#and more airtime in the books too

[h50europe]

BUCK / TOMMY - HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A FANDOM SCORNED!

I did some thinking. Never good, but my brain can't wrap around the breakup that came out of the left field.

Recently, it was announced that a spin-off of "9-1-1" is in the works. While no locations have been finalized, Hawaii and Las Vegas have been suggested as potential settings. The showrunner is already working on the project, with filming set to begin in March 2025.

However, one of my biggest fears has come true: the focus of the showrunners is being diverted from the current show to concentrate on this new spin-off. All the energy runs in the new project. Also, at this point, we don't know if the mothership will be renewed. Without an early renewal, we must wait until May for the announcement. That is another reason why they are focusing on the new show. I wonder if this is why the plots feel rushed and repetitive. It's nice to revisit the past, but not ad nauseam. 9-1-1 does it too often lately. What's the point in bringing back Gerard and turning him into the butt end of a joke? What's the point in digging out Abby's Tommy and hanging it around Tommy Kinard's neck when nothing was ever mentioned in the past. The focus is clearly not on the current show. It feels like Tim abandoned the ship to board a new one. It's fresh, it's crisp, it leaves room for a lot of things. Even if the breakup was meant as a shocker. If your focus is somewhere else, you don't see it. Right now, the mothership is leaking and starting to sink. If Tim keeps his focus on the new project and isn't invested in the current show, the lights will go out sooner rather than later.

Bringing in an established character was probably the biggest mistake Tim could have made if he wasn't meant to stick around. Bring in Mary Sue or Marty Stu to be a LI but not a character with a history that connects to so many people on the show. You can't sideline them forever. Especially as Buck's bi-arc was announced as something big. And it was big. A bit too big to be treated the way it was. The fanbase that had built around TEVAN, or BUCKTOMMY, within weeks, was massive. It drew so many members of the queer community into the show. Suddenly, many of them felt seen. Tommy and Buck were different from the other queer characters out there. Different from what was represented on any other show. People were willing to watch to get the slightest glimpse of them. Because they felt real. Their chemistry shot into the stratosphere.

And then you go and end it on such a horrible note? I don't care if the haters call Tommy a plot device. Everyone on the show is one at some point—even Christopher, Eddie, or anyone else from the main or recurrent cast, Karen, for instance, the Wilson kids. You name it. Tommy Kinard came, saw and conquered. So why not give him more room? They did it with Taylor (yes, I know JLH was pregnant then, but that's reason enough? I doubt it). As I said in my other long post, you could cut in a sequence of 5 minutes and show a summary of Tommy's and Buck's life.

Tim makes the same mistake as many showrunners do. Cramming a shitload of plots into 42 minutes of airtime. Is it really necessary to tell that many stories in such a short amount of time? That feels like speed dating. You blink, and you miss an important scene. Every episode, you jump from plot A to B to A to C to B. We didn't have this fast pacing in season 1 or 2. Stop it. Make Quality plots over quantity stuff.

In Tommy's voice: And for God's sake, clean up that mess you created with that shitty breakup, or the audience will wither away.

I'm sorry. I could write a book about what is happening in my head. You'd get Super Brownie points if you made it here.

[chrysanthemumgames]

I’ve been apart of the Choice/Hosted games community for years and I just want to say that your story is in my top 3!

I was literally just saying to myself that I would like an IF that really had characters that had a full life outside your character that interacts with you naturally and isn’t so heavy on the constant stats check, and I got my prays answered and MORE.

First time I played, easily I knew I was going after Hades. I played 3 other times and went after Pyri Charon and Hermes (I will be playing it again for the more Olympus type choices). But TRUST it was hard cause your girl kept wanting to go back to Hades XD.

You’re a wonderful writer and I am invested and patiently waiting for the sequel! May I ask for a few suggestions?

- Character tracking: I love that it’s not stats heavy but I think it would be great for the MC to have journal of some sort in the stats page to keep track of characters and how the MC feels about them as certain events take place. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and it was hard to remember the ones I needed to remember.

- MC Traits: I love how you kept the traits simple *chef’s kiss* but during my play throughs, I definitely tried to be extremely different and subtly different. It didn’t feel like there was a distinct diversity of negative or positive consequences for your flaws. Sometimes it felt like there were and other times I wasn’t sure if I triggered one or not. (I was playing with tone indicators off so maybe that’s why I didn’t really see a difference.) Ya girl just wants a super clumsily MC that everyone wants go catch or be annoyed with cause she’s so clumsily ahaha! Which leads me to my last suggestion~

- Character development: PACING *triple chef’s kiss* its the main reason I kept running back for more ahahaha! (Hades just fully accept me as your wife already T^T) My suggestion for this is that it did feel like the Underworld Pals were too nice. I loved that they are but I would definitely like to see them have flaws that make it reasonable for your MC to dislike them. I legitimately was having a hard time being mean to them because none of them felt like they deserved it.

Thank you so much for giving us such a wonderful experience with this story. There is so much to love and I’m excited to see it expand. Also there are probably others but for the most part you are the only author that actually took the time to add the knowledge of protective hairstyles in your book. You are truly heaven sent. Thank you, now Imma go back and be mean to the my man Hades TT-TT cause I gotta see all versions of this amazing book!

Hiya, and thanks for the ask.

I'll take the suggestions under advisement, but fair warning: I'm probably not going to be doing anything to make the characters less 'nice.' They all do have flaws, and perhaps some of those will be getting a little more airtime in the sequel, so to speak, but I have no interest in changing their core personalities. I consider the fact that they are generally kind and understanding to be a feature of the work rather than a bug, so to speak.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, and I understand that, but I wanted to write a story about fundamentally kind people, and that's what I did.

Adding more opportunities for traits and flaws to be relevant is definitely on my list for the next game, and the character codex/journal/tracker is a suggestion I've gotten before and would like to implement in an update. I appreciate the suggestions!

[thesoftboiledegg]

"One is Silicon and the Other Gold" is a decent concept that needed a few rewrites. The story is a mishmash of zany plots--Leela gets an AI friend, the crew goes to Infyrno Fest, Leela joins a book club, the guys decide to make their own book club, a new character unexpectedly dies--that compete with each other for airtime.

The storylines come together in the end, but I think the writers could've eliminated the Infyrno Fest scenes and focused more on the competing book clubs. If the crew left without Leela and returned a scene later, grumbling about getting scammed, the episode would've played out the same way--but with more breathing room.

Seeing a Fyre Festival parody in 2024 threw me, too. Luckily, you don't need to know anything about Fyre Festival to laugh at the jokes, so I don't think this episode will become too dated.

However, the "Amy hates Leela for no reason because women are catty" narrative is dated. In fact, it's been dated for the past few decades. I thought the writers had dropped it when Leela and Amy worked together in "Children of a Lesser Bog," but Amy was back to mocking her in "How the West Was 1010001," and this episode loudly leans into it.

But despite these issues, I think "One is Silicon and the Other Gold" is worth watching. I never thought about it before, but Leela doesn't seem to have any friends. She has Fry, her parents and her coworkers, but who does she hang out with and confide in? No wonder she latched onto an AI chatbot.

Some of the gags were mean-spirited, especially the crew bailing on Leela to attend Infyrno Fest, so I enjoyed watching her bond with a group of female friends. The competing book clubs were hilarious, too. You can always count on the Planet Express men to be petty and create their own book club with blackjack and hookers...or a "cameo" from my favorite author, John Steinbeck!

Fry being surprisingly passionate about literature was perfect for his character. I loved his reading at the funeral and the way he did the voices. So far, Hulurama's portrayal is less "Look at this dumb idiot" and more "He's a big, lovable kid," which is nice.

I enjoyed this episode, and the Fyre Festival parody was thankfully limited to the first act, but the uneven pacing makes it one of Hulurama's weaker entries. Also, how did nobody mention that Bender is also an AI friend? At this point, I guess he's just one of the meatbags.

[bdslab]

Why the main smurfs are closer to papa smurf than the rest (and therefor get more airtime): Handy: created the plans for smurf dam so obviously he’s important as the dam allows the village to exist. He also makes things for lots of people and seems to be the most respected smurf on the west side of the village. Personally I headcanon him to be a leader for the west side Hefty: although lots of smurfs work on the dam hefty claims he “made” the dam and has been seen doing a lot more of the physical labor in a few episodes. He’s also protective and seems to be the most respected smurf on the east side. I also hc him as a leader for the east side Brainy: he’s papa Smurf’s lab assistant/apprentice. It’s kind of hard not to be around papa smurf when your his apprentice. As to how he got this position I honestly assume he just asked and papa smurf was like “sure you actually read so you’ll make use of these books” Greedy: village chef/baker, he makes food for everyone so he has to be important. You’d assume he should stay behind mostly since he’s not the biggest asset on a journey but Papa’s always signing him up to come along. Maybe papa smurf doesn’t know how to cook?

