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pndnj · 3 years ago

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Cathartic- Yellow Metal Lyrics

Heres where I am with the lyrics, I referenced @25Goldenn on twitter for some of it that I couldn’t comprehend.

*music*

0:23

Dark matter, like painted splatters, they fit better, the old saying, the way it goes, better the devil you do then you don’t know. I hit pedals and switch levers, my heart metal, I can't settle, im part trouble, they are not subtle. I fuck good so fuck cuddles, burst bubbles the thrist levels at new heights, i down doubles, and got baked til I felt high, my face puzzled, felt muddled, far strung and your floors woodent, the thought might but the fit wouldn’t. A fortnight

0:46 - 1:00

And I thought right, it’s all bark and no bite, I’m Tony Stark still embarking on a dream, took a bit of time to take darkness from the team. Seen what I saw. Heartless on the sleeve. Tried to burn my wings, so I put them in a piece on my chest , at peace no rest.

1:00-1:15

Flipped this on it’s head. Rip the script up now, flip it don’t pretend, slipping shit again, Fakers all around me, I’ve been living in pretense. Fake friends won’t make amends. There’s no need, these mean comments control the scenes. Attentionseekers, the spine is weakened

1:15-1:24

This family needs, what a family needs, and the planet bleeds, the damaged trees. It’s never leaving til we ascend so fuck the fence, and until they stop killing colour it’s fuck the feds.

1:22 - 1:44

You must be off it, I mean it, you know you ain’t never get with the judging and I used to dread growing my beard too long, never felt I belonged, but it's really long like a minute I ain’t looking to no mans for the limits, They’re feeling timid, I’m telling them who they mimic, why they don't look like a clinic …. Why they don't get no women, Still, we’re just fucking girls, Lost in the wrong world, Jurassic, now to this vermin

1:41- 1: 50

Kicking the game I’m serving, these losers are never learning, my fire is forever burning, adding it to my fuel, seems like I’m always focused on never becoming you, These locals that rob us feeling … was for a reason.

1:52-2:02

I’m seeing my new beginnings, watch out this loser’s winning, and no water is too deep to swim in Like I’m about to see a killing, I’m all the way that and living, flawless and feeling lawless, the prison now to the gimmicks, my vision is set to something,

2:03-:2:20

I’m watching you bitches plummet, no matches here for my cunning, you rappers are feeling done in, switching your genre, running and Running your jaw, stunting, pulling at straws, something I think you’re a poor effort, deaf and tone deaf and I ain’t treat you separate. Living, I’m in my element, riding it like a … never lose me to fentanyl, scared when I take a benadryl. Keeping it green in general

2:20- 2:46

Think that you remain irrelevant. Look at yourself with reverence, hoping to always elevate. Celibate of these thoughts, killing themselves with sedatives. In comparison to eminem, you’re feeling feminine. Impolitically correct, still dropping on my dick. And I never gave a fuck about what they say abt my shit, I’ve been moving things in my mind like it’s this mountain dew Memories have made me wonder if one day I’m after you. What’s the purpose that you do, is what you're hoping that they learn, i’d like to say i’m done but it’s getting up on my nerves

2:46 -2:55

I’m looking at my life, saying what do I deserve. It’s hard to say I know when I’m walking through the dirt. Talking while you’re nothing I can see for what it’s worth. I’m tired of feeling hurt and I’ve tried enough but nothing works.

2:55-3:40

I’m racking up excuses while I’m slacking off on work. Chit chatting is the usual, talking to this clerk, i beg you don’t include me. I might write it on my shirt so everytime they see me, the oldest know to swerve. SWERVE Life is potent, bits of fucked shit… till they took notice weren’t no hocus pocus, it was hard work that got me heard so i put in the graph like google maps but the whole earth

… around my door mat, taking over like the drones, rolling dirt up in miles like the water, and exploding like Annas hematoma. Don't need to see a slammer to know that I don't want to go man

I’m a showman. I’m just focused on the drama… like i’ve got my own insurance, show myself the pain, like i boxed it in the frame, if we’re about to talk greatness im great, the way you have to say my name like beyonce

“Say my name”

4:00-4:46

Just a bum with a cigarette, sun coming up, all my thoughts on the internet. Feeling deep, I’m just bored with the silhouette single sec, get fucked up for the thrill of it . killer streak playing Pacman. Like I came from the Philippines vanilla bean still a thing for the thrill of scene,

Theres a beam, UFO, Leave it well alone I aint moving, stood still on the peloton, telephone and its always on the dial tone, it's been a while since i’ve smiled at a milestone, seen a big pile in my mind stone, me against the world on my Jack Jones, Like I’m John Jones, With pictures in the condo, far from John Doe, in the ___, like I'm Johnny Bravo, got pravado, with a small dick sitting in golados, feeling far gone, cuz that last hit was the good shit, was that stay lit

4:48-5:02

You can never take my shit come and get me. On the top floor, cloud 9, fading, never bailing, felt amazing, inhaling, til my lungs two guns blazing. Overcome all the stunts that I pulled. A suit of just skin and then wool

5:02- 5:17

This life doesn’t give you no armour, a lot of myself can harm ya. I swear on what’s good, that I’m here till they take me. I pray that I’m wrinkled, at least over 80, and start moving like a ruler, ?damaged? Like a computer going fast, bars from the jeweler, bring the songs to the beach in hopes of finding tuna

5:18-5:36

…

5:36- 6:16

Grab a bat, lose my rag. Couple things got me mad, a couple people got me wrong and now I’m changing up the swag. Coming in and stealing it, I might take the whole bag. Feeling undefeated, I’m a beast with a reason, and imma lead the whole pack. Fearless like I’m Caesar, I’m just waiting for a chance to fill it up with diesel, and all I've been achieving is clocking miles in its region, moving like a legion.

Promise that I made to myself an allegiance. Do you still believe I’m a fool for ever leaving, staring at the ceiling, can never put a cap on achieving. I’m just here for the rap, then I’m leaving.

I’ve had about enough of being my own enemy, it’s time I grew up, a long way from 17. Always went against the grain, struggles in my life. Got some things to say when I stand up on a mike.

6:16-6:32

I ain’t dropping this for fame, I need this time, like therapy, it’s just to keep me sane. The truth is on my medicine, can’t put that on your plate.

Speeding into everything, bout time I fixed the brakes. Don’t say I can’t communicate , you know I conversate with you in several different ways. And I know you know it’s references, looking at your face.

6:33- 6:53

Can’t justify mistakes, like every man that made them, seems I ain't the one to blame. Lying to myself, only had so much to gain, so now I’m switching up the plate, see if that affects the place, im at on most days

I ain’t going with the usual so they looking at me strange. Confused, I can feel it all, I’m here to make a change. It’s cold at 3am outside, I’m walking with the dog, thanking god that you don’t talk at all, my mind is switching off

6:54-7:12

Driving down to find myself, cuz I’ve been getting lost, lived this selfless life and found I can give a toss. Lessons that I’ve learned I’ve tried teaching to myself. What I’ve learnt from certain people is that they’re better than myself.

So I surround myself with real ones, and you feel the plastic melt. Like burning toy soldiers that used to go up on the shelf. Recycle the ideas, conveying on the belt

7:14-7:29

.. circus, always hurting the way we felt? Embarrassed that we dreamt of bigger things and letting go of notions till we feel them in cement

Tired of only hoping, we feel broken men. Cuz the gravity is weight and has kept us to the ground, see the only people speaking with favors in their mouths

7:46-7:58

Got killer rhymes… no fillers, like godzilla, eating clouds cuz my smokes thicker, throat licker, my dope sicker, bringing people their hope like im the pope slicker, i hope you’re getting the point cuz i walk quicker

I thought my city was shit bcs I want bigger like my zipper couldn’t zip up fed up with the…my love is fickle.. Residual age has a primitive face

I see demise for your limited ways, Left it to simmer, simmer away…a fake glimmer in the haze

8:09-8:11

Feeling trapped this industry is a cage

8:34-8:50

Nobody’s speaking the truth, I’m offended by the State. Look at the state of the news, I’ve decided the argument, reciting my views, while they’ve been sat in their chairs, I’m feeling pressure to choose.

Standing here as one man, how can I do half when you’re half the person I am. If it wasn’t in your life, you didn’t choose it. It’s the funny thing about music. It’s the pain and beauty of it.

8:52-9:11

Don’t give a fuck what my suit is, it looks good so I wear it, better than the shoot that People’s wearing, changing the whole narrative for these basics and scarcity

Been facing the racists from back when i were a kiddie .born up in in 93’. been living in Bradford City..kicked me out of the schools, they had a problem with me hitting the kids that would call me p*** still sitting in the classroom chilling, and i'm angry now that I’m older I see they treat us different

9:12-9:25

got me thinking I’m the problem cuz they never dealt with those issues.

20 years later I’m still in the same boat, tryna treat me like my grandpa, say I came up off the boat. Came to tell you what I stand for, man I think you’re shit, a joke. How can I be civil, when they got me by the throat

9:25-9:35

Pushing my feelings down, you ain’t got it like them

‘Boy your skin is so light’, ok motherfucker take my name up on a flight. Try to convince immigration that your bloodline’s half white.

9:35-9:45

I don’t know how that’s acceptable, when life is more susceptible to perception, be the death of them. I’ve been looking at the sky saying where’s that day of reckoning, you had your prophets right when they say that you would speak to them.

9:45-9:55

I need justice in this life and I trust that it’s my fight, cuz when I’m writing it feels right to have them focused on the facts again. Focused on the rap again, hoping for the change, gunna put this on the map again

9:55-10:16

Writing in all caps again, the pain, it goes through me so I write the letter. All the shit that could have brought me but made me better.

I’m at home with a pain in my soul , yeh rap… cuz you know I was too real to contest it, my time was invested. Now I look at the industry, I see it infested, looking like kids who would write on nesquik.

10:17-10:29

My name ain’t on the list unless they label it ethnic.

I ain’t never gave a fuck about these jokers and jesters. Ain’t no answers for these things, so just save us the questions, man allowed of violence, cuz my silence is deafening, your opinion stinks, somebody get him a breath mint.

10:30- 10:42

Start to understand why they think that I’m threatening, I move in certain ways, couldn’t slow me with ketamine Now they all wanna hear me, got a table at letterman. Direction changed, like I changed up the lettering. Don’t believe the age ,bcs I move like a veteran.

10:42 - 10:47

Raised on the benefit for whose benefit, they’ll never learn shit, man, if the shoe fits.

…no words coming out when you open your mouth

And to be honest, it’s insulting, offensive to my wounds that have been salting. Tryna ask me questions that they know I never answer. I’d rather sit online and reply to the fan art

11:00-11:06

Fuck a sports car, coming through when i rapped

tell you what I like, farm life and the tractor

11:06- 11:17

Fake life, 'sup online, suck a fat one. You don’t wanna buy into that, none of that son. Sitting in the garden 98’ in the Datsun, seen some hot summers but I still remember that sun.

*music*

11:51- 12:34

I make millions off of my pain, cause I know a few millions still living that way

Dealing with the hurt, they should know cause they don’t deserve it, it hit deep cause i hit the nerve. Only way that the sheep learn if the street firm, in my ways I don’t wanna change, everything just stay the same

Who you tryna convince you understand, cant maintain, let the lights dim some, get the Chow Mein, flex, get the tape, right up at night

Why these men be nice to my face, be nice, i ain’t tryna be a gangsta ruins my vibe

Rather be low-key and on my phone. Never need the trophy or the show piece

Never show peace in a North Face fleece. Show kids this like i wrote my flip

Cause the sign might fit till the start i’m sick

12:37-13:05

Now you see where I come from, the world don’t. Only achievement in this life is the Jordans. Committing petty crimes out of boredom, we can’t afford them. So I stole it, need a rolex

Go make sense, get yourself a job, It’s a poor man’s game tryna sit and pray to god, he ain’t sorting out your problems, gotta sort them out yourself

Used to tell us fables, now I’m writing them myself, Cause we raw like animals we all just need some help

Cathartic, I’m an artist, trying to put my heart in

Felt double crossed like Leo in Departed

13:05- 13:27

For the knowledge i’m not charging see I got it all free

But my hunger kept me starving like i’m feening for the feed

I just Need a reason to see me bleeding for my creed. Trick you with the words like I keep em up my sleeve. Picking where I fit, I see me sitting with the queen

I ain’t doing it unless you’re used to saying please

Let me flow a bit, before I sting 'em with the bees, They tryna kill us with disease

(Music)

13:34- 14:12

Why does it feel like they had the same notebook and the same four looks

Like the rain won't touch on their face, so sus when they lie don’t trust not a minor

Please no fuss, I just move through the game like must

Something in the way i adjust till i stick, Free falling like the ship, free fall till i bust

Remember 21 brother gave no fucks. Trying to project when they give them looks

In the projects, in the objects us

In my own way, never gave me love, shoulda never started this, broken hearted kid

Dried up the feeling till I stole the lid

Don’t wanna relish in the fame but I can’t resist

14:46-14:58

I like the way we feel, I like the way, I like the way

Ain’t no mistake, i am a being

I ain’t tryna be a leader, been selling out since Jesus

All my rhymes are for the readers, between the lines, like Father time, I fuck Mother Nature

14:58-15:40

That’s what they get, the connotations. Tell 'em I lived a life, and then I lived a life of adjacent? like its…. and played it patient.

Alone on my own spaceship, always tryna find greatness, still defying lines, but I’m fighting in my prime.

Shining light like Kylo while imma kill it all the time. Aging like I’m wine

Asian in my face, but still my race you can’t define. Focused on defiance, imma fight it while it’s life.

