#all that backstory and hashtag drama for nothing

[cherrymoonvol6]

.

[capn-rikshu]

Messy thoughts on batch 1 of season 2. SPOILERS

First. The first episode is like breakneck pace, pretty much all action, room to breathe is little. The context of the Decepticons betraying the Autobots after a time of working together is brief. I feel it would help if it was a two-parter or at least slowed down a little so we can actually catch up on the characters the past year. I don't think it was best that it was all pretty much action, it was great though, the story boarding and animation.

I liked that Hashtag was shown to have some battle damage and went out of commission for a while but nothing permanent comes out of it. I initially thought it may play into her picking a new alt mode.

Breakdown basically creating and attempting to be a father to Aftermath was funny. Though it didn't last past episode 1. And the only interaction we get between Breakdown and Bumblebee was when they were fighting in the finale, in the background only though. And speaking of Bee, he was barely in this batch. Only in a few episodes with few lines. It was like he's been demoted to cast B and he doesn't seem to be teaching the Maltos anymore. I hope he's there later, he was such a prominent character in S1 and a mentor to the Terrans.

I love Aftermath and Spitfire, they're fun characters. Twitch's and Spitfire's rivalry was great. Disappointed that JB didn't crush on Aftermath. I hope they come back in the next batch. It would be interesting if they were permanently dead though I doubt it. And I knew Starscream would have to rip those shards out of them in order to complete his plot! This answers the question, Starscream would kill a child.

Starscream is not painted sympathetically at all and there is no mention of his and Megatron's backstory. His motive is briefly mentioned though I wish they put more focus on it. Certain people are going to throw a fit over it. I understand though we still have more episodes.

Sad that there is no Hashtag betrayal, sad that there wasn't a big talk between them of her trying to convince him not to awaken the Titan or even him hesitating.

I wonder what happened to Wheeljack after he was hit with the Cyber Slayer, I think he may be dead but no one acted like he was dead. I don't think we see him again after. They better tell us next batch.

Surprised we didn't see Prowl. He was one of the earliest characters leaked. But I think in the next batches we will see him and hopefully Cybertron. I hope we see Tarantulas next batch as well, I hope Tarantulas and Prowl meet.

I hope Tarantulas reunites with Nightshade the most. Luckily there were there and not taken by a UFO!

I still feel like the Terrans aren't fully fleshed out and I'm disappointed that their dynamics didn't get fleshed out more either. It's too same-y still. I want inner conflicts, I want drama, I don't want this perfect siblings. ;w;

The Terrans personalities don't change drastically, sadly. No characters arcs yet.

I keep thinking about this while watching. This batch doesn't feel mature but to be fair it was the same for batch one in season 1. I see bits of trust but not much of the other two. They'd be in the next batches hopefully.

Over all, I need more than one rewatch. I'm interested in more episodes. I didn't absolutely love it, I didn't hate it I just wish they did more. But I enjoyed what was given and I love my Terrans <3

I think the carnival episode with Robby's crush is my favourite. I hope the Terrans also have crushes in the future hehe.

[aaal-iz-well]

Guyssss...

Okay, babe, deep breath.

Done?

Good.

Let's roll

WTF is happening? I swear to god a month ago I was checking this hashtag for updates like my life depended on it, and I had great plans for my wip's and everyone was making predictions about what the vault might contain.

Then I tell myself to start making some headway with my studies because exams are breathing down my neck and I (somehow) manage to keep away from this fandom that has been my life and blood for so long. AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOSE!!

Now we know that there are THREE books related to this fandom coming out this year and we might get Toby and Hannah and I'm so excited!

But there are two characters who have my undivided attention atm and I want to talk about them!

So now we have all the main characters, I'm so thrilled that Rohan is one of them because his story is so intriguing to me and it also adds to some much needed Indian or Pakistani (though most prob Indian) representation.

Just think about the kind of background he must have come from, let that blow your mind!

I know that he is going to have a real tragic backstory. Think something involving childhood abandonment or abuse or (most probably) separation from his loving family, coming to London, being faced with the HUGE cultural shock and the nail biting cold and relentless rain. Add to this: making sense of the weird accent. Being picked off the street to do some odd work for the Devil's Mercy. Slowly getting to know it's secrets and rising among its ranks till he reached Factotum. Falling for Zella (first love, maybe?), having his heart broken.

