#I knew reviews were mixed going in and that's why I waited so long and it's still beautiful but it's not the adaptation I hoped for

[toomanygh0sts]

TOP FIRST TIME WATCHES OF 2024

thank you for the tag @waywardted 💖

Rules: post 9 of your favorite films you saw for the first time this year (2024)

tagging (if you feel like it, of course): @boglady @serrafew @freetobegrace (and anyone else who sees this and thinks it might be fun idk everyone's Thoughts on Film Watching)

[bridgerteon]

This is going to be an extremely long thread of my opinion about Bridgerton S3, especially Polin (and comparing Polin to a certain ATLA ship). So, good luck reading it.

I knew there are a lot of mixed opinions about Bridgerton S3; I have too. Around 50-60% from the book, Romancing Mr Bridgerton, has adapted to the show, which I, as a book reader, am happy to see. I also love the changes from the book that showcases Penelope (and Nicola Coughlan) to shine with awesomeness and deserves a lot of love and recognition after what she's been through.

I can understand why Netflix split into two parts. Part 1 is entertaining, pining and rom-com. While Part 2 is anxiety, emotional and romantic drama. Probably to let viewers breathe. But please don't do that again; I like to binge the whole thing without waiting!

There are:

- Great scenes -> Portia reconciling to Pen and being supportive (thanks Colin!) and Pen having the confidence to reveal herself as Lady Whistledown (LW), instead of letting Colin steal the spotlight for her. Also the Francesca/John romance as they "match their freak". There's actually a lot of great scenes, from Keeping Up With The Featheringtons to Peneloise reconciliation.

- Revenge scenes I like -> Penelope telling off Colin for being an asshole. Also, Lord Debling courting Penelope, making Colin jealous. The Vindication™ for Pen because that's how she feels.

- Some I groaned -> a threesome? Like really? I find it funny, but cringy.

- Some I am suspicious -> Michael Stirling [man] is gender-swapped to Michaela Stirling [woman], but I'm more cautious than angry about the change. Michaela is so goddamn pretty though, heh. I don't mind inclusivity, but it should be addressed with care if it's done for a main Bridgerton character. Besides, I like Francesca's story from the book, When He Was Wicked, and how it explains about grief, guilt and second chance of love. If the storyline from the book is shown, regardless of a lesbian love story, I'll be satisfied. I'll see how it goes and hope for Francesca's season to be heartwrenching and beautiful.

- And others that make no sense -> the lack of Kanthony, like where are they!? And why do they disappear all the time!? This is not them as they are always attentive. They were excellent in managing the Bridgertons and their mess. I love Kanthony so bring them back!!!

What I will analyse and defend is Show Polin.

When I read negative reviews about them, I shake my head in disappointment because the fans didn't understand it. It's like some people have a lack of media literacy. I'm open-minded and I like to analyse critically how and why it happens rather than comparing with other seasons of Bridgerton; I see the show as a separate entity from the books and I still enjoy it as it is. Therefore, I have better comprehension. I also read an article where Luke Newton explains why Colin is Jelly, as shown below. His insight justifies my point.

Since I read RMB, it does give me first-hand insight on the up-and-down relationship between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington-Bridgerton. I also included a favourite ship of mine from Avatar: the Last Airbender (ATLA) for comparison and how Polin's dynamics makes sense to me. (There's no need to have knowledge of ATLA).

So here's my opinion about Polin:

To be honest, I was expecting Katara/Aang tropes in Polin, as they are both friends-to-lovers ships obviously. What I don't expect is that show Polin is more related to Katara/Zuko (Zutara) instead, which is awesome (as an unfortunate Zutara shipper)!

I find Polin's love story to be as realistic as possible, knowing that a love story is not all sunshines, lollipops and rainbows. There will be disputes, doubts and secrets; I'm satisfied that they are addressed. However, there are some scenes from Polin that I am mad about or feeling something is missing.

Also, I DON'T CARE that Polin does not have the CHEMISTRY similar to Kanthony or Saphne(?) (Simon/Daphne). They have the CONNECTION with each other. Friends-to-lovers don't need chemistry; it rarely exists in real life. Friends-to-lovers stories are messy, awkward and full of disagreements, but the connection and their love for each other is always there between them. They are there since Season 1, are always seeking each other and are always themselves around each other. That's as real as it gets.

Themes I like from Polin and how it compares to Zutara:

1. Hiding their true self: Colin having some swag, being impassive, nonchalant mood, and goes to brothels; I find it weird. However, someone analysed that it's a facade because Penelope doesn't write to him, so he went on a teen girl phase and lost his damn mind, heh. Eloise, Pen and Violet know that that is not the Real Colin, who is a soft boi. He mentions that he is yearning for home and wants to feel like he belongs somewhere and to be seen for who he truly is.

This is similar to Zuko when he was sad/mad that he was banished and his father didn't love him, so his personality became antagonistic. Iroh knew that's not the Real Zuko, who was a gentle boi. Therefore, Iroh planned to nudge Zuko to a different side rather than following Ozai's goals.

Additionally, Penelope disguises herself as Lady Whistledown, Katara as The Painted Lady, Zuko as The Blue Spirit, and Colin as The Travelling Englishman/Pirate.

2. BETRAYAL: (I can't emphasise this enough because this theme let's me understand and love Polin). Penelope is anguished about Colin's comments that he don't give a 💩 about her and will never court her (Le Asshole 101 😒). Colin is heartbroken that Pen is LW*. Katara and Iroh were shattered that Zuko joined Azula to fight against Aang in Ba Sing Se. All of these events are unforgivable.

*(The fact that Luke Newton cried in the LW reveal scene as well as angry portrays Colin as heartbroken than enraged, which makes the scene more heartwrenching. I like that so much better than Colin having a temper like in the books and Katara just enraged when Zuko attacked her in Ba Sing Se. Thanks, Luke Newton, for making me feel sorry for Colin 😏).

Another one is that Colin argues with Penelope that she wrote negative comments on LW about his family, Marina Thompson (in my opinion, she deserved it for being deceptive), himself, herself and everyone else. He also feels that she has a "planned entrapment" for him to marry her, even though I knew he didn't mean it; he is devastated that she is not who she seems to be. Colin wants to feel needed and really yearns to love her fully because he wants to provide everything for her. But he doesn't think he's enough or unworthy for Pen and that he's not sure he'll ever accept Pen as LW, which makes me sad. Also... he's envious that she's more successful than him since she's rich as hell, an experienced writer and got her 💩 together; something he wants to achieve. But dude, you married a Sugar Mama! Similarly, Katara argued with Zuko after the Ba Sing Se fiasco and told him to bring her mother back; I found it absurd too, but I knew she was upset for being deceived and hurt as well, like Colin.

3. Self-confidence and accountability: Pen has brought her own voice to address the whole Ton that she is LW and to let them judge her. Nicola Coughlan has done it perfectly in that, as a shy but confident woman. She understands that people are hurt from her comments, but she wants to have a purpose - not as a spy though, heh. She wants the world where women, especially shy wallflowers, are seen and shine brighter as well in a patriarchy world. Also she understands that Colin is upset that she is LW, but she's adamant that she is and nothing will separate LW from her. LW is power and it helps women like Penelope earn her place in society, besides dilly-dally.

Also, Colin pushes Lord Debling away so that Colin can have a moment with Pen to change her mind and make her pick him, choose him and love him. He doesn't care that the Ton sees them, he just sees Pen. Also the way "he ran!" (thanks Dallas Liu 😏) to Pen's carriage just to confess to her. He is confident of his feelings for her, but respectful if she rejects him.

Same goes with Katara that she wanted a world where women can choose to learn waterbending to fight and men to learn healing, or both. And to Zuko that he had redeemed himself and wanted to end the war as the Firelord with ideals that brought all nations together in peace and harmony.

4. Accepting flaws and empathy: Colin accepts that Pen is LW, because he finally realises why while begging to Cressida: the isolation, the bullying, being ostracised and unappreciated, and the anger that no one will ever recognise, listen or stand up to her. But he knows she's not heartless and does regret her words that are published. Also, her letters to him amplifies that she is a great writer and that her and LW are the same person. After Pen reveals herself to the Ton that she is LW, apologises for it and explains why, Colin is more proud and in love with her.

Zuko saw Katara bloodbending (manipulating bodies through their blood). He was surprised. He didn't question it. He didn't chastise her that it's bad or that she's not herself. He accepted it as part of herself. He just wanted her to face her past and let her choose her fate. The End.

5. Conflict: Colin and Pen love each other so much, despite a Great Wall of Anger and Doubt separating them. Katara knew Zuko was not evil, but had to separate Zuko the Fire Prince with Zuko the Awkward, Caring, Flawed Boi.

Also, Katara and Zuko saw each other as legit rivals during the 100-year war. Meanwhile... well... Colin does see Pen as a rival... indirectly though as she's LW, while he is... just a Bridgerton... with no accomplishments... and a loser, heh.

6. Partnership: Pen agrees with Colin that he'll help her find a husband (even though he hired himself as one, heh). Also, Colin and Pen become writers together, as an author and columnist respectively. All hail Lord and Lady Whistledown! 🙇‍♀�� Meanwhile, Katara and Zuko became partners to find the one who killed her mother, fought together side-by-side during training and trusted each other to defeat Azula.

Extra: There's also a lot of love confessions and moments from Polin that made me giddy with joy, sad and amused (and jealousy for being single). Especially... That carriage scene, heh.

Now for the things I'm disappointed about Polin:

1. Colin doesn't tell Penelope that he forgives her verbally. Like since when did he forgive her? Katara told Zuko verbally that she forgave him, so why doesn't Colin say it to Pen? Same applies to Pen: where's her forgiveness to Colin? Unless I forget.

2. There's a quote from the book I like that Colin says “I love you. I love you with my past, and I love you for my future. I love you for the children we'll have and for the years we'll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles, and even more, for every one of your smiles” to Pen before he leaves to beg Cressida as Pen's distressed about Cressida blackmailing her. I'm sad that one is excluded.

3. Colin being an asshole for not allowing Penelope to let her fix her mess nor asking for his support at the start. Saying that "it is not up to you what we do", probably because he wants to be a hero. Dude, calm down, listen to your wife and compromise. Penelope can handle herself and does not need him to fix it for her, like she said "I do not need you to save me, I just need you to stand by me." I think it makes him feel useless as he likes to help and being needed 24/7. Besides, he makes it worse after begging Cressida, heh. Zuko survived listening to Katara's rants and death threats against him, and he still wanted to make it up to her, so Colin should do the same.

4. Colin being a Drama Queen™ for not sleeping with Pen because he's an idiota; he reminds me of both Katara and Zuko since they were both Drama Queens™ as well, heh. However, it broke my heart for Pen; she deserves better and deserves to have a wedding night full of love, not doubt. Fortunately, he does sleep near their room - like Zuko waited for Katara outside her tent - because Colin still deeply loves Pen and wants to feel closer to her, despite being pissy with her. Also, he sleeps on a chaise lounge where they made love because it reminds him of the happiness they have shared before the LW mess. Additionally, he ignores his lust for her while pissed, but I think it's a good idea not to have angry sex as it's just not healthy emotionally and mentally for them.

5. It would be nice if Colin allows Pen to read or discuss his journals more, like in the books. I want to hear his thoughts more. Or maybe the backstory of how Penelope becomes LW.

6. I really want to see more of the lovey-dovey happy Polin moments without any doubts or lies between them; it's not enough. Where's the Polin sex?! Gimme more happy Polin!!!

So that's my long analysis about S3 and why I like Polin, the good and bad. Also, Polin did change my whole opinion about friends-to-lovers stories after I had a sour taste of it from a ship I'm not supportive to, but that is for another story to tell. 

[stereogeekspodcast]

[Transcript] Season 5, Episode 2. The Acolyte Eulogy

In crushing news, The Acolyte has been unceremoniously cancelled after only one season. The Stereo Geeks present to you their eulogy for this Star Wars show that was arguably their favourite in the live-action pantheon. But, Ron and Mon don't always agree about what makes the show great.

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Ron: Hello and welcome to a new episode of Stereo Geeks.

Mon: Today’s episode is a eulogy to the short-lived Star Wars show, The Acolyte.

Ron: We barely knew you! But we will never forget you. I’m Ron.

Mon: And, I’m Mon.

Ron: I’m going to start us off by saying that I’m really angry The Acolyte has been canceled. I’m upset, yes, but I’m mostly furious. This show deserved a second season. People of colour and women deserve to see more entertainment that centres them.

Mon: I don’t know how to feel, to be honest. I feel like we’ve been robbed of a show that’s so smart and so achingly clever, as well as being effortlessly diverse. But, I had my reservations about a second season – I definitely wanted the show to continue, but I had mixed feelings because my favourite characters would likely not be there. 

Ron: Am I the only one on this planet who straight up didn’t notice that the show was “diverse”? I just saw a show with interesting characters. 

Mon: I didn’t think about the diversity either, especially not while watching it. But I couldn’t not notice it when I began writing my review for WWAC, which will be out soon.

Ron: The diversity is impressive! The only people who could have a problem with it are problematic, narrow-minded morons. But more on that later.

Ron: You've mentioned that you weren’t sure about a season two. A lot of amazing characters were lost in season one, but I honestly think another season would have given us even more Jedi to love.

Mon: That’s a positive way to look at things. I guess I really miss the characters, so I am not ready to move on from them. But I know I would have had we got another season. 

Mon: We’re going to head into spoiler territory right now, so if you haven’t seen the show, this is it, this is your chance. 

Plot

Ron: By now, most people probably know the story. I’ll share my first impressions. I was hooked from the opening scene. Carrie Anne Moss as Jedi Master Indara exemplified cool. She is completely at ease against her unknown assailant, dodging every move, predicting the next step. It’s only when she sees who the assailant is that she’s stumped and that’s the end of her. 

The rest of the premiere follows the Jedi as they try to uncover the truth behind Master Indara’s murder. A Jedi murder mystery. How absolutely amazing is that? I was in love. 

Ron: I will say that the entire show wasn’t a Jedi murder mystery. But that wasn’t a bad thing. The Acolyte introduced a ton of lore and built so much more of the Star Wars universe. We got to see the Witches, progenitors of the Night Sisters. The power of two theory plays a huge part in this story, and we’ve seen how Force dyads work throughout the films.

Mon: It took me a minute to warm to the show, mostly because the first episode is one of the weakest, directorially speaking. It’s not paced well, and it promises a setup that it abandons pretty quickly. The story that it abandons the mystery for is really gripping, but I wouldn’t have minded a murder mystery. 

Ron: That’s so bonkers that the first episode felt weak to you. I was enraptured! 

Mon: Wow. We’re usually of the same mind. This is so weird.

Ron: And, I actually do think the murder mystery angle paid off. But the show takes a very long-winded way to solve the mystery, and along with it, we get this whole other story about a Sith lord looking for an acolyte.

Mon: Yeah, that makes sense. Things picked up from the second episode, which is really well done barring the final duel, which again, isn’t well-paced. 

Ron: Wait a second. Why didn’t the episode two duel work for you? 

Mon: The duel says a lot about the characters, but it lacks an urgency that the story suggests should be there. 

Ron: Perhaps I was so taken with the show, the pacing didn’t bother me. I liked that the pacing gave us time to observe and feel the moment.

Mon: So, it’s funny, but, the pacing really bothered me when I first watched it, but the issue was practically non-existent when I rewatched it. This show, and I don’t really know whom to blame, is not made for a weekly rollout; it’s made for a marathon-watch. The structure of the story doesn’t take the ebbs and flows of weekly viewing into account. If you’re on a high from the previous week, you’re going to need something mind-blowing the week after. That’s not how The Acolyte was made, which, I think, may have worked against it. But, when you watch it as a whole, I swear, this is the best thing I have ever watched!

Ron: Fascinating! I do feel like a lot of TV shows are crafted like that. Or, rather, they’re designed as a film that’s cut up into shorter episodes. Hence they make for better marathon viewing and you get episodes where seemingly nothing happens. I didn’t mind, but the crybabies on the internet couldn’t handle it.

Mon: Well, Disney is obsessed with tv shows being one long movie, so the pacing goes awry when you make it that way and then cut it up for a weekly feed. That being said though, even in the episodes of The Acolyte where nothing happens, so much happens. It’s outstanding. The writing on this show is unbelievably good.

Ron: It doesn’t help that people have no patience and get annoyed with a show because they have to wait a week or more to get their answers. An episode like “Teach/Corrupt” feels meaningless to certain viewers but it’s actually packed with character dynamics that set up the remainder of the plot. But you’ve got to have at least a modicum of intelligence to understand that.

Mon: You’re not wrong. How dumb are people that they don’t realize the answers to their questions will arrive in the next episode. This show brought out the worst in people. 

Ron: For me, The Acolyte captured that feeling of watching WandaVision. So many mysteries to solve. So many Easter eggs to find. We’d watch the episode and go online and people would be losing their minds at the newest reveals or a shocking death. That’s what television is all about.

Mon: The intricate details of this show – not taking into account the Easter eggs and references – are so brilliant. The way the clues to the story are littered throughout the show, and how someone is reacting or doing something plays out is really extraordinary. 

Ron: Exactly! Everything matters in this show. The way Sol looks at something. The confusion on Yord’s face. Vernestra not reacting to information. It all matters in the end. But you’ve gotta watch the damn thing for answers!

Fan Reaction

Ron: So, I guess we might as well get the horrid part out of the way. The so-called fan reaction to the show.

Mon: There’s no such thing as a Star Wars fan. They’re just bigoted, racist, sexist AHs. I cannot stand the discourse around anything to do with Star Wars. You and I love Star Wars, but there’s no point in calling ourselves fans, because that is the most toxic group of disgusting luddites that anyone can encounter. 

Mon: I cannot, for the life of me, understand the blatant hate for this show from the first episode onwards. It makes no sense other than the obvious – which is misogyny. It makes me want to scream. Yes, The Acolyte has issues, but this is the best Star Wars live-action show out there, it’s better than Andor, a show that everyone loves, but one I felt really underserved its protagonist, who happens to be Mexican. 

Ron: It’s racism and misogyny. We see it over and over again and it’s unbearable. For us to see a Star Wars show full of people of colour and women. We feel seen for the first time. But despite there being a plethora of tv shows and films with white men in the lead, the fact that there is one show with people of colour evinces this much hate.

Mon: But this hate is causing real damage – we are constantly losing entertainment where the story doesn’t focus on cis white able-bodied dudes. We’re stuck in a cycle that will not be broken because the biggest entertainment companies in the world, like Disney and Warner Bros., will cave to the stupidest common denominator. I just can’t….