Started something sick and on my mind is what’s next, just became a dad so now I’m taking all the cheques. Better know I’m staying and paying like it’s debt. Imma get it done, if it’s taking all my breath, sweat, and down I ain’t messing around til I’m the best

Speaking in full sentences, shoulda thought about a strategy before you went at the stratosphere about this… rings around Saturn, this ain’t a battle, I’m sat, I’m here

15:40-16:22

Catch me doing magic, hired and sounding tragic I think you could use practice and until that you get the blacklist and pull like a … actress? Fooling them like a catfish, schooling like a legend, happy to be the reference, fusing like iridescence, leaving them all guessing, leaking out of my brain like a pipe I aint fixing, shining like a star you can see it from a distance

Aint many of me around p*** I’m just different Certain stages to this level aint here because fame is to the devil fuck a label, imma do this from the ghetto, clean up like Im Dettol

I’m the man to put a bet on, sight smart like a weapon, this is my kind of setting, i write the world I’m sat in, while these others live on hype, i see them fight in how they type, the fruit is ripe for the taking, i think i might

16:22-16:57

Let me take you away from here, Let me take you away from here, Let me take you away from here

16:58- 17:47

Eccentric things are mentioned like a kid stuck in detention tryna escape im just spitting what is written on the next page, spitting image of my dad in his young days

Born sinner when i’m livid i say fucks sake

Don’t worry i’m too cunning with no plumbing, the waterworks, i sung something that resonates, i thought it first like giving birth to the parrot perch

They see me do it and they know it works

Don’t know what’s worse: the way that you live your life or the way that you write a verse

You’ll be nervous, you don’t deserve it we’ll scratch the surface ill leave a crater, lift the dirt up to find the hurting

Can’t know for certain nothing is guaranteed, tryna be a better person than the world deserves to see cuz i see a lot of sharks still swimming in the sea

Cease and arrest what’s the reason.. And these the kinda kids we bringing up next

Distorted reality, all they needed was family, too hard to face, to see what the damage is

17:47

*i don’t wanna be, i don’t wanna be, a part of this, no, i don’t wanna be, i don’t wanna be, a part of this, *

18:04-18:38

Sometimes they ask the questions too deep to form a sentence, to disform, is this the norm, is this the sentence i feel defenseless i played the setlist, and all my sweat blood and tears, forgot to mention feeling lost, going off into different sections i feel like love wrecked it

If it’s not a drug why am i waiting for the next fix, affected, i cant believe that you left this

I guess I leave for the best wish, moving on like im fine for the lectures

We see it all from spectrums, cuz if we’re falling down we can fall down together

Staircase to heaven, mirror down the middle like 11, resentment on one side it won’t settle

18:38- 19:14

Mind fried but taking sense, they aint got a sense of themselves in the rich ends

Need to spell it out for them.. Made for them so witness

I know you feel afflicted but you always love it with me while im laughing at you, ya think you’re laughing with me

I try to (i love you) but im grown so they don’t fit me, my body thrown from the new to this old city so Im sick of sitting on my own, feeling so shitty, i’ve been on roads where its cold and the snow hitting

Its okay to be yourself, sit and talking to myself

I’ve been walking for the longest, just need a little rest, know i ain’t the strongest, I can feel it in my chest, talking about my feelings and of me, they get the best

19:14-19:59

They aint leaving, seeing breathing in my breath

Till death do us part is just seeded in my heart, like a work of art

Never winning,im just scared

Cant begin from the start, do i play a part in the rhythm of the night

I guess i’m onto something cuz the dark is feeling right

Every cloud got a lining, put my own miles in, like moralis, figured that they’re jealous, that they could just never tell us to change because the weather never made me question whether or not i’m not that level

Got rid of all the bullshit sitting in my way, most of them are full of shit i see it every day

I do hearing the same things that i do, maybe that shits hitting like haiku

How much do you pay for them to hype you

Recycle your flaws but they aint like new, leaving and conceded and full of diesel like engines that need a cleaning, the ending will be revealing. Even though we ain’t raising the facts, now we been facing.

20:01-20:52

The cactus with spikes, needing spaces. Different faces, the same story. A full body like straight body direct to your system.

Could never tell 'em we missed’ em. Not even with the thoughts, we gift them. Cuz they just take advantage, guess we are caught in a system.

My soul pouring out details of borrowed time, had enough of a fill, this is for sorrow time. I’m seeing visions of Heaven, I seen the severed line, between the gospel they speak and when theyre telling lies.

Remember telling a friend of mine, you’d sent of mine, identified like a 3rd eye. Got a habit of knowing now where the dirt lies. So benign. I ain’t sober after 9, so I fuck their minds. Why you flipping out, see another

Try to rep it from the city, fuck a chiller crew, repping for the nittys, trying to keep us down, raised on the social, don’t want to let us out of the system. Me, I insist we assist them, me alone putting shifts til I lift them

20:53-21:12

I know it’s hard, that’s why I like it, I’m fit to fight it, I’m from the North, I’m backing Tyson, it’s been decided, don’t see no light. They needing guiding, just redefining, realizing, I’m realigning, in full finance, they stay silenced.

Can’t be louder, I’m juiced up with no powder. I fix shit like a slick spanner. Gone green like Bruce Banner. So free Gaza on my banner

21:12-21:51

The real McCoy, I ain’t nothing to toy with, signifying peace like a Japanese Koi Fish. How did this happen, we’re moving backwards in our timeline, killing us with cyanide, Right up for the freedom 'til we transform like Ironhide

This is bout my feelings, the way that I move affects the fate that I’m sealing. Can’t say nothing, with that something being on the page, kept inside the pen like the bars that have been kept caged. See I always had a plan, since I was young, we had nothing man

Now it’s been a few years since I ain’t seen the fam, on foreign lands. Bout to climb Everest in the avalanche. Right into the riddles as soon as you were born. Never asking the question cuz it’s the norm. See I’m in a questionin’ session

21:52-22:03

Like the manner got a method to teaching a lesson, listen to MF Doom, he taught me like Ra’s Al Ghul. Felt like living in Gotham, the people were rotten. Still we play cartoons so it’s never forgotten.

22:03-22:15

Chilling at the top but we came from the bottom. Writing and jottin for them life by, spotting the difference

*Dreams, was growing out of me, sun promising that tomorrow it will rise, time playing games with my mind, I swear it will pass us by

Train goes on the tracks, smoke, I’m tired to hide my thoughts, so blinded in flames, Don’t know where we’re going, I have no way of knowing, only see what’s in my head

Can’t we wait a minute, so we can savour this, It’s on my brain again, these days, It on my brain again these days”

23:10-23:46

They’re hating on Palestine ways, The oh no Palace playing Prince on the Steinway, Sending out mind waves, stop them like crimewaves, Freedom fighter, Yellow Metal is my name

Like vipers, I see the sly ones, the snake that’s called Biden, none of them abiding what they might put in writing

We should be used to it by now, say whatever for the vote and then just choose another route, say they’d never kill another unless that brother’s skin is brown

I’m just telling you the facts, if you can’t take it, the truth naked, to bare bones and my thoughts lately, spitting politics.. Done ain’t it, Shit just gets me vexed, and now I’m sitting that I think of it

23:45-23:59

Feeling on the brink of it, whatever it is, Figure out some shit at least it feels that way

talk about my feelings and I don’t feel so strange, finding solace, that’s a promise, in Metropolis but being honest, can’t write a sonnet, without some pain

24:00-24:40

Can’t fade away, away so we can savour this, been on my brain again these days

Can't find a way to be so you can savour this, been on my brain these days

Singing the song for another, singing a song for another

#zayn #yellowmetal #cathartic #feel free to correct me pls #cathartic lyrics

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shinydelirium · 3 years ago

Text

MLQC Season 2 Chapter 21 (Kiro) Part 2 [Chaotic Space] & [Tacit Agreement] Translation [CN]

***SPOILERS*** THIS POST CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR CONTENT NOT YET RELEASED ON EN SERVER!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!***

For previous translations of chapter 21: Part 1

Enjoy~

[Chaotic Space]

We made our way to the hotel lobby.

Every waiter who passed by Helios only gave him a small glimpse. He continued to do his own thing as if he was already used to such behavior and just let it pass him by.

I tugged on his sleeve and motioned for him to come closer.

MC: Do you know something about their expressions?

Helios: No.

Helios: They only know that I’m a “special guest.”

A playful smile crept into his eyes but at this time the lobby manager stepped forward and stood in front of us, casting accusing eyes on Helios.

Manager: Sir, I hope you will not cause trouble to the other guests.

Faced with such a firm and awe-inspiring question, Helios smiled lazily and turned his head to look at me.

Helios: Are you troubled?

I shook my head, feeling the manager’s face darken a little bit, and Helios’ smile became more triumphant and mocking.

Manager: If you are threatened, you can tell me right away. This guest has a history of taking other people’s belongings.

Helios: So much rubbish.

Helios: Step aside.

Helios stepped forward impatiently, took me towards the door and I looked at him with a snicker.

MC: You’re not stealing people’s cell phones to send text messages, are you?

Helios: I tried normal communication.

He said this nonchalantly, warning the waiters who were observing secretly.

Helios: They just want to keep me here as ordered and restrict my communication with the outside world.

Helios: On the other hand, as long as I don’t leave here, I can do as I please.

MC: But if that’s the case, you can walk straight out the exit, right? How can you not be able to leave?

Helios: That is what makes this hotel interesting.

As we talked, we arrived at a door and Helios pushed it away while I stared blankly.

A dazzling light shines through the crack of the door. As we moved forward, it instantly covers my entire vision—

An embellished blue is embellished in front of my eyes. The sound of waves rushes to my ears, sweeping away the fatigue and burden of this period in time.

In the distance, a few people were on surfboards riding and jumping over the waves and women in bikinis lay on the beach sunbathing.

I stared at Helios next to me in a daze and he seemed to be unsurprised as though he had seen this scene many times.

MC: Have we crossed?

Helios: ….

MC: Is this the work of an Evolver?

Helios didn’t seem to want to explain anything. He took a handful of sand from the ground and stuffed it into my hand.

Helios: Hold onto it tightly.

In the next second, he took my shoulder and walked to the other side of the beach.

Under the bright, hot sun, my forehead unknowingly oozes thin sweat.

I don’t know how long it has been until a door similar to the one before appeared.

Helios pushed open the door skillfully and pulled me in.

The sun behind him suddenly disappeared and was replaced by an endless field. Many stars covered the entire night sky.

Before I could marvel at the sight, Helios raised my hand to my eyes.

Helios: Open your hand.

I obeyed his words and opened my fingers gently and the dense, fine sand was scattered like smoke and dust under the starry sky, quietly falling down to the ground.

It’s so real that it sends chills down one’s spine.

Helios: Although it is not clear what the principle is, it should be the use of “doors” to connect many real spaces together.

MC: Do you mean this is actually Loveland City or somewhere on Earth?

Helios: No, all you see here are people who come to the hotel.

Helios: It should be some kind of different space.

He took me to walk in the star-shrouded wilderness. The crescent moon bends and the night wind swept over the weeds making a rustling sound.

Maybe because Helios is here, my heart is incredibly calm.

Helios: What’s wrong?

MC: Although I think it might not be a good time to say this kind of thing, don’t you think it’s beautiful here?

Helios: I brought you here because of the beauty. ***UWUWUWUWUWUWU!!! 🥺💕That is classic Kiro!!!***

Helios: Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken you away like this.

I was surprised. Helios’ expression was faint as if this the answer was obvious.

MC: Is there anything else that’s weird here?

Helios snorted and reached out his hand to count.

Helios: Volcano eruptions, Tyrannosaurus in Jurassic Park, valleys full of poisonous insects, tropical rain forests, deserts, polar regions….

MC: ….

MC: ….It seems that you have suffered a lot.

Helios: At least it gave me some fun.

Before we knew it, we came to another door again. After he opened it skillfully, he led me to step on the clouds.

I looked down and dizziness swept through me.

MC: …This is?

Helios: A rare and special place.

He pulled me to sit on the clouds, soft as velvet, and the pale pink sky seemed to be within reach.

MC: Do you remember where all these doors lead to?

Helios: Each space has a door with at least three doors and at most six doors and the space leading to it is basically fixed.

Helios: Try a few more times and you will know.

I looked back against the light. How long has he been trapped here and how many attempts has he made by himself?

MC: What does it mean “basically fixed”?

Helios: When I first arrived, I went through the doors several times and the space changed.

Helios: I was short on time so I haven’t found a pattern yet. This place is bigger than I thought.

MC: Wouldn’t it be dangerous if a guest ended up in the wrong place?

Helios: Not that dangerous.

He turned his head and half of his body was already out of the clouds.

I subconsciously wanted to catch him. The friction felt fleeting at my fingertips and I watched in horror as Helios gradually receded.

MC: ….!

Helios smiled calmly. In the next second, he squeezed my palm—

Gravity pulled me down quickly like a boulder. At the same time, his arm tightened and he took me into his arms.

I stared at his eyes blankly. My heart beat violently because of the weightlessness as light and shadow past behind me.

Helios: Don’t be afraid.

At the end of my field of vision, I saw a vast expanse of whiteness. We seem to have fallen into the end of the light.

Suddenly, we seem to have landed onto a very soft place and even bounced back a few times.

I opened my eyes, propped up, and found myself lying on a bed with Helios beside me looking at me with a smile.

Helios: Now you understand.

Helios: Someone in the hotel is secretly manipulating everything.

Helios: You can only appear where you “should” appear.

From a drawer, Helios pulled out a piece of paper with many weird graphics on it and pointed to one of them.

Helios: Like I said before, this here is a different special space just like this Rubik’s Cube…

MC: Wait a sec.

I looked at the distorted three-dimensional figure on the paper in confusion.

MC: ….I can’t tell that this is a Rubik’s Cube.

Helios: …..

***In case any of you don’t know, it’s a known fact that Kiro’s drawing skills suck😆. He ain’t no Piscasso but I still love him as Mr. Spicy Chips🥰🥰🥰 ***

Helios’ expression was a bit stiff. He took out a pen and drew a more distorted figure on a blank space.

I lay on the bed and couldn’t help laughing.

Helios: That funny, huh?

MC: No, it’s nothing.

I tried to suppress my laughter but seeing Helios’ expression, I couldn’t help but let it out.

I took the pen from his hand, turned over the paper, and drew a regular three-dimensional figure of a Rubik’s Cube.

MC: Rubik’s Cube…as you were saying.

Helios looked at the figure I drew in a daze. Finally, he turned his head and let out a faint chuckle.

He cleared his throat and pointed to the Rubik’s Cube.

***I just absolutely love how these two interact with one another😂😂😂***

Helios: After my investigation, I suspected that every space in the hotel is like each square on a Rubik’s Cube.

Helios: Therefore, the number of doors will vary depending on the position of each block.

Helios: However, the space we have just experienced is the state of the Rubik’s Cube at rest.

