#Single Review: I Was Not Airtight

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Audio: Beth Arnold Gilbert Shares a Grunge-Inspired Anthem

New Audio: Beth Arnold Gilbert Shares a Grunge-Inspired Anthem @ArnaGil @heygroover @romainpalmieri @DorianPerron

Beth Arnold Gilbert is a Philadelphia-born and-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who specializes in material that features a 90s alt-rock vibe with a pop sensibility paired with Gilbert’s expressive vocals. “I Was Not Airtight,” Gilbert’s latest single is the follow up to her debut EP, 2021’s Gimme Back My Castle. Centered around layers of distorted and reverb-drenched guitar, enormous mosh…

[sonarryx]

chappell roan – the rise and fall of a midwest princess (review)

it took me forever to get a copy of this on cd. the record store had it on backorder for months. i assume this is because chappell roan blew up so quickly and unexpectedly that they weren't ready for the sudden increase in demand.

i'm trying something new this time around by listening to the album in full as i write the review, so it's all fresh in my mind. already i'm three songs in (i'm switching between like three different tabs, the adhd is chronic) so i'm just gonna get going.

going into this album, i was already very familiar with quite a few of these tracks. of the tracks i hadn't heard enough times to remember, my favorite by far is "after midnight." the bass is excellent, and it's just a very well-put together song. the momentum doesn't stop for a second.

overall, my favorite song has to be "super graphic ultra modern girl." it's got the highest highs of the whole album, and it's got the same message as "femininomenon" but with a much better beat and fewer bad lyrics.

speaking of which—i think this is something people are afraid to say about chappell roan (unless they don't like her, which i do)—her lyrics are wildly inconsistent. she has some great lyrical hooks, but her verses range from pretty good to clearly just there to fill space, to being difficult to listen to without wincing. femininomenon is a prime example of this, in my opinion. i love the concept, but that bridge...

i think "good luck, babe!" is a step in the right direction for her in terms of lyrics, and hopefully a sign of better things to come. it's pretty airtight. the verses elaborate on the premise and aren't bad, even if they're not all that interesting. the chorus has that undeniable lyric, "you'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling," which single-handedly got me into the artist back when she was starting to climb the charts.

for me, though, outside of a few notable exceptions, the appeal of chappell roan is not particularly tied to her lyrics, outside of the general subject matter. it's the music, the spectacle, the drag element, the cultural context. it's a big fucking deal to me and to a lot of people that she's as popular as she is. i know the whole "queer as in fuck you" thing has been done to death, but she's the perfect embodiment of that ideal. it's just really great to see all the fanart of her in amazing ridiculous outfits, to hear her on the radio constantly like any other pop star, and to witness the really interesting conversations she's been starting just by existing and defying people's expectations of a pop star.

most of the deep cuts on this album are pretty good songs, but i don't have a lot to say about them. they did successfully win me over from my initial reaction of disinterest, but i'm probably not going to spend much time with any of them outside of the context of the album.

final thoughts: something really important that chappell roan did for me this year was to finally get me to enjoy pop music like i would any other genre. ever since high school, i've made a point of avoiding the kind of resentment i held for pop music in my teenage years, but until this year i never actually found myself enjoying it without some sort of caveat. i might hear a song i liked on the radio, but i wouldn't stream it on my own time, and i definitely wouldn't buy the cd. but this year, pop music is a huge part of my life. i'm having a great time with it, and it's all thanks to her.

[sarasade]

Sedgwick is DENSE AS FUCK DO NOT FEEL INSECURE.

academic theory is written specifically for the most pretentious and argumentative group of people on the planet. their audience will be SEARCHING for critical footholds, loose chinks in the armor of the argument to needle at and pull apart. it has to be airtight. That Impacts The Writing. It IS hard, it DOES take time, and there is not a single thing wrong with you for it.

anyway i am so happy you're reading it! it is a very good essay, and it will get easier the further you read as you pick up on her cadence and nuances in the topics she's working with. it's all about practice and familiarity. you can build both and while you might never exactly breeze through sedgwick, the process of engaging dense text and identifying the specific hinge they're balancing on in a larger discussion will become routine.

part of the reason it's so strikingly dense at first is because she's establishing her rhetorical and theoretical frameworks and you haven't had a chance to build up your familiarity with them. attempting to summarize hundreds of years of discussion reasonably well in a few pages. in the early days, you're not JUST cognitively processing her specific thoughts on the topic, you're ALSO cognitively processing all of the ideas she's building off of. not just the impact of hermeneutic suspicion she's discussing, but hermeneutic suspicion itself. that's a big concept! that concept has tentacles in every ounce of contemporary intellectualism. your brain is simultaneously tracking that idea back through all of your previous experiences and casting it forward with the essay you're reading. so much work all at once. it's less cognitively demanding for someone already familiar with the hermeneutic of suspicion because they have already tracked the idea backward and only need to cast it forward. literally the brain has been assigned fewer tasks to read, comprehend, and integrate the text.

my point is, you're doing great. if you want to discuss something or get confused or stuck, feel free to reach out. good luck! I'm really proud of you!

It's SO DENSE yes! I'm on the page 23 now. I just read Maggie Kilgour's The Rise of the Gothic Novel which was easier to understand because I was already familiar with the terms she uses.

I love me some "pretentious" argumentative academic analysis occasionally! It feels good to really force my brain to work out the meaning of things. Of course this means I've had to google a lot of words while reading it, heh!

I've definitely heard a lot of criticism about academic world especially from professional academics. All my academic friends come from working-class background and they are very critical of how inaccessible/insular academic world can be. When you're working-class it's hard to fit in that kind of inherently middle-class setting. At the same time it's good that some things are complicated and not easily understood by everyone. That's just the nature of in depth academic analysis.

I've been really interested in the topic of poetic vs hermeneutic criticism lately. I'd love to learn more about writing good critism- maybe even test what I've learned in practice and write some reviews for fun too. It's really interesting to think what makes a critique good. It's its own art form.

Your critique of the critique was a very fun read! It's always good to see well formed arguments and new perspectives on art. Thank you for your thoughtful comment! Cheers!

[122devadas]

A Game-Changer for Coffee Lovers: My Experience with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro

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Write a positive review of the" product name"product in 500 words with a title in British English . And add a hearing in every paragraph .and write like(l used the following product)

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Draft 1

A Game-Changer for Coffee Lovers: My Experience with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro

For years, my mornings began with a battle. One side: me, desperately craving a decent cup of coffee. The other:... Draft 1

A Game-Changer for Coffee Lovers: My Experience with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro

For years, my mornings began with a battle. One side: me, desperately craving a decent cup of coffee. The other: my old, unreliable grinder, producing grounds that ranged from dust to chunky pebbles. The resulting coffee was a bitter, inconsistent brew that left me longing for a better solution. Enter the Breville Smart Grinder Pro – a sleek, innovative machine that's revolutionised my morning routine.

The Perfect Grind, Every Time (Hear the satisfying whir!)

The first thing that struck me about the Breville Smart Grinder Pro was its quiet confidence. Unlike its noisy predecessor, this machine grinds beans with a satisfying whir that sounds almost professional. More importantly, the grind consistency is phenomenal. I can finally say goodbye to bitter over-extraction and weak under-extraction. The grinder offers a wide range of settings, from ultra-fine for espresso to coarse for a French press, allowing me to tailor the grind size to my chosen brewing method. Each cup tastes perfectly balanced, bursting with the true flavour of the beans.

Freshness Guaranteed (Hear the beans being crushed!)

Another feature I love is the integrated burr grinder. Unlike blade grinders that chop beans unevenly, the Breville Smart Grinder Pro uses burrs to crush them uniformly. You can actually hear the beans being crushed – a reassuring sound that signifies the release of fresh, aromatic oils. This not only ensures consistent grind size but also preserves the flavour profile of the coffee. Plus, the airtight container keeps beans fresh, eliminating the stale aftertaste that plagued my previous grinder.

Ditch the Measuring Cup (Hear the click of the pre-programmed settings!)

One of the biggest time-savers for me is the pre-programmed settings. Gone are the days of frantically searching for the right amount of coffee for my chosen brew. The Smart Grinder Pro offers settings for single shots, double shots, a full carafe, and even a travel mug. With a simple click of a button (you can hear the satisfying click!), the machine automatically grinds the perfect amount for your needs. This is a lifesaver on busy mornings when every second counts.

Easy to Clean (Hear the satisfying swish of the cleaning brush!)

Finally, the Breville Smart Grinder Pro is surprisingly easy to clean. The removable burrs and upper grind chamber can be rinsed under running water (although the manual recommends against submerging the entire unit), while the included brush helps remove any stray grounds. There's a satisfying swish as you brush away any residue, leaving the grinder sparkling clean and ready for the next use.

A Worthy Investment

Since investing in the Breville Smart Grinder Pro, my mornings have transformed. Every cup is a joy, bursting with flavour and aroma. The consistent grind size, quiet operation, and convenient pre-programmed settings have made this grinder an indispensable part of my coffee ritual. If you're a coffee enthusiast looking to elevate your morning brew, I wholeheartedly recommend the Breville Smart Grinder Pro. It's a game-changer, and the sound of freshly ground coffee beans will become the soundtrack to your perfect cup.

Draft 2

A Game-Changer for Busy Cooks: My Experience with the MultiChef Pro

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a professional chef, but I do love to cook. However, between work, family, and other commi... Draft 2

A Game-Changer for Busy Cooks: My Experience with the MultiChef Pro

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a professional chef, but I do love to cook. However, between work, family, and other commitments, finding the time to whip up elaborate meals can be a challenge. That's where the MultiChef Pro comes in – it's become an absolute game-changer in my kitchen.

From Sizzle to Simmer in Record Time

The first thing that struck me about the MultiChef Pro was its versatility. It boasts a whopping ten functions, including pressure cooking, slow cooking, steaming, and even air-frying. This translates to a symphony of delicious possibilities. The other day, for instance, I browned some chicken thighs in the searing function (the satisfying sizzle was a delight!), then deglazed the pan and used the pressure cooker setting to create a rich and flavourful cacciatore in under an hour. The pressure release valve whooshed with a satisfying hiss, and dinner was ready in no time.

Effortless Cleanup, a Chef's Dream

One of my least favourite parts of cooking has always been the mountain of pots and pans waiting to be washed. The MultiChef Pro, however, has significantly reduced this post-meal chore. The non-stick inner pot is a dream to clean – a quick wipe with a damp cloth, and most food residue disappears effortlessly. Even stubborn cheese or caramelised bits can be tackled with the handy steam function. The satisfying whoosh of steam as it loosens grime makes cleanup almost enjoyable (dare I say it?).

Intuitive Controls and Recipe Inspiration

While all these features sound complex, the MultiChef Pro is surprisingly user-friendly. The digital control panel features clear buttons and an easy-to-read display. The gentle beeps that guide you through the cooking process are a welcome auditory cue, especially when you're multitasking in the kitchen. Additionally, the included recipe booklet is a fantastic resource, packed with inspiration for everything from hearty stews to fluffy cakes. The satisfying thud of the booklet hitting the counter as I flipped through it for dinner ideas became a familiar sound in my kitchen routine.

The Verdict: A Must-Have for Busy Cooks

The MultiChef Pro has become an indispensable part of my kitchen. It's saved me countless hours, allows me to create delicious and varied meals, and cuts down on post-dinner cleaning. Whether you're a seasoned cook or a complete beginner, the MultiChef Pro's versatility and ease of use make it a fantastic investment.

Bonus Tip: Don't forget to explore the online community for the MultiChef Pro! There's a wealth of recipes, tips, and tricks shared by other users, all guaranteed to add to your culinary repertoire. Happy cooking!

Draft 3

A Game-Changer for Busy Cooks: My Experience with the Nutri-Prep Pro Plus

Since I started working full-time, whipping up healthy meals after a long day has become a constant battle. Pre-made optio... Draft 3

A Game-Changer for Busy Cooks: My Experience with the Nutri-Prep Pro Plus

Since I started working full-time, whipping up healthy meals after a long day has become a constant battle. Pre-made options are often expensive and lack the fresh ingredients I crave. Meal prepping on weekends seemed like the answer, but chopping endless vegetables left me with tired hands and dwindling motivation. That's when I discovered the Nutri-Prep Pro Plus food processor, and let me tell you, it's been a revelation in my kitchen.

From Chopping Woes to Culinary Cheer:

The first thing that struck me about the Nutri-Prep Pro Plus was its quiet operation. Unlike my old blender that sounded like a jet engine taking off, this machine hums along discreetly. This is a major perk, especially when prepping meals in the evenings and not wanting to wake the entire household. It effortlessly sliced through a mountain of carrots with a satisfying crunch, a stark contrast to the laborious knife work I was used to.

Versitility is the Spice of Life (and Healthy Eating):

The Nutri-Prep Pro Plus goes far beyond just chopping vegetables. It whipped up a silky smooth hummus in seconds, the motor barely breaking a sweat. The low hum was practically drowned out by the satisfying thump-thump-thump of the chickpeas getting pulverised. This machine's versatility is a huge plus. I've used it to make everything from salsa (the whir of the tomatoes was delightful) to pesto (the grind of the pine nuts added a lovely texture).

Cleaning Up a Breeze:

One of my biggest concerns with food processors was the dreaded post-chopping cleanup. Thankfully, the Nutri-Prep Pro Plus is a breeze to maintain. The dishwasher-safe parts make cleaning up a snap. The whoosh of the water washing away any leftover bits is a welcome sound after a successful meal prep session. Plus, the compact design means it doesn't take up much counter space, another win for my small kitchen.

Time Saved, Meals Gained:

The biggest benefit of the Nutri-Prep Pro Plus is the time it saves me. Chopping vegetables used to take a good 30 minutes, but with this machine, the job's done in under five. That translates to more time spent enjoying delicious, healthy meals instead of slaving away in the kitchen. The ring of the microwave timer signalling the end of my lunch reheat is a much more pleasant sound these days.

Overall, the Nutri-Prep Pro Plus has been a game-changer in my kitchen. It's quiet, versatile, easy to clean, and most importantly, saves me precious time. If you're a busy individual looking to eat healthier without sacrificing convenience, I highly recommend this product. It's a worthwhile investment that will pay off in both time and delicious meals.refresh Regenerate drafts volume_up

A Game-Changer for Coffee Lovers: My Experience with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro

For years, my mornings began with a battle. One side: me, desperately craving a decent cup of coffee. The other: my old, unreliable grinder, producing grounds that ranged from dust to chunky pebbles. The resulting coffee was a bitter, inconsistent brew that left me longing for a better solution. Enter the Breville Smart Grinder Pro – a sleek, innovative machine that's revolutionised my morning routine.

