#We just lose so much depth with Jon like ugh

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

One of the things that sticks out to me about Jon is just how active and readily available his kindness is. And it’s funny because the fandom at large considers Jon to be someone with a good heart, but he usually isn’t specifically linked to kindness as a key character trait even though he should be. Because every now and then, we have moments where Jon is just so proactive in how good he is to people. Not like it’s a performance, but it’s just something that comes to him naturally. And it doesn’t have to be big things either because sometimes, it’s really the little things that matter. Take this interaction with Tyrion for example:

“Boy,” a voice called out to him. Jon turned.

Tyrion Lannister was sitting on the ledge above the door to the Great Hall, looking for all the world like a gargoyle. The dwarf grinned down at him. “Is that animal a wolf?”

“A direwolf,” Jon said. “His name is Ghost.” He stared up at the little man, his disappointment suddenly forgotten. “What are you doing up there? Why aren’t you at the feast?”

“Too hot, too noisy, and I’d drunk too much wine,” the dwarf told him. “I learned long ago that it is considered rude to vomit on your brother. Might I have a closer look at your wolf?”

Jon hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Can you climb down, or shall I bring a ladder?”

- Jon I, AGOT

First, it’s quite adorable how readily he strikes up conversation with Tyrion, a man he’s just met. The hint of curiosity mixed with concern when he asks Tyrion why he isn’t at the feast is cute.

But it’s the last line that stands out to me. “Shall I bring a ladder?” Because he could’ve just said “shall I call for a ladder?” but he didn’t. The latter suggests that someone else will do the brunt of the work. It’s still kind, because he’d still be looking out for Tyrion, but it puts him in a passive role. Instead, he means to get the ladder himself. He will look for it, bring it, and position it for Tyrion to use. So now his kindness is very much active. His empathy is on full display here as well because he acknowledges that Tyrion may need assistance and takes the initiate to provide it.

This seems like such a silly thing to get hung up on but I love this small moment because it provides a lot of depth to a character who is meant to serve as the series’ traditional hero - a role that is often times “good” by default without exploring how or why. Anyone who’s read Jon I knows that he has spent the chapter being a raging jerk. But GRRM uses this moment to remind us that despite being a moody, asshole-ish, 14 yr old boy, Jon is a really good kid at the end of the day. He’s is kind and he’s so active in how he practices his kindness. Even to people he doesn’t know and has no obligations to.

Because we’ve had a bit of whiplash so far. Bran I established Jon as a sweet and empathetic, self-sacrificial brother. But the first part of Jon I makes us question that when we see his pettiness and immaturity on full display. It almost seems like a case of unreliable narration from Bran, until we get to this last part when Jon gets a small moment to redeem himself. Which he does ~ and it’s done beautifully because it later links to some of the larger themes in Jon’s storyline. That he is one who actively looks out for the “cripples and bastards and broken things”. It’s not just looking out for Bran when they found the direwolf pups, but looking out for Tyrion in this chapter, and then for Arya and Bran again in Jon II, and then for Grenn in the last part of Jon III, and for Sam in Jon IV, and so forth and so forth. It’s a pattern that’s established through big and small moments all throughout AGOT where Jon still has a lot of growing up to do. But these moments, at large, serve as an anchor to remind us why we ought to care for this hero’s journey.

[vee-crytraps]

what would you say each brothers favorite thing about y/n is?

Also congrats on getting your masters!

Oooh this is a good one! TY FOR THE CONGRATS IM SO EXCITED <3 More under the cut! It's so long whoops

Dick loves that he can be his whole self around her. Dick grew up with the high-flying acrobat part of him being a part of him, but now he has to split himself in two to be Nightwing, if that makes sense? Usually the non-masked friends that know his secret can never really understand the depth of his troubles and responsibilities. And while he loves his hero friends, it's nice to be able to talk to people who don't carry around the same sort of baggage. Y/n gives him the best of both worlds. He can talk to her openly about every aspect of his life and have her understand. She knows how Bruce is, has been there for a lot of their fights and also doesn't work for him. Tim loves y/n for being straightforward and curious. Outside of the whole CEO thing and being Robin/Red Robin, Tim burns himself out by checking up on everyone in one way or another. Although he often neglects his own basic needs, he spends a lot of his energy making sure Bruce doesn't have to stress about Wayne Enterprises, door dashing healthy food to Babs and checking up on Jason when he hasn't laid eyes on him in a while. But when he hangs out with y/n, he can turn his brain off. She does all the planning, picks where they eat and most importantly communicates in an open in clear way. He doesn't have to read her micro expressions or whatever to deduce that she's having a blast. She'll let him know. "This food is delicious!" "Ugh, let's go somewhere else." "I'm tired. Wanna head out?" "I'm kinda over this place. How do you feel?" "That was awesome! We should go again next week!"

They're both the type of people who will pull out their phones during a conversation to look something up. "Yeah, that blonde guy was in it! Ugh, what was his name?" googles 'captain America' "Chris Evans! Wait, his dad was a dentist? Omg we have to look into this." Jason likes that she's soft in every way. Usually his type is more 'this person can kick my ass' but it's not be all end all (he is dating Isabel on Prime Earth). Much like Dick, he can be honest about every part of himself with y/n, even the parts of them that are soft. Personality wise, Kiss Me More/GLB! Jason is closer to Gotham Knights Jay, where he's healing from a lot of the anger and trauma, going to therapy and reading the Classics as well as a few girlypop TikTok novellas. It's been good for his soul, but he's low-key embarrassed about it and he knows Y/N loves that shit (she's 18- literally the demographic for this stuff). Not growing up so close to the hero thing, she's all about self care and rest. He can slow down with her. Damian has grown to admire her greatly for her patience. This man is the son of Talia and Bruce. He's spend his entire life being groomed for one thing or another, preparing to be responsible for the fate of the world. He's been hardened into an untrustworthy creature, and hides a lot of his insecurities by saying shit he doesn't mean. Y/n, Dick and Jon are the only ones who have really always seen past the entitled asshole exterior. Even Bruce loses patience for it. Y/n makes him feel seen. She's one of the only people he's never had to explain himself to or preform for. When it comes to Damian, she just knows. That's why he's been convinced that they belong together.

[headinthestaticsky]

The Phenomenon of The Immortal Sun: Jasper Hale x Fleur Swan, Chapter 8

None of the characters in Twilight belong to me, all rights go to Stephenie Meyers.

"The secrets you tell me

I'll take to my grave

There's bones in my closet, but you hang stuff anyway

And if you have nightmares, we'll dance on the bed

I know that you love me, Even when I lose my head Guillotine."

Guillotine by, Jon Bellion.

POV:Fleur's

Timeskip: 2 days later.

I had finally come back, my hand centimeters away from that beautiful warm glow. When I grasped it, it lit my veins, every curve and crack my skin had acquired, binding it together again in some way. It traveled to my shoulders and cheeks, it then hit my eyes. My heart and soul were no longer just cold and dark but guided by that orange soft light. The deep pool of water I came out of no longer tried to tie me back down, pressurizing me to its depths. Part of me was free, or maybe something was missing and I didn't know what that was until he came into my life... my precious Ezra. I had glanced down at myself, fully repaired and healed... and finally fully satisfied. I looked back up as a bright orange light blinded me, I walked toward it, the water began to pool at my feet.

Then...I woke up.

My eyes shot open, I was in the same position I was in when I first blacked out. But, my energy was back, my body was finally healed and I didn't feel the constant need to feed, I was back. I shot up and walked toward the door, eager to see my son, and my husband but they beat me to it first. Jasper was carrying him, he was hiding a smirk behind Ezra's tiny little head.

"Someone wants to meet you again..." He murmured. I smiled and held my hands out to him, he reached out for me immediately.

"Hi, little one..." His chocolate brown eyes were identical to mine and my father's. He grasped my cold finger and just stared at it, he seems inquisitive.

I looked back up at Jasper, the smile hadn't left my face. He guided me into the lounge room where everyone was waiting for us. Rosalie rushed up to me seemingly eager to talk to me.

"Fleur...Ezra is just... ugh he leaves me speechless." She said, happiness was evident in here.

"He leaves me speechless too...I mean, look at that little face." I said looking at him.

"You've been through it short stack... I heard you over the phone. Welcome back." Emmett said, standing next to Rosalie.

"Thanks Em." I said gratefully to him.

"Welcome back, Fleur, Ezra had been waiting to meet you." Esme said smiling.

"So glad to see you back to yourself Fleur." Alice said, she then smiled. Dean was next to her, he gave me a short nod and smile.

"Fleur, your eyes... they finally have become golden," Carlisle noted.

"I mean... you had to be there, blood definitely was still in my body... the operative word is was." I joked. I scanned the room, I didn't see Bree at all, she must've been out with Seth. I felt a small hand try to reach for my face, Ezra let out a huff of breath in frustration since he couldn't reach me. I giggled before looking down at him, he grasped my cheek before I was suddenly in a trance, it looked like I was in someone's chest, I recognized it to be Jaspers. But then, I could tell I wasn't in my body as Jasper glanced at me with fondness.

"Looks like you were right darlin, he's a boy." I heard Jasper say, happiness was laced in his voice.

It now seemed Ezra was looking down on me. I looked rough and completely out of it, but I felt love and fondness as he looked down on me.

"He's beautiful... Ezra is beautiful." I murmured before the vision faded.

