#And the writer said that the dad is the King of Hearts. Which explains the Queen’s hatred

[altblock-tm]

behind the scenes beef in our production of Alice in Wonderland is insane

[theromanticrationalist]

Well, I finished The Big Bang Theory. That was a wild ride! I know this show ran for a long time, but when you binge watch it for several weeks it goes by SO fast, omg. Season 12 felt rather rushed to me, like they had to hurry and get the characters to their end points. I also do not feel like their stories are really finished, but just getting started! AKA if they wanted to make a Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler show, that would be fine be me! I want to see them continue on with their science projects, getting pregnant, having babies, raising children - I WANT IT ALL. GIVE IT TO ME. *ahem*

Some criticism, the emotions at the end didn’t feel necessarily earned. I mean it was beautiful how Sheldon Cooper said he loved his friends and honored them as part of his journey to the Nobel Prize. Only, I am remembering in Young Sheldon, how Sheldon thanked Missy Cooper in his High School President speech, and I was like a MESS. I wanted to just outright bawl my eyes out! There was so much earned emotion there between Sheldon and Missy. Also, Sheldon thanked Missy from his own heart, and wasn’t bullied by his friends and loved ones.

So, I get that this is a sitcom, so it just comes with the territory, but everyone was so angry and upset at Sheldon, when in reality they literally never fully communicated any of their problems WITH Sheldon. They always just enabled him or submitted to him in resentment, when a good direct face to face chat was all they needed to do. Amy does it all the time, when the writers decide to make her smart. I don’t like how utterly clueless everyone acts about Sheldon. He’s like literally autistic, full stop. It is obvious as day. It is so clear that things just have to be explained to him and have it be processed by him in a certain way. Of course he always loved his friends, though! That was so freak’in obvious, these guys are dopes to not see it! Sheldon’s love goes so deep.

Obviously, I am not excusing his selfishness or self-centeredness, which anyone can be these things no matter your cognitive ability, but that isn’t the problem for me about this show. It is the fact that everyone acts like Sheldon is the sole source of the problem, walking on eggshells around him, acting as if he is the vulnerable one everyone needs to protect, when they could have just treated him as an adult to begin with! It is the same mistake Mary Cooper made in raising Sheldon, wanting to protect him vs allowing him to discover the world and learn, like George often argued for (Dad Cooper was right, yo!). Yes, this boy is a sensitive, precious little baby cakes who is rather naive and gullible, but also - he’s a grown ass man. Just because his behaviors are primarily associated with children doesn’t make him an actual child. (At least Mary Cooper had that excuse, she was raising the little green bean!) He absolutely isn’t, though. And as the show proved, Sheldon CAN accept change, be humbled, and express love through physical and emotional means. Guess what guys, HE COULD HAVE DONE THAT THE WHOLE FREAK’IN TIME. No one had to slap him or yell at him or hurt him, they could have just TOLD HIM. You know, like rational adults? So who are the children in this situation, hmm?

Anyway, it is just something I am frustrated with about the whole show, especially since it effected him and Amy and how they communicated. The writing was rather frustrating in many ways. That is why I prefer Young Sheldon as a show and how they handle Sheldon’s character in it, which is with so much more nuance, depth, and maturity.

But again, this is a sitcom. So, whatta ya gonna do? It was an absolute delight, though, and I am going to HYPERFIXATE THE HELL out of Shamy!!

King and Queen of the Universe! Their brains are so much better than everyone’s!! 😍😍😍

[philhoffman]

This week’s Monday Philm was a very special one — Love Liza (2002), with the commentary track featuring PSH, his brother/writer Gordy Hoffman, and director Todd Louiso. I’ve been digging commentaries lately and this is the one I was most excited about, and I doubt another one could ever make me laugh and cry so much.

This is probably my most personal and complicated PSH film. The last time I watched Love Liza as a Monday Philm was the hardest one ever. It was the anniversary of Phil’s death and my last unseen PSH feature film performance. I saved it for last because I knew it would be special, and it was, and it’s become part of the painful and raw and emotional blur of that whole week.

The only time I’ve seen Liza between then and now was on Phil’s birthday in July — I had a PSH mini-marathon with a friend, got home in the middle of the night, made pancakes for myself, and watched it alone in the kitchen at 2 am. I believe there is no better viewing experience for this movie — it cemented in my mind that this is a personal film. As Phil said, theater is communal, but cinema “is just for you.” Love Liza and everything it represents — artistically, personally — is so close to my heart I can’t imagine trying to explain it yet, still.

That being said, the commentary track is fucking brilliant and illuminating (and hilarious). So much goes into every film that the audience may never know, and hearing a few of the core creators (who are close friends and brothers) discuss their baby like this, just hanging out, is the coolest thing in the world. I absorbed so much more about the film, Wilson’s arc, how Phil viewed him and other characters in the story.

Just a few highlights from my literal four pages of notes:

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Gordy’s voice before but wow — it’s different than Phil’s, a bit lower and slower, but their patterns and intonations are EXACTLY the same. Phil has such a unique inflection on certain words so it was trippy hearing Gordy speak in an identical way. The jumps, their whispers. Siblings!!!

Phil loved the basketball scene lmao: “It’s like in the middle of this suicide, gas-huffing movie, this guy just doesn’t know how to play basketball.”

It’s very special and hard and moving and comforting to hear Phil talk about grief and how Wilson experiences loss and navigates it, which he does throughout the commentary. “Of course [his grief] is gonna be too much... If something like this happens and if someone loves a person that it happened to as much as Wilson loves Liza, his grief is going to be too much.”

Phil broke a car and accidentally cut himself on a broken window and lost his voice and nearly got hypothermia and almost caught on fire during this month-long shoot. King!

In the middle of the movie, Phil’s cell phone rings (it has the dreamiest, most relaxing ringtone I’ve ever heard?) and a few minutes later he says it was Mimi calling: "[That was] actually my girlfriend, who’s eight months pregnant. And she’s in New York and she’s awesome and beautiful and I miss her a lot, so I’m just saying this right now to like completely immortalize it on this DVD, how excited I am. It’s just like, the most exciting thing in the world.” They must’ve filmed this in early 2003 — Phil became a dad when Cooper was born a few weeks later ❤️

The way PSH puts his hand(s) on his face in many of his performances is one of his most recognizable gestures but I really thought about it tonight. The way he’s putting all of himself out there, to be vulnerable and raw and captured on film for everyone, and his instinct is to hide himself, even in that small way, to cover his face and take a moment for himself/the character before letting us back in.

There’s a short transition between scenes where no one really says anything but you can hear Phil softly breathing, a lot like the start of Jack Goes Boating, which is always the sweetest sound cue. Then he says “sPoOky.”

Every time they mentioned another actor in the film, Phil was like “they were great they were so nice I had a crush they were a sweetheart <3″

He told Todd he wouldn’t film the final scene more than twice.

Seriously cannot overstate how much fun this was. “No more new PSH movies” is something that’s been heavy on my mind lately, but this track was like spending two hours hanging out with Phil and his buddies, watching a brand new film. It wasn’t a press junket or an interview or anything public — just him being himself, doing the funny voices he used with his friends, his humor, making fun of himself one minute and offering honest artistic insights the next, all his different laughs and wheezes. “I’m chewing on a coffee stirrer... 'cuz I’m so nervous telling you about my mooovie!” Just when I think it’s impossible to love him more, I realize I’m twice as in love with him than the moment before.

It makes me that much sadder, too. Hanging out with this side of him, thinking about the loss his family and friends still experience every day, not being able to shoot the shit and laugh their asses off with him anymore. So many people have had that awful, painful, Phil-sized hole in their hearts for almost nine years and counting. But, I don’t think any of us who are lucky enough to know Phil in any way would trade it for anything.

At the very end of the DVD, Gordy says you can email him if you want to read the screenplay, he’ll send it to you. Then Phil says, “And if you wanna just come over and hang out with us, and talk about it some more, we’re at www...” and bursts out laughing <3

[alfairy]

My thoughts on Sonic 2 right after my first viewing (HUGE SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE AND POST CREDITS SCENE)

Remember, spoilers under the cut!

OK SO RIGHT OFF THE BAT, THE MOVIE BLOWS THE FIRST ONE OUT OF THE WATER. MORE LORE, MORE CHARACTERS, MORE ACTION

WACHOWSKI PARENTS ARE CANON!!! SONIC CALLED TOM “DAD” AND THEY WERW LIKE LETS GO GET OUR KID, I WAS SCREAMING

So Longclaw really did die…. ;-; Longclaw lives truthers are probably crying rn. We’ll never forget you

Fan artist and fanfic writers are gonna have a field day

The only thing I kinda disliked was that the wedding and GUN arrest scene went on too long. I turned to my mom and was like “when are we getting back to sonic” but the human characters are all very enjoyable and Rachel was hilarious and gets her time to shine

Sonic and Tails friendship was so cute! Personally, I felt Tails was a little underutilized in the film, but I loved the bond between him and Sonic, and how Sonic quickly became so protective of him!! Quickly stepping into that big brother role!

Knuckles did not disappoint, and he was so badass while also simultaneously being stupid as fuck, we love you king. Easily one of the best characters, everyone in the theater was dying laughing at him, but it never felt like the filmmakers were belittling him or making a joke of him, most of his humor comes from him not understanding earth culture and being so serious and blunt about everything.

Also side note, I found it weird that he’s literally standing 2 feet behind Robotnik and Stone at one point while Robotnik is causally mentioning within earshot how he’s gonna backstab him later to steal the emerald. And he just…. Doesn’t hear or react at all??? They’re right in front of you dude. I guess he was focused on something else lol.

LITTLE BABY KNUCKLES!!! He was adorable and it looked like he had a nice father. Ken Penders is probably throwing a bitch fit watching that scene and we all know it. Die mad about it 💕 We now know what baby Sonic and baby Knuckles looked like, and it’s a crime we haven’t gotten to see Baby Tails yet. O wait…. Tails still is baby….

So stonebotnik is canon right. Or at least as canon as it can get in order to sneak past the censors lol. Stones got it BAD. The maid outfit made me SCREAM

THE TEMPLE SCENE. My sonknux peeps… If u know u know… 👀

The filmmakers rlly were like “we’re gonna make sonic get beat the fuck up and pass out and almost die so many times 💕”

Knuckles, unironically: let’s punch him in the dick that’s the most vulnerable area

Living Chaos Emerald theory doesn’t appear to be canon, so Sonics powers are still unexplained. Which is weird since they make such a big deal about them in the novelizations and previous movie. Then again, Knuckles has powers and it’s never really explained, so it’s whatever I guess. Maybe they’ll bring it up in the third movie, since a certain you know who is coming ;)

SO MANY REFERENCES TO THE VIDEO GAMES IN THE FINAL FIGHT OMG

SUPER SONIC AHSHDIEKDIIDJEJEJSJD HE WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. i was kinda scared for a moment when they were like “that’s not the sonic u know anymore he is consumed by power” and then he summons a chili dog out of thin air and everyone’s like “o never mind he’s fine”

Idk how Robotnik could survive that fall, but Stone is fine so I guess he’s in hiding somewhere. Maybe in movie 3 he’s partially robotizied? Who knows? They never found him but we all know he’s lurking out there

THE POST CREDITS SCENE….. just…. OOF. People in the theater GASPED out loud when they said “we found a file from 50 years ago,” like we all KNEW in that moment. This movie still had its light hearted fun moments in it, but honestly if they’re gonna be covering a Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation, or the third movie is based loosely on it, then I think the third movie is gonna be a WHOLE lot darker. Cause you can’t have Shadow without Maria, and we all know what happened to her….. if sonic 2 is about found family, sonic 3 will be about ANGST

[alreadyblondenow]

One is a big number | Lee Taeyong

❤︎ Taeyong x female!reader ❤︎ Very fluffy, Smut, Smut, Tiny bit of angst, Highschool AU, Strangers to lovers, Love Alarm universe, Love Alarm au? ❤︎ 1/4 for LOVE MONTH SERIES: Boys Don’t Cry  One is a big number | You and your words | Sweet | He loves me, he loves me not |

Summary: Under the universe of Love Alarm, you rang Lee Taeyong’s Love Alarm loud and proud and you as a new girl at the school, has his attention more than anything else. 

Word count: 7,682k

Warnings: Protected sex, loss of virginity, touching, teasing, making out, corruption, goodbye innocence, mentions of first base to home run, taeyong having a boner while kissing, all that high school exploring in bed while Taeyong’s parents are not home, Trusting an app regarding love, swearing, mentions of alcohol, mentions of other idols

A/N: PURE FICTION. PURE FICTION. PURE FICTION. This will be very fluffy because I wanted to start February on a light note. hehe. Also, this is inspired by First Love by NCT 127 under Loveholic’s single. It’s a good thing that I finished this before they announced that First Love is all about your first... love... hahaha so I had time to incorporate in more with my fic. As always, I enjoy writing for my Bubu. Happy reading! 

For NCT-WRITER’S FEBRUARY EVENT, LOVE ALARM @nct-writers​ 

Can you still remember your first love? The day you met and the day you realized you officially like that person? 

When that one person hold your hand for the first time? Did he kept you close and kept you warm? 

When that one person kissed you for the first time? How did it feel?

When you had your first fight, how did you fixed it? 

Do you remember the time when you realized that, that one person is slowly slipping into your hands?

When that one specific person broke your heart? 

Do you remember it?

It’s been over four years since Love Alarm has been launched and they’ve been using it for almost everything. The world seemed to have progressed a lot now that we have Love Alarm in our phones but did it really made our lives easier? Especially when it comes to love? 

Walking to school on a beautiful day, your first day as a transferee... what could possibly go wrong? As you enter the school premises, you see students holding their phones like they’re waiting for something or someone. Perhaps they’re waiting for someone to ring their Love Alarm? Who knows? 

“He’s here!” A rather excited student exclaimed and brought out her phone and grabbed her friend. You being the only clueless student right now turned your back too to see the man they’ve been waiting for.

He was like a celebrity when he stepped on the first few steps upon the school’s entrance. Lee Taeyong, a senior. Very good looking, smart, athletic, and voted junior prom king. He literally looks like an angel walking in the middle of the school’s entrance together with his friends who look liked angels too. Their Love Alarm rang so much as they walk in front of the new and old students, making fun of each other and having a bet on whose Love Alarm will ring the most. 

You looked at him. You looked at his face like you don’t already know that it’s impolite to stare at someone, but you still did because Lee Taeyong is handsome. And you’re not immune to his charms. What a good way to start school, you thought. It’s only the first day but you feel like you’re going to have a blast as long as you see Lee Taeyong around. 

From there on Lee Taeyong has become your crush and your heart thumps so hard whenever you ring his Love Alarm every morning like the other girls. For you, there’s no shame in ringing his Love Alarm, you’re glad it does that. At least you’re being honest to him in silence and let the alert from Love Alarm do the talking. But even though you ring his Love Alarm again and again and again, you never wish for him to ring your Love Alarm back, no. He deserves someone perfect like him. 

Day by day and whenever you see him around, you look at him to feed your heart and eyes then look away again and ignore him as if you didn’t ring his Love Alarm loud and proud. It frustrates him you know, but in a good way. He now recognizes you as the new girl who rings his Love Alarm every day but seems to don’t care about him enough. In other words, you’re not like the other girls. 

You know that good feeling when you go to school and you’re looking forward to seeing your crush even just for a few seconds? That’s what Lee Taeyong feels for you. With just a couple of weeks of ringing his Love Alarm, you had the man thinking about you and wanting to know you. Sometimes he can’t understand Love Alarm. He is completely sure that he likes you already and he is very interested in you, but he can’t ring your alarm. 

Have you ever had that good feeling when your crush is around and you are free to look at him no matter how long you want and whenever he caught you staring you just avoid his eyes? It’s like playing chicken but you’re both enjoying the game, he smiles at you and brings up his phone as if he’s telling you ‘Thank you for ringing my Love Alarm again’ and you just smile at him, completely clueless that he’s starting to flirt. 

“Why don’t you just ring her Love Alarm back?” Doyoung asked. 

“Cant. For some twisted reason, I can’t ring her Love Alarm. That’s why I can’t make a move and can only flirt back, I want to trust Love Alarm” Taeyong says, eyes completely glued to you but you don’t know that because you’re busy reading.

“Maybe you don’t really like the girl?” Doyoung blurted out. Lee Taeyong didn’t really want to admit it with his friend but maybe he’s right.

“The Lee Taeyong flirts back now huh? And to a new girl? Interesting” Johnny swings his arm to his friend and ruffles his hair. Teasing him for flirting back at you because he saw Taeyong smiled in your direction. 

“Am I not allowed to flirt?” Taeyong snorted and turned off his Love Alarm when he saw the place getting crowded already. “It’s senior year, I need to change” he added. 

“So changing your relationship status is a good start? Hmm. Okay, I agree with you on that. But don’t waste your time if you're unsure,” Johnny explains. But Lee Taeyong doesn’t care, he looks at you as you gather your books thinking of many ways to start talking to you and secretly wishing he can ring your Love Alarm back. But for now, he just can’t. 

While you were studying at the library, you can’t help but remember how Lee Taeyong thanked you for ringing his alarm.... he fucking thanked you, that must be something? He isn’t thanking every single person who rings his alarm, just you. You smile at that thought which you think is crazy but a girl can dream. Then again you remember that you’re studying and shook your head for the nth time to stop yourself from thinking about your senior. 

When you finally focused on studying and finished tons of school work, you didn’t notice that it’s already dark outside and that going home alone would be scary but you have no choice. You walk and walk and walk until you finally reached that scary alleyway you’ve been trying to avoid but it’s your only way home. 

“Hey- don’t go there” 

A familiar voice warned you before you can even start walking, you turned around and wish that you were wrong but you weren’t. It is as if the world heard you thinking about Lee Taeyong and the universe made you meet in an unexpected way. “It’s dangerous there, where are your friends? Is that your way home?” He asked the question like you two were close and talking already, his face looked cold but funny how he makes you feel warm. 

“Yes, this is the only way. Usually, I go home when the sun is still up but I have to study” you explain. 

“I have no choice then. Let me walk you home, my conscience will not let me sleep if I just let you-“

“I can take care of myself, I can easily call my dad. If I refuse your offer, will you still think about me?” You don’t know where the sudden bravery came from but you’re glad you did it.

He was completely shy, blushing and keeping his head down. And that’s the push that Lee Taeyong needed. He held out his hand and introduced himself properly like a decent person would and you did the same. Both hands are shaking because of nervousness but that’s understandable you both thought. “This isn’t how I imagined meeting you officially-“ 

“So you do think about me?” You further tease the blushing man and finally admits the truth and said, “Yes. I do think about you. A lot” it was silent for a few seconds before he started again, “I wish I could ring your Love Alarm too, you make me nervous you know that? Whenever I’m in school I look forward to seeing you, even just for a few seconds” he came closer to you as you grip your bag tightly and the butterflies in your stomach won’t stop flapping their wings when Lee Taeyong put strands of hair behind your ear so he could see you clearly under the lamppost light. 