The Perfect Grind, Every Time (Hear the satisfying whir!)

The first thing that struck me about the Breville Smart Grinder Pro was its quiet confidence. Unlike its noisy predecessor, this machine grinds beans with a satisfying whir that sounds almost professional. More importantly, the grind consistency is phenomenal. I can finally say goodbye to bitter over-extraction and weak under-extraction. The grinder offers a wide range of settings, from ultra-fine for espresso to coarse for a French press, allowing me to tailor the grind size to my chosen brewing method. Each cup tastes perfectly balanced, bursting with the true flavour of the beans.

Freshness Guaranteed (Hear the beans being crushed!)

Another feature I love is the integrated burr grinder. Unlike blade grinders that chop beans unevenly, the Breville Smart Grinder Pro uses burrs to crush them uniformly. You can actually hear the beans being crushed – a reassuring sound that signifies the release of fresh, aromatic oils. This not only ensures consistent grind size but also preserves the flavour profile of the coffee. Plus, the airtight container keeps beans fresh, eliminating the stale aftertaste that plagued my previous grinder.

Ditch the Measuring Cup (Hear the click of the pre-programmed settings!)

One of the biggest time-savers for me is the pre-programmed settings. Gone are the days of frantically searching for the right amount of coffee for my chosen brew. The Smart Grinder Pro offers settings for single shots, double shots, a full carafe, and even a travel mug. With a simple click of a button (you can hear the satisfying click!), the machine automatically grinds the perfect amount for your needs. This is a lifesaver on busy mornings when every second counts.

Easy to Clean (Hear the satisfying swish of the cleaning brush!)

Finally, the Breville Smart Grinder Pro is surprisingly easy to clean. The removable burrs and upper grind chamber can be rinsed under running water (although the manual recommends against submerging the entire unit), while the included brush helps remove any stray grounds. There's a satisfying swish as you brush away any residue, leaving the grinder sparkling clean and ready for the next use.

A Worthy Investment

Since investing in the Breville Smart Grinder Pro, my mornings have transformed. Every cup is a joy, bursting with flavour and aroma. The consistent grind size, quiet operation, and convenient pre-programmed settings have made this grinder an indispensable part of my coffee ritual. If you're a coffee enthusiast looking to elevate your morning brew, I wholeheartedly recommend the Breville Smart Grinder Pro. It's a game-changer, and the sound of freshly ground coffee beans will become the soundtrack to your perfect cup.pen_sparktunesharemore_vert

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[tropical-fruit-mx]

Okay so, aesthetically, the whole thing SLAPS. The sets, props, and physical world-building is basically airtight.

The movie looks gorgeous, sound is EXCELLENT. I LOVE LOVE LOVE a movie that takes the Rocketman approach over the Bohemian Rhapsody approach (both good films, but I think having the actors put their voices into their characters really grounds a biopic). So the music sounds wonderful, and since the actors are driving the movie sonically it goes hand in hand to say that the performances were amazing. Timmy does great, this is probably my favorite Ed Norton performance I've ever seen (not too deep in his filmography so take that with a grain of salt), McNairy as Woody Guthrie KILLED me and he didn't have a single word of dialogue. Fucking A.

Monica Barbaro (the reason I showed up to this film in the first place) SLAYS THE HOUSE DOWN BOOTS. She's an incredible singer, kills every second of her acting performance, and looks fabulous while doing it. She earns her SAG nomination and then some.

The main issue I had, which I saw echoed in some reviews, is that everything is a bit surface level. Exposition is SORELY lacking in this film, dialogue is fairly sparse, and the stakes are more implied than stated so it feels like we're skating around the meat of the story and tension rather than diving into it.

Basically if the story was as good as the visuals/sound/acting then the 2hrs and 20mins wouldn't feel so draining. 6/10.

Local Bob Dylan Hater Goes to See the Bob Dylan Movie Entirely Because of Their Obsession with One Actress from Top Gun

This can only go well, review pending

[ladyloveandjustice]

Fall 2020 Anime Overview

I started out watching the a ton of anime for the Fall 2020 season, but then ended up not being caught up with most of them by the the time the end rolled around. I still pretty much intend to catch up with Yashahime Princess Half Demon someday (I do like the three leads, it just the plot’s been dull as dirt and the fights aren’t very inspired either) and though I dropped Wandering Witch after bad press started rolling in (I CANNOT deal with pointless tragedy in my current state of mind) I might check out a few more episodes someday just to from my own opinion. For now, let’s just quickly review the anime I DID manage to finish on time this season.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is exactly what it says on the tin: Princess Syalis isn’t too bothered about being captured by demons and locked in their castle, but she does value a good night’s sleep, and she is absolutely ruthless when it comes to getting it- so ruthless, in fact, that the demons realized it might not be that she’s trapped in here with them, but that they’re trapped in here with her.

Sleepy Princess is top tier comedy comfort food. It rarely got a huge belly laugh, but it always but a smile on my face and was a great thing to watch before going to bed. Syalis’s single-minded search for some shut eye is a joke that could have gotten old very quickly, but the show consistently found creative ways to expand on the gags and build it’s world and a fun cast of characters along the way. 

Though Syalis is downright brutal to the demons when it comes to getting what she wants (and has a knack for getting herself killed at well), thanks to a demon cleric that offers easy resurrections, you never feel too bad for anyone involved. In fact, the demons and Syalis form a strangely heartwarming bond over the course of the show , and it’s clear by the end that Syalis definitely has the ability to come and go if she damn well pleases and just finds this castle a fun place where she can find respite from her princessly responsibilities. 

A nice bonus for those of us who like a little subversion is that the show has a lot of fun playing with standard adventure tropes- the demons often lament that Syalis is not at all what they expected from a captive princess, for one, but my favorite fun little twist is how Syalis feels about the hero currently on a (seemingly endless) quest to rescue her- she manages to both hold him in contempt AND consistently fail to remember his name. That level of disregard takes some impressive effort.

The show has the same director as the Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun anime and as such has a similarly nice comic and visual flourishes throughout. It definitely gets two sleepy thumbs up for me.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen follows a young man named Yuuji Itadori who, after tangling with a demon, ends up with one inside him. With a death sentence hanging over his head, he’s inducted into a school for “jujutsu sorcerers”, and begins training to use his newfound powers to defeat demons and curses.

Jujutsu Kaisen quickly tells you on no uncertain terms it is Action Shonen, introducing a huge cast of a characters and powers and super high stakes and hey there’s even gonna be a tournament arc soon. It is really, really pretty to look at, with a killer opening and ending, some seriously great animation and cool visuals for the fights especially. But is it particularly memorable otherwise? Noooooot really, so far. The sea of technobabble it tends to descend into when trying to explain how the various powers work often has me zoning out and wishing they’d just let me watch the pretty punches. The villains and the general plot isn’t particularly compelling. The characters are nice enough, but haven’t given me much to be attached to so far. Though I do appreciate this one dude who is the embodiment of millennial ennui:

I’ll keep watching though, because it is a visually stunning, action-y thing to my turn your brain off to and god knows I want to turn my brain off all the time lately. 

And the characters do have potential- the One Girl of the main group, Nobara, has a really fun personality in that she’s a total shitlord doofus brawler who can thus doof around with our equally dumbass protagonist, which is an pretty fun, unusual personality for the One Girl to have! Her interactions with Maki, the weapons expert senpai girl, are promising too. I’m just waiting for her to actually, you know, DO something that really shows off her skills- I’m told she DOES eventually get to (gasp) win fights on her own and do cool stuff, but so far show has kind at that of failed miserably and underused her like most action shonen underuse their girls. Plus, taking Yuuji out of the group for such a long stretch seems like a weird choice, we’ve been deprived really seeing him for relationships with his peers. The pacing seems off. But maybe the upcoming tournament arc will make up for that and actually be worthwhile!

Talentless Nana

In a world where kids with superpowers are sent to island schools to fight mysterious “enemies of humanity”, one class of such kids is thrown into chaos when they find themselves targeted by a deadly force.

It’s pretty much impossible to talk about Talentless Nana without discussing how it deviates dramatically from what its premise appears to be in episode one, so I’ll just say if you like stories with superpowers and intrigue, you should definitely sit through that first episode and see if the plot that’s eventually revealed is something that you’re here for. But if you want to avoid spoilers, DON’T GO BELOW THE CUT, because I’m about to get very spoilery.

Basically, Talentless Nana pulls a bait and switch, starting it’s first episode posing as generic superhero anime where the protagonist appears to be your standard meek-but-powerful anime boy (Nanao) who just needs some support and encouragement from a pink haired mind reading manic pixie dream girl (Nana) to unlock his self-confidence and ~true power~ (ugh)...only to take SHARP swerve when  Nana ruthlessly murders Nanao and reveals she’s been sent by the government to take out the superpowered kids one by one because THEY are the considered the true enemies of humanity. Oh, and she doesn’t have any superpowers, or “talents”- she was just able to sus out everything Nanao was thinking through basic deductive reasoning because he was so flippin’ obvious and basic.

As my love for a certain character in a certain game may have clued people into, I am ALWAYS delighted when what appears to be a generic, underwritten girlfriend character is then revealed to be an interesting, ruthless mastermind. And having an anime appear to be about a bland boy with a Dream Girlfriend but then actually turn into a show about a deeply cynical, morally dubious girl who’s clearly holding down a lot of messy feelings as she considers everyone her enemy...well, it may be a cheap trick to some, but it also feels a little bit like justice for all the underwritten female characters sacrificed to bland male leads. It’s still rare enough that I dig it when it happens. And the metatext of Nana zeroing in on this kid as the most standard of main character boys, assessing him as the biggest threat because of it and knowing the perfect way to take him out, is pretty inherently funny to me.

But if the show JUST banked on that twist and was about Nana brutally and cynically slaughtering these kids, it would get boring quickly and Nana would be a bland character herself. Fortunately, it doesn’t go that route. Nana struggles and grows a lot over the course of the show. She finds opposition in transfer student Kyoya, a stoic (and socially awkward) young man who pretty quickly becomes suspicious of her. A lot of the tension from the early episodes comes from her sweating as she tries to outmaneuver him and she makes plenty of mistakes along the way. She also slowly but surely starts to question her mission, and we get an idea of her backstory and how the government specifically has groomed her into believing people with powers to be evil. That belief is one that’s challenged by her friendship with another girl, and it’s pretty rewarding to watch Nana’s feelings and world expand little by little.

The show is definitely a little schlocky-some of the plots (as well as the general premise of the government thinking this is the optimal way to get rid of their superpowered kids problem) fall apart if you think too much about them, and some of the kids Nana goes up against are sleazy and unlikeable in over the top ways (which makes it easy for her to stick to her convictions all these kids deserve to die at first). In particular, I have to give a heads up for some sleazy guys doing and saying sleazy things, though the show never gets too overbearing or graphic with it (and the gore is generally PG-13 level as well). 

Basically. There are some truly ridiculous happenings in this show. But how ridiculous and pulpy and over the top it is can be part of the appeal, and it’s fun to just sit back and watch the spectacle of Nana and her peers head-scratching machinations. 

So, while certainly not an anime with airtight construction or flawless quality and depth, I found Nana an overall entertaining watch, especially as a fan of cat-and-mouse murder-y shenanigans, and thought it has a very compelling main character and managed to end on a heartwrenching (but earned) note. I definitely wouldn’t say no to a second season and would be interested to see where things go from here.

[lovelyirony]

Fic title meme : pulvis et umbra sumus (We Are Dust And Shadows)

On every single document, including the ones that show what actually happened to Howard and Maria Stark, Tony Stark is listed as dead among them. 

He is not. 

But in not calling in the accident on the abandoned road, Tony managed to find someone else to take his place and escaped. 

Tony Stark is dead. A whole family funeral and everything. Obadiah pretends to cry. Tony is at the funeral with shitty dye in his hair and sunglasses that he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing. Ha. 

The funeral is closed casket. All their faces are rumored to be impossible to fix with make-up. 

He makes new documents. Anthony Jarvis, from Boston. Airtight background. Likes puzzles. Scored damn high on the SAT, but not the perfect score. 

(Killed him to answer some of those questions wrong, seriously.) 

Anthony Jarvis goes to MIT and requests a single room. He gets one for one semester, and then the room next to his burns and destroys his as well. So he gets moved to Jim Rhodes’. 

Jim becomes Rhodey, and he is the first friend of Anthony Jarvis, and nicknames him Tony. 

He grins at that. 

There are plenty of times that Tony wants to tell him. The thing about secrets is that they need to be shared. No one really wants a secret, nor do they want to keep it. But he keeps his mouth shut and asks if he wants to go for Thai food. 

“This is the third time this week.” 

“Not my fault it’s good! I’ll pay...” 

“Sign me up.” 

Tony and Rhodey gets Thai food. It’s good. 

Rhodey lets him in on a secret that Tony had actually known about since his room assignment. 

(You remember that guy’s room that caught on fire? Yeah, he swore that his microwave hadn’t been on, and nothing had been plugged in. He was right. But Tony needed an accident.) 

In other circumstances, Rhodey would have ignored the offer that he had. He had had his heart set on Air Force. But there was something about the man who talked to him. 

“It’s a place called Strategic-Homeland-something I can’t remember,” Rhodey says. “Point is, they’re a big deal and kind of shady, but not in the government shady kind of way. The only thing I can find out about them is that they’re an international company who need engineers, pilots, and basically anyone like you and me. I don’t know how I feel about it.” 

Tony nods. 

“You want me in on this?” 

“I mean, you did tell me a couple of weeks ago that you weren’t sure what you wanted to do after graduation.” 

(It was two weeks, three days, and fourteen hours ago. Not like he was counting.) 

“...thanks. I’ll check it out with you.” 

Anthony Jarvis shows up in a nice suit, stupid sunglasses, and impresses the higher-ups by diagnosing a problem with the engine that others had previously marked as “impossible.” 

He’s hired on the spot, same as Rhodey. 

Tony Jarvis gets his own keycard, finds an apartment in New York that’s within at least biking distance, and gets started on inventing some cute little toys for the spies in Research and Development. 

He brings the laser-lipstick to life, poison-drop-earrings, spyglasses that actually work and have HD, and briefcases that use mirroring technology to change color. 

“How did you do this?” Rhodey asks, eyes wide. “I swear this is unreal.” 

