#also still find it pretty funny that when it comes to chinese retellings of the og classic

[sketching-shark]

While there's unfortunately no English subtitles, you can watch a Peking opera version of Havoc in Heaven free on youtube here:

Between the acrobatics, incredible costumes and makeup, and clear fun that the actors are having in their roles, it's definitely worth a watch!

[craziigamerchick]

My Prediction: Grace is Alive

Unpopular opinion here I know. I know SK said she was dead and she may very well be but till I see REAL ghost Grace, her funeral, or a flashback to her dead body then nope I won’t believe it.

I didn’t actually believe she was alive till after the 5th season. But down below I’ll list the signs I’ve seen throughout the show that I think point to her not really being dead.

Grace is all over season 5 but the signs I’ve seen that point to her not being dead are in episode 4 and 5.

For starters the swans represent Grace this season as told in an article from Den of Geek.  Which is a big theme for episode 4.

So episode 4 is called The Loop and there are quite of bit of things that are repeating in this episode from previous seasons. Actually I’d say this whole season feels like a loop. But anyways for the Grace clues...

We have only 2 scenes this season in the Garrison snug which are both in this episode back to back. This is also where the swans are present. So we are to be thinking of Grace during these scenes. 

The first scene is with Mrs.Conners, she is there because her 3 songbirds (goldfinch’s) were killed by her husband. Now I believe the songbird represents Grace along with the swan. As she’s already been linked to the blackbird in s3 and s4 which is also a songbird. Plus one definition of songbird is: a female singer, which she is. When Mrs.Conner says “their singing was the only pretty thing in my life” it focuses on Tommy and the swans to the side of him. I’m sure he thinks the same of Grace and her singing. 

Now I also think songbirds represent the Shelby’s in general or at least Goldfinch’s do. Mosley talks of Tommy being a songbird and his singing beautifully in the house and in that same scene he calls Ada a finch. Then when Tommy tells Mrs.Conner Arthur will go get her 3 new Goldfinch’s she says she’ll name them Tommy, Arthur, and Finn. So that’s all 4 siblings being linked to a finch.

Mrs.Conner leaves and here comes Brilliant Chang. Now don’t forget this happens in the room with the swans that represent Grace.

Shows Chang sitting down right where the swan is unlike Mrs.Conners. We really didn’t see the swan behind her because it wasn’t important. But I believe we saw Chang sit right where the swan was because we are to link him specifically to Grace. Just check out this dialogue:

Chang: My name is Brilliant Chang

Arthur: Brilliant Chang is dead

Chang: Perhaps. Sometimes, I wonder... Is this heaven? Doesn’t smell like heaven. So I would say I have survived.

Now that might not seem like a big deal but the real Brilliant Chang got deported in 1924 and was never thought to be dead (the year here is 1929). So they essentially just made this scenario up for the show and they decide to do it in the room that has Grace motif’s all over it. Yeah...

After Arthur thinks Finn has been shot by Chang’s accomplice he pulls a gun on him. Watch Chang stare down Arthur, it’s exactly like Grace’s with Kimber and IRA man she shot. 

After this Chang puts the “purest” opium on the table. Pure truth he calls it. Which the opium also represents Grace, as you know that’s what Tommy drinks to hallucinate her and quite literally later as she takes the opium’s place on the barge in Tommy’s hallucination.

When Chang gives the Opium to Tommy as a gift, Tommy’s line is “I’ll throw it in the canal” which is just like his line to Grace in 1.06 “One day we’ll throw this gun in the canal”.

So now we have 4 things that represent Grace. The songbird, Swans, Chang, and Opium. Those will be important later.

The Next big scene we have is when Tommy hallucinates Grace in his office after Mosley leaves and she’s blaming him for her death. He can’t even look at her in this scene. It goes straight from this scene to him standing on bridge looking down, He see’s the January with Grace half covered in the coals (she’s in the spot the opium would be).

He runs to Ada to tell her about his vision (hallucination) of Grace even though it’s 2 AM. He tells Ada “Grace was there. But she was still alive. The name of the barge was the January”. Now this sticks out to me because he says she was still alive. It made no sense to me while this is the hallucination he says this about. He’s been talking to her and seeing her in other places but doesn’t say anything like that. He knows she’s not real so what gives. Then I read in the article above they originally had a swan that swimming in front of the barge but decided to cut it. So this scene was supposed to be the one you linked the swan imagery to Grace but since they cut it most people won’t know that the swan represents her through this series. 

So here we have a swan in front of the barge that has Grace on it in place of the opium which Chang called “pure truth” and Tommy saying she was alive. Also, she’s not on just any barge but the January which is the boat Tommy had his healing journey on in s2. Hmm...He even says at one point to Ada “there is a part me that is unfamiliar to myself and I keep finding myself there and only the January can get me away”...Is that the shows way of saying that Grace being alive would help heal him like the January did in s2?

Now I agree with Ada that the black barge signals guilt for him too especially with Grace inside it. Even though he won’t admit it to anyone, we all know he feels guilty about her death. 

Now about the Swan Lake Ballet. Polly tells Michael that Tommy want to impress someone which is Mosley this time but who is the other person he was constantly trying to impress. It’s the shows way of reminding you of her without saying her name.

When we get to the Lizzie’s party the first scene is with Michael and Gina Grey (Tommy and Grace lite lol). Tommy and Grace’s Secret Portrait are featured in most of this scene. They even focus on it at the end of their scene. Maybe the horse was named Grace’s Secret because her secret is she’s alive. The paintings are supposed to have a storyline of their own but we’ve never actually seen it. That portrait is the portrait we’ve seen every season (or a version of it) so it’s important. SK already had the series mapped out by s2 just hadn’t written it yet so it wouldn’t surprise me.

Now another thing that caught my attention, when Gina is telling Michael he’ll be replacing Tommy and he asks where Tommy will be she replies “where he wants to go to most”. We all think of that as death but let’s be honest, it’s with Grace. That’s what tips him over the edge every time to actually try to commit suicide (to be with her). So if she’s dead that’s where but if she’s not then it’s wherever she is.

On to another scene, in the scene between Mosley and Tommy having a brandy before the play we see pictures on the table with the liquor. There’s quite a few on there but Grace’s is the lightest one on the table and the one our eyes are drawn to. It’s a way to remind us of her again and look it’s her undercover picture. 

Now we have the Swan Lake ballet. @korinthya has an exceptional analysis on this and what it means for the Peaky universe. So I’d go check it out if you’re interested. 

We only see the swan dancing and not much of the story but as she’s dancing, Linda rolls up in her car and when she gets out she’s wearing a dress with songbirds on it!

She gets shot the exact same time as the Swan does. It looks like both Linda and the swan are dead (just Like Grace) but at the last second it makes a point to show the swan open her eyes. No need to do that unless it was important to the narrative because there is no other scene connected to that shot. Also, normally the swan dies by drowning not getting shot, so they changed that specifically to mirror Grace.

Once the next episode starts (ep5) we see that Linda has not died (the songbird lives). She was just shot in the arm, the same side as Grace (which is funny because Aberama and Finn were shot in the almost exact same spots this season and lived too). Now this scene could be a retelling of what sort of happened with Grace, not exact of course. Think about it, this whole season has been a loop of events. Working with the Chinese, the white flag truce, the bartender is a spy, there is a singer in the bar, Tommy shooting a horse, him doing his arm gesture in 5x01 like he did 3x01 with the no f’ fighting scene, ect. There’s so much more if you look. 

So lets look at the key things from this scene with Linda and see what could have happened after Grace got shot.. Tommy is pulling Arthur away and telling him to go outside till it’s done (Linda getting the bullet out), which if you remember in 4x01 he told Polly to let the nurses and doctors do their job too. So it’s not out of the realm of impossibility that he let the doctors work on Grace and him not be in the room (she was still moving by the end of 3x02 so I don’t doubt she was alive when an ambulance got there).  Tommy also says the bullet is still in there, it’s above the bone which could also be what happened to Grace. Don’t forget it looks like she got shot right on her collarbone not under it. This is part is important and can be a big clue as to how someone could pass her off as dead, Tommy sends Arthur out to get some Opium for Linda but Polly has some of her own and so Tommy gives it to Linda while Arthur is still out of the room. She passes out and then Arthur comes in the room and thinks she’s dead. He doesn’t even realize she’s alive until Tommy tells him that she’s ok and he gave her something to knock her out. 

That could easily be what happened to Grace. Tommy might have let the doctors do their work, someone slipped her something (maybe section D, they did say they can get to anyone anywhere and they were there at the party) and when Tommy came back in it looked like she was dead. He might not have been able to handle looking at her like that and left. Remember in his hallucination in his office where she is holding the stone, bleeding and accusing him of her death he can’t look at her once. It might have been the same way in the hospital. 

We also have another loop in this scene. Arthur is saying that Polly should have let him take the bullet (the original bullet was meant for Arthur but Polly stepped in and saved him) and it’s a repeat of the original bullet that Grace took was meant for Tommy. So the brothers were supposed to take a bullet but nope the wife ended up getting it. It doesn’t stop there during this scene either. We have another loop. Polly tells Arthur, Aberama wants him as his best man at their wedding just like Tommy wanted him as his best man at his wedding in 3x01.

Seriously just watch this season over and see how many loops there are. There is so many it’s unreal.

In the next scene with Linda and Arthur, she leaves him. which is essentially what Grace did with Tommy (voluntary or not it happened). 

Then there is Ben Younger which is also some of a loop. He’s a British intelligence officer like Grace was.  He’s having threats made to him by Section D because of Tommy (don’t forget they threatened Tommy’s family). He even brings up Section D’s history with Tommy. Tommy tells Ada “he pushed him to report on the Fascists” which is a loop of him telling the Gypsy lady “he pushed some people to far” (about the Italians). Saying he is guilty of both their death’s. He tells Ada that Section D or the intelligence branch had him killed (the loop here is that is who could have took Grace). Then some other things that connect younger to Grace also, Tommy said his death would go down as “an IRA assassination of a British Military Officer” which is what happened to Grace’s father. Then we see neither Grace’s or Ben’s dead bodies or funerals. Plenty of loops here. I do think Ben is dead though. The loop with Grace for him is the connections to section D and maybe the excuse to as how she died. I bet they didn’t say she was shot by an Italian in revenge. The ladies at the institute know of her death and aren’t afraid of Tommy so I bet they had a good cover.

Back to Chang, in his next scene we have talk of the police, Irish, and Opium. Which can be associated with Grace. He also talks about the Uncles being mad. That is the part that caught my attention. It was just a quick one liner that didn’t make much sense but remember the only family member we seen of Grace is her uncle and he was not happy about the marriage. 

Arthur then says “F’ your uncles. And your aunts, your cousins, all of them Right?” which reminds me of Tatiana’s line in s3 “Brothers gave sisters, aunts gave uncles, fathers gave daughter and servants”. The deliveries were identical. So another loop.

Now I Think that’s most of the symbolism in S5. 

Before I end this post I want to talk about SK saying Grace is dead. He’s probably not lying but it doesn’t have to mean dead like we think. Look at both Alfie in season 5 and Polly in s4, both say they died (when they had an attempt on their life) but are actually still alive. I mean even Aberama calls Polly a ghost in their kissing scene in s4. So I could see the same thing happening to Grace. She is dead like them but also still alive. 

