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sheepfulsheepyardinspace · 5 years ago

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Do you have any Star Wars fanfic recommendations, or have a link to someone else's list? I really wanna veg out.

oh my god, DO I. this may have been the best ask in the world. i’m not really sure what u want a feel for, so i threw together some of my favorite longfics for maximum veg time from the ot/pt and links for swr and swtcw recs. they’re pretty much all luke-anakin/vader centric, since that’s kinda my bread and butter.

let’s start with frodogenic, who wrote the first longfic i ever read in sw and might be one of the funniest authors ever. they once reviewed my fanfic & i nearly cried from joy. anyway.

The Father, 284k+, complete. “Ten years after ROTS, tormenting nightmares of his unborn child drive Darth Vader to extraordinary measures with unexpectedly drastic consequences. Clearly, experience has taught Darth Vader nothing...”

this is my og star wars fic and boy oh boy is it amazing. i will never get over this. i don’t want to spoil anything but when i say the final chapters are great? i mean they’re legendary. sometimes i still think about them & wish upon a star that i could be such a great writer. vader’s amazing, han is spectacular, and the ocs are fantastic.

Far More Than Rubies, 70k+, complete. “Nine years after AOTC, tragedy revisits the Lars Homestead. Little Luke Skywalker is suddenly plunged into chaos as the rebel movements discover a secret military project that may make a crucial difference in the war with the Empire.”

the spiritual twin of The Father, FMTR takes a look at padmé’s character and relationship with both luke and anakin/vader that’s hard to beat. it’s darker and heavier than The Father, but it hits those same sweet, sweet emotional beats while raising the age-old question: if padmé had lived, what would she have done?

The Family Tree, 12k, complete. “In which Luke Skywalker is stranded in a tree waiting for a flash flood to recede. Too bad he's got company...”

okay, i admit, this isn’t a longfic, but it is a longshot, and it’s amazing. the imagery and description always blow me away, and the interaction (canon-compliant) between luke and vader just [chef’s kiss] get me. vader’s in full, glorious form, and it makes it all the harder when luke wrestles with the knowledge that vader is his father.

Sibling Revelry, 25k, complete. “After Bespin and before Endor, Darth Vader is shocked to discover that Luke and Leia are twins. He's even more shocked when Imperial Intelligence reports that Organa and Skywalker are, erm, a tad closer than previously suspected.”

this is complete crack and humor in the best way possible. it’s crack treated entirely seriously, and you will be in stitches, i promise. no matter how many times i’ve read this i break down.

KittandChips (@kittandchips) writes what i can only describe as food for the soul. the luke-vader interaction is insanely amazing, the world building of daily imperial life and imperial governance is amazing, and vader just has a special je ne sais quoi that u must read to understand––tragic, funny, and so, so fatherly. they’re currently rewriting the Force Bond Series to fit in with newer canon, so i will joyously binge reread the entire again (including the new Force Bond: Mustafar Weekend).

Force Bond 1: Orphan, 47k, complete. “After Owen and Beru are killed by a mysterious stranger, young Luke ends up as an orphan on Coruscant. It's a race against time as Obi-Wan struggles to find Luke before Vader realizes the boy is his son.”

Orphan kicks off the series, which tracks vader and luke’s relationship through the perils of luke’s teenagerhood while growing up under the eye of the emperor and imperial court. it’s filled with slow growth, struggle and misunderstandings as darth vader tries to single parent, and pay off in every installment. the entire series clocks in around 777k+ and is the most joyful, fulfilling reading you’ll ever have. promise.

darth-nickels (@darth--nickels) writes darker, twistier, and terribly, terribly heartwrenching aus. they’ve got a whole host, but let me introduce to my two favorites. also, check out their faux-academia on vader. it’s amazing and i love it, but i admit i am an academia hoe.

Dooku Captured, Pt 2, 16k, complete. “Dooku is taken alive onboard the Invisible Hand, and Sidious' web is torn. The Sith Lord wonders if death might have been preferable to clumsy interrogation by Anakin Skywalker.”

Dooku Captured is a longshot au told from Dooku’s pov which takes the beginning of ROTS and throws it on its head. it’s a fascinating outside perspective of anakin and obi-wan’s relationship and such and interesting examination of dooku’s psyche and especially his complex relationship with the jedi order, qui-gon, yoda, and palpatine. i cannot rec this one enough.

Black Mirror, 90k, incomplete. “The Ghost crew returns to the Lothal when they hear the Empire is investigating the Jedi Temple there. They learn Vader is alone and decide to take him out-- but what they find could change the course of Galactic history.”

Black Mirror diverges into swr territory, but make no mistake: this is entirely an examination of vader and, later, obi-wan as well as ahsoka. luke makes his appearance later in the game, and boy oh boy will you love luke’s portrayal is a microcosm of luke and vader’s relationship within canon. heed the tags, though.

jerseydevious ( @jerseydevious ) is, first and foremost, one of my favorite people on earth. secondly, though, she’s an amazing writer with a deep understanding of vader’s character and psyche, a flair for beautiful depictions, and the true ability to wring every emotion out of your body.

Two and a Half Men (with a baby), 13k, incomplete. “After a long day of bargaining with Hutts and attempting to ignore his past, Darth Vader is nearing the end of his rope. When he discovers his two-year-old son, it's the straw that breaks the semi-rational Sith Lord's back; in a rash act worthy of the Skywalker name, he scoops his son into his arms, steals a shuttle from his own fleet, and punches in random hyperspace coordinates to a destination on the other side of the galaxy. Unfortunately, father and son are not the only ones on the ship.”

Two and a Half Men will stick with you, dude. like no other. i promise. it’s a whirlwind ride with obi-wan, vader, and piett and as funny as it is heartbreaking. it touches on some heavy issues and doesn’t shy away from looking at the damage done to vader––again, heed the tags.

Helioseismology, 4k, complete. “Luke gets shot down on a supply run and caught in an ice storm. It's extremely lucky that his father followed him there.“

i’ll admit. im completely biased about this one because it was a birthday gift to me and i am sucker for litcherally anything when jd puts pen to paper, but believe me when i say you will be awed by the depth and tangled relationships between these luke and vader that jersey can illustrate in a stroke of the paintbrush. im love. always.

izzythehutt ( @izzythehutt ) i am blown away by the intricate dialogue and characterization, always. and the latin puns? im sold. im also a sucker for latin puns, but that’s a story for a different time.

In Loco Pirates, 34k, complete. “A down-on-his-luck Hondo Ohnaka manages to capture the unicorn of all bounties--Luke Skywalker, which sends Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, on a painfully familiar trip to the planet Florrum to collect his prize. The failed negotiations leave Vader in the awkward position of being stuck in a besieged pirate bunker, trying to balance keeping his wayward child safe (and in his custody) with controlling the tongue of a loose-lipped pirate who--to the surprise of no one--has a bad habit of telling 'amusing' anecdotes from the Clone Wars.”

hondo, aka the best character of swtcw, is brought to life just as vividly on paper as on screen. his entire personality brings luke and vader’s difficulties in a sort of incredulous light, which makes it as funny as it is vulnerable and tragic. the sequel, Palpatine Ad Portas, brings piett into the spotlight, and oh man do his interactions with palpatine and vader bring u all the uncomfortable vibes. relish in it.

sparklight ( @littlesparklight ) man. lemme introduce u to an amazing prolific and detailed writer. i will never get over the series they’ve written & neither will u.

Where Our Intrepid Hero Doesn’t Get Away, 122k, incomplete. “One-shots surrounding either AU situations of canon/legends works where Luke would normally have gotten away (or Vader is simply inserted into the action to come pick his child up) but in these instances doesn't, or completely new scenarios of the same. There are no deep ruminations on consequences of the situations here, just our awful Sith dad picking his son up when he'd rather not be.”

exactly what it says on the tin. u know those glorious moments of fanfic where luke’s gotten captured and ur on pins and needles, waiting for vader to show up in a moment of dark glory? here’s the moment. here’s all the moments.

Space Race, 122k, incomplete. “Owen gives in to Luke's wish to attend the Imperial Academy and Obi-Wan is too late to avert it, though he's not too late to make sure Luke leaves Arkanis before Vader can gets his hands on him. Luke spends over a month running around the galaxy before his father gets him, and from there...”

this story relishes in chase and boy is it fun. it will keep you on the edge of your seat and it’s an amazing ride.

The Suns of Tatooine, 85k, complete. “Luke ends up on a moon swamped in dark side energy after a mission goes wrong, then his father appears... and then they go on a bit of a learning experience. This could've been the only thing that would come of getting through a Sith complex with his father, but thanks to going to free Han earlier than the gang did otherwise, more revelations are had. Will that change anything?”

this series is a thoughtful, contemplative piece examining the nature of the force and the relationship the skywalkers have with tatooine. the descriptions are beautiful, the inventiveness is amazing, and you’ll be thinking about it for long afterwards.

an additional few…

Between Flight and Longing; 34k, complete. “Luke Skywalker and Han Solo journey to the planet Balen'ar on a desperate mission and find more than they'd bargained for.”

a classic and it is for a reason. the interaction between han, luke, and vader is so spectacular and the slow trudge of going through the forest with your greatest enemy and best friend is something hilarious. the end is bittersweet and fantastic.

The Sith Who Brought Life Day, 13k, complete. “An Imperial officer loses a bet and has to get Darth Vader a present for Life Day.”

somewhere between terrifying and dull, this fic presents a canon-compliant look at the hunt for luke and the grinding wheels of the empire. the oc is amazing and it echoes in true star wars spirit: sometimes it’s just some dude who can change the galaxy.