“Aw,” Tony says. “You sap. I got some inspiration from some old comic book ads. I think I’m gonna try a ring decoder next, what do you think?” 

“Almost makes me want to go on missions instead of flying them.” 

Tony Jarvis is known for working odd yet long hours. He comes up with results. And he keeps his head down and minds his own business. 

This is all to find out exactly who killed his parents. As much as his and Howard’s relationship was...interesting, he still wanted to know. 

His desire to know the truth leads to somewhere he hadn’t thought was possible: Hydra. 

His hands freeze as he looks at the paper file with thick, black lines all over. The information there was sparse. Howard, Maria, and Anthony Stark all died. It was ruled: 

And there’s nothing there. 

It wasn’t an accident. Sure he knew that, but there was something far more sinister at play. Why wasn’t it an accident? 

- 

He gets Alexander Pierce in his apartment with a man in the corner. His arm gleams in what little light from the lamps outside give off. 

“Why are you searching for the Stark files?” He asks. 

“Why didn’t you just schedule a meeting? I’m available tomorrow at three,” Tony jokes. “Who’s your friend here?” 

“Someone you wouldn’t want to shake hands with,” Pierce answers. “You need to stop looking into this before you find yourself in a situation you don’t want to be in.” 

“And if I don’t?” 

“Accidents will happen,” Pierce says. He gets up from the table, to the counter. Gets out a glass. And makes himself water. He smiles as he looks to the man in the corner. “Do you want any water, Winter Soldier?” 

Winter Soldier remains impassive. 

Tony stills. 

“So, the legends are true. And Hydra is still around.” 

“And if you aren’t careful, you won’t be,” Pierce says. “Don’t bring any of this up. Or this won’t be the last time you see Winter Soldier. I know your moves, Jarvis. Don’t think you can surprise me.” 

They exit the apartment. Tony realizes that Pierce took his glass. 

And he laughs. 

Because this? Not according to plan, but god he’s gonna have fun with it.  

It starts with telling Rhodey who he actually is. 

It does not go as planned. 

“So let me get this straight. I’ve known you for years and you just. Never told me?” Rhodey asks. “Why not?” 

“To be completely fair, no one knows besides a man in Wisconsin, and he’s from Wisconsin,” Tony says. “Also I was drunk. Drunk me is a terrible person who would sell me for a buffalo nickel.” 

“I’m still mad, even if that’s funny,” Rhodey says, trying not to smile. “So. Why tell me now? I’m assuming you need something.” 

“I would like your help,” Tony says. “It is not required but I am toppling a secret organization living in SHIELD and I think if I get your help, I will most likely not get fired by the end of this. Fury likes you, he hates me.” 

“False, he mildly tolerates you. You’ll be fine. Probably. Who else should we get to help?” 

Tony had originally planned for no one. 

But then there was Pepper Potts. 

She had been deemed by the media as “crazy” for accusing Obadiah Stane, longtime-CEO of Stark Industries, as ordering a hit out on the Stark family. 

She had been booted from the company--anticipated--and then Hydra had ordered a hit on her. 

Slightly unexpected. 

Point is, Rhodey brings her into the apartment and tells Tony casually that the grocery store had run out of his usual hummus brand, was the generic okay? 

“That’s like asking if I’m okay with blue pens,” Tony curses. “Also, is that Pepper Potts? Why is she here? Did you run into her at the grocery store?” 

“No, as I was coming back. Did you know that she has a hit out on her? Fun times.” 

“Oh my god, will someone explain to me what’s going on here?!” Pepper seethes. “I was just trying to get my yogurt without anyone taking a picture of me and some random fucking guy had a knife thrown at me and then this guy took me to your house!” 

She then rants for ten minutes about the “questionable design choices going on in this establishment, who honestly thinks shot glasses are a decoration?!” 

“Are you done?” Tony asks. “Because if you want to help with a conspiracy plot, you need to be done.” 

She is. 

Pepper does not get a job with SHIELD. In fact, she mainly just decides to take care of the redecoration in Tony’s apartment. 

“You will be paying me for this.” 

“Why would I do that? You’re using my money to buy everything. You’re living here rent free for now.” 

“Because I’m helping you make better life choices. I also want new shoes.” 

What Pepper does is provide very valuable access to Stark Industries: she knows the ins and outs, what employees do and don’t do, and also is very helpful in telling Tony what he needs to do when he takes the company over. 

“Who said I was going to take it over?” 

“Me,” Pepper says. “Also because I reviewed every single old document and the company was specified to go to next-of-kin. You are. And you’re not dead.” 

“My death certificate is literally framed,” Tony says, pointing to his graduation photo that Rhodey took. He had swapped out his official diploma with it as a joke. No one had seen it. He thought it was hilarious. 

“Yeah, but they can do DNA testing,” Pepper says. “This is like the twenty-first century Anastasia except this time they don’t find you with metal detectors!” 

“I don’t like that you know that story as well as you do,” Rhodey says. “But I’ll leave you a credit card for furniture and groceries. If you get rid of my drinks in the fridge I’m literally never forgiving you.” 

“Noted, and I don’t need forgiveness,” Pepper says. “But they’ll stay there.” 

So begins the plot. 

Pierce doesn’t know three things, which is a lot of things not to know: 

1.) Tony Jarvis is not Tony Jarvis. 

2.) Rhodey actually likes Tony and most of the time him saying that he would “kill Tony in a variety of ways, starting with sporks and moving forward...” is mostly (mostly) a joke. 

3.) Pepper Potts resides in their apartment and is having fun telling Tony she bought new silverware. 

“Why did you buy new silverware! It was fine!” 

“I recognized all of these forks and knives from restaurants. Why did you steal them from restaurants?” 

“They can replace them!” 

“Don’t. Anyways now your spoons match and you don’t have the shitty ones from different places. Also I painted the bathroom.” 

“My landlord is gonna kill me.” 

“I made her cookies and discovered that she likes going to concerts. You’ll be fine.” 

(Pepper is a goddess. You can’t convince them otherwise.) 

Pierce doesn’t know any of this, but he still holds a key piece of blackmail: Tony Jarvis shouldn’t know about Hydra, and he’ll do anything to make sure that he doesn’t lose his job. 

Tony has been recording their conversations for weeks. 

(Pierce thinks he doesn’t design things to get around the available technology. Pathetic.) 

He also has bugged Pierce as well as his house, and figures out that Winter Soldier is going to be on assignment within the DC area in an effort to kill some higher-up on the foodchain that was SHIELD. 

Well. 

Tony has always wanted to go and see the cherry blossoms a little more up close. 

Pepper, of course, doesn’t like that they left his boots on. 

“This couch is new and red,” she says. “Take off his boots!” 

“He is unconscious and probably won’t be in the next fifteen minutes,” Rhodey says. “We are not touching him and possibly shortening that fifteen minutes.” 

Winter Soldier wakes up to three faces staring at him. 

“Mission failed?” he asks, voice robotic. 

“Nope, you just got a new one,” says the man on the right. He is wearing a t-shirt. Winter Soldier thinks that in this situation, a t-shirt is not the best option. 

(Of course, he’s not supposed to think. But they don’t have to know that.” 

“Can you take your shoes off?” says the woman in the middle. “Please. You’re getting germs on the couch.” 

He’s confused. 

“Who am I killing?” 

“No one, yet,” says the man on the left. “Do you know who you are?” 

“Winter Soldier.” 

“No, like a name? I’m assuming you’ve had a name at some point.” 

“Someone has called me Mr. Freeze before.” 

The man on the left snorts. Man on the right taps his arm lightly. 

“Well, um, okay then. How do you feel about the name...aw shit. I can’t think of a name for you when your mask is on. Can you take the mask off?” 

He takes it off. It’s nicer to breathe. 

The man in the t-shirt pauses. 

“Okay. So your name is Bucky Barnes. Do you know that name?” 

Something clicked. But he doesn’t know what. 

“Sounds...familiar.” 

“Cool! So that’s your name now, do me a favor and don’t google it. I’m Tony, this is Rhodey, and this is Pepper. If you don’t take your shoes off, you’re going to be scared of her.” 

Newly-named-Bucky highly doubts that he will be scared of Pepper because she is built like a twig and she is wearing high heels. 

(He is wrong about ten minutes later when she forcibly throws a fork at him.) 

“Why am I here?” he asks. “Should I be checking back in with Handler Pierce?” 

“No,” comes the consensus from everyone else in the room. 

“Technically, he thinks you went rogue and went back to Russia. He’s organizing a team to go get you. We hired an actor to play you. It’s been entertaining. He got some plums. Do you like plums?” 

“Why is that relevant?” 

“It’s vapid and not interesting at all, Tony loves questions like that,” Rhodey says. “Now come on. We need to get you actual shirts. Also some body wash.” 

Bucky Barnes learns how to be a person. He stares at himself in the mirror for an hour and smiles slightly when Pepper calls him “vain” and pushes him aside to grab her hairbrush. 

He then learns that Hydra is trying to overtake SHIELD and they have a slight window with Pierce out. 

This involves two things: 

1.) Tony Stark coming back from the dead. 

2.) SHIELD panicking that they didn’t know this secret and taking another look at the paperwork, in which case Hydra will be found out. 

These are both easier than anticipated. Tony can act like a showman better than anyone, and has been carefully growing a goatee that is eerily reminiscent of his late father’s. Of course he’s had to switch it up. 

The media is going crazy. SHIELD as well. They’re scrambling to find paperwork that proves that it happened, and they find that the “accident” was no accident. That Howard hadn’t been working for the “enemy” at the time. 

The enemy was in the building, and they had blended in seamlessly. 

This all happens on a Wednesday, by the way. Pepper has it marked on the calendar and everything. Rhodey made his coffee. 

Bucky is busy slamming people into drywall and listening for any word from Rhodey, who is also slamming people into drywall. 

“You know, you’d think we’d get something like a suit of armor for this,” Rhodey pants out, slamming another guy out of his way. 

Bucky nods. 

“Best I can offer is a grenade.” 

“Where in the fuck did you get a grenade?!” 

“Supply closet. Second floor. What, you didn’t check?” 

“No sorry must’ve missed it--of course I didn’t fucking check the second floor closet!” Rhodey yells. 

Bucky says he’s stressed. He should calm himself. 

Rhodey chucks a particularly nasty Hydra agent out a window. 

(Bucky thinks Rhodey is probably the coolest person he’ll ever meet.) 

Tony is fashionably late to the take-down of the century. He’s already foiled a lot of plans, and taken a key-card for Project Insight to work. 

He waltzes in and nearly gets hit by a mug. 

“So, how’s the party going?” he yells over to Pepper. Pepper is still in her heels. She looks like a goddess still, as usual. It is a Wednesday, after all. 

“As fine as it can be,” Pepper says. “We’ve met some resistance. With Pierce gone there’s little infrastructure. You got his plane delayed, correct?” 

“Even better. Got it sent to London. Motherfucker is gonna be there for a while,” Tony says. “Also may or may not have said that he was a threat. SHIELD branch there will investigate, find out some questionable things in his file that he will swear up and down were never there.” 

“Good,” Pepper says. She launches a stapler at someone’s head. “Do you think we’ll have time to pick up takeout for dinner?” 

“Depends on whether or not Deputy Director Hill is Hydra.” 

They see Maria Hill pass by in a blur, yelling as she jumps onto a man and sends him crashing down over a railing. 

“Lovely, she isn’t!” Pepper cheers. “By the way, I was thinking about redoing our kitchen.” 

“‘Our’ kitchen?” Tony says, ducking a bullet and drawing out his personal lipstick-laser, firing it with expert precision. “I told you the living situation was temporary.” 

“Oh please, you have an extra room.” 

“Which was an office!” Tony tells her. 

“Like you can’t have your office at Stark Industries,” Pepper says. “I expect to hear how the reveal went over dinner. Also, please hire me back. I don’t wanna be your interior decorator for forever.” 

“Neither do I, you like modern art. Disgusting.” 

And so the fighting resumes. 

It is done by five-thirty-two, with an official surrender from Pierce. 

“Thank god, I already ordered Chinese and they said it’d be here at six,” Rhodey says. 

They all sit on the red couch. 

Shoes on. 

Tony tips four hundred percent. 

-

“So what are we doing tomorrow?” Rhodey asks. 

“I am not moving for six hours,” Bucky answers. “Also maybe getting a library card.” 

“This is the first thing you want out of the icebox? A library card?” Tony asks, laughing. 

Pepper laughs. 

“I have errands to run. You can come with me and we’ll swing by.” 

“What are the errands?” 

“Getting a kitchen mixer and also making sure that my plates match my napkins.” 

“A travesty if it doesn’t happen,” Rhodey deadpans. “Pass the lo mein, Tony. You’re hogging it.” 

“I had to fight on a Wednesday and run,” Tony says. “Today isn’t cardio day.” 

“Literally hate it when you speak,” Rhodey says. “Absolutely abhor your language.” 

They go to bed, although it’s more of laying on the floor. 

Sure, Tony will have to deal with retaking a business that he knows a bit less about and Pepper will have to be trained (again) and also fight against being made CEO (but she won’t fight much). Rhodey will get a new job with SI because it’s not like Tony will let him work at SHIELD (Rhodey tries, Tony will get him fired at some point). Bucky just...he needs to get a bit more than a library card. 

But that’s for tomorrow. 

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Retrospective Review: Spectre (2015)

So going into Spectre, expectations were incredibly high. Skyfall was a massive triumph and the entire cast and director were coming back. Christoph Waltz cast as the villain seemed to be idea casting. I loved Andrew Scott as Moriarty in Sherlock so he was also a welcome presence. I remember that the first teaser was brilliant and I was convinced that the film was going to be excellent. What we got was unfortunately a mixed bag. Spectre is a movie that s not as bad as some people make it out to be, but is a relative disappointment compared to Skyfall, which was its immediate predecessor.

I would say that Spectre is a film with a bit of an identity crisis, Craig's Bond films are decidedly modern. Breaking away from lot of the known aspects of Bond films from previous eras. This has what has distinguished his movies from others. However, Spectre is a film that is trying to be classical Bond in some ways, with the bomb in the watch, the villain with a lair with a torture device, the almost wordless henchman etc... and still trying to be modern and continue on from Skyfall with a plot concerning global surveillance and intelligence. And the film has a difficult time juggling these aspects. In my opinion, Spectre is about 2/3 a pretty good movie, with a final act that just feels lazily written.