Either way, you still let him walk you home and cherish every second you could have with your crush. You feel like you’ve won something like you’re winning this nonexistent race with the other girls, you feel happy for yourself. He told you about his day, you told him yours, he made you laugh, you make him shy for no reason. And when you and Taeyong finally reached your house, you exchanged numbers. Now you can tell that you’re winning something. His attention and interest.

“I hope I can ring your Love Alarm,” he says again, looking at you like it’s going to be the last thing he’ll do. 

“That’s fine, ring mine when you’re ready. We can’t rush romance, even when Love Alarm is involved” you watch him let out a small laugh and you think he’s so handsome even when he’s cute. 

“Usually girls get offended when someone they like can’t ring their Love Alarm, but you... you don’t mind waiting” 

You didn’t want to end the moment yet but it’s getting pretty late and he needs to go home too, you told him to stop flirting and go home safe so he can flirt with you some other time. And for the last time, just to wrap this wonderful night, he tilts his head and smiled so sweetly to you and told you ‘good night’ 

That moment you had with Lee Taeyong felt like a pretty damn good song but just like every song, it needed to end. But you will never forget about it. 

After that momentous night with your crush, Lee Taeyong has become a whole entire playlist and a well written album wrapped into one. Every love song you listen to was suddenly all about him he and the man was head over heels to you. He was texting you nonstop even during class, calling you after school and will probably end later at night, and getting the tiniest chance to flirt with you in the morning before you both head to class and meet again by golden hour to walk home together.

Not long after a week of flirting and getting to know each other more, he finally rang your alarm in front of many students in school accidentally. Your eyes went big and Taeyong was as shocked as you are. It was like you have this 10-meter radius for yourselves only and you were both giggling when your Love Alarms went off together. It was a happy moment, definitely one for the books. “Finally” he whispers, standing close to you, not caring if a lot of people are watching. Let them watch, Lee Taeyong thought. So they know you belong to each other now and you have Love Alarm on your side. 

“Are you free this weekend?” He asks while walking you home. 

“Free, but I have to study. What do you have in mind?” you answered as calmly as you could because you have a hunch that he’s going to ask you on a date. 

“Well, now that I can finally ring your Love Alarm, I want to take you out on a proper date” you knew it, “movies?” 

“Sounds fun, as long as it’s scary” he nods and took his phone out of his pocket. 

“Can I ring your Love Alarm again?” He requests which you gladly gave in and opened the app. You two waited for a few seconds for Love Alarm to work its magic. 

Waiting

Waiting 

Waiting

Until the number ‘1’ appeared on your screens and says “Someone within 10-meter radius loves you”. Taeyong sighed in relief and swing his arms around you for a hug and a kiss on the forehead. “That scared me” he admitted. 

Unconsciously, he doesn’t know what his hug and kiss can do to you. While his heart calms as he hugs you, yours is beating so fast like you just ran a mile. There’s that winning feeling again. 

On your first date, he took you to the movies and as promised the movie was scary. It was so scary that he had enough opportunity to hold you close and hold your hand the whole time. The moment your fingers intertwined, you felt some kind of electricity flowing in your body and the movie house suddenly felt warm. “I know, I felt it too” he whispers and went back to watching the movie. 

The next few days with Taeyong was something you’ve never imagine that will happen in your high school life. He has become the epitome of new things and first times. 

He is the first guy to hold your hand in public. Swinging it high, up and down, holding it tight, and he even kisses it whenever he feels like it. Not a day goes by that he didn’t hold your hand or kept you close to him ever since you made it official through Love Alarm. 

He is the first guy to sweep you off your feet, through his sweet words and gentleman gestures. “Can I flirt with you later?” he asks, putting a bottle of juice in front of you before he goes to his next class. ‘Flirt with you’ simply means he wanted to spend time with you before he walks you home. 

Still in your school uniforms, Taeyong brought you somewhere quiet where the river is calm, and just looking at it makes you calm your nerves too. “The sun feels nice, let’s watch the sun go down,” he says lying comfortably on the ground and enjoying the warm grass underneath his body. 

“How’s your day?” you sat beside him and Taeyong was quick to cover your legs with his school coat. He grunted while covering your legs as he remembers how stressful being a senior is. 

“Was having a bad day, when I talked to you earlier. School has been kicking my butt” he says and lies again beside you. “How about you? How's being a new student so far?” 

“So far so good, I have a handsome senior who just made my high school life more interesting” 

He handsomely giggles in front of you, so close that your lips are just inches away. “You’re flirting,” he says. 

“You said you wanted to flirt with me?” you bite back. 

“Mmm-hmm. Can I flirt a little differently today?” he came even much closer to you but you didn’t pull away because you know exactly what he’s talking about. 

And just as you expected, he kissed you. Softly. Holding your chin as he moves his lips on yours while the sun goes down. Your eyes were shut and all you did the whole time your boyfriend was kissing you is return the kiss and savor the feeling of being kissed for the first time. 

When the kiss was over, he did not pull away immediately but looked at your lips for a few seconds as if he wanted to kiss it again but even more fiercely this time but he knew this is not the right time for that. So instead, he kissed your nose and your forehead and flashed a sweet smile at you. Something that you will never forget like the kiss you just shared a few seconds ago.   

After that day, kissing became an everyday habit to you and Taeyong and you both love it whenever you get the chance to share a kiss privately. Well, he does kiss you in public, but those are nothing compared to the ones you share inside his room after school and his parents are not yet home. Lee Taeyong’s lips are simply addicting but little did you know that your boyfriend is even more addicted to kissing you. 

“Just one more kiss” he pulls you close to him begging for another kiss before he watches you go inside your house. “One more please” he pouted like the baby that he is. 

You crashed your lips on him and feel both of his hands hold the sides of your head so you won’t pull away from him so easily. But when you do, he simply asks for another kiss and then another other, until you’re basically making out in front of your house. 

“Mmm” he moans like he’s not planning to stop kissing you soon. 

“Tae-“ you giggle and tried pushing away and finally, he stopped. Lips swollen, slightly panting with a…. hard cock. 

“Sorry about that. I- I have no control over that, I’m sorry” he apologizes and tries to hide his boner. You let out a small laugh and fixed his ruined hair with a few pat. 

“You don’t have to be shy, I’m your girlfriend. See you tomorrow, okay? Go home safe!” you slowly walk towards your house, waving your hand goodbye until you see him walk away. 

Just like any new couple, you and Taeyong crave for each other in many ways. After exploring enough with kissing and teasing each other whenever one of you gets too turned on, soon you talk about different levels of physical intimacy freely without being awkward. 

Given that Taeyong is more experienced than you are because you’re a virgin, he knew exactly what to do when it comes to expressing his physical needs to you and making sure that he doesn’t pressure you with anything. 

“So how do I know if what base are we on?” you asked innocently. 

“First base is kissing. Open mouthed kisses, tongue- basically, the things I already did to you or the things we did already” he explains, hands on your waist as you both lie on your sides facing each other. 

“I’m guessing we're way past first base then” you smirked and made him shy. 

“Yeah. Way past first base” he smirked back at you and hovers on top of you. “The second base is more on touching” he emphasized the word ‘touching’ and better explain it by moving his hand from your leg up until he reaches your inner thighs under your school skirt and run up a finger on your slit unexpectedly which made you curl in no time and curse at him. Not because you didn’t like it, but because it felt good and he immediately stopped the teasing. 

You glared at him as if you’re telling him through your eyes to touch you again, be he just snorted and kissed your cheeks. “Don’t hate me. I’m just waiting for the perfect timing” he explains and enjoys how you’re so annoyed but horny.

You let out a sharp sigh and made him continue again. “Third base is giving head or fingering. Oh, you’re going to love third base” he teased you further by just using his words. You pushed him away from you playfully but your boyfriend is strong and caught your hands, “okay okay. Enough teasing, home run is having sex. And come on I have to get you home before I could no longer stop myself” 

He’s not lying because you see the growing tent in his crotch. He’s been stopping himself by teasing you. You sat up when he got out of his bed to change into some much comfortable clothes but when he got back, you teased him by putting on a show. Lifting your skirt slowly just before you reveal your panties and as expected, he stopped you. 

“Don’t tease me, I don’t have a condom right now” it was a warning but it sounded more like he’s begging. 

“I’m just joking” you kissed him on the cheek and got up from your comfortable position to fix your wrinkled school uniform before you head home.   

Tonight, you attend a party with Taeyong for the first time and his Love Alarm kept on ringing the moment he stepped into the room. 

Every day, Lee Taeyong rings your Love Alarm and you ring his too.... together with the other girls and quite frankly, you don’t know how long you can stand those girls who fantasize about fucking your boyfriend. He’s your own private buffet, for goodness sake. 

“Don’t drink anything unless I’m the one who gave it to you, okay? I’ll get you something- Doyoung!” he made sure you won’t be alone and called his friend before he leaves. 

“So you’re the lucky girl. Hi, I’m Johnny” he offers you his hand for a handshake and accepted with a smile. 

“Don’t mind Johnny, hi I’m Doyoung. Taeyong’s best friend,” you shake his hand and smiled at them, hoping that you don’t look awkward. They made small talk, asked you how you’ve been and how’s your Junior year going so far which you answered too seriously. Soon, you feel Taeyong’s cold hands on your shoulders and hands you a drink before he shoos his drunk friend Johnny away. 

It was a fun night, but it can be better if the other girls can respect your relationship. You wanted to snap so hard but instead, you focused on how Taeyong kisses your nape, shamelessly while you watch his friends play beer pong and he’s standing right behind you, hands on the front pockets of your jeans like he’s telling those girls he belongs to you. 

But the warm feeling was shortly cut off when they heard Johnny shouting and drunkenly pushing himself to walk straight so he could get a hold of his girlfriend. Everyone heard it. The words, “Johnny were through. I’m breaking up with you” were heard on every corner of the place even under loud party music. 

After hearing those words, you looked at Taeyong like you’re telling him through his eyes that you’re scared. But Taeyong and his other friends were quick to get Johnny and stopped him from making a scene. 

Everything happened so fast. One second Taeyong was beside you, but now you're in the middle of the place alone and watching your boyfriend and his friends carry Johnny outside. 

“Johnny didn’t ring her love alarm today,” Taeyong sits beside you after leaving you alone for a few minutes to talk to his friend. “And if he’s going to be honest he fell out of love. But he wasn’t ready to let her go and wasn’t sure about his feelings, he’s just being paranoid because he’s going to graduate soon” he let out a sharp exhale before he continues, “We're going to graduate soon. I guess Love Alarm caught him having second thoughts for her already” 

“Do you want to leave now?” you asked your boyfriend. He can only nod because he still feels weak about what happened to his friend. 

 The supposedly warm night with Taeyong became cold and quiet. Not because there’s something wrong with your relationship. But because you were both scared of the idea of breaking up. He wanted to tell you he saw the look in your eyes when you heard the words but he figured enough sadness for one night, wrapped his arms around you and told you “I will never let you go” and kissed you on your temple. 

Few days after the party is exams week so you and Taeyong didn’t see each other that much. But by the time it’s over, he waited for you outside the school and you know he’s the one waiting for you because he rang your Love Alarm. 

While walking to his house, it suddenly rained so hard that the raindrops hurt your skin. But instead of avoiding the rain, Taeyong pulled you in the middle of an empty street and kissed you under the rain. 

It was so sweet. 

His arms were perfectly wrapped around your body while yours is placed behind his lower back. You tiptoe unconsciously so you could reach him well. “I love you,” he says and lifted you off the ground effortlessly for a tight hug. 

“Here wear this” He left some clean clothes on his bed for you to change with while he puts your wet uniform on the dry cleaner. 

When you’re finally dry and clean, you cuddle with Taeyong in his bed wearing his big clothes and listening to the sound of rain with no lights on, but the gloomy sky outside. 

“I saw the way you looked at me the other night” he started. And you tighten your embrace to him as you remember the words and the whole scenario. 

 “I'm just scared and not because I’m doubting your love” you admitted. “I never thought about it you know. That things can go wrong someday-“

“No, no. Then I’ll love you, even more, every day. Don’t be scared please, trust my love” he says and kept you close by putting his legs on your thigh. His big hand is placed under your shirt, drawing small circles on your tummy to give you more comfort. 

“I’m guessing this is second base then?” you teased him to change the mood. 

“Do you want to proceed to that level? Hmm?” he rolls on top of you, teased you, and kissed your neck in a way that seriously turned you on in no time. 

“If you’re brave enough to do it, then go right ahead. I give you my full consent” you reached for his lips and kissed him deeply. You felt him smile during the kiss and also felt his hand slowly lifting your shirt or rather his shirt. Hands roaming your body like he never touched you before, squeezing your butt cheeks and kneading your clothed boobs. To be honest, he’s shy to put his hand inside your clothes but to his shock, you put yours inside his, bravely touched his body, and shamelessly put your hand inside his sweatpants and touched him. 

That made him swallowed his shyness and knead your unclothed breast under the shirt that you’re wearing. Brushing his fingers on your nipples softly, pinching them to make giggle. 

After a few minutes of intense touching, he was slightly tugging the sweat pants that you’re wearing and asked you, “Do I still have your consent if we proceed on third base?” He whispers oh so sexily beside your ear which made you remember what he told you, ‘you’re going to love third base’ and that is enough for you to nod and give him further permission. 

He kissed you on the lips, his way of saying ‘thanks’, and proceeds to lift your shirt and suck your nipples which made you moan his name and grip his locks so tight that he needed to reach for your hands and intertwine them with his. 

Lee Taeyong showed you who is in bed and you can't help but think that you’re the luckiest girl on Earth. 

“Hey, you okay? You’re spacing out, I think should-“ 

“Don’t stop” you moaned and grabbed his head for a deep kiss. You reach for his hand and made him knead your boobs while you kiss and grind on each other and in a matter of minutes you felt him putting his hand inside your panties while he distracts you with the way he kisses you. He flicks his fingers once and you curled immediately, legs wide open so he could freely move his hand. But soon his patience went thin and removed your panties, throwing it on the side of the bed before spreading your legs even more wider. 

“Do you like this side of me?” He whispers on the shell of your ear and bit it eventually making you tickle and giggle with parted lips. 

“I definitely do” you moan out. 

And for the main event under third base, he kissed your body all the way down until he meets your wet entrance. Kissing your inner thighs first before he proceeds to drive you wild with his tongue. 

First, he parted your wet folds, looked you straight in the eye, and licked you like you’re his favorite flavored ice cream. “Tae-“ is all you can moan out and decided to put your hands above your head and grab hold of his headboard. Which he didn’t like so he stopped and told you, “touch me, I like that” 

And so you did. Gripping Taeyong’s locks as he makes you feel good with his tongue. Putting a finger inside your cunt and flick his tongue faster together with his finger, making you cum in no time and crushing your boyfriend’s head with your legs. “Stop- stop” you cry out because of over sensitivity. “You weren’t going to stop eating me unless I told you so” 

He smirked and hummed because you’re right. He gave you a few minutes to catch your breath, taking that time to strip himself naked without you noticing. And when you finally came back from your high, he kisses your lower stomach and there you see your boyfriend all naked and really horny. 

“I want to have sex,” he shamelessly told you, touching your body with care while he waits for your answer. “Can we have sex?” he kisses you more like he’s persuading you. 

“Do you finally have a condom?” You asked with a smile. 

He did not waste any time and get the condom from his drawer, putting it on in front of you. Putting it on in between your wide open legs and very wet slit. 

“Put your arms around me,” he said and you followed immediately. He ran his protected cock on your wet slit, just to make him hard even more but the feeling for you is very different. You are very much aroused, very horny and it already felt good. So when you feel him poke your tight hole and slowly push in finally, your eyes shut close and feel every inch of Lee Taeyong’s cock go inside you oh so fucking slowly until he’s entire inside. 

He grunted and moan directly on your ear and told you, “virgin no more” and kissed you on your temple before he rolls his deep which made you both crazy and even more horny for each other. 

Your tight walls were so wet because of the foreplay that his cock was sliding in smoothly, hurting you good and stretching you right before he fucks you harder. 

“Fucking thin condoms, I feel like I’m fucking you raw,” he said in between thrust and rolling his tongue on your nipple, tugging and biting it as he pleases. 

When he sees you smiling through the pleasure and felt your body more relaxed, he put his mouth on your mouth and made you catch his moans as he fucks you harder and faster, enough for his bed to creak, your body to be dragged on the mattress and your nails to dig on his skin. 

He came hard and had a great orgasm, slowly thrusting deeper as he rides his high and showers you with kisses. Truth be told, he didn’t want to cum just yet but your tight walls did its magic on him.

The moment he pulls out to discard the condom, he went back to kissing your weak body and told you to “Calm down,” oh so sweetly, and eventually giggled when he saw you still breathing heavily.

“How can I calm down if you’re kissing me like that?” 

“Okay I’ll stop,” he says and pulled down your shirt to cover your exposed body, reached for your panties, and helped you wear them again then covered you with his thick sheets. “Better?” 

“Yes, thank you” you smiled weakly at him and watched him get dress again before he joins you under the covers.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, hoping that you’re okay. “Are you hurt somewhere?” 

“How many girls did you bring here before me?” You watch your boyfriend’s eyes get big upon hearing your question, “I’m joking. And no, nothing hurts. I’m just processing everything that happened. How about you? What are you thinking?” 

“I’m thinking about you, how I want you to be the last girl I have sex with in this bed” it was a joke because he only brought a total of two girls into his room. His first girlfriend and you. 

“Buy a new bed or I’m breaking up with you,” you said with a straight face but he clearly knew you’re joking. 

They say that being close with your partner emotionally, physically, and even sexually can strengthen a relationship. And right now, as you celebrate seven months of being in a relationship with Taeyong, you believe in that saying because you’ve been closer than ever after being intimate for the first time. In other words, the sex was a good way to strengthen your relationship. 

“Why do you love reading so much?” he asks, totally jealous over reading a good book rather than talking to him. 

Taeyong is busy nowadays because he’s graduating in a few weeks and he’s part of the prom committee because he has seriously good leadership skills. That’s why maybe he wanted more attention.

“Oh! I'm gonna miss you when you graduate” you pinch his cheek and sat closer to him. “Will you be fine being away from me?” You teased him but your question was serious. 

“No, I will not be fine. I will miss you every day- can we please talk about something else before I start crying?” he attacked you with kisses on the cheek but the moment was cut off when Johnny pullovers to fetch your boyfriend. 

“Have fun shopping for prom decorations with the boys rather than being in bed with me” you whisper to him while you both wear your bags and walk towards Johnny’s car. 

“I love you, go home safe, okay? I’ll call you as soon as we're done” 

During your walk alone, it felt nice to do something without Taeyong for once. Not that you wanted him to be gone, no. It’s just that nowadays, things have been becoming like a routine and less of a relationship. You go to school, see him before class starts, see him again after school, and go home together. Then you do it again the next day. Like you don’t have any more doors to unlock in this relationship. 

But what do you expect? You’re high school students. 

“Are you done studying?” 