Helios: But if the “Cube” is rotated, the space will change.

MC: Isn’t that troublesome?

Helios snorted coldly, his eyes flashing with disdain.

Helios: Even if it gets disrupted again, it can’t erase the “Rubik’s Cube” itself.

Helios: There will be no way out.

[Tacit Agreement]

For the rest of the time, I tried to digest what Helios said, but I kept finding it strange.

MC: Let us not mention for the time being whether the people who were taken away from the Wish Club were brought to the Wish Hotel.

MC: For this hotel alone, it serves Evolvers under the guise of storing Evol…

MC: Just to trap them here?

MC: If it’s that’s the case, what happened to that guest I saw leaving when I came here?

Helios: Nothing but a cover.

Helios casually grabbed a pillow, leaned on my side, and laid his arms on top.

Helios: Whether it’s “stored” or not, the Evol of the guests in the hotel is indeed gone.

MC: ?!

Helios: This hotel has equipment for detecting Evol energy.

Helios: I saw that were no Evol energy fluctuations in anyone.

Helios: After realizing this, I confirmed that every guest who leaves the hotel is the same.

MC: How did you do that….

Helios: Haven’t found it yet.

Helios: Customers who accept the Evol “storage” service should have a special “door”.

There was a cold glint in Helios’ eyes.

MC: But it feels that there are not a few guests here and there is no description of Wish Hotel from the outside world.

MC: Does it mean that these storage behaviors are voluntary?

Helios: That’s not important.

He turned his head and looked at me lazily. It might have been my imagination but his eyes seemed somewhat tired.

Helios: The important thing is that the Evol energy that originally existed was indeed “taken away”.

Helios: They won’t be taken away for no reason.

Suddenly, I thought of something and looked at Helios in front of me. I sat up abruptly.

MC: This strange hotel is also related to the foundation that should serve ordinary people.

MC: The foundation is doing things for GR again.

MC: Could there be GR members behind this hotel?

MC: Are they collecting Evol energy for research? Or looking for CORE?

Helios: You have quite the habit of asking a lot of questions.

Helios closed his eyes. His reaction didn’t seem surprising.

Helios: Find the person behind the hotel and then we will know everything.

Helios: Thinking more is a waste of brain power.

MC:…You’re right.

I mumbled and went back to the bed again, looking at the man with his eyes closed, my brain spinning constantly.

MC: That being the case, I have a good idea. Maybe I can find the person responsible.

Helios: No way.

Helios didn’t open his eyes as if he completely guessed what I was going to say.

MC: I haven’t said anything yet.

Helios: No way.

Helios opened his eyes with dissatisfied and the light outside the window fell on his distinct eyelashes through the soft gauze of the curtains.

Looking at the more vivid person in front of me, I couldn’t help but raise the corners of my mouth.

MC: I am now a “guest” of this hotel and it’s only reasonable to enjoy their special services.

MC: Since I’m here, even if I don’t ask for it, they will definitely achieve their goal in another way.

Helios: I have other options.

MC: Definitely not faster and more straightforward than mine.

MC: Besides, didn’t we also cooperate perfectly in that Hunter Game before?

I stared at him calmly and gently grabbed the corner of his sleeve.

MC: I believe you will protect me.

Helios’s eyes became turbulent.

Helios: No third time.

After speaking, he took out the wooden board on the side of the bed and in his hand was a microcomputer.

MC: How can you still have a microcomputer?

Helios: I dismantled several computers at the front desk.

Helios: There wasn’t enough time. Only set up the intranet.

Helios said casually and quickly started typing on the keyboard.

Helios: You’re in room 2176? ***It’s not a Kiro chapter without some numeric slang sprinkled in. MC is staying in “Love You Kiro” room🥺💕***

MC: Yeah, you found this out too?

Helios didn’t speak, only a soft hum was left in the air.

Then, he took out two small devices from another cassette and stuffed them into my hand.

Helios: Communication equipment. Put it in your ears.

MC: Where did you remove this from? You didn’t take apart the phones in the hotel too, did you?

Helios only raised the corners mouth slightly, set aside the satellite computer, grabbed my wrist and pulled me down.

Helios: So many questions.

He made no attempt to hide the fatigue in his voice. He sighed as if he could finally feel relieved.

Helios: I haven’t slept well these days. Let me rest for a while.

[End of Part 2]

#spoilers #mlqc #mlqc spoilers #mlqc season 2 #mlqc season 2 spoilers #translations #mlqc translations #mlqc season 2 translations #kiro #kiro spoilers #helios #helios spoilers #love and producer #koi to producer #mr. love queen's choice #mr love game #mr love dream date #mldd

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loudsuitlover · 6 years ago

Text

The girl, the Miss, the Mrs II

A/N: They met they met they met

It had been raining for days and even though it was still cloudy in the morning, Harry had woken up with the thought of taking his little nephew somewhere. If he couldn’t take him to the park, then he would take him to the cinema or they could surely drive until they found a bowling alley. George had never been to a bowling alley before and he had said that to Harry a couple days before when they were bulding Lego cars on the living room table. He had thought in that moment he could have been a much better uncle- he could have been a much better anything- for then he realized he barely knew his sister’s child. He remembered he had been in Tennessee when he was born and then he remembered his sister calling- he was on Spain with Y/N at the time- and telling him her son had indeed Asperger Syndrome. He remember he cried on the phone, even though it didn’t seem to matter that much now.

Gemma was working, typing away on her laptop with her legs crossed Indian-style and she gave a smile to her daugther as the girl joined her on the kitchen table, placing her Chemistry books next to her mother’s laptop and giving her a soft smile back. It was a Saturday, so under any other circumstances she’d feel a little worried that her daughter would rather do Chemistry exercises instead of going out but she knew, even though it had been a week, that Eric had really hurt her and she also remembered her first heartbreak and she remember how much her mum had meant to her in that moment so the only that was on her mind, and the only thing she wanted to do, was to be there for her daugther as her own mother had been for her.

She had been on the same page for twenty minutes when she spoke.

“Mum” she attracted her mother’s attention as the woman hummed “do you think if uncle Harry had married Y/N we would have seen him more?”

Gemma stopped typing and then Laura looked up at her from her notebook and so her mum coughed and tried to pretend like she could still write after that question. It had taken her by surprise, that her daughter would be talking about her brother’s love interest, that she would think it would have change their own relationship with him, but mostly it scared her that she could be right.

“Mmhm” she doubted instead “why do you say that, honey?”

Laura shrugged.

“It’s just... You know, I can almost count the times I’ve seen him in the last... Ten years with my fingers... But he’s also... It seems like he really loves us.”

“That’s ‘cause he does, honey.”

“He barely sees us though.”

“Well, you know your uncle is a singer, love. He doesn’t even have a permanent residence. I bet if you ask him where home is, he would say Holmes Chapel.” She smiled.

“Where Nana’s biscuits are.” They both chuckled. “I don’t know, I just think if he didn’t have his heart broken he wouldn’t have to hide so much.” She shrugged.

“You think he’s hiding?”

“I think he’s... Have you noticed how much George likes him?”

They both stared into each other’s eyes. When it came about the little one in the family, few words needed to be exchanged. They both knew what some people said, that children with Asperger Syndrome or other Austitic disorders had a world of their own and so they thought they could be right but they also knew, and this was something they knew from experience, that they were very generous when it came about sharing it. Mother and daughter knew they probably have a different connection because they were not just a mum and a daughter, they were also little George’s guardians and that brought them all the more closer together.

The little boy had always been so retiring and that was exactly the word, but he was also so, so good. In that moment, under her mother’s stare, she had to swallow the little lump that would form on her throat every time she thought about just a week ago, when she had come home crying and she had yelled at both her mum and dad and she would have locked herself on her room if only she had had a lock- but instead she just closed the door, lied in bed and cried as she felt her heart breaking for the first time in her life; and in that moment the door cracking opened, the little feet walking to her bed, and her little brother sitting with his legs crossed on the corner of her mattress with his brand new book of dinosaurs on his lap.

“George, what are you doing here buddy?”

“I know you’re sad.” He reasoned. “And I want to be with you.”

She felt new tears falling down her cheeks, but that time they felt different, and she just nodded her head, changing her position so she could be closer to the little boy.

“You want to know about the T Rex?” He asked his sister as if that could fix her. “You know in Jurassic Park, that scene where the T Rex runs after the car and the family is inside screaming because he’s going to get them?” She nodded. “Well that’s not true! A T Rex couldn’t run as fast as a car!” He giggled. “He was too heavy, he could only run 30 km per hour.”

“Well” Laura said “I think they get along so well because uncle Harry gets him like we do and I think he does that because he also doesn’t really like people too much.”

“You know the phrase Treat People With Kindness you have on your schoolbag right? That’s his. That’s your uncle’s merch.” Gemma smiled.

“I know, mum.” Laura rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean like that. I mean... You know today Charlie called and said they were all going to the mall to see Rose and I just... I don’t really want to go out, you know? And I know I’ll get over this, but Eric wasn’t my Y/N. I mean... Imagine you didn’t have dad, or us” she raised her eyebrows “maybe you wouldn’t be so... outgoing? And you definitely wouldn’t want to hang around the people who remind you of dad the most, would you?”

“Lauri” Gemma smiled “never change that little head of yours, yeah?”

Laura smiled back at her mum before they went back to their own tasks and then Gemma tried not to, but couldn’t help to, steal little glances at her daughter’s phone every time she would text. And then her own phone lighted up on the table and she smirked.

Haha I know you do. I just hate yoga, it’s nothing personal haha- Y/N

“Hey mum, Dylan might come over before dinner to help me with Maths. Is that alright?”

“It sure is, sweetheart. Ask him to stay over for dinner though. Dad is making a roast.” She raised her eyebrows excitedly and her daugther laughed.

“Okay.” She smiled.

And then they both cut vegetables while Asher got all the ingredients on the table, as usual terribly singing to Ben Howard while the two women on his life whispered under their breaths.

“This is the kind of Saturdays I like.” He smiled. “My girls helping me out, only my little man is missing but he’s having fun so it’s not that bad.”

“You’re so cheesy, dad.” Laura rolled her eyes.

“You really are, babe.” Gemma laughed.

“Hey! You both are mean.”

Laura left the already cut courgette on the table next to her father before she gave him a little smile.

“I’m only doing this because I’m single.” She dared to joke, making her dad roll his eyes as her mum laughed. “Guys, I’ve also been thinking” for she couldn’t say she had been searching for Y/N online, hoping she could contact her and try to fix a 35 years old man’s heart “what if... What if we tried to get in touch with Y/N?”

Her dad dropped a fork, Gemma smirked at his awkwardness.

“What for, baby?” Gemma asked.

“Well, you know, it’s about to be Easter. What if... What if the Easter bunny wasn’t the only one doing magic?” She smiled.

“Okay we’re definitely unsubscribing Netflix.” Asher shook his head.

“Oh, come on, dad! You believe in love! What would you do if mum just disappeared? You’d like to at least know how she’s doing, right?”

“Yeah but Y/N didn’t just disappear, Lau. Y/N left and that’s different.”

“He doesn’t hate her.” Laura said. “And there must be a reason for that. He wouldn’t still talk of her that highly if she had just left. Something... Something must have happened.”

“Or not, love. This is not To All The Boys I’ve Written A Letter.”

“That’s not even the name of the movie.” Laura just noted, softly shaking her head at her dad as he rolled his eyes.

“Gemma talk some sense into our daughter’s head.”

“Actually, Ash-”

“No-”

“I think it’s a good idea.”

An hour and a half later Dylan had given up about his friend actually understanding what she was doing with those calculations. She just had a brilliant memory and she remembered it by heart, the method, the equations, so if you asked her she had no idea what was going on but she could give you an answer and for that day, Dylan thought that was okay.

“No, Dylan, it’s not a blind date. There are so many ways that could go wrong.” Laura explained her friend as he picked up his books. “But my mum and I are gonna meet with her! She agreed, you know? She doesn’t know my uncle is here or anything but maybe Mum tells her when we see her.”

“And then what? You think they’re gonna get back together? After two years?”

“Crazier things have happened.” She shrugged. “Plus, love will find a way. I thought we had been over this already.”

He just stared at her and if she wasn’t just fifteen or if she knew just a little bit more about men, she would know that meant a completely different thing to him. He stretched his legs under the table and the thought crossed his mind, that at some point he might be her Harry and she might be his Y/N and then he tried to fight the little stupid smirk that was pulling from the corner of his lips.

“What?” She swatted his arm playfully.

“Nothing!” He laughed. “You’re just so cliché. You live for a romcom, don’t you?”

“So does my uncle!” She widened her eyes. “That’s why I know this can work. You’ve just never been in love that’s why you can’t understand.”

Dylan nodded. Right. So cliché and so oblivious.

“And then the parrot said that the cat couldn’t fly and then the cat fell out the window and he yelled see how I can fly?” George laughed right after Harry had closed the door. “Is that funny?”

“It is funny, George.” Harry chuckled.

“Oh, here’s my baby!” Gemma squealed as she ran towards her son.

“Well hello Gemma.” Harry chuckled.

“Hello brother.” She smiled.

If only he knew what was coming for him.

At that point he thought he was close to being a trespasser, for two weeks at his sister’s house seemed to be the closest to too much a sibling could get but he also felt as if he was taking all the time he hadn’t allowed himself to have with his sister’s children and also, ever since he had heard your voice again, on those damn videos, he just couldn’t get it out of his head and I love you, Harry but also I think I’m falling for someone else. Two years; two years apart and more than 20 together... How did two years mean anything at all? He got up and decided that day was going to be about reminiscing.

Laura had her arm tangled with her mother’s as they both walked to the café they had agreed to meet with you in the mall. Laura was meeting Dylan at the theatre afterwards, just on the top floor of the same building, but she was too excited thinking at last she was going to meet the already famous Y/N for her to think about any other thing. She just walked as if she knew nothing about the world, like an innocent girl about to meet Santa for the first time and she felt her body squeaking if that was possible when her mum greeted someone. She tried to look for her on the cafeteria, she narrowed her eyes; her mum had greeted someone else. Then they sat down on a table outside, on the corridor of the mall, right in front of a costumes shop and she sighed, licking her lips and hoping they could fix this for her uncle, and then you arrived.