"What was that?" I asked looking up at everyone.

"Darlin, what's the reason Alice can see the future, that I can control emotions, that you track people... he's gifted." Jasper explained.

"I have to ask Fleur... where did the name Ezra come from?" Rosalie asked.

"It was always one of my options... it reminded me of Esme's name. She's been a mother to me for 5 years so... I thought it was only right. Ezra Royal Hale... I think that's a good full name... Royal reminds me of you Rose." I said.

"It's beautiful." Jasper said to me.

I looked at Ezra, completed fixated on him now. I noticed that he wasn't exactly the size of a newborn baby.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Two days." Carlisle replied.

"He grows really fast too then huh?"

"His growth is unprecedented."

I whipped my head around, immediately noticing dad had just come over.

"He knows I gave birth?" I asked, they all nodded quickly.

"Fleur, Fleur?" You up yet?"

"Yeah dad come on up... someone wants to meet you." I said excitingly.

He ran up the stairs meeting up with us, his eyes locked on Ezra who was looking at him with curiosity.

"He looks just like you Petal." Dad said tearfully.

"Dad... meet Ezra." I said handing him off to dad, who looked at him with so much love it made my heart full.

Dad walked over to the couch, his eyes never leaving Ezra's. I sat next to them and Jasper had joined me, we smiled fondly at the pair of them. Dad had didn't say much to him except for "Hi, love you, and he's perfect." We had all sat in peaceful silence when a question popped into my head.

"Where's Bella and Edward?" I said out loud. Everyone had unsure looks on their faces.

"We're not sure... they moved out of the cottage they were living in." Carlisle said.

"I found out Bella is a shield, she's starting to block off my visions of her. I can't find them anywhere." Alice added.

"Has she talked to you at all dad?" I asked, Ezra, let out a big yawn in Dad's arms.

"No, she hasn't talked to me since the honeymoon."

"I hope we find them... I don't trust them much." Jasper muttered.

POV Change: Bella's

"Come on love, we have to get going," Edward said, he was grinning at me.

"Yeah...it's going to be a long trip down to Volterra."

[truthbeetoldmedia]

The Bold Type 3x09 “Final Push” and 3x10 (Finale) “Breaking Through the Noise” Review 

Before I say anything — they put “Wasabi” by Little Mix on the soundtrack for the finale. Please, everyone, do yourself a favor and start listening to Little Mix. That is all. 

Welcome to the last two episodes of The Bold Type Season 3! I’ll confess that due to traveling, work, and being in a wedding I’m getting this out late, so I figured I’d do a joint review. It wasn’t that difficult to manage, honestly: with these two episodes being the penultimate and the finale, they certainly have the same themes and conflicts driving them. Let’s start with 3x09, “Final Push.” 

At face value, the title could be interpreted as a “final push” for the season, but the episode also sees our core three each have a “final push” of their own, the cumulation of a season of storytelling. 

Kat’s “push” is both the end of the election and the mounting pressure to decide between Adena and Tia. Pressure is certainly mounting for her campaign, and she’s just starting to realize what this means for her time at Scarlet — sure, she has big plans if she’s elected, but gaining a council seat would mean not working at Scarlet anymore. Patrick certainly isn’t helping by forwarding her options for her replacement, and seeing Adena didn’t make her choice between her and Tia any less complicated. 

Much like Kat, Jane is being “pushed” both professionally and personally — she’s struggling at a time when she should be thriving. Pinstripe is still on his book tour, getting on her nerves every time he gives an interview where he puts on the playboy act, not unlike the main character in his book. Her Pamela Dolan story with Jacqueline has the potential to be a career defining, groundbreaking piece, but she’s dealt a huge blow when Jacqueline is forced to give the story over to Patrick at the dotcom. Apparently Pamela Dolan, as soon as she was informed of the Scarlet story, decided to launch her own version at another magazine. If they had any hope left of publishing first, they couldn’t wait for the fall issue. The only way to publish would be on the dotcom, still making a splash but handing Patrick most of the influence.

Next is Sutton, who is…putting on a fashion show? I guess that would be considered a push, since apparently an influential designer will be there and this could be the start of a potentially successful career for her. 

I want to be able to write more about Sutton — she’s doing well, she’s happy, but her story lacks oomf. She’s not getting the complex storylines that Jane and Kat are. Sure, her and Richard have had the occasional conflict or misunderstanding, but that and her foray into a design seminar (which we’ve barely seen) are the only things they’ve given the incredibly gifted Meghann Fahy to work with. They did give her a moment with Carly after she opened up to Sutton about how insecure she feels when compared to the models at Scarlet and the girls on instagram, but it fell flat. 

Her side story with Carly this episode did little to improve Sutton’s lack of depth; it seemed like an afterthought when the show suddenly remembered they needed to give Sutton some kind of inspiration for her designs. It is pretty on-brand for The Bold Type to touch upon body image, but it came on too quickly and from a character that doesn’t have a lot of influence (sorry, Carly, you’re still adorable). Sutton is supposedly not good with children and hardly even knows Carly, but she manages to get her to open up about her insecurities and gives her a touching speech nonetheless. To say this seems forced would be an understatement. 

The very end of the episode is perhaps the final “push” for everyone — in the closing minutes we find out that Richard got a job offer in San Francisco, Ryan returns to tell Jane he kissed someone else, and Kat loses the election. Seriously — if you shut off the episode one second before the ending you would have missed it. 

Alyssa’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝.5

That leaves the finale to pull everything together, to help our core three “break through the noise.” (See what I did there?) The problem is, while this was a good episode, no one actually broke through any of the noise that the previous episode created. It certainly created more noise by the end, leaving everyone on a massive, show-changing cliff hanger. 

A prime example of this was Sutton’s sudden change of heart — the fashion show she put on was nice, and everyone looked great. The message was there, and despite the quick decision of adding Carly to the mix, it was still really touching to see Carly being able to watch everyday women in the fashion show. 

Sidebar one — I’ve never liked when people say “REAL women should be in fashion shows, not models.” I get what they’re saying, I really do, but REAL women come in all shapes and sizes, including skinny. Please don’t take that to mean that skinny women face the same hardships that other women face, because they don’t, but I think we need to remember that there are people who are naturally skinny. I like the term “everyday” women much better, since that implies that fashion models don’t represent women that aren’t, well, fashion models. Anyway, moving on. 

I will say (sorry, Sutton), the fashion was not good. I really hoped that they’d spend a little more time developing Sutton’s style; it would be a lot more convincing to see her as passionate if her work had a little more pizazz to it. Instead it ended up looking like the outfits of a 1970’s American Girl Doll (again, sorry Sutton). 

Sidebar two — can The Bold Type make it so I don’t have to apologize to Sutton all the time? It’s exhausting. Work on that, please. 

All of this, only for Sutton to realize she didn’t want to be a designer. Now, that I’m fine with — but leaving that for the finale was pretty lackluster, the result being a bit of a wasted season if Sutton was going to end up right where she began, kind of like Jon Snow back at the Wall (don’t @ me).  If they wanted Sutton to explore design and in doing so discover it wasn’t for her, that’s fine, but keeping that to a half season arc would have been much better. 

The build up for Jacqueline and Jane’s Pamela Dolan story also resulted in a bit of a let down — giving the story to the dotcom certainly made sense for the story, but not for the show. After a season of buildup, which I was pretty excited about, the story was published pretty unceremoniously. Jane’s dealing with Pinstripe was also a bit of a bore. I’ve maintained that I think that Jane and Pinstripe are good together, but we only see that when they’re amicable. When they’re fighting there isn’t any romantic angst, and if Pinstripe were to take off I don’t think he’d be missed. Compare that with Adena, whose presence was definitely missed after her breakup with Kat. 

My point is, just because I supported Jane choosing Pinstripe over Dr. Ben (ugh, remember that guy?) doesn’t mean the show has done the job of convincing me that Jane and Pinstripe are or should be endgame. Jane ends up going back with him, adamant that he has zero chances left, and they end in a really sad place. They admit they love each other, but I didn’t read that as a victory. It sort of read like an unfortunate fact — I love you, so I guess I have to give you another chance. Maybe Katie Stevens did too good of a job acting devastated. 

Everything sort of builds up, only to end in a disappointing drop off. For Kat, we see her deal with the loss of the election (bravo, Aisha Dee). I will say that I expected the loss — it would be a little too idealistic to give Kat a win, in my opinion, but the real reason for my expectation of loss was The Bold Type’s tendency to push characters out of their comfort zone only to pull them back again. It seems, much like Jane’s Incite and freelance storyline in Season 2, that no one can really be gone from Scarlet for too long. Much like her election story, Kat is hanging in limbo with Adena and Tia after deciding that she isn’t choosing anyone for now, and is instead going to focus on herself. This on its own isn’t disappointing, but combined with everything else that’s falling short, it contributes to the dragging down of the episode. 

Now, for the comfort zone point I made earlier — it seems like that is where this bummer of an episode is coming from. If Kat won, she’d have to quit Scarlet. If Sutton wanted to continue designing, she’d probably have to make some moves and go to fashion school and/or seriously cut back her time at Scarlet. If the Pamela Dolan story had more punch, maybe it would have catapulted Jane’s career and send her to bigger and better things outside of Scarlet. 

