kind of attraction, Zoey?"

"I didn't like seeing his [the age appropriate boyfriend] hands all over you?" Loren Blake

"I dont have any right to be angry at you for being eith Eric, it's not even my business." Loren Blake

"Do you want it to be you're business?" Zoey Redbird.

"More than I can tell you. I belive its my turn for a birthday kiss." Loren Blake

"No one can know about us" kisses her then proceeds to give her diamond earrings.

After being invited back to the teacher's room for sex she then panics because she doesn't want to have sex yet, but wants an excuse that isn't "juvenile"

I'll be waiting for you to come put me out of my misery.

"As I said, You're not like the rest of those fledgling children. And I happen to adhere to the belief that some rules are meant to be broken." -groomer Loren Blake again.

Also, if Nyx gives Zoe all these gut feelings why wouldn't she stop her from getting raped by Loren.

Nyx waits till after Zoe is imprinted with an adult vampire to let her know not to trust him with knowing Negerete's dark deeds.

Why didn't Nyx stop this shit.

Zoe deserved better than walking in on the Neferet and Loren situation.

God, Zoey's friends fucking suck. Like why the fuck are they so stupid. Like so fucking stupid. And if anyone would be aware of fucking GROOMING Damian would know that Loren was fucking in the wrong. I get the twins being a little awkward about it but Damien should know that he was Grooming her.

And so begins the Eric showing his true colors saga.

I just love Stevie Rae.

Zoe not knowing what the mysterious excruciating pain is sucks for her from a lack of knowledge stand point.

Darius is the absolute best. Like he is just the fucking best. I'm glad he gets to be a permanent character.

Welp, that ended on a note for sure.

[library-of-babylon]

House of Night: Chosen - Review

★★★☆☆ Bullshit galore

Craft ★☆☆☆☆ Characters ★☆☆☆☆ Plot ★★☆☆☆ World-building ★★☆☆☆ Utter nonsense ★★★★☆

Triggers?

Homophobia

Victim blaming

Homeless abuse

Religious abuse

Racism

Sexism

Ableism

Implied sexual assault

Grooming

Sexual manipulation

Self harm

Misogyny

Race war(?) I don't like how I'm just collecting triggers

✨Spoilers✨

Birthmas

Do you like contrived conflict? No? Too bad because that's how this book starts. Zoey's birthday is December 24th and literally everyone except Heath and Grandma Redbird decided this meant everything they got her needed to be Christmas-themed. The only person who gets a pass from this is Jack who's known her for two weeks, likes snow globes, and trusted everyone else on the shit decision. These people have known her for about 3 months at this point and not a single one of them thought to ask her about what she'd like for her birthday or how she would feel about birthday presents that are Christmas-themed. This is a very basic thing to do and should go without saying.

And then there's Zoey, Erik, and Heath. As the book points out Heath has known Zoey for literal years and yet knowing this Erik gets pissed at her over him getting her a gift he knew she would like with a card that says he knows how much she hates Christmas-themed birthday presents.

Chapter 18

Why does a chapter finally deserve its own tangent? Because it is the worst. Problems with Heath aside about halfway through some men start sexually harassing Zoey, while with Heath, and these guys are offensively stereotypical black men. The books have always had a problem with racism including using food to describe skin and referring to hair as "nappy" all the damn time, but hoo boy the first black men we see and they are sexually aggressive, have baggy pants, are harassing people, and as if that start wasn't bad enough it somehow gets worse.

Zoey throws them into oncoming traffic, they get hit by a truck, and she doesn't even care. It takes a moment for her to really process what's happened and by then say they might not be dead besides there's a hospital nearby and they were trying to hurt Heath. To all this tells her what she did was mean she shouldn't be mean, Nyx isn't mean. I haven't told a lot of people this but I was in a car accident last month two days before Christmas. We were T boned and sent rolling, I got a concussion and my arm got pinned under the seat belt, my friend who was the driver got several broken ribs. Again we were inside a car that took most of the impact and thankfully were in a residential area so there wasn't as much force as the main road these men were thrown into. They were hit by a truck going at least 40 miles an hour and had nothing to protect them. That's not mean, that's malice and grievous bodily harm to men who catcalled her.