Quintessence, 5k, complete. ‘“Well, Master, I think I’ve found the one positive aspect of this situation.” “Which is?” “The Temple won’t have to pay the costs for our funeral pyres.”’

pure hilarity and shenanigans abound in pre-aotc obi-wan and anakin hijink goodness. lemme tell u––u will deeply sympathize with mace windu afterwards. additionally, check out the rest of the author’s oneshots! they’re deeply thoughtful and the interactions the author writes between obi-wan and anakin are always gold.

some extras & shameless self-promotion

here’s a full list of recommendations for star wars rebels fanfic in case this is what you’re looking for (remember when this used to be a swr blog, lmao)

i’ve also written sw fanfic, both swr and luke-vader centric. drop by and tell me if it’s any good!

#also if anybody knows these authors' tumblr accounts pls lmk so i can link them #guys remember piett?#i miss piett #firmus piett #star wars #star wars fanfic #sw fanfic #sw fic #three two one boom #jerseydevious #luke skywalker #darth vader #anakin skywalker #star wars rebels #late-in-the-day #idk if any of these r new at all to anyone #but they r my faves :)

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trashbaget · 4 years ago

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6,17,& 24??

hi lovely!! thank you so much for the ask 🥰🥰💖

6 - show you don’t watch but know the plot because of social media?

i can’t think of any off the top of my head that i still haven’t seen but this was 911 before i watched it!! i’d seen countless gifs and knew pretty much everything buddie related beforehand.

17 - show you wish someone else watched as well?

aaklals also 911, i’m tryna get my mom to watch it lmao

but i’ll pick something else! 🥰 one of my favorite favorite shows is the miniseries eyewitness and i think more people in general would watch it. it’s about these boys who get mixed up in a murder mystery that keeps getting twistier while dealing with internalized homophobia as they fall in love in this tiny rural town. it’s got fucking incredible atmosphere, their love story is cute, and it gets me in my feels in the best way.

24 - show you watched that was canceled too soon?

i am not okay with this!!!! and i am so not okay with this being canceled!!! let me freaking tell you, when i watched this show all in one sitting with my sister i had a fucking dry sob over it because it made me feel seen???? the way syd’s powers symbolized anxiety, the storyline where she fell for her best friend and things greyed, her issues with family, i just really connected with her character. i absolutely adored the friendship between her and stan (a bi king!) and i also i just loved stan in general. the atmosphere of this show was BRILLIANT. and the end scene that seemed to set up for more seasons was actually so cool to me that i wasn’t even mad that it was such an insane cliffhanger! but then they dropped it. 🤡💩 move netflix. clown shit move.

#📫 here’s the mail it never fails ✉️#sainteddie #ask games #💖💖💖💖💖

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dangermousie · 3 years ago

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Oh boy… so Lu Zhanxing killed that envoy on purpose to stop Gu Mang from continuing on the path he was on. Dang I was like dude you really are insane but at the same time I can see where he was coming from. For people born like them nothing ever seems to be enough. I thought him and Gu Mang’s final moments were heartwarming…. And then … THE FREAKING EMPEROR HAS HIM TAKE HIS CHILDHOOD FRIEND’S HEAD AS AN APOLOGY!!! That is soooo messed up!!!! I hate this freaking emperor. I thought he was kind of amusing at first cause he seemed to just not care but wow is he ruthless!!

And the pain just continues. Mo Xie is uncovering all these secrets and having to see just how broken Gu Mang is at this time. When Gu Mang is sobbing on the floor and Mo Xie wants to just hold and him comfort him but the time mirror powers are wearing off so he can’t! Ughhh! My heart! And the story of the old beggar brought me to tears. Gu Mang bringing him peace by acting like the soldiers that the old beggar abandoned! Gosh I love him!

Ughhh I know there has to be so much more to uncover!!! There’s definitely more to the story. Like who is that mysterious dude? What did Gu Mang see that made him so upset?? Why are Gu Mang’s eyes blue??? (That has to be a significant detail like from the beginning I’ve been like what’s up with the different eye color??) anyway I’ve probably failed to mention everything but at this point I’m rambling sorry if this is all unintelligible it’s like 2am and I’m just!!! lol

Just you waaaait, it's going to get way twistier!

And yes, (1) emperor is loathsome loathsome loathsome (2) there is an explanation for Gu Mang's eyes being blue and it may or may not break your heart (3) but what Gu Mang saw will DEF break your heart.

And yeah, that kingdom is so freaking rotten!

#asks #yuwu

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mjmnorwood · 5 years ago

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[I.D. A header image of two pencils on a yellow background, with title reading ‘Writing a Mystery’. End I.D.]

I love mysteries. I confess to being a naturally nosy person, so a mystery is the perfect plot for me. And because I love to read them, I also love to write them! Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years for making mysteries intriguing and effective.

Know your plot inside and out.

Mysteries are some of the most carefully-plotted stories out there, and they need to be. The audience will be considering how everything links into the mystery, so you can’t have any surplus plot elements. Mind-mapping ideas and making an outline is incredibly helpful (and it can also be useful to have a second, secret outline of what the culprit is doing to cover their tracks while the sleuth investigates).

It is also possible to pants a mystery (I know because I’ve done it), it’s just that after the first draft is done, you have to put a lot of thought into re-organising things to make your story as well-structured as possible. This can involve being pretty merciless with cuts, just to forewarn you!

Milk your clues for all they’re worth.

A lot of people think of mysteries as sequential. The sleuth finds one clue which leads to another clue which leads to another clue which eventually leads to a solution. However, they are in actual fact a lot twistier than that. To keep the reader on their toes, you want uncertainty and misdirection, and a great place to do this is with the clues. Throw in red herrings and ambiguous clues to keep the sleuth (and the audience) guessing. You’ll find that when your clues are working hard, you don’t actually need all that many—when you get down to it, most mysteries only have about 3-5 clues that are really significant!

Balance your resolution.

There are two routes you can go down when writing the suspects in a mystery: making the audience feel like anyone could have done it, and making them feel like no-one could have done it. Both of these routes are suspenseful, and you usually want to maintain them until the final deductions are made, at which point the most satisfying mysteries make the audience smack their heads as the clues fall together and they realise that only the culprit could have done it and think why didn’t we see this before? It can be hard to make this moment come at exactly the right point, but having a tight plot makes it so much easier (which is why the first point is so important).

Give your audience something other than the plot to be invested in.

An intriguing mystery is a great hook, but keeping the reader invested takes more than that. Interesting characters and settings are SO important—when you think about it, the most famous detectives (e.g. Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple) are memorable because they’re interesting personalities. And the side characters are just as important. Natural human curiosity is what draws us into a mystery, but empathy for the people involved is what really keeps us turning the pages to see how things turn out for them.

Remember mysteries can be more varied than you think.

When you think of a mystery novel, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a murder mystery, but you are not limited by this! It’s true that murders often feel like they have the highest stakes, but you can totally write mysteries about trying to discover a stolen watch, finding out who vandalised that expensive painting, figuring out who left that mysterious note, and a whole host of other possibilities! You also aren’t limited to 1930s country-house mysteries or fast-paced modern thrillers. Mystery plots work great in other genres too (in fact, mystery combined with fantasy or sci-fi is one of my all-time fave things!). And finally, you can play about with the traditional structure of information reveals and have the audience know things your characters don’t...

Reading list -

As with all aspects of writing, I think the best way to learn mysteries is to read plenty of them. As I said in the intro, they’re one of my fave things, so I have plenty of recommendations!

The Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters. The mysteries in these books are wonderfully intriguing, and the historical setting is so well-drawn. The whole series is fantastic, but if you don’t want to commit to twenty books, I particularly recommend The Sanctuary Sparrow.

The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. Both the books and the TV miniseries are brilliant, and I think the character work is particularly fine in these stories. Mma Ramotswe is one of my favourite sleuths (and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is the most wholesome love interest!).

The Provost’s Dog trilogy by Tamora Pierce. This is an excellent example of mystery woven into another genre (YA fantasy).

The novella The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold. This also has mystery in another genre (sci-fi this time) and it shows that you don’t need a book-length mystery chock-full of clues to be interesting. TMoM is less than 100 pages, but still pulls off an incredibly well-done mystery (and makes me tear up every time!).

For my last recommendation (since this list is getting long...) I put forward The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. This book is ASTONISHINGLY tightly plotted. I know ‘I couldn’t put it down’ is a cliché, but I really couldn’t put it down.

Like this post? Follow for more writerly content! It’ll be lovely to have you along :D

#writing advice #writing tips #writing help #writeblr #plot #mystery #writing #writers #writers on tumblr #writblr #writeblr community #long post #original

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wannabecatwriter · 5 years ago

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“How’s the ratatouille?”

“Pretty good? What about your lasagna?”

“It’s great. Definitely a lasagna and not a ‘lasaga’,” he joked, trying to lighten up the awkwardness. No matter how much people liked each other, it seemed first dates were just a strange time.

“At least, there’s no chance it was prepared by a little French rat,” she laughed.

“You never know, you never know. Those chefs’ hats are pretty tall - anyone could be hiding under there.”

“You like ‘Ratatouille’?” she asked in surprise.

“Love it. I used to watch it with Candace all the time when it first came out, but to be honest, I still keep the DVD within easy reach at home - it always puts a smile on my face. They have some good movies.”

“What did you think about ‘Cars’, then?”

“I couldn’t finish it,” he admitted. “Probably because I work on vehicles all the time, I couldn’t suspend disbelief long enough to get into the whole anthropomorphic cars idea.”

“It was a bit of a stretch,” she agreed. “So, what do you do in your free time? Other than paying off strangers’ bills, of course?”

“Ooof. I admit, I really didn’t realize how creepy it would seem.”

“I’m just joking. I do appreciate the intent behind the act.”

“By the way, your sign should be up on the shop by the end of the week,” he remembered. “It’s ready, the company just needs to deliver it.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“But in answer to your question, I don’t really do anything out of the ordinary. I mostly just read for fun.”

“What sorts of books?”

“I like mysteries. Especially, if they have a good twist that keeps me on the edge of the seat. And aside from that, historical non-fiction. Sometimes, it’s twistier than any mystery.”

“Especially when you consider how different viewpoints can present the same event in a thousand different ways,” she knew exactly what he was talking about.

“You know it. Wine?”