Despite The Bold Type being a great show, accuracy has never been a strong point. I don’t think anyone whose worked at a magazine or in journalism in general can look at this show and think “oh yeah, it’s just like that.” Keeping Scarlet at the center isn’t the mistake, it’s how they maintain it. We’ve seen all three of the girls take giant steps forward only to fall back on Scarlet, and it’s happened so many times that it’s a let down. It’s certainly possible to keep Scarlet around and let these characters grow, but it seems like The Bold Type hasn’t found that method quite yet. However, that giant cliffhanger might foreshadow some branching out at least — Scarlet is done, presumably shut down, and it’s not clear to me how they’ll manage to get it back. 

Of course, most of that has to do with how little we know about the situation — was it the Pamela Dolan story? It doesn’t make much sense to shut down a whole publication over a very popular article. Was it Jacqueline revamping the fall issue to be all inclusive? It would have been easier for them to fire Jacqueline in that case, and they DID just hire Adena has the in house photographer the night before, so clearly HR knew nothing. If either of those are the reason the magazine is shut down, it could easily be turned into a “Scarlet is a martyr for inclusivity and inconvenient journalism” story. 

Even if it’s (and it is, most likely) temporary, I think The Bold Type needs to make the world of Scarlet a little more harsh in order to make it more realistic, and not use the magazine as a crutch that the girls all lean back on. As soon as that happens, they could have their best season yet. 

Alyssa’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝.5

The Bold Type has been renewed for a Season 4, premiere date TBD, with Wendy Straker Hauser replacing Amanda Lasher as showrunner. 

[rambunctiousreader]

Topics I just need to touch on from Lord of Shadows (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT)

Emma and Julian

- I’m really glad their friendship went back to normal after some time. The distance between them was unlike them at all and I hated it. I know it was necessary because they both had to process how things had changed between them, but that doesn’t mean I liked reading it.

- Okay so I think the curse is seriously coming into play here. Cassie never outwardly says that the curse is already occurring, but she drops multiple hints throughout the book. For one, all of a sudden, Emma and Julian can communicate telepathically. I don’t know but I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen. Also, um, they caught a STONE building on fire?! Stone? All-powerful runes? Ring a bell?????

- During the church scene and many, many other scenes, there’s so much sexual tension between Emma and Julian. Literally. I think there’s more in LOS than LM because at this point they’ve had sex and seen that intimate side of each other. At this point, they both have privately acknowledged that they are in love with the other. I think that plays a huge role in their relationship and how it has evolved since Lady Midnight.

- That huge fight that they had when they were staying at Malcolm’s cottage literally broke me. I was on the verge of crying while reading that. I’m just glad that it didn’t take long for them to make up.

- Their conversation about the Shadowhunter family mottos BAHAHAHAHA

- This is their second sex scene and honestly I loved it so much. It was so perfect. I almost burst into tears crying when Emma admitted to Julian that she’d been lying about her relationship with Mark.

- Emma still hasn’t told Julian that she loves him and I keep wondering if this is an important detail that will be used in QoAaD. Am I the only one who noticed this?

Diana Wrayburn

- It’s not like I hated Diana in Lady Midnight, I just didn’t know her very well and didn’t see the depth of her character. Once I read her backstory, I grew to love her. She is such a strong person and honestly I just want to be her best friend.

- Diana and Gwyn? Um, can you say hella cute couple?

- Once Cassie told us that there would be a transgender character reveal in Lord of Shadows, I knew from the start that it would be Diana. In Lady Midnight, it talks about how she has lots of secrets and a dark past. We knew that she’d been through a lot, so it wasn’t a huge surprise for me, but still a monumental moment in the book nonetheless. 

- Summed up into four words, I can say “I love Diana Wrayburn!”

Kit Herondale

- From the moment we found out in Lady Midnight that Kit is the Lost Herondale, I knew that he would be an interesting character to read about. I was not disappointed.

- It’s truly heartwarming to watch Kit grow from a person who is denying himself as a Shadowhunter and the culture of the Shadowhunters to fully embracing it and finding a home with the Blackthorns. That scene where they’re fighting the Seven Riders and Ethna (or whatever her name is) is about to kill him and he’s all like “I’m Christopher Herondale.” I just loved that and I almost cried. 

- At this point, I still don’t really know where his relationship with Ty will lead. I know for sure it will be either a romantic relationship or a parabatai relationship, and I’m perfectly fine with whichever. For me, it’s hard to tell right now. Cassie has a habit of pulling large plot twists on us, and I don’t know what to think. All I do know is that I like Kit and Ty as friend or lovers. I think they compliment each other very well and are so cute. (The Sherlock and Watson comparisons?! Cute af!)

Julian Blackthorn

- I’m honestly so scared for Julian and I have two main theories for him. Neither of them are happy. He’s either going to literally go off the deep end and go full evil and be really bad or he’s not going to survive to the end of the series. Like I said, I don’t really like either option.

- Julian’s hidden ruthlessness is touched upon several times in LOS like in LM. This is NOT coincidental and Cassie is foreshadowing. His ruthless nature and his undying will to protect those he loves will play a major role in the plot of QoAaD, I’m sure.

- I don’t even want to think about how Livvy’s death will affect his family, but especially Julian. He’d devoted his life, time, and heart to protecting his family and doing whatever it takes to keep them alive and safe. He’s failed to do that. Because of Livvy’s death, he will blame himself and I feel like it will really push him over the edge. 

- There is this undeniable dark Julian that we all know exists. Few of us actually acknowledge that this is a part of Julian because we don’t want to imagine our baby Julian like that. Our baby Julian, who has been in love with Emma for god knows how long. Our baby Julian who ran an Institute when he was twelve, killed his own father, who became parabatai with Emma even when he knew he was in love with her because he didn’t want to lose her. Jules, Julian, who paints her in secret, who hides his feelings for her. He is an incredibly selfless person and I feel like that it could seriously be his downfall and weakness ironically.

- Basically, I think that tough times are in the forecast for Julian Blackthorn. :(

Five Main Character Deaths

- Jon Cartwright: I was really surprised about his death and didn’t see it coming. I was just a lil sad but overall it wasn’t that bad. I will miss him though. I hope Marisol will be okay.

- Arthur Blackthorn: I was also very surprised about this death. In Lady Midnight, Arthur is written as this insane, depressed, and sad individual. We don’t like him because he was supposed to run the Institute, not Julian. In the last few pages of his life, he was completely lucid and actively gave up his life to save the younger Blackthorns. I was very taken aback and thought it was very honorable. It instantly redeemed his character for me. I was sad to see him go.

- Malcolm Fade: I never really believed he was dead tbh. I actually laughed when he truly died. Literally, this dude spends 200+ years dedicating his life to bringing a girl back from the dead, and when he does she just kills him?!?! I died it was actually really funny. I realize how sick that sounds and I’m sorry but it was so funny.

- Robert Lightwood: Never did I think a character from another series would be killed off. I set myself up for sadness when I assumed that. I was very sad when Robert died; not only was he Emma and Julian’s only hope to fix things between them, but he was also just mending his relationship with his children and it broke my heart when Alec was calling for his dad. I can’t remember exactly, the last few pages of LOS were a blur of tears and emotions and words and I’m pretty sure I started crying when Alec was calling “Dad, please, dad.”

- Livvy Blackthorn: Oh my god. Oh my god. Livvy’s death caught me by complete surprise and it crushed me. Livvy had so much ahead of her. She’d found out that Julian had been the one that had taken care of all of the younger Blackthorns since the Dark War, and she’d wanted to be like him. She’d kissed Julian on the forehead. It was so cute and it warmed my heart. SHE NEVER GOT TO RUN AN INSTITUTE. All Livvy wanted was for her family to be together and when Helen and Mark finally came back and everyone was together, she died. She never got to see her family reunite, and I think that’s the saddest part. I truly will miss Livvy. And when the clock rang? Oh my god, I was a hot mess. There are dried tears on the last two pages of LOS. I cried myself to sleep that night when I finished it.

Side note on Livvy’s death: maybe this is a grieving me just searching for a way to bring Livvy back but there was a quote in either Lady Midnight or Lord of Shadows (I think its LOS) and one of the characters (I think a faerie or something) is like “Oh, how foolish of u to regard death as something so final.” Will this tie into Livvy’s death? WILL LIVVY COME BACK?

Characters I Literally Cannot Deal With

- Jaime Rosales (taking advantage of Dru like wtf)

- Annabel Blackthorn (she fucking killed Livvy and Robert ugh)

- Zara Dearborn (I don’t really need to explain this, do I?)

- The Cohort (see above)

Characters I Didn’t Pay Much Attention to Before but Now I Like Them

- Mark Blackthorn (sweet bby oml)

- Kieran (ur not as bad as I thought, pal)

- Diana Wrayburn (I explained above. Never hated her or anything, just didn’t know her)

- Gwyn ap Nudd (PROTECT THIS ACTUAL TEDDY BEAR OML)

- Dru Blackthorn (don’t make her babysit plz)

- Ty and Livvy (I have a twin and I wish he was like Ty lol)

Emma Carstairs 

- hot mess of angst and emotions throughout the book (as expected) 

- Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn

- She slayed one of the Seven Riders like holy crap girl ur a legend

- She and Julian had sex again. Have I talked about this? Yes. It was amazing. I loved it. I enjoyed every second of it.

- I love how whenever someone does anything mean or says something bad about the Blackthorns, Emma freaking goes apeshit on them

- When Emma made Diego stand in the antpile.... OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS GIRL

- She’s so sassy and I love her sass. Did I mention I love her sass. 