Professor Bad Touch (Loren Blake)

Please god, make it stop. He calls her a woman, compares their relationship to the implied pedophilic relationship the vampire Shakespeare had with a fledgling, gives her diamond earrings, kisses her, manipulates her into feeling bad for him, tells her not to tell anyone about "them", kisses down her shoulder and invites her back to his room to have sex.

This girl looks for a reason to get out of having sex with her teacher that isn't "moronic and juvenile". She turned 17 at the start of this book and he is not only her teacher but in his mid-twenties. This is deeply unsettling to listen to and all I can think is "You are a child" and "Did this really need to be included". The extremely predatory nature of this "relationship" is not being handled at all responsibly by the very fact that Nyx is seemingly cosigning this.

Because we are with Zoey 24/7 there isn't much room for her, the girl actively being groomed, to talk against what is happening being normalized to her by a man with power over her however at no point does Nyx step in, and give her a warning in any kind of way. Nyx is just as much at fault for this happening in the narrative as Blake, by the constant special treatment Zoey gets it is obvious she cares deeply for this girl who is her "eyes and ears" but does nothing while she is in active danger from this man. Nyx in these books is a trusted adult watching her get abused and doing nothing about it. The only thing Nyx does do around him is tell her to shut up and not spill secrets to the man which yeah I wouldn't tell him shit either but come the fuck on.

I hate that he's the one who takes care of her after she finds her teacher dead and mutilated in front of the school. I don't like how the book is trying to make me like him I know what he is and it just gives everything he says or does no matter how kind an insidious nature.

This man is a predator. He takes her virginity and imprints with her while she's an emotional mess, possibly in shock, having thought that she was about to witness her boyfriend die just one month after seeing her best friend die, forcing her to relive it. Even if she wasn't all the other problems this is so fucked up. Yeet this man into the sun he is scum in every way shape and form.

"you're not like other fledglings. And I feel some rules are meant to be broken" 🤮

The only good thing about professor bad touch is that he fucking dies at the end of the book after being revealed to have groomed and abused Zoey on Neferet's order.

Linda Heffer (Zoey's mom)

Zoey's mom is in an abusive relationship and is doomed by the native. Linda is manipulated by her abusive husband into giving her daughter a birthday present that they both know she would not only not like but would find offensive. The gift in question is adding Zoey and her siblings to the family bible. Under normal consonances this would be extremely heartwarming, adding stepchildren to a cherished family heirloom and tree cementing an unwavering acceptance into the family. Instead, it's a knowing insult to her religion and further religious abuse and manipulation from her stepfather.

Beyond that, there is also a very good chance that Linda and Zoey's siblings have been forced by John Heffer to not be in contact with her. Despite realizing how she's being manipulated by her husband, both Zoey and her own mother (Grandma Redbird) instead comment on how she's a weak woman who wants a man to think for her. It's all honestly quite sad.

Stevie Rae

Since dying and becoming Nosferatu Stevie Rae has gone through an almost complete personality change while also falling into a completely different class of more classical vampires. These Nosferatu vampires as I'm calling them in these reviews need to be invited in, think and act like most would assume the soulless would, burn in sunlight, and need to feed on human blood more often than regular fully fledged vampires. Despite these however, there does still appear to be some humanity in Stevie Rae as she is willing to go along with Zoey's plan to hide her in Aphrodite's parents' mother-in-law suite, part of which involves her giving up feeding on the homeless and other vulnerable civilians instead feeding on blood bags stolen from the school.

Aphrodite

It's absolutely wild hearing Zoey call Aphrodite a hoe while juggling two guys + her teacher.

Keeping with the last book's decision to give her more things to do than just hang around being spiteful in this Aphrodite is given an affinity for earth and sent by Nyx to replace Stevie Rae in the dark daughters and sons magic circle. She also gets a good amount of character development with a clear pattern of her opening up and being vulnerable while alone with Zoey, as well as agreeing to not be as antagonistic while being a part of the circle.