Your hair was a bit shorter than she had seen on your graduation video and you wore round sunglasses but when you smiled at them, she smiled as well because if your smile looked the same then maybe everything else about you hadn’t changed as much either. You wore skinny jeans and a white blouse and she thought she wouldn’t mind looking like that, she thought she wouldn’t mind at all and that Dylan would find you hot.

“Hi.” You grinned, placing your sunglasses on the top of your head. “You look so gorgeous!” You complimented Gemma.

“So do you!”

She got up from her chair and pulled you in a very tight hug and Laura just stared at your profile as you closed your eyes and enjoyed her mum’s embracement. She took that moment to really see you and then she undertstood why it had been that long and her uncle still hadn’t forgotten about you because you had the kind of face one never forgets and she knew if Harry was in love with you then he would see you even prettier, and that was prettier than anyone could ever forget.

“This is my daughter Laura.” Gemma smiled.

“What?” Your eyes widened as you stared at the young teenager who looked a lot like her mum did. “You have got to be kidding me! I feel so old!” You laughed. “Hi Laura! I’m Y/N, I bet you don’t remember me.”

“Remember?” She frowned. “So we’ve met before?”

You chuckled, nodding your head.

“You... You know who I am? Or who I was?”

“Yeah.” Uncle Harry’s girlfriend.

“Well we used to take you out quite a lot before we moved but I think you were... Like... 5 or 6 so... I expected you not to remember me.” You smiled.

“Wow, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be!” You chuckled. “It’s not like you can control that! You are so beautiful. Sorry I had to say it. You look a lot like Anne.”

“She does, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, how is she by the way?”

“She’s good. Yeah, she’s good. She... She finally moved to London.”

“Right! Well that’s... That’s great.”

“Yeah.”

“And... How is Asher? And George?”

“They’re good.” Gemma smiled. “Little George found his passion in dinosarus, right Laura?”

“Yeah.” The girl laughed. “He’s like a little genius. He can tell you everything and anything about dinosaurs the little nerd.”

“That’s funny.” You smiled. “My sister had a child too.” You grinned. “A year ago. He’s called Nick. She... She wanted to... Ask Harry to be the godfather, even if we were not together.” You shook your head, giving them an awkward smile. “She didn’t, eventually.”

“Is... Is Tommy the godfather?”

“No!” You widened your eyes. “I wasn’t with Tommy at the time already.”

“Wait, what?”

“Wait, who is Tommy?” Laura asked.

“Tommy is... My ex.”

“Like my uncle.”

You gave her a look. Why did it feel like the little girl was judging you? Instead you gave her a little smile before you whispered “no, not like your uncle.”

“I guess you’re wondering why all of a sudden we wanted to meet” Gemma dared to direct the attention to the elephant in the room “and quite frankly the fact that even without knowing you said yes was what really made me let my daughter do this.”

“Your daughter?” You looked at Laura. “What is it? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. He’s alright.”

“Thank God.” You brought your hand to your chest and sighed. “I... I came without asking because I was so scared something might have happened to him. I knew you wouldn’t tell me that over the phone.”

“No, God, no.” Gemma said. “He’s perfectly fine.”

“He’s staying with us.” Laura blurted out, making her mum sighed as she shut her eyes. Now this was the moment when you stood up and walked away.

“He is?” You asked instead. “Last thing I heard was that he had moved to Japan.”

“He did.” Laura confirmed. “But he’s back now.”

“He is.”

You repeated her words, sounding like an idiot, because for a moment there you had felt overwhelmed by her statement. It was as if only thinking that he could be in the same country as you was turning you into a silly girl who couldn’t count to three. All of a sudden you wanted to cry and you knew it didn’t make much sense but you also knew if someone were to ask you you were going to start crying and you would tell them you didn’t know your own name.

“Is he?” You voice croaked. “Fuck” your eyes widened as Laura’s presence hit you “I’m sorry, does he know I’m-”

“No” Gemma said “we didn’t talk to him, we just... Laura, tell her what happened.”

Laura looked at her mother in a moment of panic. How was she going to tell her what had happened? Her mother didn’t even know she had had that talk with her uncle, or did she? And she didn’t even know which part she could tell and which part should be a secret but her mum just nodded and then she understood she wanted her to be the one to do this, for she had been the one who wanted to do this all alone, so she sighed before she turned to look at you. Her mum turned her head to order two coffees, a chocolate and two pieces of cake and then she told her everything, from the moment Harry had comforted her about Eric Shepelld to the conversation they had shared in the kitchen and you were not sure whether you were about to faint or to cry.

“What about Kendall then?” You asked Gemma.

Laura frowned. Her uncle hadn’t told her anything about any Kendall, or about any other girl for that matter, and then in that moment, she felt as if she had been unfair and all of a sudden it was as if she had just noticed how much affection there had been on her mother’s embrace to Y/N just before and then she thought the whole thing might have not been as simple. Maybe her uncle had thought at some point he was in love with someone else too.

Gemma just shook her head and then for the first time Laura realized sometimes adults, even being 34 years old, don’t know what’s going on either.

They had left the cafeteria with the promise of talking soon. Gemma had driven home and Laura had made her way up the theatre to meet with Dylan who, as expected, was already waiting for her right where he said he would. She gave him a big smile and then she realized how lucky she was to have him and the thought crossed her head, if only for a second, before she wrapped her arms around him.

“I take it it didn’t go as well as you thought it would?” Dylan asked her.

“It’s not that.” She smiled. “I’m just happy to have you.”

He grinned, and he prayed she couldn’t see the blush on his cheeks, so he tightened his arms around her figure, not only because he liked to hold her, but so that his face could go back to its normal colour. She pulled back and looked back up at him.

“Promise we will never stop talking to one another?” She asked.

“So far in these ten years of friendship, you are the one who’s stopped talking to me.” He smiled, grinning wider when she frowned. “Remember when I chose Mary Hardy as my bus partner to the museum trip when we were 8?” Laura grinned. “You stopped talking to me for two days.”

“You never chose another bus partner after that.” She shrugged.

He grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leading her to the fifth theatre. And I never will now.

Harry was sitting on the kitchen table, at the farthest corner with his guitar on his lap, and he had been strumming on the same melody all morning for he couldn’t get it out of his head and somehow it felt as if he had heard it before. For some reason that scene, the guitar playing on somebody else’s kitchen had reminded him of that summer the two of you went to Jamaica.

All of a sudden it was as if he could see you, waking up after him, as usual for you were not as much of a morning person as he was; and making your way to the kitchen on your undies and his shirt from the night before. He had been jogging in the morning and he had probably waking you up with the sound of the shower. He grinned as he saw you, your hair a proper mess as you yawned and he knew you hadn’t even washed your face.

“There you are.” Your voice was crocked from sleep. “I woke up and you weren’t there.” You pouted.

He chuckled, resting the guitar on the table next to him and patting his lap for you to sit on it. You smiled, proud of yourself for having at least brushed your teeth, and then you straddled him, your hands instantly finding a home on his hair and he hummed in appreciation. His hands slided down your back as he just smiled at you and then he all but whispered “give me a kiss” and so you leaned down and captured his lips with yours and just the thought of you kissing him made him weak at the knees, even if it was years later at his sister’s kitchen.

He is sure it’s strange, that he can still perfectly rememer how you kissed. It might be getting harder, especially to close his eyes and think he’s feeling it, but what’s true is that he still remembered the feeling and he still remembered the way your lips seemed to perfectly mold to his.

“Why do you smell so good?” He whispered, his nose buried in the spot right behind your ear before he started kissing down your neck, making his way back to your lips.

“I love waking up with you.” You moaned. “Don’t... H... Don’t just leave in the morning.”

He chuckled against your neck, feeling the skin of your bare legs turning into goose bumps as he kissed your jaw.

“But you’re such a sleepyhead, baby.” He bit down your skin. “I woke up and couldn’t sleep any more. Thought I’d let you sleep after last night...”

He smirked smugly and you cupped his jaw and brought his face to yours. You gave him a skimo kiss, tangling your fingers on the curls of his neck as he just grinned like a child.

“I always miss you so much when you’re gone.” You whispered. “So when you’re here, I want to wake up with you and if that means you literally have to stir me awake I want you to do so.”

He just stayed quiet then. It was as if all a sudden he had realized you were serious and then he nodded, he would wake you up every morning for the rest of his life, and he wanted you to know how much he fucking loved you, even if he was away a lot, even if you had to wake up alone a lot of days in the year. He wanted you to know you were the only one and he also wanted to stop hearing those things, even though they were true, so he kissed your lips and the deeper it got the harder his grip on your body but you only moaned, naughtly and greedily rolling your hips on his for you loved that slightly agressive side of him. He still kissed you as he unbuttoned the shirt of his you wore, leaving your chest exposed and your undies getting more and more wet. You couldn’t stop moaning and it was some sweet perverted way of complaining because the way you moved over him could never give you the relief you needed.

“I want you.”

You half whispered half begged, holding his neck and making him look into your eyes because you wanted him to see it, that hunger for him that was roaring at your belly; despite everything he had given you the night before, you still wanted more and you hoped you would always want more and that between the two of you there would always be that energy, that attraction, and that years wouldn’t pass over that, that you would always be young for this.

“I want to fuck you so hard right now.”

He had to clear his throat at the memory of that and he could feel his neck and cheeks turning red. He looked that at his pants. Great, he’d need a cold shower then.

When he came out of the shower, Gemma was already wearing a fancy dress and he gave her an amused smile.

“Am I babysitting?” He asked.

“No, you’re coming along.” She nodded. “Today’s Asher’s company charity dinner, remember?” She raised her eyebrows.

“I do remember.” He lied.

“Sure, sure.” She smiled. “You’ve got about twenty minutes.”

She sat down on her bed as she put her earrings on and Asher noticed she was frowning so he pressed a kiss to her shoulder and whispered it would be alright as she gave him a grateful smile. It’s not like she believed in destiny or soulmates or that kind of thing, but she was certain she would never love anyone the way she loved Asher and so she just got it. There are no soulmates, she thought, but sometimes the one is just the one.

Laura had put on the dress Asher’s mum had weaved for her last Christmas and she spun around in front of her mirror. She could wear a little mascara and a little light lipstick that night and somehow when she looked at herself in the mirror she realized that light makeup made her look older than her usual dramatic black line and she thought she might listen to her mum more often. Dylan texted her the colour of his tie. Do you like it? - Dylan. She smiled, for some reason she was feeling a little nervous about seeing him; but it might just be how tremendously nervous she was that her uncle was going to see her.

The Weatherfords got there just ten minutes late, just like the vicepresident of the company should, as Gemma had said; but still it gave Asher an excuse to lean down and whisper on her ear that they should have another baby so they could have a proper excuse for being late. She giggled and blushed and her husband grinned because she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and she was also his and he couldn’t really ask for anything more.

Laura and Dylan had been talking to Harry for the biggest part of the night and his niece had noticed how much female attention he was getting just as she had noticed when he would smirk at the ones he might like. She couldn’t really get mad at him for that, could she? Then why was she? She grabbed Dylan’s wrist, had a glance at his watch, and didn’t notice the way he was staring at her. So she could get even prettier.

“Lauri, you do know there’s not a like a... band coming or a show or even a clown, right?” Her uncle smirked. “You can stop checking the time.”

“Are you sure there’s not a clown coming? Cause I’m seeing one right now in front of me.”

Harry laughed and then he had a sip of his scotch. He had never really drank scotch, but he could almost hear Niall going real men drink scotch, only Harrys drink gin so he had ordered a scotch instead even though next time, he’d order a gin because even if only Harrys ordered gin, he was a Harry after all.

You walked inside Asher’s boss’ house after having given your name to the doorman. He had given you a gentle smile as he opened the door for you and as soon as you stepped inside you felt yourself calm down because you had been afraid you were overdressed. You straightened your dress right after you left your coat on the rack and then had a look around, hoping to see Gemma soon. It was moments like this when you missed her gray hair for the brunette Gemma was harder to spot in a crowd. Not so much Asher, the tallest man you had ever met so you just had to walk to that tall head who was laughing hard.

Harry was still meters away when you joined Gemma, joking with his niece and her best friend and he couldn’t help but think those two were going to end up together- or at least he hoped so for Dylan’s sake- but it wasn’t long until Laura spotted you and tangled her bare arm with that of her uncle, guiding him towards you. She was biting her bottom lip, feeling like a kid in Christmas at the anticipation of her uncle’s reaction but then as they got closer and you were in sight, she felt him completely tensed next to her, and she wished they had given him some kind of warning.

He stopped on his tracks and he didn’t look at anyone and his niece had to stop too for he wouldn’t budge and people were going to notice.

“Is that?”

Only then he looked at her and Laura just nodded, now afraid that he was going to get mad or that he was just going to turn around and leave but before he could do any of that, Y/N had noticed the way Gemma had seemed to stop listening to you as she set her eyes on something behind your back so you just turned around and your heart stopped beating when you saw him.

“Harry!”

You literally chirped before you ran towards him, almost stumbling with your own feet before you threw yourself at his arms. His heart went off in a mad frenzy and he was sure you were going to feel his rapid, crazy pulse against your skin, as your arms tightened around his neck and, even though if he had known and if he had had time to stop and think about the possible ways a reunion with you could have gone, he would have never considered this a possibility; he buried his head into your neck, and he breathed there for seconds enough for him to know this was actually you as if your presence had momentarily overwhelmed him.

“Hey.”

He finally said, and the way he sounded, and the awkward word, made you almost jump from his chest. You cross your arms across your chest, caressing your elbow timidly with your fingers as you looked at the floor. There was a strand of hair that was shielding your face from his stare and he was dying to reach for it and tuck it behind your ear but he knew he couldn’t do that now, despite your warm welcome and having just had your arms around him.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered. “I don’t... I don’t even know why I did that. It’s just... Really nice to see you.”

It broke his heart to think that you had assumed he didn’t want to hold you. He would kill to have you in his arms again but instead he just shook his head. His mouth had suddengly gone dry and he was tongue tied, he was sure if he were to speak he would stutter with the words. He scratch the back of his neck, he could feel his skin turning red.

“It’s nice to see you too.”