Further comments

- WHAT THE FUCK IS THE DEAL WITH CORTANA BREAKING THE MORTAL SWORD. WHAT THE FUCK. I NEED ANSWERS.

- will Emma and Julian seriously ever get rid of the parabatai bond

- how will Livvy’s death affect her family

- when will Mark, Cristina, and Kieran have their eventual threesome I need to know

- how the fuck is Bridget still alive

- ALL OF THE TID REFERENCES WHILE THEY WERE IN LONDON AHHHH MY HEART

- what is happening to the warlocks oh my god don’t touch my Tessa and don’t touch my Magnus

- is Ragnor alive or nah

- what is the history of the Black Volume

- Clary better not die or I fucking s2g

[doomedandstoned]

BRUME

Dusty Shaky Shiver

Review & Interview by Zachary Painter

Photos by Bruno Pereira (Wav Magazine)

Music is a dynamic force and we, as the ultimate architects of musical expression, have very little control over how it affects us. The most fascinating phenomenon, then, is to witness the progressive evolution of a group of individuals contributing to the greater musical conversation of our time. Take BRUME, for instance, a Bay Area three-piece who just released their sophomore effort, 'Rooster' (2017). It’s an impressive slab of gritty, colorful doom, and it delivers on every paradigm of what we call doom metal.

Rooster by Brume

Rooster’s primary achievement is that it sounds much bigger than anything the band has done before. It’s bold, heavy, and beautiful, and the songwriting is tighter and stronger than anything from their 2015 debut, Donkey. By focusing more on interesting guitar work and sounder song structures, the trio has avoided sounding like another Windhand doom-pop clone, which isn’t so easy to do if your band features a female vocalist. From their latest work, Brume draw comparisons to the likes of Messa or to some degree Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard.

Indeed, not experimenting enough was the major drawback of Donkey, which relied on singer and bassist Susie McMullen’s soaring falsetto to carry the band through five rather similar tracks. Rooster is superior in that it works more with the band’s collective talents to create staggering moments that incorporate dynamics and powerful guitar progressions. Songs like opener "Grit and Pearls," for instance, progress by sculpting dynamics that carry the listener from stentorian peaks to quiet, calm depths. These transitions establish intimate moments with the listener, imparting Rooster with a richness that sustains the whole record.

Perhaps "Reckon" captures Rooster’s variety the best: Jamie McCathie’s guitar--clean and coated with some effects--sounds out a bluesy passage that supports McMullen’s swaggering vocal lead. It’s a calm introduction that proceeds to obliterate the listener as Jordan Perkins-Lewis joins McCathie with his drums to create a wall of sound. Towards the halfway point of the song, McMullen belts out a tribal-esque chant that soars majestically atop McCathie’s High on Fire-inspired riffing and Perkins-Lewis’ sustaining ride cymbal.

To bring some balance to Rooster, Brume included a softer song called "Welter," an acoustic track that combines piano from Billy Anderson himself to accompany McMullen’s stunning vocals. “The villain plays the victim,” sings McMullen. “Do you use pity as your weapon?” The melody and lyrics come from a place of hurt; the pain and upheaval radiate from McMullen’s crooning voice as soft piano chords shimmer in the offing. It’s a moment of vulnerability and nakedness, but it cuts deep.

The album ends on "Tradewind," a slow paced dirge that shifts from somber plodding to a cathartic release towards the final minutes of the song. “Open wounds, healing truth, healing you. Open wounds, open, open you, healing truth,” McMullen sings. The cleansing nature of the lyrics in conjunction with the guitar’s unbridled drone creates yet another moment of unashamed tenderness that shows us a side of doom metal we’re only accustomed to getting in small doses from bands like Pallbearer, Warning, or even Type O Negative ("Love You to Death" is one of the sappiest songs in metal, but we love it all the same). More of this, please.

The daringness to pioneer new sonic territory is what makes Rooster such a success. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s not terribly derivative, either. For their second LP, the future is looking bright for Brume.

A Lively Conversation With Brume

By Zachary Painter

Photos by Kristen Wrzesniewski

Brume recently finished up a few UK tour dates with Gurt. You also got to play Desertfest at The Underworld alongside Bongzilla and Inter Arma, among others. How was that whole experience? I read that Body Count was forever "your" band.

Susie McMullan (vocals, bass): Ugh, that was so incredibly fun. Travelling with rad dudes who have fantastic music you get to hear every night will elevate you and make you want to do better. Gurt is a killer band and a fun bunch of dudes to party with every night. I have been singing “Salt In My Vagina/Jon GarSeeYa Later" and “Battlepants” walking around in the city with a huge smile on my face since I’ve gotten back. Desertfest London was a treat, as well. We were well taken care of, packed the venue, and pretty much had the best show to date. The sound was epic and the event was really well run. I was meaning to reach out to the sound folks at the Underworld to let them know how excellent it was. Can’t ask for anything better than that?

Most people don’t remember their dreams. Mine are clear, awful, and haunting...

Jordan Perkins-Lewis (drums): Desertfest was incredible. Easily one of my favorite festivals in the world. Gurt warms the cockles of my heart. We stayed with a lot of mums on this trip. Mums go hard on tour.

Jamie McCathie (guitar): The tour was epic. For me, I got to hang with my Gurt family and introduce Brume to not only some of the best peeps on the planet, but a seriously incredible band. Gurt slayed every night. And to end the tour at Desertfest was an amazing experience. The Underworld was rammed. It’s my favorite venue in London and I never got to play there in the 7 ½ years I lived in London. It was an experience. Body Count "Get Shot" turned 'to the tour anthem after Bill and Spice banged on about how amazing the new album was -- it’s epic. It was our stage entrance tune at Desertfest. It made us feel pumped.

Which bands were you looking forward to seeing most?

Susie: Inter Arma and Elephant Tree, two current inspirations. I’m pretty pumped to say we are playing with Inter Arma again on August 17th at Thee Parkside. That makes two times in one year. #madeit

Jordan: Vodun and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs were high on my list.

Jamie: I was so excited to see Inter Arma, and they blew my ass off. I was also excited to see bands I hadn't from the U.K. like Elephant tree, Vodun, Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters and Mammoth Weed wizard Bastard. Elephant tree were one of the bands Susie and I religiously listened to when we were starting Brume. They are a huge influence on us and to do something in the future with those guys would be rad. Pete and I go a lil' way back from my Gurt days.

We spend most of our time hiding in a cave making music.

You guys worked with Gareth Kelly and his record label and PR entity When Planets Collide to set up this tour. Seeing that Brume has close ties with Gurt and the UK scene, do you have future plans to collaborate with Gurt or other bands overseas?

Susie: I have dreams of spending time, collaborating, and having future plans with a few overseas bands such as Elephant Tree, Pist, Sedulus, and Mage. You can’t fight gravity.

Jordan: We’re bringing Gurt over next year. That’s all I’ll say for now.

Jamie: The tour was special for me because I played a set with Gurt every night, the songs I could still remember. They came on stage and played "Tradewind" with us a few nights. Doing more with Gurt would be amazing. There was a lot of talk about getting Gurt over to the West Coast. We’ll see.

Any upcoming tours for Brume stateside?

Jordan: We’ll get down to Los Angeles at some point this year and hopefully back up to the Pacific Northwest. There are also rumors of the East Coast and Deep South.

Jamie: A couple of awesome shows coming up in the Bay Area -- San Jose and San Francisco with Castle and Year Of The Cobra, plus a few yet to be announced that we are crazy excited about.

Since Donkey came out, it seems a lot has happened logistically for the band. I remember discovering Donkey on Transylvanian Tapes out of Oakland. Do you still work with them? How did you transition to DHU Records?

Susie: Yeah, Transylvanian Tapes is led by this wonderful man that helps small bands like us out, but he only does tapes. DHU only does vinyl. He is also a lovely man who does a lot for us. We are grateful for Transylvanian Tapes and DHU because they not only propped us up when we were invisible to most people, they introduced us to a lot of other underground bands that now inspire us and help us progress. Very similar to you guys. If it wasn’t for Doomed & Stoned, Planets Collide, Ripple Music, Transylvanian Tapes, DHU, and these wonderful blog posts and reviews, we’d not be given the chances that we have had so far. We are incredibly grateful for it. We spend most of our time hiding in a cave making music. Y'all make us relevant and visible.

Jordan: The community surrounding bands like us, and music like ours, is absolutely the best part of doing all this. We’ve met some wonderful people who have really gone out their way to push us and encourage us to keep going. Transylvanian Tapes and DHU are a huge part of that. The support we’ve been fortunate enough to receive has been overwhelming.

Jamie: James Rauh from Transylvanian Tapes is a legend. He totally hooked us up and continues to do so much to promote Brume and a ton of the other amazing underground Bay Area bands. DHU reached out to us after Donkey came out and has been a huge partner in getting our music to wax. He puts out incredible bands and tirelessly connects with people to spread the word. When Jordan said he wanted to make a label to put out Rooster we were so pumped for him, but decided to have DHU still help with vinyl. I'm glad we did, the color looks way killer and I know people are gonna lose their shit.

What are some Bay Area bands you’re psyched on? I really enjoy Swamp Witch, Body Void, Noothgrush, Brainoil, etc. Any up-and-coming bands in that area you’re digging?