AND THEN HAVING HIS TITLE STRIPPED AT THE END!

CAN YOU FEEL THE BAD BLOOD ENERGY RISING?

'cause baby now we got bad blood...

I also believe that often things are not so one dimensional and that Zella is nothing short of deserving the position. She has undeniably had her struggles with gaining the power she now holds and being a woman of colour in a royal household. But I'm focusing of Rohan here, maybe I'll make a detailed post about Zella sometime later?

These are all only theories, but I can't help thinking that it's going to be something along these lines.

And then there's the fact that Jameson is not going to be a main character (*crying emoji cause I cant seem to insert one of the proper size*) Like he has so many unfinished threads and so much family drama to sort out.

We never got to see an independent confrontation of Ian over how he used Jameson to get what he wanted, or anything about the Prague mystery!!

And I know this might be a bit controversial with some of you, but I really want to see him and Avery fight. Because ofc they are a power couple and express their love to each other in such creative ways. BUT, but you get to know so much about a character when you see their world shifting, when the one thing that they believed to be an anchor is uprooted. How they act when the other is out of orbit. AND WE SIMPLY HAVEN'T SEEN THAT FOR JAMESON. I also might be holding out for a very hot romantic make up later on, but my point stands.

So there's my little (rather late) bit, but still.

Also to those who have read my work and have been so kind to shower me with kudos and comments, I want to apologise profusely. There is a lot to come, but just not at this moment when exams are leeching the life out of me, and trust me when I say I have the most elaborate plans for the future!

Like always, can't wait to hear all your brilliant thoughts. Have a good day/night (depending on whatever time zone you guys are in)

Also please check out Lockwood and Co if you have the time because it's something that I can't stop thinking about and would love to talk about. As an added bonus, one of the mc is kinda like Jameson (and that's how you know I have a type)

[biohazzard121]

So today i posted this, Let me start by extending the Sims Description.

To make EVERYONE clear i do NOT support the Re-Upload or Theft of ANYONES sims, i too have had sims re-upload & Stolen & been accused of stealing, [Okay so it was my own sim someone accused me over a matter of hours after i asked them politely to take theirs down] i have NEVER stolen someones sim BTW i do actually make my own guys & Gals which is probably why they all look the same in one way or the other, EA won’t do anything about Re-upload no matter the amount of time we play are faces, sulk, or report once a sim upload leaves our libraries they become public property. BUT as Creators we ask that our sims are not RE-uploaded, Changed or passed off as someone else's out of respect for the original creator of the Sim/Build.

 I like a lot of creators are very passionate about my sims, and yes do take offense when we see it Re-uploaded without permission. [I ask politely for them to remove it, as it should be,] but i also know that they are just pixels, is it really worth having a full blown argument over a bunch of Pixels. So we ask Politely for simmers to remove re-uploaded sims, some comply and apologize, some not so much. 

I understand the time and effort that goes into making a handsome, beautiful, Cute, & Uniquely freaky Sim, i spend hours sometimes making mine, tweaking, picking out clothes, making a backstory for them if i feel like it. 

But as a simmer that was recently pulled into yet another gallery war, i’m sick of the drama. Its not my place to read someone elses wall to find gossip, i play sims because i enjoy playing the game, if i wanted drama i’d watch East enders or some other Soap on TV right. i’d say 60% of us that play Sims 4 are actually ADULTS. we should know better and as adults we should be setting an example for the younger players, but by arguing over pixels we are telling them its okay to be rude & sometimes nasty towards other people. too many people hide behind the safety of a keyboard. Words can hurt just as much as physical contact. 

This post & The one on Gallery will most likely receive plenty of backlash, and i’ll probably loose followers over it. but heres the kicker guys i don’t upload my sims for followers i upload them because i am proud of what i created and i would like to share it with people to use in their game. 

YES i know it sucks when our sims are re-uploaded especially if the simmer has left all the hashtags on, My Dr Saunders was recently the victim of gallery theft i upload him to inform people who i regularly Comment on their sims that i’d be taking a break due to a nasty ear infection. i removed Dr Saunders from my catalogue as he’d done his job a few days later.