I mean isn’t that Tommy’s thing? He died in the war but he’s still here. Aren’t him and Grace the same but also mirrors? So who she was when she shot could very well be dead and a different Grace (maybe even different name if undercover) emerged and SK could still say she’s dead because hey guess what in context of the show she is, just like Polly, Alfie, Tommy, Danny Whizzbang(was), Chang, and Arthur (his fake out in s4).

If she does come back I don’t see it happening until maybe 11 years have passed. 11 seems to be the special number between Tommy and her. When Tommy has his soldiers minute in s1 the time on the watch is 11. Then before they sleep together in s2 Grace tells Tommy “it’s too late” and he says “Grace it’s 11:00″ and her replay is no “no I mean it’s too late”. So it’s not about time at all. I could see her coming back 11 years later and her telling Tommy it’s too late. 

Now while I don’t think she is dead (final) after watching season 5 and going back through the seasons if I ever do see real ghostGrace I will hang up that theory. But the more I pay attention the more I see that something is amiss.

Ok, I’m done now. I may do a post about s3 and s4 and the signs there but this post is long enough as it is.

[vivithefolle]

Can you rec some Ronarry fics? (Preferably long ones?) Sorry if I'm annoying you.

You’re not annoying me at all, Anon! :D Thought I’m super frustrated because I’ve read one very long fic that has Ron searching for Harry, who has amnesia and ran away to America (and is gay but nobody knew that) and Ron realizes he’s in love with Harry and the fic has about 30 chapters and it’s on FFN but I can’t find it!! x_x

Sooo… I didn’t find that many long fics but I can give you a long list of them if you want?

Beautiful FriendIt took six years for Harry to learn something in History of Magic.This one. Oh my lord this one… it’s short, but it’s amazing. It’s full of lovely lively details and Harry’s description of Ron is… aaaww.

Life DrawingDean watches, and sees something unexpected.Again, the descriptions! My lord the descriptions, and also you will relate very much to Dean if you’ve ever worked with pencils.

Something They Can Barely SeeHarry has no idea how to tell his best friend he wants more that friendship. He’s pretty sure this would be hell of a lot easier if he knew for sure how Ron felt about him.This one is plenty cute. Ron is adorable and Harry… Harry’s trying his best. :’D

Our Inner BeastsLater, Madam Pomfrey would tell them that both Bill and Ron were going to survive. But she had no idea what the effects of a werewolf bite, when the werewolf was still in human form, could do to their behavior.Okay, who’s up for writing more Creature!Ron fics? Seriously. Someone do some more of those. Here we have Ron as a werewolf, aggressive, feral, self-loathing… doesn’t matter, Harry loves him.

Running with the Wolf, Loving the Mansnapshots of Harry Potter’s life with a werewolf boyfriendFollow-up of Our Inner Beasts. Someone heard our prayers and gave us more Werewolf!Ron, and it’s as wonderful as it sounds.

What HappenedThat’s just the thing, though. He doesn’t know what happened. He can’t pinpoint a single event where everything suddenly made sense. There was no epiphany or choir of angels or aligning of stars, or any of the other rubbish Parvarti goes on about in the Great Hall. There’s no one moment when he realized, “Oh.”Ron and Harry’s friendship, only it’s not just friendship. The last line will make you want to put on some epic music.

Follow The Butterflies“Why did it have to be spiders?” Ron moaned. “Why couldn’t we follow the butterflies?” Harry privately agreed with his best friend, but if there was anything Hogwarts had taught him, then that if he didn’t do something, no one would. “I promise the next time we have to follow anything, it will be butterflies.”Harry and Ron’s friendship again, with more butterflies thrown in the mix. It’s just as perfect as it sounds. If you don’t ship Harry/Ron, this fanfic might just change your mind.

Sonnets of Magical InterferenceHarry receives some strange notes about his love life, or lack thereof.By the end of that fic, you might just cheer for a very controversial character.

HeavenHarry’s heaven includes Ron.Features Ron being emotional over a movie, Chinese takeout, and Harry being a sap. What more could you ask for?

Harry Potter And The World That Went Bloody Insane“I know something you don’t know” is, apparently, the essence of Harry Potter’s love life. Harry’s certain that the world has been reading one too many romance novels, but then, Harry’s always been a bit oblivious.Featuring Protective!Attentive!Caring!Ron and Oblivious!Harry in their stinky flat and everyone shipping Harry/Ron. It’s awesome.

Check MateHarry questions his dreams, Ron has a scary one of his own, Hermione and Cho plot, and Seamus and Dean obsess.Harry’s subconscious has lots of funny ideas. Ron is ridiculously cute. Might be a bit difficult to read because of FFN’s shitty formating for line breaks.

On The OutsideHarry doesn’t think there’s much point to his being gay. He can’t have regular sex, he can’t have children, and he can’t tell his best friend he’s in love with him.Ron is utterly adorable, do I really have to say it? Why, yes, yes I do.

Newton’s LawFor every action, there is an equal and opposite reactionCheck out this author’s other Harry/Ron fics. I especially like Brass Ring; in the meantime, have a rather in-character reaction of Hermione and Ginny finding out about their ex-boyfriends dating. Hey, not my fault if JKR doesn’t know how to write strong female characters without making them abusive.

Sleeping BeautyThe most gen ever retelling of Sleeping Beauty.Who cares if it’s gen, it’s amazing. Harry sleeps, Ron is wonderful, and ants get colorful.

The Complexities Of Muggle MachineryHarry bought a refrigerator. Then it was a microwave. Then a blender. Thursday was the coffee brewer. Ron really liked that last one.Ron is absolutely, heart-stoppingly, adorably cute and pretty much just like I imagine him to be around Muggle things. Harry’s lucky.

After the cupcakesThey never really talked about it but they are each other’s world. And perhaps a lazy Sunday morning is as good a time as any to finally say something.Utterly sappy and fluffy and you know me, I was mostly there for Harry’s description of Ron. It didn’t disappoint.

Sing Your LoveThroughout the years they’ve lived together, Harry has always enjoyed Ron’s singing but lately he’s been picking up hidden messages in his flatmate’s song choices.Do you like Ron singing? Do you like Ron dancing? Do you like Ron crying his heart out over an emotionally oblivious Harry? Well in that case you’ve found the perfect fic!

Snakes & LaddersAfter the final battle with Voldemort, Harry intends to get on with his life. There’s just one problem; he was supposed to have died when he confronted Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest and now the Other Side is trying to collect him. But in the space between his ‘death’ and the victory celebrations, Harry’s fallen in love… and he’s not going to give up his second chance without a fight.A complicated premise, a complicated tale, a very worried Ron, a very determined Harry, an entirely unwelcome Severus Snape coming from beyond the Veil, all leading up to an epic confrontation in the Other Side. Who knew the afterlife had a court?

Now, it’s time for… TEH SMUT! D:Every story below this text will have MATURE CONTENT. Shoo, children, shoo!

Partners (last chapter gets NSFW)What if the girls hadn’t come in just then?  What course of action would Harry, in his desperate frame of mind, have latched onto instead?This fanfic made one of my most desperate wishes come true. For those who don’t know me, I’ll just tell you that Cinderella isn’t a matter of gender.

Scars (warning: mentions of self-harm)Ron is embarrassed of his scars, and Harry might be able to help.Ron is his terribly self-loathing self, but at least Harry is there to remind him of what we Ron-lovers know: that he’s loved and beautiful.

The Matchmaker (contains sexual mention)Sir Nicholas has never had a couple like these two…Nearly-Headless Nick ships Harry and Ron. So does the entire Gryffindor House. All in all, just what we need.

Exploring The Spectrum (NSFW at the end)Ron wakes up to find he can only see in a single colour.Very interesting mystery and clever use of a forgotten plot point. The resolution is basically “sex solves everything” but otherwise it’s a great story.

Hug! Hug! Kiss! (second-to-last drabble is NSFW)Ron loses Harry in a foreign land. In other words, Harry accidentally joins a Japanese boy band.This story is ridiculous, confusing, crazy, and absolutely hilarious. No existing celebrities were harmed.

Just Another Teenage Epoch - Ron Weasley, 1999 (NSFW at the end)Ron wants to be an Auror, and he wants to not grow up, and he really wants other people to stop kissing Harry.The classic mistletoe tale! Ron is not amused at all. It’s okay, we’re rooting for him (and Harry is, too).

Trapped in Winter (NSFW at the end)Harry and Ron have an argument. When Ron goes to storm out of the room, he’s frozen in time, and when Harry touches him to see what’s the matter, they’re both transported to a snowy winter wonderland.A surprising premise that leads to a confused, hurt Ron and a tight-lipped Harry, and of course, to Harry/Ron. Pretty nice!

That We Might Be Exactly Like We Were (warning: graphic self-harm, realistic depression, themes of suicide)'Everything just takes me back, to when you were there…’This author pretty much nails what depression is like. She also has several other Harry/Ron fanfics that are written just as expertly as this one, but be forewarned, they tend to deal with very upsetting topics as well. Sadly, I could see her version of Ron existing in the canon we know.

Slow Slide (get out) to a Better Place (warning: abuse and r*pe)Harry told himself that everything was fine in his relationship with Ginny, at least until he couldn’t lie to himself anymore. And by then, he thought it might be too late.  Fortunately, he has two very good friends who will always be there for him, one of whom might eventually be something more.Downside: Ginny fans should NOT read this story. Upside: contains Vivi’s most beloved ship, Romione + Ronarry.

Prelude and Fugue (NSFW in the middle)It took over an hour, from the time Harry arrived at work, for him to realise just how different today actually was.The “Groundhog Day” loop is wonderfully done, you can actually feel the weariness building as Harry wakes up and notices it’s still Monday, bloody Monday.And Ron is absolutely adorable - yes, I’ll say it every time!

Princes of Maine (NSFW at the end)Harry wakes one morning to find an abandoned baby on his doorstep. Little does he know that this is only the beginning of his most challenging adventure yet: parenthood.You want Harry as a single parent and not knowing anything about babies? You have it. You want Ron as a competent Healer who’s sick of Harry’s shit and determined to get answers as to why his best mate is a wreck? You have it. You want Harry/Ron? What are you waiting for, dive in!

Still looking for more? Take a look at this post!

[passanima]

watched Mirror Mirror (2012) and live commented it to my friend... and ended up having a lot to say!

that whole mess under the cut

WARNING for mentions of sexual assault, rape and suicide (... yeah i was not expecting that)

good things: 

it's funny, it's original, the clothes are fantastic, they get it's a fuckin fairy tale and aren't trying to make it gritty, i love the dwarves (except one who acts kinda creepy around snow), the introduction to the movie is told by the evil queen and is computer animated in a very stylistic way and that's cool

bad things:

1/ the director is indian i believe and he made the world very multi-cultured LOOKING. the castle looks indian, there's an african inspired location, some chinese decorations... but almost everyone is white. and while in movies that are very european looking you can "forget" about how everyone being white is weird... here you have a constant reminder that... this isn't normal

2/ snow white... isn't great. i don't get what they were trying to do with her character. she's very innocent like the disney one at first and almost act like a child (and do really stupid things)... then she's trained by the dwarves to fight and becomes more badass and self-assured... which, nice. but she just... feel off? like she's not a real person. also at time things she says/does looks manipulative... and if it's done on purpose, cool i guess, that would be an interesting take on the character. but the thing is. i'm not sure it's on purpose? all the writing on her character is so obvious otherwise i don't see why they would make this part subtle. she just makes no sense

3/ the prince is awful. literally the worst character. think about the most boring disney prince. he's worst! and on top of that; a creep. he has sexist lines and has a sword fight with snow at some point where he repeatedly slap her butt. and dismiss her and tries to flirt with her. completly ignoring what she has to say.