Susie: Yes, Body Void is the total package. I’m a huge gigantic fan of War Cloud and Love Moon, too. I’m wearing a War Cloud shirt right now.

Jordan: So many Bay Area bands to love! KOOK, Tvsk, Name -- it goes on and on.

Jamie: Body Void is fucking incredible. Wilt’s voice is something else, and they keep getting better with every release. KOOK from San Jose are killer, too; not only sweet guys, but man they slay live. Serpents of Dawn, Tvsk, Lowcaster, War Cloud -- it's pretty vibrant around here and getting better.

So this new album, for me, has three focal points I want to talk about: the album art, the lyrics, and, of course, the music. For the album art, you guys chose Sean Beaundry to draw up this fantastic album art. How did you find Beaundry and what made you choose him?

Susie: Jamie found him. I was slow to the party, but fell just as hard in love.

Jordan: We knew what we wanted art-wise. We didn’t know Sean would take it leaps and bounds beyond what we had imagined.

Jamie: The album name was already decided, and Shaun's birds and crows I'd seen were amazing -- plus everything he'd done for Kylesa has this modern quality that I really wanted for our artwork. I reached out to him and was lucky enough that he was pumped about the project and creating a cockatrice. He was a dream to work with and has provided us such a killer album cover. We love it.

I really like Brume’s approach with album artwork and album names. 2015 released Donkey and it aptly featured a humanoid creature with a donkey’s head on the cover. Rooster features a wrathful rooster-snake throttling a sparrow. So what’s the link between your album art and names?

Jordan: Donkey was a temporary band name when we first got started. It eventually became the name of our first EP and Jamie discovered the artwork. I think we all fell in love with the chimera idea, so once we settled on Rooster we already knew it had to be some sort of animal hybrid.

Jamie: Animal hybrids may be a theme. Or farmyard animals? Who knows.

Donkey by Brume

Some of the lyrics on this album were extractions from Victoria June Baigrie. I’ve looked her up and she’s an obscure poet. Tell us more about her work, why you chose to use her poetry, and in what ways it influenced the songwriting for the record.

Jamie: Vicci is my talented wife. The whole album was written by Susie, except "Harold" which is an extraction from a poem that she had created about an injured goldfinch she found and fostered when we lived in London. She found it lying in the street on a bustling Portobello road and swept it up, nurtured it back to health, and then took it to a wildlife reserve a week or so later. The whole experience was both rewarding and traumatic for her, so when Susie asked her to write a poem about it, she jumped at the opportunity. She's keen to write more, maybe even some short stories for books are in the future. The acoustic intro I came up with at the same time this all happened, probably six years ago, so I’m glad I could make this song come to life. Harold is the bird you see on the cover, he looks in trouble but when you see the center gatefold on the vinyl artwork you’ll notice he’s just fine.

"Call the Serpent’s Bluff" is one of the more interesting songs for me lyrically, specifically the first two stanzas.

The other night I dreamt of the devil In a painting white teal and purple His glowing head and arms were a’ flailing But the frame was somehow firmly planted

He didn’t talk but yeah he scared me I left the room but he still got to me He’s in my head

What went into selecting these lyrics?

Susie: That was a poem I wrote one morning after a pretty bad dream. Most people don’t remember their dreams. Mine are clear, awful, and haunting most of the time. I find that writing them down helps me deal with it and try to get it out of my head. Demons and Devils pop up in my dreams a lot and not in a funny, cool, metal way. I think it was a manifestation of me fighting some bad decisions I was tempted to make and ones I have already made, except for the end of the song. The end came a year later as an epiphany when I adapted the poem to music. I remember jogging to it making up a melody to the last riff and thinking, “Oh shit, fuck that. I'm calling his bluff.” The ending was emotionally triumphant. My dreams are like I constantly have these demons fucking fight over my soul. But I won that one a year later. Weird that I’m explaining this to a stranger. Maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe you should buy me a whiskey first, and I’ll tell you the rest. I like Bulleit.

Jordan: Make mine a double.

Jamie: Three, please!

Ok, so musically this album sees Brume really hitting their stride. How did the writing process change for this record?

Susie: In 2014, we just met and started playing music together. I’m not sure much has changed in our process, except for more time spent together probably helps you build trust and learn how to collaborate easier together. I know I feel more comfortable to make armpit farts as an intro and chirp bird noises mid-song!

Jordan: The first EP was more of a rush job, since Susie was expecting and the fate of the band was unknown. We really wanted to get something out quickly. With Rooster we booked the studio time well in advance and got Billy Anderson to sign on fairy early. There was a good six months where we didn’t do anything but write and rehearse. We’ve also become quite close as a band, so we were more willing to take risks that maybe we wouldn't have attempted on the first record.

Jamie: Process-wise, the only thing that had changed was a lot more focus on lyrics and vocals. Susie and I spent a lot of time at each other’s apartments between band rehearsals focusing in on melodies, intonations, and harmonies. Thanks to all husband and wives in Brume for putting up with us!

What did you want to avoid on this record? In other words, what did you not want this record to sound like, be perceived as, and so on?

Susie: Nothing, I don’t really think that way. I just do what I want to and try not to hold back. It isn’t great life advice but for music it works well for me. Plus, if Jamie or Jordan thinks my idea sucks, they have no problem telling me. That makes it easier to go for it, as far as I’m concerned.

Jordan: We never limit what we want to do. If we like it, we do it. We don’t try to avoid sounding like anything. We sound like who we are.

While the goal should never be "longer is better" for doom, necessarily, the songs on this record are noticeably longer and more fleshed out than those on Donkey. Did this come naturally as you wrote the compositions or were you trying to write a fuller, more complete opus?

Jordan: We joke that our songs aren’t finished until they’re over the six-minute mark, but we do like to stretch things out and slow things down. We’re not in a rush to get to the next song.

Jamie: I’m a big fan of Junior Kimborough, old Bob Dylan, and Yob. Monotony is kind of my jam. Some people find that boring, I find it hypnotic and calming. There is a balancing act to keeping people engaged, so to add more flavor to a song meant making them a lil' longer than we did on Donkey. We wanted these songs to feel more epic and have more dynamics and take people on a journey, so twelve-minute songs just kind of happened.

In "Reckon," McMullen’s vocals deliver this tribal chant in the middle of the song, followed by a fucking heavy riff. It’s a big moment and it's segments like this that make Rooster stand out. What influences would you say pushed you guys to write songs like "Reckon"?

Susie: Jamie wrote that riff -- it's so good, right?! Love that shit. Lyrically, that song is about a big, ugly dude that works at NASA who looks like he should play in Crowbar that I crushed on for some time. It seemed natural to make this song a story about a badass who could match up to that riff. Tribal chants, animal sounds, three-to-four schizoid-personalities in one song, that is what speaks to me vocally and makes me feel wild and alive.

Jamie: The structure in that song came from my fear of it sounding too much like a blues thing. I think that’s where the schizoid personality comes in. There’s a lil' bit of All Them Witches, Pallbearer, and a total High on Fire "10,000 Years" riff at the end that pretty much sums up what I would have been listening to that month.

This album experimented a lot more with dynamics than Donkey. "Tradewind," which starts off with soft, somber guitar work, swells and fades throughout the song, ending on a strong crescendo. This really heightens the cathartic nature of the music. It’s purging, painful, and beautiful. Tell us more about how you guys "discovered" this element of your songwriting.

Susie: For the bass, I just try to beef up the guitars unless I can add something fun and dynamic or bring another riff that compliments Jordan or Jamie. Vocally, I like to show all sides of me. I am not strong and tough 24/7. Sometimes I’m fragile or scared or weak. Sometimes I’m pissed at the whole world and other times I want to lift the world up. I try to give all of those sides of me even if it isn’t that cool to show it. I notice when I do so then singing and playing music is therapeutic and self-nourishing. I don’t have to pretend to be something stronger than I am. It is a sustainable lifestyle being yourself. I highly recommend it.

Jordan: Metal bands have feelings, too.

Jamie: Last year's Radiohead album, A Moon Shaped Pool, was something I obsessed over. That and All Them Witches (ever since I saw them at Day of the Shred in 2014). Whilst very different artists, both bands craft albums that are rich and dynamic. They create such contrast in style and mood. I love this juxtaposition. I respect that I never know what I’m going to get with both of these artists and I was so heavily inspired by that idea, I worked hard to incorporate it into Rooster. I’m excited to see how much more contrast we can create in the future.

I really enjoyed this record, still spinning it now. Thanks so much for visiting with the readers of Doomed & Stoned!

Follow The Band.

Get Their Music.