“Sure, but not too much.”

#Sims3 #Chronicles of a Pessimist #Anna Luis #Jasper Dyer #Sims Stories

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jbuffyangel · 6 years ago

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Weekly Rundown 10/14/18-10/20/18

Time to rundown what I’m watching, loving, hating and everything in between! Spoilers ahead!

Arrow (“Inmate 4587″)

William running through the woods, even if it is a dream, makes me so emo.

I love how Arrow fake kills Felicity because they'd rather walk into hell than do it for real.

Felicity and William's photo sits on top of his copy of “Count of Monte Cristo” because they are Oliver's way out.

Stan stans Oliver. Same dude.

If we get this much Oliver working out then I will survive the prison storyline.

Mystery GA is like old school Oliver without Oliver having to be old school. Nifty.

Oliver's voiced cracks just a little bit when he asked Diggle about William and Felicity. It hurts to even say their names.

Felicity is the most adorable pink haired barista to ever live

"Boxing is not gonna win you a fight in the Glades." Oh yeah? Tell that to LL. Oh wait. She's dead. Never mind. Kid is right.

DO NOT TOUCH THE WIFEY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OR DIE.

I don't remember all these villains. Smeh.

Who dat in da boat?

Listen dude you need to see a picture of her husband and then you'd know better than to even ask.

LL hit the streets as BC after a couple boxing lessons. BS hits a couple law books and is DA. You're right LL fandom. Totally same character.

Curtis has a job with ARGUS and please for all that is holy let him stay there.

Is anyone else unnerved watching all these characters fight crime legally?

He's looking for Robert Queen? Long lost son? Grave robber? Weirdo?

So now Rene wants to go to prison? Why didn't you just do that in the first place? Then Oliver wouldn't have to save your ass & leave everyone he loves behind.

Grown up William? Flash forward Roy? I AM SPIRALING Y'ALL

Just when we thought there was nothing better than Oliver fighting naked in a shower they gave us Felicity kicking Diaz's ass.

Oh god y'all that scene was incredible. Don't ever say to me Oliver and Felicity are not the foundation of Arrow.

"I will always wait for you." Later. I have to eat my feelings.

Felicity gives William the hozen. I AM NOT OKAY.

GROWN UP WILLIAM WITH ROY!!!!! WE ARE FLASH FORWARDING PEOPLE!

Okay they went no where near as dark with Oliver as I thought they would. Also, I should maybe look into a therapist because my dark & twisty is a lot darker and twistier than Arrow.

I am here for aged up Felicity. I am living for it.

Manifest “Unclaimed Baggage”

OMG we found out what Ben does for a living. The greatest mystery of Manifest is solved. HE IS A MATH PROFESSOR.

I want Ben to figure out to pay off my mortgage and keep $500K.

We finally meet Danny. Danny is the hot nurse from Grey’s Anatomy, the hot firefighter from Rescue Me and the hot FBI agent from Graceland. I love me some Daniel Sunjata. I prefer blondes so I’d still go with Dreamy McBlue eyes (Josh Dallas) but I understand Grace’s predicament more now. The struggle is real.

Michaela blew an operation with her Spidey sense and Jared took the blame, but it gave us this SWOONY exchange:

Michaela: You don’t have to protect me.

Jared: Yes I do. I can’t help it.

I still don’t really care about the plane mystery. The relationships are much more interesting.

The Gifted (”Outmatched”)

I was very bored this week. The best conflict is Lauren and Andy, but it was an anti climatic ending.

This Is Us (”Vietnam”)

He got the "Breathe" from the army buddy. I'm ten minutes in and This Is Us has left me emotionally eviscerated. So your standard Tuesday night.

We are rehashing a lot of information I already know.

My father was drafted at the same time as Nicky. He was #5 in the draft. My dad was #8

Blindspot (”My Art Project”)

"I'm the work wife." LOL!!! Rich Dotcom is often the best of Blindspot episodes.

Reade is freaking out. SHE IS ALIVE READE DON'T BELIEVE IT!

I want to go to lunch with Rich Dotcom and talk Met Gala couture.

"You've done something with your hair. Your whole vibe is edgier." Boston is the only one who knows long hair = evil Jane.

Can no one see when Remi makes her cranky evil face after being nice to Kurt? It's her face! HOW DO THEY NOT SEE IT?

Wait. How is the puzzle a vetting process if other people don't have access to the tattoo? This makes no sense.

Madeline is sufficiently creepy.

Awww Rich is jealous. He's used to being Team Blindspot's favorite criminal. No one can take your place Rich Dotcom. You are one in a million.

Uh oh. Kurt saw that picture taking Remi.

Zapata is an accessory to murder. That ain't good.

That was too much Remi, Remi. Reel it back girl.

Remi drugged Patterson. This removes any doubt. She is evil.

Jane is a super ninja. She can't get out of being held hostage? She's done it millions of times before and yet nobody on Team Blindspot questions her helplessness?

Anyone else confused on this case? I hate it when I'm confused on case of the week.

Making a Murderer Part 2

I’m trying to hang in there on, but jeez this forensic science stuff is complex.

Brendan Dassey’s case is bounced between courts like a soccer ball. This is insane.

Oh holy hell I don’t know who did it. I give up.

That’s all for this week! I started my Daredevil binge so I have a bunch of shows to catch up on!

#weekly rundown reviews #arrow #manifest #this is us #blindspot #the gifted

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themovieblogonline · 4 months ago

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Mithya: The Darker Chapter – A Thrilling Ride

ZEE5 Global is back with Mithya: The Darker Chapter, and let me tell you, things just got darker, twistier, and, well... more twisted. The battle between Juhi (played by Huma Qureshi) and her half-sister Rhea (Avantika Dassani) returns with a vengeance. Literally. https://youtu.be/dKH5dGfNsNk Directed by Kapil Sharma and streaming from November 1, Mithya is not your average psychological thriller. Juhi’s basking in the glory of her book Dhund, but hold on—because out of nowhere, a mysterious writer, Amit (played by Naveen Kasturia), comes swinging with a plagiarism accusation. And you thought your sibling rivalry was intense? What’s great about this new season is the layered storytelling. On one end, we’ve got Juhi fighting accusations, and on the other, Rhea is still fighting for their father’s love. Their battle? It’s not just personal; it’s a cutthroat war filled with lies, deceit, and manipulation that’ll leave you questioning everything. Why Watch This Season? Let’s start with Huma Qureshi. She’s as fierce as ever, pulling off a character that’s vengeful, but not one-dimensional. Qureshi said in an interview, “This show pushed me to explore a more complex, darker side of myself as an actor.” And you can tell. She’s not just acting; she’s living it. Meanwhile, Avantika Dassani shines as the ambitious half-sister, Rhea, adding more layers to the tension. Expect betrayal, secrets, and more dirty tricks than a poker game at a mob convention. Add Naveen Kasturia’s sharp performance as Amit, and you’ve got a psychological thriller that’s going to mess with your head—in a good way. Plot: More Twists Than a Corkscrew As Juhi fights to clear her name, Rhea gets sneakier, and Amit throws in an unexpected wild card. What stands out is the “blood versus blood” angle that pits family ties against each other. With lives on the line, the stakes are sky-high, and this is far from your basic catfight—this is a gladiator battle in designer shoes. The dynamic between Juhi and Rhea intensifies, and this time, the consequences are deadlier. Both women transform as they delve deeper into their dark sides, with the lines between good and evil blurred beyond recognition. As the show builds to a fever pitch, it's clear no one will come out unscathed. Final Thoughts With high-octane drama, shocking twists, and performances that’ll leave you speechless, Mithya: The Darker Chapter is your next binge-worthy obsession. Whether you’re a fan of psychological dramas or just in for the mind games, this series promises to keep you glued to the screen. Just don’t trust anyone, because in this game, even the audience isn’t safe. Read the full article

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constablewrites · 7 years ago

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World Building as Reveal in Steven Universe

There’s a question that seems to come up with some regularity over at @script-a-world: How much world building do you need? Where’s the line between too much and not enough?

I’m all about the examples, so let’s take a look at Steven Universe.

Steven Universe is a riff on the Magical Girl genre, with a complex and structured alien race, and a broad variety of powers and abilities, a substantial backstory. There is a whole lot going on.

Now let’s look at just the first episode, “Gem Glow.” You’d think that it would have a lot of work to do setting all that stuff up, right? Well, not so much.

The stuff that gets outright explained:

Steven has a gem but doesn’t know how to use it

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are magical ladies who protect humanity

Each of them can summon a unique weapon from their gem

Steven’s weapon is a shield

The stuff that’s shown but not elaborated upon:

Gems fighting gem monsters

Steven’s powers are tied to his emotions

Bubbling monster gems

That’s it. Steven’s parents don’t even come up until the second episode. Things that become cornerstones of the series, like fusion and the Gem War? Not a peep about them.

In one way, this works because Steven is the viewpoint character, and he functions as the Naive Newcomer. As he learns more about his own powers and his mother’s past, so do we.

It also works because, well, there’s only so much detail we can process at once. “Women fight monsters with magical weapons” is a pretty straightforward concept as such things go. The series takes its time to build on itself, allowing us to place each new piece of information in the correct context. Take the big reveal in the season 1 finale “Jailbreak” (I won’t spoil it, but if you’ve seen the show you know what I mean). Some other creators might have laid out a fact that foundational about one of the main characters right up front, stated as a matter of fact. By waiting until we better understand the implications, it becomes more than just a line in her bio--it has meaning, and provides a character we already knew with new depth.

Even five seasons in, Steven Universe is still holding back a lot. I mean, we just now got a clue to what Lion is, and Lion first showed up in the tenth episode of season one. All along it’s treated its world building as a mystery to be uncovered. The pieces are usually there from the start (indeed, a rewatch of the series shows just how far in advance it must have been planned), but it pulls them into focus slowly and, critically, keeps them anchored to characters we care about. We don’t just see Steven learning new information, we see how new information affects him--what delights him, what terrifies him, what makes him question his own existence. It’s all tied to the emotional core, so as things start getting darker and twistier we’re invested.