4/ so obviously the romance between them is awful. it's a classic love a first sight but PAINFULLY literally just on appearances. like all he has to say about her is "she's so pretty... her skin... her hair... she's perfect" but it's not better in her part either. they're both shallow as fuck. and we're supposed to pretend this is true love.

5/ there's a rape joke. completely weird and unnecessary. worst, the "haha" part what that it was a man that got raped...

6/ i don't fuckin know what this movie is trying to be. it start pretending the main character is the evil queen with her narrating and SAYING it's her story not snow's. then it put emphasis on snow's father giving her a dagger, foreshadowing she's going to be a fighter princess. and her whole character arc is to go from the abused naive girl who stays at all time in her room to realizing the queen is ruining the knigdom and going all robin hood on her ass to give the money back to the people. but then she's back to classic princess with the literal worst love story. like what! is the plot! and who! is this about!

7/ this scene i just paused on. prince got under a spell to fall for the queen. snow finds out and kidnapp him. then with her dwarves she tries many things (mostly violence) to snap him out of this. until they get to fairy tale logic of "oh wait it has to be a true love kiss" so they all look a her. and she's like "this will be my first kiss" and act all bashful... but not like real bashful? again she looks manipulative for some reason. she's smiling like she just told an obvious lie and is pleased they brought it. i'm so confused over her character! but anyway the dwarves kinda flip over it and one get closer to her and says "oh i can't let this be your first kiss" and i was cheering cause i thought he meant the kiss wouldn't happen but then another dwarf got mad cause he thought the first one meant to kiss her so i was panicked but he went "of course not!" so i relaxed for a bit but it's such a rollercoster and would you believe me this isn't the worst part yet? boy... 

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so the prince was attached the whole time and remember they've been quite violent to him to far. he was crying and in pain and not understanding the situation. so that's already fucked up

but anyway what the first dwarf meant with this not being right is that... she doesn't look pretty enough for her first kiss. like. she needs to be fixed up before it. and go put make up on her. but... you know the beat up prince who's been crying for at least half an hour? let's not touch him, he's good.

i get this is a dumb point when he's literally taken as hostage but who thought... him looking gross was fine but her not wearing lipstick? disgusting!

so anyway she goes to kiss him (and did not ask for consent)... he looks at her with the most deperate face and says "please don't do this" AND AT THIS POINT I’M NOT SURE I CAN KEEP WATCHING THIS

i liked the movie over the top tone... but in this case it's just disgusting because as the rape joke this isn't taken seriously

a kidnapped, tied up, beat up man, who's been crying, and who's BEGIN to not be... like... sexually assaulted... is supposed to be funny

i don't feel full sympathy because he didn't mind sexually harassing HER earlier but what the hell, you know? 

unpaused just to see if she's stop and had to pause again because as she come closer he's visibly SCARED and keeps repeating "no"

this is obviously wrong and scary as fuck but the tone is trying to pass it as funny and i can’t deal with this

HE'S! MAKING! SOUNDS OF DISGUST! AND DISTRESS! AS SHE LEANS IN TO KISS HIM! AND THEY FUCKIN PLAY! ROMANTIC MUSIC OVER IT!

i know he's under a spell and it's good to get him out of it but it's SO creepy also i have to add they go with the true love kiss logic... but she literally has no clue if he loves her or not. she's just as bad (on matter of love) as her step mom

(it's the step-mom who put a love spell on him cause she wanted to marry him and didn't care for his consent... and look! snow assuming he loves her (because that's what she want) and kissing him without his consent!)(what the heck! you can't! make your hero do the same thing as the villain??) 

she stopped for a second and i barely had the time to be relief... for the movie to disappoint me YET AGAIN with her not actually feeling wrong about the whole situation but simply asking the dwarves to leave because she “needs privacy”

like, is she a villain?

hope we get a reveal the subtle manipulative stuff was actually planned and she's evil cause that's the only way i can accept any of that crap

"come back to me" she says to the prince

as if he's... her fuckin fiancé and not a total stranger still? does she even know his name. i don't know his name. just that he's a prince 

in fact, weird thing... i know the name of the country he's from... but not his name

is it on purpose to say he doesn't matter, is just there to be used like a toy by both the queen and princess? i'm scared i'm giving the movie too much credit like with the "snow is manipualtive" thing 

looks at this... you can't make a more "no pls don't" face

he's even sucking his lips in to show he doesn't want to be kissed... but she did anyway!

and i guess his spell was lifted cause he then looked like he was fine with it (which i feel... wouldn't happen even if you took the fake love for the queen off? like he's still in a very creepy situation)

AND the dwarves that were still here... ask to each other "do you think she's enjoying herself" and another answer "yea seems like it"

so my question is...  to enjoy kissing someone without their consent... who were VERY vocal about not consenting... what the fuck are you other than a villain?

he, uh... just thanked her

"thank you for saving me" ... for the kidnapping. and being tied up to a chair. and beaten up many times. and sexual assault. thanks for all that! 

what’s happening now is that a monster? is attacking? and snow lock them (dwarves + prince) inside to fight the monster alone. so +10 manipulative points and +10 stupidity points cause she learned combat recently and still suck at it

she says to the prince, no joke "i've read a lot of stories about princes saving princesses... i think it's time to change that" which uh

very in the face "girl power" thing that would have been fine in a different movie...

but you can't call yourself a fuckin savior after what you did to him + you can't save someone if they're not in danger (she locked them in before anything happened they just hear the monster outside)

"it was the perfect first kiss" bitch

also she's certain the monster is after her for some reason? but at no point in the movie they showed or said anything to imply that... so it just sounds like she has a big ego and think everything is about her............ a bit like the queen!

(NOW they reveal the monster act under the queen. so YES he's after her... but literally she had no reason to believe that up to this point)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the queen is enjoyable as fuck tho

it can happen that you love the villain more than the hero but here it feels so bad... liking ursula over ariel is fine cause ursula is just more fun and ariel is annoying. it's not like you cheer for ursula to win, or not fully at least. she's just more entertaining...

but here. i legitimately want the "hero" to fail, and while i know the vilain is a bad person and her winning would be awful... i would still prefer that? and that's just fucked up

ideally they would both die

what is this movie how do you fuck up your writting so bad you can't cheer for anyone

also, again, even ignoring all the sexual harassement (from fuckin both side) they have no reason to love each other... they just find the other hot and that's it. you can't pretend "true love" with that! i'm so tired of fairy tales and their retelling always fuckin that part.  if they don't have enough time to know each other and feel more than physical attraction... you have no right to use any of that true love shit!  literally WHERE is the love?!

visual cool stuff: the palace colors is white and yellow and it stays consistant in the costumes and i like when movies does fun stuff with the color coordination

we're at the last 20 minutes of the movie and the queen starts narrating again...  so we're back on this being HER story?

just choose one plot 

turns out the monster is snow’s dad under a spell (she thought he was dead for years now so that must be... fun to realize)

also the MIRROR doesn't make sense 

what the movie implies is that... instead of a witch, the queen is a regular woman who simply use the mirror's magic at her advantage 

but the mirror acts like a person and we were never told it was forced to obey the queen in any way? the mirror even seems to despise her in a very... god-like way? like someone so much more powerful that you just looking down being like "oh that's the choice you make? disappointed but not surprised" 

but if you're a person with free will and disagree on the way she use your magic... and you're not tied to her by a spell of sort... why obey her at all? 

ALSO already said snow sometimes acts weirdly suspicious/manipulative... but there's also times... the actress forgets to act? or something? where she has no reaction or the wrong one, to situations. like when she woke up in the dwarves house with all of them staring down at her... she acts really calm, barely asking questions. full situation is that it's the first time she sees them (or their house) so stranger danger, and the night before she was almost murdered and running around in the forest, panicked, until she fainted. but then she wakes up and has no reaction. completly blank. this time she discover her dad isn't dead and she she does react... but barely. like it’s not such big a deal

she's just weird and her character makes no sense

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

they do the apple scene in the most BIZARRE way

i knew it was a snow white story but i didn't expect the apple to happen anymore cause the plot went so far off the original tale

so what happen is the pince and princess get married, as much as it pains me to say it, and THEN... the queen (which i just assumed died cause she was aging extremly fast after her spell got broken and the mirror looked happy about it so i understood it was watching her die live) comes to the wedding and just after the vows are done she gets to snow and goes "it's modest but if you could accept this apple as a gift for your wedding day"

the situation is so weird because it was part of snow character developpement to wise up and not being naive as anymore AND YET she’s ready to bite into it

and just who the fuck show up at a wedding with an apple... doing the apple scene here was a choice but not one i understand!

oh WOW she does actually realize something is up and stop herself before bitting into it... i’m so glad at least one thing in this movie makes sense

AND THEN she does something interesting that remind me of a detail i wanted to talk about!

in the beginning of the movie, when the queen was narrating, we learned that her dad last gift to her was a dagger. and now at like 5 minutes before the end i was wondering... when will it show up again? technically it did before. she used it in an early scene to cut an apple (another reason i thought they would keep the apple scene out: with this being an allusion to the original tale like "haha you get the ref?") and then the dwarves gave it back to her in a fight but she didnt end up using it so i was confused

but here she is using it to cut a slice of the apple...

then smiles at the queen... and says "age before beauty" (what does that even means)(guess it's to do with the queen express aging process) and "it's important to know when you've been beaten" in such... a cunning way

no way all the weird manipulating bits she has was just random, movie pls

+ 1000 manipulative points because now she’s giving the slice to the queen

who... accept it 

cut to the mirror who says "so it was snow's story after all" like YEA i know it's been for a while you only pretended otherwise for the first ten minutes

we're back on the marriage scene and the body of the queen disappear, her clothes falling on the ground implying she did eat the poison apple on her own volution, while snow look at this happens... while smiling... and everyone around scream in confusion and panic

but now they’re clapping? why? they don't even know who it was or what happened to her. they just saw a random old woman disappear magically... are they clapping thinking it was a magic trick? again, i’m confused

snow then moves to the center of the room... looks at everyone... and for an explanation she just smiles

indi music plays and she starts dancing

i'm not... joking

she made her step mom commit suicide and is dancing about it

AND THEN START SINGING

there has been no song until now, it wasn't a musical, and again the director is indian so he can do whatever he wants, but giving this a bollywood ending with indi music, dancind and singing... when everyone is white... is super weird and tone inconsistent I DON'T GET WHAT IS HAPPENING

"i believe in love" is the lyrics of her song

but how do you believe in love when... you have no love for your spouse? or how little you cared about your dad return? or how at the beginning of the movie you were chocked by the kingdom poverty and went all robin hood for them but then completely forgot about it? or the love/forgiveness you didn't have for your step mom (not that she deserved it but)