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Okja (2017) TV-MA @netflix Release Date: June 28, 2017 Director: Joon-ho Bong Writers: Jon Ronson, Joon-ho Bong Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama Score: 5/10 **********SPOILERS BELOW********** It's 2017... And at this point, it really does feel like Netflix could do no wrong. They are dropping television series and films out of thin air, along with Amazon and Hulu with names like Naomi Watts, Winona Rider, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, Adam Sandler, David Tennant, Vincent D'Onofrio, and that's not even scratching the surface. Pretty much everything Netflix has released in the last few years has been hailed by critics, bloggers and fans alike... But does all this original material really deserve this high praise?! That's where things get a little sketchy... You see, people are very passionate about their streaming favorites... VERY passionate... And when a company is on fire, I think the majority can be almost afraid to call things what they are. Luckily, you found one such group that could give a fuck! Oh, are you surprised we dropped an 'F-Bomb' in the first paragraph of a review about a young South Korean girl who befriends a doomed GMO ¿Superpig/Dog/Elephant/Manatee/Rhino? Don't be. 'Okja' looks, walks, but definitely does not talk like a kids film... There are 'Fucks', 'Shits', and literal shit being used as ammo, as apparently if you turn Okja around and slap him on the butt, ever so slightly, he shoots out pellets like a special edition weapon on 'Call of Doody'. Listen, I'm not going to sit here and act like I didn't enjoy Okja, because I did, to a degree. It's got a bit of magic to it, the CGI is very well done, and Okja is the most magnetic being on the screen... But what does that say for those top notch, award winning actors and actresses like Tilda Swindon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Devon Bostick? It's not the actors that are to be blamed here... Okja keeps the audience right there with it for a good first half of the film. The issue is we've seen this before... This is basically 'Babe' with a more captivating creature, hardcore language, and Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal giving us entertaining, over-the-top characters that are almost unrecognizable to their star's name and face. Tilda plays Lucy Mirando (and later her money loving, 'take-no-shit' twin sister) a woman who has a long term plan of undoing the negative stigma surrounding their family business. Lucy has created 26 lovable 'superpigs' and sent them all around the world to grow in different climates and conditions, to see which superpig grows the best... And she's going to use sniveling TV Personality Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhaal) to be the face of the competition and judge each pig to see which one is the biggest and the best... But uhhh... 10 years later. No, that doesn't make much sense... But it does give our semi-lovable young lead, Mija (Seo-Hyun Ahn) plenty of time to connect and grow up with the pig, developing an unarguable deep seeded relationship with her grandfather's would-be prize winning super-pig, Okja. He lies to her repeatedly and tells her that the pig has been bought and it's theirs now. There are a lot of convenient and unexplainable plot devices, twists and turns that really make no sense along Mija and Okja's adventure. Okja of course wins the competition... 10 years later - how Mirando Corporation kept people interested that long, we don't know. It did keep the interest of a group of animal activists called the 'Animal Liberation Front', led by Jay (Paul Dano) and Blond (Daniel Henshall, a man who still creeps me out from his way too convincing performance of John Bunting in Australia's 2011 'The Snowtown Murders'). Mija is pretty much one-note throughout the film, but that's covered with humor, intense action sequences, and CGI flavored emotions... CGI is a flavor at Baskin-Robbins, right? Wait, does Baskin-Robbins even still exist? I haven't seen one of those in years. Dammit, see what this film does? Suddenly, halfway through the film the loose writing that introduces characters and has them say and do things that make no sense in context to their nature, allegiances and temperament starts wearing thin and 'Okja' loses any magic or momentum it had built from the beginning. I'm not entirely sure that this film knows what it wants to be besides, you know, a broad statement about GMO foods and non-vegetarians. Joon-ho Bong directs... I quite enjoyed his 2013 Science-Fiction outing he directed called 'Snowpiercer'. That film, also starring a transformative Tilda Swinton, was even more chaotic than 'Okja', but it's tone was more even throughout the film. You got a sense that 'Snowpiercer's vision was thought through extensively, unlike the uneven 'Okja'. Character motivation was a huge problem throughout 'Okja', and ultimately was what turned me off from the film. 'Okja' was a review request by a good friend of Spotlight Saga's so we thought it was time to breakaway from our normal television routine and give it a try, especially since there were so many great reviews just filing one by one on top of each other. The main question? 'Will Okja make me cry? Is it too sad?' No. This film is clearly being enjoyed by a great number of people... Will that hold up? I doubt it, but for now, that Netflix name and the critical hype that's synonymous with the worldwide brand is keeping the movie 'buzz-worthy'. Ugh, did that term just show my age? Ultimately 'Okja' has some cute moments, some good action sequences, great CGI, and the actors do the best they can with characters that aren't written with depth in mind. I could think of worse ways to spend 2 hours... But I could also think of a million and one better ways too. 'Okja' wants to say fuck a lot, but it doesn't want to pull the trigger and give you an ending that's too upsetting. There is a looming fear that things will end badly but 🚨*spoiler alert*🚨, they don't. Like a lot of current Netflix entries, this one is overrated and its message literally smashes you over the head like a sledgehammer at a county fair. Netflix has been dropping more and more films lately and even screened this one at Cannes... The ambition is there, but the execution is sloppy at best. Let them continue to cook up films and perfect their recipes... Stick with their television series for now, because 'Okja' just isn't it. A darker ending to match its tone or more coherent character motivations would have served this film better. It's not bad by any means, but it's certainly not as great as everyone wishes it to be.

[ollieofthebeholder]

leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall): a TMA fanfic

Read from the beginning on Tumblr || Also on AO3

Chapter 53: Sasha

Beep! Beep! Beep!

“No.” Basira’s voice manages to sound matter-of-fact and authoritative despite being muffled by Sasha’s shoulder blades.

Sasha groans and rolls forward to slap at her alarm clock. “Well, you don’t have to get up, but I have work today.”

“Ugh. I should. I really need to start looking into getting a new job, but…” Basira sighs and flops back against the pillows. “Think I’ll wait until this whole…thing is done. Might be hard to get time off to go chasing down killer mannequins in a taxidermy shop.”

Sasha grumbles wordlessly, then gets up to start getting dressed.

She follows the smell of coffee and something sweet into the kitchen, where she finds Wade standing at the stove. Sasha’s never been much for cooking—she’s eaten more homemade meals in the last year than she has in the preceding nine put together—and her kitchen isn’t well-stocked, but she laid in a supply of the basics after work on Friday in anticipation of her uncle coming home, and she’d tried to make something for him yesterday. Seeing him standing there trying to cook himself is at once unexpected and familiar.

He looks up and smiles at her. “Good morning, sunshine,” he teases her.

“Morning,” Sasha mumbles. She pours herself a cup of coffee, sweetens it automatically, and downs about half of it in a single gulp, at which point she feels human enough to give her uncle a smile and a hug.

“You haven’t changed a bit.” Wade hugs her back with one arm, then flicks his wrist and flips the pancake he’s cooking into the air before catching it neatly. “Still got it. Your friend doesn’t eat bacon, right?”

Sasha tries not to be embarrassed. She’s a grown woman and this is her flat, and Wade has made it clear he respects her and her choices and she’s allowed to do whatever the hell she wants, but she’s still got the same feeling she had when she was sixteen and he nonchalantly asked if her boyfriend wanted eggs or if he’d already escaped out her bedroom window. “Right.”

“Well then, these are almost ready. Would you rather eat at the table or standing around like a bunch of twenty-somethings in a bad sitcom?”

“I’ll set the table.”

Basira comes out just as Wade is plating the last of the pancakes and greets him with no trace of discomfort; Sasha envies her for that ability to stay calm and unruffled. As they eat, Sasha asks her uncle, “What are you planning to do today?”

Wade looks pleased. “Actually, I have an interview at nine. A gentleman wrote me last week and said he thought there was a position I might be qualified for. I—I suppose he has an eye out for upcoming releases that might have skills he needs.”

There’s a hesitancy there, and Sasha is almost tired enough to give into the static and reach for his secret, but stops herself at the last minute. “You’ll have to tell me all about it after work. Or I can call you at lunch.”

“I’d like that.” Wade grins.

Basira leaves with Sasha twenty minutes later. While she’s in less need of coffee than usual, thanks to her uncle actually making a pot—she really ought to get a programmable coffee maker, but she’s never managed to get around to it—she has a routine and she doesn’t want to break it now. They ride together until Basira has to get off to change trains; she pats Sasha’s shoulder, wishes her luck, and vanishes.

Melanie arrives at about the same time Sasha does, from the other direction but also clutching her usual cup of coffee. When they get down, Tim is having an apparently good-natured argument with Jon about whether he needs help getting his jacket off over the cast while Martin makes the first tea of the day. He glances over his shoulder with a smile that looks a tad strained at the edges. “Morning. How’s your uncle, Sash?”

Sasha returns the smile. “Settling in remarkably well, all things considered. He’s even already got an interview for a job. Seems excited about it. How was your weekend?”

“Quiet,” Martin says after a brief pause.

“Tim didn’t wrap your room in tinfoil or staple all your furniture to the ceiling?” Sasha teases.

Tim holds up his casted hand. “With this?”

Sasha laughs. “Fair point.”

Martin smiles again as he sets a cup down in front of Tim and hands another to Jon. “Seriously, it was a good weekend. Charlie’s birthday was yesterday, so…”

“He came over and helped us with his cake,” Jon tells her. His eyes light up the way they usually do when he talks about the little boy. “Martin found one of those old-fashioned hand-crank ice-cream makers somewhere, and it still works, so we made ice cream, too. Spent the rest of the evening playing board games.”

“Betrayal at the House on the Hill,” Tim supplies.

Melanie frowns. “How old is this kid? Nine?”

“Eight,” all three of the boys say in unison.

“Good. Start ‘em young.” Melanie thumps down in her chair. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

Jon’s smile fades. “Honestly…I think we need to focus on the usual work today. Statements, filing…all of that. I’d—I’d like to have things as much in order as we can, before…”

He trails off, but he doesn’t need to finish. They have a location—Melanie’s been doing a lot of poking around, using skills she honed during her Ghost Hunt UK days, and managed to confirm that the Unknowing will be taking place at a museum called the House of Wax in Great Yarmouth. They have a time; Melanie and Tim’s combined efforts have led them all to estimate the ritual will be going off sometime on the sixth of April, God alone knows why. They even have something approaching a plan, which is a novelty. Actually, they have two plans, sort of. Now all they have to do is…wait.