Lazy: ok this is almost entirely headcanon but papa smurf wants him to stop sleeping all the time. He noticed a smurf was constantly sleeping on the job and upon finding out it was the same smurf he made it his business. He makes lazy go on adventures in hopes he’ll stop sleeping Clumsy: again mostly headcanon but the fact that clumsy constantly messes things up probably brought papa’s attention to him. He’s also just a really nice smurf who is happy to help so when papa smurf needs someone he knows that he can count on clumsy, even if he is a clutz Grouchy: when there’s only one smurf in the whole village who is verbally unhappy as a default he’s going to attract some attention. I’m not sure why papa smurf calls on him so often, it feels like an “ah shit gotta name some smurfs but I only know the names of like 13 of them” later grouchy is also good with baby smurf so there’s that too Jokey: with number of times other smurfs must have complained about jokey and how often papa’s probably been subject to jokey’s jokes there’s no doubt papa knows who he is. He’s an asset since he’s the only smurf willing and able to hand the villain a bomb in order to get by Vanity: he has a flower in his hat so he looks different. Aside from that I don’t really know why papa cares about him more than the other smurfs. It feels similar to the grouchy situation in my books ahtibat1 Smurfette: is ette Baby: is baby Smurflings: I’m grouping them together cause they share the same reason. Papa smurf was partially involved in making them who they are and feels partially responsible. Nanny and grandpa: are old Tracker: here’s an interesting one, early in the series tracker is an obvious asset: he’s able to find things in the wilderness no other smurf can as well as find smurfs when theyre lost in the forest. And yet he disappears from the cast. What did he do to fall from papa’s grace? Sloppy: papa probably noticed the smurf who hoarded garbage, but similarly to tracker he disappears off the list. This one’s more understandable though. Feels more like an “ok I need smurfs but let me not call on the smurf who lives in literal garbage” Tailor: should’ve included him earlier but he makes everyone’s clothes. Papa doesn’t call on him unless he specifically needs something to do with cloth. I’m not sure why, maybe tailor just doesn’t like leaving the village and papa respects that (but why not grouchy then?) Dreamy: considering the tv series starts with dreamy wanting to go to space and papa constructing an elaborate hoax to make him believe he went and met aliens I’m sure papa knows who he is. I think papa leaves him to his own devices cause the space thing was a lot of work There’s a bunch of other smurfs papa knows when he bumps into them but doesn’t care all that much about otherwise. And if the comics are to be believed a bunch of smurfs that papa doesn’t even know the name of. Oh further thing on the smurflings: a few of them papa really never spoke to at all before they got turned into kids so I honestly believe that the only reason papa really cares about them later is case he’s partially responsible for being kids again.

[burr-ell]

i get that woobifying villains is by no means a new thing in fandom but i think it's the lack of self-awareness in doing so that's what makes it so frustrating nowadays.

"i simply LOVE my morally gray character who does no wrong and is always right and fights nothing but evil in ways that are the most morally sound for them to do! i love how ontologically kind and caring they are and how they never ever make a willful choice that is bad (and how any choice they do make that is bad is FoRcEd on them by ne'er-do-wells) and how everyone that is good loves them and every who is bad hates them!"

like i'm sorry people are absolutely allowed to unabashedly woobify the big bads and villainize all who oppose The Fave but for the love of god they have to have the nuts to ADMIT to doing so. this need to always engage in media with this I Am Very Smart And Here's Why My Faves Are Objectively Superior lens is actually hair-pullingly annoying.

Absolutely agreed; I'll still find the perspective annoying, but I'm more inclined to respect someone who's at least not hiding the ball. I really do think so much of the issue is that people are not just insisting on ontological good and evil but furthermore are basing it entirely around the character they've projected onto. It's protagonist-centered morality at its finest.

I will say, the pseudo-intellectualism in itself isn't terribly new. Old internet fandom was rife with people, usually cishet white male nerds, who would come up with Very Smart reasons why their favorite character (usually either their self-insert or their waifu) was better than everyone else. Now, your average non-terminally-online person thought they were full of it and said so, but they said it at the risk of being booed off the platform, and plenty of comic book and video game executives would happily hand this demographic everything they wanted on a platter and they'd accrue a following of like-minded people who were all too happy to do their bidding. There are many intricately-crafted essays that could be written on how gender, race, and sexuality played into this (particularly given, again, the demographics catered to by the aforementioned corporate shilling), but it was still something people did, and those who had the social power were given the most airtime.

I think the main reason for the shift is that the language and priorities in fandom spaces have been increasingly oriented around social issues over the last decade. That coupled with the general public shift toward more liberal politics has meant that what is considered the Intellectual Take, within the pocket of fandom prone to respecting them, is now more likely to come from a left-leaning queer woman (still white tho lmao). So instead of hearing about how my fave is better because he's so much more logical than those bleeding-heart liberals, you hear about how my fave is better because she's so much more radical than those oppressive conservatives. In either case, of course, "liberal" and "conservative" just mean "characters who do not sufficiently agree with my fave".

What's different is that people were more straightforward back on their forums and LiveJournals in 2007 rather than pretending this was really about a broader issue and not like, which two pretend people should kiss, but the result was functionally the same. Honestly, as frustrating as fandom is now, I think it's actually gotten less so compared to what it was fifteen years ago; the greater diversity and larger population mean it's easier to find like-minded people rather than the entire group being dominated by That One Headass White Dude. And you can tell, because that guy no longer has the clout he used to, no matter what buzzwords he hides behind, and depending on your fandom, he is not happy about it.

[watchmakermori]

so I’m finally reading twilight in 2023. I was never interested in it as a teenager, and if i’m honest i’m even less interested in it now, but it was a massive pop culture phenomenon that caused huge shifts in teen fiction, so I wanted to meet it on its own terms and see if i can understand why it had such a huge following.

i’m about 17% of the way in and my thoughts so far are:

the writing is not great, which I pretty much expected. there are so many transitional scenes (bella cooks steaks, bella starts up the truck, bella parks at school, bella walks from one class to another) which could very easily be cut out to keep the pace a bit tighter. meyer also has that annoying habit of explaining the tone of dialogue when it was already obvious from the dialogue itself. standard show/tell balance issues, nothing major

so edward is actually kind of gingery-haired in the books? can’t believe the blueprint for the brooding dark hair YA love interest was actually ginger

I assumed everyone was exaggerating about how often bella goes on about edward’s ‘perfect face’ but no, she really will not shut up about it. we don’t really get any interesting description about how it is perfect - his features outside of his hair, eyes, and skin don’t really get any airtime.

did you know that it rains a lot in Forks? well, get ready for bella to remind you of that every two pages 

bella and edward seem to have...slighty more personality in the books compared to the films? but the emphasis is on slight. bella’s clearest character trait is that she hates attention and gets really stupidly wound up over people noticing her, which definitely isn’t the most riveting of traits, but hey, it’s better than nothing.

edward seems to have marginally more snark than in the films but he’s still dangerously dull. if he and bella had any actual charisma and chemistry it would make the story so much better

I can sort of see why bella works as a protagonist though, because she straddles that happy line between ‘relatable to teenage girls’ and ‘unattainable fantasy for teenage girls’. like a lot of romance protagonists, she has the standard laundry list of flaws that aren’t really flaws, including:

clumsy

not athletic (but she’s still thin, don’t worry)

too pale (apparently this makes her stand out in this white-ass town??????)

not very social (but the entire school is obsessed with her anyway)

I feel like the premise of ‘girl moves to small boring town and falls for a mysterious boy who may or may not be a supernatural creature’ is actually excellent basis for a story. the problem comes from the fact that bella and edward are both incredibly dull characters and it’s hard to care about their romance.

nontheless. I will keep reading and keep adding to this post with my thoughts

[riverdale-retread]

Riverdale S7 E2 Skip, Hop and Thump!

Mind-wiped 1950s Jughead Jones who doesn’t remember the true universe reads things like Pit of Tyranny and Things of Darkness while in bed with a very happy looking Hotdog (he’s so shaggy!) wearing long johns with gray socks.

“Superheroes were out! Horror and crime comics were in!” Jughead says. This I guess is Riverdale’s parting statement about the State of The Culture as of the airtime of this episode (April 5, 2023 in the US). We are not with the MCU! We’re doing something else!

Jughead is still wearing the felt crown on his head, in bed, in his long johns. Does he never take it off? Is it on his head in the shower too? Does it function like glasses? As in sometimes when I change clothes I have to take the whole thing off but other times I don’t. How does it stay on his head? He’s either been reading all night, or he reaches for one among a pile of comic books as soon as he wakes up every morning the way I reach for my smartphone (a tech he completely failed to explain properly last episode) to see what’s happened on tumblr? Many thoughts about the first 25 seconds of Ep 2.

Jughead says he and his friends are obsessed, before he sees something he doesn’t like. Jughead marches into school with a crown pinned to his head (it has to be pinned), a side slung book-bag and Charlie Brown’s mustard yellow sweater with the black stripe across the chest. They are not fooling around in the costume department at Riverdale the Show.

Mind-wiped Jughead speaks with the same weird cadence now as 50s Archie who may or may not be aware that he is in an Alternate Universe: much more singsong, elongated vowels, generally slower speech. He tells his group of comic book loving friends - Ethel (Hi Ethel!), Ben Button, and the AU Dilton Doiley. (Why couldn’t they get the OG Dilton back? Did he refuse to cute his beautiful long hair for this time skip switcheroo?)

Jughead is in a high dudgeon. He says the comic publisher “stole his story!” and that he should “sue ‘em!” One of Jughead’s minor themes is that of plagiarism and accusations thereof. He was first accused of plagiarism (wrongly) while at Stonewall Prep which then led to his being, in essence if not in the legality, expelled from that school for the said charge. As an adult he then had an entire novel stolen out from under him by Jess, an ex, with one ex, Betty, and one future girlfriend, Tabitha, helping Jess steal it, after which he tried to steal the novel handed to him by the one night stand that blackmailed him into reading it. He fessed up to that one at the last minute, but it cost him his writing contract and his relationship with his editor, a gruff-but-loving father figure in a life woefully deprived of a reliable fatherly presence. And now, in this timewarp 1950s, he is certain that a publisher stole from him.