WHAT TYPE OF LOVE DO YOU BELIEVE IN

most of the song is just “i belive in love” over and over but there’s some other bits like “follow the colors of your dream” and that makes me wonder... what is snow’s dream?

she was given no goal except for her (very short) robin hood moment. she didn’t want a man, just happened to find one. she didn’t want to kill her step mom, just did a random experiment to see if she could force her to commit suicide... so just what are those lyrics about?

every part of her song make me believe even more in my theory that she’s the real villain because she’s way too happy about this

but also this whole song segment... feels fan made? like fans who had fun dressing up as the characters and just wanted to film themselves dancing to make some kind of parody video. this just clash this badly with the rest of the movie

everyone looks happy and is singing and dancing... and i'm just left wondering... why?

a woman died (and again they do not know who she was) in a weird way where her body simply disappeared, then the new queen smiled and started singing about love and they all went with it

it's not even... like a disney movie where the song serves a role. with people singing instead of talking to keep going thru the plot but in a fun way

it just feels out of place and weird

and that’s how the movie ends! on a sudden love song pretending it's an happy ending!

and technically... it kinda is? all spells are broken, the evil queen is dead, there was a wedding...

but i just feel bad and confused and upset

because they kept pretending snow is a good person... when she acted manipulative/evil TOO MANY TIMES to be ignored

like fuck last thing she did before singing was smile in a evil way looking at her step mom dying

also it gave no explanation on the mirror's deal. it looked happy at the queen's death... but why? and also why let her use you if you hate her and what she does

all i feel about her song at the end... is that she's the evil queen now. and is doing her first spell. forcing everyone around to dance and think everything is ok when a woman just died in front of them... she's manipulating them into beliving in her and that they're happy and have nothing to worry about

but the kingdom won't get better, because snow has stopped pretending she's nice and naive, clealy showing her excitment at someone's death... and not caring about her people well being anymore. they think they won with the last queen gone...  but the new one might be worse

i even think snow will find the mirror and they'll start this game all over again

last queen thought it was her story... the mirror just looked at her making her moves, knowing what would come out of it... knowing it was snow's story 

but it's not even snow's story

because this is a loop and there will be someone else after her that will think they're using the mirror... but really it's the mirror using them for it's own entertainment

and that's why it's called mirror mirror

the mirror is the main character

[aliteraryprincess]

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

Warning: May contain spoilers

Welcome back to Fairy Tale Friday!  Princess of Glass is another book I originally read in high school and have reread a few times since.  And I loved the story of “Cinderella” as a kid, so taking another look at this book was lots of fun.  This is the second book in The Princesses of Westfalin trilogy.  You can find my post on the first book here. 

On a side note, how funny is it that the dress on the cover matches the dress Cinderella is wearing in my childhood fairy tale collection?

As a Retelling:

In Princess of Glass, George draws almost exclusively from the French version of “Cinderella” by Charles Perrault.  However, it is much less of a straight retelling of the tale than Princess of the Midnight Ball is of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.”  This is necessary since “Cinderella” is probably the most well-known fairy tale and has been retold countless times.  If an author is going to differentiate their version, they need to put a twist on it.  Most of the major elements are still included; we have a girl of noble birth reduced to working as a maid, a magical godmother, three balls, and glass slippers.  However, the main protagonist is not the Cinderella character, Ellen/Eleanora.  Instead it is Princess Poppy, whose role is equivalent to one of the stepsisters in the original story. 

Let’s start with the major difference: the villain of the story.  In most versions of the tale Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters are the villains, though in some variants it is her blood relatives.  They mistreat Cinderella, mock her, and will not allow her to attend the ball with them.  But this obviously doesn’t work if the main protagonist is in the role of the stepsister.  Instead of a stepfamily, George has Lord Richard and Lady Margaret Seadown, their daughter Marianne, and Princess Poppy, who is their cousin and guest.  Ellen is of noble birth, but her family lost their fortune, forcing her to work as a maid after her parents’ deaths.  She is employed by the Seadowns after she is dismissed from several other positions due to her inability to do the work.  Lord Richard and Lady Margaret are kind to Ellen, even offering her a dress to attend the balls.  Poppy and Marianne aren’t unkind, just increasingly frustrated with her bad attitude and horrible work. 

This leaves an opening for the villain role, and George chooses to fill it with the fairy godmother, who she calls the Corley.  The fairy godmother is actually a creation of Perrault’s; versions of the tale prior to this more often utilize the spirit of Cinderella’s dead mother or an animal helper.  Using the godmother as the villain, in my opinion, is a stroke of creative genius that brings up some questions regarding Perrault’s tale.  In other variants, Cinderella has a relationship with her helper that is built up through the story.  In Perrault’s, the godmother doesn’t appear until Cinderella is crying about not attending the ball.  Where on earth did she come from?  And if she’s really so nice, why hasn’t she stepped in sooner to save this child from abuse?  The Corley, like the villain of the first book in the series, is a formerly human sorceress who makes bargains with people to fulfill her own aims.  Ellen’s whole situation, from the ruin of her father to her incapability at housework, is orchestrated by the Corley.

As in Princess of the Midnight Ball, George provides explanations for things in the original tale that otherwise don’t hold up.  In this case it is everyone’s inability to recognize Cinderella when she is at the balls and the prince’s immediate infatuation with her.  This occurs in every version of the tale; in many of them, the stepsisters even interact with Cinderella without recognizing her!  In Princess of Glass, the Corley casts a glamour over Ellen so no one will recognize her.  It also causes all the men to fall immediately in love with her and all the women to instantly hate her.  Poppy and Roger Thwaite, a childhood friend of Ellen’s and the brother of Marianne’s sweetheart, are unaffected because they are wearing protective charms.  They start investigating what Ellen is up to and try to find ways to free their friends from the spell.    

If we’re going to talk about “Cinderella,” we of course have to mention the shoes.  The famous glass slippers are also a Perrault original; several prior versions, including the German and Chinese tales, involve golden slippers, some are just described as beautiful, and an Irish variant has multicolored shoes.  George uses Perrault’s glass slippers and makes them as horrifying as can be imagined.  The Corley pours molten glass on Ellen’s feet to form the shoes, and they cause her a lot of pain.  Even worse, after wearing them, her feet start turning into glass!  It’s the perfect contrast to the pretty and delicate shoes given by the good fairy godmother in the original.

George also puts a twist on the shoe fitting, another aspect of the original story that seems ridiculous outside of a fairy tale.  The only way the prince can recognize Cinderella is by her putting on the slipper despite the fact that they have spent three nights dancing and presumably talking together.  Apparently he can’t recognize her face!  Some retellings get around this by using a masked ball.  The final ball in George’s book is a masquerade, but the real challenge is caused by the Corley.  After the second ball, Ellen is unable to walk and realizes what a monster her supposed godmother is.  Poppy and the others come to her aid and come up with a plan for Poppy to impersonate her at the third ball.  After this, the Corley traps her and Ellen in the glass realm, and Prince Christian and the rest of their group go to save them.  Upon entering, everyone’s memories are confused; Christian can only remember that the slipper he has belongs to his true love.  The Corley presents him with Poppy and Ellen, dressed identically, and says the shoe will fit his true love.  But he doesn’t find out by trying the shoe on.  When he looks into Poppy’s eyes, he realizes it’s her, puts the shoe on her, and has his memories restored.

This brings me to the last big difference I want to discuss: Cinderella does not marry the prince in this book.  Ellen does set her sights on Prince Christian because the Corley wants her to marry him and she wants to get away from her life as a maid.  However, Christian is actually Poppy’s love interest and Ellen’s is Roger Thwaite.  This avoids the insta-love of the original story.  While Christian becomes infatuated with Ellen, it is only because of a spell; he doesn’t really know her at all.  His relationship with Poppy, on the other hand, builds through the whole book while they are visiting in Breton.  They start as friends and slowly fall in love.  And Ellen has a long-standing relationship with Roger due to growing up together.  The two couples become engaged at the end, as do Marianne and her sweetheart, Dickon.  This is an interesting variation of Perrault’s tale; his story ends with Cinderella marrying the prince and the forgiven stepsisters marrying great lords.  George’s ends with a stepsister character marrying the prince and Cinderella and the other stepsister marrying other noblemen.

My Thoughts:

I’m just as fond of this book as I am of the first in the series.  I love the twists George puts on the original story.  In some ways, she does a bit of deconstructing the fairy tale, such as when she points out how sketchy the godmother is.  Despite bringing attention to these problems, the story still ends with a happily ever after, which is really what I want most of all from a fairy tale retelling.    

George continues with her record of creating likable protagonists.  Poppy is plucky and not quite proper; she swears, plays cards, and absolutely refuses to dance.  Yet she is kind and extremely brave.  Prince Christian is another actually nice male protagonist, and most of the humor comes from his chapters in the book.  I couldn’t help but laugh at his bewilderment over the king of Breton trying to marry him off “to the highest bidder,” as he puts it in his letter to his parents.  I also like the relationship between the two and that they save each other.  Poppy frees Christian from the love spell and Christian forces his way into the Corley’s realm to rescue Poppy.  It’s a very equal relationship, which I appreciate.

George also continues to show the effects of the first book on both a personal and political scale.  Poppy suffers from nightmares about the King Under Stone’s realm, and she refuses to dance due to her time spent there.  We are also reminded of the deaths caused by the mystery of the worn out shoes.  At one ball, a noblewoman asks Poppy why she isn’t dancing.  When Poppy replies that she just doesn’t like dancing, the woman becomes offended since her godson was one of the suitors who died.  On the larger scale, the entire reason Poppy and Christian are in Breton is the strained relationships between all the countries of Ionia.  The rulers come up with a plan to send their children off to other countries to foster international relationships.  Most are hoping to form marriage alliances as well.  We find out that there are still rumors of witchcraft surrounding the Westfalin princesses, and several characters, including the king of Breton and Christian’s father, are wary of them because of it.

The one problem I have with Princess of Glass is the climax.  It is extremely rushed, and I’m not even entirely sure how they defeated the Corley.  She attacks the group by throwing molten glass to the floor, which begins to melt.  Poppy then smashes her way through several glass walls until they are back in the Seadowns’ manor, where Rose and Galen have arrived to help.  Somehow all the bargains made with the Corley are void, and Ellen’s feet are healed.  Galen has a line about consulting with Bretoner mages to seal the Corley in her realm, and then it’s happily ever after.  The whole thing only takes a few pages.  I wish it had been drawn out longer and more detailed so I knew exactly what happened.  It would have made for a more satisfying conclusion to an otherwise excellent book.  

My rating: 4 stars        

Other Reading Recommendations:

The starred titles are ones I have read myself.  The others are ones I want to read and may end up being future Fairy Tale Friday books.  To keep the list from getting too long, I’m limiting it to four that I’ve read and four that I haven’t.

Other Retellings of “Cinderella”:

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine*

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire*

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli*

Cinder by Marissa Meyer*

Ash by Malinda Lo

Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey

Slipper by Hester Velmans

Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey

More Retellings by Jessica Day George:

Princess of the Midnight Ball*

Princess of the Silver Woods

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow*

About the Fairy Tale:

Cinderella: A Casebook by Alan Dundes

Cinderella Tales from Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner 

Have a recommendation for me to read or a suggestion to make Fairy Tale Friday better?  Feel free to send me an ask!