Sasha hates waiting.

She gives it a go, though. It’s all busywork, it’s a way of marking time, but she knows it means something to Jon, and subsequently she knows it means something to Martin and Tim. Honestly, the three of them are obviously stupid in love with each other, it’s borderline ridiculous. It’s also kind of touching, watching them together—the gentle touches, the small acts of service, the wordless communications, the way they lean into one another when they’re sitting together. The fear on their faces when one of them is hurt or in danger, the relief when one comes home safe and sound, the smiles when they think the others aren’t looking. Add Charlie into the mix and they’re an absolute mess of domesticity and sap.

They’re also scared shitless about what’s going to happen on Thursday night, and she doesn’t need the Eye’s power to see that they’re afraid of losing one another, so if squaring away files they’ve been neglecting will make them feel better, she’ll suck it up and do it.

The four assistants work away at their cluster of desks in more or less silence; Jon’s in his office, but the door is propped open. He’s recording, judging by the rise and fall of his voice, but Sasha guesses they aren’t real statements or he’d have it closed. They’ve all been working away for a couple hours when the Archives phone rings.

“Not it,” Martin says without looking up.

“Not it,” Tim and Sasha say in unison.

“I hate you all,” Melanie claims and picks up the phone. “Archives.”

She leans back in her chair, twirling the cord around her finger and looking for all the world like a teenager from every single nineties sitcom Sasha ever watched talking to her best friend or boyfriend, except that her expression is one of utter disgust. “Yeah. Okay. Yes, sir.” Her Doc Martens thump onto the floor as she leans forward to hang it up.

“Let me guess,” Tim says dryly. “Elias?”

“Yeah. Wants to see all of us in his office, ASAP. He says it’s important.” Melanie’s voice drips with contempt.

Martin sighs and scrapes his chair back. “Jon?” he calls.

Jon appears in the doorway of his office. “I heard. Let’s get this over with.”

They all trudge their way upstairs. Rosie gives them her usual bland, pleasant smile and asks about Tim’s hand, then announces them to Elias and ushers them in. Sasha starts slightly when they walk in to find Basira and Daisy standing there, Basira with her arms folded over her chest and an expression of faint annoyance and Daisy with her hands in her pockets and a look of utter disgust. Elias is watching with that smarmy, oily smile of his that makes Sasha want to set his hair on fire and see how long he’ll burn, like a cheap kerosene lamp.

“Thank you, Rosie, I’ll call if we need you,” he tells Rosie.

“Of course, Mr. Bouchard.” Rosie backs out of the room—reluctantly, to Sasha’s eyes—and pulls the door shut behind her.

There’s a brief pause before Elias speaks. “Thank you all for coming.”

Sasha sighs impatiently. She’s not the only one; they all make various noises of frustration and annoyance. Is Elias even capable of talking like a normal human being anymore, or is he deliberately playing up the Evil Overlord trope? Jon’s lips press into a thin line before he says, “Well, you said it was important.”

Elias flicks his gaze over to Basira and Daisy. “I’m glad you could come as well. I don’t want to take up too much of your valuable—”

“What do you want?” Jon interrupts, sounding tired and annoyed. Sasha sees Martin’s hand twitch and silently wills him and Tim both to keep it together. The last thing they need is for Elias to know the depth of their feelings for one another.

“To help,” Elias says pleasantly. “Do you have your recorder running?”

“Of course he does,” Melanie says, sounding unimpressed.

“I…” Jon looks down at his hand, as if he’s just realized he’s holding the official Archives recorder. “Yes.”

“Well, then, I’ll speak clearly,” Elias says. He folds his hands on his desk and meets Jon’s eyes. “You will soon be attempting to stop something few have witnessed and fewer still have survived.”

“Not alone,” Jon says quietly.

“We’re, um—” Basira shoots a sideways glance at Sasha, her expression hard to read. “I think we’re all going.”

“Yes.” Elias doesn’t look all that happy about that, to be honest. “And I believe your plan—ah, simplistic as it may be—does have a reasonable chance of working.”

“Well, thank you.” Jon’s voice is dry as the Sahara, but Sasha sees him stiffen slightly. They’ve known all along that Elias probably knows more about what they’re planning than they want him to, but to hear him confirm it…

“It should work. It doesn’t need to be fancy,” Daisy growls.

“Well, quite. But given that there is every likelihood that one or more of you may end up confronting the Stranger in a rather direct manner, I thought it best you have an idea of what you might encounter.”

Jon and Martin both throw identical quick, pained looks in Tim’s direction; Tim doesn’t seem to notice. Sasha sighs. “Oh.”

Elias reaches into a drawer—not, Sasha notes, the one containing his gun. If his gun is still in there. “Detective Tonner was kind enough to bring me Gertrude’s tapes, as soon as her superiors released them.”

Startled, Sasha turns to look at Daisy. Basira, too, is looking at her with raised eyebrows. Daisy ignores them both. Jon doesn’t look at her. “Of course they did.”

“There is one I feel it may be wise for you to hear. All of you,” Elias adds, his gaze sliding over Tim and Martin in particular—or is that Sasha’s imagination? He places a loaded tape recorder on his desk. “May I?”

There’s a chorus of sighs and groans. Elias is really laying it on thick. “Fine,” Tim mutters.

Elias presses Play.

Sasha feels the familiar sensation of the statement flowing through her. Like with every other one of Gertrude’s tapes she’s listened to, it’s not as satisfying as most and doesn’t fill her as thoroughly as even an older statement. She’s always assumed that it’s because it’s more…regurgitated, that it’s empty calories in a way, but with what she knows now, she wonders if it’s just that more of the energy from Gertrude’s tapes goes to Martin. If their family connection makes their connection through the Eye stronger as well.

She banishes the thought ruthlessly from her mind and listens. She’s heard of Wolfgang von Kempelen and his Mechanical Turk, of course. One of her papers in uni was on the history of automata and artificial intelligence, so of course she’s heard of it. At least those details that are known to the general public…

Suddenly, with a jolt, it occurs to her that she knows where this statement is going, where it ends up. At first she thinks it’s the Eye granting her knowledge, but then, suddenly, she remembers a conversation with Gertrude Robinson she had once regarding the papers she’d included in her portfolio when she first applied at the Institute, including the one mentioning the Mechanical Turk, and she remembers a later conversation where Gertrude asked her to come down to the Archives and spent an hour picking her brains for everything she remembered from her research, then handed her a letter and said I thought this might interest you, my dear.

She’d been flattered. Gertrude didn’t call anyone my dear.

The tape clicks off, almost making her leap out of her skin. There’s a beat of silence before Jon says, slowly, “Right.”

“Is that it?” Basira demands.

“It’s unlikely to be identical. The stranger is not known for its…consistency.” Elias stows the recorder away.

“But something like that?” Basira presses. Sasha’s come to know her well over the last few months and she knows Basira likes facts, good solid things she can sink her teeth into. She doesn’t do well with maybes and we-hopes. “We can’t trust what we see.”

Elias nods sagely. “The familiar may seem strange, the strange familiar.”

“One long category error,” Sasha muses.

“Well, isn’t—I mean, that’s what the Stranger wants, isn’t it,” Martin says. It’s not a question. “For us to doubt everything.”

Jon brushes his fingers against Martin’s for the briefest of seconds. Sasha hopes Elias hasn’t seen, but at the same time, what can he do about it at this point? “No one ever said it was going to be easy.”

Which is true. The Primes have never underestimated the danger they’re going to be in. Elias looks pleased. “Brilliant. I have been doing my best to prepare you, Jon, to see. You should have an easier time of it than the others.”

“I doubt that,” Jon says, a bit acerbically.

Elias eyes the four assistants skeptically. “Well, it should, I hope, give you an edge. Otherwise I would never suggest you going yourself.”

You are such a terrible liar, Sasha thinks but doesn’t say. Aloud, she says, “Well, I guess we’ll all find out, won’t we?”

“No,” Elias says. “I understand you will be taking Detective Tonner and Basira with you?”

“We’re going with them,” Daisy growls, and the rewording speaks volumes.

“Quite. Then honestly, Jon, I think you have all you need. Your…assistants should remain here.”

“Wh-what?” Martin sputters. “No, no, we can help—”

“Too many will attract attention,” Elias says. “And while I know your team have been…acquiring abilities, shall we say, none of them are on your level, and Melanie doesn’t even have that.”

“Melanie was planning to stay behind anyway,” Melanie says with false brightness and gritted teeth.

Elias nods as if this was all his idea. “And of course, Sasha, I would expect you wouldn’t want to risk death or…worse. Especially now.”

At those words, Sasha freezes and her blood runs cold. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Your uncle seems to be settling in well. I’d imagine he’ll do well here, but of course you wouldn’t want him to worry.”

Sasha’s eyes widen. “What. Do. You. Mean.”

“He didn’t tell you?” Elias’s smile broadens. “Well. I certainly wouldn’t want to steal his thunder, so to speak. But nevertheless, I should think the last thing you would want to do is worry him, or risk leaving him so soon.”

Sasha hasn’t been planning on staying…but honestly, she’ll be a liability if she goes, she rationalizes, and even if he’s being a smarmy arse about it, Elias isn’t necessarily wrong. “Fine. I’ll stay.”