“I can’t study tonight, my brain feels tired” you whine through the phone, eyes closed and thankful that it’s going to be the weekend tomorrow. “How about you?” 

“Well, Johnny accidentally broke a few lights so we need to fix it before we go home. I’m tired, I miss you” 

“Mmm. I’m tired too...” your voice was a little groggy. 

“And? Do you miss me too? Can I see you tomorrow?” 

“Tae, we just saw each other five hours ago and no, I want to enjoy my weekend by staying home and watching Netflix” 

“So you’re not having fun when we're out together?-“ 

“I never said anything like that” you opened your eyes because the conversation is getting pretty serious, “Don’t be angry, I just want some time for myself you know? We see each other every day, talk through text every hour, it’s like there’s no more room to breathe” you wish you can properly tell him what you’re feeling but those are the words that came out from your mouth. 

“Time for yourself, huh. Okay” and just like that, he ended the call. No ‘good night’ or ‘i love you’. And even though you’re sleepy and things escalated quickly, you heard the tone of his voice like a mixture of, annoyed and hurt. 

Instead of having a good night's sleep, you stayed up all night thinking about what you said to your boyfriend. Analyzing every word and repeating the scenario in your head, over and over again. If telling him what you want was wrong, then you don’t know what’s right anymore. 

On the next day, you sent him a few messages telling him that you’re sorry and that you didn’t mean to put it that way. You even told him you wanted to see him, hoping that he will finally get back to your messages. But still, he never replied. The whole weekend.  

Come Monday, you didn’t get to see Taeyong in the morning like you usually would because you and your friends did your group project together last minute. And the truth is, you’re starting to hurt because you feel bad for being honest even though you didn’t intend to hurt him like that. 

“I think you’re being too clingy” Doyoung protest to his friend during lunchtime.

“Girls love clingy boyfriends-“ 

“Well, unfortunately not your girlfriend. Give her some space, don’t make her all about you, you know?” 

“I just want every time I could get with her before I graduate. B-but, yeah. Now I’m giving her the time that she wanted for herself-“

“But you’re hurting her. She’s worried, she just wanted you to return her messages dude” Johnny pats his back and gave him the look like he’s saying ‘fix this before Love Alarm screw the situation further’ 

And while Taeyong is enjoying his lunch with his friends, you’re with your friends at the school bleachers watching the other sections use the field. Talking about hot boys, prom dresses, and what to do after prom.

“Did Taeyong asked you to prom already? Was it romantic?” you see the excitement of your friend as she asked you the question and see the others wait for your answer. 

“N-no. He hasn’t” the once cheerful faces were replaced by disappointment. Come to think of it, maybe he will not ask you to prom because of this stupid fight. You shook your head and returned the question to them and pretended that you care who’s taking them. But deep inside you envy them. 

School was always exhausted and you don’t know why you’re suddenly tired. Usually, after school and you meet Taeyong outside, you still have a lot of energy left. And maybe that’s it, Taeyong’s cheerful energy and happy aura are the ones recharging you after a day in school. That’s when you realized that you don’t need to push him away just so you can breathe.

Speaking of the devil, you see him leaning on Johnny’s car the moment you stepped out of the school grounds. Head down, hands inside his pockets, and waiting for you. 

The moment you stepped inside that 10-meter radius, his Love Alarm rang and he knew it was you. But the problem is, your Love Alarm didn’t ring this time. 

Taeyong didn’t notice it. Taeyong didn’t notice that your Love Alarm was silent. He still welcomed you with a tight hug, kissed your face one too many times, and said his sorry sincerely. It felt nice that you are now okay, he’s talking to you again and on top of that he apologized. Of course, you didn’t want to ruin that peace anymore and pretended that you’re not hurt.   

Few days went by and Taeyong hasn’t rung your Love Alarm and he’s too busy to notice it. Senior year is making him busy and you have nothing against that. Yes, you do miss him but he calls you before you sleep and quickly apologizes whenever he feels like he’s being a clingy boyfriend again. 

“N-no. Please, be clingy. I’m sorry for that night, I don’t know what I’m thinking” you sounded desperate but he doesn’t know why. 

“Okay, just making sure we don’t fight again” 

And few days before prom, he still hasn’t asked you yet while your friends all have dresses already and plans for that night. It sucks, but you don’t want to get mad at Taeyong for not asking you to prom because he’s busy. 

On a quiet afternoon after school, you’re waiting for Taeyong outside the school while reading a book, and page by page you digest every word just so you could stop thinking about prom. And just as you least expected it, your boyfriend asked you to prom on page 127 of the book that you’re reading. 

 “Will you go to prom with me?” -T.Y 

Then it hit you. You started reading this book on the day prom was announced so basically he asked you ever since day 1 and he has been waiting for your answer for weeks already. He just keeps on giving you more reasons to ring his Love Alarm loud proud, while you give him nothing to make him ring yours.  

“Finally. Hi” 

You didn’t know he was right behind you and his kiss brought you back on Earth. He was smiling handsomely and proud because his surprise worked on you, even though it took you a while to answer his question your reaction was worth it. 

“You know my answer Tae. And to be honest I thought you forgot about asking me” you finally admitted, but your lack of faith in him didn’t hurt him one bit. 

“Perfectly fine,” his arms swing around your waist and pulled you closer to him while you're sitting on the bench. “I’m free now and I don’t have prom committee duties. Can I flirt with you tonight?” the way he said it sounded just like old times, like the days when you were just starting as a couple. 

The flirting was continued in his room of course, with his thick curtains down, Netflix playing and hands intertwined the whole time. And after the movie, you two cuddled in bed with you on top of him and just listening to his heartbeat. 

“Does your heart beats for me?” you asked soft, hoping he would tell you the truth. 

“Of course, you’re my first love” true. Even though you’re not his first girlfriend, you’re the first girl he ever loved. 

“Your Love Alarm says otherwise Tae. I think I’m not giving you enough reasons to love me” you admitted. “You haven’t rung my alarm ever since our first fight” 

“W-what? Maybe it’s off?” He was panicking, shaking because maybe it’s true. With quick movements, he left you on his bed to get his phone then looked for your phone in your bag and opened the app to see if what you’re saying is true. 

His rang, of course, but yours didn’t. 

“Tae it’s okay- It doesn’t matter. You know you proved to me that you love me even if you can’t ring my Love Alarm” you went beside him and hugged him from behind. Feeling his frustration and anger to himself but your hug helps him a lot. “You tell and show me you love me every day. I can feel it in how you kiss me, how you treat me with respect and how you’re always patient with me. Come on it’s okay, don’t ruin your day” 

To make him feel better, you talked him out of his sulking and convinced him to go back to bed with you which eventually worked. You’re now sitting on top of him, grinding on his crotch, only wearing your panties and his hoodie. You can tell by the way he kisses you that he’s more than sorry about not ringing your Love Alarm and that makes your heart sad too because he didn’t do anything wrong.

“Let’s turn this night around,” you said before removing the hoodie that you’re wearing and making your boyfriend grip your boobs and play with your nipples while you kiss him and distract him as you undo his pants. 

“Clever” and finally he smiles and puts one of your nipples in his mouth, hands inside your panties and spreading your ass cheeks before he inserts a finger in your wet slit. 

After that night, Taeyong had a hard timing accepting that he can’t ring your Love Alarm again even though you told him so many times that it’s okay. Sometimes your conversation escalates too soon and he just ends up arguing with you. Soon fighting has become a weekly thing for the two of you whenever he brings up Love Alarm again. But that’s okay, couples fight and that’s normal. 

On prom night, you purposely did not bring your phone so Taeyong will not try to make your Love Alarm ring. It’s going to be a beautiful night and you didn’t want to ruin it for him. You danced with your boyfriend and went crazy with him on the dance floor, you dance with your friends and ate good food. In other words, you had a great time. 

And when the slow song started to play, everyone’s Love Alarm kept on ringing and people started to confess their feelings. It was amusing to watch and of course, you’re happy for them. But amidst that busy dance floor, that busy place, you and Taeyong had your own 10-meter radius and you don’t need Love Alarm to feel that you love each other. 

“I’m sorry for giving you a hard time these past few days” he started, swaying you under slow music and not caring what's happening around you even though people are very loud and excited. “Let’s stop using Love Alarm. That app lies. I know all too well that I love you and even though I can’t ring your Love Alarm, I sure know how to love you” 

“Mhmm. You do” oh you wanted to kiss him so badly but the teachers are looking. 

“You still love me right?” 

“Of course Taeyong. What kind of question is that?” 

“I know, I just want to hear you say it” he came closer to you and kissed you on your temple when the teachers looked away, “You look beautiful tonight” he added and dance with you more, looking straight into your eyes and thanking you secretly for liking him first. 

Now it's his turn to like and love you forevermore. 

[tcm]

The Golden Boy, John Garfield By Susan King

Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire was Marlon Brando’s signature role. It made the then 23-year-old Brando an overnight Broadway sensation in 1947, and he electrified movie audiences and earned his first Oscar nomination for the classic 1951 film version. But he wasn’t the first choice to play Blanche’s earthy brother-in-law. Producer Irene Selznick had her eyes on Hollywood star John Garfield, who frequently took time out from movies to return to the Great White Way for limited runs.

In fact, writer John Lahr reported in 2014 that on July 19, 1947, Selznick drew up a contract for the 34-year-old actor, “one of the few sexy Hollywood stars with a proletarian pedigree. The Selznick office leaked the big news to the press. The contract was never signed. On August 18 the deal with Garfield collapsed.”

One of the reasons bandied about was that Garfield turned down the role because the contract would have kept him away from Hollywood for too long. Though Brando is considered the performer who ushered in the more naturalistic style of acting (known as “the Method”) both on stage and in film, truth be told it was Garfield who was the catalyst for Brando, as well as Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, James Dean and Steve McQueen.

Just look at Garfield’s first feature film, FOUR DAUGHTERS (’38). Directed by Michael Curtiz, the cast includes Lane sisters Lola, Rosemary and Priscilla, in addition to Gale Page as the four musically inclined daughters of a widower music professor (Claude Rains). Enter handsome boy-next-door Jeffrey Lynn as a budding composer named Felix who endears himself with all the daughters, especially peppy Ann (Priscilla Lane).

The household is put in an uproar with the arrival of Garfield’s Mickey Borden, the original rebel anti-hero. Unkempt, slovenly and possessing a massive chip on his shoulder, Mickey is an orchestrator who has arrived at the house to work with Felix. You can’t keep your eyes off him especially in this early monologue where he explains his anger to Ann:

“They’ve been at me now nearly a quarter of a century. No let-up. First, they said, ‘Let him do without parents. He’ll get along.’ Then they decided, ‘He doesn’t need education. That’s for sissies.’ Then right at the beginning, they tossed a coin, ‘Heads he’s poor, tail’s he’s rich.’ So, they tossed a coin…with two heads. Then for the finale, they got together on talent. ‘Sure, they said, let him have talent. Not enough to let him do anything on this own, anything good or great Just enough to let him help people. It’s all he deserves.’”

There was a sexuality and eroticism to Garfield’s performance that was 180 degrees different from Lynn’s durable and safe leading man. He was so natural; it was almost like someone found Garfield walking down the street in the Bronx and asked him to star in the movie. “He was the prototypical Depression rebellion youth,” actor Norman Lloyd told me about Garfield for the L.A. Times in 2003. They first met in 1937 and worked together on Garfield’s final film HE RAN ALL THE WAY (’51).

“He combined all of these elements of darkness and rebelliousness with the charm and the poignancy and he became the prototypical actor of that time. He never changed as a person. He remained just as a wonderful guy. He was a man of great charm, a good fellow, very likable.”

There was a lot of Mickey in Garfield, who was born Jacob Julius Garfinkle in 1913 on the Lower East Side of New York to poor Russian immigrants. Julie, as he was called, had a rough and tumble upbringing. His mother died when he was seven. “He hated his father,” his daughter Julie Garfield noted in 2003. “His father was awful to him. He was torn away from his brother.” In fact, Garfield once said that if he hadn’t become an actor, he would have been “Public Enemy No. 1.”

Unlike Mickey, the fates and destiny were looking after him. First, it was educator Angelo Patri, who became a surrogate dad to Julie at P.S. 45, a high school for troubled students. With Patri’s encouragement, he joined the debate team where he discovered he had a gift for acting. That was further nurtured when he received a scholarship to Maria Ouspenskaya’s acting school. He was all of 18 when he made his Broadway debut in 1932 in Lost Boy and became the youngest member of the progressive and influential Group Theatre, appearing in Clifford Odets’ early masterpieces Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing. 

Odets wrote the play Golden Boy for Garfield in 1937, but director Harold Clurman decided to give the lead role of boxer Joe Bonaparte to Luther Adler and cast Garfield in a minor role. His unhappiness with Clurman’s decision pushed Garfield into signing a contract with Warner Bros. And FOUR DAUGHTERS made him an overnight sensation. He earned a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, but lost to Walter Brennan who picked up his second Academy Award in that category for Kentucky (‘38).

The following year, Garfield, Rains, the Lane siblings, Page and Curtiz reunited for DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS, in which the actors played different characters from the prior film. It was probably the best film Garfield made that year. But Warner Brothers put him in a lot of movies that were unworthy of his talent including BLACKWELL’S ISLAND (’39) where he was typecast as a gangster. He made some good movies in 1941, including THE SEA WOLF, which also starred Edward G. Robinson and Ida Lupino and reunited him with Curtiz, and also Anatole Litvak’s atmospheric noir OUT OF THE FOG also with Lupino.

Because he suffered heart damage from scarlet fever, Garfield couldn’t serve during World War II. But he entertained the troops on USO tours and opened the famous Hollywood Canteen with Bette Davis so the troops could be entertained and be served by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Both Davis and Garfield appeared as themselves in the hit 1944 film HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN. Garfield also fought the global conflict on screen, giving one of his strongest and grittiest performances in PRIDE OF THE MARINES (’45), a poignant drama based on the life Al Schmid who was blinded by a grenade during the Battle of Guadalcanal. He returns home to his wife (Eleanor Powell) a bitter, doubting man who has a difficult time trying to deal with his new life.

The year 1946 saw the release of two of Garfield’s most enjoyable films HUMORESQUE and THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. HUMORESQUE was his last film under his Warner Bros. contract. It’s a delicious melodramatic wallow with Garfield playing a poor New York kid who becomes a famous concert violinist. Joan Crawford, coming off her Oscar-winning triumph in Mildred Pierce (’45), plays a wealthy patroness who sets her sights on Garfield. Garfield went to MGM for POSTMAN, which was based on James M. Cain’s best-selling thriller. Garfield turns up the heat with Lana Turner as illicit lovers who brutally murder her husband only to turn on each other when they are caught.

The actor teamed up with Bob Roberts to form an independent production company, Enterprise Productions, and their first feature was the boxing classic BODY AND SOUL (’47), for which he earned his second Oscar nomination as Charley Davis, a boxer who loses his way when he gets involved with an unscrupulous promoter. Not only does he have a strong chemistry with leading lady Lilli Palmer, but also African American actor Canada Lee as Ben, a boxer with brain damage. And Garfield gets to utter one of his greatest lines in BODY AND SOUL: “What are you going to do? Kill me? Everybody dies.”

Though his next Enterprise production wasn’t a hit, FORCE OF EVIL (’48), co-written and directed by Abraham Polonsky, is a terrific film noir with a hard-hitting Garfield as a corrupt attorney trying to save his numbers-racket brother (Thomas Gomez) from his gangster boss. Garfield returned to Warner Bros. and Curtiz in 1950 for THE BREAKING POINT, which was based on Hemingway’s 1937 novel, To Have and Have Not. It’s an outstanding film noir with a superb performance from Garfield as well as from Black actor Juano Hernandez who plays his partner on the fishing boat.

THE BREAKING POINT was Garfield’s penultimate film and was not a hit because The Blacklist was engulfing Hollywood and the actor, despite the fact he wasn’t a Communist. His film career was over in 1951 when he refused to cooperate with HUAC at his hearing. Before his death of a heart attack in 1952 at the age of 39, Garfield did appear in a short-lived Broadway revival of Golden Boy, which also starred Lee J. Cobb, a young Jack Klugman and Joseph Wiseman.

Though she was only 6 ½ when he died, Julie Garfield recalls seeing her father on stage in Golden Boy where he introduced her during the curtain call. “When he smiled at you it was like being in the sun,” she noted. “He was funny and sometimes he would like to dance and kick up his legs. I remember him adoring me. He used to take me to the merry-go-round a lot in New York. He was so strong, so handsome and he loved to kid me. He would give me this mischievous smile. I wish I remembered more about him…”

[sfb123]

Sapere Aude - Part 9

Book: The Royal Heir

Pairing: King Liam Rys x Queen Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Catch Up Here

Series Description: I developed a theory of what I think will happen in TRH Book 4, and I was encouraged by some very lovely people to turn my theory into a fic, so here it is. Basically, Riley is recruited to join the Via Imperii, this series will follow her as she joins them to try and bring them down from the inside, and all of the drama and bombshells she learns along the way. Sapere Aude is Latin for “dare to know” it seemed like an appropriate title.

Rating: PG-13 Adult language, allusions to smut (but nothing graphic), discussions of death, conspiracy, blackmail, and other adult themes.

Warning: The Royal Heir Book 3 Spoilers all over the place.

Word Count: 2,655

A/N: Before I dive in, a little bit of unpleasant business to address. As you may know, there is another writer that is also working on a Via Imperii themed fic. We had been working together to make sure our stories didn’t overlap to the point of plagiarism, sharing ideas and pre-reading each others work. That partnership was abruptly, and unbeknownst to me, put to a halt this week (3/28/21). She has not read this chapter, and I have not read any of hers past her chapter 9 (which I don’t think I ever saw the final version of, so let’s safely say chapter 8). I just wanted to put that out there in the universe, I don’t want any previous approvals or conversations to be implied or carried over into work I have not, and will not, see. No ill will, it is what it is, I just want to make sure that nobody is misrepresenting anyone’s involvement in anything. 

HUGE shout out to my hype squad, @jessiembruno & @txemrn. It’s no secret that I haven’t been feeling to great about myself lately, and they’ve been so great about talking me through it and encouraging me to keep going. 

As always, shout out to @twinkleallnight for my amazing, and updated, moodboard!

Tags: I think my tags actually got figured out, so tags are below, but not in the comments as I usually do. If you don’t get the tag, let me know (which is a weird thing to say, because you might not even be seeing this).

Riley stood at the stove, scrambling eggs, when she suddenly felt Liam’s arms wrap around her as he kissed her neck. “Good morning, love. You’re up early.” He said in between kisses. 

“Hey you.” She shut off the burner and turned in his arms, reaching up to cup his cheek. “How are you feeling?” She looked at him with worry in her eyes. 

“I’m...past the worst of it, thanks to you.” He kissed her softly on the lips. “I’m just ready to move forward and come up with a plan to end all of this. Then I can deal with everything else.”

“You don’t have to bottle it all up until this is over, Liam. You can talk to me.”