The overarching plot of Steven Universe is almost entirely tied up in its world building. That’s only possible because it’s very stingy with giving up those details. If you dump all your world building on us at the start, we’re going to take it for granted and probably miss some things that were actually important. But if you make us work for it? We’ll be begging to find out what happened in that war that happened 5,000 years ago.

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booklover277 · 7 years ago

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The Cheerleaders by: Kara Thomas

3.5 stars out of 5

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook. First there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost. That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it’s not that easy. She just wants to forget. Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow Monica is at the center of it all. There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe.

Release Date: July 31, 2018

I don’t know if we’re cursed. All I know is that my sister wouldn’t have killed herself. But if she did, why didn’t she leave a note explaining why?

Five cheerleaders dead over the course of three weeks. This happened five years ago. One of those girls was Monica's sister, Jen, and it's been haunting her ever since. Jen was the last of the five to die and it has never made sense. First, two girls hydroplaned and hit a tree in a storm. Next, two girls were strangled by the man next door. And last, Jen committed suicide. That was the end of the cheerleaders. The school disbanded the squad.

When we meet Monica, she's going through a tough time. Not getting into detail with what's happening with her, but it's not something I expected. I enjoyed that the plot went there, though. It's real and emotional. Due to what's going on with Monica, she finds herself drifting from her friends. It doesn't take long for questions to arise about what really happened five years ago starting with an old cell phone in her stepdad's desk.

The majority of the story is told from Monica's POV, but it occasionally switches to Jen's from five years ago in the time leading up to her death.

Okay, so this is my least favorite Kara Thomas book so far. Let’s just put that out there right now. I sat on this for a week or so and that’s just how I feel. “Least favorite” is also very poor sounding, but you should know that I gave her last two books 4 stars. And there's no way I'm missing her next book. So there’s that. Certain aspects of the plot were forgettable, unfortunately. However, I still liked this one. Thomas’s display of relationships whether friendship or familial are written realistically and accurately. She always knows to show the hidden layers beneath the surface and I, for one, appreciate it. Here, the female friendships are mainly those of support and it’s refreshing to see. I just wish this had been faster paced and had a twistier mystery to it. I’m leaving it at that.

goodreads

order on book depository

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review via netgalley.

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nevinslibrary · 5 years ago

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Not A Book Friday

Mystery movies barely seem to happen anymore. Oh, there are suspense movies with a little bit of mystery, and, there are tons of delightful mystery TV shows, but, while there used to be a ton of movie mysteries, there just don’t seem to be many anymore. This is definitely partially a callback to those. And, it’s zany, and just plain awesome.

Harlan Thrombey is a very wealthy crime novelist, with a family that is… unique. He invites all of them for his 85th birthday, but, then, he winds up dead. Someone hires Detective Benoit Blanc. And it only gets twistier and crazier from there. With red herrings eating other red herrings. I was most definitely kept guessing.

It also did not go at a sedate pace, it kept on going, and it did not seem like 2 hours when I got to the end. The time just flew by. And, of course, it’s not just about the story, the actors and actresses in this movie are just superb and amazing.

Knives Out

#notabookfriday #nmlRA #nevins memorial library #knives out #movie #mystery movie

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aquareads · 5 years ago

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See How They Run by Ally Carter (Embassy Row #2)

Summary and picture from goodreads:

Inside every secret, there's a world of trouble. Get ready for the second book in this new series of global proportions--from master of intrigue, New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter. Grace's past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn't stop it, Grace isn't the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down. The twists get twistier and the turns get even more shocking in the second thrilling installment of Embassy Row.

I had read the first Embassy Row book several years ago but had only recently come across the second one. Now, I would suggest re-reading the first book in a series if it has been some time before getting into the rest of the series but if you follow my personal blog you already know I don’t make good decisions. Luckily, Ally Carter does a pretty good job giving enough of a summary of the previous book without bogging down the story too badly and making it feel organic (and not to tout my own horn but I did remember enough not to get too confused).

See How They Run continues with Grace finding out more mysteries and secrets about her mother and the country Adria. We learn about a secret society dedicated to protecting Adria and its secrets as well as Grace’s mother’s involvement in it. Not only is Grace caught up in trying to uncover who and why someone ordered her mother’s death, she also is coping with her own trauma, and diplomatic tensions between the US and Russia. Her brother is back and his best friend, a US army cadet has been murdered, allegedly by Grace’s friend Alexei, the Russian ambassador’s son.

I enjoyed the mystery and the how this book delves more into the history of Adria that Grace’s mother was investigating. I got chills during the descriptions of the Night of a Thousand Amelias and the celebrations of the deaths of Adria’s royal family generations ago. There was more of plot heavy focus on this book which really helped move the story along and Ally Carter did a good job building suspense and peeling back the layers of mystery and secrecy that led to Grace’s mother’s death and how they started many years ago.

#aquareads #books!#young adult fiction #mystery

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reactingtosomething · 8 years ago

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Reacting to Atomic Blonde

Suck It, Daredevil

The Setup: Charlize Theron was the best action star of 2015, and two years later she may have just reclaimed her crown, in the solo directing debut of former stunt coordinator David Leitch (half of the duo who directed John Wick and some second unit stuff on Captain America: Civil War, doing their part to save Hollywood action scenes from subpar ALL THE SHAKY CAM AND ALL THE CUTS Paul Greengrass imitation).

Heralded by possibly the coolest trailer of the year -- at the very least, the coolest that didn’t have a House of Mouse effects budget -- and backed by a uniformly stellar supporting cast including Sofia Boutella and John Goodman, Theron’s also making a decent run at James Bond’s status as Most Dashing Lothario Assassin, because why not. (And not just for straight dudes.)

In short, this has too many of RtS’s favorite things not to be an obvious choice for a Reaction. SPOILERS for Atomic Blonde after the jump.

KRIS: I guess I’ll open with a Caroline Framke tweet

MIRI: Please do

KRIS: https://twitter.com/carolineframke/status/891158770117685248

MIRI: I was really hoping it would be that one

KRIS: (The RT:like ratio, as of now, is 146 to 1200)

MIRI: Omg

I may be one of those likes

MARCHAE: LOL

KRIS: RtS is definitely one of those likes

MIRI: Can't remember if I RTd

Update: I did RT

very proud of my lack of shame

KRIS: Although I guess stabbing is really the least of what she does to some of those guys

MIRI: Carry on

Right

But there Is definitely some stabbing

KRIS: So this wasn’t, like, EVERYthing I wanted/expected it to be, but the “long take” fight alone is worth the price of admission twice over

MARCHAE: Yeah she is incredibly hard core (and trust that was not in the source material so i was happy they def. gave her some swag)

did either of you get a chance to read the text it was based on

KRIS: I loved that it was basically telling both Daredevil and Birdman to go fuck themselves

MIRI: Hahahahahahha

No I didn't

I'm not nearly the fight choreography conosieur that Kris is, but I was so fucking into this

(Wow spelled that so wrong autocorrect was stumped)

KRIS: I mean I did not have any reservations about any of the other fights, it was everything around the fights that was kind of uneven

MARCHAE: go on

KRIS: Not BAD, but uneven

MIRI: Say more

KRIS: Pacing felt weird sometimes?

This felt longer than its runtime

MARCHAE: (yes that is truth..>YES IT DID)

MIRI: Yeah, I can agree with that

KRIS: Maybe a little twistier, plot-wise, than was really justified, especially since it end-loaded the twists

MIRI: Yeah, the last few minutes were a bit of a mind fuck and not in a totally earned way

KRIS: The sound mixing was VERY interesting, but I wasn’t always sure it needed to be so showy

MIRI: This movie is showy down to its bones

and some ways that works better than others

KRIS: Although it did add to the disorientation

MARCHAE: (re the twists the text was similar in that way…)

KRIS: The sound mix I mean

Like going back and forth between having music in a scene be diegetic and not

I did like the way they used it in the bar where Lorraine meets Delphine though

MIRI: I feel like it was better directed, acted, and choreographed than it was written. Does that make sense?

KRIS: When you assume the REALLY LOUD CLUB MUSIC is diegetic but it cuts out really suddenly when the guy (was it Bremovych there?) offers a light

Yes

MIRI: Yeah, that moment was very nice

KRIS: But I feel like pacing often comes down to direction

MIRI: Fair

KRIS: All the performances are definitely great

MIRI: Seriously, all of them

MARCHAE: hmmm that’s interesting - I think that comes back to the writing - if the story has pacing problems - then that’s ultimately a structural problem with the story, no?

MIRI: I especially loved Lorraine’s German contact

KRIS: I think editing can have a lot to do with pacing too

MIRI: And obviously Theron, McAvoy, and Boutella

I think it can be any of the three, or a combo

MARCHAE: yeah… i thought about that as well @kris

MIRI: They all need to be good for it to work

KRIS: Did you feel like it at least played fair with the audience for most if not all of the twists?

MIRI: Yeah, I would say so. Things felt justified to me

KRIS: I felt like I got lost two or three or five times but at least some of those seemed to be deliberate and then I had “ohhhh” moments in act 3

MIRI: Hahahah which ones?

MARCHAE: Yeah, I think it is supposed to be a bit of a mystery which is kind of nice

KRIS: God I don’t even know, there’s was a lot happening

But the one I’m still confused about is that I don’t remember what happened to the guy who killed Gascoin

MIRI: I was secretly hoping you’d name them all so I could refer to your superior memory

Ice pick to the brain, right?

KRIS: Oh, my mistake, it is Gasciogne

I’ll take your word for it

But there were several Angry Bearded Men

MIRI: I think that was the same angry bearded man

He had the list and was going to sell it

to the watchmaker man

MARCHAE: Oh yeah

MIRI: and Percival ice picked him because Gasciogne was his friend

KRIS: Oh man I totally thought Marton Csokas was playing Bakhtin but IMDB tells me I was wrong, I guess it was just two Angry Bearded Men

MARCHAE: HA!