Characters

Ron: Enough about those awful excuses for humanity. The Acolyte was filled to the brim with characters that I instantly fell in love with. I want to talk about everyone!

Mon: I wasn’t sure what we were getting into with these characters, but they piqued our interest with little hints to their personalities and their histories. And the writing was well-matched with a lot of great performances that got us invested in these characters. 

Ron: Yord-Horde, what’s up! The instantaneous love for Charlie Barnett’s Yord Fandar gave me life. This Jedi Knight is such a stickler for the rules, he even steams his Jedi robes. What is not to love? I appreciate how quick Disney was to share BTS videos of Barnett talking about Yord and his goofiness. They really made us fall in love with Yord.

Mon: Love Yord. He’s certainly a stickler for rules, and that makes him seem boring, but he gets the job done. On the rewatch, I realized he has a chip on his shoulder – it seems that he hasn’t conquered his fears yet, and the other characters remark on that. It’s the layers to this character that really leave us wanting more. 

Ron: I missed that about Yord’s fear. A Jedi whose afraid? Dang, no wonder he’s so stuck up.

Ron: The character who stole my heart was Jecki Lon, played by Dafne Keen. I was excited to see her again after her incredible breakout role as Laura Kinney in Logan. And she was excellent on His Dark Materials. But Jecki is just a sarcastic ray of sunshine in this show. Every scene, she’s a delight to watch. She’s so mean to Yord, and their relationship was hilarious to watch. But she’s got a soft side to her. The way she talked about becoming one with the Force, it was so wise and comforting. And those lightsaber moves! We’ll talk about the duels in a bit.

Mon: I love Jecki! She’s snarky, but she’s so kind to Osha. I was certain they were setting up a romance between Jecki and Osha – those two had amazing chemistry, and like… Osha takes the time to watch Jecki train before saying goodbye. So adorable! 

Ron: I would have loved a romance between Jecki and Osha. The chemistry was palpable.

Mon: And Jecki had the best fight scenes. That energy, those smarts. I could have watched Jecki in combat forever!

Ron: We have to talk about Osha. And Mae, of course. You go first because I believe we’re going to disagree.

Mon: So… I really struggled with Amandla Stenberg’s performances as Osha and Mae. I felt they were unable to bring any emotion or expression to their characters, and that left me unable to understand who these characters were or how they actually felt. 

Ron: Okay. We’re going to disagree. Do you remember when Arrow Season 1 was out? Everyone went after Stephen Amell because his Oliver Queen was too wooden. And I never felt that because I understood why Ollie lacked emotion.

Mon: Should have known you’d bring that up. I never had an issue with Amell’s performance in Season 1 of Arrow, because it was obvious he was restrained and, honestly, just didn’t know how to fit back into his old life. But that’s the key – it was intentional, or at least came across that way. Here, with Stenberg, I think they’re going for restrained, but they’re all over the place, and they don’t react to anything that’s happening to them. 

Ron: That’s exactly it though. I think Stenberg’s performances are intentional. They’re a huge Star Wars fan and they’ve particularly shared a long-standing fondness for Anakin Skywalker. I believe Stenberg knew when to emote and when not to. It was subtle but there is a very distinct change in physicality between Osha and Mae. I was so impressed by it because the first time we meet Osha, it’s just after Mae’s murdered Master Indara. And I immediately knew this was a different person than the murderer. Osha holds herself so differently than Mae does.

Mon: We’re going to have to agree to disagree here, because I felt that they missed the mark. I’ve watched the show twice now, and they don’t convey their characters’ emotions at all.

Ron: Oh no. I don’t want us to disagree! I really freaking loved Stenberg’s performances. Osha’s far more emotive than Mae is but she’s got that restraint that comes with Jedi training. But Mae’s primary emotion is anger so we don’t get to see her emote anything else.

Mon: Wow! How am I missing this? What is happening? There is a divergence in the Force and it ain’t good!

Ron: Hahahahaha. I think it becomes even more clear as we’re getting to the end of the show. When Osha and Mae switch places, by that point, they’re both questioning their past and their understanding of what happened. And the physicality starts to change but also the way they express themselves. By the final scene, Mae is relaxed and emotional, and she’s crying. But Osha is holding herself up and taut, refusing to let her emotions slip out. It’s like she’s unburdened her lightness into Mae and taken the dark side on. It’s so clever! But perhaps it was just too subtle?

Mon: Subtlety is not lost on me. I just don’t think they did a good job. But you know who did? Lee Jung-jae!

Ron: I think Master Sol, played by Lee Jung-jae, might be one of my favourite characters in all of Star Wars. In just 8 episodes, we got to see this extremely nuanced, flawed, deeply empathetic Jedi master who did something very wrong with the very best of intentions. The kindness on his face when he sees his padawan, Osha, I knew right then that I was going to love this character. He brought the serenity that we associate with Qui-Gon Jinn but with the pathos of Anakin Skywalker. Even knowing what he did, and it’s unforgivable, absolutely, I still love this character. He had an incredible arc. That final scene, when Osha is force choking him and he lets her, he accepts his fate, it was so emotional and moving.

Ron: Lee Jung-jae was phenomenal in this role. He learned English in just four months so he could play this character. To emote so beautifully and effectively in a foreign language. You can see how much he loves this universe!

Mon: Lee Jung-jae is so amazing that words cannot describe how wonderful he is in this role. He carries so much knowledge about his character’s past, present and future in his expressions from the very first episode onwards. It’s honestly mind-boggling. Sol in the first two episodes is written and performed to make you fall in love with him. He is a master like no other. He is a person so kind, so caring, it’s like, why can’t we have such loveliness in our real world? 

Mon: And then the other Mynock drops, and you learn the truth about Sol. 

Ron: There was so much foreshadowing! But I still hoped the truth wouldn’t be as bad. It was worse.

Ron: There are a lot of people who were upset that their new favourite character turned out to be a bad guy. But I think that’s a reductive reading of Sol. Everything he does in the present is to make up for his mistakes in the past on Brendok. He’s constantly working to redeem himself, and that’s what makes him a Jedi, not a Sith. I mean, Anakin Skywalker murdered Sandpeople and Jedi younglings and he still got redeemed.

Mon: What Sol did was wrong, but only because we saw the story from his victims’ points of view first. If we were following the Sandpeople, Anakin is probably the boogie man they tell their kids about all the time. But that’s not the angle we got; with Sol, Indara, et all, creator Leslye Headlund, intentionally wanted to give us a different point of view from the Jedi’s.

Ron: What a clever story decision. To show us the Witches’ way of life, the love that Aniseya has for her daughters and then to show us what the Jedi did to them.

Mon: Over at Soundsphere, I wrote about how the show challenges how we perceive the Jedi, but it doesn’t change our knowledge of them. It’s bizarre that so many people took umbrage to how The Acolyte depicted the workings of the Jedi, when we’ve witnessed, several times, that they have been taking Force-sensitive children away from their families forever, that they have an almost cult-like need for their followers to stay in line, or else they’re seen as a problem. The Jedi are hardly perfect, but while genocide isn’t in their mandate, it’s not like they’re not known to commit atrocities – either as part of the Clone Wars, or when their people go rogue, like Anakin did with the Sandpeople. 

Lightsaber duels

Ron: Unfortunately true. The Jedi are only the heroes of their own stories. But we can all agree that the coolest thing about the Jedi are their lightsabers, right? And that The Acolyte had the best lightsaber duels since the prequels. The energy, the speed, the range of techniques, the ferocity. This is lightsaber duelling!

Ron: Look, I know a lot of Star Wars fans want to move away from the Jedi. We got nine films in the Skywalker trilogy. It’s a bit weird for the fate of an entire galaxy to be tied to one dynasty, whether they’re blood-related or not. Which is why people wanted to move away from lightsaber-wielding Force-users. Then you get films like Rogue One which are mind-blowingly relatable, political and impactful, and there’s not a Jedi in sight. The Mandalorian and Andor also didn’t have Jedi in them – that’s changed for Mando, of course.

But I don’t think the problem is seeing more Jedi. We just need different Jedi, different eras. That’s exactly what The Acolyte gets right. We go a century into the past, the High Republic era, the Jedi reign supreme, no Sith in sight. And bam, now you’ve got Jedi at the top of their game, with skill levels that wowed us during the prequels.

Mon: People are never happy. Lightsaber duels are the best – when done well. We need more! I would love to see more Jedi. And we need a variety of personalities, like we had on The Acolyte. They can be a cult of emotionless monks, and still be interesting. Three trilogies and a bunch of animated shows already proved that was possible. 

Ron: What more proof do people need? But the lightsaber duels in this show are truly to die for. See what I did there? Maybe the fight between Sol and Mae wasn’t as well-paced, but when the Jedi go up against the Stranger? That’s edge-of-your-seat stuff. Jecki’s moves, her quick-thinking. You just know she would have risen up the ranks of the Jedi in no time had her life not been cut short.

Mon: Episode 5 is when I sat up and took notice of this show. I was like, okay, these people are not messing around. They’re doing something different here. They’re making an entire episode one long fight scene. They’re not scared to kill off our main heroes. They mean business!

Ron: What really impressed me is that Star Wars is over fifty years old. And yet, we get The Stranger, with his creepy-as-hell mask, made of Cortosis that shorts out lightsabers, and his moves are unlike anything the Jedi have ever seen. Considering this is the High Republic era where the Sith are basically unheard of, the Jedi must have felt like they were meeting a nightmare.

Mon: Sol even says to the Stranger that you’re using a Jedi weapon but you’re not a Jedi. These are Jedi who’ve mostly known peace, a killer like the Stranger is unfathomable to them. 

Ron: I got chills when Sol said that! And it got me thinking about something. We as the audience know about the Sith, but the Jedi in the show don’t. It’s really difficult to keep up the suspense and the stakes when the audience knows more than the characters. I spoke about this in a previous episode of Stereo Geeks about Dark Matter, the Apple TV show. There’s a reveal to the audience in the first episode that the characters take up to episode three to work out and it was painful to watch. The Acolyte worked from the same playbook but managed to ramp up the tension and build an atmosphere of fear for its protagonists. We keep saying it but this show is so clever. By the way, Dark Matter has been given a second season. But not The Acolyte.

Mon: Where’s the justice!

Twists

Ron: Speaking of the Stranger, what was a bigger twist? That Qimir was the Stranger? Or that he killed the wonderful Jecki Lon?

Mon: Jecki being killed was a bummer for me, so not much of a twist. But Qimir being the Stranger was like whaaaat! And it was so freaking clever, because I remember, we were watching the episode the first time, and I had just asked you if Qimir was still stuck hanging upside down and then pow, he’s the Stranger. I thought to myself, no way!

Mon: Part of me was like, but of course! Why would they cast Manny Jacinto and give him the role of a smarmy supplier? I mean, that can’t be it! Give me a break. They were smart. I didn’t see it coming though. My jaw dropped!

Ron: But Star Wars has cast big names in tiny roles before. Poe Dameron was going to die after two scenes until JJ Abrams realised he was too hot to die. 

Mon: Wait, is that true about Oscar? He was too hot to die? Because he totally was. 

Ron: Okay, so I may be embellishing a bit. But that’s totally what happened. Too hot to die. Yord, sadly, did not get that same treatment.

Mon: I feel you. Yeah, I do wish Yord and Jecki and Sol and Indara had survived. I love these guys so much. Yord and Jecki live on in a YA book. Indara too. Not sure when we’ll see Sol again. 

Ron: After they killed Jecki, I thought to myself, you’re going to let Yord live, surely? We deserve one of them to live. But nope! Yord’s neck saw the wrong end of the chiropractor’s twist.

Mon: Funny. That’s Yord humour, I’m sure of it.

Ron: Thank you. I aim to make him proud. Well, Sol doesn’t make it to the end of the season either. He gets killed by Osha. And Vernestra puts the blame on him for everything. The ignominy!

Mon: By the finale I figured that Sol wouldn’t make it. It was the final blow because I somehow still wanted him to. But, again, the showrunners know that you know what’s going to happen, so the finale is not about his death – it’s about us seeing the bleeding of a kyber crystal, and it’s about the Jedi protecting themselves, to such an extent they’ll drag one of their own through the mud. This show is gut-wrenchingly smart. 

Ron: Was anybody else squealing when the kyber bleeding happened? Because that was such a cool visual. I’ve always wondered about Sith blades, because I like Sith lightsabers, so this was a spiritual moment for me.

Mon: I did not know seeing a bleeding kyber was something that was so important to me, but apparently it was. Apparently, a stolen Jedi weapon is the only way a Sith can own a lightsaber – they must bleed the stolen kyber crystal to wield it. 

Ron: Ooooh, I love these details!

Ron: I will say, I really wanted Sol to live. Not just because he’s my new favourite character but also because I wanted to see him pay for his crimes. That would have been interesting to see. What does Jedi justice look like? Because in all of Star Wars, we’ve seen a lot of justice dispensed via lightsabers.

Mon: That’s such a good point. I agree.

Score and song

Ron: We do mention this a lot but we love listening to film and TV scores. I couldn’t wait to dig into The Acolyte’s score. Mostly because that Power of Two song by Victoria Monét was stellar!

Mon: I love that Power of Two song. When I did my rewatch, that was the one post-credits episode that I watched all the way through so I could listen to the full song. I need to add it to all my playlists. 

Mon: I haven’t heard the score. Just a tune here and there. Is it good? 

Ron: The Power of Two is such an addictive song. But the score itself is lovely. There are some throwbacks to familiar Star Wars tunes but for the most part, Michael Abels has constructed a new score. Part one of the score, episodes 1-4 had a lot of outstanding pieces. ‘Teacher and Student’, ‘An Acolyte’, obviously, ‘Combat in the Courtyard’, and my favourite is ‘Under the Bunta Tree’. I can’t wait for you to listen to this score!

Mon: I’ll give it a listen soon. 

Cancellation 

Ron: Obviously we’re upset by the cancellation because it’s a Star Wars show and we love to spend time in that universe. But for me, while I was watching it, I was so amazed that this show with this story and cast of characters existed in my lifetime. That I got to see it unfold every week for eight weeks and share in the joy and surprise of it with you and other fans. The fact that we won’t get another season, and if the loudmouths have their way, anything else like it, is what makes me feel so gutted. Life is tough and entertainment is our only escape. But that escape is being denied to only select groups, while others have so much made just for them. I know I sound bitter, but that’s how I feel right now.

Mon: I feel you. As I said, I wasn’t sure how I’d approach a second season, because I wasn’t all that invested in the characters who were left, but I was dying to get back in this world. I am so annoyed that anything slightly different from the norm gets squashed. And why? Because the loudest idiots don’t know how a weekly television show works and that women and people of colour love and can create art that’s smarter than these loudmouths? Man, I just don’t have the words for this nonsense. 

Favourite Moments

Ron: Instead of wallowing in sadness, let’s relive some of our favourite moments from the show.

Mon: Some of my favourite moments… honestly, it’s tough, because there are some detailed hints to what’s happening or going to happen, that take this show to another level. But, a few things I loved were:

Sol in the first two episodes - absolutely the kindest, loveliest human being. He will steal your heart.

The Stranger reveal - devastating as we’re still reeling from the murder of Jecki. And the Stranger’s catty comment about Sol bringing a child to a fight that eventually led to her death, gutwrenching. 

The two-part episode directed by Kogonada. It’s divided into episodes 3 and 7, and my word, they are so perfectly directed to give you two completely different storylines. Truly brilliant work. 

Ron: I’m not sure if it counts as a favourite moment but it’s the moment I knew this show would be so much better than I had hoped. When Master Indara was killed. I was sorry to see the end of her but her demise signalled that nothing was as it seemed. I knew I was going to love this show from that very moment.

Mon: Fascinating. Expect the unexpected with this one.

Ron: Other favourite moments would be every time Yord and Jecki were in a scene together. You could see how much they hated each other’s guts. Hilarious. That dynamic would have been a joy to see more of. But we are getting a YA novel, which I’m going to nab the moment I see it.

Ron: So, I mean, I don’t mean to be horny on main here, but the Stranger dipping into the pool while Osha is watching. That’s a universal favourite moment, right? I said it so you don’t have to. But we’re all thinking it.

Mon: You’re hilarious. But you’re not wrong. 

Ron: Would I be cheating if I said all of the finale? Because the entire finale is a favourite of mine. Every single second is incredible, unexpected, and a gut-punch. Love it to the moon and back.

Mon: That’s high praise coming from you. 

Ron: It had everything! Sol’s death, the lightsaber bleeding, the sisters coming together and then deciding to part ways. Vernestra being the worst and putting all the blame on Sol. And we haven’t even mentioned David Harewood’s Senator Rayencourt, who was taking the Jedi to task about their mysterious ways. That scene between the Senator and Vernestra was such an indictment of the Jedi way. I didn’t expect it and I was honestly, blown away by the tension. Also, David Harewood owns every scene he’s in.

Mon: I’m not the biggest fan of Vernestra, but she’s got a good PR brain. Can’t fault that woman’s crisis communications abilities, even if it means throwing her dead friend under the bus. 

What we would have loved to see in a season 2

Mon: Had we got a second season, I would have loved to see more of the Jedi. Maybe some actual investigations and mysteries? I would also have loved to see them veer away from a boring hetero romance between the Stranger and Osha – because, I could not see that, they had no chemistry. Plus he’s toxic and she’s lost – we’ve seen this dynamic before, in the Reylo stuff. That’s a no for me. 

I think the show would have actually been gay if we’d got a second season, as well. But so much for that. 

Ron: A second season would have seen Rayencourt tearing the Jedi to shreds on the senate floor. And then he would mysteriously disappear and it would somehow be Sol’s fault. 

Mon: Yes. Yes. I see it. 

Ron: Also, Master Yoda would be implicated in the cover-up, which would explain why he’s been straight up lying to the Jedi for another 100 years.

Mon: Can you imagine having to remember this many details for 100 years? I’m pretty sure Yoda just deleted this hiccup in his history. 

Ron: Yeah, you’re probably not wrong. 50 years from now he’s like, Vernestra who? What is this Sith you speak of?

Mon: Don’t we know it!

Ron: Okay, I think we lightened the mood, despite the crushing disappointment we feel. I’m going to be happy that we got one season. We got incredible, multi-dimensional characters who made us feel all the emotions and whom we’re going to miss. I can’t remember the last time I fell so instantly in love with new characters. I’m so glad The Acolyte exists and that we got to see it. Bring on the extended universe literature.

Mon: The Acolyte is my favourite live-action Star Wars show, so yeah, this sucks. But at least we have this one season, and hopefully some tie-ins that we can enjoy.