So i beg of you, if you have a altercation with another creator over a sim/build leave the rest of the gallery out of it please. its NOT fair on the rest of us that you drag us into your drama and are forcing us to take side. I REMAIN NEUTRAL & ALWAYS WILL!

I’ve always said that EA/Maxis need to change the Notifications to only showing when a simmer you follow Uploads or Showcases & if YOUR sims receives a download,Comment or Like nothing more,  This way if your following a simmer that has had an argument with someone else they don’t get notified if you happened to like something in the other persons catalogue because you happened to be following both simmers. 

Anyway i’ve said my piece. Thank you for all your support over the past few years, i wish you all HAPPY SIMMING Life is too Short my friends embrace it don’t waste it.

[hanjoonhwi]

any kdrama recs luna?

HI BELLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, so this might get long so it’s under a cut and it’s kinda vaguely ranked + a very informal short description!!!!!!! ALSO all k dramas are suuuuuuper long, like 1.5 hour long episodes and like ~16 episodes, but you can just watch it in half hour intervals, it doesn’t really affect anything!!!!!!!!!!!

Also I watched all of these on Netflix but here’s a site my friend rec’d, and here’s a post with more links of where you can watch!!! (I haven’t checked either of them out, but my friend is an avid watcher, so hers should work!!!)

You can also check for better worded plots here because I did a pretty terrible job of describing them whoops

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo: It’s just about college life, but it’s so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A very cute couple, very cute friends, kinda slow moving, but SO SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Girlboss-malewife dynamic 😌. There’s no real plot, but the character dynamic makes it super fun and cute!!! It’s just about everyday hurdles and life as a woman in sports and stuff!!! It’s also very AsianTM (you’ll know what I mean when you watch it!!!)

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The characters are so so cool, it’s about a guy who’s resentful of having to take care of his brother (who I believe has Autism? From what I remember?) and he meets a girl who changes his life forever!!! The 3 of them soon become a family it’s so 🥺🥺🥺. Also hashtag girlboss-malewife dynamic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also there’s an element of mystery in finding the girl’s mom, etc etc, just overall really fun vibes!!! It also dicusses some super heavy topics (especially considering how Asians are around those topics, like mental health) The first episode is a bit crazy but the show is almost NOTHING like the first episode, you should give it a chance!!! Tw for mental health, obviously, death and a bit of blood, but you can just skip those parts, it’s only for a few seconds!!!

Navillera: It’s about a grandad who’s like 70 and his life-long dream was to learn ballet and so he does despite the stigma (AsianTM). His instructor is a young boy, probably 20 something, who has no family and soon they become best friends. The boy also finds his place in the grandad’s family it’s so so so 🥺🥺

Start Up: Okay I mainly only watched this for the actor, but it has a super developed plot, about 5 people who come together to start a company, they also soon become almost family and also there’s slight romance but I’m not a big fan of that, but I love the plot!!! Super not-focussed-on-romance, it has a good standalone plot + SUPER funny + very AsianTM. It shows the ups and downs of starting a new business + difficulty with your family accepting you + difficulty in your relationships.

Law School: Okay so this show is gooooooooooooood. It has a super nice, solid plot. Based in a law school, a professor is murdered and the show revolves around trying to figure out who the murderer is, and fast. It’s designed in such a way that each episode is zoomed in on one particular character, telling you their backstory, a grudge they had with the victim, a shaky alibi and usually other instances when they’ve lied to the point where you start suspecting every single character. It really keeps you on your toes!!! Bonus: SUPER CUTE COUPLE, again hashtag girlboss-malewife dynamic!!! BUT, at about 3 episodes left it becomes a bit mehhh, but it definitely is worth watching till then!!! It’s really interesting, up until a certain point!!!

Strong Girl Bong-Soon: This is I think the same producer or something like that of Kim Bok-Joo, it’s about a girl who, for generations, has super strength running in her family, but only on the maternal side. But if they misuse the power, it’ll be gone forever. The main plot revolves around finding a murderer in the neighbourhood and the couple is super cute!!! Tw for gore, murder, blood, etc, but I just skipped the scenes. (Also there’s scenes revolving around these random men and also ones about the main character’s mom and her friends, but I skipped those, they were super boring, it didn’t really affect the plot!!).