“I know, you’ve more than proven that to me.” He winked, a slight smirk on his face. “Taking them down is how I need to work through it. It seems as though a majority of the struggles we have faced have been at the hands of the Via Imperii. Getting my revenge and eliminating them will be a cathartic, healing experience. It needs to happen for the country, and for my own piece of mind.”  

She nodded and pulled out of his embrace, taking his hand and walking him toward the island. “Good, that’s what we’ll do then. Sit and I’ll get a plate together for you. I need to fill you in on the rest before everyone gets here.”

“Everyone?” He asked as he watched her walk back to the stove and put two plates together. 

“I texted Maxwell this morning, he’s going to come back with Drake so that he can work with us on a plan. He’s already had time to process his dad’s shittyness, so you and Drake won’t have to do all the heavy lifting while dealing with your news.” She placed a plate down in front of him and sat down.

Liam looked at her confused, “Why would Drake still be processing my news? You told him the other day, didn’t you?”

Riley took a deep breath, there was so much she didn’t get a chance to tell Liam the night before. She would have to get through it all now. He had to be completely filled in before Drake and Maxwell arrived. “Not your news, Liam. I had some for him too.”

Riley filled Liam in on the rest of the information she had learned that weekend. Treading lightly when he spoke about Eleanor, making sure not to refer to as his mother, she would simply say ‘she’ and Liam understood. Liam sat there, pushing his own pain aside so he could focus on the task at hand, while also being there for Drake. He knew Drake, and he knew that he was likely feeling a similar storm of emotions, but being the selfless kind hearted soul Liam knew he was, he wasn’t dealing with any of that. Instead, Drake was keeping himself busy by taking care of his friends, just like he had his whole life.

After breakfast, Liam rescheduled his and Riley’s meetings and commitments for the day so that they could focus on the task at hand. Eleanor had her lessons, Drake planned on dropping her off in the Great Room when they arrived at the palace, giving them a couple of hours to talk. Liam and Riley finished getting ready for the day, and headed into the living room just in time to hear the knock on the door. Liam answered. 

Maxwell was the first to enter, bounding in and raising his arms over his head “The party is here.” He walked up to Riley and gave her their secret handshake before pulling her into a hug. 

Drake entered and Liam shut the door behind him. They turned to face each other, and nodded in silent understanding. Liam extended his hand and Drake took it in a handshake that was quickly, and mutually, pulled into a hug. They stayed like that for several moments speaking to each other in hushed tones that only the two of them could hear. 

After a few moments, Maxwell spoke up. “Hey, how come you guys never hug me like that?”

“Maxwell!” Riley yelled in a hushed tone as she elbowed him in the side, making a rapid throat cutting gesture when he looked at her, signaling that he should leave it alone. 

They finally pulled away, clearing their throats as they separated. Drake walked up to Riley, giving her a hug, as Liam approached Maxwell and shook his hand.

“Let’s sit, there’s a lot to go over.” Liam signaled toward the couch as he approached Riley, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Riley gave Liam a reassuring look. “Should we get Bastien in here as well? He should be a part of this.” She suggested. 

“Absolutely. You sit, love. I’ll go get him.” Liam walked her to the couch and kissed the top of her head as she sat, before going back to the front door to retrieve Bastien. 

Once everyone was there, Riley looked to Liam for the next move. She wasn’t sure which of them would take the lead on this conversation, not knowing if Liam would be able to get through the parts of the story that he had learned the night before. He took her hand in his and nodded at her as a signal to begin the conversation. 

“Ok, so we have a new threat. Well, an old threat, but in a new and soul crushing package.” She paused for a moment and looked around the room. Liam and Drake were fully filled in, Bastien was partially aware of the situation, and Maxwell was completely in the dark. The best thing to do would be to start at the beginning. 

With that, Riley explained everything, her conversation with Eirik at Applewood, the meeting in Portavira, and of course everything that had happened during her Valtoria trip. She made sure to grip Liam’s hand a little tighter when she got to the part about Eleanor, when Drake also reached over and placed a comforting hand on his friend’s back. The news of Eleanor and Jackson’s involvement, on top of Eleanor not being quite as dead as everyone thought, obviously, a total shock to those in the room hearing it for the first time. Maxwell’s jaw dropped, his hand quickly moving to cover it as tears welled up in his eyes. For the first time in his life, Maxwell was speechless.

Riley looked over to Bastien, who was standing by Drake’s chair. She was surprised by the emotion etched in his typically stoic face. Then she realized, she had been so worried about everyone else, that she didn’t consider how difficult this news may be for Bastien. Jackson Walker had taken a young, fresh-faced Bastien under his wing when he first joined the King’s guard, and invited him into his family. Bastien had been alone most of his life, so becoming an unofficial Walker gave him a sense of belonging and home that he hadn’t felt since he was a little boy. He had known Jackson was a member of the Via Imperii, he was trying to recruit Bastien prior to his death, but the way Jackson talked about it didn’t line up with what he had learned in the last couple of weeks. Suddenly it all made sense, the information he was getting was based off of the original plan that Jackson had been working on. If he was killed for going against them, it would explain why they stopped pursuing Bastien after his death. He always found something a little suspicious about Jackson’s death, this just confirmed it, and made him want to exact his revenge for the man that had given him everything. 

The room was silent as everyone continued to process the information. Maxwell was the first to speak up. “You guys, I don’t even know what to say. I mean my dad was bad news, but this is a whole other level.” He looked at Liam, “I mean, a coma is one thing, but to pretend to actually be dead? And then to find out you have a brother?!” 

“Thank you Maxwell. It has been a...trying few hours to say the least.” Liam squeezed Riley’s hand a little tighter to keep himself calm. “But that is why you are here. We need to work together to remove them once and for all.” 

“So, what do we do?” Drake chimed in. 

“That’s what we need to figure out. How do you take down a group that nobody even knows exists?” Riley looked around the room, hoping one of the men might have a suggestion. 

Bastien cleared his throat to get the room’s attention. “Perhaps we start by getting some form of hard evidence against them. Something tangible, and undeniable.”

“Yea, we could release it publicly. If everyone knows they exist, and what they’re up to, they won’t have any power.” Maxwell agreed.

Riley nodded. “Ok, that could work. How do we do that? I mean, I’m a member or whatever, but I don’t think you can just borrow membership records, or like walk in taking pictures.” 

‘We could send you in with a hidden camera or recorder of some kind.” Liam suggested. “I don’t want to get Amalas involved, we can’t be certain where her loyalties lie, but Olivia could be of help to us on that front.”

Drake interjected, skepticism in his tone. “Yea, but can we trust her? Her family isn’t really known for their loyalty to the crown.”

Liam stood from his seat. “Historically, you are correct Drake. The Nevrakis family has never been particularly with their standing within the monarchy, but I think that Olivia has more than proven herself. Not only in her loyalty to the crown, but in her loyalty to me personally.”

“Yea Drake, she’s had our backs through everything.” Riley also stood, linking her arm with Liam’s in a show of support. “Besides, in the few conversations I’ve had with these people, they don’t speak too highly of the Nevrakis line, they don’t seem like they would have much interest in bringing her onboard.” 

“Alright, let’s get her involved.” Drake ran a hand through his hair, still not fully convinced, but knowing he was outnumbered. 

“Great. Liam, you and Drake should work with Olivia to get it set up. I’ll talk to Mara and see when I will be meeting with them next, so that we know our timeline.” Riley turned to Bastien, “Bastien, since Hana is in Shanghai, I guess you’ll be taking her place in this mission.”

“Of course, your majesty. Should we make our way to the boutique so I can assist you in finding something to wear?”

Everyone stared blankly at Bastien, the corners of Riley’s mouth slowly turned upward. “Bastien, did you just make a joke?”

“Yes your majesty, I know you all tend to try to add a little levity to situations such as these.”

“Correction…” Maxwell stood up and positioned himself in front of Bastien, “I add levity. I’m the funny one, not Hana. Know your role.”

“My apologies, Lord Beaumont.” Bastien bowed out of respect, but mostly to hide the grin that started to spread across his face.

As the group continued to chat, there was a knock at the door. Soon after, Eleanor came barrelling into the room. “Mommy, daddy, I’m home!” She ran straight for her parents who knelt down to greet her. 

“Hello princess, we missed you so much.” Liam wrapped Eleanor in a hug. 

As he held his daughter, Riley noticed Thomas entering the room. She stood, giving Drake, Maxwell, and Batien a concerned look. This would be the first time Liam would be face to face with him, knowing who he was. 

Bastien rushed over to him, trying to usher him out of the room before Liam noticed. Just as he reached Thomas, the King stood up and looked directly at Thomas, his eyes going wide at the sight of his brother. He quickly shook his head and put his most stoic expression in place. Everyone exchanged worried glances. Riley turned to Liam and linked her hand with his, giving it a gentle squeeze to reassure him that he wasn’t alone. 

“Your majesties, Eleanor did wonderfully today. I was very impressed with how much she learned today.” Thomas bowed as he addressed the King and Queen. 

Liam gripped Riley’s hand tightly, as if he were falling from a building and she was the ledge preventing him from plummeting to his death. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t manage to get any words out. It didn’t matter, even if he could find his voice, he had no idea what he would say. 

“Thank you Thomas, that will be all for today.” Riley jumped in to break the silence. 

Thomas bowed and exited the room. Bastien gave the group a sad smile before bowing and following him out of the room. 

“Hey Eleanor, weren’t you telling me about a new dress you were excited about? Want to do a fashion show for Uncle Max?” Maxwell held his hand out to Eleanor, knowing that he needed to give Liam a moment. 

“Fashion show! Fashion show!” Eleanor grabbed Maxwell by the hand and pulled him down the hall. He looked back and nodded at his friends. Riley mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to him as he rounded the corner. 

“Liam?” Riley turned to face Liam, placing a hand on his cheek. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him, burying his face in her hair. “I know Liam. It’s ok, we’ll get through this.” She peered over his shoulder, giving Drake a sad look. 

Drake approached the pair and patted Liam on the shoulder. “For what it’s worth, you handled it better than I would have.”

Liam pulled himself from Riley’s arms, and scrubbed his hand over his face, letting out a deep sigh. “Thank you both. That was...difficult.” 

“Should we talk to Bastien about having him reassigned?” Riley looked up at her husband.

Liam shook his head. “No, the timing will make it too obvious, they will know you told me. I won’t put you in danger like that.” His face had a slight look of panic. 

Riley was reminded of the conversation they had much earlier that morning, and Liam expressing his fear of losing her. She knew she had to do something to bring him back from that place. She gently placed one hand on his cheek and drew his face down to hers. As their foreheads met, she whispered “I’m right here. Always.” Before placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

“All we can do right now is get to work so that we can put all this behind us. We’ll deal with Thomas, and everyone else, after that.” The sound of Drake’s voice brought Riley and Liam out of the moment. 

Liam cleared his throat before turning to address his friend. “Right. Olivia will be here in a couple of days for the council meeting. We will speak with her then.”

Drake nodded. “I’ll go grab Maxwell and we’ll get out of your hair.” He approached Liam and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll reach out if you need me?”

“I should be asking you that question.” Liam arched an eyebrow in response. “One of us is significantly more forthcoming with our emotions than the other.” 

“Touché.” Drake laughed as he clapped Liam on the shoulder. 

Maxwell and Drake said their goodbyes, and headed out leaving the royal family to themselves. They had a big fight ahead of them, but in this moment, Riley and Liam just wanted to be a family. Not a King and Queen with the heir, not warriors preparing for battle, a husband and wife spending time with their daughter. 

Continue Reading

Tags:

Permatag: @anjanettexcordonia @athena-penrose @choicesficwriterscreations​ @cordonia-gothqueen @cordoniaqueensworld @gabesmommie1130 @gkittylove99 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @jessiembruno @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @kingliam2019 @lucy-268 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mile9213 @mom2000aggie @pixie88 @queenrileyrose @secretaryunpaid @sweatyrysconnoisseur @theroyalheirshadowhunter @twinkleallnight @txemrn

Sapere Aude: @burnsoslow @busywoman @ofpixelsandscribbles

Liam x Riley: @jared2612

[duncan-rawr-x3]

So, I been playing around with this headcanon but never got it quite right.. this headcanon is Luster dawn being the daughter of Queen Chrysalis which would explain her anti-views on friendship. The reason it didn't go very well is because of the following: Who is her father/mother? Originally I had a headcanon where Queen Chrysalis did some unsavory things to Princess Celestia or Cadance but It was scrapped and I sold the original headcanon design to a user who refused to credit me! So instead, in this headcanon, Luster Dawn is the biological daughter of Queen Chrysalis, the step-daughter of Tirek, step-sister of Cozy Glow and now, the step child of Princess Cadance and Biological daughter of Shining Armor (which i'll explain later-) I'm gonna get heaps of comments asking me "Isn't she the daughter of Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst?", "Why didn't you made her the daughter of Starlight and Sun?" or lastly "OMG! SHE'S SUPPOSE TO BE THE STARBURST DAUGHTER, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!11!! >:C" Well, because as the writers of the show stated , so it wouldn't make sense of why she is so "anti" about friendship. So this is why I made her the daughter of Queen Chrysalis and step daughter of Tirek. __________________________________________________ Name: Princess Ocelli Pony Name: Luster Dawn Nicknames given: Lusty, Dawnie, Princess Luster Dawn, Ocie, Ocelly, Future Queen Gender (Changeling): Genderless, but go by She/her/they (following Loppodity's changeling headcanon) Gender (Pony): Female Age: 27 yrs old Species: Changeling Pony hybrid Species (Pony): Unicorn Sexuality: Bisexual Personality: Caring, Kind, Friendly, Smart, Faithful, Honest, Blunt, Courageous, Easily bored, Fast learner, Sociable (formerly anti-social) Talent: Magic Cutiemark (Pony): Sun rising over water Job: Attending Principal Starlight's school of friendship and going to Empress Twilight Sparkle's school for gifted unicorns (every fortnight). Parents: Queen Chrysalis (Mother), Tirek (Step-dad), Princess Cadance (Step mother, currently), Prince Shining Armor (Father). Children: Star (Adoptive daughter, Ursa Minor, 10 yrs old) Siblings: Cozy Glow (step sister), Flurry Heart (step sister) Skyla (step sister) Other relatives: Princess Celestia (Great step-aunt) Princess Luna (Great step-aunt) Empress Twilight Sparkle (aunt) Princess Potion Nova (aunt) Barbara (cousin) Prince Celestial Velvet (cousin) Ocean Potion (cousin) Prince Blueblood (Great Step-cousin Night Light (Grandfather) Twilight Velvet (Grandmother) Princess Amore (Great Great Step-aunt) Scorpan (Step-uncle) King Vorax (Step-Grandfather) Queen Haydon (Step-Grandmother) ______________________________________________________ Luster Dawn is the only half-pony, half changeling egg to hatch.. Luster was the result of the Canterlot Wedding invasion. Prince Shining armor was (unfotunately) a 'do it' before wedding type of Stallion, much to "Princess Cadance" delight. Her original plan was 'if the wedding invasion fails, she would hatch a brood of Ponylings to try and take over Canterlot again'. However, that didn't go to plan since most of the eggs turned out still-born.. due to the fact that children she was trying to hatch are half ponies, So only one foal hatched and raise by Queen Chrysalis and her changelings until Starlight Glimmer, Thorax, Discord and Trixie had reformed the changelings, the changeling queen fled with her child. She'd later met Grogar, Tirek, Cozy Glow and King Sombra.. few months later was the time where Tirek (Chrysalis' love-interest) and now step daughter, Cozy Glow attack Equestria- However, Luster dawn (who was 10 at the time), Have to stay behind in case something happens.. Her mother promises to return home to come and collect her daughter, then crown her 'Queen of Equestria'. But that never happened, the Queen, Centaur and Filly were turned to stone.. the young changeling was found by Twilight and her friends, but at the time, the young filly instinctually took the form of a random filly: a pink unicorn with a sun color like mane, a green hair band and a blank-flank. Twilight Sparkle Immediately took her in and taken her to her Sister-in-law, Princess Cadance who offered to look after the little filly and taken her in as her own.. during the years that go by, the young filly was offered a spot to Empress' Twilight's school for gifted unicorns but she needed to pass a simple test: Summon a Ursa Minor. However.. during the test, this was the first time she used her magic which was the same color as her mother's. Twilight Sparkle Immediately stopped the test and approached the child, asking her to reveal her true form.. the filly was obviously frighten but Twi assure her that nothing will happen. So, Luster revealed herself.. revealing that she was actually a Unicorn/Changeling hybrid, she explain that her name was 'Ocelli' and she was the daughter of Queen chrysalis, the young filly was fearful of Twilight Sparkle, not wanting to end up like her mother. But the Empress ensure her that nothing will happen and that she welcomes the young filly, Luster dawn smiled and change back to her unicorn-self before casting a spell to summon a small baby Ursa minor, which is where her cutiemark appeared. Which was odd and fascinating to Twilight Sparkle since Changelings shouldn't be able to earn marks (even when their taking the form of a Pony). She was allowed to attend The school, but she was taken to be study on by the empress.. which is where she discovered that the young changeling was not only the daughter of Chrysalis, but the daughter of Shining Armor. Which makes Twilight her aunt, Shining the father and Her parents, grandparents of the changeling. Breaking the news to Cadance was difficult and she didn't took it well, even getting into an argument with Shining Armor for "not telling her". Which Shining argue back that he didn't remember and didn't know that the Queen would even have a UniChangeling child. But they decided to still raise Luster as their own and were even proud and excited that the filly had earn her cutiemark, and accepted in Twilight's school for gifted unicorns (and now the adoptive mother of a Ursa minor). She tried making friends with three unicorn fillies who refused due to their bias about her being half changeling. It should ended there, but Poor Luster became the big butt of a lot of awful bullying.. the worst kind was when the unicorn fillies threw books at her, and her classmates join on either because of peer-pleasure or fear of getting bullied their-selves. The poor filly immediately ran home crying, during her fustration, her magic set a tree on fire. Twilight Sparkle seeing how harshly the filly was picked-on, had taken her to see a therapist and went to visit the fillies parents, getting them removed entirely from the school of gifted unicorns. However, her anti-social views still stuck on her and she would spend most of her times, studying magic.. only speaking when spoken to and refuse to make any friends until she reached the age of 20 and was taken to the school of friendship by her step parents. But she wasn't pleased and rather study magic than learning about friendship, so she went to Twilight Sparkle about her concerns and said how she wants to leave the school. But Twilight and her friends convinced Luster to make friends and stay at the school (alongside being able to still study at the school for gifted unicorns on fortnights). _____________________________________ I DO NOT OWN LUSTER DAWN!!! To those who are going to comment "hunny, you do not own Luster dawn!" or "Luster belongs to Hasbro" I KNOW that!

[fluffubunny23]

Hello! I’m tired and I wanted to write my own fix it fic with my probably overpowered OC because I want to. It’s patchy, unfinished and has bad grammar and not a lot is explained about my OC but I’m exhausted and am going to bed. I’ll fix it and maybe add more tomorrow in a reblog. I have not proof read this at all and am not going to. Had to get all my ideas on here while they were fresh.