[starvity]

hi! i really like you work🥺 if reqs aren’t open ignore this but if they are could i please request a taeyoung vity fluff? maybe something like MC’ing with his crush or something! ty and have a good one❤️‍🩹

— ☆ mc'ing with crush!taeyoung

idol gn!reader x cravity taeyoung

genre: fluff, idol!au // warnings: mutual crushing!! who cheered?! just taeyoung being a flirt, did i forget anything...?

author’s note: thank you sooo much!! <3 took me a moment to get inspired for this one but it was so fun to write!! i'm so sane and normal about taeyoung like, that did not make me delusional at all... (★ω★)/ [requested♡]

you let out a sigh of relief as your promotions for your new album have ended after 3 weeks. the past few months have been particularly tiring for you ; you had to prepare for your comeback while being on tour and record the tracks and film the music video as soon as you were back in seoul.

you were so happy to finally be able to rest as your company announced a two-week break for your group after your hectic schedule. unfortunately (or not), you were offered a 6-month contract to host 'after school club' every tuesday!

you show the staff a mixed facial expression at the sudden news. you knew this was a good opportunity to get your group known, especially since your last title track got popular. but that also meant that you were unable to go back to see your family for the holidays. suddenly, something sparked your interest as they were explaining you what the job consisted of ; "who am i going to work with?". you’ve been training alone for quite a long time, seeing all your friends debut before you, so you thought that it wouldn’t be too bad to make some new friends in the industry. "taeyoung from cravity will be working with you, you will get to meet him next week."

friends, you said? you nod at the staff, finding it difficult to hide the light tint of pink creeping up your cheeks. taeyoung and you had in fact already met, without your company knowing about it. you were promoting your debut album on music shows at the same time and randomly met in the hallways. it was still really early in the morning and all of your other teammates were sleeping in the waiting room. you decided to go get a drink from the vending machine just outside the door when you ran into him. he smiled shyly, two cinnamoroll pins still in his hair as he had probably gotten his makeup done just now. he suddenly bowed down, greeting you "hello, i’m taeyoung from cravity". you bowed back and smiled, hinting with your eyes that you were waiting to get yourself a drink. "can i get you something, i accidentally took too much money." what a weird request, you thought. if he has too much money, can't he just keep it for next time? you don’t know why but you found his question quite endearing and accepted the offer.

finally, the live broadcast for your first appearance as a mc is starting in 2 hours. you try to calm yourself down during rehearsal so you can appear as relaxed as possible on camera. however, that was not an easy task since you could basically feel taeyoung’s knee graze against yours when you were sitting together on the sofa, reviewing the ments for today. he was close enough for you to hear his soft breathing and smell his cologne. "you seem to be quite distracted today. nervous?" he asks softly. without you knowing, taeyoung and you have become quite close, close enough for him to notice when your vibe is slightly off. you sigh "i really don’t want to mess this up." he chuckles, "i’m sure you’ll do great. we’ll do great!" he pats your thigh reassuringly. god, was he trying to make you less nervous? while looking at you with such eyes? you had promised yourself to stay as professional as possible with him when you started working together. you didn't want any stupid rumors ruining both of your new careers. but when you see how his eyes shift to your lips with a small grin growing on his face, you wonder ; does he feel the same way about me?

the show went much better than you expected. you happily thank the staff and head back to the waiting room. "you did great taeyoung! i think you're going to gain a lot of fans." you giggle, taking a sip of water and finally feeling your nervousness disappear. "are you not afraid of me stealing yours?" he asks jokingly but with a somehow serious face and you take notice of the abrupt silence that had settled in the room, as you two were alone. he then turns his phone screen towards you, showing how both your names were trending on twitter. you click on the hashtags out of curiosity and suddenly feel your whole face heat up when you see what the netizens were talking about. "first day on the job and people are already shipping us" taeyoung laughs while you were hiding behind your hands, unable to look at him. a few seconds pass and you feel a pair of warm hands coming to rest on top of yours before forcing them off your face. as you open your eyes, you see that taeyoung is standing ridiculously close to you with a stupid smirk painted on his face. "if we kiss now, how many months do you think it'll take for them to find out?" he blurts out, his eyes serious and teasing. "can you keep a secret?"

[bearhyuck127]

series review

Spoiler warning!!!

we are the series -

This show is so cute.

I can definitely see myself coming back to watch this as a comfort show.

Pisses me off that it took phem and peem up until episode 13 to start dating.

Q and toey are so cute I want to rip my hair out omg. Definitely my favorite side couple.

So sad it's ending soon.

8 out of 10

I give this rating because it took so long for the main couple to get together. Also I feel like it was dragged on a little longer than it should have. But the acting is great ( as expected from pond and phuwin) and I keep coming back for more.

My stand in the series-

BROOO

This show most definitely keeps me on my feet.

I don't understand why Joe would go back to the people who basically killed him.

I tried so hard to like ming but the second he chained my man how up I lost any liking I had for him.

I was a passionate Joe and sol supporter but when I saw how sad and helpless ming was I couldn't help but feel bad for him. ( I know I'm insane)

After finding out that Joe was in this joe's body he knew he had to make things right and I'm proud of him for all the sacrifices he is making right now.

9 out of 10

I give this rating because it's genuinely a really good series. Sure I kick and scream like a mad person but that's just apart of the experience.

I know that Joe will choose ming in the end because I've seen the trailer but its still nerve racking.

That are so foul for not giving the teaser for the last episode. I have to sit through the week in pain.

This love doesn't have long beans-

The way I've waited so long for this.

When I saw the announcement I was in school and I tried my absolute best to keep calm.

I've been obsessed with sailubpon since pit babe and I'm so happy that they have their own series.

Not to mention Garfield and benz. I'm so excited to see how there relationship develops.

I find the fact that the restaurant is actually babe's house from pit babe so funny.

8.5 out of 10

I think it's only fair to give this rating.

The first episode just came out but I'm already in love.

And like I said I waited so long for this series.

I'm so excited for next Friday.

I am definitely not excited about the "love triangle" though sigh.

My love mix-up

I cannot stress enough how much I love this series.

I love how fun Geminiforth make every series that they are in.

The confession was soo stressful though.. because what do you mean atom confessed got scared and tripped, ended up rolling down the hill with kongthap and then kongthap got bit by a snake...let's just say I was out of my bed for the whole thing.

I'm so ready for mudmee to confess because her and half are so cute.

9 out of 10

This series is so refreshing after the trauma I get from my stand in.

I can never get bored with geminiforth and I will always support them in all of their projects.

Sunset x vibes-

im not going to lie I wasn't too interested when watching the first episode but I let a few more episodes to come out before continuing and now I like it.

It's definitely something to watch when I'm bored every Saturday.

The friend group does kind of annoy me a little bit.. they blackmailed people that are way higher up in the business than they are which kind of gave me the ick. I understand that they were worried about their friend but I wouldn't go around blackmailing people. I'm pushing through though and I'm looking forward to the development of Sam and yo though.

I love moss and bank and I've wanted to see them in another series again for a while now.

7.5 out of 10

Though I like how the show is developing I have a few problems with it.

I wish they added translations for the jewelry scene but then again that could just be my streaming platform problem.

I will always love anything moss and bank do and this is no hate towards anyone!

Love sea-

oh. my. god.

This show has me in a chokehold i swear.

Again with the friends though omg! Mook girlie I promise tongrak will be ok if he has a man in his house.. I mean look at mut.. all I have to say.

I find the whole nook and vie situation is so cute though I'm so ready for them to get together.

Also these scenes man... they need to let us breathe. LET US BREATHE.

8.5 out of 10

I love fortpeat sooo much.

The difference between their characters in love in the air and love sea is funny but I live for it.

So ready for mut to show tongrak what love actually is.

Also money doesn't buy love guys 😔

Those are all the the shows I'm watching right now..it's a 9 to 5 job I swear... ( Please I need more shows ☹️) If you have any recommendations I will gladly take them. Sadly I can only watch on iqiyi and YouTube though so please stick to shows that air on those platforms please and thank you 🫶🫶🫶

[v3nusxsky]

Could I please request a lesso X pansexual reader where r is the new transfer student (they are 18) who is known as being a stereotypical cocky player and who doesn't do long term relationships. There's lots of rumors about why they are such a player and why they had to leave their old school. While she'd never admit it lesso was just as intrigued as the other students and is determined to get to the bottom of it also requests r to talk in office. Lesso soon learns that r was actually very different in their old school and was severely bullied and taken advantage of by their long term bf which is why they swore off long term relationships because they never wanted to feel that much hurt again. Eventually r admits that they have a thing for lesso cause in r's words "authority figures are hot as shit" which leads to them both having some fun in lesso's office (r topping lesso which lesso is very annoyed about considering she is typically the top?)

Not my fault your fit as fuck| NSFW

*Authors note~ I truly have no experience with this kind of behaviour so I hope this is what you are searching for anon <3*

Trigger warnings~ top r bottom l daddy kink breeding kink praise degrading magical cock pure and utter filth

Prompt~ see ask^^^^

✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ ✬

A reputation can either make you or break you. And this is why you'd had to transfer. The rumours, the stories that were circulating around your previous school made it impossible for you to continue your education there. You still blamed yourself for it. After all why did you have to go and trust someone only for them to hurt you. What did that say about your judge of character. She'd torn you apart, left you open bare and bleeding all while she rubbed salt in those wounds by spreading those malicious lies. Yep, moving schools was definitely the best idea for you, but something like that doesn't just not affect a person, no it left you with some nasty scars, scars you wanted to hide. So you reinvented yourself, a protective measure to ensure no one would ever come that close to you again.

Obviously schools communicate, you knew by the time you started on your first day, they knew. The whispers and stares around you proved that fact, yet you didn't care. Why should you? After all for all they knew it was all wrong. One thing was right though, you are a massive flirt, people naturally gravitate towards you and who are you to turn them away? After all you're human, you still crave love and affection like anyone else, just without the commitment. Your reputation as a "fuck girl" was pretty well known after a few months at the school. And you weren't mad about it. Boys, girls, non binary, trans truthfully anyone appealed to you. It was also noticed you weren't picky with gender but you had a stereotypical type, anyone with an air of confidence had a fair chance of ending up in your bed.

Leonora had heard the whispers, of the older student, the fuck girl, the pansexual goddess who stole hearts and she had to admit she wanted to know more, for her this felt too rehearsed so she definitely wouldn't be falling at your feet like the students had been. She waited for the perfect opportunity to pull you into her office under the pretences of a educational review.

You're stunning, that was no shock but the way you carried yourself and the smirk you plastered on your face mixed with the cocky attitude all supported her theory. This was a pretence. As soon as you sat in front of her desk she made sure to tell you just what she thought. "Leonora" you purred flashing a smirk at her, "this isn't about my education so let's cut to the chase shall we? I have people to do" you couldn't help but chuckle at the part. Who would you take to bed tonight? Maybe a girl? Who knows. All you knew is you wouldn't be there when they woke next morning.

You seemed to pale when she called you out with the simple phrase, "I'm your Dean and I command you to tell me" barked at you. You couldn't help but spill everything. You told her of how she'd fucked you over, how she'd tricked you for three whole years, only to go and do the worst thing she could do. Expose your secret, one in fact she very much enjoyed when you were together, one you didn't want getting out. In fact that's the whole reason you came to this school. You were gifted in ways no other could understand, and if others enjoyed your gifts then it wasn't your fault they called you a player. In fact you were just terrified of being hurt in such a way again. Now that Leonora could understand, Rafal had done some despicable shit to her, for years she shut herself off before now getting comfortable again in her own skin.

"Would you like to see my gifts in action" you teased and watched as she sat stunned. Aha you still had the effect despite her knowing how you'd been bullied and pulled apart. You could tell she was curious, so you leant over the desk to answer her unasked question, "because Nora" you purred, "authority figures are hot as shit. And you darling reek of authority, I'd love to turn you into nothing but a mindless whore." She visibly gulped at your words, no wonder you were so popular, you took the advantage to plant your lips to hers in a dominating kiss. You left no room for her to do anything but submit to you.

Leonora was fuming, how dare someone try to dominate her. She dominates everyone. But deep deep down she was enjoying the way you took control of everything, all she had to do is sit back and enjoy the sensations. You quickly made work of her clothing after gaining some consent, pulling her up to sit in her chair before placing her to straddle your lap. Your hands never faltering as they roomed her body and your lips attacking her neck. All she could do is expose more of it to you as she moaned for more. Her hips instinctively rocking downward into your lap causing you to moan. "Leo?" You murmured against her skin, "I can um conjure up something can I?" You continued punctuating each few words with a kiss on her pulse point. The moan she let out at the thought was all the consent you needed but she continued to beg for it anyway, "oh so this is your gift, go ahead my love."

She could feel as the spell took place, your now impressive length hardening under her soaking core. She was truly impressed and impatient so with a quick point of a finger you now sat bare in her chair, your new appendage standing proudly to attention as she ground her hips down against it. "Want daddy's cock Leo? Like a good cock loving whore?" You murmured nipping at the lobe of her ear. Your hands finding purchase on her hips to help her move just enough to tease herself. "Oh daddy fuck!" She moaned and if she wasn't already delirious with need she would've sworn down this never happened. Maybe she would, after she'd let you use her in ways she never thought she'd allow.

You lined yourself up with her soaking core and helped her sink down on the impressive length. Her moans of delight were truly delicious and you didn't think you'd ever get tired of hearing them. As soon as she'd adjusted to your intrusion she began to bounce herself on your dick, loving how your eyes fixated on her breasts. You were trying to catch one in your mouth as she bounced on your lap back arched enjoying the feeling you deep inside her.

She couldn't help but cry out in surprise when you quickly changed the position with a growl. She was now bent over her desk as you entered her from behind. "Look at how well you take daddy's cock doll. You're so good a good little slut. Greedy whore for this aren't you? Wanting daddy to fuck you dumb, fill this cunt with cum? Make you my breeding bitch, isn't that right" you half moaned and half panted with how rough you were pounding into her. All she could do is whimper, whine and mewl for your. Begging for more, needing more.

You changed the position once again, the pleasure was dizzying for you both, you now lay her down against her desk with her legs around your hips pulling you impossibly deep into her dripping pussy. "I want to see your face doll. I want to see that pretty mind of yours go blank as I fill you up. You won't let anyone of it go now will you? You're gonna be a good cum slut for daddy, isn't that right Leonora" you taunted and the way you purred her name was all it took for her to cum squeezing your cock for all it was worth as her mind went blank. You were a second behind her in finding your own release, working you both through it before slipping out of her and transitioning back to your usual anatomy.

Leonora lay spent on the desk, never in her life had she experienced such an enjoyable encounter but she'd be damned if she let you leave. Her hands reached out for you with one simple demand, "stay please" she whimpered the need and vulnerability soaking her words and dancing in her eyes, you muttered "there's no where I'd rather be" before heading to take care of the older woman.

Word count~ 1648

[jigschosai]

The Dawntrail Review no one asked for

Lots of spoilers ahead, you've been warned.

Initially after I finished Dawntrail I had to write a short piece featuring Jigs and Nashmeira to help convey how hard it hit me, and at the time that's what I needed. Now with a bit of time and space behind me I'm in the mood to toss out my 2 cents about the expansion as a whole.

I liked it - a lot. And I feel it was really well done, and generally an improvement over everything previously.

I'm not going to rehash the entire plot, because if you're reading this then you likely know it already. But I did want to touch on a few key things that I think really set it apart.

The first was for the bulk of it, we weren't the main character. It wasn’t about the WoL, though we do see things from their perspective, it was about Wuk. It was about how she matured from a goofy sheltered kid with a skewed view of the world into a leader you could be kind of proud of. In some ways it mimicked Lyse and Stormblood, but I felt the execution was a lot better because when we got to the end we weren’t blindsided by someone being put in charge where it made little sense. Wuk earned it (as did Koana).

From a broader perspective it did something else that was really needed after Endwalker. It made the WoL’s power moot. Sure we could punt Bakool Ja Ja and Zarool Ja into next week – but really, it wasn’t our fight, or our place to do so. And while I’m never a fan of playing a different character such as when you play Wuk versus Bakool Ja Ja, I easily understood why I needed to. It wasn’t an irritation like some many times before. Ok, not as much of an irritation.

In a game like FFXIV, power creep is always going to be an issue over the long term. You want players to feel like they’re getting more powerful, but over time the threats get more and more absurd when you take a step back. For example, where was Meteion when everything else was going on up until Shadowbringers? By making the bulk of the story about Wuk, it avoided a lot of the power creep problem. We didn’t need to have a giant villain come out of the blue that didn’t make a lot of sense, which was one of my primary complaints about Endwalker. Yes it was great to see everybody again for the finale, but it never felt like a proper ending the way Shadowbringers did. It felt like an epilogue, a snippet of story to remind you of the characters that are not going to be back, along with a villain that really didn’t matter.

And a quick side note as I’m about to move on from Wuk. I’ve seen a bunch of complaints about her voice actress, and I don’t get it. The delivery always seemed fine to me, not that I have the most discerning ear. I can’t remember any point where I felt the voice was way off from how Wuk was acting or appearing. On top of that it was great to finally here some non-English accent voices, which helps with the diversity of the world.

Loosely that brings us to the trip with Erenville back to his home as we got what we wanted, a pass through that big door. This was probably the slowest the game was for me, but it still wasn’t bad by a long shot. In other expansions this lull hit hard because I kept feeling like “The world is ending! Get to the point already!” This, the “big stuff” so far as we knew was over. So doing a quick little adventure in a wild west type town wasn’t bad, it was something to do as we wandered around. This break was welcome, and it made sense. We weren’t waiting to get back to the main plot, we were waiting to see what it was, which is much easier to deal with.

Then we get to Solution Nine! Finally, a spot in FFXIV where the modern clothing we’ve had for ages looks like it fits in. The FF series has always been neat to me because of how it mixes magic and technology so well. There are variations, and a couple things that do it better (coughXenogearscough) but the way the cyberpunk theme was worked into the game went pretty well. Perfect, no, I feel time travel is always a bit sketchy, but good enough. I haven’t enjoyed running around a city this much since the Crystal Tower in Shadowbringers.

The only part I couldn’t figure out in this section was Galool Ja. I imagine there’s a side quest I haven’t done that explains it, but the fact he was around at all is a bit confusing to me. It almost felt like he was the time travel in Endwalker where “oops, we wrote ourselves into a corner.” But if I dig around a bit I may find it better thought out.

Finally – Living Memory. To say this part hit me like a train is understating it severely. Turning off each section and having it so final was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a game (different kind of hard than Elden Ring). Knowing that inevitably we’d turn off Cahciua’s section and she’d be gone too was rough for some very personal reasons. But I think anyone who had to deal with losing a loved one to a terminal illness probably has a good idea why. You always want one more adventure, one more meal, one more day. But inevitably, it all has to come to an end. My biggest complaint is there was not a proper hug between Erenville and Cahciua; but I know there’s some level of projection on my part going on there.