Moment at Eighteen: So this is basically about a high school, and it takes 3 stereotypical characters (the quiet, new transfer, the topper, and the happy-go-lucky responsible girl) and basically shows their backstories and how they are not how they seem to be. The characters start out as enemies, but by the end they’re all best friends, but it shows the whole difficult path in getting there, all the ups and downs, it’s actually very realistically portrayed!!! Super super cute!!! (but a bit weird, tw for murder and death). Also the ending had me in tears...

Suspicious Partner: So this was about a girl who was falsely convicted of the murder of her ex-boyfriend and she’s trying to prove her innocence, etc etc. The character dynamic is super cute and funny!!! I didn’t ever finish it because I didn’t like the actors that much :/ But the character dynamic is super cute!!!

Hospital Playlist: Okay so my sister’s watching this right now, so I’m not a hundred percent sure how good this is, but it’s about a bunch of like young doctors who are best friends who form a band on the side, and again, the character dynamic seems super cute!!!

Vincenzo: Okay so tw for quite a bit of blood and gore, but it’s about an Italian mafia guy who’s a lawyer fighting crime with his partner, apparently it’s super cute, I haven’t watched it personally but my sister loved it and there’s quite a community on tumblr, so it ought to be good!!!

[blind-rats]

The ability of fans to shape and change the art they enjoy is nothing new. In 1893, the reaction to Arthur Conan Doyle killing off Sherlock Holmes was so intense that he eventually resurrected him ten years later. Historian Greg Jenner, the author of the forthcoming book Dead Famous (a study of the history of fame), has even tracked the characteristics of modern fandom back to the 1700s when rival supporters of English theatre actresses would compete for dominance like Team Aniston or Team Jolie.  

And to the 1920s, where fan groups would write thousands of letters to movie studios demanding their favorite actor be given better roles. “It was the same thing,” he says, “as Sonic the Hedgehog having weird teeth and people going, ‘No, that’s not the game I played as a kid, you need to fix it or I am not giving you any money.’” 

The last decade or so has witnessed huge changes in the awareness, perception, and tools of fandom. In terms of television and film, the enormous successes of Game of Thrones and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have introduced geek culture – and its brand of participatory fandom – to the mainstream. At the same time, the internet – and more specifically social media – has amplified fans’ voices, while also breaking down the boundaries between them and the artists they love/hate.

Yet the extent to which the internet has changed the very nature of fandom is debatable. According to leading media scholar Henry Jenkins, whose 1992 book Textual Poachers is considered the founding text of fan studies, it has merely “increased the scope and scale of the fan community, allowed for ongoing interactions amongst fans, and made the entertainment industry more aware of the kind of fan responses which have been occurring all along”.

Case in point: in 1968, Star Trek fans – a group who essentially invented the framework of modern fandom – orchestrated a huge and successful letter-writing campaign to save the show from cancellation. Then, in subsequent years, they also popularised fan fiction as we now know it, publishing stories for each other in zines, and pioneering the homoerotic literary sub-genre of slash fiction (the term ‘slash’ literally derives from the punctuation between Kirk / Spock).

Now fans weaponize hashtags and online petitions to revive shows like The Expanse and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or to take showrunners to task with criticisms of their blind spots and choices. One notable example is the teen show The 100, which sparked ire in 2016 after killing off one of the show’s prominent gay characters; an act that was seen by many to perpetuate the ‘bury your gays’ trope that has been prevalent in TV and film. And as for fan fiction? There is, most famously, E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey series, which was inspired by Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight and originally posted on a fan website. But, beyond that, there is also the platform Archive of Our Own, which in 2019 won a Hugo award for its archive of more than 4.7 million fan-written stories.

“Fans engaging actively with the materials of their culture has improved our world in countless ways,” says Jenkins. “Television, as it exists today, is largely a response to modes of engagement that fans have modeled over the past several decades – [a form] where more attention is paid to backstories and secondary characters, where there is a greater degree of serialization and the core mythology is sustained across multiple media platforms, and which builds in space for exploration and speculation. And now, which seeks to be more diverse and inclusive in whose stories get told… Many of today’s critical darlings are following practices that were modeled first in fan fiction.”