The storytelling in the movie is not as airtight as it should be. While I had a few issues with Skyfall storytelling, the issues with Spectre are a bit more apparent. The opening of the film is outstanding. Might be the best opening sequence of all Bond films. And its probably the best of the action sequences. But the film never really tells us why Bond takes Siara's ring. How did he know that ring is important? Its just one of those questions that isn't answered. There is also a bizarre personal connection between Blofeld and Bond which was completely unnecessary. What it does is raise a really bizarre coincidence that the boy who was Bond's foster brother grew up to be his arch nemesis. There is also the case of trying to retcon Mr. White a bit and make every single movie a part of an overarching narrative. Until Spectre, Skyfall felt separated from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Spectre tries to tie all these movies together in a rather clumsy manner.

A part of the issue is that Blofeld is supposed to be this grand, maniacal head of Spectre, but he comes off as a pompous blowhard rather than genius villain. He doesn't actually do anything in the movie. He shows up and claims credit for manipulating the events of the previous movies, bragging about how powerful he is, and then does nothing much else of note. It feels like a waste of an actor who is perfectly suited for the role. Waltz does what he can with the role but in the end he can really elevate it to the level that we got from Bardem in Skyfall or Mads in Casino Royale. I would say he's better than Greene just because its Christoph Waltz but it does feel like a role he could do in his sleep. Andrew Scott is the secondary villain and he's also a bit annoying. Again mostly there to lord over his power over M. He's essentially just an antagonist for M. Ironically, the villain that leaves the most effect is Dave Bautista who is an impressive physical presence. I think he says only one word all movie but he does make a significant impact. His entry scene is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.

Lea Seydoux has a very significant role in the movie as Madeline Swann. Her relationship with Bond is built as a legitimate romance. I felt that her performance was pretty strong in the movie, but the film doesn't use her all that well. By the final act, she's again reduced to a damsel in distress for Bond. Another issue is that the chemistry between Craig and Seydoux is a bit lacking. Given the film tries to pitch this as a love story for bond where he could finally have a life outside of being an assassin, its a bit of a problem, especially because his chemistry with Eva Green was so strong. Monica Bellucci shows up briefly for a complete throwaway role. She could have been removed without it making any difference to the movie. She's literally there to appeal to old school Bond fans where you get to have Bond seduce a woman into helping him. Naomie Harris is back and wonderful as ever as Moneypenny and she and Craig continue to have a fun banter and she's certainly more actively involved than previous Moneypenny's. However, she is a tad wasted.

All the returning cast members are top notch. Ben Whishaw continues to be brilliant as Q and one of the highlights of the movie. His relationship with Bond is really fun and he gets to have a substantial role in the movie. Fiennes is excellent in the movie as well, as he always is. Rory Kinnear as Tanner is a background presence but is enjoyable. Jesper Christensen reappears early on in a vital scene as Mr. White. They try to retcon him into a character with some morals which doesn't really work when you remember him from CR and QoS, but its a well acted scene.

Daniel Craig continues to be excellent in the role. He continues to have touches of humor throughout the movie and excels in the action scenes. He manages to carry the film through its weaker moments. At this point, you can tell he's very settled into the role. He continues to add little touches to his performance which I love. Like after his early dispute with M, he is clearly irritated that he is suspended but he tried to be polite but because he's annoyed he's unable to button his suit smoothly. I don't know if that was just something that happened accidentally or it was on purpose but it was a cute moment. Similarly when he's admiring the car and Q tells him its going to 009, you can tell his annoyance as well as his irritation when he's handed a watch.

The action in the film is all pretty solid. Like I mentioned, the opening action sequence is the highlight. The train fight sequence is pretty cool. You see Bond getting his ass handed to him for once. The plane scene in Austria is pretty excellent. There is a dull car chase scene which feels awfully like a car commercial with completely empty streets. The climactic action sequence is a bit low key compared to previous movies. Like I mentioned earlier, there is something a bit lazy about the final act and climax suffers as a result. It should have probably been better because it is basically just Bond and Madeline avoid the destruction of a building and shooting down a helicopter with Bloefeld in it. I did like that the movie emphasizes the idea that being an assassin also means you have to be sure whether killing someone is the right thing at the time. And I liked the symbolism of Bond choosing not to kill and choosing to leave it behind and be with Madeline.

The film has its plusses. The first 2/3 are entertaining despite some flaws. Its only the last act that doesn't work for me. I think this is a decent Bond film. It could have been edited down a little but Mendes does a good job directing the film. I am glad its not the final film even though it ends in a way where it could have been Craig's swansong. I am hopeful that No Time to Die gives him a better send off. This film is a 7/10.

[heartslogos]

outtakes [3]

“You’re a terrible influence. I’m pretty sure that Ganyu was nicer before you two started dating,” Keqing narrows her eyes, squinting at the fine print.

Yanfei pokes her finger to Keqing’s forehead, pushing her face back from the tablet. “You’re going to ruin your eyes. I mean. They’re already ruined, but you’re going to make them worse. Just suck it up and see your optometrist again.”

Keqing grunts, “She retired. I don’t trust her replacement.”

“They’re optometrists. I don’t think they’re going around untrained.”

“I am very particular about my contact lenses. It took me three fittings to get these ones right.”

“And your new optometrist can’t just copy the fitting from your last visit?”

Keqing is quiet in a way that Yanfei’s years of experience in a courtroom know as guilty. If they were in a courtroom this would be the case closer and Yanfei would be walking to the bus stop with a bounce to her step and a more generous outlook on whether or not she’s paying for a round or not.

“When was your last visit?” Yanfei asks, making a grab for the tablet. Keqing lets it go easy enough.

“Four years ago,” Keqing says.

Yanfei makes a face. “The things in your eyes must be riddled with germs.”

“They still work.”

“Qing-er — “

“Don’t call me that.”

“Everyone always thinks you’re angry because you’re scowling and frowning but is it just because you can’t see worth shit?”

“You’re one to talk, your eyesight is as bad as mine.”

“Yeah, but I go to my optometrist and get new contacts every year on the dot. My optometrist and I joke that I keep anniversary dates better than his wife does.”

“Somehow I’m not surprised by this information. You’re surprisingly well liked for a contract lawyer who’s constantly booked full.”

“Hey! Why surprisingly? I’ve got a very charismatic personality. And I only speak the truth so why should people hold a grudge? I’m only holding them to their own words!”

“Yanfei, that is exactly why someone would hate you.” Keqing sighs. “Just tell me the important parts I need to know. How do you see anything on your tablet? It’s all set so small you’d need to zoom in four times just to get a difference between a punctuation and a speck of dust. Also I retract my previous statement. Consider it stricken from the record. Ganyu has never been nice. She’s just polite but what can you expect from someone raised by Zhongli-xiangsheng?”

“Xiao-ge isn’t polite.”

“Xiao-ge is polite, you’re just dating his sister. All bets are off when it comes to family. No one is polite to family.”

Yanfei holds a hand to her chest. “I think that’s possibly the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Keqing. You do care.”

“If only because you make Ganyu happy and a happy Ganyu is a happy Qixing.” Keqing sighs, brushing her bangs to the side of her face. “Ganyu’s more playful now. I think that’s the word I��m looking for. She’s more liable to bully people with thin faces because of you. It’s all the playing around you both do with Xiao. The man’s face is so thin I don’t know he got a job in security.”

“You say that but your face is as thin as he is,” Yanfei snickers. “You both get riled up so easily. Matching tempers. I’m surprised you two don’t get along more.”

“We get along plenty fine. Between the rest of you someone’s got to be capable of feeling any sort of shame, just so we can pretend to be responsible adults in society.” Keqing crosses her arms. “Get to it.”

Yanfei quickly flips to her notes she’d taken of the contract and Keqing groans.

“Why didn’t you just let me read the notes to start with?”

“Because if I told you I took notes then you’d want to see the contract itself and then read the notes again afterwards. You wouldn’t trust my notes alone. Come on, give me some credit. I know you better than you think. Even before we were friends I’ve been going back and forth with the Qixing poking out the holes for you lot to fix like determined little tailors.” Yanfei clears her throat, face turning serious as she scans her note page. “Alright. Focus, down to business Keqing. This contract seems airtight but even submarines have to release pressure somewhere. The contract also seems to be evenly balanced but I started checking into the current stock trends for the jade traders and I’ve found some interesting sells and trades for the past few months.”

Keqing hisses out through her teeth. “Few months? Yanfei, you said you found this one in your spare time. How far did you dig?”

“Consider it a favor. Your lot would’ve had to do the digging anyway.”

“That’s the point. The Qixing is still going to need to independently review what you’ve found and cross referenced. You’re not saving any time — wait, where are you getting these records from? Yanfei.”

“You have your sources, I have mine.”

Keqing groans. “Every single time you tell me you’ve found something interesting I fall for it like an idiot. I think it won’t be that bad, that it’s going to be something minor like tax evasion or some kind of labor hour issue. And then you bring insider trading and monopoly rigging to me.”

“I keep you in a job, ingrate,” Yanfei says fondly. “Ganyu always says you seem livelier when I pass you an interesting case.”

“Lively is a polite way for Ganyu to say I’m on my last nerve and ready to snap.”

Yanfei giggles, “But Keqing, you’re already snapping. How many last nerves do you have?”

“You!” Keqing shakes her fist at the other woman. “You’re insufferable! I don’t know how Ganyu puts up with you! The woman’s got the patience of a god. She’s going to ascend before everyone else just for this alone. If you ever came to work for the Qixing I’d quit my job and go to work at my parent’s grocery store.”

“You’d be turning the grocery store into a chain business and pillar of the local economy within half a year then you’d get bored and come back.”

[sabreean]

One word for you...

Where I have not gone plastic-free:

Bread box: There are no plastic-free, airtight bread boxes that I’ve been able to find and I *must have* airtight. I make my own bread in a bread machine just because I like to, and the first few loaves I made here on the humid island grew mold within three days because my old bread box was not airtight. Bread bags are more eco-friendly but aren’t airtight, and will hold the humidity. I could find no silicon boxes and also could not find silicone containers/bags that I could be sure would be big enough to hold a loaf of bread and still close completely. I’m considering a giant silicone bag I found online, for marinating meat, so if I get that I can see if a loaf will fit inside. But I haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet, buying something just to marinate meat doesn’t fall neatly into the “I really need it now” category. So I purchased a BPA-free plastic, airtight box and it seems to be working very well. It’s so airtight that I was able to store bananas in it as well and there has been no sign of fruit flies.

Suncare: I spent two days working on the porch. I was under a roof in shade the entire time but I sunburn if I stand next to a toaster, so at the end of the second day I looked like Roy Neary in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. As in the right half of my face was bright red. I wasn’t wearing sunscreen because it breaks me out. All of it. Every single sunscreen ever. They all break out my face, neck and chest within 20 minutes of application. So I did some research and learned about mineral sunscreens versus chemical sunscreens and after reading a lot of recommendations and reviews, I ordered Alba Botanica Sensitive Mineral Sunscreen. Yes the tube is plastic, but there’s probably no avoiding that. The sport cream is 45 SPF, waterproof for up to 80 minutes, vegan, free of all the chemicals that turn my face into a Marscape, biodegradable and - get this - reef safe. That’s a “gee how nice” for most people but now that I’m swimming around coral reefs, shit got real. They also make a spray-on but it’s not legal to ship aerosol cans to Hawaii, something about them exploding under pressure blah-bibby-blah. Pretty bummed about that. For those wondering, until now I’ve worn a sun visor whenever I’m outdoors but it didn’t occur to me to wear it on a covered porch. I’m sure it didn’t occur to Roy on a dark deserted highway in the middle of an Indiana night, either. LATER UPDATE: Native makes a mineral sunscreen and I thought it wasn't water resistant, but it turns out that it is, although I should not have had to dig so deep into their website to find this out. Better than getting anal probed, all things considered. The Alba sunscreen is very thick and hard to squeeze out of the tube, and you can feel it on your skin at first but you forget pretty quickly. It is completely unscented. You have to make sure to rub it in well if you don’t want to look a little weird. It showers off clean and easy and after a few days with it, not a single blemish! Our pharmacy sells some water resistant mineral sunscreens. I didn’t price them the last time I was there to compare with online ordering and they are probably reef-safe because as of January 1 of this year, suncreeens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate are banned in Hawaii to protect the reefs. But my next purchase will be Little Hands because it is made right here in Hawaii. I have been a big believer in ‘buy local’ for many years and they are plastic-free.

Groceries: Groceries haven’t changed. I’ve been using cloth shopping and produce bags for many years, they just bloody well work better. I do buy some foods in plastic, often there just isn’t any alternative. This was true even on the mainland. The main change is that now I walk to the store more often than not. I was able to walk to almost everything I needed when I lived in Austin’s SoCo in the early aughts and I loved it, I am so so happy to be able to do that again. Knowing I’m just a pleasant stroll away also means that I only buy what I need in the immediate future. There are a few exceptions for items that sell out very soon after the weekly supply barge comes, and don’t always get restocked even then. I drive when I have to buy heavy or awkward to carry things, like a case of soda. I’ve found conflicts with grocery choices because of a weird contradiction: non-hippie products in cardboard/paper packaging versus hippie products in plastic. I first noticed this when I went to buy sugar the other day - do I get the organic non bleached sugar in the plastic bag, or the nonorganic bleached sugar in the plastic bag? It wasn’t much of a conflict in any real world sense, just something that grabbed my attention. (I went with the plastic by the way, for the organic foodstuff that was going to go into my body).

Probably the clothesline, I have no idea what the hell that thing is made of, most likely nylon. We don’t use it for everything because it’s too humid here to dry everything in a reasonable amount of time. But we use it for some things - especially towels and swim wear - and I’m glad that we have it and it saves money on electricity. Our electricity generation here on the island is likely solar but still, no need to be greedy about it. Lots of people here have clotheslines, they are a common sight I am glad to see.

Bandages: I use Wellys. Patch bamboo bandages sound great, but I am clumsy AF and so I need bandages that are going to stay on through wet and dry and everything else. Wellys are flexible fabric, latex-free bandages made in the USA, in reusable tins that you can buy refills for if you don’t want a new tin, and that create a seal around all four edges. They are a certified B Corp so even with a bit of plastic, the company is still in line with my ethics.