That brings me to our v-tuber-esque villainess Sphene. I mean the v-tuber-esque as a compliment, love many of the designs out there and Sphene, even though she is not a v-tuber, is no exception. As the big-bad, I feel like she’s a step behind Emet, but they got her right. You’re brought along with her to understand her, and just like with Emet, see you’re on two opposite sides of something and there is not middle ground to meet in. It’s the WoL’s way, or a way that stands against everything the WoL stands for. Just like with Emet, conflict is inevitable, despite how long it was put off and how much the WoL (and the player) has come to understand them.

Those kinds of villains make me think about the WoL, and their place in the grand scheme of things. Will there come a point where we’re the villain? Where like Emet and Sphene, we’re doing everything we can to protect our people, and doing so at the expense of others? So far we’ve largely been spared that (maybe don’t ask Garlemald). And at the end we get our special Azem inter-dimensional sippy-cup. And I think that is a good way to setup for the future where everything on our star is fairly well settled, and we can start exploring others. Maybe even properly revisit the first.

Lastly the upgrade to the difficulty is largely welcome. I’m a bit slow and have had a tough time figuring out some of the mechanics in a timely manner, but it’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed having to toss out clemency and cover far more routinely. The content is a lot more engaging and a bit harder to blindly memorize which makes doing roulettes routinely less of a mindless chore.

I know I’m in the minority, but this is my favorite expansion so far. It made up a lot of short comings some of the other expansions had, and I’m way more excited for future expansions than I was about Dawntrail. I feel like the more technical sides of the writing (e.g. avoiding power creep), and the pacing of the story (e.g. lulls when they’re a good fit) has improved a lot. It’s going to be interesting to see how things change in the future.

[goldenteaset]

2023 Fic Writer Year In Review (Part 1)

These came from this ask post here, but I felt like answering them in chunks on my own, similar to what I did in 2022. I was a lot happier this year. :D

Answers 1-10 under the cut!

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

Messing with formatting and POV in "An Act of Husbandry" (Virche Evermore, Scien/Ceres)! I think it turned out great, thanks to the Despair Ending that inspired it having a lot to work with. I definitely want to try it again!

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!)

...I have no idea, actually. ^^; A lot? Let's go with that, yeah.

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

Being honest with what I want to write makes the act of writing go so much easier. Also a lot of things I thought I'd never consider writing I absolutely would if given the right characters.

4. What piece of media inspired you the most?

A lot of media, not even ones that I wrote fic for! Cupid Parasite wound up being a huge inspiration just for how it handled the different "love types" in each route so effectively. Baldur's Gate 3 has helped me put into context how I want to write Legato in Ligature. Virche Evermore has made me adore visual novels as a medium more than ever. Anne Rice's books once again reminded me of why I write in the first place...I could go on. XD

5. What fandom(s) did you write for this year?

Alphabetically: Berserk, Death Note, Granblue Fantasy, Trigun ('98 and Stampede), Touken Ranbu, What in Hell is Bad?, and Virche Evermore.

6. What ship(s) captured your heart?

This was the year of Legato x A Good Chunk of Trigun's Cast, with special mention going to Legato x Vash, Legato x Meryl and Legato x Knives x Vash. Allan x Lynette from Cupid Parasite also occupied my thoughts a lot, but I didn't feel the need to write fic for them. ^^; Also, coming in at the end of the year: is that Scien x Ceres from Virtue Evermore with a steel chair?! Yes it is, and I've never been happier to be bludgeoned.

7. What character(s) captured your heart?

Legato waited 10+ years before setting up shop in my heart and I still don't know what happened. Later, Scien kicked down the door and Ceres apologized before also stepping in too.

...Also, I feel it's worth mentioning, but good lord was this ever Belial's year as well, even more so than the last five. Confound this man and his ability to make anything sexy as long as he's involved!!

8. Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year?

With the exception of Berserk, GBF and Touken Ranbu, they were all new this year! (And even GBF had new faces, like Lodi.) In general I let myself run wild.

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

...Hmm. It says something that there are so many contenders this year, doesn't it? Every time I think I have an answer, two more options appear. In general, there were points where I really felt characters' emotions as I wrote, and I hope readers felt the same.

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

Again, a really hard question! XD But I do have an easy answer for that: Baby Princess Training Diary (GBF, Belial x Lyria and Belial x Lyria x Djeeta, rated E). It's a combo of being happy that I finally knew what I wanted out of it, and also just...I love Lyria so much and wanted her to have the best possible time, "even" in a kinky, dubcon story like this one. For whatever reason, she brings out Belial's most Dangerously-Caring Boyfriend Energy, and there are moments in this where I had to look away because they were so cute together! And adding Djeeta into the mix made it all the sweeter. It just wouldn't stop, even when it was time to edit. The fic itself isn't going to be to everyone's tastes, and I knew that, but still. It was just so fun...

[baatarthefirst]

Can you write a small snippet for the summary of A Lost Love?

"Move on." Amaya told Janai, "Mourn as long as you need, but move forward."

Janai accepted the order to give her wife peace before she passed, and for no other reason. She was sure she'd mourn for the rest of her life. And...she would. She would think of Amaya and miss her every day for the rest of her life.

But after some time, the wound scarred over. Janai found herself missing company. One day, the sun set, officially ending her time in mourning. Janai subtly spent a few hours in the company of courtesans, feeling guilty at first despite her wife's- her late wife's- instructions.

The very next morning, Janai found her morning messages full of proposals. She incinerated the pile on the spot. Just because the mourning period was officially over didn't mean she was ready to move on. She had three heirs, and had no reason to replace her wife.

She hadn't meant to fall in love a few years later. She was the single mother of Aditya's best friend. They bonded over their exasperation with their sons, each too clever for his own good. They played the most elaborate pranks in and out of class. Janai confessed to the boy's mother while they were waiting for the headmistress that she was impressed, and that Aditya had his mother's brilliant and quick mind as well as her looks. That got a conversation going about Amaya, and her late lover as well.

The walls came down with each time they had to apologize for their sons and make them fix whatever damage they caused. Janai found a companion, and well...one thing lead to another. She was happy, and she knew Amaya would be happy for her. Her children...well there was mixed reviews. Amaya tried to prepare her children for this day, but there was only so much words could do.

Aditya was 'grossed out', pretending to gag, but Janai heard him and his friend plotting the things they could do when their mother's married making them both 'princes'. Jaiyana accepted it with good grace, though it took her a couple months to warm up to her mother's new love. Aviv, the child she thought would have the easiest time accepting the change...he was furious.

He was his mother's son, Amaya's little shadow, and now he thought he should be her voice...he regularly cussed at his mother's new love in KSL. She did get him to behave himself and act civil eventually, but then he just disappeared whenever she walked into the room. Not knowing what else to do, Janai called for her nephew, Callum.

She didn't know what they talked about, but it helped. There was a lot of work to do, but they were making progress. Janai thought maybe one day they could be a family, different than it used to be, but good in it's own way. But she couldn't propose without asking Aviv's blessing first.

"Son, come spar with me." She ordered as if it was a chore. He treated it as such, after Amaya left them.

"Isn't Jai destined to your Golden Knight? Why do I have to train...?"

"The Sunfire King must learn to fight beside his Golden Knight." she ruffed his red hair,

"Are you ever going to come up with another line?"

"Are you ever going to give me a different excuse to get out of training? Come, there's something serious I want to talk to you about."

[my-makeshift-masquerade]

It All Comes Back to Haunt You (Part 3)

@glitchysquidd

(I am sorry, but the next chapter of Into the Breach will come next I swear… This will highlight some obvious plot-holes, include more characters, and other things… Aight let’s make shit hit the fucking fan.)

It was the first shift for her since Tim and Samantha hired her on. Rebecca was too worried to focus on work right now. Henry and Micheal had been…too okay…with the concept of her father being here. They were quiet. They were planning something, but what? Obviously the fire thing never happened, because she pointed out other innocent people were probably going to be in the building, but what else could they be thinking—

“Hey, kid, can I talk to you for a sec?”

The employee she had become fast friends with snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Sure, uh…” The teen mumbled, “Where’s Dave?”

“Uh. Fucking around somewhere, I dunno.”

“Okay…? W-what do you want to tal—“

“So… You are Rebecca Afton, right?”

She was taken aback by the question, but nodded slowly. It was a bad idea to trust this person with such information, but after keeping quiet for so long, Rebecca’s need for connection outweighed her sense of self preservation by a hair.

“I was up last night thinking, reviewing the true crime podcast… It just doesn’t line up.” Her coworker paused, “Not that I think you’re lying or anything since you look just like the kid they showed but…”

“Y-Yes…?” She was becoming more fearful with every second of silence.

“Your dad tried to kill you in like…1986… It’s 2023…” They stopped for a moment to double check their head math, “Forget calculating your actual age. You should be way older. How the hell do you look so…so…young?”

That was a very fair question, and she was honestly surprised how long it took even her father to do the fucking math here. He clearly knew what year it was, yet he didn’t comment on her supernaturally youthful appearance at all. Rebecca figured it wasn’t a detail he was analyzing right now. She realized she could only shrug in response to the inquiry…

“Yeah, I…I have no idea why I seem to be aging so…slowly…” The young looking woman admitted, “I was hoping to ask Charlie, but it is taking me a while to fix—“

“Who?”

“Oh, uh… Charlotte. She’s Henry Emily’s daughter… like the ring leader of the ghosts.” Rebecca said this far too casually, mixing flavoring into her water, “Yeah, she’s chill… Just—understandably protective of the others…”

“Sure, right… Then also… What happened to your dad? Do you even know?” Her coworker frowned, “Dave is in the springlock suit now so clearly whatever happened on the night he tried to off you didn’t like—kill him—“

Damn. They really are “balls deep in denial” as Micheal put it. Yet they seemed head over heels for her dad. She guessed pining for a serial killer grants amazing cognitive dissonance…

“Yeah…” Her voice trailed off, “Not sure on that one… Just glad it was over…”

“Sorry. Am I prying too much?”

“No, no… You aren’t the first. My whole upteenth highschool class found out and none of those idiots did the math… Those who did just think I’m a liar.” She laughed nervously, “I’m just… thinking about something myself…”

“Wait wait wait. How many times have you had to go through highschool?! That sounds like hell—“

“It is. Still look too young for college… But if we don’t want to be investigated I have to keep acting at the age I look…” She rolled her eyes, “Though the state aren’t competent enough to notice the same person going through their school system every other four years…”

“What if you stop faking and tell—“

“I end up in a government facility most likely…” She answered bluntly.

Her coworker snorted.

“It is a genuine fear of mine, really. It’s why Michael and I have to come back whenever a new thing related to the franchise pops up. If people knew the full truth…” She paused, “I bet even the ghosts in the suits would be in the same boat as me then…”

“…Oh.”

“Man… I’ve never told anyone this shit before… This feels…like a weight is off my shoulders…”

“You’ve been that isolated… Unable to tell the truth to anyone…For 30 years…?!”

“Yep. Just myself, Micheal, and…”

Rebecca stopped herself. Mikey was already pissed about the amount of information they had to disclose to this person due to the sheer fact “Dave” was in the equation. As much as she wanted to let it out, she’d get in trouble for mentioning another huge name for the brand.

“Sorry, I’m prone to oversharing…”

———

“Ms.Clair, I know you’re about to leave, but have you seen Mi—“

Rebecca grabbed from behind, making her panic on reflex, letting out a very childlike noise despite her biting her lips.

“Jason!” Clair scolded.

“What? I needed to get through the doorway.” Jason smirked at her, “Are you gonna come around here often or—“

“Yes… I-I work here?” Rebecca was autistic and oblivious to any sort of flirting. It seemed Jason was taking that as a bit of a challenge.

“Well, you like making it difficult, huh?”

“Making what difficult?” She was more confused than offended or creeped out, “W-was I really that much in the way? S-sorry—“

“It’s so easy to make you apologize.” Jason snickered, “It’s really cute how you get all flustered…”

The sound of inexplicable metal hitting the door made Jason jump.

“SHITSHITSHIT—“

He turned around, sighing in relief when Springtrap wasn’t standing behind him. It was just that guy with the weird skin condition holding a spare part.

“Man, don’t fucking scare me like that.” The shorter man growled, “Can’t you see we’re having a conversation?!”

“Oh? Want to try doing something about it?” Micheal asked with a threateningly casual tone that was eerily identical to Springtrap’s.

“Whatever. I’m fucking out of here.” Jason huffed, giving the younger figure one last concerned glance. “Good luck with that thing.”

“Bye…I guess?” Rebecca blinked as Jason and Clair left, before turning to her brother, “Mike, where have you been? It’s been an hour.”

“Oh, I was just on the phone.”

“For an hour?!”

“Had to deal with some things after the call.”

“What things?”

“Things.”

“Ugh! Stop being difficult—“

“No.” Her brother chuckled, messing up her hair, “You do realize that man was hitting on you, right?”

“Hold on. He was WHAT?!”

“There you two are.” Their coworker smiled, “I finally found Dave in his room, and I see you found—“

Rebecca punched her brother in the chest repeatedly, as he started horse-playing with her, leading her to giggle, “H-hey! Let go—“

“Nope… Sibling privilege.” Micheal had her in a headlock, finally letting her go as she managed to get a good hit on him, “Fuck—!”

“Ha!”

“Below the belt? Really?” He smirked.

“It’s not like you have anything valuable down there!” She snapped back, getting too caught up in playing with her brother to notice who just entered the establishment.

“Oh jeez… Would you crazy kids stop wrestling each other on the clock?”

Rebecca lost all of the color in her face hearing that voice. No. No no no. Henry was here?! But her father was here?! Oh shit… This was going to end so…so badly. What was Michael thinking?!

“Your hair’s all over the place, kiddo.” The man walked over and fixed it for her, as well as straightening her shirt, “There! Now if only your brother would stop messing it all up…”

“Heh… No promises.”

Unseen by everyone, Springtrap watched from the farthest end of the hallway Micheal had come from. He was absolutely seething. William had no idea that Rebecca ended up being taken in by Henry after his death. Seeing his former business partner fix his daughter’s hair in such a fatherly manner while she clearly seemed embarrassed by it was enough to make him want to strangle him. That bastard, that hypocrite.

Taking in his child after banishing him from his own company, stealing his work, and leaving him without a way to feed that same child and her older siblings back in the 80’s? Just who did Henry think he was?! Some savior?!

“Uh… Who is this?”

His daughter looked terrified as her coworker spoke up, but her expression turned to one of horrific dread as she noticed her father’s figure lurking at the end of the other hall.

“Oh, where are my manners?” The old man chuckled, patting Michael on the shoulder, “My name is Henry Emily. It’s a pleasure to—“

Rebecca couldn’t leave fast enough, passing her father on the way and dodging his attempt to stop her. Nope. No way. Not today. Not ever. She locked herself in the back room, prepared for all hell to break lose.

“My dad’s here isn’t he?” Charlie’s spirit asked, frowning sympathetically as the woman curled up against the wall just nodded.

“Stay in here… The others and I can try to scare him out…”

[bardofsomerset]

Allison Russel at Omeara, Part Three: A Tale of Two Concerts

In part one, I discovered Allison Russell and made an effort to listen to everything she’d ever recorded. In part two, I took you on a tour through every other concert I’d ever seen, culminating with my journey to the Bath Forum and Imelda May. Now, both of those ladies finally get the concert reviews I meant to write years ago.

Would I have walked into Omeara if I hadn’t stepped into The Forum first? Maybe not. I’d kind of forgotten what live music could be when I first looked up Imelda May’s tour. If it hadn’t been in a place as familiar as Bath, if a friend I knew so well hadn’t been so enthused about coming too, if it wasn’t the artist who created a piece as important to me as Life Love Flesh Blood, I might not have gone as far as buying tickets.

The memory of that night in Bath was part of what drove me to search for Allison Russell’s UK dates. London wasn’t so close to home, this friend wasn’t one I knew as well, but I remembered how I’d felt when I heard Outside Child, and the idea that it could be elevated like that, that I could mix it with that kind of atmosphere, was irresistible.

It wasn’t until we were in The Forum, in the foyer, right next to the displayed merchandise, that the actuality of our chance to see Imelda May finally took hold. There was nothing stuffy or crowded in that space, they’d improved ventilation and air filtration to deal with the pandemic, so it was easy to taste the simmering anticipation. We waited, and we waited, with the conversation between me and him still continuing as it had for so many years, and then the woman in charge came to make sure we were ready not just for a concert, but for an experience. There were things to be distributed, things that couldn’t be found on that long spread of the merchandise table: our golden lanyards proclaiming us VIPs, and our mystery gifts hidden inside cardboard boxes. The bounce of excitement was becoming unbearable.

From the foyer into the hall and the choice of any seat we wanted. My friend, a drummer to his soul, picked the side where we’d have the best view of the drumkit, and our conversation flowed on as we waited some more. We sat, and a concert auditorium is a very different place when it’s all normal lighting rather than puddled shadows, and when instead of a crowd there isn’t enough of an audience to fill the first four rows. The instruments are on stage, but not the band, there are technical people going about doing technical things, and it’s all very much a place unfinished, like you’ve been allowed entry into somewhere you’re not supposed to see. A concert is magic, but here you could see it being built on the bones of the real.

Then the instrumentalists took their positions, and can you imagine what was happening to that simmer of anticipation now? And then there she was, except it took a minute, because she walked on like a normal human being and she dressed like a normal human being and if you hadn’t know why you were here and if she hadn’t been right at the centre of the stage, if she’d been back on those regular streets, then you probably could have gone right past Imelda May without even noticing.

Of course, she wasn’t on a regular street, she was at the heart of an auditorium, with everyone else revolving around her, and if that didn’t give you enough of a clue, well, she started to sing.

Three tracks for the soundcheck, just enough to ensure every instrument had the chance to jam, just long enough to confirm that yes, this was definitely Imelda May, because there was no power on earth that could hide that voice or make it small, just time enough to remember how much I loved this music before it stopped again, because it was only the soundcheck, not the gig. Talk about a whetted appetite. All it took was the enticement of “Sixth Sense” and the brief bounce of Johnny’s bass line.

The first words she actually spoke to us, talking like an ordinary human, weren’t about the music but about being a tourist in Bath. It seemed she’d been wandering the city too, and she’d noticed how all that Roman history was built on the memory of something Pagan. It was so delightfully unexpected. I’m always down for belittling the Romans.