You smiled at him and the ridiculous amount of times he had spent gawking at the pictures of you he had or just thinking about your face couldn’t prepare him for actually seeing you again. It was really an experience because it wasn’t just the way you look, absolutely fucking perfect if you were to ask him, but also the way you smelled and the way you sounded and the way your skin looked, soft like a peach, that could never be captured in a picture. The desire of running his fingertips down your bare arm almost got the best of him but he just smiled back and in that moment even Dylan almost started believing in romcoms. Laura had grabbed his arm, and that alone, considering the way she looked tonight, was reason enough for him to be glad that this Y/N girl had arrived.

“Y/N” Gemma attracted her attention, giving her brother time to gawk at her “if you want a drink, Harry can take you to the bar, right Haz?”

“Sure.” He nodded.

The two of you walked towards the bar in silence and even though he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that you were just right there next to him and that he could just reach an arm and he would touch you, he knew this was the moment when it got awkward. He gave you a little smile when he rested his elbow on the bar and then he asked you what you wanted to drink. You smiled.

“Strawberry gin and Sprite.”

He chuckled before he nodded. He was glad to know you still had the same drink. He wondered how many things were still the same and how many things had changed now. He then thought after all, he was at least allow to look at you without being embarrassed and so he did and he couldn’t bring himself to catch all of that. Your nose, the few freckles he had memorized, your eyes, your thick lips and then he looked down at your neck as if he was afraid that freckle he was obsessed about was gone but it wasn’t so he smiled. You looked just the same, if only a little wiser. You sighed before you gave him a big smile.

“How are you?” You whispered.

He opened his mouth and then he closed it again. He probably wouldn’t even be able to tell you his own name. He couldn’t remember a single time he had been more nervous.

“I am... I’m good, yeah, good.” He smiled. “And you?”

“I’m good too. I’m very, very happy to see you. I hope you know that.” You gave him a little smile.

“Yeah, I know.” He smiled. “I’m... I’m sorry I never went to... You know your invitations.” He smiled.

You nodded, looking down at your feet and he knew he shouldn’t have brought that up. You had invited him a few times for the past year to some exhibitions of yours, a photography exhibition you have modelled for... But he had never find the courage to go because he was afraid this exact thing that was happening now would have happened then. That he would look at you and you would smile at him and he would feel his entire body turning into jelly and he wasn’t ready to feel that. For months he thought he could never be your friend and the thought of torturing himself by trying to be just that was too much for him to handle.

“I would rather not talk about that.” You smiled. “If that’s okay?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “Sorry I... I shouldn’t have said that.”

“That’s fine.”

“Well then... Uh... How about you tell me about you?”

He was afraid she was going to tell him things he didn’t want to know but how could he ask her to leave out everything that could possibly have to do with a family or a lover or a kid? He really needed to calm the fuck down if he didn’t want to have a goddamned heart attack so he just had a sip from his scotch and he just asked the waiter to refill it so he didn’t waste a second asking for a change of drink.

“Well” You blushed and he hated that you felt embarrased with him “there’s really not much to tell.” You chuckled and he lost all control over his expression as he just grinned at the sound. “I... I moved to New York.”

“Really?” He smiled. “That’s what you’ve always wanted.”

This is the part where she tells me her boyfriend has always wanted to live there too.

“Yeah, it is.” You smiled. “It’s not... As good as I thought it’d be though.” You chuckled. “Maybe it’s just a bit lonely... I feel like it’s really crowded but there aren’t really many people. I don’t know if you know what I mean.”

“I think I might. It kind of sounds like Tokyo to me.”

“Really? We... I mean you loved Japan when... You remember when we went there together?”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing.” He smiled. “Can you think of a place we’ve been together I didn’t love?”

You chuckled and shook your head.

“I remember that suit.”

You whispered, your eyes set on the black suit he was wearing and he looked down himself, suddenly remember he wore that same suit on Mitch’s and Sarah’s two years anniversary party and the fight you had the next day.

“I remember what I said to you in the morning. It wasn’t true, I-”

“Harry, I know.” You looked him in the eyes, and the green in them almost made you want to cry. “Relax, okay? It’s just me.”

“I know.” His voice almost croaked so you frowned, surprised that he would be so emotional and you brought your hand to his arm. “But that’s exactly the thing, Y/N. It’s you. And... And it’s just been so long and I feel like I have so many things to tell you and so many things to ask you but... I know it’s been two years but... I’ve missed you a lot and... I know you haven’t but I can’t help but hope you’ve missed me too.”

“Of course I’ve missed you.” You pouted. If she does that again I might cry.

“What?” She smirked.

You caught up with was he was doing immediately and you rolled your eyes, glad to see some things never change, and glad to see he was still that good at lighting the mood when things got sad. You shook your head, blushing and biting on your bottom lip. She still does that.

“I said of course I’ve missed you.”

“I know.” He grinned. “I just wanted to hear you say that again.”

And then the dinner was being served so both of you walked back to Gemma’s family but before they arrived. He grabbed your elbow and made you stop in the middle of the huge hall.

“You said you’re living in New York now.” He said. “So how long are you staying?”

“I don’t know yet. I didn’t really expect to see you here. I didn’t know you were back in England.”

“So... You would stay... Longer? Because of me being here?”

You just looked at him. The way he was looking at you, as if it hadn’t passed a single day, and you hang the moon in the sky, you smiled and without another word you started walking towards the table.

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avoutput · 6 years ago

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Spicy Kitty Needs A Party Hat || Captain Marvel

The 90’s is an era I feel like I am having to write about more and more. There is a glaring difference in how the 90’s are being portrayed in film today than the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s in previous years. There is a innate honesty about the 90’s in 2019, very flat without the inflated ego or idyllic gloss we used to place on “the good ol’ days”. Captain Marvel turns back the clock to visit the decade of my childhood, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was presented exactly as it was, spending no time at all to try and recreate a semi-charmed kind of backdrop. Its this frankness that permeates from every scene and interaction. Maybe this was inspired by the 90’s itself, glorified by the youth of the time as the decade of “keeping it real”, “telling it like it is”, mused about often with the rise of grunge. Or maybe in 2019, we are tired of rewriting history to fit our idealized version of it. Or possibly its because the full force of the digital fingerprint began with the unforgiving transparency of the internet. Are we still talking about a movie? Still, whichever reason you might subscribe to, Captain Marvel may be just a girl, or some kind of freak, but she isn’t about to take your shit. And neither is “Goose”.

In an effort to keep it real, i’ll be straight with you, Captain Marvel isn’t the best story out of the Marvel Studios camp, but it does offer more than enough in fun twists and paid fans some lip service. They decided to truncate most of Marvel’s origin story in favor of speeding things up, which ultimately feels like a good move. Brie Larson presents an even measured strength to Carol Danvers, even when she needs to present as angry or sad. There is a calmness just behind her eagerness that brings forth a bit of the military background Carol would have. She’s impatient and bold but still presents discipline. Danvers felt very real. Samuel L. Jackson under the effects of youth was hilarious to watch. I was reminded of his 90’s swagger from various roles like Pulp Fiction, Jurassic Park, and Die Hard: With A Vengeance. Ben Mendelsohn has this pitch perfect delivery, half cartoon villain and half witty spit fire, and still comes off as a strong presence. Jude Law was surprisingly big in this movie. You can’t look away from him when he is on the screen, possibly because he has the most ridiculous contacts on or simply because he is just a beautiful man, but he was a delight. Finally, Annette Bening plays a range in this film that is absolutely my favorite. The script lets her act a little wild at points and she runs with it. Everyone in this film is probably better than the film itself. Captain Marvel had to balance an origin story, being a somewhat of a prequel, and introducing a brand new character that will presumably turn the tide for the entire overarching story. This lack of freedom is noticeable, but it still manages to find its legs.

Even with the weight of all of Marvel on its shoulders, Captain Marvel still tries to make a modern statement in visiting the past. For one, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck recognize the difficulties women have to undertake just to be seen as remotely equal. But that sits co-pilot to another emerging issue all over the world. The pursuit of maintaining a dominant culture over those who refuse to assimilate. The winners always write history and largely two things have always been true in that regard. First, men steal discoveries that were rightly women, and second, the losers assimilate or die. In the film, instead of waiting for immigrants to come to show up on their shores, they decide to infiltrate and destroy entire groups of people who do not align with their way of life. Honestly, both things are glaringly loud throughout, but somehow it feels like background noise. I didn’t feel truly clued in to the weight of either concept until after I could truly digest the film. During the show, it just feels like a popcorn, space-action romp with a good sense of humor.

Captain Marvel is a rest stop on the road to the big show. One of those new rest stops with food trucks, fancy bathrooms, a tourist trap of some kind, and a doggie play zone. Basically, it pulls out all the bells and whistles, but it’s still just a stop on the way to the main show. It doesn’t have the edge of Iron Man, the quirky fun of Spider-Man: Homecoming, or the heart and pace of Wonder Woman, but it does pull its weight and create a brand new character you want to see more of. It also has a really deep message that comes to fruition after the credits roll. It also has dumb moments, the pace is off in certain places, and some moments feel prolonged, but it still has a soul. Maybe my mind will change in time, but you don’t need to see this on the big screen, it is plenty fine without it, despite all of the dazzling effects. See it for Brie Larson, for Captain Marvel, for Young Samuel L Jackson, and for spicy kitties who need party hats.

~* 7/10 *~

VERY MINOR SPOILER THAT EXPLAINS THE TITLE

P.S. A friend who works at a vet told us they don’t like to say anything that could sound like its mean, so if a cat is scared or likes to bite, they call it a “Spicy Kitty”. And if they can’t be calmed, they are given a muzzle they call a “Party Hat”. In the film, “Goose” has this happen to him. Voila.

#Film #Review #Captain Marvel #Mar-Vell #Ms Marvel #Shazam #Brie Larson #Samuel L Jackson #Ben Mendelsohn #Jude Law #Annette Bening #Lashana Lynch #Clark Gregg #Rune Temte #Gemma Chan #Algenis Perez Soto #Djimon Hounsou #Anna Boden #Ryan Fleck

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miduhadi · 7 years ago

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Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill

Several things about this book annoyed the heck outta me, including:

I have begun to detest Jamie who is a Mary Sue if there ever was one!

Talbot stared at Jamie, admiration on his face. “Bravo”, he said. “There are men and women a lot older than you who fail to understand that. You’re absolutely right…”

He is the youngest this and the smartest that while also being the best at everything! Oh, and he actually left his female friends behind because he “couldn’t bear if anything happened to you”. One of them is a vampire with superstrength and other powers. Both of them are members of a covert organization that keeps the supes under check. They are at least as old as Jamie is.

The worst part: they let him They understood he was just worried about them. Needlessly worried but Jamie’s just so sweet, y’know? Ugh!

There are at least two instances of a character who looked as if about to say something but “then the door rolled shut with a loud thunk.

Every development was repeated endlessly. If one character found out about it, they’d tell the others and we’d be there for every conversation!

We are almost 65% into the story and a new character who is supposed to be dead shows up. And I am not even talking about the other character who also died in the first book and showed up in this one alive. At least, that guy had the decency to arrive right from the start!

We also spend a lot of time learning about people who have nothing to add to the story. Seemed like filler so the book would swell up to 560+ pages.

So yeah, bad experience! Read my review of the first book here.

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

During my second visit to Discworld, I discovered the following to be true:

Luggage is my favorite character:

“The Luggage said nothing, but louder this time.”

And then there is all the Pratchett-ness to love and laugh at:

“It looked like the sort of book described in library catalogues as ‘slightly foxed’, although it would be more honest to admit that it looked as though it had been badgered, wolved and possibly beared as well.”

A big part of that is because he can poke fun at almost anything. Have a look at his disregard for the Asgardian deities:

In fact the Gods were as puzzled by all this as the wizards were, but they were powerless to do anything and in any case were engaged in an eons-old battle with the Ice Giants, who had refused to return the lawnmower.

Also, I finally figured out that I am Twoflower. Evidence:

It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate beauty, he just appreciates it in his own way. I mean, if a poet sees a daffodil he stares at it and writes a long poem about it, but Twoflower wanders off to find a book on botany.

That Rincewind will stay true to his character. Even when he has a chance to be less cowardly, he does the expected…or the unexpected!

A fun book and quickly finished.

The Dinosaur Knights by Victor Milán

One of the complaints that I had after reading the first book:

Insufficient dino-action. Yeah, that complaint wasn’t remotely true for this one. Epic dino-battles shook the world like literally!

A quote that stayed with me:

Through the trees on the far heights emerged a colossal silvery-grey shape. Even the Companions gaped: it was a Tirán Rey, a bull Tyrannosaurus rex, most feared of all Aphrodite Terra’s dinosaurs. Even at this range Jaume could see the monster dwarfed Falk’s albino adolescent Snowflake. “Beautiful,” murmured Rupp. “He must weigh seven tonnes!” Jaume found a smile inside himself. “You shame us, my friend, finding Beauty where even we find only terror.”

The other complaints, such as the princess being a pain in the butt, remained as they were. In fact, she was even more of a pain in this one. She is improving but her getting her friends killed in every scene can get tiresome!

We finally get to see the Grey Angels in action and it is pretty much horrifying what they can do. I loved every bit of it!

I wanted to rush in to read the next book in the series immediately but found out that the author recently passed away. Sad sad news but it made me want to save the last book to read later. Because there will be no more Game of Thrones and Jurassic Park hybrids for us!

Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde

Thursday Next steals people’s hearts and I am no exception. She gets into all sorts of literary trouble but handles it in a no-nonsense way. She is into solving problems and not whining. Next also isn’t afraid to ask for help or doesn’t judge people by their looks, species, gender, or whether they are real or not. I like her; it is likely that you will too!

Plus, the humor in this series is decidely Douglas Adams-ish! Next named her son Friday Next. Has a pet dodo whose son is a hooligan and doesn’t have the decency to go Plock. He goes Plick just to be contrary! This book also had cameos by the Cheshire Cat, Hamlet, and many other literary darlings.

Eighth Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones

I was reading reviews for this book on GR and people seem to think it was dull, cheesy, and repetitive. I don’t get how it can take them 8 books to realize that! Since I will be reading it anyway, why bitch?

Endurance by Jay Lake

I wonder how I ever got along with the protag from this series — well enough to have completed the first book! She is annoying, reckless, rude, manipulative, and as if that wasn’t enough, she also thinks she is better than everybody else! Should I explain it all away by saying that is how teenagers are? I don’t think I should!