Makeup: I use mostly mineral makeup, because it lasts longer (no organic ingredients to breed bacteria) and many mineral brands offer smaller quantities that are more sensible for people who don’t wear it everyday, or at least don’t wear the same colors every day. On the mainland I went weeks without wearing makeup and here I’ll probably go for months, it’s just such a casual place. I might wear some when we go across to Maui for a long weekend. But there are a lot of all natural and plastic-free makeup options out there these days, I am glad to see. If I need to replace anything I will shop with them but it’s just stupid and wasteful to toss everything out and buy new. One thing I won’t compromise on is mascara, I use Thrive because it really does what it claims, and it is still a company that aligns with my ethics. Many zero-waste brands sell cake mascara and that’s a complete nope for me. I tried cake mascara in high school, when I was going through my Audrey Hepburn/Sophia Loren makeup phase and I really didn’t like it. I also tried cake eyeliner and must confess that this elder goth never ever got the hang of liquid eyeliner, Icarus winged better than I can. I gave up a long time ago, pencil me in baby. Also, I wear lipstick, the paint-on stuff that stays on through food, drink, sex and a nuclear blast. IMO, lip balms are a waste of money and do not count as ‘makeup’, unless you’re only intention is to prevent chapped lips and with a small amount of color that lasts few minutes at a time.

Hair brush: I need a new hair brush that is designed for my long fine mane because my hair is getting a lot of punishment here, between wind and swimming and so more frequent washing and lots of pulling and tugging into braids. I bounced back and forth between Ibiza (boar bristles, wood handle) and Mason Pearson (boar bristles, plastic handle), for about half an hour. I finally decided to bite the big one and invest in the Mason Pearson. It is universally reputed as the best hair brush to be had on planet Earth. The was company founded in London by a Yorkshireman named Mason Pearson (bet you didn’t see that coming) in 1885. The boar bristles are either shed bristles collected from the wild in India and China or sourced from the meat industry as they are a by-product of processing farmed boar; you may ask so I will answer and yes, I do eat boar. Mason Pearson is still owned and run by the Pearson family and the Pearson women have always played integral roles in the company. Indeed Mary Pearson was the CEO for the 20 years following the death of her husband, founder Mason, and one of their daughters ran the top floor of the factory on Old Ford Road in London for 50 years. You can purchase a brush with a handcrafted made-to-order wood handle but while I am willing to make the investment in a Mason Pearson brush, I just can’t bring myself to be so self-indulgent as to even send a price inquiry for the wood model. This is where my best friend reminds me of the lengths I went to and the price I paid to obtain a bottle of the finest Irish whiskey in the world to demonstrate that yes, I can be that self-indulgent without much convincing. I just can’t bring myself to do it with a hair brush. I purchased from Pasteur Pharmacy in NYC because they made their bones, if you will, in their early years in the 60s by catering to humans with dogs.

Bed blanket: I just couldn’t bring myself to buy a bamboo blanket/bedspread that costs in the $275 neighborhood when the dogs will be spending at least as much time on it as we will spend under it. So we went with half cotton/half bamboo for a much more reasonable price. The temps here are warm by the thermometer but the air is heavy with humidity (100% yesterday and that doesn’t necessarily mean rain), so when the fans blow it around it can be pretty damn chilly. And the dogs steal the covers.

Clothing: if I need new clothing I will consider bamboo but it’s damned expensive. I was shopping for a second bathing suit recently because I’m at the beach often enough that I need a suit to wear while the other one is drying or waiting to be laundered free of all the salt and sand that didn’t wind up in my ass or under my tits. I always thought that sand-in-uncomfortable-places was a joke, I was very wrong. I spent two hours searching for bamboo or other plant-based sustainable fabric or recycled fabric and found nothing under a hundred bucks. Nothing. Not even a thong bikini (I already have sand up my ass, I don’t need material there as well). I’m not lounging instagrammatically on Waikiki, I’m swimming in 5+ foot surf every weekend at least, so I am not willing to pay that much for a suit intended for plenty of use and punishment. I got a bikini because it will be easier to discreetly rinse most of the sand away before going back up the beach, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

[kerikaaria]

Borahae Slimes Haul #2 Review!

Dean ( @eternalseokjin​ ) restocked with some new slimes, so of course I had to snatch a few!

Full disclosure, Dean is my friend and knew my birthday recently passed so he gave me some extra goodies (a free full slime, extra candy, and I’m pretty sure the amount of photocards and stickers were extra too lol. Dude gave me 3 Yoongi photocards because he knows how soft I am for that man) with this because he’s just amazing and sweet like that ^-^ Thank you, Dean!

First, here’s the link to Dean’s Etsy store, so if you would like to purchase some BTS-themed slime, definitely give his shop a look! And check out the store’s tumblr @borahaeslimes​

I was lucky for the order to come really quickly, especially during this time of year. And once I started opening up the package, I got so excited! He didn’t tell me he had added Until Spring for free as a birthday gift, so it was such a pleasant surprise! (And a surprise blessing with the extra containers as well, for reasons I’ll explain later). Keep reading for a detailed review with pictures!

Also. my apologies for the pictures not being more condensed. Every time I attempted to adjust them on mobile, tumblr decided to give me an error so... ugh lol.

I’ll Show You

I’ll Show You is themed after the song ‘Magic Shop,’ and has such a lovely, relaxing scent. It comes with little iridescent flakies (if you’re a fan of Simply Nailogical like Dean and I, you’d probably call it Unicorn Skin) that are optional to put in, as well as a key charm. The flakies do somewhat poke your hand while you play with it, but it’s not hard at all so unless you have very sensitive hands I don’t see it being a problem.

The color is a gorgeous iridescent cream, and the flakies add another really nice layer to it as well. It’s a very beautiful slime, and I easily see myself taking it out when I’m having a rough day because of how lovely and calming the chamomile and lavender scents are.

Anpanman

The slime is themed after the song of the same name and comes with a  custom-made clay charm with a comic-style onomatopoeia (recommended to NOT store inside the slime). The version I bought is the Bingsu one, since I didn’t know if I’d enjoy larger blocks being in my slime.

There is an option to leave it unscented to keep the clear slime from getting cloudy/tinted by it, but I really LOVE the blue raspberry jolly rancher scent and am so glad I opted to keep it! I enjoy the soft crunchy texture to the Bingsu, and this slime is just jam packed with them so it’s super satisfying to play with!

Until Spring

This one is themed after ‘Spring Day,’ and comes with 4 individually packaged colors which you can mix as you please, and a snowflake charm. One is a thick white snow fizz, the pink a bingsu (not quite as packed as Anpanman), and the blue and purple are clear-based slimes. The metallic shimmer of the blue is GORGEOUS, and I almost feel guilty for blending it all into the overall mixture.

The end result is this beautiful pastel purple, with the sporadic snow fizz and pink bingsu adding a unique texture. The smell is also very soft and lovely.

Sweet Life

Sweet Life is themed after BTS’ recent single, ‘Dynamite!’ The clay donut and record charm (again, recommended to NOT store inside the slime) are both handmade by Dean, and it also comes with a small bag of fake sprinkles. The donut came wrapped in plastic wrap and inside a smaller plastic tub than the slimes. And the slime itself is a very sweet scent - a little too strong to me personally, but nothing I can’t handle.

Alright, now this is the only hiccup I had in the order, so I’ll explain what happened. 

While I did think something was a bit odd when I tore the donut in half, I didn’t pay enough attention before I started trying to mix it with the slime. It turns out, the container the donut was shipped in ended up getting cracked during shipment, and the clay had half dried by the time it got to me. So it was rather hard trying to mix that part into the slime. You might be able to tell in the second picture above, that there are chunks hardly mixed, if at all, into the slime.

Knowing that it was because the container ended up cracked doesn’t personally make me too concerned that others would have the problems I did. I spoke with Dean about it, and he helped me figure out what to do. The part I already started mixing with the slime started to absorb moisture from it and became softer and easier to work with as I let it just sit for a bit. The other half, I put into a (not cracked, airtight) container and poured just a bit of water on it. I let it sit while I was working with Until Spring, and periodically went back to it to mix up the slime or knead the water into the clay to help it along.

It didn’t take too long before it was able to all mix together and I ended with my final slime! I really love the texture. It’s really thick, almost like a putty and super satisfying! Also a side note, Dean said he isn’t quite sure how the slime he used for making his shop post ended up so brown, because his personal slime of this also ended up a similar shade of a blue-gray to mine. I do really like the color though, it’s a neat muted, almost teal color.

And this is where the extra containers due to the four individual slimes for Until Spring came in handy, since the tub containing the donut was cracked. I was able to use the little 2 oz containers for the rest of the slime that wouldn’t fit in the big container after mixing in the clay, so I didn’t need to go finding something else to put it in. What a happy little coincidence!

Extra Slime - Anpanman Block version

The extra slime I got this time was a sample of the block version of Anpanman, probably because Dean knows I’m new to exploring different types of slime and wanted to let me try it out. I can say that I’m glad I got the Bingsu one in my purchase, but I also don’t hate the chunky blocks as much as I thought I might. It’ll still be a very nice one to fiddle with here and there.

So overall, I’m incredibly happy yet again! I don’t blame Dean for the hiccup with the clay donut, since the tub getting cracked most likely happened in shipping - and everything was very well packaged, wrapped in bubble wrap and then tissue paper, and in a padded mailer so he did everything he could to try to keep it safe. And besides, although it was extra work, it still blended into the slime in the end so I’m happy :)

If you want to support small shops, Dean’s is a great one to go to! Unfortunately because of shipping prices being crazy, he can only sell in the US, but if you do live here and are interested, then definitely give his shop a browse! Here is the link one more time. --> Borahae Slimes on Etsy

[notbecauseofvictories]

Hi Sarah! You seem to be quite enthusiastic and well informed about cooking, and I was wondering if you had any tips for students at uni? I feel it's so difficult to keep a healthy diet and cook for yourself on a low budget. Do you have any good recipes you could share? Or ideas? Thank you so much if you are able to answer, no worries if you don't feel like it.

This is...kind of a difficult question to answer, given that I approach cooking as a decadent, pleasurable thing, rather than something functional. (Some people shop online when they want to splurge. I make 48 coconut macaroons hand-shaped and dipped in chocolate, and a parmesan-garlic cream sauce to drizzle over my steamed brussel sprouts.) If all I need to do is consume calories, I’m much more likely to cut corners---seriously, store-bought sauces, simmer pastes, and salad dressings are a godsend---or buy something convenient. I could probably survive on deli sandwiches, if I really put my mind to it.

However, I do want to suggest a couple tips I think are helpful:

1) Know what you like, know what you need.

What it says, because food is always a balancing act between getting the kinds of nutrients your physical, calorie-consuming body needs and the sugar/salt/fats you want. Personally, I will eat literally anything if there’s bread or cheese or both involved. (This is not a joke---I have eaten a lot of creamed spinach and deli sandwiches.) However, having discussed my diet with healthcare professionals, I know what I need is proteins and vitamin d. So when I’m preparing my schedule for the week, I force myself to think about both: what will I eat, what should I eat, what can I make that satisfies the difference? And then, what’s my timing? (i.e., do I need to stay late at work? do I have other plans that night?) 

Like everything with my life, I review it vaguely sometime Monday and plan out my week. Though I do know enough about myself to build in some flexibility, because sometimes a bitch is walking home desperate for a burger, and shouldn’t have to apologize.

2) Google with abandon.

I do not have any private store of family recipes. My mother was a functional cook, and my grandmothers were either of the “hors d'oeuvres and martinis” generation or the “jello(tm) with colorful sprinkles is an actual dessert” generation. (The difference there, by the way, is class. But that’s a whole other tumblr post.) The point is that at the end of the day, there’s no secret treasure trove of recipes for me to delve into.

Which means I google everything. Every recipe I post here, every time I have spare ingredients I’m looking to get rid of. “Unsweetened chocolate recipes” is one of my latest searches, because I accidentally bought 4 oz of it instead of semi-sweet and don’t know what to do. (I’ll probably end up make brownies.) I have also googled in the last few months:

Reduced milk recipe

Quinoa recipe

Bean recipe

Dark corn syrup recipe

Pie crust recipe 

Apple pie recipe

Scallion pancake recipe

The point is, just because you don’t know what to do shouldn’t keep you from making good food! Personally, I love Epicurious, and always check their suggestions first, but the internet is wide and deep and full of people who will suggest cooking times, oven temperature, and spices you can add to stuff to make it taste good. Don’t be afraid to scroll through 4 different recipes on different domains, even if it’s the same dish; or to add “simple” to you search terms. You have more cookery knowledge at your clumsy fingertips than anyone before us ever has---use it.

3) Store it, freeze it, stick it in a tupperware.

As someone who’s now been cooking for herself for at least 5 years, I am here to tell you that there’s no “cooking for one.” Cooking for one is a lie. What you do is cook for 3-4 people, and then freeze or refrigerate the leftovers. So it’s important to consider how well your various ingredients freeze and how you’ll reheat them when the time comes.

Meat and seafood freeze well when you get them from the grocery store! Unfortunately, if you cook something or marinate it, and leave it to sit in the fridge, it will get very tough or break down entirely. (This is especially true if you use a particularly acidic marinade.) Unless you get them already frozen, fruits and vegetables do not freeze well at all—water expands as it freezes, and your fresh fruit & veg are so watery that the ice completely ruins the cellulose structure and defrosting will make them mushy. If you have leftover cooked vegetables, those should be used in scrambled eggs or eaten with a sauce within the week. Cream-based soups and sauces freeze pretty nicely, you just have to be careful not to leave them long enough to get freezer burn. Freezing bread arrests the yeast and mold processes, so if you’re looking to keep your loaf from turning, stick it in the freezer in an airtight bag.

(I haven’t had a microwave in two years, so most of what I make is the kind of stuff I can reheat on the stove—or eat cold!)

Also, most food isn’t ruined by temperature---you can leave a lot of stuff out on the counter after cooking without fear of bacteria. However, too much exposure to the air will ruin just about any dish: creams curdle, meat toughens, vegetables soften, starches harden. If you’re going to store something at room temperature, stick it in a ziploc bag, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil quickly, and it’ll last longer even without the refrigerator.

4) Occasionally, try something new.

Obviously, as a uni student you should try lots of new things---but as a uni student cooking for yourself, I encourage you to occasionally experiment. Make bread, if you’ve never made bread before; try a desert if you’ve been focused on single-serving chicken breasts. Once every few months, try cooking or baking something you’ve absolutely never tried. (For hard mode, pick something completely out of the ballpark---for example, a couple months ago I tried to make a meringue and failed miserably. But I think I understand why I failed and that’s made me a better cook in the interim.)