I knew before the Q&A started that I wouldn’t personally be asking anything, but I was eager to hear what she had to say to everyone else. Some questions would probably be the same that you could hear in any interview, and I’d watched and read more than a few of those, but there was always a chance I’d learn something new.

For instance, the questions about influences and collaborators, which led to the fun story of how Ronnie Wood (he of Rolling Stones fame) likes to claim he discovered Imelda May when he saw her singing as a teenager:

“But Ronnie,” she told him, “You didn’t tell anyone! I still had to spend years working my way up.”

One highlight was the woman who asked how to encourage her own daughter, who was very early in her guitar playing career, to keep going in the face of inevitable challenges. The general gist of the answer was that if she was meant to be a musician, it’d happen regardless of encouragement, because:

“Music’s a bit like that romantic partner who you know is bad for you, but you just can’t let them go.”

That got some laughs, especially from my friend and not least from Imelda May’s own guitarist.

It was a good-humoured session as well as an interesting one, but it was still only a tiny part of the evening to come. Eventually, the questions ran to the natural close and we had some time to kill before the show proper, so the two of us made our way past the merchandise table, this time stopping long enough to make a choice between the many t-shirt options (I went for the A Lick and a Promise curling serpent) and, on a bit of an impulse, acquiring the tea towel inscribed with the verses of “Home”, probably because the moment I reread it I wanted to own it again, in as many forms as possible:

“It’s choosing kindness over being right.”

That line hits me every time.

Then we headed to the café and, guess what? We talked some more. And some more. We didn’t go too far, because it wasn’t that long until the music started officially, but our conversation spans every corner of the multiverse.

*

This time, when we stepped back into the auditorium, it was less half-finished and more on edge. You could feel it. A little keyboard had settled itself in the middle of the stage ready for the supporting act. I’d never heard of Rachel Sage before Imelda May announced she’d be accompanying her on tour, but I’d taken a peek at YouTube to give me a little idea what to expect. It was a colourful and fun setup, the kind that’s full of flowers, and the music was just as bright. I don’t understand the people who don’t show up until the main event when they’ve paid for the whole thing, because getting to see someone new (especially someone so clearly recommended by the artist you already like) is always exciting.

We only spent half an hour with her, then it was time for another breather. Another moment for even more anticipation to build. Back to the auditorium as the aisles filled with more and more people and the atmosphere thickened. When the lights changed, the half-empty, half-finished space that we’d seen before vanished completely. We were somewhere new. That building, nearly 90 years old, was reborn yet again, into something ancient and immediate all at once.

This time she didn’t just walk onto stage like an ordinary human. She emerged like a goddess summoned, like some divine figure of Irish mythology: the Morrigan in her crow form with black wings outstretched, Bridget the goddess of poets in full voice. She spoke before she sang, before she even appeared, the opening of a story, the drawing in of the crowd:

“It’s eleven past the hour.”

This wasn’t just a concert, it was a work of art. The lighting, the smoke, the visualisations on the screen at the back, the poetry interspersing the songs. Her voice was like music even when she spoke, when it poured over verses like “Home”, when curled it into melody as a whisper that you hang onto with every breath and when it punched into rhythm like a dance in a thunderstorm.

Before the concert had begun, probably months earlier, Imelda May had talked on Twitter and Facebook about planning the setlist for this particular tour. She’d told us which of the old songs she’d play: “Mayhem” and Johnny and “Big Bad Handsome Man”, setting realistic expectations for those of us who might have been wishing for more of the classics, but my big question was how much of Life Love Flesh Blood would be made manifest?

More than any of the older albums, probably, as it was part of the new era, but not as much as 11 Past the Hour. The most recent songs were clearly going to the focus. My friend was particularly hopeful that he’d get to hear “Breathe”. He talked about the arrangement in all its interesting details and debated how she’d transform it to fit the confines of the tour stage, highlighting the things I’d never have thought to notice. My ears have always been much less attuned to the technicalities of music than him.

I didn’t want to anticipate too much. I didn’t want to get excited about songs that then didn’t appear, and I was pretty sure that she could just sing her way through a shopping list and I’d be happy to hear it. How much of Life Love Flesh Blood could fit into one gig anyway?

The likely suspects seemed to be “Black Tears”, “Call Me” and “Human”. They were the bigger hits, the most recognisable tunes. I’d already decided most people probably didn’t love “When It’s My Time” as much as me and therefore it might not be a priority. With absolutely no expectations about which songs were going to appear, every time one I particularly liked showed up, it meant extra excitement. I successfully avoided disappointing myself.

And so Imelda May wove her spell in so many different songs, and we the enchanted masses followed, through love and loss and laughter in a dozen shapes, recolouring the world every time. All those words that already meant so much to me, like the chorus of “Human”, had an intensity like never before. The sounds that had already poured through my blood in “Black Tears”, in both voice and melody, reverberated anew. As for that new album, for 11 Past the Hour which didn’t yet have the same sentimental value, it crystalised into life, even as its mysteries opened ever deeper.

Then came the moment my friend had been waiting for:

“A lot of my songs are about personal experiences. This one is about pretending I’m a tree.”

My friend grinned and I grinned for him. What I was saying earlier, about how some songs click more naturally than others? For 11 Past the Hour, for me, that had been the title song, and “Made to Love” (I’d seen that one on the telly, which always helps), and “Diamonds”. “Breathe” had taken me a little longer, and it was hearing it in that auditorium that made it grow on me (pardon the pun). For my friend, with his musical ears, it was the other way round, and the live version was part of the point.

There was this one woman in the audience, she had a different purpose. Dancing was the reason she was there. She was just looking for the excuse, and the moment the tempo crept up by a few beats, she was down the row and out into the aisle, moving like this evening was everything her body had been waiting for and like freedom was the sound of a band.

She was the first but no, of course she wasn’t the only. There must be very few people alive who can hold in stillness when “Mayhem” plays. In the latter half of the evening, when the older songs and the more rhythmic of the new were all stacked together, it was like someone had called us all to rise, like one of those old fairy tales where a whole town is enchanted in their souls and in their feet, like the red shoes had been gifted to every one of us so we could stand on the fire.

I didn’t step into the open, I wasn’t one of the many who filled the space in front of the stage with their movement and their energy and their celebration, but even from my seat I had to rise and release some of what I felt surging through me. As I said to my friend, if nothing else, my view of the musicians was hindered by all the people now standing above me, but this was about much more than practical considerations. Imelda May might have changed her hair since the rockabilly days, but that look in her eye was inescapable. It wasn’t one you could ignore. You weren’t allowed to be still when that music roared.

There was one moment, not long after the standing, when I let myself anticipate a specific song, because I’d been waiting all evening for the bodhrán to reappear. I’d seen it in the soundcheck, so I knew it was coming. Its arrival could only mean one thing. This time, “Johnny’s Got a Boom Boom” didn’t just bounce off my bones, it thumped inside them, vibrating in my toes and atop the crown of my head and through every inch of flesh and sinew in between.

It also went to show that the old and the new could partner each other; that energy could happily zip and zap between the two without stuttering. “Should Have Been You” and “Made to Love” also came in that latter half of the show with all their triumph and defiance, and they were just as good for sparking feet and snapping hands as any of those rockabilly tracks. When they hit the air the whole room burst.

You can’t leave a concert on that sort of note, with everyone still crackling. Sheer emotion just explodes out of your skin. Like when you’re exercising, so hard and intense, but you need to gradually reign it in before you can go home. Things started to slow again, not losing energy but redirecting it, narrowing the feeling back into the line of a melody.

She’d told us she didn’t often do covers. Now, I’d heard her smashing “Tainted Love”, originally by Gloria Jones but perhaps more familiar by Soft Cell, so I knew that not often didn’t mean impossible. I knew that that she could fill an old song just as well as anyone who’d previously given it voice. I was also aware that the “Tainted Love” energy was just the sort of thing that could thunder through you like her rockabilly tunes, perfect for the rhythm and the dance.

But this was just a couple of months after Meat Loaf died, that master of the Gothic novel poured into music, singer of romance and horror in equal measure. She remembered him in her words, how they’d worked together and how he’d been everything she could have expected or hoped, the affection clear, and then her tribute to him soared into a song that came straight from his voice:

(This isn’t Bath, but it’s from the same tour so a similar staging.)

This was an evening about poetry, as much as it was any one thing, but not every artist would be willing to stop completely to read you a verse when you were there for a song. Nevertheless, there was one more chance to share in the beauty of “Home”. As much as I loved reading it on the page (or the tea towel), nothing could quite compare to when she delivered it in her own rhythms, the lyricism pouring through her voice.

There was also, by my reckoning, at least one song from 11 Past the Hour that I couldn’t imagine her leaving out of the setlist, but we all had yet to hear. The perfect, gleaming, grounded form of “Diamonds” would soon swell through the room and stay flowing with us as we embarked on the journey home, back to the train and the conversation, still carrying the touch of that night.

*

One major concert in a year should have been enough, right? Probably, but here I am, stepping into Omeara.

It’s like descending into a cave, into a vault, into the belly of a church and isn’t that appropriate? A sacred space, a place of communion? Isn’t that what we’re coming to experience? There must be a reason so many concert halls are houses of prayer.

The coolness, the murmur of voices, the anticipation. The stage, full of instruments but not a musician in sight. Walking in the spaces between the audience because there are no seats here. People wait, and they talk, and we circle them. Maybe it will be too crowded later, but for now it’s perfectly balanced. It’s simple to claim a spot, near the front but not too close, edging to the side so the wall is there for leaning. Now there’s finally time to talk properly, about books and music and all the other things we enjoy. It’s not a thirty-year conversation like with my other friend, I’m only approaching the mark of my first decade knowing her, but sometimes it seems so easy it could have been just as long.

There’s still a certain amount of pressure, because I’m very aware she’s only here because of me. It seems very important that she has a good time. And that isn’t the only expectation. So, you know how when you find a new favourite song, you listen and listen until the memory of it is a constant twist in your ear, until you’re sure you’ve shaken free all of its surprises and it becomes just as routine as your own name? I didn’t do that with “Nightflyer.”

No, what I did was I rationed it. After originally gobbling it all up, I carefully limited myself to one play at a time, no back-to-back relistens, and I spread those single plays out days, even weeks apart. Yes, I wanted to know the song, but even more I wanted to preserve that feeling from when it caught me the first time, that breathless, captivating astonishment. I didn’t want to risk it becoming tired, dull in its familiarity. After I’d purchased the concert tickets, I expanded that principle to the whole Outside Child album (not Our Native Daughters, or Birds of Chicago, or Po’ Girl. That was making life far too difficult). I haven’t listened to a note for months.

Has it been worth it?

When the moment comes for the lights to curl away and the first note to fall, it’s not Allison Russell. It’s time to be introduced to another voice, one with a colourful dress and a melodic guitar, the supporting artist: Lady Nade (as in lemonade, as she helpfully tells us in that Bristol accent that sounds like home). I had looked her up when I’d seen her name on the Omeara website, so I already know to expect a delightful sound. I’m also a little predisposed to like her because of Bristol. She talks about herself a little between songs, the kind of entertaining stories that make everything more human. They’re also helpful if you want to appreciate the lyrics even more (don’t betray your girlfriend or your best friend if she’s a songwriter. You’ll find yourself immortalised in all the wrong ways).

Of course, she’s the supporting artist, so her section of the evening is sweet but short. I could listen to more, but I’m also absolutely desperate for what comes next. The room settles back to murmuring voices, more people shuffling into the gaps of what until then was a reasonably spread-out audience. More fool them for missing Lady Nade. That enclosed chamber never reaches the point where I feel too crowded, even when the watchers fill it wall-to-wall, and that’s another of my worries brushed away.

“Have you seen Allison Russell before?” asks a woman on the other side of me, who isn’t my friend. It’s a bit of a startling moment, to say the least. I wouldn’t normally pursue a conversation with a stranger, but we do obviously have at least one interest in common.

“No,” I tell her. “I didn’t even realise she existed until earlier this year. Though I am a bit ahead of my friend. She’s only here because I needed somewhere to stay tonight, and she lives in London.”

We all laugh. It turns out this other woman had been meant to come and see this gig before the pandemic, then, well…yeah. Lockdown. In some ways, it’s a bit of a relief that earlier show hadn’t happened, because a couple of years, or even a few months earlier, I wouldn’t even have known that Allison Russell existed. Yet another way in which the universe seems to be aligning in an unusually friendly manner.

It turns out the woman’s story is similar to mine. She’d heard Allison Russell sing once on the radio and that was that. She had to immediately stop, then go away and listen to everything else she could find. It seems all three of us are on a voyage of discovery.

And now it’s finally time for the main event. The lights darken their warning. The conversations cease. On walks the woman we’re waiting to see, wrapped in silver and sparkles that brighten every reflection, and the stillness of the stage is alive.

“Our circle is unbroken. Our circle is whole. None above, none below, all of us equal under the listening sky.”

We all wait, breathless, until the slow, simple plucking of “Little Rebirth” begins with such simplicity. Until it stops, and her voice pours in with so much richness and depth. Until the whole sound rolls around that cavern, reverberating off those walls and plunging through our skin. We’re hypnotised, mesmerised, and that’s the place we stay, long past the end of the evening.

The first notes are strange to me. I said before, on a new album your ears always embrace some unexpected melodies before others, for reasons you might never fully understand. “Little Rebirth” had never been one of the tracks that just clicked. Not until that moment. “Little Rebirth”. “Poison Arrow”. “Joyful Motherfuckers” (I admit, that one, I was probably being a bit prudish about the title); I didn’t understand any of them properly in my own room. Now, in this space, I can feel the scope of them, and I revel every chord.

“Little Rebirth” makes sense as an opener because it is about an awakening. For a world that hasn’t long come out of lockdown, for a people who have been denied live music and its touch for too long, that perhaps represents more than at any other time. And it means we can all change and rebuild together as we listen, just as the song invites. Remember, the lyrics say, “We’re all transforming”, not just the singer. It’s the “bonds of our works”, when “our” is every person in this world, and the Earth herself.

We reach “The Runner”, where Allison Russell says, far more succinctly than me (everyone’s more succinct than me), exactly what I’ve been trying to explain for all these thousands of words: the effect music can have when it hits you at exactly the right time, in exactly the right place. It’s the moment you’re not alone anymore, and the world is somewhere new, and everything that used to trouble you turns into freedom. It’s the feeling of being in Omeara on this night.

Allison Russell also explains “Poison Arrow” as she introduces it, perhaps realising that its tone of welcoming celebration may seem counterintuitive next to that title. It makes sense once she gives it voice. It becomes clearer still in the soothing repetition of that chorus. You taste the poison, and take its strength, and move beyond it, to the place where all the loneliness and the fear and the pain flow away. You heal.

Then “Joyful Motherfuckers”, with the most jarring of titles, a rather vehement statement compared to some of the metaphors elsewhere on the album. It comes towards the end of the show, which also makes sense as a placement, because after Allison Russell spends an hour showing us the love in her heart, asking us to do the same seems a logical next step. She calls out and we respond, now part of her circle. She brings sunlight to our evening, and the vibrancy of a garden to the city’s narrowest streets. It’s a statement of how radical love can be.

There are some moments here that remind me of Imelda May. Those lines of poetry before the songs begin, the lyrics of love in the dark times, the lesson that happiness isn’t something that just happens but a choice that we make. Both artists make a comment about not really doing covers just before doing exceptional covers.

“We don’t really do covers,” says Allison Russell

By Your Side or Landslide? I barely have time to wonder.

“But when we do, we tend to do Sade.”

Every time I think I can’t be more excited, that I can’t enjoy the evening more, something else happens. “By Your Side” is one of the songs I hadn’t dared to hope would be on the setlist, because it wasn’t part of Outside Child. Spine-tingling on YouTube, here it penetrates even deeper under my skin.

On top of “By Your Side”, with its intensity so much greater in person, we have the luxury of hearing the two Native Daughters tracks that are mostly clearly Allison Russell’s: “Quasheba, Quasheba” and “You’re Not Alone”. They’re the bookends to Outside Child’s narrative, from turning back to the ancestors to gazing forwards at the next generation. Of them all, the performance of “Quasheba, Quasheba” is even more than I could have imagined.

What every single song has in common that night? A captive audience, singing and bobbing along when appropriate, transfixed at other times. And Allison Russell, there at the centre of is all, the linchpin for everyone: the band, the audience, quite possibly people walking past in the street outside who don’t realise what’s in the air around that building but can feel it anyway, Allison Russell, the guide from whom every single one of us takes our cue.

If you read any review of Allison Russell, whether of her recorded music or her live performances, the one word that you are almost guaranteed to hear is joy. Allison Russell is the human embodiment of joy, and when that smile and that voice are all around you, you can’t help but rise with it. One day, she’s probably going to outright levitate off the stage and when that happens, we won’t even blink. We’ll probably all just follow her up to wherever she takes us next.

Even those of you who are frequent listeners to the banjo in all its forms probably don’t think of it as a rock instrument, but the way she moves when she’s holding it is like she’s the lead guitarist in some raucous band. When she’s face to face with Mandy Fer, the actual guitarist, you can see the two of them pulling energy from each other, magnifying each other, until the explosion of sound rushes around them and hits every other person in the room.

The woman next to me, my new friend, makes a soft-voiced comment that she doesn’t think she could do those deep knee bends as part of her regular day, let alone whilst trying to play the banjo. We agree. I ask the friend I’ve brought with me, a clarinet player herself in another life, whether she’d ever tried to play the clarinet whilst still having a banjo hanging around her neck. The answer, you may be unsurprised to hear, is no. A clarinet on its own is more than trouble enough. There’s something very special going on here.

Special not just because of the music. With the exception of Tony Bennett and Willard White, every concert I’ve seen has involved a little bit of talk between the tracks, those moments where you and the artist connect in a very different way. Allison Russell speaks about the backstory, of course, because Outside Child is very much a narrative, and the horror and the hope are a huge part of what makes it distinct. She also expresses her delight to see us:

“You sold out! On a Wednesday! In a pandemic!”

Like it’s the most delightful surprise. Like her getting to be here with us is even more of a privilege than us being there with her.

She introduces the band, Mandy Fer who I recognise from some of the videos I’ve watched, Elena Canlas and (I think, based on my desperate internet search for viola players associated with Allison Russell) Nikki Shorts, who I do not.

Every time I’ve seen a clip of Allison Russell live, the line of musicians with her changes, twisting out new turns in every arrangement. I don’t realise at first that this particular iteration involves a viola player who’d only been called in a few days before. You’d never guess from the sound she makes. I have to laugh a bit when Allison tells us that she wouldn’t dream of telling the band what to play, that each of them is great enough in their own right that she has complete trust in their harmonies. I suppose you can do that when you have a “circle of goddesses”, as she likes to describe them, in unlimited supply.