Perhaps one of the most profound changes of the last 10 years is the extent to which the entertainment industry has begun to exploit the passion of fanbases for their own commercial ends. “The industry needs fans more than ever before,” explains academic Suzanne Scott, author of Fake Geek Girls, a study of the gender politics of fandom. “They need fans to ensure big opening weekends at the box office, they need them as promotional labor to create more ‘authentic’ excitement around a media object, or to distinguish one text from the glut of content that we are constantly choosing between as consumers.” Just take the techniques employed by Netflix, who have become masters of facilitating ‘organic’ conversation around their output.

On the more extreme end of the spectrum, they even rely on them as investors. A famous example being the 2014 big-screen revival of cult TV detective drama Veronica Mars, a sequel made possible only by the crowdfunding efforts of fans, and which subsequently led to a 2019 TV return on streaming service Hulu. 

With the latter series, this equal partnership dynamic started to become complicated, however, with fans recoiling in horror when creator Rob Thomas killed off love interest Logan. 

To quote journalist Constance Grady, writing for Vox: “Thomas, they said, had taken advantage of their desire to see Veronica and Logan together, using their investment as shippers to leverage not just their time and attention, but the literal dollars out of their pockets. In that case, didn’t he owe them something?”

Jenkins thinks it’s a fair question. “The sense of ownership reflects the way humans have always engaged with stories,” he says. “We use stories to make sense of who we are. We use stories to debate our values, fears, and aspirations. We display our attachment to stories in various ways and we define ourselves through which stories mean the most to us. There’s nothing odd about this. What is odd is the idea that corporations want to claim a monopoly over the storytelling process, resist input from their audience, and lockdown stories from further circulation and elaboration.”

CLICK THE LINK FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

[shesawriter39049]

|CV SQUAD | Social media AU

MIAMI   NEW YORK    LONDON  LA

CV SQUAD TAKE: MIAMI,NEW YORK, LONDON, LA

AU WARNING: SMUT WISE, THERE WILL BE A MIXTURE (F/M) (M/M) (M/F/M) SO IF THAT OFFENDS YOU DO NOT READ ONCE POSTED!

JIMIN/OC CENTERED AU (OT7 SUB FOCUS, THE OTHER MEMBERS ARE IN THIS A LOT)

SOCIAL MEDIA AU : SMUT/HUMOR/LIQUOR/LANGUAGE/RECREATIONAL DRUGS

POSSIBLE LIGHT ANGST IN THE FUTURE

BACKSTORY:

Jimin (23), Y/N (24), Namjoon (25),Yoongi (25), and Jungkok(21) all met in college, for Media Arts, and ended up coming together for the sole purpose of a group project. From that “Candid Vibes” was born a podcast hosted by Jimin, Y/N , and Namjoon that’s now streamed by millions 3 days of the week.

“Candid Vibes” is a space where you're free to talk about everything from politics to bullshit. Nothing's off limits and no opinions wrong, your free to think and feel how you want...the only requirement is that you leave filters and judgments at the front door. Fast forward 4 years, and a couple million followers later and you have the “CV Squad Tour” to celebrate their podcast turning 3 and there youtube channel which just hit two million subs turning 1 year old! A mixture of content dances through there Youtube channel streaming a live recording of the podcast once a week , as well as daily/weekly vlogs, behind the scenes footage ETC.

One of the many perks to their social media presence is of course the sponsorships, starting with the fact that JETTLY volunteered to sponsor the air transportation. Of course in exchange for “clout” ...pictures, hashtags, snaps, vlog  footage..you name it, as well as AirBnb are handiling the living accommodations. In addition to numerous other brand deals which I’m sure you’ll see tagged in almost every tour related post this group uploads over the next 16 days. Especially because they've also created a separate IG account specifically for the tour appropriately titled CVSQUADTOUR.