Can I just say - I love maniacal Jughead. Whenever he gets like this, his eyes get really weird and bright. He just loves to be vibrating in outrage, with or without his core memories. Dilton thinks he’s being illogical, Ben is too sick of these forays into mania to even continue to look at Jughead, but Ethel is fully turned on. Ethel has a really really beautiful pair of eyes on her, and she’s getting very bedroomy at Jughead about his insane sounding plan to go “pay a visit” to the publisher. Nobody agrees to go with him though.

Toni, followed by Fangs, followed by some white kid who is NOT SWEET PEA swagger into the class room just as Cheryl is making her candied-sweetness announcement about the upcoming Annual Sock Hop. I have heard of a “sock hop” but being a not terribly curious person it did not occur to me to look up what the heck that was. I knew they wore white ankle socks and had like ‘bobby soxers” and stuff so I assumed it was about wearing those socks. But no. You’re supposed to dance in your socks (no shoes).

An aside: I am furious not just at the loss of Sweet Pea (Yes, I know he left in S5 but I am not over it and you can’t make me) but the fact that they gave Fangs Sweet Pea’s middle of forehead curl hairdo. That does not work for me!

Cheryl in this universe is a specific kind of naggy person that I feel very called out by. She doesn’t just invite people to the Sock Hop. She reminds them (well, tells me, so I’m thankful for this but I think everyone in the universe knows that you don’t wear shoes to dance at the Sock Hop) that Sock Hop = shoeless dancing but then has to go on to tell boys to make sure their socks match AND that they have no holes. The reason you do this kind of nagging is because you assume whoever you’re nagging is dumber than a pile of rocks. Notice that Cheryl, whose lesbianism often comes with a side of straight on hatred of men (her Jason-love being the only exception), only lectures the BOYS about this.

She looks extremely adorable with her red headband that perfectly matches her bright lipstick.

We get a cute montage of sorts of everyone looking at their heart’s desire.

Fangs is making eyes at Midge, who pretends she wasn’t the one that turned around in her seat wholesale stare at him for no reason when he just was walking to his assigned seat. She is shooketh. Archie turns around in his seat to stare longingly at Veronica, who has eyes only for herself - she is fixing her make up in a little handheld mirror. (Foreshadowing??) Aha but it turns out Veronica knew that she was going to be looked at by someone, and has put up the mirror as a ploy to hide her sightline. We are treated to her point of view- It turns out Julian is also looking directly at Veronica. As Cheryl keeps talking, Veronica’s view goes from Julian all the way to Archie, who is fully staring bug eyed and open mouthed at her pulchritude. I have to say once more I love 1950s Archie. He is so guileless. In this age of being stuck being penpals of people on what’s supposed to be dating/ hookup apps, this level of direct physical statements of intent, of clearly twisting your spine to give someone A LOOK feels very refreshing. And (More Foreshadowing??) Veronica’s gaze does not stop at the agog-Archie. It continues on to Betty, who looks very annoyed at the way Archie is gawking at Veronica. She gives Veronica a disapproving look before turning her sights on to Kevin. Or rather, the back of Kevin’s head, because once more, Kevin is not looking at Betty Cooper.

Which basically tells you everything you need to know about Kevin, because HAVE YOU SEEN 1950S BETTY COOPER?? Why would you look at anyone else ever? But of course, Kevin is looking at the new student who I have assumed is Chuck Clayton but absolutely isn’t, because even in an alternate universe Chuck Clayton would not be not straight. (Lucky me, I guess? Ugh.)

Cheryl, who has been going on and on this whole time about how the Sock Hop is going to be “Both the Bee’s Knees and the Cat’s Pajamas” (very interesting that so far, 1950s Cheryl doesn’t use 19th Century syntax) positively squeaks as she announces that Kevin and the Crooners will be performing at the dance! Betty, who is very good at certain kinds of support, reaches over to squeeze Kevin’s arm at the mention of his name, which finally gets him to take his eyes off the boy of his dreams.

The bell rings, and Archie chases her down. Veronica’s headband matches her dress and I have bangs and shoulder length hair and am seized with an irrational desire to wear a headband. Archie wants to know if Veronica wants to go to the Sock Hop with him. Veronica is pleased, but she doesn’t say yes. Instead she asks Archie if he knows how to cut a rug.

Archie looks down, then away, making an uncomfortable face. Veronica assumes that Archie doesn’t know what Cut a Rug means. She thinks Archie is really, very, extremely dumb. Interesting. She asks “Are you a good dancer?” by way of explanation. Archie’s response is still delayed. He dredges up a “Oh! Yeah. Of course I am!” and - the performance is really hilarious to me because I’ve watched it three times in a row, just this exchange and honestly I CAN’T DECIDE if Veronica is right that Archie does not know this extremely commonly used idiom in his one and only language OR if it’s because Archie does have fluency in his mother tongue but is simply bad at lying to the girl he likes a whole lot (He can’t dance, it’s later revealed). Veronica says that she believes him yet will “still need a demonstration.” Then she calls him “Daddy O” which turns him all so hard that all the blood from his brain goes somewhere else in a hurry and he just is mutely nodding. Oh Archie.

Toni Topaz, looking excellent in her ponytail-with-bangs, oozes up to Cheryl who eagerly asks if she’s going to buy tickets to the Sock Hop. “Are you asking me out?” is what she says, which then rings about the cutest meltdown. Cheryl entirely fails at sounding outraged because she’s elated, but is aware that Midge is there, so she stutters (to Midge, by turning her head away from Toni) that she OF COURSE ISN’T asking Toni out because - because she’s the *host!* And and and (Cheryl never stutters, but here she is, stuttering) also she’s a … [unspeakable word: GIRL] and Toni is also [unspeakable word: Girl]!! And girls don’t!!

Toni makes fun of Cheryl - smirkily asking what she means to say: “Girls don’t what? Dance with other girls?” and then says “Calm down, Peggy Sue.” To add insult to injury she then talks about how Fangs is a singer who deserves to be in the lineup for the music for the dance. The dirty look that Cheryl gives Fangs is a balm to my heart. I stan Cheryl Blossom for many reasons, but her persistent hatred of Fangs makes her my avatar. Cheryl suddenly remembers that she does not like anything associated with the Southside, and so is rude about the Serpents. She doesn’t want them at her Sock Hop because they will “Start a Rumble.” Toni tells her nobody will buy tickets to this thing with Kevin’s “B-grade barbershop quartet.” BURN. Fangs follows Toni around like he always used to in the proper universe, but this time he says bye to only Midge, who pretends rather incompetently that she is not all about that attention. Cheryl smacks her.

At PEP comics, which is in the building that used to house the Charles Smith FBI Field Office in the future, Jughead Jones is waiting impatiently for his turn to speak to the editor in chief. There’s a secretary lady and a young male assistant to the EIC. Jughead is determined to have his say, and his trying to stay true to that purpose while being obviously a bit intimidated by Al Fieldstone is very cute. He can’t even face him head on, instead angling his body towards the door in case he needs to skedaddle for his life in a hurry.

Mind-Wiped 50s Jughead speaks in the same OG Disney Channel (like, when Walt was on shows on it) Ozzy-and-Harriet, the OG Mickey Mouse Club candances as Archie. It’s very funny when placed against the more natural delivery of Al Fieldstone. Jughead is very scared but he says what he came to say. “I submitted a story that you - rejected it. And then- surprise surprise! - you ran a story that was exactly like it! Now, you might call that a coincidence, but I call it theft!” Even the way he puts his little hands on his little hips has no conviction, because Jughead is so intimidated by Mr. Fieldstone. He looks a little astonished at his own moxie at having said all this to this man.

Fieldstone growls that there are “no original ideas” and that he has hundreds of submissions every week which are all “slop” - and Jughead stutteringly insisting that the “timing” and “details” are too much to be a coincidence? Fieldstone rolls right over him. Filing cabinets, he says, are filled with every germ of a story idea he’s ever had. Fieldstone boasts about a backlog he’s “waiting to farm out” to potential writers. Jughead is very gifted at making the most of opportunities, I guess, because he immediately volunteers his own services as a writer.

“You’re looking for writers??”

“Always!”

“Well I’m! A - WRITER.”

Again, Jug looks so amazed at himself, for calling himself a writer in front of an actual publisher His eyes hold more than a small amount of fear that he won’t be believed, and won’t be allowed to claim this title. But he doesn’t blow it! Jughead wants to know how he can be ‘considered’ for a writing job, to which the editor in chief hands him a slip of paper with the aforementioned story kernel on it, and tells him to come up with “seven pages” that won’t “make him want to puke.”

Jughead leaves elated, entirely having forgotten about why he came to begin with. Obviously, Fieldstone has been through this spiel thousands of times before. What writers want, according to Riverdale, is not actually justice in the event of a plagiarism event. What they want is a paying writing gig, and the offer of one will make them forget everything else.