Not only does she spend as much time telling us to go and look up her band’s other projects as she does promoting her own work, also spends a significant number of minutes pushing us to go and listen to Leyla McCalla’s latest album, Breaking the Thermometer. She’s right, of course, as I find out when I go home and do as I was told, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any singer so enthusiastic about telling you to go and listen to other people.

I’m still keeping track of the songs as best as I can, trying to estimate what’s still to come without getting my hopes up. We haven’t heard “Montreal” or “The Hunters” and that’s fine, but we also haven’t heard “Nightflyer”, and I’m pretty certain she won’t miss that one from the set list.

Every time I listen to “Nightflyer”, the song I know meets one I’ve never heard before. Every reconstitution of the band means an arrangement remade, a slight shift in emphasis. Every tweak of a phrase from Allison Russell finds another corner of the song, and a new shade of her voice with it.

I can’t emphasise this enough to you, you need to play the whole album through, again and again, not just “Nightflyer”, and you need to watch live performances, as many of them as you can, on YouTube if you can’t make it to a venue, because you need to hear every nook and cranny her melody, and absorb what that does to the shaping of her story. There are more sides to it than you can imagine, especially not with only one listen.

Now though, it’s not about the rest of the album. All I’m waiting for is “Nightflyer”, just one time. It’s going to be the encore, isn’t it? We’re going to finish on the highest of highs.

“This record has taken us everywhere,” she says, “It’s taken us to the Junos, and the Grammys…Sing along if you know it. If you don’t know it, sing along anyway!”

We all laugh. We all know what’s coming and yes, we all sing along. Every member of the band, Lady Nade stepping back to the stage, Allison Russell herself, plus every member of the audience, together. Like that first time hearing “Willow”, really hearing it for the first time, all the way back in 2005, when the echoes of other people’s voices turned it into something it had never been before, when a room full of strangers became a single feeling that expanded to fill the world, when there was nothing more than those living minutes, nothing before or after, and when nothing else could matter; that’s what it is to hear “Nightflyer” in the belly of Omeara.

I look at my friend and she’s singing as enthusiastically as if she’s known the song forever, as though this isn’t something I’d pulled her into just weeks ago. I look at the woman I met just a few hours before and see the smile in every note she voices. I look around, turning my head to that entire congregation, and every single one of them is here, right here, and we’re all as one. Time disappears. It’s hard to believe that the music ever finally stills, that the stage empties as the musicians leave and we we’re left in the cool and the quiet again. The song is still in our throats.

I listened to this radio program, once. I was out in Oman with my parents as we drove the long, dusty road from Thumrait to Salalah. It was an English-language program by an Arab woman and she was explaining, for the benefit of her other Arab listeners, the concept of the “English understatement.” You know what she means: when “not great” translates to “kind of awful”, when you say something’s “not bad” to express that you find it brilliant, when “pretty good, actually,” means it’s the best thing you’ve ever heard. I’d never really thought of it as a thing, let alone something that would need clarifying for people who weren’t English, but it’s stuck with me for years.

Anyway, I say all this to explain the rationale for my first comment at the end of the show, as the musicians finally depart but the sound they played still echoes, when every member of that audience still has that energy radiating from their skin. I look back to my friend, anxious to know if dragging her here was worth it, and I know the answer as soon as I see her face. Still, I think I’d better check:

“She’s pretty good, isn’t she?”

“She’s incredible!”

My friend had apparently missed the lesson on English understatement.

Some advice, for the non-musicians among you who like to listen to live music. Take someone who knows what they’re doing as your guest whenever you go to a concert. They’ll pick out the things that you don’t notice, explain why certain arrangements are particularly interesting (my other friend dissecting “Breathe” in the audience of Imelda May), point out that there’s not actually a drummer – ok, I probably should have been able to notice that a standard instrument was outright missing – as this friend does on the way out of Omeara, expressing her admiration for that unusual construction, observing all the little percussive moments that came from the keys instead.

We manage to shuffle our way as far as the lobby, where the tables are out and the merch calls incessantly. It must know that the concert has left us vulnerable. I don’t actually have a physical copy of Outside Child yet, so that’s an easy enough decision to make. It’s the second question that needs a little more thought.

“Do I want a t-shirt?” I ask my friend.

It turns out my friend knows the answer better than me:

“You do want a t-shirt, it’s whether you’re going to buy it,” she says as she picks up her own copy of Outside Child.

Fair enough, I agree. I buy one. Then I turn to Lady Nade’s side of the table, where I have to choose between multiple CDs. That’s a bit much. I eventually decide on the most recent one. She’s handling the sales herself, and signing as she goes, so that’s an added bonus. It’s one of those moments again when I find myself explaining my name, something I can do by now almost by rote.

It seems that might be the end of everything, as we finally follow the pathway out into the crackle of a London night.

Well, apart from the fact that right next to the main doors is a stage door, and Allison Russell is standing right there. Just standing there, in her silver and sparkles like she’s still on the stage, but talking to everyone who goes by and letting them take pictures with her, like there’s no barrier between performer and audience. We end up in the queue without even thinking about it.

The trouble with this particular scenario is that if I’m a little bit awkward talking to people I know, I’m pretty much incapable of speech when meeting someone new. My friend takes a picture of me standing next to Allison Russell, but she also has to cover most of the conversation. She tells how she likes to use a cuddly toy to hide her face in family photos, and the story of the imaginary pet spider she had as a kid. That’s a fun listen while my tongue’s still all twisted and I make absolutely no contribution whatsoever.

Then the evening really does come to an end. Back to the tube, back to her flat, but the night still alive and my brain doing what it always does when it’s feeling a lot of things all at once. Balancing on the edge of a new set of words and turning those words into sentences and the sentences into this. Spending far too long writing it down until what’s on the page sounds approximately like what I felt in my head, and then leaving it here for you.

The end of an evening, maybe, but not the end of the story.

[anitabyars]

The One by Marni Mann is now live!

USA Today best-selling author Marni Mann brings an angsty, tortured hero, billionaire romance to the sizzling conclusion of the Spade Hotel Series.

They call me insensitive.

They call me uncaring.

I'm a raging alphahole ninety-nine percent of the time.

But no one really knows Rhett Cole at all.

Memories are my currency.

Regret is my drink of choice.

I’m not the guy who didn’t care.

I’m the guy who only cared about her.

Lainey Taylor.

My reason.

My why.

My one.

The woman I’ve been in love with since my freshman year of high school.

A love so strong that I had her name inked on my body when I was eighteen.

She was my fairy tale.

My happily ever after.

Until I ruined … everything.

Until she looked me in the face and told me she never wanted to see me again.

That’s the day my life lost all meaning.

Fifteen years later, she’s back, and my dead heart begins to beat again.

Every story has a villain.

I’ve held that title for too long.

When the truth is revealed …

Will I win back the one?

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

https://geni.us/TheOneSH

Audio Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor & Connor Crais

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3y28jp2

Meet Marni

USA Today best-selling author Marni Mann knew she was going to be a writer since middle school. While other girls her age were daydreaming about teenage pop stars, Marni was fantasizing about penning her first novel. She crafts sexy, titillating stories that weave together her love of darkness, mystery, passion, and human emotions. A New Englander at heart, she now lives with her husband in Sarasota, Florida. When she’s not nose deep in her laptop, working on her next novel, she’s scouring for chocolate, sipping wine, traveling, boating, or devouring fabulous books. Want to get in touch?

Connect with Marni

Facebook: http://bit.ly/MarniMannFB

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1597153177180837/

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My Review

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading the Spade Hotel series, I’ve always been curious about what made Rhett Cole so perpetually grumpy and unpleasant to everyone around him. I’ve been eagerly waiting to read this book, and it totally lived up to my expectations! I was obsessed, captivated from the very first page and couldn’t put it down until the very end.

This is Rhett Cole and Lainey Taylor’s story, and I didn’t want it to come to an end!

Rhett and Lainey have never fully moved on from their past, both have only just been barely surviving for the past fifteen years. But when she returns home, it’s time for Rhett to finally tell her the truth.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster that takes you on a journey through time. The characters are so well-written that you’ll find yourself rooting for them. It’s a mix of heartbreak and happiness, with a whole lot of angst, fun, passion, memories, tragedy, and love. You’ll be hooked from the very first page and won’t want to put it down until the very last word. Trust me, you’ll be craving more even after you finish!

I received an early copy and this is my honest review.

[stereogeekspodcast]

[Transcript] Season 5, Episode 1. Deadpool & Wolverine - Spoiler Review

The Stereo Geeks are back with Season 5. And we've got a big review this time: Deadpool & Wolverine. Ron and Mon had mixed feelings about the film. There's a lot of fun to be had but this film isn't nearly as good as it could have been.

In this spoiler-filled episode, we discuss the moments we enjoyed, areas where the film could have been improved and what we think this film means for the future of the MCU.

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Ron: Hello and welcome to Season 5 of Stereo Geeks. We’re kicking off this season with one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year: Deadpool & Wolverine. I’m Ron.

Mon: And I’m Mon.

Mon: For our review of Deadpool & Wolverine, we’re going to start with a non-spoiler review and then move into spoilers. We’ll let you know when the spoilers are coming. 

Ron: Shall we open with our anticipation levels for this film? I was filled with trepidation.

Mon: I was stoked. I mean, I knew what I was getting into — R-rated, lowbrow humour, a lot of gore, generally silly stuff, but I guess I was really missing seeing a Marvel movie on the big screen for this long, so I was excited!

Ron: I’ve found that over the last few years, I just don’t have the stomach for certain kinds of humour. I will turn it off. I found the humour in Deadpool 2 so cringe and the jokes dragged on for so long, it was honestly frustrating. I was concerned that this film would do the same, hence the trepidation.

Mon: I feel you. Deadpool 2 was bad. It was dull and boring, and the humour didn’t work. So, that was a concern going into Deadpool & Wolverine. Also, Ryan Reynolds now has so much clout that I had a feeling it would impact the quality of the end product. 

Ron: True. Reynolds does get in his own way. Having said that! I really, really, really, really wanted to see Wolverine. Especially in that gorgeous yellow suit. I rewatched all the X-Men films last year, except the Deadpool films, and I finally saw the appeal of Wolverine. Wolvie starts off as this gruff man with no interest in connections, and he slowly transforms into a man who cares too much—about Jean, Storm, Charles, Rogue, even Scott in some way. I don’t think I appreciated that before because I was more interested in everyone else but Wolverine. But yes, by the time I finished Logan, I was a certified fan and completely in my feels. The thought of seeing Wolverine again after so many years, I honestly couldn’t wait.

Mon: I really should have re-watched the X-Men films, because I think the moment’s gone now, especially with X-Men ‘97 Season 1 stealing my heart. I was interested in seeing Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine, for sure — maybe not as excited as you though.

Ron: Right. I don’t think anything X-Men-related has captivated us like X-Men ‘97 has. But did Deadpool & Wolverine meet your expectations, if not your hopes?

Mon: Yes and no. As I said, I knew I was going into an irreverent film with lots of bawdy humour and violent action. That’s what we got. But I expected to bawl my eyes out at the sight of any X-Men, and that didn’t happen. That’s on me, why did I think a Deadpool film would make me cry?

Ron: Ohhhh. I didn’t expect that at all so I saved myself that disappointment. It wasn’t like watching Days of Future Past where I was losing my mind every other second. It didn’t help that I found the first half of this film so very slow. It dragged, honestly. There were so many scenes that felt overlong—the same problem that I had with the second film! The whole focus of this film was to get to Wolverine but it took so long to get there. The moment Wolverine appeared, the dynamic of the film changed. There was an energy to it and Deadpool finally had someone to riff off of who wasn’t going to take his nonsense.

Mon: I’m sure there was more improv in this film than they’re letting on, because my word, every joke started off ok and then was dragged to death, which not only kills the humour, but brought the pace to a stuttering halt.

Ron: Agreed. At numerous points, I was like, please just get on with it. Or, we get it, you’re trying to make this joke. There’s repetition for humour, and there’s repetition because you’ve run out of ideas. This film thought it was doing the first, but kept doing the latter.

Mon: Any momentum the action scenes gave us just disappeared because of the extended stand-up routines interrupting them. And like, the action here is brilliant! It’s some of the best we’ve seen in the MCU in a long time. Slick and sexy — great camera angles, perfectly edited, and they conveyed a lot about the characters’ personalities despite essentially being a gore fest. 

Ron: The action was amazing in this film. It starts off with a huge action scene. I know Deadpool 1 did that, and really set the tone for that film. I can’t, for the life of me, remember if the second film did the same. Also, Deadpool dancing during the opening fight scene made me very happy. I love dancing and somehow seeing a superhero dance warmed my heart.

Mon: I love the opening credits fight scene. It’s definitely a thing in the trilogy, but this one looked particularly fantastic. And Deadpool’s suit — chef’s kiss to the design team!

Ron: Good point. I’m so in love with Wolvie’s suit, I didn’t even think to mention that Deadpool’s suit looks stunning.

Ron: One more thing to add about the opening sequence. Do we all remember the vitriol about She-Hulk dancing? Do you recall people responding, saying if Deadpool was doing this, people would be claiming it as the best thing since sliced bread? That’s exactly what’s happening! People are loving Deadpool dancing. I want to give Marvel credit and believe that they added it in just to highlight this dichotomy in reactions but I don’t think that’s what’s happened. But the sexism amongst fans is just infuriating.

Mon: She-Hulk does everything that Deadpool does but without the gore. But because she’s a female character who was introduced later in the franchise, she is criticized instead of lauded. It’s sexism and misogyny plain and simple. Fact is, She-Hulk broke the fourth wall in comics before Deadpool was even a thing. It doesn’t help that she was highly sexualized — because dudes created her — so she didn’t find her audience properly till later on.  

Ron: True. True. We’ve probably got to mention that Deadpool & Wolverine is extremely gory. Like, whoa, from the opening scene, it’s just blood and guts everywhere. 

Mon: Too much gore. 

Ron: Did the gore bother you?

Mon: Uh… not to the extent that I had to look away. Because I was expecting it. I get gratuitous violence is the thing that Deadpool fans are looking for, but I wouldn’t have minded them toning it down a tad bit. 

Ron: Right. I expected it to be much worse than it turned out to be. I tell ya, some of the preview trailers before the movie started grossing me out, which is probably why Deadpool & Wolverine didn’t bother me. 

Mon: Ah! You were inured to the actual film by then, huh?

Ron: You could say that! Also, I’ve spent this year watching stuff like Shogun; I should be used to gory scenes by now.

Mon: You know what actually annoyed me? The dick jokes. Ufff… that was really too much. Like, get over it, man! Enough with the butt shots and the butt slapping, etc. Who in this film wasn’t making some weird joke? At least, they could have varied the types of jokes. You can tell that 5 dudes wrote this film. There are a lot of in-jokes and references, but other than that, it’s a 12-year-old boy’s idea of being edgy. 

Ron: I know we’re expecting Deadpool to be foul-mouthed, but this movie pushed the limits for me.

Ron: But speaking of dick jokes, this film leans into homoeroticism. Lots of scenes with Deadpool and Wolverine physically close together. Male and female characters show romantic interest in both Deadpool and Wolverine. What did you think about that?

Mon: I clean forgot about the homoeroticism. It’s again, very much in the vein of hint-hint-wink-wink, we’re being naughty because we can, and very little to do with actually appealing to queer audiences. 

Ron: Yes. Despite Deadpool being hailed as a pansexual character, he’s really not been great representation for the queer community.

Mon: Exactly. So, what did you really like about this film? 

Ron: Wolverine. I’m very distracted by his presence. But if I look past Wolverine I think I liked that this movie reiterates that people can be better than their worst day. It’s the one bad day idea from Batman, isn’t it? Joker has one really bad day and becomes a villain. Bruce Wayne has one bad day and he becomes Gotham’s hero. It’s similar here. Wolvie had a bad day and made a terrible decision but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a hero. It’s about the choice to do good.

Mon: Yeah. I really liked the theme of the story — it’s not about what a hero is or wants, but why a hero is. I loved that. It gave Deadpool a roundedness that I didn’t know I wanted to see. I also loved how the film uses the ending of Logan as a foundation for telling the story, as well as saying goodbye to pre-/non-Disney Marvel films.

Ron: I realise I wasn’t concentrating on Deadpool at all. I’m going to have to go with your summation. 

Mon: I really loved Hugh Jackman stepping into the role of Wolverine like he’d never left. He loves this character and we love him playing Logan. I did feel he wasn’t moving as well as before, which is expected since he’s a lot older, but man, the pathos, the burden, the complicated tragedy of being Wolverine in any world, but especially his world, it all came across with little to no context. The writing and acting shine when it’s centred on Wolvie. 

Ron: Not moving as well? What? He was great. He looked great. He fought well. I know he’s been working out like a mad man. And he’s going through a divorce. None of that came across. He was great! The lovable grumpus to Deadpool’s sometimes annoying goofiness. Standard roadtrip fare except with spandex. 

Mon: There were definitely one or two scenes where Jackman wasn’t moving that well so we can agree to disagree. My last thought on this is — it takes a lot to keep a straight face and look grumpy when you’re in a goofy movie with a goofy co-star, and Hugh is so dang good at doing that in this film. 

Mon: Before we start on spoilers, do you have a one-line review that audiences should consider before heading into this film? 

Ron: Go for Wolverine, patiently wait for Wolverine, enjoy watching Wolverine.

Mon: For me, I felt like there was a perfect film about what makes a hero hiding beneath the surface of Deadpool & Wolverine, one that got drowned out by the terrible quip-fest created by the egos involved. 

Ron: Wow, we went for completely different vibes with our one-line reviews.

Ron: Anyway. Let’s move into the spoiler section of this review! If you haven’t seen the film yet, please watch it now because we will spoil everything!

Mon: Deadpool & Wolverine is about Deadpool trying to save his world from temporal annihilation and he needs to find Wolverine, any Wolverine, to ensure his world’s survival.

Ron: Please explain to me why we’re following Deadpool from Earth 10005? There’s no Deadpool on Earth 616? And who is his Wolverine? Not the one from Logan, right? I got confused because I thought the TVA was after Deadpool because he went back in time to change his past and save Vanessa, played by Morena Baccarin in a tiny, thankless role again. But that’s not why the TVA wants Deadpool; it’s so that he can save the anchor person, a new concept introduced in this film.

Mon: Ok, so it seems that the Fox X-Men franchise (and the rest of the 20th Century Fox superhero movies) are set in Earth-10005. Hence, Deadpool is from that universe. Logan is also set in that universe, so Deadpool’s universe is disappearing because of Wolvie’s sacrifice. But, Mr. Paradox, played by Matthew Macfadyen, wants to speed up the destruction of Earth-10005 and hence he brings in Deadpool. 