So things you need to know:

His name is Peter

He’s a very powerful alien friend of douxie and has been for a while now

Just imagine Peter Pan (yes that’s where I got his name from) wearing all black, really tall guy, kinda goth with really long hair styled like a rats nest

So sit back, relax, and enjoy a shitty story from a angry, tired first time writer who hated the movie ending with no reset and no one dies!

Begin story!

‘Hey doux, I heard what happened, what’s going on-‘ he stopped, noticing what was going on around him. A boy was talking about fixing everything and bringing everyone back. Why would he be- Oh no.

He was going to time travel

‘NO’ he said, making a bat and hitting the gem a mile away before it can be use

‘Look, I’ve been where you are, time travel is dangerous and won’t fix everything like you think it would!’ ‘But-‘ Jim started ‘no. Hold this’ he said, shoving the bat into Jim’s hands and pushing him aside.

Kneeling down next to Toby's body, he began to focus his energy on him and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was floating in a dark space. A shine of light caught his eye.

He saw Toby, slowly floating up towards the light source.

‘Hey!’ He shouted ‘Hey, kid!’

Toby turned to look at him.

‘Woah, are you an angel?’ He said wide eyed

‘No. I’m here to take you back. If you want to that is. Your friends really miss you. I think your best friend was about to do something rash to get you back too.’

‘Wait I can go back?! Heck yeah man, take me!’

With a flash of light he was back, sore and a bit light head, but he was back. ’TOBES’ Jim shouted hugging his now alive best friend.

‘How..how’d you do that?’ Asked douxie in disbelief

‘How many times do I have to tell you? I. Am. Basically. A. God. You should know this by know man, you’ve seen me do lots of impossible stuff. You know what? I’m just gonna write a list of what I can do so you don’t almost do anything stupid like this again.’

Thank you, thank you so much

Eh, no worries kid, bring someone back is easy as long as it’s within 24 hours

‘Wait, that could mean you could bring back everyone else too!’ Exclaimed Claire

‘Wait, what? there’s more!’ He said

Yeah…do you think you can help us a little more? Douxie asked sheepishly

‘Uh, yeah sure, For the record it only works if they want to come back, I can’t force them. So, just take me to their body’s and I’ll do what I can.’

Oh, right, their body’s. Not a lot to work with there.

Let’s see, strickler was blown up, nomora was turned to stone then crumbled and bark dissintigrated into the earth.

‘What?’ Peter said, noticed how everyone looked away

‘Well, uh, about that-‘ douxie started

“They don’t have bodies do they?

“Yeah”

‘Ok then I’ll just go back and grab them before they die’

‘Hold on! Didn’t you just say time travel was bad!” Said Jim, finally speaking up after hugging Toby for what felt like forever

‘This is going to be a short visit to separate times in one jump, which I have done before, you were going to reset an entire fucking timeline with zero experience.”

Jim looked down sheepishly

‘Now, I will be right back, this should only take a moment”

With that, he disappeared into what they assumed was a time portal.

He found Strickler first, 10 seconds away from sacrificing himself

Peter immediately set to work, flying as fast as he could, the bomb was a split second from going off when he grabbed strickler and portables away. No saw them as the bomb felled the titan.

Next was nomoura, this one was tricky as he would definitely be seen, but he decided to forgo that just once, considering it’s the same people and they know what he’s doing. The portal opened just as Nari had raiser her to the sun, he grabbed her and portaled away as fast as he came before she was turned to stone completely.

Navi was last, as he came out of the next portal, he could see the Titans battle was about to end. He swooped in and found Nari as the ice was creeping towards her, just inches away from sealing her fate.

Everyone was still staring at where the portal had closed when it reopened again. This time four people stepping out instead of one, strickler, nomoura and nari all came out barely unharmed.

‘Ah, ha ha, you did it!’ Said douxie he quickly ran to nari, kneeling and hugging her tightly ‘Nari, oh thank the stars your okay”

‘Of course I did it, was there ever any doubt” he said cheekily, giving dousing a light hearted smirk as he watch everyone’s reunion. But wait, the was someone missing.

‘Hey doux, where your cat?”

He froze, then standing to meet his eyes “um well-‘ he started

Douxie. Where’s your familiure?

‘Well you see-‘ he tried again

‘Oh no, he’s not dead too is he?!, I really liked that guy, and I can’t go back so soon after doing it once’

‘No no, he’s fine. He’s just trapped in a underground troll market… with no way to get in…or out’

He let out a sigh, he missed Archie already.

‘oh thank the king’

‘Well, c’mon’ we don’t have all day

‘Wait what? What are you talking about?’

‘You’re gonna take me to where ever this underground trollmarket is and where gonna get your familiar out’

‘Peter, no, it’s impossible to get in or out of there with out a horngazzle, and even if we had one the entrench is gone, crushed under a bridge, there’s no way in” he was starting to tear up, reality setting in.

‘That’s what you think” peter said in a sing song voice

‘What are you on about now?’

Douxie, you’ve seen me create an entire house inside a tiny closet, you’ve seen me materialize food out of nothing, you just watched me bring back your friend from the dead, and time travel the rest of them here, you’ve seen me copy money so you’re never broke, you’ve seen me do lots of things. Creating a portal and doorway using your familiar as an anchor shouldn’t sound like much of a stretch, I just need you to take me to where this place is.’

‘Oh..right then’

A few moments later half of the crew where standing in front of the fallen bridge in Hong Kong. Stickler, nomoura, Nara, Toby, Jim, Steve, Eli and the akiridions all stayed behind to rest up. It was surrounded by workers clearing debris and searching for possibly injured people. Luckily due to a quick illusion spell they weren’t seen.

‘Ok, Peter, where here, now what?’ Douxie said

‘Watch this”

Peter knelt down, placing his hands on the ground, glowing green cracks started expanding around him. He began to feel every living thing near him, the group, the workers, and something big just a bit further. He dug down deeper, and felt an entire city full of people.

‘Got it’ he said, and began searching for the familiar

‘Can you see him?’ Douxie asked, feeling hopeful

That when peter felt a familiar aura, a small one in the middle of the city, there was someone else next to him.

‘Found him, there’s someone bigger with him too’

‘That must be his dad!’ Exclaimed clarie

Peter stood up, the green cracks not leaving the ground

‘Alright then, everyone, stand back’

He began pulling the cracks out of the ground and forming a circle with them. Soon enough there was an opaque portal looking doorway in front of them. When he was finished, he placed his hand at the top of it and pulled an item from it.

He handed it to douxie, ‘here, this will be the key to this place from now on, just put it against a wall and it’ll open’ turning back to the portal, ‘but for now, this portal will lead straight to your Archie’

Upon hearing that, douxie wasted no time running into the portal. On the other side, he found what looked to be a throne room. And atop the throne was ‘Arch?!’ He said in disbelief ‘Douxie!’ Said the dragon as he flew towards his familiar, both hugging each other tightly.

There was a loud crunch in the background. Douxie look up “Charlie?’

‘Oh, hello there, my boy’ charlimane said, with a mouth full of (idk, image something crunch that a dragon would eat)

“what’s all this?’ Douxie said looking back at Archie.

‘Well, um, dad and I may have killed the king when we took the kronosphere and took over this place and are now ruling with iron fists”

[jcpostsobsessions]

As my current obsession The King: Eternal Monarch comes to a close, I want to do a review of the drama with some things I’ve been thinking about. This is all random and coming out as I reflect.

—

OST that makes me think of the drama: Gravity by Kim Jong Wan. One of my favorite songs from the drama and when it comes on it suddenly brings me back to some pretty epic moments.

Favorite OST: Orbit by Hwasa. This song was and is on repeat throughout the drama for me. Although it wasn’t played alot towards the middle and last half of the drama, it’s still superior.

OST I Didn’t Really Listen To: I Fall In Love, A Quiet Night and My Day Is Full Of You. Nothing against these songs, they’re all nice and I am listening to one or two of them since the dreams ended, but it didn’t grab my attention as the other songs.

Favorite Lee Eul scenes: Gon feeding Tae Eul and her joking about sneaking out touched the domestic side of me and I am living for it. Honorable moment is the neck kiss. I’ve never seen a neck kiss or a kiss this intimate in a drama before. I know he did something similar in another drama, but for me this is the first. I just love how perfectly placed it was. Tae Eul literally gave him her neck to do this. And I researched that neck kissed are pretty intimate and initiates a pretty intimate follow up. Now if Gon was trying to say something, I’m sure we understood and so did Tae Eul.

Favorite Kiss: The final kiss. The reason I like it a lot is because of how natural it is. Gon leaning down, smiles, Tae Eul leaning in and Gon swoops in. His lips pucker up to meet Tae Eul’s and the height difference is super cute even though she’s sitting on the table. They follow up with more kisses and the happiness on their face is what nails it for me. Honorable mention is the bedroom kiss.

Funniest Moment: When Gon prepared leaves in case they get stuck in “that time period”. Tae Eul’s face 😂

Favorite Side Ship: Eun Sup and Yeong. They are both so hilarious and off the bat had so much chemistry. They were definitely a side ship that I was invested and interested in. Their final scene together was their parting and it got me emotional because Yeong broke down his wall and gave Eun Sup a hug which says a lot about his stoic demeanor.

Favorite Ending Scene: Oh man. I remember watching this episode and it did not have the main couple together because they were parted for obvious reasons. I remember Tae Eul having a hell of a night and then everything happened so fast. Gon rode in on his horse, blood shed, tears fell, hearts broken, glasses shattered, epic soundtrack, announcement of future Queen and of course epic hug. And then it was out, next episode. I remember grabbing my phone and shouting noooo. I was on the edge of my seat and the final reunion of the two finally happened and the ending credits rolled in. This was an epic ending scene.

Favorite Lee Gon Outfit: It’s the simple black look and overcoat, but the material and the way he fit the form, I just really like it. Also he did some pretty bada$$ things in this outfit. So I find myself always thinking about this look. Some honorable mention is the iconic diamond fit, simple white and black vest (when he takes the overcoat off; it looks extra handsome) and then the light colored fit during his dates with Tae Eul.

Favorite Jung Tae Eul Outfit: Tae Eul’s fashion sense is simple and comfy. She is often wearing baggy and loose jeans, one color tone sweater and a long jacket. My favorite would be this look because she adds a bit of sophisticated with her dress white and black turtleneck.

Most WTF moment: When Lee Lim killed his doppelgänger self after going back to try and warn him. I was so surprised how fast he beheaded himself.

Underrated Character: Shin Jae. He is the other only character where I was in invested in his story. Kim Kyung Nam did a great job acting the pain and angst of his conflict with his mom. It really brought his character out.

Characters I did not care for: Lee Lim and Prime Minsiter Seo Ryeong. They both did were the anatagonist, but honestly did not impress me. I was never quite sure what Lee Lim was actually plotting and he just kept bringing people over and killing people. Sure he had the upper hand in some cases, but honestly his greed and lack of planning is what killed him. Idk what he was doing for the last 70 years or so. As for Prime Minister Seo Ryeong, nothing impressive about her. Although the only time she was tolerable was in the new timeline in the final episode where she was in jail and Luna came to visit her because it looks like they’re sisters now. They interaction was sweet and familial bickering.

Character I didn’t expect: Luna. I was looking forward to her character and how she’ll play into the storyline especially with how the cast members spoke about her during interviews. And honestly at one point I felt like she was one of the only one who shook Lee Lim’s core which was super entertaining to watch while it lasted. I liked how peeved he was by her and she just went about her way, unbothered. I also realized how the writer was creating Luna’s character to be good and bad. She poisoned Gon, stabbed Tae Eul, but didn’t kill her father, didn’t stab Tae Eul enough to kill her even though it looked like she did. Tae Eul trusted her enough to let her go and be with her own dad. Luna’s story is still a mystery.

Biggest Twist: when Gon realized that Shin Jae was actually from his world and said he was Shin Jae’s King. 🤯

Favorite Lee Eul Hug: This one. No need to explain. 💯

Relationship that surprised me: Luna and Seo Ryeong in the new reality. I really enjoyed their “sister” dynamic in episode 16 where Luna had a name change and became a cop and Seo Ryeong was unfortunately in jail, but their interaction even tho they both pretended not to be close, they were. It was funny and the best performance from Jung Eun Chae. Quite honestly I feel bad about where her character eventually ended. Her greed got the worse out of her.

Favorite Side Character: Yeong. I really like his character with his side glances/ glares at Tae Eul and his love and dedication to Gon. I’m glad he kept his promise to himself to protecting Gon. Also Woo Do Hwan did a great job playing two characters.

Plot I am still confused about: the little boy with the yo-yo. I wasn’t quite sure how he fitted into the entire drama. He definitely peaked my interest and he was obviously traveling back and forth, but I feel like his story never connected to the main plot. Honorable mention was Park Jiyoung, the pregnant woman. Like what was the point of crossing her over?

Character Death: Prince Lee Jong In, I had a feeling he’d died but also didn’t expect it. Honorable mention is Seo Ryeong’s mom. She was collateral damage. When Seo Ryeong called to ask her mom what she had for dinner a code for her doppelgänger, and she answered jajangmyeon, the chills.

BONUS!

Favorite Product Placement: CHICKEN! Man I can’t tell you how bad I wanted korean fried chicken because of the drama. LMH ate this at every chance he got and he made me crave it. They did a great job selling it to me. 😅 Honorable mention is the coffee drink that everyone dranked and man when they shot that scene where Yeong had to throw the drink to Shin Jae and still had to show the product name, lmao the commitment. 🤣

Worse Product Placement aka the one that was painfully noticeable: Okay; almost all were in our faces, but the painful was the one where Tae Eul was using the Kahi lipstick/cheek/moisturizer all in one stick. 🤣 when she explained the product to Jang Mi during a stake out I nearly passed out from secondhand embarrassment. And honorable mention is the CELLRETURN LED mask although when Eun Sup used it to be iron man that was cute.

—

Overall rating: 8.5/10. There were some choppy moments here and there and some loose ends and characters that I didn’t quite understand or had to really think about it. But it was never enough to say this was a bad drama. In fact it’s been a while I was this invested in a drama where I had to come up with theories and such. Not a lot of drama makes me do that. As a fan of BTS, theories comes as second nature 😅.

There were some moments that happened off screen and later on we’ll realized something had happen prior which at the beginning was hard to decipher, but once I realized the drama was doing that, I enjoyed it because sometimes it’ll be a pleasant surprise. I love how the drama hardly opened up each episode with how it last ended, they always gave us a backstory/content prior.

I think Gon and Tae Eul’s character had growth and progression, especially Tae Eul who had to unpack a lot of herself. The more the drama went on the more we got to see different sides of her which peeled some layers she built up as a detective and some described her as cold. I think with all that she went through definitely shaped her quite a bit. And Gon I felt started off the show strong. He had strong morals, grasped things quite fast, but was also caring, strong headed, dependable and responded rather than reacted. Of course he has his moments of being childish and playful, but it never strayed him from being off or uncharacter like. I think Tae Eul describes it perfectly in one of the episode that he knows when to joke despite a traumatic childhood. She is simply saying he’s grown into a decent man who doesn’t let a past define him, he lives it fully and that comes off in all his actions throughout the entire drama.

As for the other characters, I am glad we got to see Shin Jae’s character development as well. I’ve said it before, but he was one where I felt the writer went deeper into his story. Yeong would be the second, although he remains a mystery even until the end. I never quite understood where he stood except that fact that he deeply cares and loves his King, and in what context, only he would know. The writer has written strong second leads before and sometimes even third leads, but I would say wasn’t her best, but again it’s not so bad where you would say the drama was a complete failure or unbearable to watch.

And finally I can’t wrap up without saying something about the cinematography. Because man there were some beautiful shots, some CG works and some transitions or angles that really came into play to make the drama what it was. I don’t have it, but one of my favorite is when Gon is poisoned and falls down and it transitions to his younger self, that was breathtaking. An example of the angles and transitions is below and it was dramatic and the camera got to play with all its angles. All this for a dramatic handshake and of course my favorite soundtrack adds to the flare.

[fizzingwizard]

Digimon Adventure: Ep 19!

Wow! That certainly was an Episode!! It was pretty fun from start to finish, though nothing mind-blowing, but it was definitely the ending that made me gasp. Not wholly unexpected to an old turnip like me, but promising lots of fun (and angst!).

Picture of the week: MIKO, THE TRUE STAR OF THE SERIES!!

no for serious are the writers reading my reviews? they keep giving me what I want. within reason I guess. They seem to have an extremely limited budget as usual x’D

but Miko is still adorbs

ok I’m really looking forward to recapping this one so let’s get to it!

So last week I thought the kids sans Taichi and Yamato were abducted by Devimon, but apparently that either isn’t the case, or it was, but then Devimon decided it’s best just to dump the kids back on Earth and hold on to their partners. Because that’s the current situation. While concerning that the kids are separated from their partners, it’s probably best this way, since Devimon appears to be sending Gesomon(?) and Parrotmon(?)

to the human world, if I remember right. It’s hard to remember what happened in the first fifteen seconds kay So when the kids find their partners it will probably be in the human world and they can fight back.

Meanwhile Taichi and Yamato are alone and very Confuse

Taichi tries frantically to contact Koushirou. The others too... but especially Koushirou.

Finally he gets him!! He’s so happy!! My Taishiro heart flutters!

But I was fully expecting it to be a trap. When I saw this still here, my first thought was “Devimon’s forcing him to tell Taichi a lie by threatening him with a gun!!”

of course thats not whats happening. Koushirou is relatively fine and there are no guns (yet). What’s happened is the other kids have been sent back to the human world for reals this time!

This show is not even bothering to hide its Taiyama angle.

They spend the entire episode giving each other Significant Looks like this. The entire episode.

Now where’s Jou through all of this, you ask?

He went to talk to the police. He’s shocked they don’t believe his story about monster attacks and the world ending (well, at least Tokyo ending). I freaking love how taaaaall Jou is. Though it makes Koushirou look like a bean x’D

Jou = beansprout / Koushirou = bean

Koushirou has a much easier time dealing with the news that the police don’t believe them. He’s a denizen of the Internet. He knows how people’s minds work. And he has tons of chat logs to prove it.

People are chatting and spreading gossip and disbelief and complaints, but my favorite is the comment that just says “It’s a flood of fake news” xP

The home team runs into Mama Yagami! Who Sora literally calls Mama Yagami! x’D I mean I know that’s how kids generally refer to their friends’ parents but I still lol’d.

So un... Jou is almost as tall as Mama Yagami. LMAO. I’m gonna assume she’s short. Jou might indeed be quite tall for his age but Sora and Mimi are pretty close to Mama Yagami’s height too. I guess we haven’t seen Taichi standing next to his mom yet! With his hair he’s probably taller than her.

So Mama Yagami is HILARIOUS and I’m so glad that’s a continuing thing in the reboot! She was already that way in 99 Adventure, but we’re just seeing a lot of it now - like every time she’s around. (And we didn’t see it in Tri so I missed that.) Basically she seems like a basketcase. Not a totally irresponsible one, more like just... generally the carefree go with the flow type. Which is not bad. She just also seems a bit, uh, ditzy?? I think Taichi probably grew to be so serious by necessity. Dad’s busy with work and someone’s gotta make sure mom doesn’t leave the house without her keys!