OH, then there's that, their going to 4 different places over a 16 day span, each city having its own live podcast, filmed in front of an audience that holds between 3-5 thousand people. As well as a meet and greet the day before the show, and an afterparty at a club immediately after the podcast wraps. The show has always been known for being very interactive with it’s listeners, as well as having an alternating guest host at least once a month. One of their listeners favorite guests come from another popular Youtube Channel “TEAMJTH” or simply Jin (25) Hoseok (25) and Taehyung (23) (Try guys/ Buzzfeed unsolved vibes, they all have individual talents that gained them followers. But together they are known for their chemistry,personality and just randomly hilarious videos).

This threesome will also be joining them on tour, not making an appearance on every show..there tagging along more so just for shits and giggles. But they will make appearances at, at least 2 of the 4 live podcasts along with a couple of the after parties! This octet entered the game around the same time,and despite all the rumors and fake drama scandals trying to pin them against each other. As the years progress they’ve only managed to get even closer, in more ways than one.

*****Essentially, TEAMJTH, live almost an hour away, and also have there own thriving careers and YT channels, so they don’t hang out with the members of the CV SQUAD every day. Not to say they don’t talk on a regular basis but they probably only see each other like 3 times a month. So anything that has or hasn’t happened sexually in the past between the 8 of them(Even within the CV SQUAD who live together) it’s not a common occurrence, it’s also not something that’s “expected”. 

But  It’s been a while since they’ve all been together in this sort of setting, which makes things even more tempting ! I.E living and traveling together, going out to clubs, immense amounts of alcohol and  jet lag....

****The plan is 4 parts...one per city..

I’m NOT promising smut/smutty moments with EVERY member but at least 4-5 of them!

-All of the ‘Characters” are BI including the OC, also Yoongi is the CV squads manager/creative director, while Kookie is there videographer and editor!  

There all very tanned BTW since they live in CA

JIMIN-(SY TOUR Jimin, when his hair was dark and kinda long all over, parted down the middle! Jimin is tatted a pierced(s) though...you’ll just have to wait and see where!) 

NAMJOON- (BWL ice blonde joonie, lightly tatted, and maybe an unexpected piercing or two...) 

HOSEOK (5TH MUSTER Hobi style wise, long and parted down the middle, BUT color, it’s that deep burgundy-ish brown he had once the bright red started to fade.  He also has a tiny hoop in his nose, and one tattoo but it’s a big one.

TAEHYUNG (5TH MUSTER Tae Tae, long ,wavy, fluffy, either messily falling in his face or parted down the middle when straight. Taehyung has his tongue pierced and that’s all I’ll give away 

KOOKIE (5TH MUSTER/FLUFFY AIRPORT Kook, just long, dark,bouncy and typically parted down the middle. Kookie has a half sleeve 

JIN (5TH MUSTER/ Jin with his fluffy lavender hair )

YOONGI- (Ice blue/blonde MIC DROP/DNA ERA YOONGI) Pierced Yoongi…….

Y/N( OBV I keep this vague but she’s tatted as well, and has her nipples, and nose are  pierced.. Aesthetically she is an influencer though so, nails,hair,makeup...the common outline lol )

I have a OT7 series ���Private sessions” and after part 1 I didint like the way that one panned out...so this will somewhat replace that one...BUT this has nothing to do with “LOFT 26″ part 2 is coming VERY soon!

PART 1 

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITS 

PART 1

PART 2 

NO PREMIER DATE AS OF YET: BUT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS SECRETLY FOR A WHILEEEEEEEE! I JUST REFUSED TO POST ABOUT IT UNTIL I DID AN UPDATE ON MY MAFIA SERIES!

LOVE YOU GUYS AS ALWAYS,

ROCKI!

[veroticker]

Merciless - Willow Winters

Summary (from Willow Winter’s website)

I should’ve known she would ruin me the moment I saw her.

Women like her are made to destroy men like me.

I couldn’t resist her though.

Given to me to start a war; I was too eager to accept.

But I didn’t know what she’d do to me. That she would change everything.

She sees through me in a way no one else ever has.

Her innocence and vulnerability make me weak for her and I hate it.

I know better than to give in to temptation.

 A ruthless man doesn’t let a soul close to him.

A cold-hearted man doesn’t risk anything for anyone.

A powerful man with a beautiful woman at his mercy … he doesn’t fall for her.