Meanwhile, in Betty’s bedroom, Archie confirms that he indeed knows the phrase “cut a rug” but he has a panic response to the word “dance” because he once broke Midge’s toe attempting to dance once. Betty is going to teach him the twist. She tells him to move his hips from side to side. Archie’s hips stay stock still but he moves his shoulders in rhythm which is a start. Betty tells him less shoulders, more hips, but then he just has a body disregulation event. It makes Betty give up right then and there, switching them over to slow dancing. The song says “Be miiiiine/ For the Rest of my Life” while Betty and Archie in a peachy glow look lovingly at each other. Oh they are so cute.

Of course, this is when Alice Cooper has to come barging in. She is scandalized. While she shuts off the music, Betty and Archie try to explain that they weren’t doing anything bad, that Archie was gearing up to ask out “The new girl” (according to Betty) who is “a celebrity from Hollywood!” (according to Archie). She summarily kicks Archie out. I LOVE Alice’s outfit - the floral print, the wide skirt, the green cardigan, the skinny pink belt, the super high heels. This looks like the more uncomfortable thing you could choose to wear at home, but it look undeniably excellent.

Meanwhile, in the extremely big traincar in which Jughead lives, we have AN ETHELEHEAD MOMENT. Jughead has shown his draft to Ethel, who says she is so jealous of the opportunity he has to submit something to Pep Comics. Jughead says she’s as good as anybody, then goes on to offer that if his story passes muster, he will recommend her as an artist to the publisher. This is so cute. I love this. I also like it in general when Jughead Jones has a nice looking place to live.

Cheryl is obsessed with selling tickets to this Sock Hop thing! She drives solo to a lakefront piece of land where clearly people go to fuck in their cars, then does an INSANE thing. She knocks on windows to ask if they’ve bought a ticket. Of course, the first car she picks is the one Fangs is in. He rolls down the window for some reason to reveal Midge who looks scared and is in a pose that looks like she either just got done or was about to give head.

WHY DOES FANGS LOWER THE WINDOW???

Cheryl has a very Penelope Blossom freakout. “One of my precious Vixens with a common greaser! SACRILEGE! GET OUT OF THE CAR RIGHT THIS MINUTE!” Ah there is the Victorian syntax, back in full force! Further, the sheer power that Cheryl has is amazing. Midge, whinging, does exactly as she’s told. Cheryl’s coitus-interruptor outfit is excellent - red skirt with white polka dots, a white coat, red barrel handbag.

In one of the cars is Kevin and Betty. I hate Kevin. To quote Nathan Lane talking to the gays of Brokeback Mountain - “Leave those poor women alone!” He looks unhappy while he is in the car with the beautiful Betty Cooper, who wants to know why she and her so called boyfriend are sitting in a car at the make out spot not touching. He can’t even come up with some sort of answer for why he’s being such a withholding jackass. She points out that he hasn’t even asked her to the Sock Hop, to be his date. The way Kevin’s closeted self hatred manifests apparently is to be a misogynist. He doesn’t apologize for not asking Betty to the dance. He says he’d assumed she’d be there, while he performs, as his fan.

Betty can’t take it anymore and plants a passionate kiss on him. The revulsion he exhibits with his hands before he pushes her off! Kevin! Then he has the GALL to call her a sex maniac because she wants to be ‘pinned.’ (Just like I didn’t really know what at Sock Hop was, I am not sure anymore that I know what the whole ‘pinning’ business is actually, even though it’s mentioned a lot in things set in the 50s and in pulp novels.) I think it’s related to ‘going steady’ and I suppose promising to dry-hump only each other (because sex wasn’t allowed at this time officially between teens, right?). Betty rightfully leaves the car so she can walk home.

“Pretentious, clunky, too much dialogue, but it’ll do” is the assessment that Jughead’s writing gets. His hands are in an anxious prayer position, his foot is tapping from terrified nervous energy, and the hideous squares of his vest do not go with the hideous squares of his red checked shirt, but Jughead gets a job! Sort of! He gets paid for his writing, in any case.

Aside: In the same way that perhaps Archie was never very talented at music (the only person who thought he had a gift was his groomer - the university professor rejected him outright, for one) are we supposed to think Jughead is a hack? He got into a prestigious writing program for college, sure, but he didn’t place at the writing competition he submitted things to that got him Chippings’ attention, his classmates at Stonewall rated Donna’s fic to be the best, Betty as an adult called his writing cringe and now this.

Is a dollar a page a lot in 1950? It sounds dirt cheap pay, to me. Oh and see - the care with which Riverdale is made! The publisher is totally gypping Jughead, who is too naive to know it, and he doesn’t give a shit who the artist is that Jughead claims to know until he says that magic word - CHEAP- in which case the publisher wants the illustrations for the 7 page zombie story TOMORROW. The way Jughead frantically throw out the word “cheap” because the editor isn’t interested at “incredible artist, young, hungry” and the way the editor immediately wants to know about the CHEAP part!

Jughead’s wholesome offer of a handshake thanking a man who (a) definitely DID steal his story after rejecting it and (b) is going to pay him slave wages for a story he churned out based on a kernel probably stolen from yet another writer and (c) is now going to exploit Ethel’s work being met with suspicion was a great touch.

The next day at school, Kevin is drawn to the music room by the siren song of melodious piano playing. It turns out to be the black student who isn’t Chuck. We finally get told what his name is - it’s Clay Walker. He says he was “horsing around” even though he sounded extremely accomplished on the piano. Clay Walker gives Betty Cooper her dues - Kevin is ‘dating the prettiest girl at Riverdale High.” Once more, Kevin, STOP TORTURING HER. Clay says he has transferred in from ‘all over’ though that’s an evasion, not an answer. His father was military and he may now be dead (or perhaps somehow dishonorably discharged?) - Clay says his father WAS in the army. When Clay asks Kevin to recommend someone he should take to the dance because he doesn’t have a date yet, Kevin says the most damning thing. That “lots of people go stag.” Which means that his level of failing at comp het is not actually necessary at Riverdale. He’s ruining Betty’s teen years and subjecting her to constant sexual rejection on purpose when it isn’t necessary for his survival. I hate Kevin.

Aside: And actually, Kevin has a lot of weird toxicity doesn’t he? I’m not just talking about the strange way he yanked Fangs around, ultimately yeeting out on the relationship that he insisted they have with Toni and so on. That and his using white privilege to steal Toni’s baby away from her. And the fact that in his soul-selling to get Broadway success, Fangs is his servant and his sexual servicer, not an equal partner. When Jughead-Narrator of RIvervale sold his soul for comic book success, he just had the comic book success and a permanent resident booth inside Pop’s. He didn’t sexually or emotionally dominate a significant other.

Archie tries officially asking out Veronica again. She still doesn’t say yes. While reading Peyton Place, Veronica invites Archie to her place later that day, with the express purpose of auditioning to be her beau for the evening. Even though this proposition is actually quite insulting, the way Veronica looks - so alluring and perfect and knowing - is inducement enough. And really, Veronica does know how to lure them in. She tells Archie as he cutely skips out, “I’m rooting for you, Stud,” in the most sultry voice. He can’t control his happiness at being singled out (when he’s by himself, no less).

Once more, I adore 50s Archie. He’s so bouncy and cute and sweet and wholesome. This is how I think Jughead thinks Archie is, even though he isn’t, and I wonder also if that’s why this is why he’s like this in the universe that is Tabitha’s creation. (Even though she didn’t take the narrating duties away from Jughead, this is, in essence, a universe fueled by Tabitha’s power, so this is in some way her version of these people, right? In which case, Betty being insanely horny as fuck all the time is actually very funny to me.)

Speaking of which, Betty wants to know how Veronica makes this happen - how she gets boys to just do whatever she wants. “So they just do whatever you say!” she remarks. Can we just take a moment to discuss how absolutely spectacular Betty looks in this green sweater and cinched-waist skirt combo? Just SO sensual and sexy. Veronica totally finds her hot. I mean, generally, my central thesis about Veronica is that she’s gay. This is why her relationships with men never quite work out. She may be bisexual sexually but she is homosexual emotionally. She loves beautiful women, and wants to love on them and dance with them and boost their confidence. So Veronica does what she does with pretty ladies to Betty here, telling her she’s “a total Marilyn” and tells her how to break up with her boyfriend - ask some other boy out and make Kevin “all hot and bothered.”

Cheryl is still shilling tickets to her sock hop dance thing, but not very successfully. She accosts Dilton Doiley.

I am sad about what they’ve done with Dilton Doiley for this scene. He’s such a stereotypical Asian nerd, of the type that Riverdale has hitherto successfully avoided. OG Dilton was a feral little weirdo, who did things like encourage Archie to get a gun. Rivervale Dilton had long excellent hair and was a different kind of feral weirdo. Reggie 1.0 and 2.0 were also not the note-for-note rote racist Asian boy nerd stereotype that 50s Dilton is. He’s bespectacled, stuttering, scared of Toni Topaz (Minnie Mouse Serpent, be gone!) and bullied by Cheryl who seems literally half his size. A gormless Asian nerd afraid of women - feeds right into the Is he gay or is he Asian hatefulness which manages to be homophobic and racist at the same time. Great.

Back at the Andrews residence, Archie has tried on Fred’s jacket so he can have something to wear to Veronica’s shindig in the evening. The jacket does not fit at all whatsoever, so he presents himself awkwardly like a pretty scarecrow to ask for assistance for his mother. Mary Andrews giggles like a Flintstones wife which she’s never ever done before. She fixes the jacket. I wish I knew how to do things like ‘let out a hem a little bit. One more normal life skill I have neglected to acquire all this time. The faces that Archie makes in the mirror are, just to keep going on about it, SO VERY CUTE. He looks so handsome, so fresh faced, so excited, so sweet spirited.