The way Sora just stares at Hikari like “explain??” after Mama Yagami thrusts Miko at her and runs off to get her car with a big smile as if they hadn’t all nearly died recently... bahahaha.

also I love how she doesn’t even bother asking her son’s good friend if she knows where he is after not seeing or hearing from him for three full days

^The face of a boy shouldering the weight of nuclear family life and all its batshitness

Taichi and Yamato determine their priority is find the Holy Digimon. I wish they were a little more concerned with what happened to their friends’ partners, but I guess this is the only goal with solid clues. Anyway before they can do anything they are attacked by Bulbmon Looks like subtitlers went with Valvemon which also works, who looks like a Lego monster creation by an eight year old (and probably is).

He has the Domo face. Grrraaah

Domo is NHK mascot by the way. bahahaha

Next these guys come swarming out of Valvemon. (And if we didn’t already get it, apparently Digimon can construct other Digimon as we’ve seen before.) Nothing is quite as freaky as gas masks. They are commanded by Minotaurmon/Mintaromon whatever.

They too have the aim of Stormtroopers though so our heroes will be fine...

... probably...

... then Leomon finally shows up!! Yay! He looks good! All beefy and scarred and sounding exactly like Zaraki Kenpachi. Uhh. Is it the same VA?? Nothing comes up in the Google search so maybe not but it sure sounds like him. (Minotaurmon and Ogremon also sound like Leomon... while it’s normal for VAs in kids shows to voice multiple characters esp minor ones, it literally sounds like Zaraki Kenpachi is the voice of all the characters in this episode besides the main ones. And Mama Yagami of course because that would be weird.)

Leomon may look cool, but his ride... and his friends... uh, less cool x’D I want to strangle that ostrich thing with its own scarf somehow it inspires violent emotion in me

In the smallest, most shocked voice, Yamato says, “Leomon...?” It’s honestly kind of adorable. He’s clearly remembering what Neemon said about Leomon leading the resistance way back when.

Leomon helps them escape. Taichi very considerately and cutely helps Agumon aboard the fashion disaster ostrich emu thing.

Yamato also considerately helps his partner but rather less cutely xD

Leomon takes them to his hideout and gives them your standard fare of weird-looking Digi fruit. He then proceeds to tell them about Devimon and that he is trying to infiltrate Valvemon yadda yadda.

Taichi is freaking ADORABLE, immediately concerned that by saving their asses, Leomon’s battle plans have been ruined. Leomon waves that aside though. Yamato is equally adorabibble when he asks after Neemon and gets told that they made it to Leomon safely.

Leomon plans to try to get into Valvemon again because he knows Devimon’s put something related to the holy Digimon in there. Taichi is determined to join in. He doesn’t have much of an argument as it why they should be allowed when they just got their butts kicked so easily, but he has a trick up his sleeve: the Burning Eyes of Fiery Passion.

Not to be outdone, Yamato shoots off his Icy Eyes of Cold Determination.

Faced with this twin assault, Leomon has to give in. Ahh, I remember last week when we saw the trailer for this ep and I naively thought Leomon would train them like Piximon did in 99 Adventure. Nope. They’ve just met and they’re already spy buddies.

Okay, okay, yeah Leomon does seem to have some knowledge of the “Chosen Children” and that’s his real motivation. Still.

They break into Valvemon and we get the excellent invention of Agumon riding on Garurumon. I assume because of Garurumon’s advantageous speed. That seems to be recurring thing in this show.

Idk I just capped this because he’s so darn cute

I don’t know why I capped this one though.

They enter some sort of central space where Leomon tells them something relevant to the holy Digimon is being kept. (Lol I already forgot the details of what he said.) There are two protectors, Minotaurmon and Bullmon. Leomon tells the kids to take Bullmon while he faces down Minotaurmon. These guys might have been somewhat intimidating if we hadn’t already got Perfect level evolutions mastered, not to mention the occasional Jogress :P Sooo I didn’t feel too worried.

... uh, never mind x’D Taichi what are you doing

Yamato saves his idiot butt and almost gets in a bind himself. Once again I’m just wondering why they are sticking at Adult level. Whatever. They win of course

Leomon uses his Fist of the Beast King to maim Minotaurmon. His brilliant one-liner? “I have more than one first.”

Bully: *punches you*

You: ow

Bully: *smirk* I have more than one fist.

You: That’s funny, I only have one, but it’s made of titanium *You punch the bully straight through the stratosphere* Quality over quantity!!!!

*cough*

Our heroes approach the secret compartment supposedly holding something to do with the holy Digimon... Yamato gets a look inside and gets the black shadow of true terror over his eyes

becaue floating inside like some kind of Weapon X experiment is... Takeru!!!

Hold on while I put in my ear plugs. Okay, ready, screech all you want now.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

So... okay. First of all, baby Takeru is sooooooo cute <3 I had two predictions about what happened to Takeru last week. Either he ended up in the digital world and was now on his own, or he got abducted by Devimon. I thought the former was more likely, but in hindsight, it should have been obvious that it was the second. This show misses a lot of points where I feel like they could have developed some relationships or thrown in some drama, but it never passes up a chance for Yamato angst.

So yeah, this is pretty much gonna destroy Yamato xD Not only is the baby brother he wanted to protect no longer at home where he can easily protect him, he’s now in the digital world and in the enemy’s clutches.

I BETTER SEE REALLY TRAUMATIZED YAMATO NEXT WEEK. Of course, I expect him to be cool-headed enough to try to save Takeru, but I will be very disappoint if this goes off with no break downs at all. Takeru is always Yamato’s number one priority!

Super exciteddddd

So I give this ep 7.5/10. The .5 is pretty much for ending with a killer cliffhanger. My one real complaint about this ep is how highly plot-based everything is - we finally got the team all together only to split them up, and on top of that, once split up, we don’t even get all that many character moments between Taichi and Yamato. As I said, they give each other lots of Signifcant Looks, but man cannot live on bread alone. However this is par for the course for this show and I know I should stop mentioning it every week because I doubt it’s changing. We will get the big shockers when we get them and not a moment before.

I just want Yamato to cry in front of Taichi and make him all uncomfortable x’D That’s what made 99 Adventure so great bahahaha

Some cool bits from next week’s trailer:

Surprise surprise, Angemon is the holy Digimon! Or one of, anyway. And he is indeed trapped. This makes the “Angemon is Devimon” theory less likely. Let’s not forget that our heroes’ Digimon partners were evidently a band of powerful warriors in the past, but they’ve forgotten much of it. I won’t be surprised if the result of that war played a part in Angemon’s abduction.

Next week they’ll have to fight to save Takeru from being drained, I guess.

And then!! Digi egg! Excite. Also I only just noticed that his hate says TK!!!

Takeruuu <3 My first fav when I was 10. Though my heart has belonged to Taichi for many long years, I still have a special spot in it for Takeru only <3 Even if he does dress like a celery stick

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Riverdale 5x03 Review

Wow I’ve got to say I’m actually impressed with Riverdale this episode, I really enjoyed it and I got emotional soo many times. I think it was well written for the most part and a really good send off for the characters as teenagers. I think it would have hit even harder if it had aired as a season finale like it was meant to but overall I really liked this episode which I’m glad because I was a little wary going into it after 5x02 which I didn’t really enjoy that much. Anyway we’ve got lots to talk about so lets jump in. As always these are just my own views and opinions and naturally there are spoilers. 

Jelly Bean and FP. 

So first I figured we can talk about the fallout from last episode and the reveal that Jelly Bean was behind the tapes. One little thing that did make me laugh a  was when Jughead is narrating over the opening and he talks about the darkness in the people of the town and he lists Cliff Blossom, The Black Hood, The Gargoyle King and The Stonies you know all these murders and attempted murders and then he adds Jelly Bean to the list. I mean Jughead sweetie I get that you are upset about your sister making those tapes and that’s completely understandable I’m just not sure its quite on the same level as all the other people in the list in the grand scheme of things. I mean I get what the writers were trying to get at with that statement but it just tickled me a little is all, don’t think it was supposed to but well I’m weird, I’m a weirdo so I found it funny and kinda overdramatic. But onto more serious things I actually loved the way Alice and FP handled the situation I mean kudos to Alice for doing the right thing and suggesting not just therapy but a therapist that specialises in child therapy. I think that is exactly what Jelly Bean needs (and all of the characters really) so I’m really glad that Alice suggested that. At the same time I do think FP was right in deciding to take Jelly Bean back to her mum and stay so that Jelly bean has the support of both of her parents there. I do think that alot of Jelly Bean’s anxiety about Jughead leaving comes from her abandonment issues. If you think about it first her family is split in two with her being in Toledo with her mum and her brother and dad being in Riverdale, then her family comes back together again and she’s then abandoned by her mother. Then her brother leaves to go to school and is nearly killed. All of this was probably really traumatic for her and obviously had a huge effect on her. I think having a stable support system away from Riverdale and its influences for a little while will be good for her and help her recover with some help from therapy, lots of therapy. 

One thing I didn’t really understand and think could have been better explained is what happened with Jelly Bean’s friends. I mean for one thing we are never told why they are hiding out in Archie’s gym like don’t they have homes? Also they had Tom Keller reinstated as Sheriff and they took him with them to find the kids so does that mean they were arrested? And if they were arrested then why did Jelly Bean get off scott free? I have so many questions about that scene. 

FP’s send off was really well done in my opinion. I had a lot of respect for him putting his foot down and telling Jughead no he was going to Iowa when Jug said he wanted to go to Toledo with his dad and Jelly Bean. Also that speech about how Jug going to College and being successful will be good for the Joneses is so true. I mean seeing Jughead go to college and making something of himself will give Jelly Bean something to look up to and for her to know that just because she comes from a family that is underpriveledge doesn’t mean that she can’t strive for success and chase her dreams and I think that is an amazing message to send. That being said seeing FP and Jughead say good bye was really sad and you could feel the emotion in that scene of a father having to let go of his son and let him make his own way now and also Jughead’s worry about going out on his own again and being without his family. It was just a touching scene and one that I relate to so much because it reminded me of when I said goodbye to my mum when I went to Uni and that mix of excitement and terror at having to be on my own, I left home at 16 but I had never been that far away from my family before so despite knowing that I could take care of myself (I had already taken care of myself  for 3 years at this point) I was still really anxious at being away from my mum so I could really relate to Jughead in that moment. He knows he can take care of himself he’s done it before but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t anxious about not being in the same town as his dad anymore. 

Speaking of heartbreaking scenes Alice saying goodbye to FP. It was beautiful, sad and yet hopeful at the same time. I mean when she asked if this was the end of their story and he replied ‘god, I hope not’ it really made me tear up.  Also I love that Alice understood why he needed to do this and even says she loves him for it. FP has grown so much over the last 4 seasons and now he’s become a man who will do anything for his kids and I think Alice really does love that about him. Also I’m going to be honest I felt so bad for Alice this episode especially when she was talking about how she had imagined Thanksgiving and having her whole family there Betty and Polly and the twins, Jughead, Jelly Bean, FP and Charles and now she’s going to be alone that is just so sad and feel really bad for Alice despite mistakes she may have made in the past she doesn’t deserve the deal she’s been dealt. Also as a side note I’m glad they at least made a small mention of Charles and how Alice is sad about that situation, I actually wasn’t expecting his name to be dropped at all this episode so it was better than nothing. 

The last thing I will say about this plotline is that I loved the shot of FP and Jelly Bean riding away in their Serpent jackets and being escorted by the Serpents. It gave a feel of royalty on the move like a motorcade or something which I thought was a nice touch and a little reminder of how Serpents stick by each other. 

The Graduation

Obviously the big theme of this episode was the teens graduating and those scenes were really touching. First there was the whole debate about whether Jug and Arch would be graduating. I was happy for Jug but felt so bad for Archie when he find out that not only was he not graduating but he would have to repeat his whole senior year. I do like that Mr Weatherby reassured him that nobody would hold the year against Archie because Archie really did have a crappy year so it’s not really surprising he isn’t able to graduate. I’m also glad that Weatherby said he could walk with his friends and wanted to make him feel included by asking him to write and record a song for the ceremony. I’m also really glad that they got to have their year books. 

But what I think made these moments so much more emotional were all the little nods to both Jason and Fred. I got the feels so much when Archie was standing in the hall looking around at all the other teens with their parents and fathers and you could just see that in that moment he was really missing his dad. Another moment that was really sad for me was a little earlier in the episode when Archie has the same dream his dad had when he had been shot and its fred taking pictures for Graduation and says he never thought he’d live to see this day. It is so heartbreaking because he really didn’t and its not fair.  Also Cheryl was in her feels about her brother. I mean it must make her really miss Jason when you think he should have been graduating alongside her.  

Betty’s speech at the ceremony was good too. There were so many moments in there that punched you right to the gut. When she talked about how it wasn’t fair that so many of their classmates weren’t there to walk with them, I couldn’t help but think of Jason, Midge, Ben, Dilton Doiley and even characters who didn’t die but left riverdale just to escape like Moose and Josie. Then she gives another punch to the heart when she talks about how its not fair that some of their parents aren’t there to see them and I’m back in my Fred feels. I also liked how she said she hoped the Riverdale they all remembered was the sleepy quiet town that existed before all the violence and how she wishes that town for the next generation. But my favourite part of her speech was when she said to stay young to stay innocent even if it was just for a moment. 

Another scene I really liked was when they buried the time capsule. I liked all the items they placed in there, I don’t think that they would be much help to teens opening it in the future to see what it was like back then but each item was personal to each character and I really liked that. 

Cheryl, Toni and the Blossom Legacy. 

First off can I just talk about Penelope for a moment and how funny that scene at graduation was. She literally just popped out of the bushes and was kinda sweet in a very weird way I mean it was nice that she wanted to see Cheryl graduate but at the same time she still called her a nightmare child which I don’t know maybe it’s a term of endearment. Also I love how she’s decided to turn herself in but has done it in a way that best suits her, like she’s spoken to Hiram to make sure she is comfortable and protected in his jail and also she’s only planning to be in there a few years. Lets be real I think mostly the only reason she is doing this is because she’s tired of hiding in the walls so she figures a few years behind bars won’t be so bad if it means she can walk around freely afterwards. 

Now onto Cheryl I was surprised that she decided not to go to College and instead she wants to rebuild Thorn Hill and the Blossom name. Also as sad as the scene where they kind of break up is I do think it will better for Toni now that Cheryl has let her go. I do think they will come back together again but I think they need a little distance from each other as Toni has become too wrapped up in all the Blossom drama. I think Toni needs to focus on herself for a while and Cheryl knows this. I also love that Cheryl is doing all of this so that she can be a person worthy of Toni and escape the curse of her family’s name. It is interesting to me that Cheryl is choosing to kind of return to her roots and regrow and I am excited to see how they have both grown come the timejump.  

The Core Four     

So alot happened with the core four this episode and you know I actually kinda liked what they did with them. As a Barchie shipper at first I was upset that Archie and Betty didn’t get a one on one scene like the others did. At first it made no sense to me I mean Veronica and Archie got one, Archie and Jughead got one, Veronica and Betty got one so it seemed really odd to me that Betty and Archie who have been childhood friends didn’t get a big goodbye scene or an emotional talk about the kiss like the others did. But then I figured that actually it bodes really well for Barchie that they didn’t get that emotional scene. Why you might ask? Well I’m sure B*ghead and V*rchie shippers will disagree with me and that’s fine this is just my interpretation of it but I do feel like they closed the book on the original couples this episode. To me it did kinda feel like a goodbye to V*rchie and B*ghead. Now I’m not saying that they’ll never reopen those books, I don’t know what the future will hold but for now it definitely feels like those couples have come to an end and gotten closure. However Betty and Archie never got that and I think the reason for that is because their story isn’t done yet. There are a couple of other reasons why I think that they are deliberately leaving the Barchie storyline open and that’s the shot at the end of the episode when Jug a year later is at Pop’s and when the door opens and he looks over its Barchie look a likes. I thought this was really interesting. Like why choose to have two people who look like Betty and Archie come through that door. Was it because they are the two who Jughead misses the most? I mean lets be honest he wasn’t that close to Veronica (which was criminal in my opinion but I digress). What I find most interesting is that these two look a likes are clearly a couple. One theory could be that this is suppose to show that Jughead is still hurt by Betty and Archie’s kiss. But I think it could also be a little nod of what’s to come I mean this scene is shot with Jughead narrating about the future over the top and how they would all be different people. Of course it could be wishful thinking on my part. Another reason I think they might still have the book open for Barchie is because of something RAS said a while back, I can’t find it now but it was something along the lines of how we still hadn’t heard all of Archie’s song and that Betty had kept one of her diary’s and so the door was still open for Barchie. He specifically mentioned these two things. Well since then we have now heard the whole song but the diary still hasn’t come back into play yet which makes me wonder if it will after the timejump. Of course it could just be that the writers forgot about it or changed it but I’m choosing to cling to that little bit of hope. Also there is the fact that KJ talked about how he’s been working alot with Lili so I do still think we should be getting plenty of Barchie content in the next coming episodes.

So now I want to talk about Veronica and Archie. When I saw the promo and realised that they were probably going to have another love scene I was a bit wary about it as I wasn’t sure it was at all necessary. But surprisingly I actually didn’t mind it. I could understand the feelings behind it. They both knew that their relationship is over but that doesn’t mean that the love they have for each other has just disappeared it doesn’t work that way. So I can understand why they wanted one more night together, to live in a moment and not worry about anything else. I actually thought it was really sweet. I also think Veronica’s reaction to Archie joining the Army was understandable. I mean she already feels like she is losing him, she’s going away to college and their relationship has come to an end and then on top of all that she finds out that he is joining the army and will likely end up in a warzone where he could be hurt or even killed that must be terrifying for her. On top of that whilst I think she suspected that he was thinking about it his decision is sudden and so she might feel like he hasn’t thought it through properly. I really felt it when she was talking to Betty and said that the thing that was eating her up was the way it was ending, that it was unresolved and that she had wished she had said goodbye and hugged him on more time. Which brings me to one of my favourite scenes of the episode. I loved when Archie is looking at the photo of his dad and he has the flashbacks of all the things he’s leaving behind in Riverdale, all the things he’s saying goodbye to then he looks out his window and sees Veronica, Betty and Jughead in the Jalopy. I don’t know why but something about this scene made me feel a little choked up and the soundtrack that went along with it was chilling. I think the goodbye scene between Archie and Veronica was again really sweet and I think it was a nice end to their romantic relationship. 