[bestkpopscenariosontheblockbts]

Jaebeom: In The New York Heights Part 2.

 ~~~~~~ It was the beginning of their night out. Y/N and Youngjae found a small restaurant that was a few blocks away from the theater. They ordered their food and waited patiently.

 "I did some research about this show. It has a pretty good story line. I think it’ll be a great performance,” said Youngjae.

 “Really? I didn’t think you would like this kind of thing. I thought you probably like something else”, said the girl.

 “I wasn’t sure about it until I listen to a few of the songs and then I started to like it.”

 “I’m glad you’re looking forward to this.” They both smiled and looked at each other.

 ”I have a question to ask Y/n. Do you like JB?” Youngjae asks her and grins as she looks flustered at him.

 “I’ll take that as a yes.”

 “Is it that obvious? ” she tried to hid her blush.

 “It is. And it’s cute. Why didn’t you ask him to go with you tonight?”

 “I tried but when I asked if he was free for tonight. He said he made plans already. So that why.”

 “Ahh. I see now. Him and the others are probably causing destruction in the city. It his loss that he is missing this night with you.”

 “And I have you to thanks for coming with me.” 

 They laugh and talk about the musical some more and he keeps asking her questions about it. She tells him that this show’s has some songs help her become a better performer. He was amazed by her comments that he learned why she is a great person. They were so distracted by their conversation that they didn’t realize their food was ready for them to eat. After they ate they head toward the theater. They have their tickets to the attendant in the front and went to go find their seats. It was a packed house and they kept hearing people saying that the musical has been having full house performances and that it one of the most popular shows in the century. Youngjae helps her out of her sweater and put it behind her seat and they continue to talk until the lights were flickering to announce the show as going to start. The orchestra started to play and the curtains open to the beginning of the first act.

 ~~~~~ Back with the rest of Got7.

 They continue to ask JB when he started to like Y/N. And why was he afraid to tell her. 

“It’s complicated guys”, JB confessed to his members. “

“Can you at least tell us when you started to like her?”, asked Jackson. 

“Uh……, It was probably when she did her second comeback. She was doing her first performance of her song and she was very nervous. She came up to me and asked for some advice and i told her that she needs to be her self and let out her emotions of her song. After that she told me that she was very nervous that day because there her parents traveled all the way to see her perform and she didn’t want to let them down. I looked at her and was amazed that she wanted this performance to be spectacular and make her parents very proud of her. Then I reached to her and gave her hug and whisper to her that she’ll put an amazing performance and her parents are going to love. After that i let her go and she smiled and me and gave me a peck on the cheek and ran to get ready for the show. At first i thought she was very straight forward with the kiss. That is then i realized that i started to like her.” Jb poured out his memory and thoughts about that day.

Yugyeom smiled at his leaders feeling and said that it so sweet he did that for her. Making JB throw a pillow at the maknae. 

“I remember that day. Once Y/n was done with her performance and the showcase that day. She ran put so fast to go look for her parents. I saw her hugging her parents and tears in their eyes. They did look pretty happy.” Mark puts his arm over Jaebum’s shoulder. “I think what you said to her made her perform better. 

“Maybe. But I don’t think she has those type of feelings for me. I don’t want to tell her and ruin our friendship.”

“Even if you did. You should still take the chance,” Jackson suggested. 

“i can’t,” JB answers back.

“You can and you will. One way or another,” Grips his leaders shoulder to give him some confidence.

They boys kept telling him that he should tell her and that she will accept him. They also told him that even if he doesn’t he might loose. And if she tells him no at least he tried. JB became very irritated with their questions that he left the room to get away from them. Bam Bam decide to text Youngjae to know how it was going. He got a late response form his friend and grins at his phone. He reports to Youngjae what he missed and that JB likes Y/N. Then he got a fast reply and smiles bigger telling Jinyoung to look at the phone. Then Jinyoung smiles and tells the rest of the group that was is the room. They all had the biggest smiles on thier faces and decided to make a plan.

 ~~~~~~ It was intermission at the theater. Y/n and Youngjae stepped out of there seat to find the restroom and streatch out their legs. Youngjae came out of the men’s room first and decided to take out his phone as he waited for her to come back before heading back to thier seats for the beginning of act two. He saw the messages from Bam Bam and opens it. 

After Youngjae sends his last text, he shuts off his phone and sees Y/N making her way back to him.  “What’s so funny?,” she asks him and taking her seat. She hands the boy a soda from the concession stand knowing him that he might have been thirsty from sitting there for a while.

He Just smiles and tells her that it was nothing. That he cant wait for the second act of the show. The lights flashed and the announcer said the show is about to continue. Youngjae escorts the lady back to their seats. As they got their the show was about to start again. 

Time had passed and the show was over. The two walked back to the hotel they were staying at. It was getting colder and Y/N begin to rub her shoulders from the sudden chill. Youngjae noticed and very much like a gentleman took off his coat and wrapped it around her. 

“Hard to believe that it is so close to summer and you are getting cold.” He tells her as she giggles at him. 

“Well it doesn’t help much when this city is next to the Ocean,” she make her remark to him. 

As they finally reached the hotel. He offered Y/N to escort her back to her room. When they finally reached their floor. Y/n turned back to Youngjae with a smile. “Thank you so much for coming with me. I had fun,” she gives her thanks and gave a small bow to him. 

“It was no problem. I had fun. I understand why you were looking forward to this show. I was incredible.” He smiles back at her had walks up to hug her. “And dont worry. I wont tell Hyung.” He lets her go and tells her good night and went to his room. 

Youngjae open his door to his shared room he noticed Bam Bam and Jackson watching tv on thier beds. Once the click of the door was closed the two boys looked Youngjae and welcomed him back. 

“Hi guys,” Youngjae responded and walked towards his bed and stretched his body. He closed his eyes and sighed for a bit. He opened his eyes and see his to members above him staring down at him. 

“SOOOOO how did it go?” asked the silly Chinese member.

“It was fine. It was really interesting to see a production like this. I can see why Y/N enjoys it very much”, Youngjae answers to his hyung. “It was incredible! How they show so much power and emotion in each song. And how it makes the story so good. It hard to believe that was like only 2 hours for it to finish. I kinda want to see it again.” As Youngjae keeps retelling the story as much as he can remember. 

 ~~~~~~ JB is took time away to be alone in the gym from the hotel. He was able to blow up alot of steam. He was heading towards his room to take a shower. He entered the room and sees the boys still getting alot of details from Youngjae. 

 “Hyung, your back,” shouted Bam Bam.

 “Hi, Hyung,” Youngjae greeted his leader.

 “Hey, Youngjae,” Jb replied back. “How was the show?” 

“It was incredible. You should’ve been there. It was just amazing that it happen in such a small place,” youngjae begins to related the night. Jb being jealous and trying so hard not to show it. He begin to daydream about Y/n in her dress she wore that night. He dreamed how pretty she looked and her smile made him in to a grinning fool.

 Youngjae was about to deliver the last of his information to the leader until the door knocked. All the boys turned their head to the sound and watched as Mark opens the door. Mark looks and smiles at the late night visitor. He greets at her and tells youngjae to come over. Youngest walks over and smiles. It was Y/n. She had come to returned the jacket from ealier.

 “I forgot to return this to you,” she smiled.

 “You could’ve given it to me tomorrow, Youngjae tells her.

 “I know. I was still up and decided to take a stroll.” I also want to thank you again for coming with me tonight.“

 “I had fun. I want to see another one very soon.” As they continue to talk. JB looks and turns his head to avoid them.

 “Hyung. Hyung!” Shouted the maknae.

 JB looks and sees everyone looking at him. “Sorry. What is it?” He sees Y/n eyes and started to blush.

 “I wanted to say good night. Hope all of you rest well.”

 “Oh. Good night,” he tells her and watched her leave the door.

 “Why didn’t you say anything?”, Jackson asked.

 “What is there anything to say,” Jb replies.

 “Hyung you like her,” Bam Bam points out.

 “Yeah I do. But how do I know she likes me back in same way.”

 All of the boys grew quiet an looked at each other smiling like nimrods. Mark breaks the silence.

 “Oh there is a guarantee that she does.”

 “Wait what?,” the leader questions.

 “Youngjae, who was the first person that Y/N asked to hang with her.”

 “Hyung."

 "And then what happen," asked Jackson.

 "He turned her down," he gave his answer.

“The the second time, who she did she asked?” Pointed Jackson.

“Me,” says Youngjae. “But orginally she was going to ask you Hyung,”he conffesses to the leader.

  JB was embarrassed  that to members we telling him this. He was so shocked that he missed two opertunies to be with Y/N. He got up and and ran towards his door. 

“Where are you going? asked Yugeom.

“I’m going to do something that i should have a long time ago,” JB opens the door and leaves the room where a bunch of men were cheer being him as he left. 

Jaebum gets to the room and tries to find the strength to knock on the door. He puts his hand up and then the door moved on its own. He stepped back and watch a person stepped out. 

Ali looked up and saw the idol in front of the door. She makes a smile and asked him was there something he needs.

“Actually i came to talk to Y/n. Is she here?”

“Absolutly. Let me get her,” Ali disappears behind the door looking for her friend. 

Y/N. was about to change until Ali stopped her. 

“Hey. JB is here and he wants to talk to you. Like now.

“Wait. What?” Y/n was stunned by the information she was getting. 

“Yeah. He is at the door. Talk to him tell him everything,” Ali pushes y/n towards the door. 

Y/n tries to calm her nerves and be relaxed as much as she can. She opens the door and see the man before her.  “Hey,” she greets him.” 

“Hey, there was something i want to say.” JB was looking at her straight in the eye. He was being as tough as he can but he was so nervous that he was already sweating in his hands. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Hmmmmm... Nothing particular that i know of. What’s up?

“How about you and me hangout together? If you want to.”

Y/n giggled at the sight of nervous JB. “I love to.”

“Great. I’ll text you the details later? Since it is really late.”

“‘That is fine.”

“Ok. Um good night. Talk to you later?”

“Yes. Good night Jaebum. See you tomorrow. 

The both waved and she watched him walk back towards his room and she reenter hers. 

“So what happen?, Ali questioned Y/N.

“I might have a date tomorrow.”

End of Part 2?

[willreadforbooze]

Hello fellow boozie readers!

Sam’s Update:

It’s Magical Readathon!! Working hard to be a Metal Charmer. It’s also Tome Topple, so I’ve started my Tomes as well =). It was an ok week, that ended with the premiere of GoT so color me happy.

What Sam finished this week:

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Reign the Earth by A. C. Gaughen: This is the story of Shalia, a desert woman who enters into an arranged marriage with a king to save her people. The king is a raging abusive asshole, but she’s trying her best. She’s also figured out that she’s got #forbiddenpowers so. I wanted to like this so much more. Maybe it was the audio narrator but damn that girl sounded so naive. She was also real dumb. The only reason this pushed up a star for me was because of the brilliant consent scene.