MIRI: Shit, who was Bakhtin? Is that ice pick head?

KRIS: Yes

MIRI: I need to open the imdb page

Ok, Bremovych was the one who beat the guy in the warehouse, right? And smashed the boombox?

KRIS: Oh wow Gasciogne was [played by] the stunt coordinator [Sam Hargrave, who also doubled for Chris Evans in Captain America: Civil War]. Did not recognize him with his (not-angry) bread in the post-show interview

not-angry beard, not bread

And yes

MIRI: WHAAAAATTT???

KRIS: Bremovych was the boss

MIRI: He looks SO different with long hair and a beard

KRIS: He was EXTREMELY Angry

MIRI: Holy heck

Also, he grew that beard so fast!!!

KRIS: That scene could have ended sooner

MIRI: Yeah, wasn’t my favorite

KRIS: Not even for the brutality, which was partly offscreen, it was just one of the pacing things where I was like why is this happening

MIRI: Yeah, it dragged a little

And it wasn’t at all shiny

Like, even when things are grungy and bloody in the rest of it, it’s shiny

MARCHAE: so this is my last time brining up the text … it was very similar to me in that way

so similar that indeed some the dialogue came straight from it

MIRI: (not literally, like stylized)

Guys, go to Til Schweiger’s imdb page immediately

Not only is he a fox

KRIS: Like awkwardly long, you mean, Marchae?

MARCHAE: I wasn’t surprised to see that it did have pacing issues - i honestly think that they thought they would make up for that with the action scenes.

MIRI: Apparently he’s Germany's best-known actor and also the country's most successful director

(He’s the watchmaker guy)

MARCHAE: @miri - WOW!

@kris what do you mean the text

KRIS: That scene in particular

MARCHAE: so here’s the thing… she doesn’t fight AT ALL in the text

in fact i think she fires a gun once

MIRI: WHAT

WHAAAATTTTTTTTT

That is a significant change

MARCHAE: and as far as other acts of violence it was literally like a few gun shots if i remember correctly

KRIS: Like is Bremovych’s introduction just panels and panels and panels of kicking noises and pained reaction shots?

MARCHAE: not even…

MIRI: And makes the fact that they stayed so close to the text in other ways fascinating

MARCHAE: it is incredibly slow and much of the action, similar to in the film would be in the last couple of dozen pages

MIRI: What?

MARCHAE: legitimately i believe they slayed her out made her tough because otherwise it would have been a historical drama

and that would have been an entirely different film

MIRI: Also because the director is a stunt guy, probably.

MARCHAE: it was not an excited graphic novel (GN)

exciting*

that’s why i thought it would be interesting to read and see the movie i was like wow this will be an awesome comic

and it is if you are interested in historical GN about russians ( I am not generally)

but I was expecting LOADS of fighting

nope

so to see that on the screen made the film 1000000 times more enjoyable

MIRI: Nice

I really really loved that the fight choreography wasn’t Sexy lady Fight Choreography

MARCHAE: but they definitely compensated for the other shortcomings which i thought was this weird desire to stay close to the source in terms of story but create a film that would be able to kind of catch some of the wind that was left behind by the other female centric films of the summer season

ok that’s all

YES

MIRI: They were deliberate about the fact that she was smaller than most of the guys, yes, but she fucking fought

She took hits

MARCHAE: i also love that she’s not young

or incredibly frail

MIRI: She was brutal and they were too and it was amazing

KRIS: Lorraine getting the shit kicked out of her was definitely the distinctive thing

MARCHAE: that made the back of my knee caps hurt

but she held her own and prevails

MIRI: I do have the tiniest quibble with the fact that they kept her unmarked from fights that totally would have bruised/scraped her up in the beginning because they needed her in sexy club outfits

But past that point they did a nice job of letting her be marked by the fights without being afraid to make her less pretty or whatever

KRIS: It gets you invested in the character AND gives Lorraine the character development/revelation of having the stronger will, as the stunt guy put it

I guess I assumed she was using makeup to cover stuff up early on?

MIRI: Eh, I don’t 100% buy that but it also doesn’t super bother me

MARCHAE: i don’t know that it registers with me much… i think because she’s so battered at the end …

doesn’t she soak in a tub of something at one point?

KRIS: I think the ice bath is just at the beginning, which is advanced in the timeline of the story

MIRI: Yes, in the beginning bookend she’s in her AMAZING giant ass tub filled with ice cubes

And she does something similar in Berlin

All of the tubs in this movie were giant and I want them

The Berlin time was where you got the cool underwater shot of her face in the neon light

KRIS: Oh right

MARCHAE: i just never quite figured out what it was that she was able to look mostly okay…

i thought it was medicinal but i guess it was just ice

MIRI: Well she did do a bunch of makeup after that

MARCHAE: also it was an incredible shot

MIRI: And it couldn’t hide everything

Which? Neon Berlin bath or opening London bath?

Both were cool but I’m assuming you meant the London one

MARCHAE: the blue one?

MIRI: The one they used in the trailers, where she then adds some of the ice to her drink?

MARCHAE: YES

MIRI: Yes! That was very cool!

With the perspective flip and all

M: And the bathtub is SO BIG

MARCHAE: it was so good

so i know you all mentioned earlier that it wasn’t shiny

KRIS: There was a lot of playing with perspective in the cinematography

MIRI: Only that warehouse scene

(re: not shiny)

MARCHAE: gotcha

MIRI: The rest totally was

which I mostly loved

And to Kris’s point--yes! Most of it very cool

MARCHAE: sorry i was just going to add that i thought it was a sexy looking film

which i suppose also goes to kris’ point about cinematography

MIRI: The one I think about most is the sexy one, actually--the cut from them making out in the club to the sex scene

(which again, they used in the trailers a lot)

(well, the red band ones anyway)

MARCHAE: i did like that

KRIS: I feel like there were also a lot of reflections

Like when she’s leaving Delphine’s apartment near the end

MIRI: Yes! God that one broke my heart

MARCHAE: (side note…there is no Delphine in the text)

KRIS: And for awhile it’s just two Lorraines and I was like “hmm this is unnecessary” and then you see Delphine

MIRI: well, Theron did say that she’d need a Bond girl if she ever played Bond

KRIS: I think having a female love interest was actually the writer’s idea

MARCHAE: OhHHHHH

MIRI: That makes me so happy

MARCHAE: yeah it had to be because it didn’t exist… it takes the place of another relationship or is ore of a composite

I liked it and I thought it made the character much more interesting and gave her more than we generally get

MIRI: As does the way Theron has addressed Lorraine’s bisexuality in interviews

I was really afraid that it would be a surface level portrayal of bisexuality

KRIS: “I remember sitting in a room one day thinking about how do you make this different from other spy movies,” Theron says. “It’s really hard. Who is going to be the love interest? Kurt, who’s a punk rock writer, suggested she falls in love with a woman.”

http://ew.com/movies/2017/04/26/charlize-theron-breaks-down-her-steamy-love-affair-in-atomic-blonde/

MARCHAE: Nice!

MIRI: I was afraid she would have an emotional connection to the dude and a purely sexual, over-sexualized connection with the girl

But it was not that at all

MARCHAE: no - i mad that delphine died and i think bugged by how she died as well

KRIS: But I also liked that the emotional connection wasn’t really just “whirlwind romance” but also ended up being about Lorraine mourning what being in “the game” does to people

MIRI: I am angry that Delphine had her damn headphones on when she knew someone might come and kill her

that was dumb

MARCHAE: **snaps fingers @miri and @kris**

MIRI: Kris, that’s a really good point and I agree

MARCHAE: i wished she’d been able to fight more i think.

AND YES MIRI DUMMMBBBBBBBBB

KRIS: It at least didn’t feel like a fridging, though, in that Lorraine’s motivations weren’t really changed and she never had like a breakdown scene or anything

I think on some level there’s an expectation of a Sofia Boutella character Kicking All of the Ass

but at least to me it was important to the story that she be green

MIRI: (btw that’s not to say there aren’t bi people who are bisexual and hetero or homoromantic or to cast shade on them! It’s just a very often a very stereotyped portrayal in media)

KRIS: She’s on her first assignment and “only been here for a year” vs. Percival, a station chief, having “gone native”

MIRI: Yeah, it did mostly work for the character

and I liked that she was green and in over her head

It made her a very nice foil to both Lorraine and Percival

KRIS: Especially with Lorraine being allll the way on the other end of the spectrum as a triple agent

MIRI: How old is McAvoy?

KRIS: 38

MARCHAE: born 1979

MIRI: Oh, he’s a bit older than I thought--he’s only 4 years younger than Theron

I thought he was more in the middle of her age and Boutella’s

KRIS: Boutella is also older than she looks

MIRI: Holy crap she is

born in 82

Wow, I would have said mid twenties

I’m so bad at ages

MARCHAE: I didn’t realize she was as old as she is!

KRIS: I do think mid 20s is what she’s playing here

MIRI: Yeah, seems like

Can we discuss the outfits? Because they are amazing

MARCHAE: OH MY GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

I turned to my friend and said i need to start dressing like all of these women! it was its own character and kind of a love letter to the era

MIRI: Lorraine’s commitment to GIANT sweaters/tops with no pants is AMAZING

MARCHAE: YESSS

YESSS

KRIS: (To go back for just a second, my objection to “whirlwind romance” definitely applies to couples of all configurations -- it’s the one thing that doesn’t totally land for me in Casino Royale)

MIRI: It says SO much about her

KRIS: I did like that as a consistent choice

MIRI: She’ll dress however she has to for work

But whenever she can be, she’s COMFY AS HELL

MARCHAE: and i appreciated it and she fights in a hoodie i think at one point

MIRI: I mean she still looks amazing, but no pants, giant shirt

Yes!

MARCHAE: although i didn’t love that she was perpetually in heels!