"As Mother says dependable illegals are really hard to find" Sometimes I really wish the books would quiet while they're ahead.

Erik Night

Yo, fuck this guy. He finds his girlfriend being groomed and sexually abused by their teacher and thinks she's the problem, calling her a slut. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on. Erik was a bland if likable guy in the past two books but his behavior in this one just makes me want to throw out the baby and the bathwater. On the one hand, he's upset about very reasonable things but he takes it out on Zoey in the most unreasonable ways. I really can not overstate how bad Erik is as a person, man found his girlfriend being abused and went scorched earth telling all of their friends the moment he had an opportunity and being such a spiteful vindictive bastard that not only was that not enough he then tried to turn everyone against her. Yeet him into the sun with Blake's corpse fuck the both of them.

Heath Luck

Guess who still doesn't understand boundaries? Heath who has gone from light stalking to full-blown obsession. At this point his only goal is Zoey and if they were normal people I'd be legit worried that he would kidnap her. Props to the book for realizing how unhealthy this is however any good boy point that would be given for this are immediately taken away by him deciding to cut himself when she tries to leave him so she'd be drawn to his blood.

I don't like Zoey but can the books please please please give her one love interest with a minor character flaw instead of being the scum of the earth? Like can she get with a guy whose problem is his car is a mess or who never vacuums his carpet?

Neferet

The duality of Neferet is an interesting one. After the girls find their teacher dead and mutilated she makes a genuine effort to be strong and supportive, the rock they and everyone needs at that moment however at the same time she is the unseen evil behind every door.

I just wish it'd been better done. The book ends with the implication that she killed her pedo boyfriend (for the wrong reason) and a personal friend of hers to start what is essentially a race war with humans. It's obvious that she has some greater plan here other than ruining Zoey's life but right now the pieces aren't adding up to shit and given the general state of things I worry whatever it is isn't going to be satisfying.

Jack Twist

I kinda feel bad for Jack, it's said in the book that Erik is like a big brother to him, and in this one, he completes the change to full vampire leaving Jack who has only been at the school for about a month alone. They were roommates and friends but he already lost him.

I just want to give Jack a hug, he's an absolute sweetheart and I swear to any god that will listen if that ever changes I will riot.

Craft

Said said said would it kill the Casts to pick a new word? Try muttered or chided or hell bit.

Maybe "exotic" isn't the best term to use as a compliment to someone period, let alone right after bringing up native Americans.

Would I recommend this book?

I mean kinda because it's full of utter bullshit like Zoey killing two guys then just forgetting that shit but at the same time this book just kinda meanders about not really knowing what to do, creating artificial conflicts and horrifying implications it has no intention of handling properly, and spending entirely too much time with Blake for even me to be comfortable with.

Mind the warnings with this one. Unlike that last book where you could ignore all implications lurking about in favor of things like fake domestic terrorism and the genuinely heartwarming sleepover after Stevie Rae's death in this one it can't bother to be bonkers enough to give much plot besides the horrors.

[astriiformes]

4, 7, 11 ~

Answered 4!

7 - Tell us about the plot of the first fanfic you ever wrote

The first fic I ever wrote fragments of would have been when I was pretty small, but I never got far with any of those ideas; the first fic I ever wrote and posted I will be a bit vague about so that no one can track down the original, but still had elements that are probably unsurprising to folks who know me -- lots of history research, for one, and the whole thing was a inspired by Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

I do enjoy that even the old, embarrassing ff.net fic I wrote as a 16 year-old has some things in common with the sorts of things I'm writing today, and I'd like to think younger me would be thrilled to know how far I've come as a writer since then (a whole decade ago!)

11 - What’s something neat you’ve learned while doing research for something you were writing? Also, how much do you worry about doing research in general?

Oh god how can I restrict myself to one thing.