There were other issues that made this a difficult read, such as the copious amount of foreshadowing. If only she had known…if only she had done that…and so on! Aptly placed and lightly done foreshadowing is always welcome but this book didn’t have it.

The only part that made me laugh:

though five centuries past this had been the very pinnacle of architectural taste in Copper Downs. A good education never went to waste. If I did die here, at least I would have the comfort of knowing I’d passed on amid high style.

The only part that stayed with me:

I wondered how it had been for the miners, back in the morning of the world. Had they broken open the crust of the world only to find a population of haunts and legends already awaiting them? Or had they brought their fears with them on first creating the Below?

Some readers might like the endless descriptions of everything that was around the protag at any given time but I didn’t!

So, there. If I do read the next one in the series, I wouldn’t be reviewing it.

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

An okayish installment since I wasn’t too worried about anything bad happening. After the horror stories we were told about Underhill, a visit to the place didn’t have that intensity or scariness.

Then there is the Walking Stick. I think the author got that it was turning into a deus ex machina and got rid of it — even if it took her the whole book to do that!

And, of course, Mercy didn’t shift. Not even once.

The good things about this one:

No Stefan. I have no idea why he was even introduced in the series

2. Adam finally realized what his pack had been doing to Mercy since like forever. I mean what he did next was the worst thing he could have done but at least, he opened his eyes.

3. A Doctor WHO reference!

4. The scary-ass little not-really-human but not-fae-either kid that the pack had to provide shelter to! He broke my heart by being so broken.

I hope the next installment is more exciting!

Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman

The book refers to a backstory that I read and reviewed before. You will find the review here.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross

Something about this series makes me think not-YA. It could be that the main characters are struggling with darkness and the struggle is real. Whatever it is, while the story failed to wow me — and I could see the major reveal coming from a mile away —, I still liked the book.

So, this is what I did in February. What have you been doing?

February — A Wrap Up Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill Several things about this book annoyed the heck outta me, including:

#2018 #Darynda Jones #February #Jasper Fforde #Jay Lake #Joe Haldeman #Kady Cross #Patricia Briggs #Terry Practchett #Victor Milan #Will Hill #Wrap-Ups

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fancykraken · 8 years ago

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Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 fics (or however many you have altogether) see if there are any patterns. Then, tag some of your fav authors.

I was tagged by @skochius <3

Oh god, do I even have 20 fics? XD Oh well. I’m going to steal @skochius ‘s idea and group them by pairing. I’m not a great writer, so I’m sure a lot of my opening lines are not what they should be compared to more talented and professional writers.

Frostiron:

Two young men lay sprawled on the hood of a near mint 1970 Chevy Chevelle LS6 gazing up at the night sky. The stars shone brightly out here, the nearest town was at least an hour away and the light pollution minimal. Perfect for those who wanted to lose themselves gazing at the inky darkness above and to just lose themselves in general.

Tony sighs, resting the back of his head against the windshield of his father’s car.

My car now, he reminds himself.

- Kingdom of Stars

There was nothing remarkably special about October to Tony. Of course, as a small child he had dressed up, gone to parties, and Jarvis and his wife Ana took him trick or treating. But as he grew older, the magic started to wear off. Parties became more adult, more of an obligation. Other children his age were few and far between at this time, and those that did attend were there because their presence too was required at parties that they had no interest in.

- Stark-O’-Lantern

Coney Island was buzzing with native New Yorkers and tourists this late summer evening. Everyone was enjoying the rides and food at the amusement park on the Island.

Well, at least almost everyone.

- Date Night, Frostiron and StarAccuser

Tony Stark was an idiot. Or at least that’s what he has been telling himself for the past two weeks since his unfortunate encounter with a very alluring, yet deadly woman at a global energy conference in Berlin. Deadly being the keyword to all of this.

Now he was in his Malibu home sitting across from one of the most gorgeous women he had ever laid eyes on. Part of him was a little disappointed that this was all just business and not pleasure.

- How Do You Like Me Now?

Tony glanced nervously at the god lounging elegantly at the opposite end of the couch. Loki looked every bit a royal; long slender legs crossed at the knee, back straight, hands folded nicely in his lap, and head held high. If someone saw Loki now they would assume he was in the middle of some important meeting or calmly discussing plans for world domination. This wasn’t the case, however, this was just him relaxing and watching a movie. If Loki was the picture of relaxed elegance, then Tony was the picture of relaxed chaos; legs sprawled out, body leaning back against the cushions, one arm draped over the armrest and the other flung over the back of the couch.

- Jurassic Stark

“Sir, may I recommend that you use the manual releases while disengaging from the suit? My scans indicate that the metal plate embedded in your thigh is dangerously close to your femoral artery. If the automated release and their components move it several millimeters to the—“

“Okay, okay, I got it, J!” Tony gritted his teeth against the pain. “Disengage all automatic release.”

“A wise decision, sir. Shall I call an ambulance to take you to a hospital?”

- Boredom and Mischief Don’t Mix

The end of Tony Stark’s life as he knew it began with a kiss. A simple thing really in the grand scheme of things, but nothing was simple when it came to Tony. He had to have everything bigger, better, more complex and grandiose. So it really shouldn’t have been as much as a shock to him when he and Loki first expressed their desire for one another so long ago in the cell Loki was being imprisoned in deep in the heart of Asgard’s dungeons.

After that things just started going downhill, even though it didn’t seem that way at first.

- Another Year Older

Tony slowly knelt down on the floor, eyes fixed on Loki's. The god stretched out a hand and cupped Tony's cheek, gently caressing his cool skin. Tony leaned into that touch, sighing contentedly at the feeling of power throbbing underneath those fingers.

- Blood of a God

"L-Loki... FUCK!" Tony panted, fisting his hands in the bed sheets. He couldn't move his hands; invisible ropes that Loki had conjured earlier when he pinned Tony down on the bed immobilized them. Tony was still undecided if he wanted to murder him or kiss him for it. He cracked open an eye as he felt Loki's warm and wet mouth leave his aching, hard cock.

- Sex and Magic

The sound of glass breaking on hard tile triggered some inner alarm and woke Loki from his uneasy sleep. Cracking open an eye he surveyed the bedroom and found nothing of danger waiting for him. Relaxing his body, he starts to drift off again.

“Shit!”

His eyes snap open, green irises flashing brightly for a moment in the darkness. His lip curls in a slight smirk; Stark must be home.

- Battle Damaged (the first fic I wrote after over 10 years of not writing anything. Needs a complete an utter rewrite.)

Thorki:

It started when they were young boys; Thor no more than sixteen and Loki fourteen by Midgard standards. Loki, having enough of the other Aesir boy’s jests during weapons training, managed to steal away and come back to the suite of rooms he and Thor shared. He had every expectation of being alone; content to just study the dusty, old tomes that contained spell after spell. As he undressed from his dirty training gear he thought he heard a low groan coming from the private bath chamber that Thor and he shared.

- Four Years

Loki arched his back like the beautiful curve of Robert Downey Jr’s ass…

The lack of playtime in Asgard was oppressing the Thunder God. He was in a bad mood and needed his brother, but his brother was in face deep in a book in the library. Thor didn’t like books because books were dumb. Thor liked to read scrolls better which made Thor really smart even if people thought he was a dumb blond.

- Really Horribly Written Thorki Fic (total crack)

StarAccuser:

Faint light filtered in through the tattered curtains casting hazy patterns and shapes over the Kree's cobalt blue skin. Peter had been awake for nearly an hour now and intended to go right back to sleep, but the sight of Ronan lying peacefully on his back, face relaxed in sleep, kept Peter from his rest.

- Dawn

Smoke was still rising from the wreckage of Peter and Ronan's ship that was shot down hours ago by Skrulls. Ronan studied the wreck hoping that it would still fly, even if a short distance so that he and Peter could get off this moon the Skrulls occupied as a supply outpost. Correction: had occupied. The Kree had seen to it that the Skrulls were no longer in possession of this moon. Ronan, Peter, and the rest of the Guardians had unintentionally been caught up in the fight.

- A Silly Little Thing Called Fear

Christmas, 1985

“Peter. Peter, hand mama that ornament. No, the blue one,” Meredith Quill said, smiling down at her son who was playing with his transformers on the floor next to the half decorated Christmas tree. He picked up the sparkly blue ornament with snowflakes and stars on it, handing it to his mother. She hooked it on the branch in front of her and smiled.

- Guardian of the Christmas Tree, StarAccuser and Murder Girls

Tom Hiddleston/Reader:

“Lie back, darling,” Tom croons softly in your ear.

You do so without hesitation, resting your shoulders and head on the multiple pillows piled at the top of the bed.

Shifting his body, Tom positions himself between your legs, but not low enough for that sinfully gorgeous and deliciously tasting mouth to be where you desperately want it.

- Talk Dirty To Me

Chris Evans/Reader:

The safeword ritual had taken place, even if it over the phone, the scene would start the moment he stepped through the front door. You didn’t want any distractions from what was about to happen. Your pulse was racing and you stood frozen in place as he entered the room and quietly shut the door. Dressed in his red Henley shirt and dress pants, he stands there, not moving, just taking in every inch of you with those gorgeous blue eyes that were filled with nothing but domination. His face was face set in a hard mask of control. Your clit throbbed in anticipation and you could feel yourself become wetter by the second.

- Punishment and Reward

Gen:

The clicking of high heels echoed through the entryway as Pepper Potts determinedly made her way to the elevator. Tony was quick to follow.

“Pepper… Pepper, please, don’t do this!” Tony begged, trying to sound as pathetic as possible. “Please, don’t leave.”

Pressing the button to summon the elevator, Pepper turned to face Tony, her best friend, former boss, and former lover. “Tony we discussed this. In order for the company to really cement itself as the leading cause of clean energy and friend to the environment, we have to take every step necessary. And one of those steps is to become completely paperless.”

- Paperwork

I tag anyone who wants to do this (sorry I know it’s kinda cop out but so many of you write such amazing stuff that I cannot just choose a few)

#frostiron #staraccuser #thorki #Tom Hiddleston/Reader #Chris Evans/Reader #mcu #iron man #my fic #The Meme Files #fic

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birdlord · 8 years ago

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What I Watched in 2016

Here are the movies and TV series I watched in 2016, some with commentary and some without. The number after the movies is the date of release, my faves are bolded, and rewatches are marked with as asterisk. Last year’s list!

01 Do I Sound Gay (14)

02 We are The Best! (13)

03 Hateful Eight (15)

04 Welcome to Me (14)

05 For Your Eyes Only (81) - I listened to a lot of back episodes of the James Bonding podcast early this year, which of course led to watching a bunch of Bond movies. Not all, and not in order, certainly.

06 She’s the One (96)

07 * Diamonds are Forever (71)

08 It’s Complicated (09) - I think it was an article about the kitchen design in this movie that led me to watch it?

09 The Natural (84)

10 * Anna Karenina (12) - Never having read the book I can’t REALLY speak to this movie but haha I kinda love its commitment to artifice.

11 About Time (13)

12 What We Do in the Shadows (14) - I did enjoy this, but wasn’t as taken by it as I thought I might be. Found the werewolves the funniest by far, so I wish they’d turned up more often.

13 The Abominable Bride (15) - counting this as a movie, it was the Sherlock xmas special and I recall exactly zero about it, so…..must have been amazing, right?

14 Wake in Fright (71) - Never Go To Australia

15 Hail Caesar (16) - I think I’d have to see it again to determine if the whole thing actually holds together, but at the time, it felt of a piece with the Coen’s cheerier output.

16 In the Heart of the Sea (15)

17 The Night of the Comet (84)

18 Laggies (14)

19 * Bowling for Columbine (02)

20 A Gentleman’s Agreement (47) - confessional, experiential journalism, but done by Cary Grant in the 40s. Ahead of his time/gender?

21 Barefoot in the Park (67)

22 Suddenly Last Summer (59)

23 Tangerine (15)

24 * His Girl Friday (40)

25 That Touch of Mink (62)

26 * Charlie’s Angels (00)

27 9-5 (80) - Holy shit, somehow I thought this movie was just a rah-rah, girl power story about a bunch of secretaries getting together and overthrowing their boss and yeah, that’s SORT OF it but it gets way way weirder in the final third.

28 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (88)

29 * The Addams Family (91)

30 * Addams Family Values (93)

31 Frida (02)

32 Bridge of Spies (15) - A E I O U and sometimes SPIES :O

33 Swimming With Sharks (94)

34 Sleeping With the Enemy (91)

35 Fatal Attraction (87) - Watched this movie and the previous one as part of an 80s/90s thriller weekend. These two are an interesting contrast to one another, being as the first is about an abusive husband and the second focuses on the most notable example of the “crazy ex-girlfriend”.

36 1 Cloverfield Lane (16)

37 The Man Who Never Was (56)

38 * To Die For (95) - This was a super fave of Teen Emily, who definitely identified with the Lydia character. Watching this time was a huge reminder than Illeana Douglas is a goddamn national treasure.

39 Trouble In Paradise (32)

40 Eraser (96)

41 * Flashdance (83)

42 * Notting Hill (99)

43 Gone to Earth (50) - Not the best Powell and Pressburger out there, but one takes what one can get, right?

44 Holiday Camp (47)

45 Never Sleep Again (10) - This is a four-hour doc about the entire Nightmare on Elm St series, and is the reason I watched Freddy’s Revenge a couple of movies down the list. It’s not a series that I have a particular attachment to, so I learned a ton.

46 Clouds of Sils Maria (15)

47 Mommie Dearest (81) - I’m not sure that I have enough appreciation for high camp to really get into this. There were some moments, but overall it’s a fine example of the kind of thing that is Not For Me.

48 Nightmare on Elm St: Freddy’s Revenge (85)

49 Inside Man (06)

50 Trainwreck (15)

51 White God (14)

52 * Sleepwalk With Me (12)

53 Amy (15)

54 * Meatballs (79)

55 Everybody Wants Some!! (16) - I found this a huge disappointment, and I’ve been a bit mystified by its positive reviews and inclusion on critics’ end of year lists. While D&C definitely has a “main character”, and we do follow him and his friends, other people and subsets of the high school are given serious time and consideration. Ultimately, I don’t think following this one dude tripping through a bunch of different college subsets was as illuminating. Plus, weak jokes.