Mon: There’s understandable confusion about where Deadpool is from because early on in the movie he’s on Earth-616, talking to Happy Hogan about joining the Avengers. It seems like he used Cable’s time-traveling device to get to the Sacred Timeline. Time travel and dimension-hopping aren’t one and the same, and I don’t remember exactly what rules the previous film established about the device, but we do know that Deadpool came to our Earth, in the past, and shot Ryan Reynolds in the head so he wouldn’t make Green Lantern — so we know he can dimension hop. Now, how he knew about 616 and the Avengers, I don’t know. This is more a nod to Deadpool idolizing Steve Rogers in the comics than a fleshed out story idea. 

Ron: Thanks for the explanation! But I am confused about one other thing. Deadpool and Wolverine get sent to the Void by Mr Paradox, who uses a time stick to disintegrate them. We’d been to the Void before, in Loki Season 1.

Mon: Yeah, that’s odd for me too. Because, wouldn’t that mean a lot of dead people in the Loki show are actually alive and wandering the Void aimlessly? 

Ron: Exactly. And why are so many mutants there? Cassandra Nova apparently was kept there since childhood, but Psylocke, Toad, Deathstryke, Sabretooth? What did mutants do to deserve this?

Mon: Variants, mate. Notice how most of these mutants/Morlocks don’t look like the ones we’ve met in the films before. 

Mon: There are some aberrations in the mutants, obviously, like Dafne Keen’s Laura, Aaron Stanford’s Pyro and Tyler Mane’s Sabretooth. 

Ron: Yes, exactly! That’s what confused me. I was also wondering about Johnny Storm. He mentions that Reed had a theory about the Void, so did the 2005 cast get yeeted to the void when Fan4stic came out?

Mon: I didn’t think of that, but that makes so much sense. 

Mon: Essentially, the creative team are telling us that these people, especially the ones we recognize, are part of worlds that no longer exist — because the Fox era has now ended. That’s also the same for the unproduced and finally cancelled Gambit film, so we see Channing Tatum here, and the wish fulfillment one like the Cavrilline with Henry Cavill. It’s all symbolic, mate. 

Ron: Okay, that makes so much more sense now. I couldn’t figure out why these characters had been banished to the Void. Please explain the Cavillrine to me. What the hell is this?

Mon: So, the Cavillrine — you know how the internet latches on to good-looking white guys who they feel have been hard done by? Well, Henry Cavill is one such guy. Look, he’s been through the wringer with Warner Bros. He was Superman in some of the worst Superman films out there. Then the whole Snyderverse nonsense that heralded the end of the DCU. But then he showed up in Black Adam and it seemed like he was back. Except, he wasn’t. It must have been pretty humiliating for him to announce his return as Superman, only for the rug to be pulled from beneath him. Sure enough, the moment the DC door closed on him, the internet fancast Cavill as every single superhero you could think of — one that caught some steam was Henry as Wolverine. Till this movie, I couldn’t see it, but you know what, Henry looked kinda cool as Wolverine here. But it only works as a two-second gimmick, I don’t think he could carry a franchise as Wolvie. 

Mon: Did you figure out who it was before he turned? I knew it wasn’t Hugh Jackman, because we initially only saw him from the back, but I really couldn’t have guessed who it was till I saw Henry. 

Ron: No, absolutely not. It looked like Wolverine from Origins, especially with the bike. So I was wondering what Deadpool was making such a fuss about. And then he said ‘Henry’, and when Cavillrine turned around, I realised who it was. But I had no idea that Cavill as Wolvie had been on anybody’s wishlist so it was just an odd moment for me. Also, the editing was weird because they were trying to drag out the moment.

Mon: Yo, let’s not skip over Channing Tatum as Gambit. Can we talk about it? I was so disappointed to see Tatum, I thought it was Taylor Kitsch reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it turned out to be Tatum. Booo. I don’t think he did a bad job — he works as a joke. But this isn’t our Gambit, is it?

Ron: I don’t really know what to say about Tatum as Gambit. It was a joke. It was meant to be a joke but I don’t understand how a film can have a Gambit, any Gambit, and not give him some level of pathos. Such a strange choice. Moving on!

Mon: Let’s also talk about the anchor being concept. Was it even needed? Some people are getting upset about this concept because it means that some lives are more important than others. This is a completely new thing introduced in this film — while I don’t know if we can take it seriously because this is a Deadpool film, some people are saying it’s already been hinted at being used in the next phase of the MCU. 

Mon: Either way, here’s my thought. Don’t take things so literally, people. The concept is introduced as symbolism for how Fox pinned their hopes on Wolverine launching a franchise, and for a bit it worked. Bad writing, bad studio decisions, then took it all down. 

Even beyond that, the idea that the universe is rigged so that the majority are doomed because of one white guy is… hilariously on point and a reflection of the real world. In truth, some lives are treated as more important than others and it’s horribly unfair. I don’t think the film is trying to be that deep, but it sure feels that way. 

And finally, the main reason for Earth-10005 dying is that Logan was never supposed to die. He acted against type, against nature, and that’s why things changed. We explore a similar theme in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but there it’s the canon events, and it’s more personal. This isn’t a hugely original idea, but it certainly works for the symbolism of this film. 

And it’s very clever to bring in the TVA and have B-15 from the Loki show connect to the events of the Loki finale. It’s utterly poetic — Loki, a villain, makes a heroic sacrifice which saves the multiverse, here we learn that a hero, Wolverine, makes a heroic sacrifice that leads to the destruction of his universe. And a hero and villain combined then save it. It’s wonderful! 

Ron: Thank you for tackling the anchor being idea. I was not bothered by it but I guess others were.

Mon: I know we’ve critiqued the pacing already, but I need to emphasise just how disappointing the pacing in this film makes the viewing experience. 

Ron: But somehow The Marvels was the end for all women in superhero films? I can’t help but compare this film with the ones that we loved and were vilified. People complained about Eternals being slow and full of exposition, to the point where we will never see those characters again, apparently. But this film is packed with exposition and nobody’s complaining about that!

Mon: Oh, I agree with you. Seems like the MCU dies every time a non-white non-male person comes near it, but it’s saved when the white dudes are involved. Quality be damned.

Third act

Mon: Let’s chat about the third act of the film because I think this is the best part of the film — good execution, pacing, and some surprising heartfelt moments. It’s not all perfect, there’s still way too much unnecessary silliness, and yes, it’s super gory, but it was also riveting. 

Mon: That denouement, especially, really got me. They really play with your emotions because we think Wolvie is going to make the big sacrifice play, which makes sense for him having lost everyone, but then Deadpool decided to be the better man and swaps places with Wolvie so he can finally matter. And then, Wolvie joins Deadpool, because Deadpool didn’t think things through and couldn’t reach the other MacGuffin. I mean, I loved it.

Ron: I don’t mean to be a spoilsport but the denouement felt silly to me. 

Mon: This is an outrage. How are we not aligned on this film?

Ron: I agree with everything you’ve said, I just don’t think the film had to go there. Obviously there was only going to be one way to save Deadpool’s universe and he had to be the one to do it because this movie is called Deadpool & Wolverine, not the other way around. So why not make the sacrifice play together in the beginning? Cement the relationship that we’ve spent two hours watching unfold.

Mon: You make a really good point. They were trying to up the drama. 

Ron: Indeed. But again, my struggle with this film and the second film was that it kept adding in extra beats that weren’t necessary. Destroys the emotional heft and slows the pace.

Ron: Now, you and I have always had our ears out for film scores. The last few years, the scores have left us wanting. There might be a theme or two that stands out but the entire album? Not so much. I did like some of the score for Deadpool & Wolverine, though. Deadpool has a new theme which sounds epic, though I’m confused about the cat screech in between. There are no cats in this film.

Mon: I didn’t clock much of the score while watching the film, except the end credits music which sounded cool. I’ve heard the score album now, and I kinda dig it. Though the cat screech still gives me pause.

Ron: What about the soundtrack? I know you have thoughts!

Mon: Most of the song choices seemed totally incongruous to me. Some of them are such meta jokes, that it’s lost on the average viewer. For example, there’s apparently a song from The Greatest Showman in here, which is an obvious nod to Hugh’s role in the film, but  I don’t know how many people would even recognize it. The first fight scene between Deadpool and Logan in the Void is set against AC/DC, and I’m like AC/DC, again? Give me a ruddy break. They’ve been done to death in the MCU, look for someone new. I mean, look at the number of awesome songs and artists we’ve learnt about and listen to because the music supervisors on Black Panther and Birds of Prey looked beyond the usual.

Ron: Lets not forget the soundtracks of the Spider-Verse films. Those are incredible.

Mon: How could I forget the Spider-Verse films. I play those albums on loop. 

It wasn’t all bad with Deadpool & Wolverine, but I didn’t find the soundtrack all that memorable. The one song choice I did like was Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC. I do enjoy the song, but this is another meta joke. In X2: X-Men United, when Wolverine is rescuing Rogue, Iceman and Pyro, Pyro puts the car radio on and it blasts Bye Bye Bye. It’s a hilarious moment that cuts the tension and solidified my love for the song. So, of course a film re-introducing Pyro should have that song. Except, they don’t play the song in relation to Pyro. Like, why? Imagine if Pyro had driven in with this ruddy song playing? Oh my word, we would be on fire! This film, I swear, is so frustrating. 

Ron: Madonna’s Like A Prayer playing over Logan’s abs though. That was perfection. 

Mon: Music aside, you can feel the too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen feeling whenever Dogpool shows up, or the fact that Dogpool showed up at all. What is Dogpool trying to show us here? It’s just a funny bit. That time could have been spent with Wolverine and Laura, because if you want us to see that Logan’s walls are coming down, him opening up to Laura and coming to fight by her side would have done a much better job of that than a dang dog. 

Ron: I could have done without the dog. 

Favourite Cameos

Ron: We’ve got to talk about all those cameos because Deadpool & Wolverine was packed with them. For me, the numerous Logans were great to see. The brown and yellow suit Wolverine, I would’ve loved to see more of him.

Mon: I did not know that Deadpool & Wolverine was Fanservice: The Movie, but I loved seeing the different versions of Wolverine. Honestly, could have done with a few more of those variants — I don’t think that would have been overlong. I loved that they included Age of Apocalypse Wolverine, but I wish he’d been a tad more sinister. 

Ron: You know who wasn’t a cameo in this film? Taylor Swift as Dazzler. That is the only thing I’ve heard about for months and it didn’t even happen.

Mon: Thank Uatu! I don’t think I could have dealt with that. 

Ron: The survivors of the Void were probably the biggest cameos for me. Seeing Jennifer Garner as Elektra and Wesley Snipes as Blade, unbelievable that they came back for this movie. Which is essentially a farewell to these versions of the characters. I’m assuming we’ll get to see Elodie Yung’s Elektra in the MCU. No idea about Mahershala Ali as Blade because Marvel would rather give 80 million bucks to RDJ than make a Blade movie apparently.

Mon: Yeah, and Wesley Snipes says in this film that there will only ever be one Blade, so I’m guessing Mahershala Ali’s chance is gone. Why don’t they just announce it and leave him be. Marvel’s pulling a DC on Mahershalla. 

Mon: Ok, please explain why we didn’t get any other X-Men characters from the Fox films? Someone, anyone would have done. Worst Wolverine has this heartbreaking flashback, and he’s next to memorials with no names, he’s talking about incidents we can’t see. Listen, Hugh sells it, I’m not saying he doesn’t, but given that the film was packed with cameos, some utterly useless ones, Wolvie interacting with the people he loved would have taken the emotions to the next level! 

Ron: I know! Halle Berry is right there. Especially during those emotional scenes from Worst Wolverine. We should have got a flashback to him seeing the X-Men.

Ron: I guess we should mention Johnny Storm. Or rather Chris Evans. Because that was not Johnny in the film. It was Chris Evans with flame powers. Ever since Endgame, I’ve felt that Evans has struggled with his acting. Ghosted was funny but terrible. You watched that film at TIFF last year where you couldn’t tell if it was the character or Chris Evans you were watching.

Mon: Yeah, Chris Evans is forgetting how not to be Chris Evans, which is not great. The TIFF film, for our listeners, is Pain Hustlers, and it’s not a good film. Chris Evans’ acting is the least of its problems.

But, on to Johnny Storm. I 100% knew Evans was going to show up. I didn’t know before the film, of course, I wasn’t expecting any cameos in the film. But, when Deadpool is shown the Avengers highlights reels by Mr. Paradox, there was a lot of Steve Rogers in there. Now, this is a nod to comic book Deadpool’s love for Steve, but as soon as I saw them playing that much Evans footage, I was like, he’s going to show up.

Ron: When the hooded figure showed up and Deadpool was talking about he was the hero of all heroes, I was so lost. Who is this? Definitely not Captain America. And then Evans shows up. But as Johnny. The bait and switch wasn’t bad but Evans acting didn’t work for me.

Mon: It didn’t? But he was so fun! You can tell Evans is having the time of his life with this take on Johnny Storm. I genuinely did not realise the Human Torch, of all characters, would be resurrected. He was incredibly fun to watch. I loved seeing Evans back in the MCU, even if it was for a brief minute.

Ron: Not resurrected for long, sadly. While we’re talking cameos, which characters deserved better in Deadpool & Wolverine? Shatterstar, surely? Why can’t Hollywood give Lewis Tan better roles. He has no lines in this film! And Shatterstar is such a fan-favourite character.

Mon: Shatterstar! I love him. I can’t believe Lewis Tan was dragged back to sit in the background. He deserves so much better than Hollywood will ever give him. But, you know what, after the dumb dig about how the X-Force team not testing well (apparently), I was glad to see Shatterstar, even for a little bit.

Ron: And why did Cable get the blame for Deadpool 2 not working out? He wasn’t the problem! Deadpool was the problem. Sheesh. 

Mon: Please, I’m glad we didn’t have Cable in this film, but why did Domino get short shrift? 

Ron: What’s worse, though? Domino sitting in the background somewhere with no lines, like Shatterstar, or us imagining she’s living her best life without Deadpool in it?

Mon: You have a point. I also wish the main franchise cast had been involved in the main story more. Negasonic, Yukio, Vanessa, Dopinder, CGI Collussus, Blind Al, why were they forgotten? This was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania all over again. Like literally - Deadpool is even stuck in a different world like in that film and forms different teams. The MCU is running in place, mate!

Ron: Yes. Agreed. You can’t just drop the core cast you’ve been building up for a trilogy. I’d also say I was expecting more Pyro in this film. Aaron Stanford was clearly excited to be back and he’s been posting about it. He’s in the opening credits as well. But Pyro’s role was so small! And I’m not entirely convinced this wasn’t James Cole with the ability to control fire. 

Mon: Pyro! I thought I’d cry when I saw Pyro, but I didn’t. And then it turned out he was again a double-crossing baddie? Again, everything about the writing in the MCU, especially by majority white creatives, is running in place. Imagine Pyro getting a heroic sacrifice here? Considering we see no one else from the Fox films, I feel like the treatment of Pyro is a testament to Marvel Studios basically dunking on the original franchise.

Ron: Pyro being a turncoat isn’t a big surprise. Stanford sold it well. He was quite amusing in his final scene.

Ron: But what about Cassandra Nova, the actual villain of this story? First of all, where were the women in this film? We got a bit of Elektra and Laura but wow, this movie is just screaming that it’s only for dudes. Wolverine is probably as popular as he is because of female viewers, but this movie clearly doesn’t want to acknowledge that. 

Mon: But this lack of regard for the female characters and heroes from the Marvel films is signposted from the start. Happy Hogan’s office is filled with Avengers memorabilia, as long as the memorabilia belongs to Iron Man and Captain America. Is there more? Can’t see it because the camera doesn’t focus on them. Let’s be honest, Marvel doesn’t care about the ladies, they never have, and it’s little more than lip-service nowadays, irrespective of how wonderful the stories about the ladies are, they’ll be forgotten by the powers-that-be.

Ron: Yes. The only meaty non-dude role was Cassandra Nova. I thought Emma Corrin turned out to be a great choice. I felt like I could almost see Charles Xavier in Cassandra.

Mon: I know nothing about Cassandra Nova, and I was concerned about them casting such a young actor to play the character. Isn’t Nova elderly? 

Ron: Nova is Charles’ twin but she’s… there’s some weird stuff about her birth, or lack thereof. So she’s quite wrinkled but not elderly. She’s definitely not as beautiful as Emma Corrin. 

Mon: Ah. Kinda weird how all these films keep turning wrinkled ladies into gorgeous women – Madame Web, Cassandra Nova. 

Ron: How can dudes have an ugly woman in their film? The more we’re talking about this film, the more annoyed I’m getting.

Mon: Anyway, Corrin did great. They channeled both Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy to make us believe that Nova is indeed Xavier’s twin. I loved that they had a binder on and got to proudly show it off. And the binder also gives their outfit an X shape, which is a nice nod to Nova’s X-Men connection.

Ron: Yes. I did like the nod to Corrin’s non-binary identity in Cassandra’s uniform. Underneath her signature long coat, Cassandra wears a binder. And it’s not hidden. Emma Corrin has spoken about the importance of visible identity and has taken intimate portraits of themself in a binder. So that was a great nod.

Mon: We’ve talked about a lot but was Deadpool & Wolverine a good farewell to the franchise that introduced us to the Marvel world of superheroes? 

Ron: Good question! It’s making me remember something. When we first got into the X-Men comics, we absolutely despised the Avengers. They were always awful to the X-Men. The fact that we enjoyed the Avengers films at all is a miracle. But here’s the problem. The MCU is driven by the Avengers. Are they going to have the understanding, the compassion that comes from loving the X-Men? We’ve got X-Men ‘97 that’s such a love letter to mutantkind. It isn’t afraid to lean into the fears of life as a mutant and the intense bigotry that mutants face. Is the MCU going to understand that? Or are mutants going to be the punching bag of the MCU?

Mon: So, where are we going with the mutants? Let’s look at the future of the MCU now. Will the over-reliance on multiverse plots and meta-stories end? Will we ever escape the need for cameos? Will we get creators who aren’t white men behind-the-scenes to build our future?

None of this will happen soon. They need to get these gimmicks and novelties out of their system — it’s fun, I do like it, but I’m missing meaningful stories and storytelling. We see what shows like X-Men ‘97 and The Acolyte can do because they ground their stories in real-world issues and dynamics. The MCU has become very much about pandering and fan-service. Again, that’s not to say I don’t revel in that charm, but we need more!