Ok Betty and Jughead next. Now I might not have been a B*ghead shipper but I didn’t hate them as a couple and I like and care about their characters so seeing their break up was so painful. My heart really did break for them. I mean the moment Betty says that she has to tell him something and you see his eyes well up and him whisper ‘oh no’ our boy knew what was coming and I think it was something he dreaded but also always believed would happen eventually. Just like the V*rchie love scene I really did think I would hate the B*ghead love scene but again I think it made sense for the characters in that moment. They were both in pain and looking for comfort and were just clinging to that moment because deep down they both knew what was coming but wanted to hold it off as long as possible. It wasn’t at all the healthiest way of dealing with it but it was a very young teenage response. I do want to just say that Cole’s acting in that moment when he finds out the truth was on point he did an amazing job. I mean you can literally see him go through so many emotions in those few seconds, first the dread and realisation, then the shock and pain, then anger, then heartbreak and then desperation. I was surprised that the reason why they break up is ultimately because of the kiss it seemed like from RAS’s interviews that it was going to be the distance that broke them up and whilst it played a part ultimately I do think that it was the kiss that was the main reason. I think alot of what causes that distance between them in those final weeks before Betty leaves is that Jughead knows that its not just a kiss that there are real feelings behind it. I think this is a big reason why they don’t talk about it because I don’t think Jug was ready to actually hear her say it and I don’t think Betty was ready to confront that she does have feelings for Archie. I do feel like Betty and Jughead’s goodbye was sadder because of that distance that grew between them. Whilst I think Archie and Veronica had already excepted that it was over for them Betty and Jughead held on longer and were more in denial in my opinion. But that’s just my interpretation of it. 

Another thing I want to touch on real quick is that I know alot of people didn’t like the reactions Veronica and Jughead had to the whole cheating storyline and thought that they weren’t angry enough but I didn’t mind their reactions. I think they were obviously upset its just that there were bigger things going on in their lives. I mean Veronica says she can’t be angry at Betty right now because of everything that is going on with Archie. That doesn’t mean she won’t go through those stages of anger later, we just either won’t see them or will see them in flashbacks. It’s the same with Jughead he clearly isn’t uneffected, he tells Archie its fine but then we see him and Betty drifting apart because of it so to me their reactions made sense within the context of what was going on at the time. I do think those feelings of anger will come through and that could be why only Jughead shows up a year later. I did think that end scene of seeing Juggie on his own was so heartbreaking. I do wonder why none of them show up. I mean if I was going to guess then I’m assuming Archie was deployed and couldn’t. I’m not sure about Betty and Veronica though unless like I said that anger does eventually come through and her and Betty have a falling out and so its too awkard for them to come but I’m just guessing with that one.       

Now I want to talk a little more about Barchie, I know I touched on it a little before but I want to talk about a couple of other things. The first is Betty’s reaction to hearing Archie was joining the Army. I know alot of people felt like it came across as Betty not caring that Archie had joined especially when you compare her reaction to Veronica’s but I didn’t see it that way at all. Sometimes the best way you can love a person is by accepting and supporting their decisions even if you yourself have doubts about it or fears about it. I think this is what Betty does. If you look at her facial expression in that moment you can see that she’s not happy about the news and that she is concerned but she also knows Archie and she trusts him to make his own decisions and to trust his own judgement so she chooses to support him. Right before she says that she supports him he says that for the first time he doesn’t feel scared or uncertain about the future and I think Betty trusts in his certainty. Also I loved their hug goodbye. It might only have been short but it was adorable I especially liked how Betty buried her nose in his shoulder so she could smell his jacket one last time. I also thought it was cute how he said see you in a year to her even if that didn’t end up happening. Another thing that I thought was interesting is going back to those flashbacks I mentioned earlier, it was odd and interesting that none of those flashbacks had any one on one scenes of Betty, she was included in some of the group shots but no Barchie moments not even just friendship moments. Again I said I did feel like this moment was Archie saying goodbye to those things he was leaving behind, this episode as a whole felt like a goodbye or a closing of a chapter but at no point in the episode did I feel like he was saying goodbye to Betty. Even when they hug it ends with him saying see you in a year which to me is interesting and again really does make me think that they are leaving that door open for Barchie. Of course it could just me but I do feel like the writers made a consious decision to make sure that it didn’t feel like Barchie were getting closure. 

Time jump/ 5x04 Theories.

To finish off I just want to throw out some theories of what I think is going to happen in the next episode and maybe a little further into the time jump and I am basing these off some spoilers we got but largely the two promos that have been released. So if you are trying to stay completely spoiler free about the time jump then stop reading now. 

So I am going to start with the first promo that was released and go through it sort of shot by shot and talk about any notes I have if that makes sense. 

1) We know that Archie went to war and I’ve already made a post about this but the first few shots was scenes of war on a football pitch which I did sadly see quite a few people laughing about. The reason why that saddens me and I’m trying not to judge anyone here because I know people sometimes use humor to deal with dark subjects but this is obviously a flashback Archie is having from his time at war not actual scenes of the war if that makes sense. I think the scene will be Archie coaching the boys and maybe he sees one of the boys get tackled to the ground and that triggers a flashback which is why in those scenes you can see football players laying on the ground as well as soldiers. Personally this isn’t something I can laugh about just because of the serious nature of the topic but then people might not have realised what those scenes were showing so like I said trying not to judge. 

2) This is kinda linked to the one above but I made a theory post way back when season 4 had just finished up and we had just got that casting of Archie’s friend Eric who lost his leg and I said I reckoned the show was going to use Eric to show the physical trauma war can have on a person and that I thought whatever event caused Eric to lose his leg would also injure Archie and that’s why he would return home and that they would use Archie to show the mental trauma that war can have and how Archie was going to be struggling with PTSD and survivor’s guilt. Judging from the scenes in the promo where we see Archie surrounded by explosions and then him in a hospital bed with a officer asking if he was ready to go home I’m sticking with this theory.  

3) It looks like Jughead successfully managed to publish one book but is now struggling to write another it gives me a lot of Lucas vibes from OTH. I reckon once he is back in Riverdale and he finds a new mystery he’ll get past that writers block and I reckon Tabitha will be a help with that as I heard some spoilers that her and Jughead become friends which I am excited to see. 

4) It looks like Betty who is now an FBI agent is going to go through something tramatic as hell in the shots it looks like she is stuck down a well in a barn or something like that and there is a masked figure looking down at her, the whole scene looks terrifying and I’m going to guess that she was working on a case and got captured. 

Ok now I’m going to move on to the next promo. 

5) I’m going to start with this one because it kinda links back to the one above but it looks like Betty is having flashbacks to her captors. There’s a shot of her screaming and a masked man that looks similar to the one in the first promo coming at her with a chainsaw. Now this could be real and there could really be someone invading her home but something makes me feel like she is hallucinating. Also theres a shot that looks like its Archie breaking down Betty’s door and knocking out a guy in a leather coat so maybe this guy breaks in and Betty hallucinates that its the guy who captured her, Archie hears her scream and comes to her rescue. 

6) My eyes could be decieving me on this one but it looks like Barchie are going to get a shower scene. Which as a Barchie shipper obviously I’m excited about that. But I do think the fact that they both seem to be suffering from PTSD and flashbacks is what’s going to bring Barchie back together and they’ll help each other through that. I could see this scene happening right after the invader scene where Archie is trying to comfort Betty. 

7) Toni is an absolute queen. This isn’t really a theory I just wanted to say that I mean did you see those shots of her pregnant on stage all decked out and dancing with the serpents. 

8) This is a theory though Toni as we know is pregnant and my theory for this is either one she had a one night stand with some stranger and that’s whose baby it is or two which I like better she is acting as a kind of surrogate for Kangs but the baby is also hers and Cheryls and the four of them are going to raise it together. Think Silver and Teddy and Shane from 90210. 

9) It’s possible that Cheryl and Toni are married. There’s a shot of Cheryl sitting at a desk and the name plate says Ms Topaz. However it could also just be that Cheryl is sitting at Toni’s desk so I don’t want to get my hopes up too high. Also if they are married it doesn’t explain why Toni is living with Kangs and Cheryl isn’t unless part of the surrogacy deal (if there is one of course) is that Toni has to live with them during the pregnancy. 

10) It looks like the whole gang are going to band together against Hiram who has been wrecking Riverdale I mean there was that shot of Toni and Archie and it looks like the homeless population has gotten out of control so most likely Hiram has been buying then pulling down homes so now alot of people have no where to go. Also it looks like Hiram is trying to shut down Riverdale High so the gang all become teachers to try and keep it open. I don’t think this is going to lead anywhere good and will probably lead to an all out war between the gang and Hiram. 

This isn’t really a theory just a thought I had on a theory but I’ve seen one going around that they think Archie is going to be the dad of Toni’s baby. I don’t think this is likely I just think they might have some friendship building which will be nice to see as I’ve said soo many times now one thing I want from Riverdale is to see different characters interacting so it looks like we are going to get that. Also one of the biggest reasons I don’t think Archie is the baby’s dad is because we see him arriving back in Riverdale so its likely he hasn’t seen Toni to impregnate her but this is Riverdale so who the hell knows pretty much anything is possible. 

Anyway I am going to wrap it up here. I am very excited to see where the season goes so I’ll catch you all on the flip side.  

[clementineesotsm]

THE KING: ETERNAL MONARCH EP 13, My Appreciation and How It Made Me Feel

We started this episode with Lady Noh story on how she came to Corea. Lady Noh’s face when she knows that the war end ugly was so sad. The scroring they insert here is suitable to the situation 💯.

She has the old edition of kim sowol poems thats kind of explained, at least to me, why they use her voice everytime the poems shows up.

I admit it, PM Koo fooled me with her sad face. I thought she was in love. But no, it was all greed and ambition. But i have to admit it, this words of hers was satisfying and one of the best lines the series has

PM Koo “I liked being next to you. That was where i could see you the best. But you say that it is not my place. What should i do now? Will i be able to see you better if i stood in opposition to you?”

Gon “Stop, PM Koo, if you crossed the line any further-“

PM Koo “i started at the bottom and climbed up all the way here toward the king. But since you’ve had it all from birth, love is all it takes to move you. What will my heart beat for now, pyeha? I dont think it’ll be for honesty and loyalty.”

WOW! Very honest and raw. I loved it.

Also i loved how they made the thunder came just after see ended her words, good timing. Added to the tension. Showing to Pyeha that she already did crossed the line that far.

JTE met PM Koo on the way, and exposed her. PM scars also shown in front of JTE. JTE running to inform Gon, so now Gon is knowing the fact PM is crossing to Korea

Gon is going to NFS to investigate why is this scars keep showing. Actually at this point im guessing that the scars shown up only to people which their counterparts are dead, murdered or else. Because JTE dont have it, KSJ, JY also dont have. LR loyal minion from Corea dont have before, lately he has it after his counterpart is dead.

Moving on to my fav part now. Im actually really worried that someone try to kill JES 😭 my heart beating so fast, until ....

Another satisfying scene was when we see PM met LR. Both interesting villain and could make a beautiful couple. Their mind was connected to each other no need to explain thing to each other 😅 i also loved how they play with so many different camera angle just for this short scene. Made it more satisfying.

And move on to the scene where we saw the shoes then move to PM Koo while she said

“You’re the one who chose where i should go in these heels, pyeha”

I love the camera movements, the words, the music!

Another revelation we got is about KSJ mom. She was asking Lady Noh to meet Gon and speak to him directly. This words of her was well made (kudos to the writer):

“I saw you with my son, KSJ. It was the last photo that LR gave to me. And with it, i received the poison. So i gambled. I drank the poison instead of poisoning you. If i died, i’d be paying for my sins, and if i lived, i’d talk to you in person like this. Its shameless of me, but im asking you to decide the fate of my son. He didn’t do anything wrong, please protect my son, Pyeha”

Its also heartbreaking to see Gon actually thinking to do the request if you saw his face gesture changed, the beginning he is a bit angry, at the end he sigh-ing. He is the one who almost been killed but the killer ask him to do a favor. What a cruel world

Then we moved to Luna in Korea met JTE father. I really cannot hate this woman, why? Is it because of her face resemblance to JTE who i loved a lot, or is it because she lives unfortunately or because her being soft around this dad figures 🥺🥺 i guess if im in a parallel world i’ll will be kind to people that are counterparts of my family or friends no matter their personality 😅 no matter if they try to kill me.

Also can we give standing applause for KGE acting ? This girl deserve a daesang!

Then we got a glimpse of JY actually already located Gons mom doppelgänger while tailing KSJ mom. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone

JTE made it to locate LR gate to Corea but Gon said its dangerous because when they crossed the gate times stops for hours. But this information still important for Gon later on episode 16 😎 you know i love this couple because they communicate to each other. They way the comfort each other making me soft. Also i love how JTE role in this whole series is really important, she is the symbol of hope. The kind of strong woman with a satisfying personality. Why i said she is the symbol of hope, because she is a believer with the analogy of her tirelessly seeding the magic plant in room between 1 and 0. It seems impossible, but if you believe and try, who knows? This is i think a symbol of hope and hope is an important thing to have during dark times. Thats what keeps you going.

Also we got a bit of an insight from Gon which still pretty much assumptions that “if theres a time axis in there as a space axis, then it’ll be possible” he just didn’t know what the rules yet. And that is really in line with probability theory, one of the variable to measure it is random experiment, which is a physical situation whose outcome cannot be predicted until it is observed. So please dont complain on why the rules is not clear yet.

I loved the writers because she seems to be consistent connected this all with mathematical aspect, eventhough its subtle. You just need to read between the lines. And thats what i love a lot 💕

Everyone is back now and JTE already knew Luna is also here and take her place.

I will ended this first page with JY and KSJ speaking. I loved KSJ words here omg! And JY being petty, i don’t understand. I know he just being overprotective but come on. Even KSJ understand Gon and JTE situation

Preach!

To be continue..

[tlbodine]

What exactly is 'character voice'? Is it merely a character having opinions on things? And how do I have good voice if I am writing in first or third person omnipresent? Do I give the narrator's opinion on things? The character's opinions? The different opinions of the characters?

Voice is a tricky thing to pin down -- a bit of a “know it when you see it” type thing. But I’ll see if I can break it down a bit. 

First: Stories will contain both “authorial voice” and “character voice.” Authorial voice is the individual writing style of the author, and you’ll start to notice it most strongly after you’ve read multiple works by one author. Character voice on the other hand is unique to the character. A strong character voice will often overshadow the author’s voice, which is usually a good thing! It keeps every book you read from an author from sounding the same. If you’re reading a book in first person or close third POV, the narrative should be in the character’s voice. If you’re reading it in a more omniscient POV, the narrative might have a very different voice. Books that alternate POVs might have different voices for different perspectives, so that you could tell who’s speaking even if the chapters weren’t labeled. 

But OK. What makes up Voice in writing? 

Opinions. Characters with a strong voice have opinions about the world, and those opinions color the way they see things. They don’t sit and tell you how they feel, but instead deliver the world through the lens of those opinions.

Focus. What a character chooses to pay attention to vs ignore in the world around them. This gives an underlying glimpse at what is important to them. 

Word Choice. On a structural level, voice comes down to word choice, grammar, syntax, etc. being used with purpose to create a cumulative effect. 

Books without a strong voice sound dry, like a technical manual or book report. They lack any poetic devices or colorful insights.  A strong voice is one that doesn’t sound generic, which means it’s not usually “correct” from, say, a middle school English class perspective. (In fact, some young writers may often butt heads with teachers over the use of voice in writing -- I know I did. Once you get good at it, 

It might just be easier to show this in action than try to explain it so...

Carrie, by Stephen King: 

She had tried to fit. She had defied Momma in a hundred little ways had tried to erase the redplague circle that had been drawn around her from the first day she had left the controlled environment of the small house on Carlin Street and had walked up to the Barker Street Grammar School with her Bible under her arm. She could still remember that day, the stares, and the sudden, awful silence when she had gotten down on her knees before lunch in the school cafeteria -- the laughter had begun on that day and had echoed up through the years. 

Carrie calls her mother “Momma” even in her head, which already implies a lot about her socioeconomic class, upbringing, and intelligence. She didn’t try to fit in, she tried to ‘fit’ -- a non-idiomatic description. The run-on second sentence gives a hint of a racing thought. “Redplague” as one word is evocative and more powerful than a more drawn-out metaphor might be. 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams 

Mr. L. Prosser was, as they say, only human. In other words he was a carbon-based bipedal life form descended from an ape. More specifically he was forty, fat and shabby, and worked for the local council. Curiously enough, though he didn’t know it, he was also a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan, though intervening generations and racial mixing had so juggled his genes that he had no discernible Mongoloid characteristics, and the only vestiges left in Mr. L. Prosser of his mighty ancestry were a pronounced stoutness about the tum and predilection for little fur hats. 

Comedy lives or dies on the strength of its voice, and Douglas Adams is a master at a very specific type of comedy. Here we see it on display. Prosser is an antagonist, and he’s here being described in a way that suggests, without stating outright, that he’s quite pathetic. We open with a cliche saying, and then immediately deconstruct it in a way that’s overly precise -- a technique of absurdism. Then we compare him to Genghis Khan (also a villain, and a very strong one) in a side-by-side parallel that definitely paints Prosser unflatteringly (his genes are “juggled,” a word that evokes clownishness) and the “little fur hats” detail is the icing on the cake -- imagine standing beside Genghis Khan and the ONLY thing you have in common is the hat! (”Predilection” is also a fussy-sounding word. “Stoutness about the tum” sounds like a childishly euphemistic protest, sort of like “big-boned” but dialed up to 11). 

The Cabin at the End of the World, by Paul Tremblay 

Wen’s eighth birthday is in six days. Her dads not so secretly wonder (she has overheard them discussing this) if the day is her actual date of birth or one assigned to her by the orphanage in China’s Hubei Province. For her age she is in the fifty-sixth percentile for height and forty-second for weight, or at least she was when she went to the pediatrician six months ago. She made Dr. Meyer explain the context of those numbers in detail. As pleased as she was to be above the fifty-line for height, she was angry to be below it for weight. Wen is as direct and determined as she is athletic and wiry, often besting her dads in battles of wills and in scripted wrestling matches on their bed. her eyes are a deep, dark brown, with thin caterpillar eyebrows that wiggle on their own. Along the right edge of her philtrum is the hint of a scar that is only visible in a certain light and if you know to look for it (so she is told). The thin white slash is the remaining evidence of a cleft lip repaired with multiple surgeries between the ages of two and four. She remembers the first and final trips to the hospital, but not the ones in between. That those middle visits and procedures have been somehow lost bothers her. Wen is friendly, outgoing, and as goofy as any other child her age, but isn’t easy with her reconstructed smiles. Her smiles have to be earned. 

The thing I love about Tremblay’s writing style is how wonderfully understated it is. At first blush, it seems very straightforward and precise. But the details work to give such a rich image beyond what’s on the page -- like one of those paintings that creates a cat with just like, two brushstrokes of ink. This paragraph is jam-packed with information -- the character’s age, race, adoption, gay parents -- but also illustrates her character indirectly: a kid who is interested in precise numbers, competitive in a specific way, self-conscious, skeptical. Little lines really stand out, like “caterpillar eyebrows” and “reconstructed smiles.” 