I guess for the sake of choosing a few

Found a really excellent SCA recipe website while looking up 1500s German foods for my Pentiment exchange fic

Was researching the Notre Dame de Paris fire as a result of writing a scene in a Pentiment fic during the Act II fire in the abbey and did you know that because old Gothic cathedrals and churches were constructed with a ton of lead, after the fire the lead levels in the air in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral spiked VERY BADLY

This came up while I was doing research for the trans Caleb fic, but cardinals were not officially named as such until well after the Wittebanes ended up in the Demon Realm, so Caleb wouldn't even have called Flapjack a cardinal, he probably just would have referred to him as a "redbird"

Also the last part of this one feels redundant because you all know me but. I do so much research all the time. I will research every throwaway line. I will research information that doesn't even make it into the fic in an effort to get the vibes right. I will refuse to reference a street name until I have looked at actual maps of Victorian London or Renaissance Nuremberg. I will calculate actual travel times based on Tolkien's maps of Middle Earth. I will read 200 year-old medical journals for whump fic. I will spend hours on Wikipedia only to then spend more hours on JSTOR and/or other databases corroborating what I think I have learned.

(Part of this is admittedly because it's one of the things that's genuinely fun about writing for me. I've also successfully taught myself how to be a better history researcher especially by obsessing over details in fic, so it does have perks!)

[semper-legens]

33. Chosen, by PC and Kristin Cast

Owned: No, library Page count: 322 My summary: Zoey Redbird is in trouble. Her friends are growing more distant, her boyfriend trouble has reared its head, and her undead friend is losing her humanity day by day. Nyx is leading her to unlikely corners to solve her problem - former foe Aphrodite starts to offer help, albeit reluctantly. But when vampyres start being killed, Zoey starts to realise there are bigger things at work here. Nyx’s path is hard to walk. And Zoey is going to find herself in huge trouble... My rating: 0/5 My commentary:

I have no excuses for why I'm continuing with the House of Night books. They're awful. There's so little to like about them. They're just a bigoted mess. And yet, they're also wild in how awful they are, so much that they wind up being incredibly entertaining in all the wrong ways. So I'm gonna keep reading 'em until either I'm sick of them, or I run out. Because this is my life now.

So there's four major things in this book I wanna talk about. Obviously, it's still homophobic and misogynistic as hell, I've talked about that before, that hasn't changed. The first of this particular book's sins is Loren Blake. He's a teacher at the House of Night who's shown a romantic interest in Zoey, so much so that she counts him as one of her three boyfriends. Surprise! He's grooming her! But not in the way that setup sounds like. No, he's actually just pretending to be into her so he can spy on her for Neferet, his actual lover. The problem this narrative has with him isn't that he's a teacher preying on a seventeen year old, it's that he's spying for Neferet. Ugh. It's also tied up in Zoey's misogyny - she denigrates other girls as sluts and skanks, but has sex with Loren. Then she wonders if she's turning into a slut. Which is clearly the biggest issue here. The sexual politics of this series are a fucking mess.

Then there's Zoey's ongoing relationships with her friends, who are all still one-note. They all turn against her in this one, mostly because she's hiding the Stevie Rae thing and doesn't tell them anything. But it starts at the opening scene, Zoey's birthday, where everyone gets her Christmas themed presents because her birthday's the 24th of December, and Zoey hates that. But doesn't tell them this beforehand or after, and is treating her friends getting her Christmas themed presents as a great betrayal. Priorities, girl! I don't know how she's meant to stay sympathetic, honestly. This is not a huge deal, and she's treating it like they're being mean to her, despite them not knowing she doesn't like it. So when Stevie Rae shows up, they all freak out (justifiably!) and shun Zoey for it. And because nuance is not a concept Cast is familiar with, it's in that very black and white You Are Either For Or Against Zoey way that every relationship Zoey has winds up. We're supposed to think they're treating Zoey unfairly, when actually it's her own damn fault. Meanwhile, Aphrodite is slowly becoming part of the team, but her and Zoey still spend the whole time sniping at each other in misogynistic ways, it's really unpleasant.