Transfiguration: Mirage by Somaiya Daud: I’m about half way through this book. It’s a eastern inspired sci-fi with our main lady Amani, taken from her home to serve as a body double for the crown princess, who is literally the worst. I super enjoyed this. It had the tropes that I wanted, it had good themes, and it had a decent character arc. However, not much actually happened in this book. More a set up for book 2, which i will absolutely be reading.

Divination: Space Opera by Cathrynne M. Valente: This was the book I didn’t know I needed. A hysterical story about the impending annihilation of earth/humanity by blue flamingo aliense unless two has been rock stars, Decibal and Oort, can win a singing competition. I gobbled up this book and my only disappointment was there wasn’t more. I think Linz did a review.

What Sam’s reading now:

It’s O.W.L.s Magical Readathon and Tome Topple bitches!!

History of Magic: Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay: This is the story of a conquered land, including the province of Tigana, who’s name cannot be remembered unless you were born there. (Very Weep from Strange the Dreamer). I’m audio and physically reading this book. Liking it so far, but I’m struggling with keeping names in place. What I liked in A Brightness Long Ago (my first novel by Kay), was he had a character list at the beginning. This could benefit from that. Otherwise, enjoying the hell out of political machinations.

Ginny’s Update:

Sam and I both missed Dewey’s readathon last weekend so we did a mini-readathon for ourselves this Saturday.  I may have been massively hungover (I’m a bit of a baby when it comes to hangovers), but I still managed to fit some books in.  

Currently Reading:

Say Yes To The Marquess by Tessa Dare: I almost returned this earl considering how similar it is to a book I read like a week ago, I’m only a few pages in so not sure I have much to say yet. This is the second in a series, and I have very little memory of the first book and I still haven’t seen the connecting thread but I still have 90% or more to go so that’s fair. Whatshername is engage to marry a dude who then left the country for 8 years. She no longer wants to marry him because that’s kind of a dick decision, but she needs his brother’s help to break the marriage.  And surprise surprise, he’s supes in love with her.  I wonder what will happen (I’m pretty sure the romance kick I’m on will tone down a little at some point – but I really do love walking into a book knowing there’s going to be a little bit of angst before a happily ever after).

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant:  Yeah, I know I finished a bunch of other books this week.  I usually keep up two to three at a time (kindle, phone, and physical)physical books take me the longest to read and I have 9 ebooks from the library (down from 11 on Friday) that I need to get through. I’m not far into this yet but I love the way Mira/Seanan writes these stories.  They build up so beautifully and I can’t wait for the catastrophe.

Completed this week:

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole: Man, Alyssa Cole is absolutely amazing.  I found myself a little frustrated with the hero, I felt he could be incredibly stupid by not understanding the level of danger he was putting the heroine in just by being interested in her. But this book dealt with a lot of consent issues really well.  Elle, the heroine, was a complete badass with an eidetic memory, and she goes undercover well, pretending to be a mute slave in a Southern plantation.  Malcolm comes and accidentally causes a number of problems. From the beginning their immediately all about each other.  I thought that came on a little bit too quickly, mostly because of societal expectations, but at the same point god they’re so charming.  Elle tries so hard not to like him, but couldn’t help herself. 4/5

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal: This book was a delight. Nikki signs up to teach an English class at the Sikh Temple that she had attended for years. It’s a not-so-pleasant surprise that instead of teaching creative writing, she’s supposed to teach the women how to read and write. It quickly devolves into the widows talking about what would normally be taboo – the fantasies that the widows had been thinking of. I’m hoping I can get a review out of this so I’m not going to say more, but very enjoyable.

The Love That Split The World by Emily Henry: Natalie Cleary is having trouble staying in place, meaning that for whatever reason she has these slips where the world is subtly wrong; there’s a wing on the church that hadn’t existed before, a family friend’s business has suddenly disappeared, and more.  This is another one I’m planning on reviewing mostly because I’m a little bit conflicted and I feel like getting drunk and writing about it will make things more clear, because obviously that’s the way the world works.

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome by John Scalzi: This is a quasi-prequel to the Locked In series that John Scalzi has (which Sam, Parker, and I all LOVE). This goes back to the beginning of Haden’s syndrome, and honestly the formatting for this was great, it was done in an interview style which helped tell the story from multiple perspectives. It was still laugh out loud funny (I feel like all of Scalzi’s stories probably fit that, but it should still be mentioned). This helped me understand the full impact that Haden’s syndrome had on the world.  Frankly, it was a little bit terrifying to read at times. Still, it’s a very solid novella-length read.

Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh: The beautiful thing about my tbr is I honestly forget the back-cover summaries of books that have been there for a while and get to go into the book with no expectations. It’s YA where a matched set of spheres gives you a particular extra ability, some small, some  big. Shit goes down and teenagers are saving the world.  Planning on writing a review on this too.

  Minda’s Update:

O.W.Ls Magical Readathon week 3! Completed my Ancient Ruins and Defense Against the Dark Arts exams. Now pivoting to a Tome Topple book that also counts for the Arithmancy exam as well.

What Minda finished this week:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Ancient Ruins) – I’m so happy I read this! A great retelling of a conglomerate of fairytales without relying on major tropes. Can’t wait to review! Ancient Ruins ✅

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas (Defense Against the Darks Arts) – This was such a slog. And such a bummer because the premise was killer! But, still finished it. Drunk reviewrant to come. Defense Against the Darks Arts ✅

What Minda is reading this week:

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman (Arithmancy) – I was going to read a different book to achieve the OWLs/Tome Topple challenge, but Sam and Ginny recommended this one while we did wine night on Friday. Looking forward to starting!

Linz’s Update:

You guys last week was so brutal. And then I got drunk all weekend. BUT the DragonCon costume lineup is in place and Game of Thrones starts back up tonight!!!

What Linz read:

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay: I’M DONE. BOOM. Everyone on here’s reading it for book club, so I’m pretty sure someone’s mentioned already what it’s about. It’s pretty damn epic for a standalone, and it was not burdensome to read. Liked, not loved.

Family Trust by Kathy Wang: The patriarch of a Chinese American family finds out he has cancer, and his family finds out he might not be the millionaire he’s always claimed to be. I love a diversity read, and I didn’t not enjoy reading this, but I feel like there’s a lot of books about a dying rich father that explores how people deal with grief and life, and this didn’t excel at it.

Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small: We were lucky enough to get an advanced copy for the blog tour, so look out for our review May 14! All I will say is if you’re into a darker look at the world of ballet, you’re going to really like this.

What Liz is currently reading:

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto: This is one of my OWLs readathon picks, It’s kind of complicated – two royal sisters waged a war against each other that, among other things, led to the end of the elite Phoenix Rider fighters. Years later, two sisters are trying to find the underground remnants of the group, There’s also two other storylines with dudes that I CANNOT predict the direction of, and also some magic and also phoenixes. Very into it.

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken: This book dropped, like, last month. A woman mysteriously appears in a New England town, with no memory of who she was and how she got there. Years later, after she dies, a man shows up claiming to be her son and heir to the fortune she built. It’s more lighthearted than creepy or weird, kind of like Big Fish? So far I’m into it.

 Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Melinda, Linz, and Ginny

 Weekly Wrap-up: Apr 8-14, 2019 Hello fellow boozie readers! Sam's Update: It's Magical Readathon!! Working hard to be a Metal Charmer.

[deltaengineering]

summer anime 2017 part 1: we can rebuild it

This season isn’t very hot so far, but since I have a bunch of stuff carrying over, I’m not exactly complaining. Let’s go. We have three shows that share a curious theme, two that curiously do not, and one that’s actually good. Somehow that adds up to ten.

See also:

• part 2: bunch of fools

Battle Girl High School

We start the season with the possibly blandest title for an anime in quite a while. And the show itself easily manages to match the expectations the title raises: It's a high school with a bunch of girls that do battle. And by "a bunch" I mean more than I can offhandedly recall; the spiritual predecessor to this all-you-can-eat buffet of archetypes is clearly Girl Friend Beta (and it's also based on some waifu-collectathon mobile game) - only now with more magical girl henshins and hitting things with stupidly elaborate sticks. Oh and some of them are idols, because of course they are. Honestly there's nothing too objectionable in here, but it's just still an anonymous 24 minutes of mass manufactured anime-shaped packing peanuts.

Enmusubi no Youko-chan

...or "Fox Spirit Matchmaker". I've heard some positive rumblings about the quality of the source material in the run-up to this season, but that just goes to show that you can't trust people who read Chinese webcomics. Fox Spirit Matchmaker is a "romantic action comedy" (i.e., idiotic glutton/lecher guy and naive foxblob get matchmade by happenstance, hilarity and wuxia skirmishes ensue) of the kind that Japan thankfully got tired of a decade ago. The jokes are bad, the execution is so clumsy that they wouldn't land even if they were, and the action is pretty laughable too. There’s a whole bizarre universe that nobody could possibly give a fuck about around it as well, and boy does it want to tell you about it. If that sounds familiar: Why yes, Haoliners is indeed at it again and this is by no means their finest hour either.

Fate/Apocrypha

With the massive amounts of Fate spinoffs around, it can be quite hard to keep track. Apocrypha is an "alternative retelling" of a grail war in a world where Fate/Zero and subsequently Fate/stay night did not happen and everyone decides to have a team deathmatch in Romania instead. Among TRUE FATE MURDERHEADS Apocrypha is mostly known as "the really stupid one", or, if that is ambiguous (which it may well be, given that the competition includes gems such as “Fate, but on the moon”), "the one where one of the Casters is Shakespeare". It's Fate adapted to the sensibilities of a mid-2010 light novel, and while this gives it a certain... exuberance, I don't know if I really care for more slightly different Fate with no less than two Saberclones. The first episode certainly does not help because it spends half the time explaining what a grail war is (and everyone who knows Fate has heard that a hundred times), and the other half on how it's different from the main canon (and everyone who doesn't know Fate would not care about that in the slightest). I still feel tempted to find out how truly dumb this can get, but realistically it would have to be much, much better than it is for me to get over my severe Fate burnout.

Hina Logi - From Luck & Logic

Speaking of established (well, kinda) things getting retooled to other tastes, remember Luck & Logic? It was a pretty pedestrian battle harem that I only remember because it was made by Doga Kobo and looked pretty distinctly cool as a result. Well, now it has a sequel, even though you couldn't tell. Hina Logi goes out of its way to be as different as possible from L&L, and just to start with it's no longer a battle harem, but a Kirara imitator. Of course, the concept of superpowers injected into a cute girls doing fuck all anime would turn out to be mahou shoujo-ish, and the writing even points out how much an universe can change in just a few years - I see what you did there. Doga Kobo excels at exactly this type of show, so this just aligns the franchise more to their strengths, but even in this aspect there's a twist: it looks entirely different, more or less like the sort of glossy but unmemorable show JC Staff would churn out. In any case, I'm talking so much about this franchise mutation because it's really the only interesting thing about it; it's a basic Kiraralike, and you've seen these before. If you watched Hinako Note last season, you might also like Hina Logi. It has fights now.