Apparently Ryan Reynolds first approached Jordan Peele to work on the film but he couldn’t fit it isn’t his schedule. I wonder what that would have been like — what layers Peele would have brought to something that’s so much in his wheelhouse. In another universe, perhaps. 

Ron: A Jordan Peele-MCU film? I would like to see that. You know, we’ve had quite a few hints now that the mutants are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kamala Khan, aka Ms Marvel, has been deemed a mutant. Monica Rambeau is in a universe with Beast and Binary. Wolverine is in this film. So, when are we getting an X-Men film? And are we going to see any of the incredible female mutants who are honestly carrying the comics franchise?

Mon: The best X-Men are women, yeah? But, that’s the problem isn’t it? Marvel is going backwards in its thinking. Are we going to see the Marvels again and the universe Binary is in? Are we going to see any ladies leading? Any people of colour writing and directing? I don’t know, man. The best we’re going to get with the Avengers films is to bring back the Russos and McFeely? Deadpool & Wolverine could hardly contain its fat-shaming but it kept it to the minimum. Are we going to now double down on it with the Infinity War and Endgame people back in the saddle? Are we going to sideline the characters of colour because the white directors don’t understand how meaningful these heroes are to an underrepresented demographic? 

Ron: You’re talking about Black Panther and Captain Marvel being underused in the latter part of the MCU Phase 3. The Russo brothers et al apparently didn’t expect these two characters to be popular. Because I guess they forgot people of colour and women exist, let alone watch movies?

Mon: Yes. It’s infuriating. Because what happens now? Are we going to kill off the last few female heroes because otherwise the plot won’t move? I can’t deal with that — and yet we’re stuck. Feige and team have only heard the loudest and worst of the criticism and taken it to mean the white guys must be our saviours, no one else will do. 

Ron: I don’t think watching this film following the SDCC announcements has endeared me to Deadpool & Wolverine or the next phases of the MCU much. Because Marvel seems to be saying this is what we’re going to get more of. We tried ladies in the lead and people of colour in the lead. But that didn’t work (because a small group of loud sexists and racists said so) after generations of not trying it anyway. So let’s just go back to the status quo. They’re pandering to the lowest common denominators, again, and giving us the white dude superheroes who make dick jokes. This is a really dour note to end the review on but I’m not feeling hopeful for the MCU. It doesn’t look like it’s interested in us as audiences anymore. 

Mon: I agree. As much as we enjoyed parts of Deadpool & Wolverine, it gives us little hope for the future of the MCU. It’s not saved, it just refuses to move forward.

Ron: You’re right. You know what, let’s go rewatch The Marvels.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Mon: You can find us on social media @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email stereogeekspodcast@gmail.com. 

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

Ron: Don’t forget to rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts. See you next time. 

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

[percontaion-points]

Everlife chapter 2

Today's review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 2

“Why wasn’t I warned about the bond’s effect on others?” I demand. 

“You were told consorting with Myriadians is dangerous,” Shamus snaps. “You should have needed no other warning. Only a fool would pledge her life to an enemy.”

At this point, this is completely on them. Every single goddamned person knew of Ten’s relationship with Killian. 

So yes. They should have fucking spelt it out for her. 

“Ultimately she bonded to him. He used their bond to navigate the Troikan Grid. And guess what? He let his friends in. Their shadows spilled into our Grid. To stop them, I had to kill my mother—and everyone she’d tainted. Everyone they tainted. Don’t you see? We’re all connected. What affects one has the power to affect us all.” 

This is supposed to be this lesson about not letting in Myriad. 

However, the only thing that I’m getting from this is “Why the fuck is your entire goddamned community so interconnected that one person’s poor decision making affects literally hundreds of people?” 

“Love isn’t a feeling but a choice. Feelings can change in a blink, as today has proven. You chose to turn your back on Troika, all for a pretty face.”

I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep saying it: for all of Troika’s pretty words, they’ve proven over and over that they’re not somehow better than Myriad. They’re quick to shun and judge and generally treat people like lower-class citizens for no real reason. What’s worse is that they act like they don’t do it. 

At least in Myriad, you know where you stand at all times. 

If they wanted Ten on their side, maybe they should have tried convincing her with less manipulations, scheming, and murder. 

Despite this, I find myself replying. Tell me. Make her pay. Make them all pay.

Chapter 2 summary: Ten identifies the two generals as Shamus and Luciana, but I swear that this is the first time the readers have met them. They brought some others with them, but when Lucy realises what Ten and Killian have done, she sends them to wait outside. 

Then, they have to explain to Ten that they’re hardly the first mixed-realm couple that they’ve encountered. Lucy says that she had to murder her mother, because her deciding to bond with a Myridian damaged possibly hundreds of people, because the bond introduced shadows into the Troikian light grid. And I said what I said about that. But Lucy’s mom wasn’t the only one; they claim that the couples are taken out as fast as possible to prevent the darkness from spreading. 

As you can imagine, Ten is like “We’re somehow different than any of those other couples! Our love is somehow more real than theirs was!” This is met with obvious scorn and laughter. 

Meanwhile, Killian has been behind Ten saying “Kill” over and over. Ten finally asks what’s wrong with him, and the others laugh at her. Say that Troikians have an easy time succumbing to the darkness, but struggle more in the long-term. But Myriadians struggle a lot at first… 

Killian then snaps out of it, and claims that he meant to kill Ten. Ten is confused, which leads to the other part of the explanation: there’s usually a lot of memory loss when accepting the light. So now Killian wants to kill Ten. Joy. 

Shamus then starts to attack Killian, and Ten feels every blow and cut he sustains because of their bond. They eventually subdue Killian and say that they’re going to take him to a safehouse in Troika, but they won’t tell Ten where he is. Unless she votes to resurrect General Orion. Ten is obviously upset over this obvious blackmail, but like… This is your bed, babe. 

A voice inside of Ten encourages her to make them pay. And she realises that it’s the darkness inside of her, the one she embraced when she made the bond with Killian. 

[blazenka]

Mirroring Identities

Connor Temple believed he was close to returning to his own timeline and home. Instead he finds himself in a world that should not exist while he struggles with non-existent memories. Can he ever remember his identity? Pre/post Alice. Post Primeval S3.

Original source: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6106179/1/Mirroring-Identities

Chapters: 13

Published: 2010-07-03 - 2010-09-06  

Words: 19945

Rated: Fiction T - Language: English - Genre: Romance/Drama - Characters: Abby M., Hatter - Reviews: 86 - Favs: 13 - Follows: 15

Exported with the assistance of FicHub.net

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

a

b

Chapter 8:

Alice walked down the cobbled street with David dragging behind as they headed towards a café they had agreed to meet Jack Hart. David wore his fedora low upon his head. His mood of despair seemed to match the weather.

Alice kept glancing underneath her umbrella to glance at him, "Hatter…" she said solemnly. "I'm al'ite, love. It's just, not lookin' forward to this at all," he stated as they reached the outside of the café.

"Why? I thought you wanted this to be over with," she commented as entered the café with him. "I did and still do, sort of. It's just, however this turns out… I like my life as David and if we find out I've always been David then we can just go home to New York," he stated as he sat down at a table.

The barista came out quickly to the couple; both Alice and David asked for tea. He couldn't help but smile then retracted his expression as he continued the conversation, "But if so that means Abby's Connor is still missing somewhere and she'll be hurt still. And if I am Connor then…" he paused as the drinks came and he took a long sip while trying to enjoy his tea. He should be happy with Alice and tea, despite the situation.

"Hatter?" she questioned when he seemed to stay quit too long. David sighed, "Then I have a life I never knew. People, friends and a family I might never remember… like your father." Alice looked sympathetic as she realized his predicament, "Oh Hatter, I.." she started as she began to lean close to him but, of course, they were disrupted.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Jack asked as he sat down across from them while he ordered coffee. "You're always interrupting, mate," David snapped but took a deep breath and sipped his tea. "We're glad you're here, Jack," Alice stated for the both of them with a smile. "Well, let's get started then, shall we?" Jack asked as he reached into his brief case for papers. "Truthfully, we need to want for some others," Alice admitted.

David set his cup down as calmly he could before turning to her, "Excuse me, love, what did you say?" "We have to wait for the ARC team…" she stated calmly as now she avoided his gaze. "Why would you… I just…" the last from David was a mixed growl and frustrated sigh. "Well, if you actual read the documents we had to sign," she paused to glare at him, "then you would have read the clause that stated we have to inform them if we had any leads or face penalty of the law." David just nodded with shame as he returned to his tea.

As if summoned on cue, Abby, Sarah and Danny entered the small café. Alice met them with a wary smile as she led them back to the table. "This is Jack Hart, a friend of ours who knows more about David. He might be able to help in this situation," she informed them as they all took their seats.

"Before we begin, I should warn you that some of these things might sound strange," Jack stated as he opened various folders. "We are use to weird… things," Danny informed them. "Very well," Jack said as they began.

"When I was still prince," Jack began. "You were a prince?" Sarah blurted out in surprise. When everyone glanced at her she sank in her seat, "Right. Shutting up now, and no more interrupting." "As I was saying, David here did not always hold the position he did. He only held it for about thirty years,"

"So he couldn't be Connor?" this time Abby interrupted. "Well, our time is different from this time," Jack answered her. Alice grabbed a napkin from the table and a pen, "If three days there equals about an hour here then…" her voice faded as she worked out the problem. "That's my girl," David smirked, "Looks and brains." Alice rolled her eyes and finished her work, "Thirty years equals roughly three months," she stated.

"Three… three months…" Abby faltered as shock covered her face. As the group turned to her for an explanation, Abby took a breath, "Connor's been missing for three months. So it's possible that David is Connor?" she asked with hope. Jack straightened his tie as he continued, "I was always led to believe that David was just someone off the street, not an oys… someone from this world."

"Wait… I'm sorry to interrupt again but… how can three months be equivalent to thirty years any where?" Sarah asked with confusion. "Where I hail from is far away, quite far," Jack said trying to keep a straight face. "What he means is it's like another time line completely," David tried to clarify. "Oh, like another evolutionary time line," Sarah guessed and the rest of the team just seemed to nod. "Yea, something like that," David stammered, taking more sips of his tea.

"Jack, if David was from my world, wouldn't he have a brand like I did?" Alice asked. "If the rabbits did not brand him with the light, then no one would be able to tell her was. David, do you know why I sent you to Alice's world? Why you picked the name you did?" Jack asked him.

David just shrugged and stared down at his hand in hand. "You always seemed different from people of our world, David. You have your own emotions without… um, enhancement," Jack continued. "You've got emotions," David contoured. "Yes, only because I was exposed to this world. I return to my former self when I return home," Jack replied, "Do you know why you fit so easily into this world, David? Why you picked that specific name?" "What is so important about a bloody name? It's just a stupid random name!" David almost yelled as he furiously balled his fist. Alice reached over to smooth her hand over his forearm and David seemed to relax a bit.

Jack shuffled some of his papers before stating, "After the uprising when I became king…" "You're a king?" Sarah blurted again. "Logic would dictate, young miss, that if I was a prince then I should be king now," Jack explained to her, evident that he was irritated she interrupted again.

"I went through the mass of paper work left from my mother's reign and found paper work filled out by the white rabbits after a trip to this world when they brought a particular… man back. It stated that they had only tried a certain experiment once on a R. Hamilton but the Queen had interest to try it again," Jack stated as he went through the paperwork.

"You mean, what they did to my father that made him loose all his memories and recognition of his family and self," Alice clarified, scared where this conversation could go next.

Jack nodded and continued, "I found records and personal effects of the young man used in that experiment. This young man then held the position that David once held," he concluded. "So, that doesn't mean the man on record and I are the same person," David countered again.

"That could be so and that is what I thought till I found this before you demanded to go after Alice," Jack informed him as he held a laminated rectangle with a photograph and information printed on it. "This belonged to that man, a Mr. Connor D. Temple," Jack stated as he held the card to Alice who later handed into Abby.

"So Connor was in Wonderland," Alice muttered. "Wonderland?" Sarah gasped, "You're joking right?" Jack shot a glance to Alice before sorrowfully saying, "No. That is the name of our land." "But that's a…" "Story in a kid's book," David finished for Sarah with irritation. "We rather to keep it a secret while convincing people from your world it is just a tale," Jack informed them hoping they would get the hint. "We deal with secrecy all the time, your highness," Danny informed him with a smile.

"So what?" David interrupted, "You think I'm this Connor? Just because he was once Hatter and has a 'd' in his name? I picked 'David' at random! Just made up the name on the spot!" David insisted, his fists clenching tighter. "David was Connor's middle name. It was after his father, David Temple," Abby informed them as she continued to run her hands over the identification.

David avoided looking at her, instead turning his attention to Jack, "Were you ever goin' tell me, mate?" he asked as his brows drew over his eyes his anger. "Not if I could help it. I thought it would be better for you not to know. Especially when you wanted to come to Alice's world I agreed to send you based on this evidence," he informed him.

"I….I can't believe this," David exclaimed as he stood abruptly, tipping his chair in the action. "I need some time to think," David said as he began to leave. "David," Alice began to rush after him but Jack held her back. "I need time alone," David snapped right before he exited out the café door with a slam.

"I should go after him," Alice informed Jack while she tried to mask the sorrow and grief in her heart. "No Alice. When he's let the information sink in and settled things with himself then he'll come back to you. He always does," Jack comforted her before suggesting they headed back to the hotel. "Yea, we better head…" Danny began before his portable anomaly detector went off, "Off to another anomaly sight." The groups said their farewells before exited the café.

When Sarah noticed Alice and Jack were far enough away, she pulled Abby over, "I think David headed towards the park. If he is Connor or somewhere in his head Connor, then the only person who can talk to him is you," Sarah informed her.

"I don't know Sarah. He was really upset. I've never seen Connor that upset," Abby said while still looking down at the identification.

"Go after him, Abby. Becker, Danny and I can take care of this anomaly. You've been waitin' three months for Connor, go to him," Sarah said and Abby nodded finally as she headed in the direction where David ran off.

A.N.: While people know the time in Wonderland doesn't equal time here on Earth, they were really vague on the mini-series so here is my 'math' if that helps makes sense:

1 hour = 3 days, then 20 minutes = 1 day

1 month = 12 years, then 3 months = 36 years.

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[thedreadeddaisy]

Napkins and Promises.

It hadn't been long since Will started noticing that he would need more money for the supplies that his classes required than he already had in mind. That's why as soon as he saw a "We're hiring" sign in the coffee shop that he frequented with his friends, he decided to go in for an interview and an immediate hire.

His new boss was nice enough giving him good hours so that he could still study and work on his class projects. Maybe he couldn't spend as much time with his friends as he wanted, but that was fixed when Dustin suggested that they make the café their hanging out spot so that they at least could be close to Will, even if he couldn't stop and actually talk to them it was nice knowing that they were there. The other plus that Max commented on is that they all gave Will honest reviews on his coffee making skills. Because they could all agree that the coffee wasn't the best. Maybe that's why they mostly stuck to hot chocolates, milkshakes, or warm tea.

But Will did some research of his own on the matter, also stumbling upon a suggestion that he didn't hesitate on making to his boss, pastries to accompany the clientele's drinks, becasue sure they had those simple glazed donuts and some croissants that were a little bit dry that worked just fine when they were drowned in coffee, but maybe some cookies, or even those little butter pastries with jam on them could be a good idea.

The first day that the pastries were presented on the café it was late in the evening, a few people sat in the cozy spaces that the coffee shop offered, one of them being Will's best friend, Mike Wheeler.

Mike was too busy to notice that he hadn't ordered anything, and Will knew all of his attention was put into his final project for his Creative Writing class, that he was putting all of his efforts in as he had told week some days prior, he was mixing genres here and there and maybe he was also using some of their personal and disturbing experiences to make it the little bit more interesting.

That's why Will made a warm latte, and he put three of those strawberry jam pastries on a plate, bringing them to Mike's table. Mike didn't even seem to notice, his back hunched over, and his face almost entering his laptop screen, writing away and unbothered by any sound as he had his headphones on. Five minutes later, Will brought a stack of napkins to him and he actually got his face up from his screen, giving Will a smile and mouthing a "thanks" before diving into the food that had been brought to him.

Mike devoured the pastries in seconds, crumbs left on the table and on his thick maroon sweater, he took one of the napkins with raised eyebrows as he noticed the blue ink on them "Stop hunching your back and get on your feet, you've been sitting for way too long. -W". And he actually rose from the cushioned chair he had been sitting on for two hours. His legs were grateul for him as he walked to the counter, empty plate in hand and headphones sitting comfortably on his neck.

He patiently waited for Will to finish serving the coffee to a nice old lady that looked like a teacher. A smile receiving his friend, widening as he looked at the empty plate that Mike carried.

"Are you back for more?" Will asked, a small chuckle leaving his lips as he took some more of them from the metal rack, putting them carefully in the plate.

Mike hummed as he looked down at the plate, devouring the pastries with his eyes, suddenly flinching when the door opened and a cold gust of air entered the shop as a client left.

"You should be leaving soon. It's getting colder now that the sun is already down". the brunnette suggested signaling through the door.

"Yeah, you're right," Mike shrugged his shoulders. "I just concentrate a lot more in here, way cozier than the dorm room with Lucas and Max doing homework together," he sighed a little annoyed.

"Understandable, Dustin and Suzie won't ever shut up when on a video call... even if they're just playing games. " Will rolled his eyes, still smiling.

"I'll finish these up whilst I pray for our living situation to get better" the ravenette joked as he went back to his seat after Will nodded, getting back to cleaning his working space as closing up time approached in big strides.

Mike thought about how it would be so much better if Will and him shared a room, and Lucas and Dustin shared another one, so much better for everyone. Maybe next year he could suggest that switch to his friends, although he wasn’t sure if Will would want to share a room with him even if he had just complained to him about Dustin. He shook his head as he quickly stuffed his mouth with pastries, downing them with the last sip of coffee that was left in his mug.

He started to collect his things, looking at the counter to wave Will goodbye, but not seeing him anywhere. He supposed that he was inside the kitchen washing the dishes. So Mike decided to take his fountain pen and leave a note in a napkin as Will had done before with him.

Fifteen minutes and wrinkled hands later, Will had finished washing the dishes of the day, ready to clean the tables and close off for the day he started where Mike was sat at, right by the window, seeing as there was a napkin left he took it to throw it away and before he could he saw the blotchy black ink on it in what he recognized as Mike's handwriting.

"I'll be back tomorrow, thank you.

P.S. The pastries were delicious, and the coffee was way better today -Mike".

He kept the napkin as he hoped that it would work as a promise between them.

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Let me know if you would like this to be an ongoing Byler series. Don't forget to reblog or comment. They help a lot! Have a great day, you're doing fantastically.