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

my feet hurt for her but that’s an aside

MIRI: Yeah, I feel like some flat ankle boots would have been better

MARCHAE: although am glad she can work it that way

MIRI: But I do believe that she would do it

KRIS: Yeah

MARCHAE: kudos to the women who can fight in heels

oh yeah all the marvel women seem to do it

KRIS: I also thought Theron was taller than me, but she’s the same height

MARCHAE: how tall is that?

so our readers have a frame of reference :)

KRIS: I think we’re not actually supposed to notice most of the Marvel heels though

I’m either 5-9 or 5-10

MIRI: Kris wants to remain mysterious, Marchae

or not

KRIS: IMDB lists her at 5-9 1/2

MARCHAE: LOLOLOLOL

miri i thought the same

(we aren’t?)

MIRI: Not sure. We might be supposed to just accept that that’s how superhero women look

Like Barbies, with their feet always arched

MARCHAE: interesting

KRIS: (I feel like they’re mostly to make Johansson and Smulders tall enough to make framing shots easier? I don’t know though)

MIRI: I think that’s definitely part of it, if not all

I’m just being snarky

KRIS: Gamora being the (infuriating) exception

MIRI: I like to play to my strengths

Ughhhhhhhh readers, please refer to our Guardians Volume 2 reaction for more!

Percival’s sense of dress is batshit and amazing

He wears sweater vests as shirts

And his giant coat!

MARCHAE: LOLOL

KRIS: Hard to go wrong with a good giant coat

MARCHAE: (ok another book spoiler… Percival is an older man who’s always in a trench coat- ALWAYS)

MIRI: Whaaaaaat

Is he all wily and gone-native?

Does he drink Jack and hide things in his fake cast?

KRIS: I loved the fake cast

MIRI: It was brilliant

MARCHAE: well yes and no.. he has no cast at all he’s completely in tact because there was not a ton of violence and he is a bit what’s the word not aways nice

the fake cast was great!

MIRI: Does “a bit what’s the word not aways nice” mean he was a dick in Marchae-speak?

MARCHAE: LOLOLOLOLOLOL

KRIS: I know this wasn’t McAvoy’s first Fun Role but it was the first one I’ve seen him in

MARCHAE: yeah he kind of was

MIRI: He’s fun in First Class!

KRIS: I guess First Class-era Charles Xavier has a little fun but he pretty quickly has to do the Mentor thing

MIRI: Fair

KRIS: He’s fun until he gets his doctorate, basically

MARCHAE: I DID NOT REALIZE THAT WAS HIM IN ELENOR RIGBY

KRIS: Yep

MARCHAE: get the heck out

I liked him in Split

he’s kind of a good actor

KRIS: He rarely gets to do his own accent (Scottish)

MIRI: I LOVE his accent

MARCHAE: (HE WAS ALSO GNOMEO!!!)

KRIS: Oh he’s great, I’ve been a fan since pre-Chronicles of Narnia

MARCHAE: oh my word i am learning of all these movies i’ve loved him in and didn’t realize it was him

wow then i guess i Love him too

thanks gang

how cool!

MIRI: He’s amazing in Atonement

KRIS: I wonder if I should’ve seen Victor Frankenstein

Probably not, but still

MARCHAE: lol

KRIS: Does someone want to talk about the music?

MARCHAE: it was it’s own character and definitely a love letter to the 80s i appreciated it as a detail that was paid particular attention to in the film

MIRI: I like 99 Luftballoons

MARCHAE: and i sometimes watch people when i go to the movies which i know is weird, but you saw a lot of people dancing in their seats and lip singing to it

KRIS: Is “love letter” enough of a reason to do something though?

MIRI: Just in general

MARCHAE: it was cool

KRIS: I liked the use of covers

But maybe post-Baby Driver I’m a little oversaturated on the whole “music as a character” thing

MIRI: I mean, this whole movie is kind of a love letter to its aesthetics

KRIS: Also partly because the composer for this is the composer on the Guardians movies

Which do the same thing -- heavy, showy music supervision, totally forgettable original score

MARCHAE: I don’t know Kris - I think maybe it is sometimes because you interact with people on a different level

MIRI: Yeah, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any of the original score

KRIS: Say more MM

MARCHAE: I think because i was very young during the time in which the film is set, but the music triggers memories of what was happening, so now in my mind i am going back saying -yes the Berlin wall - and not from something I learned in class - but instead at home as a kid - but it’s because the music triggered that more than the image necessarily… also because of the kind of tv i was watching as a kid so like the cartoons

KRIS: I will say that the near-oppressiveness of the soundtrack in most of the movie made the music-less long-take fight that much better for the contrast

MARCHAE: but then you ALSO now get to engage those people who maybe weren’t sold on the movie at least now excited about how it sounds and what will be next

KRIS: I guess that makes sense, but what does it have to do with how I interact with people?

MARCHAE: I think as a writer/director you are interacting with all of my senses (save smell but I’ll even argue that)

so i hear how it, what it makes me think of after the fact and why

am i dancing in my seat and saying thats my jam

or i loved it

i think that kind of thing

KRIS: Oh, so when you said “you interact with people on a different level” that was the general You, not You-Kris

MARCHAE: yeah general you

not you KM

sorry i should have been more clear

MIRI: The English language is imperfect

KRIS: I’m curious to see more movies from both David Leitch (this) and Chad Stahelski (the other John Wick director, who directed JW 2 solo)

Because I want to know if Stahelski is a better solo director or if there’s something else behind the pacing differences in this and JW2

I mean besides the obvious genre difference

MARCHAE: (aside number 554 from marchae - i need to watch JW and JW2 )

MIRI: I need to watch JW2

KRIS: I keep forgetting MM hasn’t seen the first one, especially ever since we realized she loves action movies

MIRI: I keep forgetting that amazing fact

❤️

KRIS: (WATCH HAYWIRE)

MIRI: (WE WILL AT SOME POINT I PROMISE)

KRIS: I feel like somehow we haven’t said enough about Charlize Theron

KRIS: (WE DON’T HAVE TO REACT TO IT I’m just saying)

MIRI: (ALSO I MIGHT FINALLY BE READY TO WATCH BLAICK SAILS)

MARCHAE: (I WILL)

MIRI: Let’s talk about Theron

Because she is AMAZING in this movie

KRIS: She definitely holds the whole thing together

If the performance had been a few notches less confident I would’ve gotten bored

I think

MARCHAE: she is brilliant

to go back to the text she gives that character so much LIFE

KRIS: I mean even just the button on the first interrogation sequence -- the pause before and the delivery of “Fuck”

MIRI: People laughed out loud at that moment

MARCHAE: oh yea

she has this kind of wit about her that i love and she’s coy which is awesome

and she freaking in her 40s

KRIS: That was one of the more successful uses of a dragged-out moment

50 is the new 40, not to be a cliche

MIRI: Are people saying that?

KRIS: Even more than John Wick this made me think of Banshee, which also has a 40-something female action lead (though she’s not THE lead)

MIRI: I mean I endorse it wholeheartedly

KRIS: I mean just in general with regard to __ is the new __

MARCHAE: LOL

MIRI: Between this and Proud Mary, I’m all in for movies about women old enough to be my aunties killing people with great skill

KRIS: I’m always going to prefer hand-to-hand to gunfights (and gunfights to car chases)

MARCHAE: And doing so unapologetically it’s about time we get to see women use their bodies in ways that are indicative of strength

i do love a good car chase that ends with a fiery crash

MIRI: @Marchae YESSSSSS YES YES

MARCHAE: those are cool

MIRI: @Kris, how did you feel about the Atomic Blonde car chase?

KRIS: It was fine, and it wasn’t really about the cars was it?

Unless I’m forgetting a car chase

Which I would believe

MIRI: Ah, so you mean you’re not into Baby Driver car chases (as much as gun fights, at least)

KRIS: Right

MIRI: No, it was more cars as blunt weapons and gun shields, not a drag race or anything

KRIS: BUT there is a fun little Charlize Theron car anecdote in the Anne Helen Petersen profile I posted earlier

MIRI: About her in the Woody Allen movie?

Oh, I’m mixing up movies from that profile

KRIS: ...I think I am forgetting a car chase

MARCHAE: HA!

MIRI: From Atomic Blonde?

MARCHAE: she also learned a lot of her own stunts

MIRI: Or something else?

KRIS: Yeah

MARCHAE: There were two

KRIS: When you said it I was just thinking of Percival chasing the car Lorraine had gotten into when she landed

Jesus Christ Kris

MARCHAE: YUP

MIRI: Ohhhh, I forgot about that one

MARCHAE: i was just typing that

with the shoe

MIRI: I was talking about the other one

K: I guess I blanked on it since it’s part of the oner and especially because we never leave the inside of Lorraine’s car

KRIS: Start looking for the name 87 Eleven a lot more, I think

MIRI: I did like the shoe thing

KRIS: They’re the stunt/action design people

MIRI: They did damn good work

MARCHAE: they were really good!

KRIS: This and the John Wicks

Also a “Special Thanks” on Power Rangers?

MARCHAE: ok i get it… I’ll watch JW 😊

MIRI: Huh

Maybe they consulted

KRIS: Stephanie Beatriz started training there recently, not for a part but to get in shape for potentially being an action hero

MIRI: WHAT

KRIS: She’s posted a couple of “I’m dying” videos to her Instagram story

MIRI: she'd be good, too. She has dance training

I need to watch more Instagram videos

KRIS: I feel like we’re running out of steam but we have to go back to the long fight

MIRI: Pause for a sec, grabbing my laundry

KRIS: I felt like a lot of the apartment fight was in the trailers so I was a smudge concerned the same would happen in the stairwell

While we wait, here’s Jessica Chastain punching the air:

https://twitter.com/jes_chastain/status/891493560993947648

MARCHAE: LOL

yes

they were both brilliant fight scenes!

KRIS: I absolutely will not accept The Huntsman as the only time Jessica Chastain gets to be an action hero

MARCHAE: she’d make an amazing superhero!!