He’s so in love with Veronica’s ‘celebrity’ or maybe ‘celebrity adjacent’ status. He keeps saying that about her to the mothers, even though Veronica actually shared how miserable her present existence is. She’s abandoned by her parents, has been always neglected by them, and lied about it all only to have it humiliatingly thrown in her face. And yet, Archie is just so taken with her Los Angeles, Big City, Glamorous It-Girl persona. Poor Veronica.

Mary cries about seeing Archie in Fred’s suit because she and Fred went to their Sock Hop together. Fred apparently wrote Mary love poetry in this universe. Archie has very cute pale blue wall paper with different sports implements. Archie seems very charmed by his parents’ high school courtship.

Inspired by this story, Archie writes Veronica a poem, then gets Betty to take a read through in case in sucks.

Okay so.

So.

I object to this sort of ‘friendship’ between boys and girls. I just feel like they aren’t really friendships but some sort of (at best) unconscious emotional cruelty by one party to the more sexually interested party or (at worst) taking advantage of someone who you know is into you and you’re not sure or you think you can do better so you’re backburnering them. And having them ‘coach’ you on how best to date someone else is a pretty shitty backburner-stoking method. So in principle I dislike this, but the fact that Archie is doing it to THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN RIVERDALE (that both gay boys agree on - that is Clay and Kevin) is a bit too much.

In any case, Betty likes the poem. I was supremely relieved that they didn’t make me listen to the poem, ngl. Because I really didn’t like any of Archie’s songs either (Sorry, Arch).

Cheryl has some courage. She goes to the site of the Speak-Easy that existed in the infinite space underneath Pop’s which looks like a trailer but somehow isn’t, which then hosted the second Whyte Wyrm, and in this era is a “coffee house” which actually looks like an amazing place I’d like to go to. Toni must have incredible vision because that space does not look like it has anywhere near enough light but yet she is reading. It’s literally called THE DARK ROOM. Bikers, beatniks and badasses are who Toni thinks she’s a part of but I ask you this - why would such cool people give a shit about playing music at the goddamn Riverdale Sock Hop?? Why is Toni so goddamn invested in Fangs taking the stage at what sounds like THE preppiest event of all time??

I do very much enjoy all the weird 50s hipster lingo that Toni uses. “Take a load off” etc.

Archie has brought wholesome flowers Veronica’s thing. She is wearing the most RIDICULOUS dress. An absolutely enormous flat black bow topping cancerous looking black buttons on a painted-on purple tightness. I both love it and hate it. She is holding an alcoholic drink when she enters, telling Archie that they were all discussing Eisenhower and presidential politics. Archie and I are both alarmed that there are “others.” There are no fewer than THREE others - one of which is the cursed Julian.

Meanwhile, the Cooper ladies are doing dishes together wearing really, really high heels at night. Do - did? - white people actually live like this in the 1950s? Like, outdoor shoes in the house is gross enough to me, but to wear 5 inch heeled shoes while doing the dishes at night? That is some extreme kink dominatrix shit to me. I’m very square and preppy, it’s true, but come on! Anyway, Betty tells her mom in the most winsomely adorable way that she is having ‘fluttering’ feelings about Archie. Alice, because she’s a piece of shit in any universe, tries to kibosh that by asking if the attraction is purely because Kevin makes Betty feel ‘underappreciated.’ This bitchy comment kills Betty’s glow immediately.

We skip to Jughead looking through Ethel’s illustration work. “Holy Hell, Ethel!” he exclaims. He thinks she’s produced something great. Ethel looks so happy. I know from previews something terrible is going to happen to her, but why can’t Ethel just have some nice things! Why?? And because Jughead doesn’t seem to think her being a girl is going to be an obstacle to getting paid for her art, Ethel takes courage and asked Jughead to be her date at the Sock Hop.

Except 1) Jughead was not at all keeping track of the date of the Sock Hop and 2) when he asks “For Kicks?” as a response she caves and agrees, even though she clearly meant it to be a date invitation.

I hate this. I hate this so much. They always do this in so much media, that a girl asking a guy to go to a thing like this can never lead anywhere good and often starts out with her being rejected outright in an offhand manner. Riverdale! I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!!

Anyways, as though this wasn’t bad enough, Ethel’s very terrifying mother opens the door without knocking, bringing scary music in with her, and gives Jughead such an evil look of hateful silence that he goes from wanting to politely greet the woman (and possibly tell her how talented he thinks Ethel is) to being confused and a bit offended. Mrs. Muggs implicitly threatens her daughter and her guest with Mr. Mugg’s violence like this is a normal thing to do, which Jughead takes as his cue to leave.

At the Pembroke, which omg has a baby grand in the living room - I am so jealous when anyone has a huge musical instrument just in their living room - Archie cannot keep up with the competition. Veronica is telling an anecdote about Frank Sinatra. This might be a lie, right? Veronica is established as a liar. But in any case, I miscounted. There are FOUR, not three, other suitors in the room. The most annoying one is of course Julian Blossom, who insults Archie gratuitously.

Veronica has a fricking actual Monet in her living room. Julian recognizes it, preening that the Blossoms go art buying every summer. Bored perhaps, or maybe egotistically annoyed that instead of just being impressed Julian keeps trying to compete with her stories, Veronica solicits Archie’s opinion. The thing is, Veronica knows Archie is a know nothing. She even thinks he doesn’t know what Cut A Rug means. So she has to know she’s setting him up for humiliation, asking him for an opinion on Monet.

I do like Archie’s forthrightness. He says he prefers Norman Rockwell. Not letting it go, Julian attacks him about his clothing, which then touches the sore point that sets Archie off in every iteration - besmirching the honor of the sainted Fred Andrews. Veronica, recognizing a strategic blunder, tries to redirect everyone to a game of charades.

The Archie I know and kind of loathe finally emerges in this alternate timeline. Stiff with rage, he threatens violence on Julian before excusing himself to go. The concerned disappointment on Veronica’s face, as well as Julian being a jackass right behind her got to me.

Julian is what Bret Weston Wallis would be if Bret had been straight. But Bret wanted to bottom for Jughead Jones, so he came off somehow less repellent even though a lot of the things he did and said were just as terrible. Julian is Riverdale’s anti-heterosexual statement, I guess?

Archie tosses his poem for Veronica in the trash as he leaves.

The next morning, Veronica pays the Andrews home a visit, trying to put on her best nice girl front to Mary Andrews, who isn’t having it at all, whatsoever. Mary Andrews says about her son that he is “simple, so simple” which - OK so everyone including his mom thinks 50s Archie is as dumb as a sack of rocks. So Mary rightly tells Veronica off - “What kind of person auditions boys to go to a Sock Hop?!” and calls her “Little Miss Femme Fatale” before slamming the door in her face.

This is the most I’ve ever liked Mary Andrews in seven years.

That same morning, Alice Cooper has summoned Kevin to talk about Betty. Kevin basically tells Alice that he’s gay. “Betty wants THESE THINGS from me, but I’m not sure I can give them to her.” Like really. Any straight boy saying this to his girlfriend’s mom is almost as clear a statement of his homosexuality as saying “Mrs Cooper I want to suck cock.” But because Alice is a POS she thinks that this is normal. Or at least, she says so. I’m inclined to think she’s cockblocking Betty. If Alice in the 50s has the same sorts of things happen to her as the main universe - teen pregnancy from FP or Hal or whatever throwing her entire life off course - then she has an understandable motivation to make sure her totally gorgeous, sensual daughter is dating a gay boy who can’t stand to touch her even to keep up a straight front. Out of her bra, Alice produces a pin, and tells Kevin that what girls really want is a “fella who carries her books home for her from school or takes her to the movies or call them on the telephone.” She says the pin (which Hal gave her) will solve all sexual tension and make things be ‘pure.’

Whatever Alice and Hal have going on in this universe is just as sick as the thing they had together in the real universe.

Kevin looks like he wants to throw up, but takes Alice’s explanation that pinning Betty with her mom’s pin is going to take care of everything with a smile.

Suddenly, Toni is all about selling tickets to the Sock Hop because Fangs will be performing. Oh. Is this supposed to be an echo of like, their eventual marriage with baby stupidity in the main universe? And to top it off, Toni bullies the new Dilton Doiley into buying 5 tickets to the Sock Hop because this is supposed to be funny. It’s not and I hate it. Toni asks Cheryl if she’s told Kevin that he’s been replaced by Fangs, to which Cheryl says she hasn’t but also takes the chance to use a new hipster phrase she’s learned: “Can you dig it?”

Poor Ethel. Two hideous old white men are bearing down on her in the Principal’s office. She was doodling in Mr Doiley’s class (so Dilton is the science teacher’s kid - I feel too tired to point out this is a stereotype). It’s the illustration suitable for that comics magazine she wants to work for. Ethel’s work has a really cool R. Crumb kind of energy. So she tells the truth - she says she’s trying to meet a deadline for the Pep Comics project. The world is against Ethel, so she now has detention.