It is, of course, very important that we eat in a way that serves our body and its needs. But at the same time, making food has always struck me as serving more than just need---we make food to show our love and appreciation for others (isn’t feeding an act of service?), to articulate desires we can’t verbalize, to satisfy unreasonable cravings, to demonstrate capability, to prove our worthiness, to offer something that isn’t-sex-but-is, etc. etc. etc. Food is very rarely ever just food. Which means that sometimes, we should sequester ourselves in the kitchen and see if we can make that....thing from the Great British Bakeoff.

As a footnote, I hope my coworkers enjoy haphazardly baked alaska.

[listenblake]

one | b.blake

stub·born

/ˈstəbərn/

adjective

having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so.

"a stubborn refusal to learn from experience"

synonyms: obstinate, stubborn as a mule, mulish, headstrong, willful, strong-willed, self-willed, pigheaded, bull-headed, obdurate, awkward, difficult, contrary, perverse, recalcitrant, refractory; More

word count | 1,524 words

“Wait a minute. . .” A private nurse mumbled to herself as she stared at the screen of the ultrasound. The mother on the table panicked at her tone, her heart rate picking up as well.

“Wha-What is it?” The mother tried to sit up and see the monitor clearly, but the nurse silenced her by gesturing for her to lay back down.

“It’s alright, I just think. . .I think you’re having twins.” Dreaded words neither of them wanted. “I-I don’t know what to do.”

“Alvra, please, you can’t tell anyone about this, please!” The mother pleaded for both of her babies’ lives.

“But, I have to, Jasmin. If I don’t and they find out, I’ll be floated.” The nurse spoke pitifully back.

“If they do, I’ll be floated!” She cried back, her heart monitor racing once again. The thought of leaving her babies defenseless worried her to absolute death.

“I-. . .I can’t.” And finally, Jasmin’s eyes drifted down to Alvra’s finger as she pressed an alarm button, the low beep slipping through the silence of both women. 

“Alvra. . .” A single tear fell down the mother’s cheek as the pain pierced her heart, her trusted friend no longer in front of her, only her enemy and guards barging in to arrest a pregnant woman.

-

“You are hereby found guilty in the act of having two children and refusing to abort one or both. And therefore, by having chosen to give birth to both children, you will be floated as the last consequence.”

“Absolute monsters.” The mother spat, eyes deeply watering at the sight of both of her newborn children in the arms of two guards. “You all will burn in hell for this.”

“Get her in the pod.” One of the councilmen ordered before two guards began to lead the mother to her designated location.

“Can’t I see my babies before I go? It wasn’t something I had control over. . .” She was broken, this isn’t what she wanted, but if she had to die, she would. There was a silent interaction between the council and the guards and she was soon released to walk towards her babies. “Momma loves you two very much, I left you both pictures of me with your new family. Please don’t forget me, I won’t forget you.” She placed a kiss on the top of the little boy’s head, but she was quickly ripped away and forced back in the previous direction.

She was now in an airtight pod looking through the glass with tears streaming down her face, sobs wracked her frail body. She shut her eyes before they pulled a lever, and soon space was yanking her into the stars. She couldn’t feel anything, everything shut off in a split second and there was nothing. No sound, no breathing, no thoughts, just silence.

May we meet again.

-

“Hey, baby sister.” 

“Michael, we’re the same age.” I rolled my eyes while continuing to organize the medicines by their labels. “Do you need something?”

“I can’t just want to visit my little sister as she works?” I gave him a look until his stiff posture loosened and he looked at me as if he knew I could see right through him, which I already had done. “Fine, I was wondering if you could bring home extra dinner, I’m starved.”

“First of all, the ark is kind of limited enough, second of all, you aren’t starving, you eat every moment you can, and third of all, I need to work or they’ll remove me from this station so please go read a book or something.” I shoved him to the door and walked back to my table, but I turned towards him immediately when I heard medicine bottles clatter across the floor.

“Shit, sorry, Y/N.” Michael bent down to help me but I shooed him out completely.

“It’s fine, I’ll take care of it, just go.”

I placed them all back onto the counter and returned to my previous job. “He’s way too clumsy.”

-

“I swear I didn’t take them!” I pleaded in front of Abby Griffin, a doctor and a council member, as she had me pulled aside. “I don’t know where they went, I promise I didn’t do this, Dr.Griffin.”

“Someone took the medicine, Y/n, and you were the only one in the facility at the time that the medication went missing." Her accusation made me panic, as I can possibly be charged with theft and locked up until I turn eighteen, but I knew I didn't take the meds.

"Abby. . ." I tried to beg as my heart raced with fear.

"I'm sorry, Y/n. There's nothing I can do." I knew there'd be no point in running, where the hell would I run? We're in literal space. "This is all that can be done. I wanted to talk to you to see if anyone else might be responsible, but if you can't give me any names, I can't help you."

Michael. He's the only person who visited me that day. Why the hell would he take medication, especially when he was smart enough to know that I'd be locked up for this. Give Abby a name? I can't do that. Even if he would cost me my life, I can't throw him under the bus, he's my brother.

"I-"

"Y/F/N Y/L/N, you are being arrested for stealing rationed medication and hiding it in your chamber." I stared at Abby as they gripped my wrists and clasped cuffs around them behind my back. She looked pitiful, but I turned my head to stare at the ground as tears gathered in my eyes. 

Halfway to the C wing, I heard my name being called.

"Y/N/N, what the hell is going on?" I didn't say anything, but he repeated it again, making me flinch at the volume in my left ear. "Wait a second, fuck, the medicine. Shit, don't arrest her, that was me, I did it!"

"Michael, shut your damn mouth," I growled as I sent him a glare, he was taken back by my response but continued to say he did it. 

“I did it, arrest me, don’t punish her for something she didn’t do.” One of the guards seemed almost swayed by my brother’s statement and was about to un-cuff me.

“No, I did it, I took the medicine, he’s just being an idiot.” Both guards seemed confused and unsure of what to do.

“Let’s just arrest both of them.” Fucking idiot, now look at what you did, Michael.

“What? No, let her go.”

“Michael, you’re the biggest idiot on this stupid ship, I’ll kill you before they do.”

-

Whose fault is it that I’m currently sitting in a cell?

 Is it my brother’s for that the fact he stole the medication in the first place? 

Or is it my fault for taking the blame and being an idiot? 

The answer is all of the above, and yet here I am on death row pretty much for a crime I didn’t commit. But I suppose I’d feel worse if I were out there with the others, living a good life while he rots away in here. They ended up locking both of us up because we both confessed to the crime and it was found in our own sleeping quarters. 

The only thing I’m worried about now is having to face mom and dad. . .

-

“What the hell were you thinking?” I flinched at my father’s tone and looked down at my cuffed wrists. “I’d expect this from your brother, but never from you.”

“Dear,” My mother calmed his anger, “Think about it. . .”

They both looked at me trying to figure out why both of their children are in cells. I suppose it clicked in my father’s head as to why I’m here because there was an expression of realization on his face.

“Do not tell me you’re in here after covering for him, Y/n.” I continued to look at my lap as a way to avoid his stern eyes, I knew he was more upset with me than he was with Michael. “Tell them it wasn’t you, tell them you were scared and accidentally confessed, tell them you aren’t at fault!”

I stayed silent because I knew if I said anything, it can and will be used against me at my review at 18. If I plead guilty, I have more of a chance to be released, it’d be worse if they found out I was covering for my brother. I’d be viewed as a liar and they’d never believe me after that. I sent a grateful glance to my mother when she quieted him down once again.

“Time’s up.” One of the guards informed my parents and waited for them to stand up so he could escort them out of the recent viewing facility.

“Bye mom, bye dad.” I turned away as my own guard guided me back to my cell. It wasn’t until the lock made confirmation that my tears began to fall. 

Everything is going to be okay.

Everything has to be okay.

word count | 1,524 words

[hazyheel]

AEW Fight for the Fallen Review

Our first match for the pre show was Peter Avalon vs. Sonny Kiss. Avalon cut a kinda funny promo, starting out by saying that the venue they were in was a library, but Sonny Kiss quickly interrupted him. Kiss had a pretty cool entrance, with the Jacksonville Jaguar cheerleaders. As for the actual match, it was pretty simple. Kiss showed off his Lucha style of offense. Avalon didn’t do much in terms of impressive moves, but he did get a lot of heel heat. At one point, Avalon threw Kiss out of the ring, hoping that Leva Bates would attack him, but she just rolled Kiss back in the ring. Kiss quickly won with a “Kiss is it” a split leg drop in the corner.

Grade: C+. An okay match, really more showcasing Kiss than anything. He is good, had some interesting offense. He will be an entertaining part of this roster, that is for sure. As for Avalon, he looked good at times, but this match wasn’t about him. The Librarian gimmick wasn’t as bad this time around, but it was still annoying. Both of them look like they will be able to be something when TV starts. I look forward to seeing them weekly. 

Then we had a Women’s Tag Team match, Britt Baker and Riho vs. Shoko Nakajima and Bea Priestly. Baker and Nakajima started the match with some nice looking technical wrestling. Priestly and Riho faced off after that, with Priestly using her dominant power to take down the smaller Riho. Priestly and Nakajima worked over Riho’s arm for a while, which took up quite a bit of the match. It broke down at one point, with all competitors hitting signature moves. Priestly and Baker squared off at one point, and the crowd went totally wild. They had a huge slugfest in the middle of the ring, ending with a superkick and a butterfly suplex from Baker. Priestly got her back not long after wiith a shoulder capture suplex for a near fall. At one point, Riho hit Nakajima with a northern lights suplex for a near fall, followed by a brutal double foot stomp for a near fall. Nakajima went for a senton on Riho, who dodged it, Riho then went for the running knee, only for Nakajima to hit a spike rana into a cradle for the win.

After the match, Baker and Priestly brawled a bit, only for their partners to pull them apart. I would love to see that feud. 

Grade: C. What was unfortunate about this match was that Shoko Nakajima was holding it back. From what I could tell, everyone else was really good and showed an awesome contest. But I didn’t connect with Nakajima at all, and she didn’t impress me. I thought that Priestly and Riho really shined here, they looked great in this match, and Baker looked pretty good too. The problem here was that Nakajima was just featured too much, and none of them really had chemistry with her. That’s too bad, because I wanted to like her, but I just couldn’t. I like that they are setting up Baker and Priestly, but it’s too bad Riho had to lose to do it. 

Our opener to the main show, we had MJF, Shawn Spears and Sammy Guevara vs. Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janela and Darby Allin. MJF didn’t cut a promo before this match, but there were a lot of entrances, so that makes sense. Although, MJF was jaw jacking with Spears during the match, so the babyfaces absolutely destroyed him early on. Sammy Guevara tagged in and had a really nice sequence with Janela, ending in a brutal german suplex into the bottom turnbuckle. However, when Janela then tagged out to Havoc, Allin looked pretty pissed, so neither team was really airtight. Allin and Spears nearly squared off, but after Allin begged him to put stiches in his head, Spears tagged out and backed off. One of the most interesting parts of the match was the huge amount of heat on the heels, because every time they tagged out, they were booed like crazy. Nice to see heels that are actually hated. At one point, Spears tagged himself in off of Guevara, only for MJF to tag himself in and give him the classic ten taunt. Spears then ran in, and ate a huge lariat from Janela that MJF avoided. Havoc had a huge hot tag, taking on all three of the heels. He finished off the hot tag by dodging a spear from MJF, which hit Spears and pinned them both in the corner, so Havoc then superplexed Guevara off their backs. Havoc was even able to hit Spears with an acid rainmaker, but Guevara immediately gave him a backstabber in response. Guevara didn’t slow down there, because he gave Janela a huge superkick on the outside, ran back in the ring to give Havoc a suicide dive, and then slid in again to give Janela a suicide corkscrew splash. Guevara almost got a 630 on Allin, but Janela grabbed him off the top rope and gave him a death valley driver on the apron, giving the camera a middle finger and saying “Fuck you Jim Cornette.” So that was fun. Back in the ring, Spears tagged himself in, giving Allin a backbreaker and then a running death valley driver for the win.

Grade: B+. This was a great flippy match, where everyone shined. This match showcased everyone in it, maybe with the exception of MJF, but we already knew what he was about. It really showed what Janela and Havoc could do, because they are really good even outside of their death matches. Guevara really shined above everyone else. He was flying around at crazy speeds, and that suicide dive spot was awesome. He shined above everyone in the ring, and got in some good character work by refusing to move for Allin’s entrance, and trying to constantly be the center of attention. Havoc also got in some character work, as he was nochalantly biting people all over the place. He looked scary.  It was a great idea for Spears to pin Allin, because he got a pin on someone that Cody couldn’t beat. Good booking, I can’t wait for that match. 

Before the next match, they showed Private Party sitting in the crowd, with Jebailey next to them, only for Jebailey to get thrown out because it was a private party. That was funny.

Into Brandi Rhodes vs. Allie, which was framed as a friendly singles match, but as they were about to start, Awesome Kong showed up again to be in Brandi’s corner. Allie kept the advantage early on, and tried to confront Kong on the outside, but that allowed Brandi to hit a baseball slide to get in some offense, even dumping water on her head. She beat down Allie quite a bit, and the second that Allie started to get back into the match, Kong tripped her as she ran the ropes. At one point, Allie got back into the match, but Brandi took control back by coming off the middle rope from a suplex position and hitting a vertical suplex. Allie nearly had the match won with a superkick and a running death valley driver, only for Kong to pull Brandi out of the ring, just enough for the ref to think it was a kickout. Allie then locked in a dragon sleeper, but Kong distracted the ref while Brandi was tapping out. As Allie argued with the ref, Brandi nailed her with the atomic spear for the win.

After the match, Brandi attacked Allie a bit, and Awesome Kong was about to give her a finisher, but Aja Kong came out to make the save. They didn’t come to blows as they were separated by referees, but they certainly will. Kong was completely ready to kill Aja, but Aja didn’t budge. Brandi forced Kong to leave, while Aja helped Allie out to the back.

Grade: C+. Meh match. I wasn’t huge on Allie before, and I’m still not. Brandi was alright, and they had a couple spots that were pretty good, but otherwise this was meh. I think it was interesting to set up Brandi and Awesome Kong as a unit, I liked those aspects, and Aja Kong vs Awesome Kong will be awesome, no pun intended. This women’s division is shaping up in an interesting way. 