Isekai Shokudou

The term "isekai" has turned into a very dirty word in the last few years. But one should not forget that it's still a perfectly normal word, and doesn't necessarily refer to the light novel subgenre that has grown around it like a tumor. Just because it's in the title, that doesn't mean Isekai Shokudou is also a light no- Well, okay, it is one. But! It's not in fact about an otaku shitter that gets hit by a car and is reborn in a world where nerds stuff the jocks into lockers with the power of nerd knowledge. Instead it's about a magic restaurant that sometimes connects to a fantasy world, and then the cook serves the fantasy creatures delicious Terran meals. He picks up a demon girl that has fallen on hard times as a waitress. By the way, said cook is voiced by Junichi Suwabe, and Suwabe + cute girl is a classic winning combination that almost managed to save Demi-chan on its own. So Isekai Shokudou is pretty damn cute, and it has a leisurely pace that makes it quite relaxing too. On top of that, it's also funny just because of the absurdity of its concept, without this being played for ha-ha comedy. You can still tell that there's a light novel underneath it by the characteristic over-reliance on flat exposition, but based on episode 1 alone, it's a charming little show and my first real pick of the season.

Kakegurui

Hey guys, do you like Kaiji? Do you like Prison School? Do you like crazy faces? Oh boy have I got the show for you. Kakegurui is about a high school where the entire student body is way into high-stakes gambling, and when the money runs out, there's always femdom to be had instead. Kakegurui is unabashedly sleazy and extremely over the top, and MAPPA bring a lot of skill in direction, animation, editing, music, etc. to the table as well. The thing is just... as ostentatious everything about it is, the core of the show isn't very convincing on a writing level. The gambling mindgames are actually far less complicated than the show would lead you to believe, and the characters are not very profound either when they're just tripping balls and going 150% crazy all the time. The show would need at least one of these to hold up in the long run, and it's not out of the question that it might acquire it; As it is, it's a cool wacky short movie but I have my doubts whether this can carry a whole TV show. But the production values are good enough to give it at least a chance.

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu

And here we have the third radical reinterpretation of a source material: Touken Ranbu, the sword boyfriend simulator, already had an adaptation by Doga Kobo - and of course that was just Cute Swords Doing Cute Things. Now ufotable is doing their take on it, so it's, believe it or not, a lot like Fate UBW all of a sudden, character design, heavyhanded color correction, 3D CG effects and all - It's a real anime now, with things like plot and characters, and very competently made action show at that, and for some that may be enough. But not only that, it also has the tone and word vomit writing of Fate now, and that's where it gets sketchier. Without affinity for the source material, I find it hard to care about the exploits of big sword man and his small swordsexual life partner, and I care even less about their convoluted, nonsensical time travel scheme that gets explained way past the breaking point. And the action being great doesn't really matter if all they do is effortlessly style all over mass produced smoke monsters with a blade sticking out of them. I also can't shake the feeling that Doga Kobo's version was just a bit closer to the true fujo meaning of Touken Ranbu, if you know what I mean. K/tr seems watchable, but behind the premium production there just doesn't seem to be anything interesting.

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun

"Keppeki" means "neat freak", and congratulations, you have discovered The Joke. What if a neurotic germophobe was also an extremely talented soccer player? So many opportunities to make the same joke over and over again! It's really quite a shame that this one is so one-note, because the sports show holding it together is actually one of the better soccer anime I've seen - it has good direction and a good pace once the game is on. I also like that the character design looks a lot like ACCA’s. But overall there's not much of that and a lot of The Joke, and even the better bits (like the character design) are marred by egregious overuse of SD comedy that doesn't fit stylistically at all. If I wanted this kind of comedy, I'd rather watch Sakamoto desu ga, and not a less stylish Sakamoto desu ga with frustrating glimpses of a good soccer anime in between.

Knight's & Magic

So, about that isekai. What if I told you that Knight's (the apostrophe is important) & Magic is in fact about an otaku shitter that gets hit by a car and is reborn in a world where nerds stuff the jocks into lockers with the power of nerd knowledge? It's true! Knight's & Magic is probably not the worst of this ilk I've seen, but that's a largely academic distinction. In fact it's quite bizarre that it even is an isekai story; Yeah, a gunpla nerd gets reborn into a world where mechas are real (and it's a fantasy world, which doesn't really make much sense but hey, robots), but there's really no reason he couldn't have come from this world in the first place, especially since he literally gets reborn and we have to watch a boring series of timeskips throughout his whole childhood anyway. Maybe him being a programmer with pop culture hobbies just like you and me will become relevant eventually, but I really don't care to find out.

Youkai Apartment no Yuuga na Nichijou

And finally, here's a show that reminds us that Haoliners are not the only ones that can create an uncanny valley of competence that is eerily similar to "real" anime but not quite there. And this is a special case - usually this sort of production is attached to very bad ideas, but there's really nothing wrong with the story of a guy who moves into a house that turns out to be co-inhabited by ghosts and other assorted spiritual critters. Nothing, apart from everything: The directing is sluggish, the animation is conspicuously cheap, the writing takes forever just to get to the point that there's g-g-g-ghosts, and the characters are devoid of any personality apart from being scared/not being scared of the youkai menagerie. Do yourself a favor and watch Spirited Away again instead, because this bargain basement TV version with a high school loser up front has nothing to add and a lot to subtract.

[oliviawriting12]

Letters, term 2

NOTES: Letters are between an Australian nurse and her boyfriend. The nurse is stationed in Greece during WWII. All stories are closely  based on real events. All spelling and grammar errors are intentional. Dotted lines stands for a spot blacked out by censors.

Dear Kit,

Many “thank you”s for the candy. All the gals here loved it especially the chocolates. Was a big morale-booster, too, for reasons I will explain. Before I forget could you please send some stockings as my wool ones are quite worn through. We are on our feet 12 hours a day here and they go very fast. I have put extra bandage around my heels to prevent blisters in the mean-time, and some of the other girls do it too- the 2/5th AGH makes do!  

We are currently in ------------, having been moved just a few days ago- and do I have a story to tell you. You might not believe it.  We were evacuated just recently out to ----, and were taken by car and truck to Nafplio. We weren’t told until a few hours before, Matron Best having selected 40 to go and 39 to stay. We all said our goodbyes. I had to leave darling Mer behind which was very heart-rending, altho we promised to write. We all left in the very dead of night with our little satchels and tin hats, and respirators in case of gas. On the horizon we could see the fires from the battle and I only then realised how close it had got. I was so glad to have Constance with me as I don’t think she’s ever felt fear in her life. For two hours we all stayed put in a cemetery as there was an air raid going on. We all huddled down and held hands v. tight.  It was complete blackness, made even worse by the big respirator masks which you cant see out of even during the day. I could hear the rattle of the planes overhead and the explosions but thankfully the Germans saw no use in bombing a cemetery. Still it was very harrowwing.

After another hour we  arrived to find that our transports were on fire from the raid and being deserted by the Navy men. The fires were so bright you could read a book by them. I don’t think I will ever forget the look of those bright orange flames against the black water and all the smoke coming in thick onto the harbour so you could hardly see. There were some men floating facedown in the water but it looked like most of them had gotten out O.K. They had other boats out spraying them with retardent but it wasn’t doing much yet. I dont know how long we spent on the harbour, but nobody knew what to do. It was chaos with everyone running around in the smoke trying to dredge men out of the water. We were all very scared our transport would leave. Eventually somebody found some fishing boats and Greek fishermen who would take us and we all crowded on like sardines. We went very slowly through the fires.

When we got to the destroyer it was more chaos because nobody had thought to bring the walkways the Navy boats had to get us on. We had to jump across the gap to the destroyer in our narrow skirts and tin hats, one at a time. It was like the games we used to play in the garden, jumping from the tree to the balcony, except this was in the Agean Sea with fires burning all around you and an old man barking at us to hurry up because he was worrying about the Germans coming back. Constance was the first to go of course, and she nearly didn’t make it, only avoiding the chill water because two of the Navy men caught her by the arms and hauled her up. This spooked the rest of us good but we didnt have any other near-accidents. I got across okay- all my gymnastics training doing me good, although I don’t think I’ve ever felt my knees knock more in my life. We did have one accident where Julia’s satchel was dropped in the water when we tossed it up after her. It hit the side of the boat and sunk like a stone. She must have felt badly loosing all her things but she didnt say a word.

Once we got in the boat we were all so tired from our night we were asleep on our feet. Altho the boat was rocking v. badly and cold, we all slept very well with the blankets the soldiers gave us. It was afternoon when we arrived in Crete and we all felt better for a night’s rest and some mugs of soup which was good because we were at work right away setting up the hospital tent.

Quite the harrowing event but throughout it all we did fairly well keeping calm and soldiering on, even me, which you may find hard to believe! But when you are with 39 other even-tempered women it is not so hard as you might think.

Work has been hard but no threat of air-raids like before, which is a relief. There are 50 men now and 40 nurses plus doctors etc, which you might think would work out but never seems to be enough.  Where I was emptying bedpans and mopping before now I am applying bandages and stitching, as there are less experienced nurses here. I am such a quick stitch now, which is good as we also find we are short on anasthetics often. When I first started in 1940 it was so hard seeing the young men with their burnt eyes and limbs because I would always see your face on them but now it is just like any other day. Of course one does feel but you go on so much easier. I know you wouId prefer having your leg and fighting to not & being at home but it makes me happy you are safe. I always worried you would come in wrapped in bandages even tho you were training on the airfields and I was in Greece.

Much love to you, Kit. I think of you every day & you dont need to worry about me finding a beau among my patients as they all move on too fast. As soon as this war is done I will come home to you and we can go to the movies and fool around like we used to. I hope you are getting used to the crutches.

Also since you asked I dont know anything about troop movements and besides they screen all my letters- the 2/5th goes where they move us, no use telling us plans and us going and blabbing by accident, which I could just see happening to me. So I don’t know & don’t mind. Greece is very sunny and warm but as I haven’t had a day off in 2 weeks I haven’t been swimming.

Am dead tired after a long day so goodnight.

For you x x x x x x x x  o o o o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x I love love love you Kit Gwendolyn

PS Dont forget stockings!

Dear Gwen

I hope you like the stockings. They’re made of fine wool so they should not be too scratchy. I sent some candy too, although they were sold out of liquors at Corris’s, so I got lollies and chocs. Your letter has been passed around to all my relatives as they were all astounded at your story and you will likely be asked to retell it many times when you return. Also enclosed is a drawing from Charlie of Gwen jumping onto the boat. He asked me to read the letter may times, which I did.

The crutches are going as well as expected. I’m still very clumsy and Aunt Mary makes me practice hopping around in the garden as I knock her lamps and things when I’m indoors.

Sometimes I forget it’s gone and then I remember. Just this morning I woke up and swung out of bed and nearly fell, forgetting my left leg is gone at mid-thigh and wasn’t there to catch me. And sometimes if I sit still I swear I can feel my foot. I notice it the most when I’m going out in town because people stare. I guess all your hard work with the soldiers will get you used to amputees so you won’t mind. I won’t lie and say it doesn’t hurt when people are frightened, although a lot of people are very respectful. Just yesterday when I was going out with Mary for groceries a man shook my hand. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I had never seen any action. I feel a real fool about it, spending two weeks in training trudging in the mud and then going home right away after an aeroplane accident, without being any use. All the fellas are off fighting and here I am. Well, everyone except Jim, who can’t go on account of his diabetes. He told me one time he wishes he was missing a leg so people wouldn’t hiss at him on the street thinking he’s a coward. That made me pretty mad & we haven’t talked in a little while. So it’s just me and Aunt Mary and Charlie mostly.