Blurb

“The last thing you should know, and the most important of them all, is that I refuse to break. I don’t give in and I don’t back down. Not for anyone, and especially not for Carter Cross. The bastard who took me from my family. Locked me in a room and told me in simple words that my life was over, and I belonged to him.

It won’t be his cutting words from his sharp tongue. Or his broad shoulders and muscular arms that pin me down and trap me. It won’t be his charming smile that utters filthy words that makes me cave. And it won’t be that spark in his eyes, the flames licking and flickering brighter and hotter every time he looks at me.

No, I refuse to give in. Even if that same heat echoes in my chest and travels lower.

But there’s this thing about breaking; the more you harden yourself and try to fight it, the easier and sharper the snap is when you inevitably break.

And I know this all too well.”

(review under the cut)

Review

I wasn’t prepared for Willow Winters’ writing. It’s slow, insightful, deep and very emotional. Sometimes, almost nothing happens for a whole chapter, except inside the head of Aria or Carter. And yet, there’s so much tension that adrenaline flows. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time, and I couldn’t wait before I read the next book (stay tuned, I’ll post reviews when I finish the series).

Let’s face it though, it’s pretty dark, with no light at the end--or so it seems for now. Not everyone cup of tea. But Winter made me feel for a murderous and abusive asshole. Quite embarassing.

All the context with war between mafia gangs and drug dealings and everything else is well thought out. There’s a bit of crime/thriller in MERCILESS. Of course it goes well with the dark part of the romance.

There’s some drama too. Carter’s backstory will make you cry--and you’ll feel guilty afterwards. No cardboard character here. All of them are fleshed out and appealing at some level. Only cliché: in this world of crime, the pretty ones aren’t as bad as the ugly ones, or so Willow Winters wants you to think; way to point at the real villains here.

If you aren’t afraid to read about cringy sexual encounters, grab MERCILESS and enjoy a love story born in the darkness.

Quickie

Series: Merciless #1 (4 books with a cliffhanger every time)

Hashtags: #mafia romance #enemies-to-lovers #dark romance

Triggers: beware, dubcon of the highest level; also, lots of violence (at least mentioned)

Main couple: Aria Talvery & Carter Cross

Hotness: 5/5

Romance: 4/5 if you like it dark; 2/5 if not

+ the relationship between the Cross brothers

- cliffhanger ;_;

Stalker mode

You can suscribe to Willow Winter’s newsletter on her website.

You can also follow her on Facebook.

[bookandcover]

This book is full of chaotic joy. At times, I would use the fan fiction hashtag “crack treated seriously.” At others, this feels like a thoughtful exploration of wish-fulfillment, fashioning a regency alternate universe that simply happens on the author’s terms. And, as there are still so many queer novels that are tragedies and where the weight of the world shapes and prematurely interrupts lives and relationships, a world that is queer and joyful seems merited, and fresh.

That being said, this book is definitely bizarre. It seemed that just whenever I’d settled into the story and was starting to analyze some of the larger themes and character development something so unexpectedly absurd would happen that I’d be knocked off my analytical perch again. Maybe this is deliberate.

In this delightfully silly, laugh-out-loud romp, it seems that protagonist Valentine is the only one living in “regency England as we know it.” A closeted character who hasn’t exploded his identity, his sexuality, or really anything that might give him a sense of purpose or joy, Valentine feels bound by duty to marry the woman his father picked out. The fact that he has absolutely no interest in doing this and feels nothing for this woman (or women, or even people, in general) doesn’t seem to give him pause or cause him to examine his thoughts and feelings. It seems that, in a stilted society, nothing riggers a realization for Valentine that he might be different than others.

But his proposal to his intended, the strong-minded Arabella Tarleton, knocks Valentine off-course and into what seems to be a parallel universe that operates according to the laws and ideals of the Tarleton twins. This is a world filled with romance, drama, and idealism. And it’s not only in the twins’ minds and it’s not only of their orchestration. The various supporting cast members—from childhood genderqueer Peggy to lesbian couple Miss Fairfax and Miss Evans to the alarmingly ever-present older gay Sir Horley Comewithers—are all queer, too. Their logic aligns more closely with Belle and Bonny’s than with the world Valentine has always known.