56 * Dazed & Confused (93) - had to cleanse the mind-palate by watching the original!

57 Summertime (55)

58 The Money Pit (86)

59 Zombeavers (14)

60 Mistress America (15) - I am finding Greta Gerwig more and more charming, the more I see of her. Greta, let’s be friends!

61 While We’re Young (14)

62 The Invitation (16) - quite effective, very upper-middle-class bohemian LA horror film. I’ve heard some complaints about the final scene, but I thought it was an effective & clever way to show an expanding scope without an extra expense or sets.

63 End of Days (99)

64 Escape From New York (81)

65 Escape from L.A. (96) - Watched these two together, on the same night. They definitely should NOT be watched that way, given how identical the plots are. Unbelievably terrible ’96-era CGI in the second one, hard to believe that Jurassic Park was three years previous?? Gotta get that Spielberg money, am I right?

66 High Rise (16) - my only real disappointment in this movie was not being around to see the decline of the civilization - we jump straight from things being fine (if weird) and everything gone to heck. My favourite part is the decline, give me decline!

67 The Great Outdoors (88)

68 * Catch Me If You Can (02)

69 Little Darlings (80) - just your classic losing-virginity-at-camp story, but…wait for it….with GIRLS.

70 * Good Will Hunting (97)

71 Popstar (16) - diminishing returns, but some funny bits (mostly in the songs, not surprisingly).

72 Tarzan (16) - watched this with friends and relatives, at a drive-in theatre a couple of days after my wedding! It’s NOT a good movie, but it was a fun time.

73 Love & Friendship (16) - got completely obsessed with Tom Bennett based on his 100% rate of scene-stealing in this film. Sevigny feels utterly out of place - am I capable of seeing her in a period piece set before, say, 1975 without feeling weird about it?

74 The Night Before (15)

75 Ghostbusters (16) - So I know I was supposed to be charmed by Kate McKinnon, but her schtick just doesn’t work on me, for whatever reason. I was also really frustrated by the final fight scene of this movie - it had obviously been hacked up in editing, and wtf is up with punching ghosts instead of containing them? I’m glad this movie happened, and certainly a great deal of the criticism it came in for was deeply unfair, but it was distinctly disappointing to find that this movie just wasn’t that great.

76 Brooklyn (15)

77 Poltergeist (82)

78 * Before Sunrise (95)

79 Love & Basketball (00) - Effusive praise for this movie somehow came to my attention from all over the place this year, so I finally had to watch it.

80 The Man Who Knew Too Much (56)

81 * Road House (89)

82 Carol (15) - watching this FINALLY allowed me to fully participate in Today’s Meme Culture

83 * Out of Sight (98)

84 Happy Texas (99)

85 Red Rock West (93)

86 Weiner Dog (15)

87 The Trouble With Harry (55)

88 * When Harry Met Sally (89)

89 Jungle Fever (91)

90 Ocean’s 11 (01)

91 Star Trek Beyond (16)

92 Two For the Road (67)

93 * Seven Year Itch (55)

94 Maggie’s Plan (15) - like I said earlier about Greta Gerwig? I liked this one even more than Mistress.

95 The Dish (00)

96 Splash (84)

97 Desk Set (57) - watching this and the next were inspired by stumbling across a blog about depictions of librarians on film. I particularly hit on this one because I’ve always wanted to see a Hepburne/Tracy film, and never had (to my memory, anyhow).

98 Party Girl (95) - one of those movies I’d always noticed on the shelves at the video store, and never actually watched it.

99 * Young Frankenstein (74) - saw this in the theatre, Gene Wilder notwithstanding I…..don’t think it’s good. It’s only extremely intermittently funny, you guys! Plus, the Putting’ on the Ritz bit makes me uncomfortable (especially in audio-only form, which I heard TOO many times after Wilder died).

100 The House of the Devil (09)

101* The Witches of Eastwick (87)

102 The Borning (81)

103 * Shaun of the Dead (04)

104 Dolores Claiborne (95)

105 The Conjuring 2 (13)

106 In a Valley of Violence (16) - definitely watched this because I happened across an article about the movie’s dog star.

107 The Witch (16) - very effective in getting across the supernatural, natural, and social dangers of early puritan America, and Black Philip has entered my idiolect for any creepy animal/person/twitter feed.

108 * Wayne’s World (92)

109 What if (13) - riffs on When Harry Met Sally’s fundamental question of women and men being friends, and basically comes to the same conclusion. yawn.

110 The Martian (15) - I read the book as part of a book club last year, and finally got around to watching the film. Since I found the worst of the writing in the book to be those passages dealing with description, the movie was a lot less annoying to experience.

111 Sleepless in Seattle (93)

112 * Thelma & Louise (91)

113 Casino (95)

114 Other People (16) - wept several times. GOSH I love Jesse Plemons, he’s so hugely sympathetic. Would watch in virtually anything.

115 The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (43)

116 Primary Colors (98)

117 Edge of Seventeen (16)

118 *Die Hard (88) - loaded up the laptop with this and the next four xmas-set movies, for watching on planes and in airports, while we were on the road at christmastime.

119 *Batman Returns (92)

120 *Scrooged (88)

121 * The Apartment (60)

Theatre - 5

Drive-in - 1

All the rest at home or at friends’ homes!

TV SERIES

*The Office US S2-3

War & Peace (2016) - you bet your BOOTS I started the book after watching this. Did I finish it? Not even close.

Love (2016)

Better Call Saul S2 - this is a show I enjoy while I’m watching it, but I don’t particularly find it memorable. Why? Who knows. It’s still something I look forward to, but not a show that sticks with me.

Great British Bake off *S1, *S2, S7 + Xmas Specials - a eulogy for Bake-Off as it was. Pour one (pint of double cream, that is) out for what once was.

Broad City S5

Travel Man S1, S2 - I find Richard Ayoade so desperately charming, but ever time I’ve watched one of the movies he’s directed, I’ve ended up disappointed. This show is a bit hit or miss, depending on the guests he brings along, and the episodes definitely have a sameness to them, but if you find this guy even a sliver as entertaining as I do, it’ll pull you along anyhow.

The Night Manager - so looking forward to Hugh Laurie’s upcoming career phase as Bond Villain.

Cooked

Newsradio S1-S3 - I’d seen an episode or two of this over the years but never sat down to fully appreciate it. It’s making me miss Phil Hartman all over again, a fresh devastation, plus haha did u know Tone Loc plays a security guard on this show? It’s all true.

Lady Dynamite

OJ Made In America - I’ll count this as a series, since I didn’t watch it in the theatre. Still haven’t seen the other big OJ series of 2016, but I loved loved LOVED this. What impressed me the most is that, in spite of its 7 hour+ running time there were still aspects of this story that could have been expanded upon.

Silicon Valley S3

* Veep S1, S2

Catastrophe S2

Pulling - went back in time to get more Sharon Horgan in my life, since Catastrophe seasons are terribly short and far-between. I’d been aware of this show for a long time, and somehow wasn’t expecting it to be as near-devastating as it ended up being. What, did I forget what a British show was like?

Another Period S2

Difficult People S1, S2 - Another late discovery, but a great one. A fine example of just giving some funny people a show, and letting them just do their thing on it every week.

Fleabag - yes, I’m in for this, obviously. And if I wasn’t, the show designed itself to put me off, from the first moments. A wise move!

One Mississippi

Very British Problems S1, S2

Atlanta - I’ve got a bad feeling that this show’s deserved success will lead to surreal elements being deployed, but much less deftly than they were here.

Please Like Me S1-S4 - Tore through this entire series greedily, am now suffering until they make another season. Balances some very harrowing elements with comedy and an ensemble cast of loveable/terrible humans.

Divorce - Sharon Horgan’s writing minus her acting is a hollow empty shell, but hey, I’ll take what I can get, when I can get it.

The Fall S3 - I’d decided last year after S2 that I was done with this show, and yet, here we are, I was drawn back in.

The Crown

Insecure

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animalssecrets · 6 years ago

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7 Times Chris Pratt Was the Wellness Coach We All Need

Chris Pratt has the quintessential rags-to-riches story: From living in a van on Maui to walking the red carpet, he’s seen it all. But through the hardship and success, he has managed to stay humble, playful and easy-going. That may be why he can so effortlessly tear down stereotypes about men and wellness, inspiring all of us to practice self-care, set boundaries and, generally, take it easy. Ready to do wellness like a champion (or rather, a Star-Lord)? Read on for our favorite Chris Pratt wellness moments!

1 When He Made Facials a Thing

Chris Pratt’s glowing skin isn’t just a product of good genes. In a hilarious videoposted to his Instagram account, followers came face-to-face with the 38-year-old getting a facial. “In the spirit of Christmas, it’s important to know how much better it feels to give than to receive,” he says, joking about giving his longtime hair and makeup artist Bridget Brager the opportunity to give him a facial.

Licensed aesthetician and beauty expert Gregory Dylan, owner of Gregory Dylan Beauty, has been in the skin care industry for more than 20 years. He notes that he’s seen a recent increase in men, including nonactors, who are interested in skin health. “There’s a little bit of an epiphany that overall for skin health and well-being is more than something that our moms or our girlfriends used to do. Everyone has evolved past that stereotype.”

2 When He Opened Up About Emotional Eating and Body-Image Issues

While women tend to be the ones who share experiences with disordered eating, Pratt opened up about his own struggles with body image during a 2014 press conference. “I’m sure I can’t relate to what females go through in Hollywood. But I do know what it feels like to eat emotionally and … to be sad and make yourself happy with food,” he says. “And then to be almost immediately sad again and now ashamed and then to try to hide those feelings with more food. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s a very real thing.” Pratt proves that anyone can be affected by emotional eating. Feel like you can relate? Trytracking your eating habits in a food journal so that you can identify your triggers and know when to fight back.

3 When He and Anna Faris Attempted Couples’ Therapy

Although Chris Pratt and Anna Faris recently separated after eight years of marriage, the former couple worked through hardships in the healthiest possible manner. Back in August a source told People that the two had started couples’ counseling to learn how to co-parent their son, 5-year-old Jack.

Licensed marriage and family therapist, couples counselor and relationship expert Allen Wagner explains that in situations like this it’s important for parents to have ongoing, long-term collaboration. “Some separated parents will experience tremendous amounts of guilt for their child, which can make limit-setting inconsistent, at best,” he says. “Many separated couples will turn to their children as confidants as they seek empathy at the expense of their partner, and this, too, will have negative long-term consequences. Having a safe space to work out awkwardness while remaining proactive is helpful for parents.”

4 When His On-Set Snacks Were a Nutritionist’s Dream

To maintain his shredded physique while filming “Jurassic World 2,” Chris Pratt had to practice heroic amounts of self-control. In true and hilarious Pratt fashion, he used Instagram as a food diary, popping in with periodic “What’s My Snack” segments. The crush-worthy actor got creative with his healthy bites, which included sashimi, a cucumber egg wrap and a cacao, baobab, banana and chia seed shake. According to “Guardians of the Galaxy” co-star Karen Gillan, Pratt is also a fan of almond butter with an apple or banana between takes. Delicious!

5 When He Shut Down Body Shamers

Chris Pratt’s “What’s My Snack” videos were meant to poke fun at celebrities' diets. Nevertheless, some Instagram users took the opportunity to focus on Pratt’s weight. The actor used it as an opportunity to raise awareness about male body shaming

“So many people have said I look too thin in my recent episodes of #WHATSMYSNACK,” the star writes on Instagram. “Just because I am a male doesn’t mean I’m impervious to your whispers. Body shaming hurts.” And, in true Chris Pratt style, the “Jurassic Park” actor slid a light-hearted joke into the PSA: a photo of a giant dinosaur skull. “To prove my security in the way I look I’m posting a current selfie of me at what I consider a very healthy weight. 500 lbs. Zero percent body fat.”.

6 When He Gave Inspiring and Realistic Weight-Loss Advice

Before there was Star-Lord, there was Andy Dwyer from “Parks and Recreation.” And who could help but notice that between the two roles Pratt dropped a staggering 60 pounds? Unlike other celebs who are known for their drastic body transformations — we’re looking at you, Christian Bale — Pratt went at his own pace.

“Six months seems like a long time unless you’re looking backwards,” he tells Self. “All you have to do is just a few things everyday and remain consistent, and time will fly just as fast as it flies if you’re working hard or not. If you just cut the crap out of your diet, and if you spend an hour a day doing something physical that will make you sweat, six months will pass by, you will feel better mentally, physically, spiritually — it all is tied together.” If that doesn’t sound doable, we don’t know what does.

7 When He Set Boundaries Between Himself and His Fans

If you ever see Chris Pratt in person, don’t ask for a selfie. While he cares for his fans, maintaining a sense of normalcy often comes at a price. For Pratt, it’s having to say no to pictures. “I have to be economical with my time,” he tells Cigar Aficionado. “If I go out and want to do normal things, I have to be comfortable disappointing people. I just don’t take pictures with people. Because that’s not about enjoying the moment; it’s about stealing the moment to brag about later.” The star compensates by offering his fans handshakes.

Everyone can benefit from staying present, which has been shown to lower anxiety, boost our connection with those around us and interrupt negative self-talk. We’d sacrifice a selfie with Pratt any day if it meant he could reap those benefits.

7 Times Chris Pratt Was the Wellness Coach We All Need from Blogger https://ift.tt/2KyYAwu 7 Times Chris Pratt Was the Wellness Coach We All Need via Animals Secrets https://ift.tt/2KyYAwu

#7 Times Chris Pratt Was the Wellness Coach We All Need

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suchagiantnerd · 8 years ago

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46 Books, 1 Year

In 2016 I didn’t QUITE make it to my goal of reading 50 books, but I sh*t out an adorable human instead so I don’t feel too bad. Because of the pregnancy and baby-having, I also decided to cut myself some slack and didn’t take notes after finishing each book (which I usually do), so this year’s reviews are not as detailed as usual. But if you’re interested in learning more about any of these reads, just message me and I can chat more about them!

1. The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country / Helen Russell I am obsessed with the Danish concept of hygge (which loosely translates to ‘coziness’). I wanted to learn more about how to live a life full of hygge and other ways of increasing happiness. This is a fitting read for this time of year. January doesn’t have to be cold and depressing; it can be full of candlelight, soft blankets, comforting food, and friends and family. The message seems to be to nestle in and hibernate together!