Then we had a 3 way tag, The Dark Order vs. Angelico and Jack Evans vs. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. Winner of this match will advance to All Out and face Best Friends for a bye in the AEW world tag team championships tournament. It was cute to see Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy as a team, and Marko Stunt came out. Their team was called a boy and his dinosaur, which was fun. Stunt stayed on the outside during this match, but that new tag team was over as shit. Stu Grayson started the match with Evans, where Grayson threw him around a whole bunch, prompting Evans to beg for the tag out. Grayson and Angelico fought next, but Grayson still overpowered him. As Evil Uno came in, Angelico just wanted to get out, so he gave Jungle Boy a hot tag, and he wrecked Uno with some great looking flying, but Uno eventually but him on his back. Jungle Boy then tagged in Luchasaurus, who even intimidated Uno. Uno tagged out to Jack Evans and Evans desperately tried to convince Angelico to take his place, but he psyched Evans up enough to get his courage. He tried to take down Luchasaurus, but he didn’t budge and beat Evans down with double team offense. The Dark Order beat down Jungle boy quite a bit, not letting him tag out to any team in the match. Uno gave Jungle Boy a top rope senton that looked brutal for a near fall. Eventually, Luchasaurus got a hot tag and beat down Grayson, and took down both Evans and Angelico. After he chokeslammed Evans out of the ring and onto Angelico, followed by a shooting star press off the apron from Jungle Boy. Luchasaurus even was able to go one on one with Evil Uno for a bit and remain in control. As Evans was about to hit Jungle Boy with the 630 senton, but Marko Stunt ran up to the top rope, and drilled Evans with a top rope hurricanrana. The ref ejected Stunt, so Luchasaurus chucked him out over the top rope and onto Angelico. Back in the ring, Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy hit an awesome looking back body drop into a powerbomb combination on Evans, only for Uno to break it up. Uno and Grayson then fought back into the match, giving a boy and his dinosaur a cannonball and splash combination for a shocking near fall. I definitely thought that was it.  Right after that, they gave Jungle Boy Fatality to move on to All Out.

Grade: A-. Jeez, I didn’t expect this match to be as good as it was. These teams were moving super fast, hit some awesome tag combinations and reminded me why tag team wrestling is my favorite style of wrestling. I love that a boy and his dinosaur are a team now, that is adorable, and I was thrilled to see Evans and Angelico again. Of course the Dark Order had to win, that feud with the best friends had to go to All Out, Should be a really fun match, but I am still a bit unsure of Evil Uno in particular. He didn’t do all that much to impress me, other than the senton. I hope to see quite a bit more from them at All Out. 

Then we had Kip Sabian vs. Adam Page. Sabian had quite the chip on his shoulder for this match, and it showed quite a bit as he stayed on the aggressive side. Page constantly reversed out of moves early on, before the two went strike for strike with each other. At one point, Sabian gave Page an awesome suicide dive and braced himself on the barricade to catch his breath. As he did, a fan got right up in his face and insulted him, so Sabian kissed him, which seemed appropriate. Another spot saw Page giving Sabian a leg trap suplex and Sabian looked like he landed right on his head. It looked brutal. Sabian got more and more frustrated as the match went on, such as when Page continued to sit up after pique kicks. He was so frustrated after that that Sabian started to attack the knee, and then hit another pique for a near fall. One of the highlight of the match was after Page hit a back body drop to Sabian on the apron. He followed it up with the actual best moonsault off the top to the floor that I have ever seen. It looked awesome, brutal to take and brutal to do. Page even started to sell his leg after that. Page even followed it up with a running powerbomb out over the top rope and onto the entrance ramp, and nearly got a countout win. Sabian sold it really really well by spasming for a five count from the ref. Around that time, they gave a three minute call, and the commentators started to play it up that Sabian may not have to lose. Sabian continued to target the knee, giving him a dragonscrew in the ropes, as Page sold it like he was shot.The two fought and dueled for rollups, and Page actually rolled through one, in perfect deadeye position. He nailed the deadeye and won the match.

After the match, one of the Dark Order’s creepers attacked page. It was easy to realize that it was Jericho. He onmasked to a chorus of boos and cheers.He gave page a codebreaker and Judas effect, busting Page open on the head. 

Grade: B+. Really good match. I loved Sabian’s desperation during the match, and how Page was certainly taking him seriously despite the knowledge that he was the favorite here. The selling in this match was phenomenal even with the overall lack of sustained limb work. I though the Jericho attack at the end was expected and predictable, but Page getting busted open during it was a lucky break from them because it made it seem real. This was a good match, and for whatever reason, made me buy Page as a legitimate main eventer. I hope to see more of Kip Sabian, because he is a great talent. 

Then we have a first time ever tag match: SCU vs. The Lucha Bros. SCU cut a promo on Jacksonville, saying that although it isn’t SoCal, its an alright city. The Lucha Bros and SCU were right up in each other’s face as the match was about to start, so this was intense right from the start. Sky and Pentagon took some time to try to intimidate each other early on with dueling crowd chants. As Pentagon took off his glove to toss it to Aubrey Hepbern, she dropped it and got heavy boos. They tried again and she got huge cheers. Sky stopped the Cero Miedo and they were off to the races. The Lucha Bros destroyed Kazarian with double superkicks, and then slid to the outside for double superkicks on Daniels. They continued to attack Daniels, which he took offense to and hit them with an Arabian moonsault, prompting Hepbern to eject him. There was one point that was really awkward, when Fenix was going to go for a suicide dive as Pentgon hit the Pentagon driver on Sky, but Fenix didn’t see Kazarian on the outside, so he hesitated a couple times before going for a splash instead, looking pretty annoyed about it. On the other side of the spectrum, there was an awesome assisted deadlift DDT from Kazarian to Fenix, but only a near fall. The teams continued to brawl, and Fenix hit an awesome rope walk double foot stomp on Kazarian as Pentagon hit Sky with a mexican destroyer. The Lucha Bros then hit hit Sky with fear factor for the win. 

After the match, Daniels came back out, and the Lucha Bros destroyed all of SCU with a ladder. They then cut a promo on the ladder, calling out the Young Bucks and challenging them to a ladder match at All Out. That would be an awesome match, but what will the stakes be? That is the question. Could be the Triple A World Tag Team Championships, or it could be for something more interesting. 

Grade: A-. Another awesome tag team match. They killed it out there and put on a great match. The moves were super hard hitting, and they blended phenomenally. I think that Daniels’ involvement early on kinda hurt the match, because that interference should’ve caused a DQ. And it didn’t really add anything. But other than that, it was a great match. I love that challenge for All Out, should be a great match. I look forward to the stories about that going forward.

Then we have CIMA vs. Kenny Omega. This was probably the match I was most looking forward to, as Cima really impressed me from what I’ve seen of him, and Kenny is Kenny. The crowd was chanting “this is awesome” right from the get go. These two fought at a frantic pace from the start. It kinda reminded me of a New Japan match in that way. They slowed down a bit as they continued, with both hitting very deliberate strikes and power moves, until Omega fought back into it with various V-Triggers. Omega began to target Cima’s knees and upper legs, trying to neutralize the meteora that he likes to hit. At one point, as the two brawled on the outside, Cima climbed up onto some bleachers with Omega on a podium, and Cima nailed him with a meteora onto it, which looked tough for everyone. Back in the ring, Cima nailed Omega with a pair of Meteroas, one to the back of the head, the other to the face, but only a near fall. Cima went for another Meteora to a standing Omega, only for Omega to catch him and nail a buckle bomb, a v-trigger, a leg trap michinoku driver and then another v-trigger for a near fall. After that sequence, the crowd broke into dueling chants of “Fight forever” and “this is awesome.” The two kept up the momentum, with Cima nailing a pair of meteoras, a brainbuster on the apron, and then a meteroa off the top, but Omega got his foot off the top rope. The two continued to brawl, and Cima’s leg gave out. This allowed Omega to hit a tiger driver, a v-trigger and the one winged angel for the win.

Grade: A. They continue to deliver on this show. This is Kenny’s best match since he left New Japan, and they killed it. Cima was a great opponent and an awesome foil for Omega here. It was a hard hitting, strong style match that could’ve easily been the main event. Great stuff from both guys, Cima could be a world champion someday. 

Then we had Chris Jericho, coming out to cut a promo. He talked about how Page’s blood was still on his hand. He wanted a thank you from AEW management, and got pissed at the fans for trying to thank him, because they don’t matter. He called them Jerksonville, and Jackoffville. He gave himself credit for AEW thriving the way it has. He said that he was offended that Page won the battle royal, he would’ve preferred a whole bunch of other randos from that match. He put over Page a little bit, but then said that this match is a lose lose for him. If he wins, he is already a legend, and he is expected to win, and he gets nothing out of it. But if he loses, AEW starts to go down, and so does Jericho. He finsihed off by calling Page a bitch, and Page ran out and attacked They fought off the refs and other wrestlers who eventually separated them for the most part. Page’s eye looked really ugly, but he looked badass. That’ll be a great match I think.

Grade: B. Good promo. Jericho’s crowd work was honestly the highlight of this, and how he was wildly egotistic to the point that he saw no upside in beating Page. The brawl was great, with Page’s eye looking the way it did only added to it. Looking forward to the match, and whatever build they wind up going with.

In the main event, we had the Young Bucks vs. Cody and Dustin Rhodes. Billed as a Dream Tag team match, and it really is one. On commentary before the match, JR was oddly defensive about older wresters, saying “how dare he live to be 50.” The match started with a handshake between Nick and Cody. Nick started to do some flips to get out of Cody’s various holds, which really showed the clash of styles. The two were right up in each other’s faces as they continued to go for and counter out of each other’s signatures. The Bucks eventually got control after The Brotherhood showed off their tag prowess, and the Bucks once again made fun of the Rhodes’ moments at Double or Nothing. The Bucks beat down Dustin, and pulled Cody off of the apron when Dustin got close. Nick even mocked Cody’s enthusiasm in the corner by mimicking him. Cody eventually got the hot tag and lit up the bucks. Throughout the match, both teams took terms spitting on the partner on the apron, as the heat of this match slowly ramped up. The Brotherhood worked over Matt’s shoulder, as it was run into the post early on in the match. The Bucks eventually worked the pace of the match back into their favor, and even locked in stereo sharpshooters, only for the Rhodes to reverse it into stereo figure four leglocks. The match continued on, and there was an awesome spot where the Bucks went for the Meltzer driver Dustin, but Cody intercepted Matt with a disaster kick. The Brotherhood then hit an assisted Cross Rhodes, but Nick broke up the pin with a swanton bomb. The two teams beat each other down, and Cody accidentally hit Rick Knox, causing a ref bump. The Rhodes then set up the bucks for Shattered Dreams and hit them in stereo, followed by Stereo twisting suplexes for a near fall.  The Bucks retreated to the outside, and Cody came flying out to them, eating superkicks as he fell. The Bucks then double teamed Dustin, who was able to fend them off pretty well, before dropping down for the right and eating a superkick and an elbow drop for a near fall. After beating Cody down a bit, the Bucks were unsure if they wanted to target the stitches. Eventually they figured that they had to, and gave him a double superkick to the back of the head, with Dustin breaking up the pin. The two teams then stole each other’s offense, with the Bucks hitting the drop down right, followed by Superkicks from the Brotherhood.The Bucks then hit superkicks of their own, and nailed Cody with a Cross Rhodes for a near fall, and the Meltzer Driver for the win.

After the match, Dustin refused to let The Bucks help Cody up. The Bucks then grabbed a mic and apologized for this little feud getting so heated and personal. They said it was in the spirit of competition, and that the Rhodes brothers were supposed to be a great tag team. They didn’t watch much “of the other product,” but the Brotherhood absolutely was a great tag team, one of the best in the world. 

Grade: B+. I really liked this match. The crowd was dead during it, but they really did well here. There was a lot of storytelling as the two teams devolved into more violent offense as they went. I thought that Cody and Dustin still had it as a team and that they did really well. The Bucks made sense to get the win here, as Cody and Dustin may end up going their separate ways soon, but they put on a really good match that I liked. It just sucks that the crowd didn’t care. 

The guys in the back then came out to present a check to the victims society. They raised $150,000 for them, which was awesome. Cody gave a passionate promo about All Elite Wrestling, saying that no one can counter program them. They can’t fight the love that this company was built on, and they talked about how they’d be going to TNT in the fall, and they’d bring the fans with them. He then put Kenny on the mic, who thanked the fans and gave a goodnight, with the gun stuff switched to cartoon sound effects. It was cute and sweet, and this was a good ending to the show.

Overall Grade: B

Pros: 6-man tag; triple threat tag; sabian vs. page; lucha bros vs. scu; cima vs. omega; main event

Cons: women’s tag

[thecomicsnexus]

OMEGA MEN #9-11 DECEMBER 1983 - FEBRUARY 1984 BY ROGER SLIFER, TOD SMITH, MIKE DECARLO, ANTHONY TOLLIN AND ADRIENNE ROY

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Kalista attends the royal coronation ceremony at the royal palace and resumes the role of queen of Euphorix. Her first official act as the reinstated queen is the deactivation of Euphorix's planetary shield. A huge celebration is held and hundreds of attendees rejoice at their newfound freedom from tyranny.

Elsewhere, fringe elements of the Citadel Empire regroup under the leadership of the Citadel's supreme military commander and the Earth man Harry Hokum. Together they travel to formerly occupied worlds executing political prisoners. They also succeed in locating the crippled Omega Men mothership and find the injured Harpis. Shlagen however, also on the ship, manages to avoid capture in an escape pod. Hokum sends a ship to retrieve him, and Shalgen's shuttle is shot down where it crashes onto a planetoid. Shlagen emerges from the wreckage but runs into the bounty hunter Lobo. Lobo agrees to take Shlagen to Euphorix.

When the Citadel learns that Euphorix's planetary shield has been dissolved, they mount a steadfast invasion. Raider ships bombard the coronation ceremony and the attending Omega Men are quick to fight back. They succeed in repelling the invaders and former monarch Alonzo Dulak re-activates the shield. Primus transmits a broadcast to Harry Hokum requesting a summit in the hopes that the two factions might be able to forge an accord. Hokum agrees to the meeting.

Meanwhile, Tigorr, on his way back from the Citadel Homeworld finds the scuttled remains of the Omega Men mothership. Inspecting its empty corridors, he is surprised when two predatory animals known as Ravagers leap out and attack him. He shapeshifts into his full feline form and fights back, but the overwhelming strength of the Ravagers prove too much for him and he is knocked unconscious.

Elsewhere, Primus sends Nimbus to act as the Omega Men's official delegate. He arrives at the pre-arranged meeting place to discuss terms with Harry Hokum. Unfortunately for Nimbus, Hokum baits him into a trap and Nimubs is locked inside an airtight room. Even his shadow powers won't allow him to escape. When Primus learns what has happened, he has little choice but to turn to Lobo for help. Lobo agrees to help Primus, but for a very special price - a single human life.