Archie approaches Veronica. He says he’s sorry he left in a huff but then scarily says, “I sincerely was going to rip Julian’s head off.” When Veronica responds with a suitably chastened apology, which she tops off with a sweet affirmation that she really liked getting to know him, Archie asks her out yet another time. Very interestingly, Veronica seems pleased that he’s still interested in her like that but rejects him for what looks like might be once too many times. She won’t be going with anyone. Archie gets rightly very annoyed, asking why she’d made him jump through hoops and participate in a dog and pony show. Veronica says it was a game, because to her way of thinking the queen bee is supposed to rile up the worker bees then fly off. Archie has finally had enough to stalk off.

Right before gym class (? I guess? I don’t understand the yellow button downs + belted blue shorts outfit they’re all changing into) Betty wants to know if Veronica has made her choice. Veronica says she’s going stag. I wish the gay girls flirting storyline was given to Veronica and not Toni or Cheryl. Anyway when Betty asks why, Veronica says without saying so that she is going alone as a form of penance for having been so thoughtless and careless with Archie’s feelings, making him do her bidding to compete for her against other boys. Betty asks if she didn’t like his poem, which Veronica doesn’t know anything about. Veronica tells Betty she doesn’t know who if anyone Archie is going with, but whoever she is “She is one lucky girl.” Betty looks at her beautiful self for reassurance, happy to hear her flutterings about Archie can maybe be explored, before skipping off adorably behind Veronica.

Immediately after, looking like 50s barbie in one of her sexy sweater-and-cinched-waist outfits of this season, Betty walks in slowmo to the beat of 80s synth music to ask Archie to the dance. I was so excited for her, but then Kevin FUCKING KELLER makes the record scratch happen by demanding that he must talk to Betty right this particular minute.

He takes her to the music room where all the sexual things happen at Riverdale High. He says he’s very sorry, mentions that he was cut from the program at the Sock Hop, and then tells Betty that she’s the “most wonderful, the ginchiest girl” which apparently means - sexy and cool and excellent - after which he asks Betty to go steady with him. Betty has doubts but the motherfucker (I hate Kevin so much right now) bulldozes over her very justified objections by promising that “things will be really different this time.” He says what I think is a true thing - “I love you” - followed by a lie - “You make my heart feel full.” Dude. He’s pulling out all the stops, manipulating the fuck out of this girl who he knows is so horny which horniness he hates because Kevin Keller in this timeline isn’t just gay because he likes men- he’s gay because he hates women. He can’t even bring himself to touch a piece of clothing over a tit. Betty has to put the pin on herself.

Ethel didn’t show up to detention because she was selling her artwork to the publisher. Mr Fieldstone turns out to not hate women like Kevin Keller. He finds it difficult to believe that Ethel, whose skin looks so clear and milky, whose collar is so lacey and sweet, could draw art to his liking, but once assured that it’s real, gives her the standing-greeting and handshake respect gestures that he did not give Jughead Jones. He nicknames her Freckles, saying, “You have some real talent” and calling her work “putrid (admiring).” And Jughead Jones, bless him, seems surprised but not at all jealous. He’s just beaming at her.

The publisher, all smiles, calls Jughead Boy Wonder, to go with her Freckles nickname, and wants to know if they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Jug says they are “creative partners” to which she adds, “We are going to the Sock Hop together.”

Smithers has found Archie’s poem in the trash bin he was emptying and duly brought it up to her. Uhhh. So Smithers is going through Veronica’s trash every day!?! And I guess reporting on the contents to her parents?? Like, why is he examining the contents of the trashcans instead of just throwing them away?? In any case, I am unhappy because I think they’re going to read me Archie’s poem at some point.

Ethel is excited as she comes home to her terrifying parents. Her dad calls her a delinquent and they’re both immediately screaming at her. Ethel calls her mom a drunk and her dad ‘miserable all the time.’ She says she’s going to the Sock Hop, to which her mother hollers, OVER MY DEAD BODY. Oh, I’m so sorry for Ethel. Why can’t she have nice things? (I mean, because the actress is gifted and can shoulder big heavy burdens in the story, but still, it’s hell for the character.)

At the Sock Hop, which looks even weirder as a cultural activity now because it’s canon that the Cooper women wear super high heeled out door shoes to wash dishes, Clay approaches Kevin. He tells a terrified Kevin that he thinks Fangs is handsome, then adds that he thinks Kevin is handsome too. You know what Clay - Run! Run away! Kevin is a piece of shit! He asks for a private concert, and Kevin just looks like a deer in headlights.

Fangs, whom I hate since he undeservedly became Serpent King in S6, sings Tutti Fruitti. Everyone likes this song, because it’s a good song, but I genuinely hate this performance. I’m usually forgiving about the singing performances on Riverdale but this is unbearable. Toni asks Cheryl for a dance (Cheryl is absolutely correct that Fangs is most definitely not the next Chuck Berry. Midge is an utter airhead, given that she swoons at Fang’s horrible singing. Anyway, Toni takes to the dance-floor with Cheryl which for some reason their principal who is clearly fucking Dupont, I mean, Werther, is mad about.

They overburden the very limited vocal range of the Fangs actor by giving him Only You to sing. Overlaid over this horrendous singing is Archie’s poem which Veronica has memorized. She does a Sylvia Plath meets Ted Hughes thing of reciting a poem back at its poet. Except Archie (and uh, the Riverdale writers) are no Ted Hughes. The only thing that is getting me through it is the extremely wonderful pearls-of-many-sizes headband Veronica has on. It sets off her black hair perfectly. She asks him for a dance, but Archie after looking so thrilled, says no. And that’s because Veronica has been cockblocked by Archie’s mom.

When Archie leaves her behind, Veronica is rendered vulnerable to Julian Blossom oozing up to her. But she’s not the one with the shittiest end of the stick, actually because that honor goes to Betty, who looks so adoringly up at Kevin, who can’t bear to look at her, and seeks reassuring eye contact from Alice Cooper of all people. The evil principal - who has to be another woman hating gay man in this universe - comes to remind Cheryl that they live in a comp-het world. This breaks Cheryl’s heart, and I’m sure the sting is made even worse because Fangs is tunelessly crooning the beautiful song, Only You, in his horrendous butchered version.

In comes Ethel, blood smeared over her pretty pink outfit, blood competing with her sweet pale blue eyeshadow on her terrified face. Jughead runs to her as she collapses, and she tells him that something terrible has happened. I mean, Fangs is butchering a ballad, but yes, something even worse has apparently happened to my poor girl Ethel. Uh, also I didn’t know Jughead was packing that much cake behind so that’s another thing that’s been denied her. Ethel better not have the worst plot line after Betty this season! I swear to GOD.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I am somewhat worried about the Percy Jackson adaptation, overall. Even though I'm hoping it will be okay in the end.

Spoilers for the book here:

Like, I'm really hoping that they don't do the Luke reveal early, and Grover just is wrong and thinks Clarisse stole the lightning bolt or something.

Also, they should have had the scene where they sent an Iris message to Luke, because that's important for us thinking Luke is a friend and for the eventual betrayal (and showing Annabeth's crush on Luke that the show hasn't done yet?). Maybe they'll do that next episode? As so far, the show's been doing things a bit late, but I don't know.

I'm also kind of concerned about them revealing things early/out of order? For instance, Percy knowing Annabeth wasn't born naturally because Athena is a maiden goddess: that conversation didn't happen until books from now, so now that means we can't have that conversation where it actually happened. And maybe that's not really a big deal, but...

I'm just afraid that this stuff could start to snowball, like George R.R. Martin warned Dan and Dave it would, when they wanted to change things in Game of Thrones (and it most definitely did). And you would think/hope it wouldn't, since Rick Riordan is writing all of this/involved with all of it. But I kind of feel like Dominic Noble on YouTube: that, in some cases, this doesn't necessarily feel like an adaptation of "The Lightning Thief," but Rick Riordan's attempt at re-writing his book, years later. All of the main beats are there, but they happen somewhat differently.

And I knew that would have to happen with a TV show, because there's more airtime to fill in, when you're basically making each chapter (or a few chapters) an episode. Ironically, for it to be more accurate--and it to get all of those beats in--it would also has to be more different, because there has to be a lot of embellishing.

At least it isn't something like Shadowhunters, I guess. Where they promised us it would be the same story and the same beats to that story...but oh, wasn't it. Maybe they got some of the major plots in, but it felt like everything else about it changed, so that it didn't really feel like The Mortal Instruments books.

With this, I'm like, "Yeah, it's Percy Jackson. Things are just getting expanded on, and it's just kind of Rick Riordan's director's cut of it, I guess." I just hope things don't end up getting too crazy with it.