Horrorstor, by Grady Hendrix 

It was dawn, and the zombies were stumbling through the parking lot, streaming toward the massive beige box at the far end. Later they’d be resurrected by megadoses of Starbucks, but for now they were the barely living dead. Their causes of death differed: hangovers, nightmares, strung out from epic online gaming sessions, circadian rhythms broken by late-night TV, children who couldn’t stop crying, neighbors partying til 4 a.m., broken hearts, unpaid bills, roads not taken, sick dogs, deployed daughters, ailing parents, midnight ice cream binges. 

But every morning, five days a week (seven during the holidays), they dragged themselves here, to the one thing in their lives that never changed, the one thing that they could count on come rain, or shine, or dead pets, or divorce: work. 

This is the opening of the book, and it does a perfect job of setting the tone for the story -- a combination of humor and horror, a lighthearted touch on a really dismal subject. Like the Douglas Adams example, it relies on an excess of hyper-specific detail to create comedy through absurdism. Describing the store they wrok at as a “massive beige box” says a lot -- beige is a boring color, box is a boring shape (and implies constraint, the opposite of “think outside the box” etc.) Calling the workers “zombies” and using zombie words (”stumbling”, “streaming”) invokes a specific set of concepts -- mindlessness, for starters, and death -- and using that to describe going to a job certainly implies something about what it’s like to go to work, right? This paragraph could just come outright and say “work is soul-sucking and pointless and takes you away from things that are important” but it illustrates that instead. A perfect example of “show don’t tell” in action. 

Hopefully that gives a bit more illustration to what I’m talking about. As you read, pay attention to the way things are said and how that varies from one book to the next, and you’ll get a better intuition for voice (and learn to craft your own through practice). 

Some general tips/things to think about when creating strong voice for your narrative and characters: 

Education and socioeconomic level of the characters. A professor will talk differently from a car mechanic; a college graduate sounds different from an elementary school student; an inner-city black teen will use words differently from a New England socialite. Think about what kind of background a character has and choose vocabulary and syntax that makes sense for them. 

Evocative descriptions. Words come with baggage, and good writing puts that baggage to use to create a meaning stronger than what’s on the page. Precision with language, not just what words mean but what they imply, is the hallmark of good writing. 

Words used uniquely -- in other words, avoiding cliches and descriptions we’ve seen before in favor of creating new word combinations that do the heavy lifting of the previous bullet point. 

Hopefully that helps! 

[brightbeautifulthings]

Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

"'For the love of God, Montresor!' 'Yes,' I said, 'for the love of God!'"

Year Read: 2020

Rating: 2/5

Context: Starting two years ago, I’ve picked an intimidatingly long classic to read over the course of a year. I have a problem with trying to read books as fast as I possibly can, so if I set myself a thousand page novel, I’ll try to pound it in a week, and it will just be a miserable experience all around. So, a year is a nice compromise. I’ve hit the major Poe horror stories in the past, and I’ve been thinking about rereading them, but I couldn’t decide where to start. Reread my favorites? Read the ones I’ve heard of? What if I’m missing something awesome? As usual, my go-to answer is to read them ALL. For more thoughts on individual stories, see my monthly blog posts. Trigger warnings: character death, torture, live burial, cannibalism, decapitation, animal abuse, injury, severe illness, racism/xenophobia, anti-Semitism, ableism, slurs, mental illness, bitter ranting from the reviewer.

Thoughts: My edition, with an introduction by Wilbur S. Scott, is probably not the edition I would have picked, since I prefer more notes or even essays to help me out with books that are 100+ years old. Context is helpful. Somehow though, my dad and I ended up with the same edition, so we decided to read it together. My dad loves all things horror (I come by it naturally), and we’re both longtime Poe fans, especially if you happen to put Vincent Price in one of his film adaptations. Scott’s introduction is particularly pretentious for a book we probably found in the bargain bin, and he manages to criticize the horror genre for not being “literary enough”. This is an Edgar Allan Poe collection, right? Way to alienate 90% of your audience right from the start. You can’t snub an entire genre and then attempt to explain why people like it. Like a lot of critical writing, it tells us more about Scott than it does about Poe, and I was circling his typos to entertain myself by the end of the introduction.

It did not get better. In short, I actively hated so much of this collection, and it's my most arduous and least enjoyed year-long read to date. To be even shorter, the only stories I found worth reading for pleasure were the horror ones I had already read and loved, and I'm afraid to examine too closely whether that has more to do with nostalgia and pop culture than the stories themselves. Poe has a way of lingering on pointless descriptions and belaboring a point to its absolute death, alongside an aggressively pretentious tone that suggests the narrator (and, by extension, Poe himself), knows everything there is to know about everything and you're an idiot for even asking. His true talent may not be horror, but in turning what might have been a good story into an intellectual soapbox and hammering it the point of absurdity. It would be different if the stories actually were intelligent instead of ridiculous. I’m happy to talk Aristotelian ethics, but the point is never to intellectually engage the reader–-it’s to show how clever the writer is.

On the whole, it seems like Poe struggles with telling a straightforward story, and I can’t tell if it’s because the short story genre has changed so much since then or because he’s so busy trying to show readers how smart he is that he forgets that stories have very specific components like suspense, exposition, or rising action (or endings). Most of them consist of some narrator speaking the entire time (I have all kinds of problems with this, from, “You just ruined the twist of your own story” to “No human talks for thirty uninterrupted minutes unless some idiot gave them a microphone.”), and few of them have anything resembling action, plot/character development, strong themes, or closure. There’s an essay-like quality to some of them (“The Imp of the Perverse”, “The Premature Burial”) where he seems to be trying to tease out a concept on an intellectual level, sometimes for pages and pages, before he remembers that he’s telling a story with characters and what could loosely be called a plot. I could do without all the intellectualizing, verbal grandstanding, and narrative cartwheels; just tell a good story, please.

And he does, sometimes. It's clear why Poe remains an essential part of the horror canon because those are easily the best stories in the collection, and I don't think that's just because I'm a horror fan. Horror seems to age better than some other genres because certain things remain consistently scary over decades or even centuries--being buried alive, for example. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is permeated by a feeling of bleak foreboding, culminating in some truly terrifying images, and “The Tell-tale Heart” is one of the better examples of Poe’s rambling narrator who thinks a lot of his own intelligence and slowly unravels over guilt. Both scared me to death when I was a kid, and I’m happy to see that they still maintain a high creep factor as an adult. (I also had the Great Illustrated Classics Tales of Mystery and Terror as a kid, because all a story about being buried alive needs is an illustration!) “The Cask of Amontillado” has long been one of my favorites (because there is something deeply wrong with me, probably), and “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Masque of the Red Death” are both top-notch horrifying, the latter a classic plague story that's a little *too* relevant to the times just now (but, you know, also one of my favorites). The clock symbolism is some of the best in the entire collection. Why, pray tell, would you be afraid of time?

The tolerable stories are the detective ones and the adventure ones, in that order. I can see why Poe’s detective stories like “The Gold Bug” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” spawned a genre. I was getting clear Sherlock Holmes vibes from his character, Dupin. However, it reaffirms that something is a classic because of its effects on literature as a whole and not because it’s still all that accessible. Just because something is the first of its kind doesn’t mean it’s the best of its kind; in fact, it usually isn’t because that was only a starting place. I can’t help feeling “Murders” would have been more compelling as a horror story than a detective story. Murdering gorillas are cool; listening to someone talk about murdering gorillas, much less cool. I was extremely irritated by his hot air balloon stories ("The Balloon Hoax", "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall"), but apparently Jules Verne loved them, which makes a lot of sense. I was getting a lot of Verne vibes from things like "A Descent Into the Maelstrom" and even the utterly long, boring, and racist "Narrative of A. Gordon Pym." It's clear they had influence on other writers, even if they're not the best examples of their genres.

Which brings us back around to the bad. It's not worth my time or yours to list all the terrible stories in this collection, but I can briefly summarize what I found so terrible about them. First, Poe is tragically, emphatically unfunny. The things he seems to find humorous are either in very poor taste now (his tasteless descriptions of mental patients in “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether”), or they’re outright ridiculous, almost slapstick, like the woman who gets her head stuck in a clock and is subsequently decapitated by it in “A Predicament,” which is an odd sequel to “How to Write a Blackwood Article.” I’m sensing that Poe is making fun of intellectuals or would-be intellectuals here, but with so much time and cultural distance, it’s hard to tell. In any case, it led to a running joke (“I’m going out for groceries!” “Don’t stick your head in any clocks!”). Somehow, I doubt this is the major takeaway Poe was hoping for.

Worst of all, they don't age well on representation either. Poe seems at pains to offend every single minority he possibly can throughout his oeuvre. There are a lot of horribly racist depictions of African Americans, snide comments about Jewish people (or the much more obvious anti-Semitism in “Four Beasts In One” where a mad king has a thousand Jews killed--really?), and blatant ableism (“Hop-Frog”). It's at its worst in "Narrative of A. Gordon Pym," a novella that spans over a hundred pages, that is basically a tedious, xenophobic setup to paint the native population of an island as the most horrific and duplicitous monsters imaginable. (The narrator previously ate one of his shipmates, so can he really afford to throw stones here?) For inexplicable reasons, that story isn't finished, and by that point, I was grateful.

Poe's poetry is a little easier to work through than his prose. I love "The Raven" with its lilting rhymes and dark message, and "Annabel Lee" is very pretty, both ubiquitous in popular culture. I also liked "Dream-Land," "Al Aaraaf" (where Ligeia makes another appearance), and "Alone." Most of the poetry has pretty simple rhyme schemes, the subjects mainly love and loss. There's an excerpt of an unfinished play, "Politian," included as well, but it didn't make much of an impression on me. TL;DR: I stand by my initial opinion, which is to read his horror stories for pleasure and, possibly, his detective and adventure stories for genre purposes, and to skip the rest. I'll probably be looking for a smaller edition of the stories I like. This one is a massive hardcover, more like a book you put on your coffee table to look impressive than a book you actually read (but I don’t have a coffee table, so it’s actually just taking up more room on the shelf than any one book has a right to).

[avauntus]

Supernatural - a retrospective

This is super self-indulgent, and I have so much else I’ve promised-- I owe a long-fic rec post, and ao3 comments, wip work, and that’s just my fandom stuff I’m behind on. *sigh*

But it’s late on a Saturday and now I’ve finished Supernatural, I want to share what I think are my top few eps, and a few other comments. I promise some of this will be different from the “greatest hits” you probably usually see, and I’ll try to make it worth your time. *wry smile*

Look, we have to have categories like: “Most Likely to Live in My Head Rent-Free for the Rest of my Life” and “Most Likely to Inspire Unnecessary Fanfiction” that are different from “Favorites,” because that’s just the cursed energy this show has. ;-)

My top five

#5 - 13.01 - “Lost and Found”

Written by: Andrew Dabb | Directed by: Phil Sgriccia

In fandom, this is most often referred to as the start of the “Grieving Widower” arc, tongue-in-cheek. Also has Alexander Calvert (Jack) walking around completely in the nude for the first third of the ep. (Neither of these are why this is in my top 5, but he has a good story about wardrobe for his ‘first day.’) 

I didn’t expect much out of this episode the first time I watched it, but I’ve gone over this ‘section’ of the show maybe 3-4 times in my Netflix catch-up, and I watch this one in full every time. From Jack being...not at all what anyone expected and an unsteady vindication, to the stunning cinematography (there’s a post that compares shots to Brokeback Mountain, but I think the shots here might be better), to the sheriff who takes the time to remind her deputy that “...there’s no such thing as ‘weird.’ Everyone’s normal in their own way,” to the slow reveal of exactly how hard the events of the previous night (12x23 - All Along the Watchtower) are hitting Dean and Sam and in different ways...(how long the episode takes to reveal to you how Dean fucked up his hand, and what he was saying when he did. Augh!) The Winchesters are trying to rally, but they have been taking hits for a long time, and the cracks are showing.

 #4 - 15.06 - “Golden Time”

Written by: Meredith Glynn | Directed by: John F. Showalter

Supernatural  has a terrible track record with representation in all stripes. It is infamously consistent in killing off anyone minority, female, or non-White. One of the interesting things about the chaotic meta-narrative of season 15 is you can see the lack of fucks some of the writer’s room had to give about not even being subtle about tearing down that type of ‘White-male-hero-journey” now that they were in a literal “what will they do, fire me?” situation.

I’m a Cas fan, and this episode, which gives him an actual, ‘case-of-the-week’ hunter’s narrative where he gets to save the day on his own, successfully, was wonderful. I love that for him! But more than that, for me, this episode is emotional to me for other reasons-- the way Dean and Cas circle around each other on their angry phone call (with the body language! They are broadcasting so LOUD and neither can see because they’re on the phone!), Sam’s story here, where he’s inheriting things from Rowena that allow him in turn to save Eileen, to Cas’ speech and quick anger at the lake when you reflect on his entire journey of self-realization from a soldier of blind faith to an agent of free will... “You selfish little men in your positions of authority...” I just... *clears throat, grabs tissue* 

#3 -  6.20 - “The Man Who Would Be King”

Written & Directed by: Ben Edlund

Speaking of Cas’ journey... I know some folks don’t like the angst and drama of the ‘Heaven and Hell’ plots of Supernatural, but I am here for it. Oh, did we need another reason to include this episode? This has some of the most metal quotes I have heard from any TV show. Ever.

I mean, look at this:

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have said: Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it.”

“Explaining freedom to angels is a bit like explaining poetry to fish.”

The delivery of: “It's not too late. Damn it, Cas! We can fix this!” “Dean, it’s not broken!” is one of those Supernatural bits that will live in my head until the end of time. All of Edlund’s episodes are among my favorites, but this (along with “5.04 - The End”) was on another level. 

#2 - 5.16 - “Dark Side of the Moon”

Written by: Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin | Directed by: Jeff Wollnough

I think of this episode every time  I hear Bob Dylan sing “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” This is kinda a giant montage episode, but the connecting concepts are so...satisfying. 

“Heaven is your favorite memories.” “ It’s called the axis mundi. It’s a path that runs through heaven. Different people see it as different things. For you, it’s two-lane asphalt.” “This is your idea of heaven? Wow, this was one of the worst nights of my life.” “I don’t think I realized how long you’ve been cleaning up Dad’s messes.” “It’s awesome to finally have an application—a practical application—for string theory.” “Everyone leaves you, Dean. You noticed?” “Why is God talking to me? Gardner-to-gardener, and between us, I think he gets lonely.” “You son of a bitch, I believed in... ” Whoosh.

#1 - 4.01 - “Lazarus Rising”

Written by: Eric Kripke | Directed by: Kim Manners

So...this is the episode where Castiel, angel of thee Lord, shows up. And that’s primarily why it earns the no. 1 spot, because 80% of my enjoyment of Supernatural from this point on was Cas-adjacent. Plus this entire episode just hits. ALL OF IT. Dean’s homecoming. Ruby, my darling. Bobby’s entire vibe. Pamela Barnes, easily one of the most interesting women Supernatural ever introduced. Cas being so hot to say “Hi” to Dean he forgets he wounds people. 

But beyond that-- the way the show writes their ‘oh, by the way, angels’ narrative! If you haven’t seen this episode, would you believe me if I told you that THIS EPISODE, the episode where Supernatural said “canonically, Judeo-Christian Heaven is real, btw” involves no churches but does involve a séance, a soulmark handprint brand, and a himbo angel that “gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition”...but they were all “no homo, guys” for years?

Truly no one was out here doing it like Supernatural even back in 2008.

Others--

15.18 - “Despair” 

“Most Likely to Live Rent-Free in My Head for the Rest of my Life”

Written by: Robert Berens | Directed by: Richard Speight, Jr.

You know why this episode is here. It broke reality. I could be wrong-- but I’d put good money on this episode being the subject of academic theses in the future. That doesn’t automatically make for interesting story, but...

Has there ever been a case, in a mainstream US TV show where a major lead character (Cas) came out as queer so late in the game in a narratively-important way? I’m not aware of it, but I might just be behind on my television.

This episode has great writing, and (blessedly) amazing direction and blocking anyway. Check out the above gif - that is some next level foreshadowing going on in the cinematography, and this isn’t even the most remarked upon shot in this episode. (Seriously, I had to search for 40 minutes for this gif, please respect my game, lol.) Everyone who was involved in 15x18 is giddy talking about their investment, from the costume designer to the actors to the director to the writer...

...And then a bunch of them steadfastly have avoided posting much Supernatural-related since. So that’s...loud. There is a bunch of subtext in this episode that is screamingly loud; there is a bunch of text in this episode that makes several things clear fandom has been chattering over for years and years. The meta-commentary around this episode continues, months later. There are over 700 fics on AO3 with this episode tag.

I have more to say about the themes of ‘free will’ and ‘love’ and ‘identity’ tied to this episode, but seriously-- you’ve probably read 17 versions of it on Tumblr already, so.

This is the last time we see Cas, and the last time Supernatural can claim anything close to narrative consistency. For that alone, it’d earn free head-space.

Runners-up: “4.20 - The Rapture”; “5.04 - The End”; “7.21 - Reading is Fundamental”; “8.21 - The Great Escapist”; “9.06 - Heaven Can’t Wait”; “12.19 - The Future”; “14.08 - Byzantium”

6.17 - “My Heart Will Go On”/8.07 - “A Little Slice of Kevin”

“Most Likely to Inspire Unnecessary Fanfiction”

Written by: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder (6.17); Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming | Directed by: Phil Sgriccia (6.17); Charlie Carner (8.07)

Usually the show kills off it’s “one-episode” female characters, but do you know one time it didn’t? When the Moirai (the Fates - specifically Atropos, the shearer of the Threads of Fate) showed up in canon in 6.17. She was posited to have “two older sisters that were bigger than her- in every sense of the word,” ...and Castiel had to back down when she challenged him to a cosmic game of chicken over the Winchester’s lives.

Then they never returned to that idea again. 

“A Little Slice of Kevin” is on here for the opposite reason -- an amazing idea that was really underwritten in the episode it showed up in. Dean Winchester has been dragging himself across the fabric of universes; the literal Word of God is in play in a warehouse in Middle America; Cas is back from Purgatory, but what does that mean, micro and macro? As a person on the street, what would it mean, or feel like, to learn you were a Prophet of the Lord, uncalled? That what you are, everything you are, is a cosmic contingency?

Maybe Fate has an opinion on all these shenanigans?

Perhaps all that doesn’t make sense, but it certainly made an impression on ~2012 me. To this day, it remains the WIP I can open up and fool myself with the ‘twist.’ I wish I remembered where I was going with it so I could finish it.

Runners Up: “2.20 - What Is and What Should Never Be”; “5.04 - The End”; “6.15 - The French Mistake”; 12.12 - “Stuck in the Middle (with you)”; “13.05 - Advanced Thanatology” “14.03 - The Scar”; “14.10 - Nihilism”; “15.15 - Gimme Shelter” ... and “15.20 - Carry On” (obviously)

Fifteen seasons. There were plenty of other episodes I loved that didn’t make these limited lists. But overall -- thank you, Supernatural, for the run. Even if I’m upset at the ending, I can appreciate the game. If you watch the show, what were your favorite episodes?