KRIS: Especially because that was such a stunt-double-heavy character

She’s in talks to be in the next X-Men as a Space Empress

But I don’t think she’d get to do much fighting

MARCHAE: dang! i’d love to see her kick some doors down

MIRI: Ok I’m back!

And I fully support Chasten as action hero!

*Chastain

KRIS: So a bit of this fight is the very first thing most of the world saw of Atomic Blonde

Which obviously turned out to be the smartest possible trailer move

(Maybe “most” is an exaggeration)

MIRI: Right, but the sheer length of it is not something you understand from the trailer, which is nice

KRIS: Yeah, basically the trailer part ends before Spyglass gets his little comic beat

“Two more”

MIRI: Because it means you don’t lose the impact in the moment by showing it in the trailer

KRIS: And I was like “Aw, only two more?”

MIRI: Loved the Spyglass beats

KRIS: But then everyone just... kept... getting... back... up

MIRI: that one, and him doing the tape in the apartment

MARCHAE: RIGHT

MIRI: Yeah, she has the most will, but they all has a LOT

KRIS: So hang on, have either of you watched Daredevil?

MIRI: especially bleach blond guy with the neo nazi haircut

Key-face

KRIS: Or at least that fight? You know the one even if you haven’t seen it

MIRI: I have only watched part of the first season

Not that one, not

*no

MARCHAE: I starting watching part of the first season

MIRI: I’ve heard of the fight you mean

youtube

MARCHAE: ( I actually liked it and am not sure why I didn’t keep going)

KRIS: It’s the end of the second episode

MIRI: Same!

Oh, then maybe I did and I’m just blanking

huh

KRIS: We don’t need to watch it right now but the salient points are that it’s maybe still the best fight scene TV has ever had

And does a similar thing with exhaustion

MIRI: Oh, interesting

KRIS: But they tried to one-up themselves in season 2 with a longer, flashier oner

(Which incidentally also involved a staircase)

But without the exhaustion bit

MARCHAE: Nice!

MIRI: Staircases are good. They give new height differences

KRIS: And it’s Cool and all, but feels much emptier as an exercise than the first one, which is confined to one hallway

MARCHAE: I liked seeing them on the stairs there is also a new element of danger and stakes … like if i fall or get thrown over…

KRIS: Which is why this fight in Atomic Blonde felt almost like a direct response

MARCHAE: ohhhhhhh

KRIS: And specifically a Suck It, Daredevil

I mean I don’t know if it actually was

But I enjoyed thinking it

In that Daredevil s2 fight Matt just absolutely owns everyone who comes at him

Which can be cool

MARCHAE: now i really want to watch

KRIS: But the back-and-forth and the exhaustion justified the technical showiness in AB

MIRI: I liked that Lorraine was really good, but wasn’t Impossibly Better Than Everyone

KRIS: Also really liked the commitment to improvised weapons

MIRI: Key-face is super good too, she’s just got more will in the end

I love that

MARCHAE: Yeah that was brutal

MIRI: The hot plate!!!

KRIS: And the shot revealing the corkscrew, and the audience reaction to seeing the corkscrew

MIRI: WHY IS IT ALWAYS CORKSCREWS????

MARCHAE: I’m cringing thinking of it….

KRIS: I guess because you can hold them for punching?

MIRI: In the last calendar year, I have seen three movies where a woman stabs someone with a corkscrew

THREE

KRIS: What were the other two?

MARCHAE: they are small and compact

MIRI: The Girl on the Train

MARCHAE: OHHHHH yes

*cringing again*

MIRI: and Clinical, which is a Netflix movie the company I used to intern for produced

KRIS: Oh I haven’t seen but I guess there would have actually been wine in proximity

I read Clinical

MIRI: Yeah, the fight between her and the girl in the kitchen

Spoilers for both of those, I guess

KRIS: Yeah to go back to something Miri said it was a cool choice that the fighting in this wasn’t as stylized as in something like John Wick

Which made the choreography in a larger sense more creative

Because of the improvised weapons, the use of the locations, etc

MIRI: I really like how most of the movie is so stylized, but the fights were so gritty

KRIS: Whereas the locations in so many action movies are basically irrelevant

MIRI: I mean, obviously super choreographed because they’re not insane

MARCHAE: they felt authentic

i could not every fight in that way, but you looked at that and thought yup a person could actually do this… it was believable!

MIRI: Honestly, the lack of stunt doubles made this so much better

KRIS: OH

MIRI: Because it can feel that real

What?

KRIS: I really loved that Lorraine covers her face in the end of the apartment fight, when she’s outside before the last two cops arrive

And that I thought this was going to be a moment for a cut to a double

But then they hold the shot until she lowers her collar again

MIRI: Why did you love that?

KRIS: Just to have my expectation of a double subverted

MIRI: Ah, gotcha

KRIS: It felt VERY oh, here’s a good excuse to cut around her

And then it wasn’t, it really was just Lorraine protecting her identity

MIRI: I just didn’t know why she did it--she lowers it immediately after, so it doesn’t seem effective to keep her identity secret!

I guess from those two cops

Or anyone who might have been coming, but then no one did

MARCHAE: that’s what i thought, it also looked really cool, she’s a spy and has to just keep cover, she’s always on alert

KRIS: And of course the other thing about the realism of the fighting in this is the gender thing -- Natasha Romanoff is always kicking and spinning

MIRI: Which is a cool and valid fighting form

But it shouldn’t be ALL THE TIME

KRIS: And Charlize Theron’s legs are like a mile long so not just from gender but from Charlize Theron you would expect something similar

MIRI: I loved that Lorraine was a brawler

KRIS: And obviously men can kick and spin and that’s the point of like, Tae Kwon Do, but outside of Asian productions you don’t see it a lot in movies

MARCHAE: i am thinking and you really don’t, KM

KRIS: There’s so much throwing people into other things in this too, which is great

Just like, use every object and surface that’s harder than a fist

Because hand bones can break relatively easily

MIRI: I loved when they went through the film screen

MARCHAE: that’s what made it so gritty and brutal - it’s like what you’d hope you’d do if an intruder were coming into your house

YES

KRIS: The movie they were watching there, Stalker, is one of Andy S’s favorites

I wonder if there was any significance to that choice

other than the year

MIRI: Of course it’s one of Flash’s faves

Flash/Andy was our screenwriting professor most committed to Art

I really loved the umbrella thing

KRIS: Yeah, I find Convenient Crowd Things hit or miss but this one worked for me

MARCHAE: it looked great too

KRIS: I guess because they’d established Merkel well in advance

MIRI: perhaps because it was an Engineered Crowd Thing

KRIS: Right, but even those

MIRI: I really did love Merkel

KRIS: Just a poor choice of words on my part

MIRI: Oh, gotcha

KRIS: I guess I mean that I bought Merkel having that level of influence

And usually I’m like, really? This would have taken a lot of logistics

MIRI: Yeah, I’m with you

KRIS: Also, it matters that it didn’t ultimately succeed

Because BETRAYAL

MIRI: Multi-layered betrayal!

MARCHAE: HA

it really was (please promise you’ll read the texxxttttt it’s just so awesome to see what was changed and what was kept the same)

MIRI: Now, why exactly was Percival trying to kill Lorraine? (Was he? She says so, but Spyglass makes more sense)

KRIS: I think Spyglass was definitely the main target but she’d have been a loose end, right?

MIRI: That makes sense

I got a little lost in the twists at the end

KRIS: Seriously

MIRI: And he knew she was Satchel

But not that she was a triple agent, of course

MARCHAE: all of these things i agree with

KRIS: Yeah, the Satchel thing is something I’d want to try to pay more attention to on a rewatch

Just a lot of moving parts and sibilants to keep track of

MIRI: Definitely

MARCHAE: and gathered from it… but i do want to rewatch because it was a lot

MIRI: Sibilants?

KRIS: S sounds? Did I use it wrong?

MIRI: No, that’s right! Just didn’t follow and thought it had a different meaning I didn’t know

But you meant names with s sounds, etc. Which there are a lot of

KRIS: And which there’s no good reason for

MIRI: True

MARCHAE: LOL

KRIS: Any other thoughts?

MIRI: I loved it

MARCHAE: READ THE BOOK!

KRIS: I had a brief thought about how nudity was shot

MIRI: Share it

KRIS: Which was just that there’s nudity when it makes sense but even in and around the sex scene the camera didn’t seem to be leering

Like there’s not active avoidance of nipples or anything but also no lingering on them

MIRI: Agreed, though the buzzfeed review I saw earlier mentions the camera leering on her legs a bit, but no more than it leers at punches or neon or anything

KRIS: I mean “showy, aestheticized sex” is also accurate (I do like Alison Willmore a lot as a critic)

MIRI:Your bench of critics is so deep and I love it

KRIS: And now I’m just watching this gif she included of people being thrown down that stairwell

MARCHAE: he does have a good variety

KRIS: I wonder how many actual cuts there were in that oner

MIRI: I’m thinking about how similar Lorraine and Percival actually are

in that they have such long-term false personas and they’re SO GOOD at maintaining them, but also not perfect

KRIS: (Now I want a crossover with The Americans)

MIRI: Also we have not discussed her scene with the Russians at the end

And we should because it was baller

The shot of the gun in the ice was great

KRIS: Yeah

MIRI: Like, we saw a decent amount of it in the trailer

MARCHAE: ohhhhh yessssss

MIRI: and yet is was still so effective

And that wig and the outfit were amazing

MARCHAE: she was also barefoot

KRIS: Right, the story context automatically makes it way more interesting

MARCHAE: ( i mean she was probably just over it after wearing heels the entire movie)

KRIS: I had more or less forgotten there was one more action scene left

MIRI: There’s so much in this movie

KRIS: And it’s the most stylized fight but still had that, I guess, un-rushed quality to it?