Whimsically (and perhaps too easily and only when it’s necessary for the plot) the outside world drops back into the book. Valentine is too troubled to accept his growing feelings for Bonny because he can’t conceive of a life free from duty. In the fairy dust magic way that many things in this book operate, Valentine’s mother waves these worries away with a flick of her hand at the end of the novel. This does make the central tension of the novel feel a bit trite. If Valentine’s concerns and his understanding of the “real world” are not based in truth and in real stakes for a gay relationship, then why is he the way that he is? Has he grown up nearly delusional in a world that looks more like Belle and Bonny’s truth? This seems to undercut the ending of the book when Valentine embraces Bonny’s worldview and romantically proposes to him, promising him the future of which they both now dream. This happy ending seems a deliberate choice of Valentine’s to let his own worries and rigidity go and to follow his heart.

In a similar fashion, the logic of Belle’s act of shooting Valentine near the end of the book relies on her having grown up in the patriarchal “real world.” That’s a world that would have taught her to fear a man who pursues her across the country, that instilled the idea that a man could in every legal sense claim ownership over her. If Belle’s life has always been as full of acceptance and as populated by diverse queer characters as it is in the space of this novel, how could she have ended up someone who shoots Valentine instinctively in that moment? How could both she and Bonny have ended up such adventure-seeking, book-reading dreamers?

I may be over-thinking this. It’s hard to reconcile regency social standards and this queer alternative universe without running into some problems of stakes and character backstory (how did Valentine get so weirdly stiff if everyone else, including his own mother who presumably raised him, is so hip?) But these hand-wavy parts don’t take away from the central joy and humor of the book (I mean, the side character who appears at every lewd moment is named Sir Horley Comewithers, after all!) And, even as absurd as many of these characters are, I found both Valentine and Bonny to be quite likable. Belle plays an interesting foil for Bonny, whose self-awareness seems clear in contrast to his more self-focused sister. He’s sweet and silly, but ultimately clearly cares for Valentine and has for a long time. He’s quick to see the good in Valentine and his faith is rewarded by Valentine’s personal growth.

Valentine’s character is at turns sympathetic (as the one teased and bullied by the group) and genuine (particularly in his exploration of his sexuality). Another part of this book that I definitely over-thought was my interest in Valentine’s character being somewhere on the asexuality spectrum, which seemed to align well with much of his experiences and feelings before meeting Bonny. Upon meeting and falling for Bonny, Valentine jumps quite quickly through his sexual journey, and, while I like the implication that a gray ace character can experience attraction and have an uniquely individualized ace experience, I wished for more reflection on that leap. Although, again, that’s probably asking too much of this book because a real examination of asexuality within the sex positive space Belle and Bonny inhabit would have dramatically changed the tone of this book.

I think this book knows what it is and stays within in the bounds of joyful suspension of disbelief. This brings to mind something Ngozi Ukazu said about her decision to write the iconic Check, Please! in the brightly colorful way that she did (in the form of a comic), coming off a previous project that was a brutal, thoroughly-researched piece about the life of a gay athlete that was steeped in the weight and trauma of reality. Did I, at times, wish to see more of the real tension of the time period in Something Fabulous? Sure. But that would have been a very different story, and something decidedly less like what period writers might have called “a delightful romp.”

[curriebelle]

just here to pitch the idea that if Fjord is indeed sneeple, he may not know that he is? like in Discworld, Carrot for a long time didn't know he was human and just thought he was a tall dwarf, so like, what if Fjord just thinks he's a weird looking half-orc?

HMMMMM anon I am of two minds here. On the one hand, I a d o r e the idea of Fjord being a surprise sneeple, because there ain’t nothing like surprising a player with secret hecked-up origins to create the hashtag drama

On the other hand, I remember Taliesin’s advice about character building, which is “don’t tell the DM anything about your character that your character doesn’t know.” Travis clearly knows Something is up with Fjord, teasing us all with those details about the tusks and such, and saying that things about his backstory will ‘eventually come to light.’

So as much as I’d love that to be true, I guess I’m doubtful? But SECRET SNEEPLE WOULD BE NEAT :D