“So the five of us—” Tim begins.

“No,” Jon says firmly. “Elias is right, it’s going to be—I can’t put you all at risk like that. It’s too dangerous.”

“Tough,” Tim says bluntly, his face tight with anger. “We’re not risking you. You don’t want to take all of us, fine, but you’re not going alone. Either Martin goes or I do.”

“I…” Jon looks stuck. Sasha bites the inside of her cheek. So far this has been going exactly according to plan, but she doesn’t think Tim is faking that anger. She files that away to ask him about later.

Martin puts a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “I—I think you’re right, Jon. I’d be more of a—I’ll stay behind. But please take Tim.”

“I’m not sure how much help Tim will be with his hand in a cast,” Elias says with a raised eyebrow.

Jon’s lips thin. “I will take that under advisement.”

“Fine.” Elias appears to give up the fight. Sasha doesn’t trust it. “Now, unless there was anything else…?”

“Not if—no,” Jon says finally.

“Excellent. Well, it’s a three-hour trip up to Great Yarmouth,” Elias tells them. “When do you plan to leave?”

“We think the ritual is going to be Thursday,” Jon answers.

“Perfect. I’ll be in touch with you on Wednesday to confirm the arrangements.” Elias beams. “Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

It’s a clear dismissal, and they all file out quietly. Rosie watches them in undisguised interest as they pass her desk, but they leave the office and head down the stairs in total silence, Daisy and Basira accompanying them.

The second the door to the Archives closes behind them, Basira asks, “Do you think he bought it?”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Martin says, flicking his eyes towards the trapdoor.

Jon nods. “Do, ah—can you two come back later? Say around four?”

“I’m off today,” Daisy growls.

“R-right. Right. We’ll…reconvene then. Go over the plan one last time. Confirm a few last scheduling details. Thank you.” Jon manages a smile, then turns to Tim and Sasha. “In that case, I’m sorry to have delayed you two so long, but you can go ahead and get your lunch.”

Sasha’s a bit startled. She’s honestly lost track of time. “I’m not actually hungry right now, but thanks, Jon. I’ll just keep working. Someone else can go.”

“It’s Monday,” Martin points out. His cerulean eyes are wide with worry—almost fear. “You and Tim always go to lunch on Mondays.”

Sasha’s about to remind him of all the times they didn’t take their lunch together when Tim nods and takes her elbow with his good hand. “That’s right, it is. Feels like it’s been a week this morning. C’mon, Sash, let’s go.”

“O-oh! Sure,” Sasha says, surprised. She grabs her jacket off the back of the chair and follows Tim out the door.

It’s a nice, moderate day, exactly Sasha’s kind of weather. There’s a fish and chips shop just across the nearest footbridge they usually go to on Mondays, and they walk in an unusually charged silence. Sasha waits until they’re settled at the table opposite one another before she says, “You didn’t forget it was Monday.”

“You were going to duck out,” Tim counters.

“I didn’t realize you needed this so much.”

“I don’t necessarily. It’s routine, though. It’s a ritual. That’s important to him.” Tim’s face softens. “When Jon left for Beijing…Martin told me he and his dad had this ritual they used to do the night before he left on a voyage, and the last time his dad left, he fell asleep in the middle of it. And then his dad didn’t come back. I guess he’s a little superstitious, but I’m not going to argue with him. It matters to him. So yeah, if it helps him feel like we’ve done everything we can to make sure this goes off successfully, I’ll go to lunch with my best friend.” He gives her a pretty good impression of his signature cheeky grin. “It’s a sacrifice, but I’ll manage.”

Sasha flicks a fallen bit of batter at him, pinging it off his cheek. “Arse. Well, then, while I’ve got you as a captive audience—what’s wrong?”

“Do I really need to spell it out for you, Sash?”

“Yes. I’m keeping my eyes firmly inside my own head and out of yours, so I don’t know what you’re actually thinking. And you’re impossible to read. Also, I don’t think you were altogether acting in Elias’s office.” Sasha points a chip at Tim, then pops it into her mouth. “So. Spill.”

Tim sighs. All traces of false mirth disappear from his face. “Just…can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course,” Sasha says, a bit bewildered.

“Look after them for me, will you?” Tim evidently sees the look of confusion on her face, because he elaborates. “Jon and Martin. Wh—if I don’t come back from this, if I die—”

“I thought the plan wasn’t going to have you anywhere near the actual ritual.”

“The timing on the—we’ll have to talk it over with Daisy, but I think it’s going to be tight. There’s a risk I’ll be bringing the building down on my head,” Tim says. “It’s fine. I’ve come to terms with it. It’s worth it if it keeps them safe. Just promise me that if it does happen, you’ll look after them for me. I-I’m sure they’ll be fine without me.”

“The hell they will.” Sasha sets her packet of fish and chips down on the table a little harder than necessary. “Tim, I don’t need the Beholder to know how you three are, it’s as plain as the nose on your face. It will devastate them if they lose you. Just like it would devastate you to lose them.”

Tim looks away. “It’s not the same.”

“It’s exactly the same! They’re not going to let you go in there with a death wish.”

“I don’t want to die, Sasha,” Tim explodes. At least he’s keeping his voice down. “I’m just saying, if I do…please. Just…just make sure they’re okay. Make sure they don’t…break.”

Sasha doesn’t want to, she really doesn’t, but she also knows this is important to Tim, so she nods. “If that happens…I promise I’ll do my best for them.”

Tim relaxes. “Thank you.”

“But,” Sasha stresses, “you have to promise to do your best to live. Especially if, as I strongly suspect, you’re not discussing this with them. Because I swear to God, Timothy Stoker, if you die I will be telling them that we had this talk, and I’m sure you don’t want them furious with you.”

“Duly noted.” Tim grins, but doesn’t meet her eyes.

Sasha is about to push him when her phone rings. A quick glance at the display screen, and she flinches. “Sorry, Tim, this is Uncle Wade. I’ve got to take this.”

“Go ahead.” Tim breaks off a piece of cod and stuffs it in his mouth.

Sasha thumbs the CALL button. “Uncle Wade, hi, I’m so sorry, I was going to call you but—”

“It’s fine, it all worked out.” Wade sounds like he’s barely keeping a lid on his emotions. “I only just got out myself.”

“Of your interview?”

“No, no, that—that was over hours ago. Sasha, I got the job! He hired me on the spot. We did all the onboarding paperwork then and there, and I actually got to start today. I’ve been spending the last couple hours getting set up, learning the ropes, all that sort of thing.” Wade says all of this in an excited rush she hasn’t heard from him since she was thirteen. “Someone just popped in to let me know I could go take a lunch break. I just got so into it I forgot about food. I was hoping you’d be on your lunch break and I could talk to you.”

Sasha smiles, relieved. Her uncle’s adjusting to freedom a lot better than she had feared he would, and it’s good to hear him so much like the man she remembers. “That’s great! What are you going to be doing? Where do you work?”

“You are talking,” Wade says proudly, “to the Executive Director of Information and Operations Technology at the Magnus Institute.”

“So your job title is the E-DIOT?” Sasha teases, and then her mind catches up to the last part of what he’s just said. “The Magnus Institute?”

Tim snorts his drink out of his nose. Wade still sounds delighted. “It surprised me, too. Did you know the Institute doesn’t have a proper tech department? I mean, of course you do, you’ve worked there seven years now. But yes. Mr. Bouchard wrote me last week saying that he knew I was getting ready to be released from prison and that he’d very much like to interview me about the position. He wants me to integrate all the systems in the building, troubleshoot programs and technology, that sort of thing. It’s just me for right now, but once I give him a list of what needs to be done and what resources I’d need to do it, I might have a staff to work with. We’ll see.”

“That’s…that’s wonderful, Uncle Wade.” Sasha can’t bring herself to dampen his enthusiasm by pointing out how terrifying an organization this is.

“I know it’s a bit—I know what you’ve told me about the Institute,” Wade says, as if he’s reading her mind. “But quite honestly, in my position, I can’t afford to be all that choosy about a job. The pay’s good. The pay’s great. He’s offering me way above the industry standard. And to just walk out of prison and walk straight into a high-paying position? In my field?” His voice softens. “Plus, I get to work with you. That’s worth a lot to me.”

“And to me,” Sasha says. She smiles warmly. “So what’s your next step?”

“This afternoon I’m going to start going round the different departments, talk to the heads and staff and whatnot, figure out what they need in terms of tech. What they need as an isolated system, what it would help to have integrated with what other departments.”

“Brilliant! Definitely come by the Archives today. I want you to meet the rest of my family.” Before it’s too late, Sasha adds mentally. “We’ve got a meeting at four, but—”

“Say no more. I’ll be there at three, how’s that?”

“Sounds good. See you then. I love you, Uncle Wade.”

“Love you too, Puddle-Duck.” Wade pauses. “And don’t worry. I won’t call you that in front of your friends.”

Sasha laughs and hangs up.

Tim watches her seriously. “He was interviewing at the Institute? Is that what Elias meant?”

“More than that. He’s already been hired.” Sasha rubs a hand over her face. “Guess that’s as good a reason as any to stay back. At least I won’t be in any danger. Probably.”

“You’ll be fine.” Tim knocks back the last of his drink. “C’mon, finish up and we’ll head back. Loads to do before we save the world.”