Third is the whole magic and religion thing. Vampyres are being murdered by humans, who belong to the People of Faith, a vaguely Christian organisation. Stevie Rae is becoming an Actual Vampire, with the sun weakness and the need to drink blood and be invited into houses thing. (I know I keep saying it, but why is this book not about witches? Stevie Rae can still separately be resurrected as a vampire.) Of course, the vampyres are all innocent victims (it's canon that the vampyres make up much of the high-profile members of society, what is the legal situation of vampyres in this world?) and all the People of Faith are cartoonishly evil and bigoted. Nuance is dead, long live nuance. Secondarily, Zoey's just amazing at all her magic now. She said she's been practicing, but we never see her do any work for it. She can summon wind and fire and all that! Sure would be nice to see her figure that out! But no, as ever, Zoey's just Naturally Good At All Things.

And then there's what I'm going to refer to as The Incident. So here's the setup. Zoey has gone to meet her human boyfriend, Heath, to break up with him. He gets her to drink more of his blood, during which some men catcall her. They are explicitly mentioned to be black. Zoey summons her affinity with the wind to blow a car into their path, hitting them. They could have died. We don't know. Which...what the fuck? Why specifically mention the ethnicity of these characters? The point this scene is meant to make is that Zoey is losing her humanity, but we don't see that in any other meaningful way, this whole thing just feels tacked-on. She doesn't have these murderous impulses anywhere else in her life! And while Zoey feels bad about what happened, she doesn't, like, check to see if they're okay, or call an ambulance. She just leaves. Which carries the really gross overtone that a) black men (of which there are no other explicit examples thus far in this book) are aggressive and sexually harass women and b) are totally fine to murder for the above incident. It's Just Disgusting.

Ugh. And yet, I've got the next installment on order. Riddle me that. Anyway, next up something much better - a house full of magical, troubled children.

[jedimemories]

I started Fannie Flagg's A Redbird Christmas and also I'm on the middle of Irwin Shaw' Nightwork & Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction by J. D. Salinger -- I'm at the beginning of the book. Oh memories my mom gifted it to me and I'm missing those times. I'm gonna reread it once again. I wished I could tell her it's fun to read.

[arobinwithoutbatman]

((Okay lets get going! I believe I'm up to... Knightquest Crusade Volume 1. I am... so concerned about everything.))

Jean Paul still being an absolute menace as Batman, I see

...a pair of cowboy twins? Robbing the same bank? Not knowing the other was there? Admittedly that's kinda funny

Oh Jean Paul is 100% walking headfirst into his programming, he's not resisting like he think he is

*Did you fucking brick up Tim's way into the Cave?!*

...he's gonna crash into a train?! That's gonna completely wreck Batman's reputation!

-----------

I'm so glad Mrs Mac is an actual good woman

Awwww Tim got his special provisional!

Bruce and Alfred are still in Santa Prisca?! Jesus...

A train robbery and Tim's breaking into the cave

...I see that jawline... and that grin... *fuck off, Clown*

Ugh, Tim really can't win and Jean-Paul has officially lost it and no longer considers himself a human

----------

Robin #1? Huh.... might have to alter my reading list...

...he snapped out of it? At least enough to stop hurting Tim though now Tim is understandably very cautious and doesn't want Jean-Paul anywhere near him

Tim has his own car now tho. I always thought he Redbird was a bike tbh

Oh! He's still with Ariana, cute

Awwwww he's taking her to his school's dance! And talking up her talents and dreams, what a gentleman

...I spoke too soon. Tim inserted his whole foot into his mouth by getting snappy about cars. You're doing a shit job of hiding the fact that you really want to drive your secret vigilante car

...oh hi Arthur Brown. Oh! That means Steph will be turning up soon!

Boyz? ...fuck me, that alone is making me feel old. This issue came out in... 1993?

And now Tim's been mistaken as one of the 'Speed Boyz'

---------

Oh shit right, Jack is still missing

Awwww still calling his girlfriend when he can~

...wtf is Alfred doing in England? I thought he and Bruce were in Sants Prisca?