Lobo brings the remaining fugitive Omega Men to a prison planet run by the Citadel. Harry Hokum is content with simply disintegrating the lot of them, but the Citadel commander wants to savor their pain. Once inside, the Omega Men are marched down one of the numerous prison blocks. Suddenly, the Omega Men break free of their bonds. It was all a ruse. Lobo is actually working alongside the Omega Men in an effort to rescue their captured allies. Harry Hokum presses a switch that releases a pack of Ravagers. The vicious animals pounce on the Omega Men and even their own various powers are not enough to keep them at bay. Broot, still haunted by his recent experiences, is reluctant to raise his fists, even to defend himself. Lobo encourages the Changralynian by planting the idea that the ones responsible for ordering the death of Broot's child might reside inside this facility. Brute finally unleashes his anger and begins battering the walls until his fists smash through to an adjacent passageway. The Omega Men scramble into the tunnel to escape from the Ravagers.

The tunnel leads them to the prison's command center where the Citadel commander and Harry Hokum have Tigorr suspended from a torture device. Primus uses his telekinesis to unseat the Citadel commander, bringing him down to their level. Harry activates a laser grid, but the Omega Men have come prepared for just such a trap. Each of them is fitted with a personal force shield designed by Euphorix's Alonzo Dulak. Lobo disconnects an explosive device from his belt and gets in close to the Citadel commander. The device explodes and the commander is killed. Primus extends his force shield to protect Lobo from the blast.

Harry Hokum, in a bid to consolidate his power proposes a deal with the Omega Men. Now that the commander has been killed, Harry is the highest ranking member of the old Citadel Empire. He suggests that Primus and he should split the territory of the Vega star system between them. After some deliberation, Primus agrees, but with the caveat that Hokum's Empire may only include worlds that join with him of their own free will. All others will be invited to join the New Vega coalition. Hokum agrees and a broadcast is sent out to the various races within the Vega star system. Surprisingly, several worlds voluntarily agree to become part of the New Citadel Empire, including Broot's home world of Changralyn. Just as many however, decide to align themselves with Primus.

After solidifying the deal, Primus receives a message from Kalista on Euphorix. Unwilling to risk any further invasions to her world, she is erecting the planetary shield permanently. Once this is done, nobody will be able to enter or leave Euphorian air space. Primus is left with a choice: Stay and help rebuild the coalition of free Vegan worlds, or return to the world of his birth.

The Omega Men bring Harpis to the world of Rashashoon. Harpis has suffered a sever nervous breakdown due to her injuries as well as learning that her sister Demonia had been killed. Prior to becoming the winged warrior, Harpis spent a great deal of her youth working at a bordello in the city of Raggashoon. The bordello's mistress Mama Madame greets the Omega Men and Harpis is hooked up to a neural stabilizer. Mama Madame uses a process known as a Psycho-Drama in an effort to heal Harpis' psychological scars. The Omega Men witness the visual display and learn a great deal about their teammate's past.

Flashback While still humanoid, Harpis and her older sister Demonia came to Raggashoon many years ago to work as professional companions. hey were both thrilled with the prospect of earning wealth and power and living in the sort of opulence that only Mama Madame could provide. Harpis found herself highly suited to most of Raggashoon's clients and became one of Madame's most popular providers - even more so than her jealous, yet protective sister Demonia. Although Mama Madame usually catered to clients loyal to the Citadel, she also provided companionship to various revolutionaries. 

During these years, Harpis had relations with the Karnan Tigorr, as well as Tigorr's second-in-command Delengis Jarouq, the latter of whom she fell deeply in love with. Such attachment was strongly discouraged amongst those under Mama Madame's charge and it was made all the worse by the fact that Jarouq was a revolutionary.

One evening, a high ranking Citadel leader, Komand'r of Tamaran, came to Raggashoon to find suitable mates for her troops. Harpis and Demonia were both selected, but Komand'r was not content with simply hiring them for an evening. She had both women undergo drastic genetic modification so that they would be physically alluring for their selected mates. Demonia was transformed into a serpentine woman whose visage reflected her twisted heart. Harpis was turned into a winged bat-like creature with claws and a tail. While Demonia embraced her new appearance, Harpis was horrified. Komand'r would often times have the women present at battle sites so they could witness their mates in action. Harpis was present when Komand'r's forces fought against Tigorr's revolutionaries at the Battle of Tamaran. 

Seeing her lover Delengis Jarouq present on the field, she could no longer sit idly by and do nothing. She fled from her keepers and joined the ranks of the revolutionaries. The revolt failed, and Harpis was sent to a prison planet along with Delengis and Tigorr.

While in prison, Harpis learned that another band of revolutionaries led by the warriors Primus, Broot and Kalista had staged a breakout. This incident exploded into a violent firefight and where it was believed that Jarouq had been killed. Free from captivity, Harpis, Demonia and Tigorr joined with Primus' team to form the Omega Men.

As the rest of the Omega Men keep vigil over their comrade, a strange visitor enters the room - Delengis Jaroug. He had actually survived the original attack, but is now a cyborg.

REVIEW

This could count as a “Secret Origins” for the whole group, but there is still much backstory to reveal. This is amazing because it means that there may have been some kind of bible before the series started (either that or Slifer improvised very well).

This Lobo is a different character, he is not even a Czarnian yet. I wonder if we are going to see him change before the crisis. He is more intelligent than the Lobo we know.

Primus makes some really difficult choices, and while Tigorr failed in keeping the peace... I still agree with his methods. There is no diplomacy that can keep freedom in the Vegan Star System at this point.

I give these issues a score of 8

[weerd1]

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1907.22: Missions Reviewed, “Explorers,” “Family Business,” “Shakaar,” “Facets,” and “The Adversary.”

Long one tonight! We took a run at the end of season three starting with “Explorers.” Sisko reads about Bajorans of some 800 years before building solar sailing ships to explore their solar system, and possibly even making it as far as Cardassia. 

 He decides to build one to ancient specification (adding only a gravity web to the floor because weightlessness makes him queasy) and see if he can make it work. He invites Jake, who is initially reluctant to join, but then gets some news that makes him want to hang out with his father.  As they set sail, Jake tells Ben that he has been accepted to a writing fellowship back on Earth. Meanwhile on DS9 Bashir is busy flirting with a new Dabo girl named Leeta when Dax tells him the Lexington is coming to dock.

 Bashir realizes the woman who beat him out for head of his class is on board, and he prepares to meet her.  She walks past him as if she doesn’t recognize him. Ben reads Jake’s story and is impressed, recommending he take the fellowship. Jake says he’s worried about his dad though and may wait a year. Besides, there’s an freighter captain he thinks Ben should meet.  Before they can finish the conversation, there’s a malfunction and the ship seems to slip into warp. On DS9, after a charming drunken session with O’Brien, Bashir confronts the other doctor to find that she thought “Julian Bashir” was an Andorian. She’s excited to meet Julian for real, and is envious of the long term projects he can undertake. Jake and Ben are lost somewhere in space when suddenly three Cardassian warships appear.  Dukat hails them to reveal that tachyon eddies in the Bajoran system have in fact accelerated them at warp speed right into the Cardassian system. Coincidentally, Cardassia was about to announce the have discovered an ancient Bajoran crash site on their homeworld.

There is a lot of significant stuff going on in this episode. Leeta, who will become a staple of future season and Rom’s wife, is introduced. Though not named, Kassidy Yates is introduced as an idea, and we will see her in the next episode, beginning her long courtship and eventual marriage to Ben. Jake as a writer begins to really flourish setting the stage for his future as a correspondent during the Dominion War. It’s almost enough to make one ignore how little sense the rest makes. OK- 800 years earlier Bajorans built an airtight solar wind sail ship, literally out of lumber. How did they get it off the surface of the planet and into space? But, let’s assume they had chemical rockets that could survive leaving an atmosphere to deliver their wood ships into space, a solar sail would have to be kilometers long.  But, let’s say it’s special reflective material; when the tachyons begin to accelerate them to warp, what keeps the acceleration from crushing them into a thin red paste on the back wall? Ben has gravity control, no inertial dampeners 800 years ago. And assuming they DO survive, I would assume the Cardassian system is several hours at mid-warp from Bajor. Doesn’t take them long here. Then, there’s a crash site on Cardassia; how did the wooden ship survive re-entry? Though, maybe the acceleration DID paste the crew and throw the ship through the Cardassian atmosphere hard enough to crater in.  Holy Prophets that’s tragic.

Quark and Rom have to deal with “Family Business” when a Liquidator named Brunt from the Ferengi Commerce Authority shows up to seize their business because family on Ferenginar is causing trouble. 

 It seems Quark’s mother has been earning profit, illegal in Ferengi society for a woman. She seems to be…ugh, wearing clothes too! Brunt tells Quark he has to get her to confess, and then pay back the profit she made.  On DS9, Sisko meets Kassidy Yates, and they agree to coffee.  While there, she seems restless. Seems she forgot she’s supposed to listen to a broadcast from her brother out on Cestus III. It seems he is part of a league playing an obscure Earth sport called “baseball.” Sisko is smitten. On Ferenginar, Quark has discovered that “Moogie” has made more profit than they thought. MUCH more. He plans to turn her in despite the fact it will ruin him, but she cuts him in on the profits. She confesses and turns some over, but splits the rest with Quark…mostly; she tells Rom there may be some more even than Quark found.

A neat little look at Ferengi society which of course features the marvelous Jeffrey Combs as Liquidator Brunt (one of no less than seven different Trek characters he played). 

SNL’s Andrea Martin plays Moogie here, but will not reprise the role later due to makeup issues. We see Ferenginar is constantly raining, and the traditional house greeting of “welcome to my home; what’s mine is mine” is given. The whole episode will prove to kick off some interesting turns for Ferengi society.

Kai Winn comes to DS9 to see Kira, as her old friend and cell leader “Shakaar” is causing trouble in Kira’s home town.  The minister of the Provisional Government has died, leaving Winn not only as Kai, but as political leader. She makes some changes which will pull some farm equipment out of Kira’s province, and away from the farmer Shakaar. He won’t give it back. Winn expects Kira to talk him into it, but instead she negotiates a meeting with Shakaar to find a compromise. 

Winn dismisses that and sends in security forces to seize the equipment, causing both Kira and Shakaar to gather up the old cell and go back on the run. Sisko refuses to intervene in what Kai sees as a test of her authority. She scrambles more troops into the area, and discord begins to mount, risking a civil war. Shakaar approaches one of the Colonels chasing him, and they realize how futile this is. The colonel brings Shakaar back…with full military support as he decides to run for the position of First Minister displacing Winn.

  I love how Kira can basically start a civil war on Bajor (as much as I hate Winn) and then just come back to the station when it is all over. It is a tight episode though that really makes you swell your dislike of Kai Winn, and gives Louise Fletcher yet another great opportunity to be loathsome.  Shakaar of course is played by Duncan Regehr, once a staple of tv sf and genre: TNG, V the Series, Disney’s Zorro. I thought he had faded away, but it turns out he is in fact now a very successful painter with art on exhibition all over the world.

“Facets” brings us to Jadzia Dax undergoing a Trill ritual where the memories of each specific host are taken from the symbiont and placed temporarily in another host. This allows a Trill to “meet” all the previous hosts. She selects various people close to her on the station to house the various personalities (including sexually coercing Quark into participating…and then assigning him a female host). 

 Things get dark when Joran-the short lived host we learned was a psychotic murderer-goes into Sisko, and tries to kill Dax, but it becomes worse when Curzon enters Odo and they two of them merge into a single entity. One that does not intend to return to the Symbiont. Meanwhile, Nog is working on a preliminary Starfleet exam, and ends up failing. Rom realizes Quark rigged it to keep the boy out of Starfleet, but Rom gets Sisko to administer the test again, setting him on the path to Earth next season. 

Jadzia confronts Odo/Curzon, and realizes that Curzon is ashamed because when he initially failed her out of the symbiosis program it was because he loved her. She accepts his love and tells him she loves him too-as a part of her. An abashed Odo meets her later, admitting that the sensory input of Curzon was tempting, but she thanks him as she now has Curzon’s memory of being part of Odo, and what it is to be a changeling.  

The Dax stuff is fun here, if a little contrived, but we get some great performances out of each of the stars as they assume the personalities of the hosts. Rene Auberjonois is particularly effective as Curzon, though Avery Brooks is downright sinister as Joran. The b-story with Nog is neat, as it is such a great bit of character development for the annoying Ferengi kid from season 1 who is now on his way to a career in Starfleet.  Go Nog!

And season 3 comes to an end when “The Adversary” makes itself known. Sisko is promoted to Captain while a Federation ambassador visits the station. 

The ambassador mentiones a hostile race, the Tzenkethi, have had a coup, and may restart what were apparently rather brutal hostilities with the Federation. Sisko takes the ambassador out on a flag waving mission along the Tzenkethi border with the Defiant, but O’Brien soon notices strange things are afoot. They realize the ambassador is actually a Changeling, and a hunt through the ship starts to try to keep him from his real mission- using the Defiant to attack the Tzenkethi  and occupy the Federation so the Dominion can make its move. The crew becomes more paranoid as they begin to suspect any of them could be the shapeshifter. A very Carpenter-esque blood test scene happens and Commander Eddington is id’d as the culprit.

 They soon find Bashir locked away though, and realize the Bashir who conducted the test was the Changeling. Odo liquefies to chase him down, as Sisko prepares to self-destruct the Defiant to prevent war with the Tzenkethi.  Odo stops the enemy in engineering, and for the first time in history a Changeling harms another Changeling as Odo kills the other to save the ship.  As the invader dies he tells Odo, “it’s too late; we are everywhere.”

The “Thing” like horror aspects of this episode play off pretty well, keeping you guessing who may or may not be the Changeling at any given time. The paranoia we see the crew experience is shared by us as viewers at the end as we realize just how prevalent the threat from The Dominion may be, leaving a very disquieting end to season three. We have to talk here though about Sisko not becoming a Captain until S3. Really? Come on Trek, your first Black commanding officer leading a TV show, and you left him a Commander for three years? At least now Sisko has the rank, he has the goatee, and as we head into season 4, we get the shaved head; Sisko will soon evolve into his final form!

NEXT VOYAGE: Season 4 begins with more Klingons that you can shake a Bat’leth at as paranoia about the Dominion threat leads the Empire to pursue “The Way of the Warrior.” Best of all?  WORF!!!