[selchwife]

i think food insecurity is definitely a big sticking point for me too. like even the mildest forms of food insecurity can really fuck with you psychologically in a lot of really tangled ways, and sometimes when food comes up in writing like this, the sort of “Oh, im so embarrassed by the material generosity of my outlandishly rich boyfriend, how gauche of him!” stuff, i can just feel that it isn’t something the author thinks about. and i guess if the pov character isn’t supposed to have ever lived in poverty or experienced it that’s fine but it does highlight for me sometimes like. Material concerns about not only comfort but basic needs and survival really take on a different tenor for the already-comfortable vs the deprived; i think it’s perhaps a lot easier to look down one’s nose at material desire when there isn’t some gaping hole in one’s conditions to inspire it beyond perhaps in the ways more typically considered “materialistic” (wanting to accrue things purely for the sake of accruing them or as status symbols rather than the desire to use them or the genuine need of them).

like i do think about food and the sharing and acquiring of it a lot bc issues about food have kind of been omnipresent in my life since i was young and It May Be The Case I Did Not Receive Adequate Nutrition As A Child due to having remained pretty small after the age of 11 but nonetheless like. Food is serious business to me. cannot fathom being in the position where even in writing what is essentially a post-apoc fic where everything is scarce, the difficulty of acquiring books gets plenty of airtime and yet the protagonist does not spare a thought for the challenge of acquiring food during a lavish feast. idk how uncharitable this may be but it kind of makes me feel like, man, no wonder you put so little stock in the desire for comfortable living conditions, you’re not being deprived of them

[kamreadsandrecs]

Title: The Betrayal of the Blood Lily (Pink Carnation #6) Author: Lauren Willig Genres: romance, historical, Regency romance, thriller Content/Trigger Warnings: murder, snakes, adultery, period-accurate misogyny, racism, neglect Summary (from publisher’s website): Whisked away to nineteenth-century India, Penelope Deveraux plunges into the court intrigues of the Nizam of Hyderabad, where no one is quite what they seem. New to this strange and exotic country- where a dangerous spy called the Marigold leaves venomous cobras as his calling card-she can trust only one man: Captain Alex Reid. With danger looming from local warlords, treacherous court officials, and French spies, Alex and Penelope may be all that stand in the way of a plot designed to rock the very foundations of the British Empire… Buy Here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-betrayal-of-the-blood-lily-lauren-willig/11103225 Spoiler-Free Review: Well, this feels complicated! So I want to say off the bat that I was a little worried going into this - more worried than I was when I first read it, mostly because of the setting: India. And during this time, India was being colonized by European powers, with the British winning out in the long run. Given how colonization absolutely fucked India up on several levels, I was concerned about how the political and social situation of India would be portrayed, as well as how any Indian characters would be depicted. And I will say: some of it I think was done okay, but some of it was not. In terms of the political situation, I think those were handled fairly okay, in the sense that the struggle of the Indian city-states against the machinations of both the British and the French to bring more of the subcontinent under their control was touched upon, but it wasn’t something that the novel went into with a lot of depth, sticking only to tightly-controlled specifics that were pertinent to the plot and the specific moment in history that the story was taking place in. That was fair, in my opinion: the author had a specific plot in mind, and used aspects of the history that would work for that plot, without getting bogged down in too many details - details that, I think, they might not be best placed to talk about, given that they are a white American and some things are just better told by Indian writers and historians. This whole situation therefore brought a certain depth the overall plot, which I appreciated because it also upped the stakes significantly. Prior to this book the plots had been rather simplistic; things had been ramping up starting in the fourth book, but this is the first one in the series that REALLY feels like a proper spy thriller. The complex, tangled loyalties of the characters and the equally complex and tangled relations between the Hindu Maratha leaders (Mahratta in the book), the Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad, and the colonizer British and French forces, all make for some fantastic moments of tension and intrigue throughout the book. I was, however, disappointed in the way certain Indian characters were used. One character felt like all he was meant to do was function as the “native guide/friend” to Alex, the white male protagonist, and I wish said character had gotten a bit more depth to them than they got. I also wish that some of the more prominent Indian female historical figures had gotten some airtime - in particular, Khair-un-Nissa, wife of James Kirkpatrick. I guess her not appearing was the author’s way of making sure they didn’t muck up their portrayal of her, but given that the famous poet and courtesan Mah Laqa Bai puts in an appearance (and one that is pretty well-done in my opinion), I think it wouldn’t have been too terrible to have Khair-un-Nissa make an appearance, however, brief. After all, there are chunks of the story that takes place in the Residency, and the whole point of sending Frederick and Penelope to Hyderabad in the first place was because Wellesley strongly disapproved of Kirkpatrick’s marriage to her. As for the romance between Penelope and Alex, I REALLY enjoyed that as well, because they are both fascinating characters. In Alex’s case, his complicated relationship to his father and brother Jack, as well as his own principles and ideologies, make navigating the political landscape of the novel’s setting rather difficult for him, but interesting for the reader. It’s also through his past that we get a glimpse of the racism that was prevalent during the period, given that some of his half-siblings were themselves half-Indian and therefore suffered discrimination.  And then there is Penelope. She’s loud, she’s brazen, she’s rebellious, she doesn’t think too much about consequences before getting into something. She is, in short, the ultimate Bad Girl, in the way that Regency women and even 21st century woman would recognize. But it also becomes very clear, fairly early on in this novel, that Penelope’s rebellious and frankly self-destructive and self-sabotaging tendencies spring from a deep well of trauma that goes all the way back to her family. I felt deeply for her while I was reading, even as I felt a deep urge to shake her too. But that just made her even more fun to read about I think. Anyway, this was definitely an uptick in terms of quality of the books overall, sliding into some genuinely dangerous territory for once, and while the Indian colonization aspect was handled fairly well for the most part, I still think that it could have been rounded out a bit more. Rating: four blood lilies

[kunosoura]

My final rating of the Crown of Stars major PoV characters after book 7

Top tier:

Liath - her growth from an abused girl clinging desperately to any affection she could and trying to build the strength she knew she needed to the confident and powerful sorceress we see in the end was SO satisfying. I love that in the end she felt no need to be cruel or vindictive toward Hugh and merely did what was needed so he could never hurt anyone ever again. I love that we see how the world outside views her - as a dangerous, mysterious witch with inscrutable motives and an unknown agenda - while also showing us her internality (that of a woman dedicated to peace, truth and knowledge, with stunted social skills).

High tier

Hanna. Last time I talked about how her narration was always refreshing because it wasn't maudlin or centered around trauma, and instead was just her doing her job. Boy did I not know what was coming in the back half of the series. For all that I didn't love that we lost what made that perspective so refreshing after the Quman business, I guess it was unfair to hold her up on that pedestal in a series ABOUT trauma. And anyway, she bounced back and, though never quite the same, became a complex character who still got her shit done and always remained a low-key fixture of the plot, giving us a PoV on important events without eating up too much airtime with her own issues.

Alain. I like how he's clearly meant as some saint-like figure, but isn't perfect. He resents Tallia for abandoning him while "accepting" Conrad even though he knows she's never really had a choice in her life. He hates Lavas's brother for scheming to depose him, and then later tormenting him and hauling him around for weeks while he was suffering from severe physical trauma. Despite all that, he's still a fundamentally decent man who does what he can to see that the right thing is done. Is he some half-divine saint sent to guide the world through a time of trials? I think it's more likely that he's just the sort of person that treats people well, who gets entwined with big destinies because he's a good person who wants to help.

Antonia. Delusional QUEEN. I love how she steadily gets more self righteous and less connected to reality as the series progresses to the point that she's in a contentious alliance with Queen Betrayseveryone Evenherbelovedhusband and General Machiavelli Turncloak, casting dangerous evil spells left and right, and doesn't seem to realize she's in danger. She died as she lived: fucking clueless and with way too much power.

Mid Tier

Rosvita. Girl I wanted to like you so bad but your PoV just never had a good hook. I wish more had been done with her fascination towards sorcery and the arcane that tugged at her otherwise straight-laced personality, but we didn't get much and the remainder is just her being a not particularly interesting PoV to some major events. Still, she had a compelling and steely core, even her chapters lacked bite.

Sanglante. Blissfully absent as a PoV for most (all?) of the final book. Muh duty to my dad muh deadbeat wife.. Idk he was never that bad but his PoV never compelled me that much either. Liath wasn't even a deadbeat he literally saw her getting kidnapped by angels of course she might take some time getting back. And then he slept with another woman after learning she was Alive and Trapped. Come on man. I always wanted her to dump him. But his chapters weren't that bad. For how much all the other characters have their internalities defined by trauma and how they're recovering and moving on from it, he weirdly seemed to have completely gotten over the whole "kept as a squalid human dog by the former king of the lizard men for over a year" pretty conclusively by the last few books.

Stronghand: A victim I think of how much the author was tired of writing the series by the end. The early to middle parts of the series, where his stoic cultural condition has been alchemized by Alain's kindness into a sort of justice and compassion that's almost alien to medieval alt-europe, is really compelling, and there's the ~bones~ of a resolution to his character arc in the end, but it just sort of landed without fanfare. I wonder if he and Theophanu ever ended up consummating

Secha. Our crucial eye on the inside for the Ashioi, introduced a bit too late to really have her own arc and given no real resolution either. The idea of there being deep rifts between the Ashioi who'd been caught in the exiled country, doing whatever they could to survive including casting off their religious caste and letting their hatred of humanity simmer down, and the Ashioi who were caught in the world between, experienced the hundred+ years the others did as a scant few months, bear all the old prejudices and hatreds fresh, and are appalled that the others cast down the castes, is SO fascinating, but I think it's clear Elliot just wanted to be done with the series by the end.

Low tier:

Ivar. Boy I'm never forgiving you for fumbling Baldwin because you were too lost in your incel cups about Liath to appreciate him. And then you go off and get thrown together with Hanna by the narrative? I'm laying the blame on you for that shit, Hanna went through a lot and never even got laid so of course she'd nurse a flame for her childhood crush but with you it seems like you just shacked up with the first blonde woman who gave you attention so you could get over Baldwin. Yeah you weren't as insufferable in the last couple of books I guess but it's hard to outrun how bad you were in the first like. two thirds of the series.