Oh good! There's a good lead on Jack! And the Redbird can look after itself, thank goodness

Tim is such a little shit in his head, I love it and wish he had the confidence to say some of that out loud

------

Back to 'Batman'

Tally Man... that's a new one

I'm not sure an isolation tank is the best thing for you, Jean-Paul. That kind of sensory deprivation can be pretty peaceful for some but in your specific situation? I have a feeling it would only make things worse

Again, I'm not sure I like the route of his meditation but it certainly reveals a lot

And Tally Man is seeking more debts

...Jean-Paul hid his isolation chamber... in the warehouse that Tally Man's target happened to be using. And neither of them realised until this Johnny *found the fucking tank and shot it?!

--------

Okay cool, Jean Paul having more System bullshit that's only making his headspace *worse*

Tally Man has a bone to pick with... debtors?

Ah. He killed the previous Tally Man as a 12 year old and was treated to adult jail because everything sucks in comics

Aaaand Jean-Paul's switched to calling himself Azrael. This... isn't good

-----------

Lunch break

---------

Jean-Paul... buddy. DOn't do it. Don't go on an actual crusade through Gotham

Insider knowledge... admittedly clever but jfc JP

Okay... so now there's someone who JP could have become and potentially is becoming

Okay cool, mobsters being taken out, Gordon suspects Bruce isn't under the cowl and JP is just getting worse. He doesn't care for the detective work that's necessary to the role, he's just here for a fight and it's such an easy way for the System to worm in and corrupt everything in his head. Which I suspect is exactly what's happening

---------

...holy shit, JP's rambling actually worked?!

And now this Mekros is all confused

---------

Oh the Trigger Twins are back

JP, don't frame this as not wanting Tim in danger. You don't understand the partnership and you think he holds you back

Car chase on the train tracks, okay

And they're dealt with... OH FUCK OFF CLOWN, YOU AND YOUR STUPID LONG HAIR

-----------

Damn. Christmas again. Which means it's been... a year since Bruce got his back broken?

Oh hey Mr Freeze! Was wondering when you would turn up

--------

Oh? Catwoman issue?

Oh! Selena is with an eco group? And they've never noticed that she's not around when Catwoman is? Incredible

So looks like JP and Selina are gonna meet

These environmentalist guys are so... 90s stereotypical

---------

Hm.... JP might have a little crush~

Lol he totally had dirty dreams about her~

And he's got it wrong and once again proving that he's not great at the detective side of things

Huh. She's immediately guessed that there's someone else under the cowl

Oh dang, she really called him sterile

-------------

Gotta say... I definitely prefer the sleeker black look over the purple sprayed on look

Though it does add to the disguise funnily enough. From a distance, she looks naked and either you're gonna look away or you're gonna stare too much at her boobs and pay little attention to her face or what she's doing

And now you've gone and framed Catwoman because you don't know how to do the detective side of things or investigate and put an entire section of Rainforest at risk

--------

"Undersexed sanctamonious dolt" that's one hell of a description and absolutely implies that she knows Bruce would've gone for her and treated her like a gentleman. And also confirms that he goes along with the flirting

At least he listened and they fixed things

[365momme]

A Redbird Christmas

Mom invited me to go to book club in Hawaii in December. Actually going to listen to the book.

[nicolamcameron]

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates! And to add to the festive feel of the day, I have not one but TWO novellas free on Amazon today! Go, download, enjoy!

ONE SWEET CHRISTMAS

PA Rose Shaffer doesn’t believe in Hallmark moments or small-town romance. So when her car breaks down in a Colorado ski town a few days before Christmas, she does her best to ignore the hot local baker—until she gets roped into helping him make an emergency wedding cake. Now she has to placate a Bridezilla social media influencer, pull off a genuine baking miracle, and resist the lure of chocolate eyes and a cinnamon roll heart.