I wish I could work but I’m still in the recovery period so I’ve been watching Charlie at home while Aunt Mary works. She’s got a new job making bullet cartridges and will bring defected ones home for Charlie to play with, which he loves. Money is tight as she’s got me to look after and it will be some time before I can get a job, but we don’t need to worry about toys for Charlie because he’s got his cartridges. He stands them up in big rows and knocks them down. I never knew how much energy a little boy could have till I started spending time at home. Usually in the morning I’ll read and he’ll run around and amuse himself, and in the afternoon I’ll take him over to a friend’s or we’ll go into town. I still get tired fast so we can’t do as much as either of us would like. On Tuesday we played Chinese Checkers and he beat me. He’s a smart kid. On Wednesday we didn’t play any games because we were too occupied with your letter.

I know you don’t like it when I pester but I worry about you all the time. I hope you still have the photo I sent you & I hope you won’t forget me. I know it isn’t patriotic but I wish you could come home. I’m glad you’re further from the front lines these days, as the thought of you working with shells whistling over your head makes me go out of my mind. It’s funny that I hope you won’t have any more emergencies like the one you told me, but at the same time it was so exciting to read. I hope you’re doing O.K., you sound so tough. I love you and I can’t wait to see you again.

All my love, Kit Love from Charlie and Aunt Mary too

Dear Kit

Thank you and bless you for the stockings they are lovely! Am no longer traipsing around in little bits of bandage. And the candy was lovely, I gave a little to all the girls. Tell Charlie I have the drawing up by my bunk and look at it when I go to sleep.

Thankfully there has not been any more “exciting” emergencies. We have been here two months now and it is going fine. I got a day off last week and went into -------- with Constance on bycycles. We dont know a word of Greek and had to talk through hand gestures when we went to get some lunch. As a result I got some funny cheese dish I didnt want but it was just fine in the end. It has been sunny for weeks now and hardly any rain so it is getting dusty and all the army trucks send up big clouds. It is a job keeping the dust out of the hospital tents. The 39 others we left behind have arrived and so I am reunited with Mer! Although now many more patients are coming in and we are too swamped to chat. The battles in Greece seem to be getting bad and I dont know how long it will be till we are moved again. I can’t see the shells like I could in Greece but if the men cant hold their positions we’ll go with them. Word has it it might be to ----------- next. Will see! It sounds like a good time, we could see all the ---------------------- --------- ------------------------------ --------------------------- -----------.  

Another thing- for the past week I’ve been changing the dressings of a soldier from Yamba.. I told him I was from MacLean myself. Isn’t that interesting. We get on well although he isn’t a match for you, Kit dear. I come and talk to him at nights because I haven’t been sleeping well.  He’s called Herb and he told me about the what it’s like fighting in the towns and I told him my own story, with the boats which suprised him a lot that a nurse had come so close to combat. He was the wireless operator on a tank and he was in for gunshot wounds, one in his stomach which is pretty hard to get over, and the other in his leg. He said the Germans fight dirty so now everyone does too. He got shot when they were getting out of the tanks at night to get supplies, some Germans hid and fired on them when they got out. He says the Germans don’t surender anymore when you capture them because everybody just shoots each other now, and even goes at the Red Cross trucks. The Germans started shooting prisoners and they got so mad they started doing it back. He can’t wait to get back to action because he spent so long in training to work on a tank and he doesn’t want to waste away on the hospital bed. His good friend Will who was the gunner was killed by the Germans the same night and he wants to get back in the tank for him. He didn’t die right away but bled out on the ground before the medics got there. He spends ages tapping Morse codes to himself to make sure he doesn’t forget.

I don’t know if its fair to kill prisoners but if the Germans started it first I guess I understand. I remember when I started I was so suprised just to see a man who had been shot in the back but I got over that pretty quick. I guess when you’re all out to kill each other there aren’t any rules. Maybe don’t read Charlie this part.

I hope you can get to work again soon, although I’m sure Mary and Charlie will miss you at home. Dont feel so bad about not seeing any action as lots of fellas get hurt in training and its nothing to be ashamed of. Soon you can get an office job and keep helping the war effort. You have such nice printing and you did so well in school I’m sure you can get a real nice job. I’m the one with the bad speling, which is why I’m the nurse!

Thinking of you and saying a prayer every night for your poor stump! Love you love you write me Gwendolyn

[headcanonsandmore]

Rarry recs please I need this to get out of bed today

Sure! Hope you like these!

‘Wildflowers and soft laughter’ by Cookies and Ink. Ron decides to finally confront the stranger who'd been stealing wildflowers from their front garden every weekend. He also manages to repeatedly embarrass himself in the process. Rated T.

‘Wedding Favours’ by Cookies and Ink. Harry had agreed to be Ginny's fake boyfriend for a wedding, to keep her Mum off her back. He hadn't expected to find someone he'd fall head over heels for there. Rated T.

Basically, check out everything by Cookies and Ink. They write so much Rarry/Harron fanfiction (often AU stuff, as well as halfway-canon stuff).

‘Engaged’ by I’mdeadsothere. All around Harry everyone is getting engaged, leaving Harry to wonder if he'll ever have the same honor. Especially when the one person he truly loves, well, it's complicated. Rated T. Contains strong language.

‘Beds’ by I’mdeadsothere. Now that the war is over Harry treats himself by buying a nice big fluffy bed. Only it's too nice, too fluffy, and WAY too big. Ron has the perfect solution, but it'll change a lot more than just how Harry feels about his bed. Rated T. Contains strong language. (This one also has Hermione ‘biggest Rarry shipper on the planet’ Granger involved, so that’s a plus).

(WARNING- FLAGRANT SELF-PROMOTION) There’s also my own ‘Having trouble sleeping?’, which is about Ron being the crush of both Hermione and Harry. It doesn’t have Ron choosing one person over the other, but focuses more on why Ron is so loveable. Rated T.

Beautiful FriendIt took six years for Harry to learn something in History of Magic.This one. Oh my lord this one… it’s short, but it’s amazing. It’s full of lovely lively details and Harry’s description of Ron is… aaaww.

Life DrawingDean watches, and sees something unexpected.Again, the descriptions! My lord the descriptions, and also you will relate very much to Dean if you’ve ever worked with pencils.

Something They Can Barely SeeHarry has no idea how to tell his best friend he wants more that friendship. He’s pretty sure this would be hell of a lot easier if he knew for sure how Ron felt about him.This one is plenty cute. Ron is adorable and Harry… Harry’s trying his best. :’D

Our Inner BeastsLater, Madam Pomfrey would tell them that both Bill and Ron were going to survive. But she had no idea what the effects of a werewolf bite, when the werewolf was still in human form, could do to their behaviour.Okay, who’s up for writing more Creature!Ron fics? Seriously. Someone do some more of those. Here we have Ron as a werewolf, aggressive, feral, self-loathing… doesn’t matter, Harry loves him.

Running with the Wolf, Loving the Mansnapshots of Harry Potter’s life with a werewolf boyfriendFollow-up of Our Inner Beasts. Someone heard our prayers and gave us more Werewolf!Ron, and it’s as wonderful as it sounds. 

What HappenedThat’s just the thing, though. He doesn’t know what happened. He can’t pinpoint a single event where everything suddenly made sense. There was no epiphany or choir of angels or aligning of stars, or any of the other rubbish Parvati goes on about in the Great Hall. There’s no one moment when he realized, “Oh.”Ron and Harry’s friendship, only it’s not just friendship. The last line will make you want to put on some epic music.

Follow The Butterflies“Why did it have to be spiders?” Ron moaned. “Why couldn’t we follow the butterflies?” Harry privately agreed with his best friend, but if there was anything Hogwarts had taught him, then that if he didn’t do something, no one would. “I promise the next time we have to follow anything, it will be butterflies.”Harry and Ron’s friendship again, with more butterflies thrown in the mix. It’s just as perfect as it sounds. If you don’t ship Harry/Ron, this fanfic might just change your mind.

Sonnets of Magical InterferenceHarry receives some strange notes about his love life, or lack thereof.By the end of that fic, you might just cheer for a very controversial character.

HeavenHarry’s heaven includes Ron.Features Ron being emotional over a movie, Chinese takeout, and Harry being a sap. What more could you ask for?

Harry Potter And The World That Went Bloody Insane“I know something you don’t know” is, apparently, the essence of Harry Potter’s love life. Harry’s certain that the world has been reading one too many romance novels, but then, Harry’s always been a bit oblivious. Featuring Protective!Attentive!Caring!Ron and Oblivious!Harry in their stinky flat and everyone shipping Harry/Ron. It’s awesome.

Check MateHarry questions his dreams, Ron has a scary one of his own, Hermione and Cho plot, and Seamus and Dean obsess. Harry’s subconscious has lots of funny ideas. Ron is ridiculously cute. Might be a bit difficult to read because of FFN’s shitty formating for line breaks.

On The OutsideHarry doesn’t think there’s much point to his being gay. He can’t have regular sex, he can’t have children, and he can’t tell his best friend he’s in love with him.Ron is utterly adorable, do I really have to say it? Why, yes, yes I do. 

Newton’s LawFor every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction Check out this author’s other Harry/Ron fics. I especially like Brass Ring; in the meantime, have a rather in-character reaction of Hermione and Ginny finding out about their ex-boyfriends dating. Hey, not my fault if JKR doesn’t know how to write strong female characters without making them abusive.

Sleeping BeautyThe most gen ever retelling of Sleeping Beauty.Who cares if it’s gen, it’s amazing. Harry sleeps, Ron is wonderful, and ants get colorful.

The Complexities Of Muggle MachineryHarry bought a refrigerator. Then it was a microwave. Then a blender. Thursday was the coffee brewer. Ron really liked that last one.Ron is absolutely, heart-stoppingly, adorably cute and pretty much just like I imagine him to be around Muggle things. Harry’s lucky.

After the cupcakesThey never really talked about it but they are each other’s world. And perhaps a lazy Sunday morning is as good a time as any to finally say something.Utterly sappy and fluffy and you know me, I was mostly there for Harry’s description of Ron. It didn’t disappoint.

Sing Your LoveThroughout the years they’ve lived together, Harry has always enjoyed Ron’s singing but lately he’s been picking up hidden messages in his flatmate’s song choices.Do you like Ron singing? Do you like Ron dancing? Do you like Ron crying his heart out over an emotionally oblivious Harry? Well in that case you’ve found the perfect fic!

Snakes & LaddersAfter the final battle with Voldemort, Harry intends to get on with his life. There’s just one problem; he was supposed to have died when he confronted Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest and now the Other Side is trying to collect him. But in the space between his ‘death’ and the victory celebrations, Harry’s fallen in love… and he’s not going to give up his second chance without a fight.A complicated premise, a complicated tale, a very worried Ron, a very determined Harry, an entirely unwelcome Severus Snape coming from beyond the Veil, all leading up to an epic confrontation in the Other Side. Who knew the afterlife had a court?

~~~~~Hope you like these! Thanks for the ask!