2. Dragonfly in Amber / Diana Gabaldon The second book in the Outlander series follows Claire and Jamie as the battle of Culloden approaches. Can they stop it? Or does attempting to change history result in even worse outcomes?

3. Voyager / Diana Gabaldon I can’t say much about the third book in the Outlander series, as it will spoil some big plot twists. So I’ll just say that the sex scenes are as great as ever!

4. Six Metres of Pavement / Farzana Doctor Set in Toronto, this story follows three broken people as they slowly find community and acceptance with each other - Ismail grieves his infant daughter years after her death (which was ultimately his fault), Celia, recently widowed, deals with loneliness and feeling unwanted, and Fatima, a queer university student, deals with the fallout of coming out to her traditional family. A heartwarming read, though the plot feels a bit too contrived.

5. The Light Between Oceans / M.L. Stedman You best read this one before the movie comes out! Or is it already out and I’m that out of touch now? This story will make you want to visit all the barren, lonely lighthouses you can find. It will also make you thank god for your relatively uncomplicated life. This book is heartbreaking and features baby-stealing (with the best of intentions), WWI PTSD, and a look at life (for better or worse) in small town Australia.

6. Cinder / Marissa Meyer You thought for a second I’d forgone my first love, YA Dystopian? Nuh uh! This is the first in a series that works fairytale characters into a futuristic world full of spaceships, robots, and a violent lunar people. “Cinder” obviously pays homage to Cinderella. But instead of one glass slipper, she’s got one bionic leg and is an expert mechanic.

7. Circling the Sun / Paula McLain Based on the real-life love triangle between Beryl Markham, Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hatton in while colonial Kenya, McLain takes us from Beryl’s “wild” childhood without a mother figure playing with her Kipsigis (a Kenyan tribe) best friend and riding horses, to her bold and sometimes disastrous adult years training horses, falling in and out of love and lust, and eventually becoming one of the first women to fly solo across the Atlantic. This is a well-written and dreamy story, but ignores most of the world outside the expat community. Is that irresponsible? I don’t know.

8. Wolf Winter / Cecilia Ekback If there’s a better “dead of winter” read, I don’t know what it is. I loved this tale taking place in 1717 in Swedish Lapland. A disparate group of settlers struggles to survive a particularly brutal winter just after one of their members turns up dead. Was it actually an animal attack? Many of the settlers believe otherwise as suspicion and cabin fever set in.

9. Behind the Beautiful Forevers / Katherine Boo This non-fiction account of a Mumbai slum reads like a novel. Journalist Katherine Boo spent months getting to know the slum’s residents, gaining insight into their hopes and dreams, the drudgery of their day-to-day existence, and the political and personal ties between them all. Their stories will break your heart.

10. Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong - and What You Really Need to Know / Emily Oster I’ve always dreaded pregnancy, mainly because of all the policing of pregnant women’s bodies. This book is a nice antidote to all of that. When Oster, a statistician, became pregnant for the first time, she gathered together all of the valid studies about caffeine and alcohol consumption, gardening, certain foods, owning cats, etc, etc, etc and and complied their results, determining what’s really harmful to a growing baby and what’s not. Have your cup of coffee in the morning, ladies. And a glass of wine now and then is just fine! But no ciggies. No ciggies at all.

11. The Heart Goes Last / Margaret Atwood Atwood’s latest novel does not disappoint. Set in a near-dystopian future, a new gated community takes the prison-as-business model one step further. Rotating every month, half of the population acts as prisoners in an actual prison, while the other half maintain the town or work as prison guards. It’s efficient, right? Less housing required, the prisoners all do work to help the town, everyone gets a salary. But it just might be too good to be true…

12. Drums of Autumn / Diana Gabaldon Once again, I can’t say much about the fourth book in the Outlander series for fear of spoilers except that Jamie and Claire are a bit older now, and there’s a new generation of sexy Scottish people to populate your daydreams.

13. Fifteen Dogs / Andre Alexis I don’t know what to say about this book other than I both loved it and hated it? This is also the book my book club has spent the most time ever talking about. Set in Toronto, it follows 15 dogs staying the night at a veterinary clinic who are suddenly blessed/cursed with human consciousness. What follows is occasionally comedic, but mostly violent and terribly sad.

14. I Just Want to Pee Alone / Some Kick Ass Mom Bloggers I should probably have waited to read this collection of true stories until after I’d had the baby. In one story, a woman describes her post-birth vagina as a sad old elephant.

15. The Damned / Andrew Pyper Pyper is great at sketching out a truly creepy character. In this story, Dan is haunted by his deceased twin sister, who happened to be a sociopath while alive. Now that she’s dead, her ability to torture him seems to have no bounds. I also really liked the book’s setting of Detroit.

16. Scarlet / Marissa Meyer The second book in the “Lunar Chronicles” series, this book focuses on a Red Riding Hood-inspired protagonist. And the love interest is pretty wolf-like. Oooh mama!

17. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century / Steven Pinker Full disclosure: This is a grammar book. Basically you shouldn’t read this unless you write for a living / want to really improve your writing. I’m not even sure I should have read it. Some tips were great, others were too detailed for me to grasp, others I already forget.

18. Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time / Jeff Speck Though this book focuses on American cities, it applies to anywhere. If you’re an amateur urban planning nerd like me, you’ll love this book. Two fun factoids - trees increase a neighbourhood’s value and liveability A LOT and you’re more likely to suffer a heart attack in the few hours after you’ve been driving a car. Driving in a city is THAT stressful.

19. How to Be a Woman / Caitlin Moran In this non-fiction tome of memories / essays, well-known British feminist Moran takes on body image, sex, working in the music industry, pregnancy and childbirth, living in poverty, and abortion.

20. The Jade Peony / Wayson Choy This novel reads more like a series of related short stories, and follows the childhoods and teenage years of three siblings, Jook-Liang, Jung-Sum and Sek-Lung living in Vancouver’s Chinatown in the 1930s and 40s. This is a touching book, and each child deals with their own stresses and troubles from losing a beloved grandmother to realizing one’s sexuality to the difficulties of life as a child of new immigrants.

21. Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman / Lindy West Lindy West is my hero, and the author of my favourite piece of comedic writing ever, a hilarious review of Jurassic Park from beginning to end. She’s also a fiercely intelligent feminist and this is her first book. It’s about trying to make herself as small and quiet as possible, only to realize that that’s bullshit. As women, we should be as big and loud as we want.

22. I Was Told There’d Be Cake / Sloane Crosley This is a non-fiction collection of stories from Crosley’s life. Who is she? I didn’t know before and I still don’t really know, but she’s a Jewish New Yorker who is a good writer and is pretty funny. This collection is not heavy in the least - it’s just some funny and amusing anecdotes from a regular person’s life.

23. Tampa / Alissa Nutting Hooooooooo boy. What can I say about this one? Nutting tells the story of Celeste Price, a 26-year old middle school teacher who is a pedophile. And Price is relentless in her pursuit of the perfect victims, searching for boys just on the cusp of puberty. This is kind of a reverse “Lolita”. But I gather it’s way grittier (I have not read “Lolita” so I can’t say for sure). Nutting is a good writer and her style is very, shall we say, visceral? But this book is not for everyone.

24. The Widow / Fiona Barton This book felt like Barton’s attempt to get on the “Gone Girl” / “The Girl on the Train” bandwagon, and it fell short. I don’t recommend it. I also hated the main character, a simpering weakling of a woman.

25. Time Zero / Carolyn Cohagan This feels like a “The Giver” of our time. It’s also a truly feminist YA dystopian novel. In it, Cohagan has created a world (in what used to be Manhattan) run by men with a set of very harsh rules for women. In a poignant twist, all of the rules in the novel are actual rules that various women around the world today have to live under. I really believe this book should be added to the public school curriculum.

26. Battle Royale / Koushun Tatami Before “The Hunger Games”, there was “Battle Royale”. Set in a dystopian Japan, each year in a government experiment, random classes of ninth graders are sent to secluded locations and forced to kill each other until one survivor remains. To prevent runaways, each student must also wear a collar which explodes if the student tries to escape. YIKES. A cult classic, this is a sad and violent read full of interesting characters.

27. Before the Fall / Noah Hawley A private plane crashes into the Atlantic ocean, and of the 11 people on board, only two survive - a young boy and the lone outsider, an aspiring artist who’d recently befriended one of the rich passengers. This is a tight, scintillating thriller, and as the mystery of what (or who) caused the crash unfolds, we get an inside look at each of the passenger’s thoughts and backgrounds. I didn’t love the resolution, but the excellent lead-up was worth the read.

28. The Passage / Justin Cronin I reread this for the third time in advance of the release of “The City of Mirrors” (book 30), the third in this trilogy. This remains my favourite book / series of all time. It’s a dystopian/sci-fi/thriller/epic full of an amazing cast of characters and spanning over a century.

29. The Twelve / Justin Cronin I also reread the second book in “The Passage” trilogy.

30. The City of Mirrors / Justin Cronin As expected, the final book in this trilogy both thrilled me and broke my heart.

31. The Haunting of Maddy Clare / Simone St. James I just wanted a good old-fashioned book about a ghost set in the British countryside. This book was that, but was cheesier than I thought it would be. And unexpectedly involved a sexy romance sub-plot which was enjoyable and terrible at the same time.

32. The Girls / Emma Cline In the summer of 1969, bored and naive teenager Evie befriends a mysterious older girl named Suzanne, who slowly brings her into the folds of a Manson-inspired cult. The Manson-y cult leader isn’t quite as big a character as you might think, and the book, like the title, really does focus on the relationships between young girls that we can all relate to - the idolization, the obsessiveness, the jealously, the fervent love we sometimes feel for each other.

33. The Last Star / Rick Yancey I had to read the final book in “The Fifth Wave” alien trilogy, and much like the “Divergent” series, this series gets worse with each tome.

34. The Bluest Eye / Toni Morrison Penola is a young Black girl growing up in Ohio in the post-Great Depression era. Her life is shit. Daughter to an abusive father and an overtired and busy working mother, teased at school, and simply put, already beaten down by life, all Pecola wants are for her eyes to turn blue. This is a classic and an important read for these times.

35. Indian Horse / Richard Wagamese This novel tells the story of Saul, an Ojibway boy sent to a residential school after his family spends a few years trying to protect him from just such a fate. Saul’s only escape from the horrors of the school is his growing love of hockey. It turns out that he’s a gifted player, and his talent allows him a chance at a better life. All Canadians should read this book. The racism Saul experiences in the 1970s is still alive and well today all across this country.

36. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child / J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne If you’re a Potter fan, you’ve also already read this, and if you’re not, you don’t care!

37. After Birth / Elisa Albert I read this novel in preparation for motherhood. In it, we meet Ari, a first-time mother dealing with feelings of loneliness and the emotional fallout of her caesarian section. She cannot get over it, and her anger and sadness are palpable. She later befriends mother-to-be Mina, and the two develop their own little support system (or should I call it a lifeline?). This is a much needed story about pregnancy, birth, mothering, female friendship, and the importance of support from friends, family, and the medical profession.

38. Sex Object: A Memoir / Jessica Valenti In this collection of anecdotes from feminist and journalist Valenti, she tackles issues of sexism, harassment, internet trolling and your everyday, run-of-the-mill misogyny against the backdrop of her youth and young adulthood in New York. Add this to your growing feminist library (we all have one, right?)

39. Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes / Christia Spears Brown, PhD The title says it all. But as you’ve probably seen, Fern wears a lot of pink. You can’t say no to hand-me-downs and gifts! I guess I’ll work to combat gender stereotypes in other ways…

40. Middlesex / Jeffrey Eugenides This is a sprawling coming-of-age story about Cal, who is intersex. When born, Cal appeared to be a girl and was raised as such. As they go through puberty, Cal’s transformation is more confusing and painful than that of most, and they start to question their identity. Eugenides also details the strange and somewhat taboo history of Cal’s family, illustrating that nothing occurs in a vacuum. We exist in the context of our families. This was a thoughtful and engaging read.

41. Everything I Never Told You / Celeste Ng This novel explores all the things we don’t tell those we are closest to - our spouses, our children, our parents, our siblings - and the fallout of these omissions. It also explores the unique challenges of a mixed-race family living in 1970s America including overt and subtle racism, feelings of not belonging, and questioning one’s own identity. On top of all this, Ng has also rolled in a gripping mystery.

42. The Japanese Lover / Isabel Allende Allende is one of my favourite authors, but this book fell flat. The dialogue felt forced and preachy, and the characters, especially the Japanese ones, were often stereotypes. A tale of illicit love and Japanese internment camps (sounds promising, right?) I would skip this one, especially if you’ve never read Allende before.

43. North American Lake Monsters / Nathan Ballingrud I was so excited to read this collection of strange and scary short stories, but it was a disappointment. Ballingrud does not take any of these stories far enough, and the endings were almost all vague and left things up in the air. I don’t consider this tactic all that artistic anymore, it just seems lazy. COMMIT TO AN ENDING, authors, COMMIT TO A DANG ENDING!

44. Cold Mountain / Charles Frazier Towards the end of the Civil War, soldier Inman has had enough. Recovering from a serious neck wound in hospital, he decides to defect and make his way home to Cold Mountain and his love, Ada. Meanwhile, back on Cold Mountain, Ada’s fallen on hard times and is in serious survival mode. As Inman makes his long way home, Frazier paints a broken and bloody countryside on the cusp of something new.

45. Mrs. Poe / Lynn Cullen This is a juicy historical fiction novel about the love triangle between Edgar Allan Poe, his wife, and his contemporary, writer Frances Osgood. Surprisingly, the delicate ingenue Mrs. Poe seems like the creepiest one of the three (whether or not this is based on fact, I don’t know). I loved the setting, the plot, and the literati cast of characters, but the style of writing was a bit fluffy. It felt as though Cullen was writing with a future movie deal in mind.

46. All My Puny Sorrows / Miriam Toews Set in Winnipeg and Toronto, this story follows a Mennonite family plagued by tragedy after tragedy. Toews explores issues of intergenerational trauma, suicide, mental health, the damaging effects of patriarchy, and how amidst all that, love still flourishes.

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