Eric Kaufman thinks he’s finally lived down his failure on Let’s Bake, America! after an Instagram influencer picks him to bake her wedding cake. But when disaster strikes, a pretty stranger has to help him pull off the bake of a lifetime. To his dismay, he finds himself falling for the smart, funny Rose, even though she’s on her way to LA. Can he talk her into giving small town life—and him—a chance?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P17DV5B

RED ROBIN AND THE HUNTSMAN

It's Frostfair in Ypres, but not everyone is looking forward to the winter holiday. Much to his disgust, army captain Duncan Bardahlson has been dispatched to the tiny province of Wellen days before Frostfair to track down a legendary bandit known as the Redbird. It doesn't help matters that Wellen is governed by the widowed countess Roberta Busse, Duncan's long-lost love. 

When Duncan learns that Robin and her young son Charlie are in desperate straits, however, the hunt for the Redbird takes an unexpected turn. An overbearing tax collector, an impish priest, and a pair of bickering younger brothers all promise to make this holiday season a nightmare for Duncan unless he can overcome his past heartbreak and rekindle his romance with Robin.

And find the Redbird, of course. But Duncan isn’t called the Huntsman for nothing…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078H477TF

[ariannawith17]

Don’t Be Single For Christmas #hatsunemiku #redbird #angrybirds #talkloid #vocaloid #meme #parody #vines

[shortskirtsandsarcasm]

A Redbird Christmas Review

A Redbird Christmas came up on many lists when I searched for “Christmas books,” to read in December and I was delighted to find a book by Fannie Flagg, since I loved Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Redbird follows a man who moves from Chicago to Alabama for his failing health and becomes enamored of the quirky and eccentric, tight-knit community.

Overall a perfect little lighthearted Christmas novella where good people get exactly what they need and miracles do happen. My only criticism is that it wraps up way too neatly.

I read Fried Green Tomatoes well over years ago now, so I am definitely due for a reread. Redbird reminded me of Flagg’s warm and comforting writing style and has made me want to reread Fried Green Tomatoes. Hopefully, I can find a copy to borrow soon.

[uniqueartisanconnoisseur]

Christmas events in the Heartland

Christmas events in the Heartland

You don’t have to go very far to have a bit of Falala and Christmas events these days. My grandkids determined Christmas spirit by the decorations a person had outside their house. We just have lighted wreaths, so I think they would probably find us lacking, but we sure have seen some fine display of holiday finesse around. Here is where we have found a bit of fun in the Midwest these past few…

[lootbylouise]

Excited to share the latest addition to my #etsy shop: Cardinal and Holly Topiary Statue #green #christmas #red #topiary #redbird #cardinal #holly #hollyberry #winterdecor https://etsy.me/3nsKvPU (at Clear Lake, Iowa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJzX_zClFwM/?igshid=3vniqpj4nsgq

[crows-moss]

"Haaappy Biiirthday!" as my friend Frosty the Snowman would say. What a day, what a year, what a time, to sing the things we mean to the sky. Lift up your chins, your spirit, and your cheer and celebrate that Christmas is here! You've kept on a smile as much as you can, this year has taken a toll, maybe more than you could stand. Rest easy tonight knowing that you're cherished and loved, by the friends you hold dear, on Earth and from above. Here's to the end of a stretch of trials worry, and CHEERS to the start of a fresh new journey! Don the sleigh with the cascabels and "Merry Christmas, you filthy animal!" . For full length videos, check out my YT @ Crows Moss! Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvhd3dBCo-qgCXc4cbcUjFw Winter Moose Video: https://youtu.be/wUZ0vSfqn0M Christmas Cardinals Video: https://youtu.be/jauuGIO-G2g Don't forget to "Subscribe" to stay up to date on future videos! . Special Appreciation to: [Mixkit.co - Free Stock Music, Title, and Transition(s)] Programs Used: Clip Studio Paint - Creation Steam Labs OBS - Recording Davinci Resolve 16 - Video Editing #merry #christmas #xmas #redbird #cardinals #yafilthyanimal #achristmasstory #frostythesnowman #christmasrhyme #holidaycheer #holynight #sleighbells #spriritofchristmas #saturdayeveningpost #normanrockwell #eveningnews #red #white #green #2020 #2021 #clipstudiopaint https://www.instagram.com/p/CJMnhFYsBP8/?igshid=1s7j48hok7nnz