MARCHAE: there is a lot - i repeat again, they knew they had to to make this an action film! those scenes let you forgive so much

MIRI: Yeah, there never felt like much danger to her in that one, whereas there was in the others

KRIS: Lorraine wasn’t like a John Wick-level gun wizard

K: I might be wrong about this, actually, GUESS I’LL JUST HAVE TO REWATCH ALL THESE MOVIES

Yeah! I guess that’s it too, that she felt totally in control of it

MIRI: She knew exactly how it would play out

And that she’d get to go home soon

Also, can I just say how much I loved the “cocksucker” moment, and the end callback to it?

KRIS: YES

Surprisingly hilarious take on the “What?” “What?” conversation trope

MIRI: You can play the tape back

They did a good job letting there be comedic moments without shoehorning them in

KRIS: (This is minor and SUPER action-nerdy but I also appreciated Theron/Lorraine’s pistol handling when she wasn’t shooting -- how she folds her arms in to keep the barrel at the right height and orientation for having to quickly aim and shoot)

(You can tell if an action star did their homework by how often they keep their arms totally extended when holding a handgun)

K: Actually I think worse is the thing where they hold it by their face while pointing the barrel straight up

MIRI: I did not at all notice it, but that’s a cool detail!

(I’m now sitting on my bed holding out a finger gun in various positions to see what feels right)

KRIS: I don’t think we can do a better, more fitting ending line than the movie’s own

You want the honors?

MIRI: I’m honestly blanking on what it was! I’m so embarrassed!!!

KRIS: I’m glad it was convincing

Follow us on Twitter for steady retweets of even more critics Kris likes to namecheck, along with screenwriters and general entertainment reporting. Also for links to future Reactions, of course.

Next up: X-Men cartoons with a Guest Reactor. Unless Liz and Marchae get around to watching The Bold Type soon enough. (WATCH THE BOLD TYPE, LIZ AND MARCHAE.)

#Atomic Blonde #Charlize Theron #James McAvoy #Sofia Boutella #David Leitch #Lorraine Broughton #movies #Miri #Marchae #Kris #reaction #Literally Strong Female Characters

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whichie · 8 years ago

Text

Smile, Baby Ch. 1

summary: Adam Parrish has always been a happy child. Correction, Adam Parrish has always seemed like a happy child. In truth, he was miserable all the time, forced to smile and laugh through the pain no one else could see. When he was a baby Robert Parrish had sold his son’s misery to the witches in Fox Way for money that he later used to further his gambling addiction, instead of food for his wife and newborn child. What the witches did with Adam’s misery he didn’t know, but Adam was cursed with eternal happiness, and there was nothing he wouldn't do to break it.

Ronan Lynch was once surrounded by love. His mother and father had had three boys, two magical, one not. Their family was a mystical one, something the villagers of Henrietta might say. Mystical. Because though the Lynch family has owned the forest known as Cabeswater for as long as anyone can remember, the family themselves have always been a mystery to them. They knew that for all it’s looks Cabeswater is more than just an ordinary forest. They knew the Lynches were more than just an ordinary family.

a/n: whoooooo! i finally finished chapter one!!!! i hope yall enjoy this au that i poured my heart and soul into, also i don't have a beta so sorry for any errors you might find :/

read it on ao3

Adam Parrish is annoyed. He’s angry. He’s ready to throw his hammer at Boyd’s head just to get him to shut up.

He doesn't do that, because Adam needs this job to pay for school, and if that means working for someone who he can't stand, then he will. Adam thinks Boyd would be a pleasant person to be around for anybody else, he’s not very demanding, he lets him take breaks, and he pays better than a blacksmith should be able to. For anybody else, he’s golden. Key word, anybody else.

Anyone but Adam, that’s a good summary of his life. Anyone but Adam can afford to go to Aglionby, anyone but Adam can can go to that festival that’s happening because they don't have work to do, anyone but Adam can tell people to fuck off and scream in their faces. Anyone but Adam can tolerate Boyd when he’s in a talkative mood.

“...and so because of those witches, my mother thinks she’s going to meet some handsome fellow soon. That damn woman believing in all that voodoo, it’s not good for her health. And i said to her that no fellow is going to sweep her off her feet at eighty two…”

Adam tuned Boyd out and continued to work on the sword some fancy lord commissioned for his spoiled son that no doubt has a million other swords. It’s fucking grueling.

When the forge closed down for the day Adam walked as slowly home as he could get away with, he wanted to delay whatever beatings his father had in mind for him as long as possible. Instead, he thought of how much homework he needs to do tonight, and how he’s not looking forward to any of it. Adam is tired, he’s angry and tired and all he can show for it is a smile that’s perpetually on his face.

Everyone in town thinks Adam’s the sweetest kid around, they say what a nice boy and that Parish kid, always smiling, when they don't know that underneath the mask Adam is screaming at them to shut up, stop talking about him like they know him. Adam parish is unknowable.

When he entered the small, run down cottage him and his parents live in, he immediately knows that he won’t be able to quietly slip into his room unnoticed. His father has been to the inn close by tonight, no doubt drowning in ale and gambling his life away.

He sees his father at the kitchen table with his mother somberly knitting next to him. “What are you smiling at kid? What, is your life at that snooty school so great you came to rub it in?”

Adam wanted to scream, he hates that phrase. What are you smiling at? His father knows what Adam’s smiling at. Absolutely nothing.

Robert Parrish was on his feet and in front of Adam in no time, he could see his mother in the corner of his eye, staring intently at her needles while her hands stayed stone still.

“Do you think you’re better than me? I feed you, I clothe you. Who’s roof do you sleep under every night, huh?” by now Robert has Adam by the front of his shirt, tangling his fist in Adam’s hair and pulling. “Ungrateful little shit.”

Adam was pushed on the floor and so many words are bubbling up to the surface now. He wanted to cry, he wanted to punch, he wanted to yell and fight back and say look what you did, this is your fault, you no good gambling drunk-

The words caught in his throat, like they always do, so close to the surface he feels like he’s going to explode with the force of it.

Adam doesn't say anything. He smiles and smiles through every punch his father gives him, and when it's over he limps to his room and wishes he could cry.

Aglionby Academy is where rich kids go to fuck around and spend their parent’s money, it’s where Richard Campbell Gansey III sits on his throne, and it’s the closest thing Adam has to a home. How pathetic.

Richard Gansey is the most confusing person he has ever met. He’s a king within the walls of the academy, everyone knows him, everyone loves him, and yet Adam has never seen Gansey be rude to a single person. He’s constantly trying to befriend Adam, which is the most confusing thing of all, and is the only person Adam has ever met that can stand Ronan Lynch’s bullshit.

Ronan, on his part, doesn't seem to acknowledge Adam’s existence at all, which is fine by him. Adam doesn’t want the validation of another self entitled rich boy.

He also has heard of the things the villagers in town say about Ronan and his family, how they're a bunch of magic users that take people into their forest and kill them. Adam thinks it’s a bunch of shit that the housewives tell their children so that they don't wander into the woods and get hurt, but he also can't help but wonder if it’s actually true. Ronan’s attitude certainly hasn't helped lift the rumors, quite the opposite in fact.

Adam was walking into the academy when he first heard it, the sounds of rustling leaves like whispers. He looked around to see if anyone was messing with him, but all of the kids were going about their business as usual. He turned to go back inside, but the thought wouldn't leave him that there were no trees this deep into town.

The next time it happened Adam was in class, it was harder to brush it off this time since he wasn't outdoors where the wind would naturally blow. He paused in what he was writing to listen more carefully, and he swears he could almost hear words being spoken along with the rustling. He chalked it up to not getting enough sleep, and then went back to his paper.

He was in Boyd’s forge next when he heard the distinct sound of whispers in Latin mixed with leaves blowing in the wind. Or maybe the whispers were the leaves rustling, Adam couldn’t quite tell.

He can now distinctly make out a couple of words here and there, but nothing he could use to make sense of it all. It also wasn't as easy to ignore now than it was earlier in the day, and he found himself almost burning his fingers off on the hot metals he’s working with.

Boyd seemed to notice how distracted he was, and told Adam to leave early, “I won’t be having you mess up an order just because you’re head’s in the clouds.”

He tried to protest, say that he was fine to work, but Boyd wasn't having any of it, and he eventually left the forge before it was even nightfall.

On his way home, the whispers and rustling grew louder and louder, until he could make out what was being said.

Come this way, follow me.

And now Adam was seriously doubting his mental health, he must be having delusions because of the stress. Why else would he be hearing things that he shouldn't possibly be hearing?

Come to the woods, follow the line.

And it seemed like it should be the craziest thing ever, to just listen to the voice in his head to go into a creepy forest by himself, but in the moment it wasn't all that ridiculous. He could see a faint blue glow of something on the ground going in the direction of the tree line, and before his brain could even register it, he was moving.

Distantly, he wonders how his father would react when he will no doubt be coming home late. He wonders if his father will even notice, or be conscious at all for that matter, to see Adam sneaking in through the only door.

He stopped when he reached the trees, sudden trepidation was crawling into his chest. This is private property, and Adam is going to just waltz right in.

His caution didn't last long when a strong breeze tore through the forest and caused the trees to move unnaturally, like they're reaching out for him encouragingly, and not in the creepy way that he would have expected.

He slowly put one foot forward, and when someone didn't pop out from behind a bush to cart him off to the jail for trespassing, he continued on.

The setting sun was casting a soft light onto the canopy above him, and Adam walked with a look of awe on his face. The deeper he went the bigger, twistier, and older the trees got, like if he went far enough he could find the grandfather tree of them all.

The blue line that he’s been following has been getting more and more visible the farther he walks, and it suddenly disappeared when he entered a clearing that could be nothing other than a farm.

Standing in front of the sprawling farmhouse was none other than Ronan Lynch himself with an uncharacteristic look of anticipation and nervousness, and when he noticed Adam approaching, he huffed out a bewildered laugh and looked up into the tops of the trees.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

#adam parrish #ronan lynch #pynch #adam x ronan #ronan x adam #the raven cycle #*smile baby*#chapter one

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