Zacharias. For all that he's someone who's objectively gone through some of the worst trauma of any of the PoV characters, and we're supposed to be uncomfortable with how everyone dismisses or distrusts him, it still feels like even above that the narrative punishes and dislikes him disproportionately and I can't fathom why. I really wish he could have met Liath because the two would have gotten along so well. The Hugh thing was just cruel. I get that's the point, he died early and tragically, able only to reclaim a fraction of his dignity, but it really was just something sour to me. Not to mention how forgotten the old gods were after his death.

Bottom tier:

Anna. what was the fucking POINT. She just seemed to be there so we'd have a Blessing-proximal PoV. No character arc except getting depressed because she had no real identity. Her reuniting with Papa Otto might have have redeemed her character, given it some sort of closure or bookend but for some reason we didn't even get that. Come ON.

[umichenginabroad]

[week 7] the prague pirate

Ahoj everyone! 

Welcome back to week 7 of my travels throughout Europe! This past week has been a blast both in Prague and on our weekend trip to Croatia so let me give y’all a play a play!

Starting off the week in Prague I had a few assignments due for my engineering statistics class so I needed to lock in a little bit to get everything done on time. On Monday night, my friends and I decided to try an Indian restaurant which was actually really really good. That night I also finally tried a Czech chimney cake which you can find everywhere in Prague, and it was also super good. On Tuesday, a few friends and I visited the famous book tower at the Prague municipal library and although it was cool, personally I don’t think it was worth the 30 minute wait. 

On Wednesday I had my stats presentation which went pretty well and afterwards I went to my favorite coffee shop in Prague which was great as usual. Later that day, I went to explore Prague 2 and grotta park which was absolutely beautiful. I honestly prefer Prague 2 compared to Prague 1 because it is a lot more green and peaceful which is a nice change of pace from the busy city center. 

For our final weekend trip, we went to Zadar, Croatia which was such an amazing place and experience. After arriving on Thursday, we explored the old town, watched the sunset, and got some amazing food nearby (i got a spinach gnocchi with seabass which was amazing). 

On Friday, we were supposed to have a 10 hour boat tour to the outer islands of the Zadar archipelago but 20 minutes into our journey, the boat engine stopped working so we were forced to reschedule to Saturday. Pivoting our plans, we went to a beach for the day which was very relaxing thankfully. We ended the day by exploring more of the old town area. 

Saturday morning we had absolutely horrible luck because there was a freak thunderstorm passing through so our boat tour was delayed for 2 hours until the weather was nice again. When we made it on the water, it was so so insanely rough from the aftermath of the storm and we were getting slammed by waves and got way too much airtime for about an hour. Eventually after being a bit shaken up, we made it out to the archipelago where the water calmed down a bit. 

Our first stop of the day was at two shipwrecks where we got to snorkel around which was a really fun experience because snorkeling is one of my favorite activities. We then went to Sakarun Beach which is known as the Caribbean of the Adriatic Sea and it was one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to. We had a bunch more stops but the highlights were definitely the military tunnels and an island village we went to which had the best ice cream. The military tunnels were built into some of the islands after WW2 to hide Croatia’s military ships and we got to snorkel in one of the tunnels which was a surreal experience. 

After all that, we enjoyed our last night in Croatia and went back to Prague on Sunday. That’s about it for this past week! Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see y’all for our last week in Prague!

Matt Sinanis :)

Aerospace Engineering

Engineering in Prague

[petalsmooth]

You can see that in the look in his downcast eyes when she says she loves him.

Marina also said she loved him. Obvious lie with her.

Look I blame the idiots who cannot grasp this on their own and simply care about Pen never being in the wrong but it's also a failing of part 2 by sidelining Luke rather than giving him more dialogue and more Polin scenes to spell this out for the audience that can't read subtle acting expressions. I really don't think this part should need to be explained even though apparently it DOES. I DO think the envy sl needed more dialogue because good actor he may be that is not something the audience is going to get who didn't read the book. I will forever fault them for not doing so. It was HIS season and if you have time to waste on a sl for Benedict involving multiple threesomes that inevitably end up with Benedict committed to no commitment than you have time to give your LEAD male actor of the season more time to flesh out his character.

I pick on Benedict's airtime btw because ultimately his sl meant next to nothing for development. I don't have to love every sl but it should lead somewhere aside from oh...I like having sex with men too. In case the show hadn't figured it out after two seasons. the audience was tired of those sl's for Benedict that were ultimately just about sex in the prior season. They could have involved feelings for either of the people this year so it would have purpose even if I wasn't attached to either actor but...nope. Complete waste of my time and Luke T's.

If Bridgerton writer's are out there reading the web and if they are doing re-writes I highly suggest if you have more meaningless sex on horizon for Ben to remove it. It wouldn't kill you to have him form a real intimate connection with someone that the audience could invest in even if not his 'true love".

You might also give Luke N a little more respect then treating him as an appendage of Pen and allowing introspective dialogue for the audience to understand him while at it. Because teasing his sole purpose is being a wife guy while pen gets a career is not doing it for me

[saratravel]

I have arrived back home! It took two days of traveling, with total airtime of about 16-17 hours. It certainly takes a lot to get places, but we're able to do so much more easily nowadays than before. My trip back was largely uneventful, minus my bag handle snapping while carrying it down a staircase. I feel like the universe kept trying to spoil my vacation but jokes on it, I had a great time.

On my plane to Iceland (where I had a 1-hour layover), I met a woman who spoke Japanese and just a little Engliah. I got up the courage to bust out my little bit of Japanese to help her with the drink service. She was so excited that someone spoke Japanese, and we spent some time chatting in as much of each other's language that we could! We traded instagram accounts, and I'd like to message her and say hi once more. I hope she's enjoying beautiful Iceland!

In New York, I got to crash on my friend's couch for the night. At one point, I realized I had been awake for about 24hr with about 2.5 cumulative hours of dozing and snoozing. So I promptly went to sleep after I ate and shared some stories.

There's a point in all trips, I think, where you just want to be back in your own bed with your own people and your own life. I'm happy to say I am there. My dog, Sebastian, couldn't be happier.

Finally, weeks ago I posed a question. Why travel? I've been giving it some thought throughout the trip and have written some of it down along the way:

To gain perspective. To learn about another way or another history and apply it to my own life. Not all of it fits, but the stuff that doesn't is just as important as the stuff that does. It provides a sense of humility that I don't get at home, where I've tailored my life to me. Or rather, I've tailored my life to the culture around me.

To force myself outside of my life, providing a time of reflection on it. I travel to miss the comforts of my day to day, to regain a forgotten appreciation for them.

To learn history, nature, food, cities, and cultures. Local accounts, museums, books, my own research. I thirst to know more, and I truly learn best by going, seeing, and becoming curious.

To push my limits of my ability and test who I am. I haven't really considered myself a "fit" person before. I've trained in martial arts for a number of years, sure, but I don't tend to go to the gym or jog or hike or anything. On this trip, I averaged 3-5 miles of walking a day, I lugged what was probably around 30-40lb of luggage through a grand total of seven different countries (layovers included) for three weeks. I biked 27 miles in a day and was able to recover completely from the aches within two days! (This was the biggest shock to me) I am much more fit than I thought. I was grateful for my health every day of my journey.

To test my adaptability and my mental fortitude. I had some really rough things happen on this trip and found myself in some tricky situations (such as being stalled out on a highway in the middle of nowhere, Lithuania). Some things were my fault, some things were not (Visa....), but either way, there was no choice but to handle it. I now have proof for myself that I have the skill set to handle things on my own.

I don't travel to take a break from my loved ones, but the feeling I get during the last 24 hours before returning home is only possible through time away. It's a realization, an affirmation, that my home with my family is truly a place I want to return to. This may be obvious to some, but I think it's still a nice reminder.

Multiple days of my journey were spent homesick, thinking about my loved ones and what I miss about them. Some days of my journey were spent mourning some deaths in my life in a way I hadn't done yet. All days, I felt an unending gratitude for my life.

I think ultimately, this is why I go. I've always liked a challenge, and I've always liked learning and growing and improving. I like to shake things up a bit, too.

Thanks for reading! I'm going to take a while to recoup and adjust to my home timezone. I think I'll do this blog again for future travels. Until then!

[gadgetblogger]

My (Non-Spoiler) Thoughts on #PolinSeason

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Bridgerton Season 3 finally graced our screens. Naturally, I binged all four episodes twice within 18 hours of the launch. Okay, I might have sneaked in episode 5 during the special fan viewing on Tudum the night before, but who’s counting?

Overall Thoughts and Book Comparison

Compared to the first two books, this season stays fairly true to the original story. The TV adaptations of key moments from the book were spot on and felt refreshingly progressive for today’s world. Here’s what stood out to me:

Modern Love and Career Balance: It beautifully showcases that women can have it all—love and a thriving career.

Equal Partnership: It emphasizes that a man’s place is to support his wife just as she supports him.

Self-Reliance: Women don’t always need saving; sometimes, they just need unconditional support.

Friendship Goals: Female friendships can flourish without competition, and they’re crucial at any age.

Nature vs. Nurture: People aren’t born mean; it’s often a result of upbringing. While forgiving isn’t easy, time reveals all, and karma eventually catches up.

The Power of Female Friendship: True female friendships are grounding and powerful.

No More Mean Girls: The mean girl trope is stale and needs to end.

Perfect Soundtrack: The music perfectly complemented the scenes.

The Romance Factor

The steamy scenes weren’t as intense as the PR hype suggested, but they were relatable and heartwarming. It’s lovely to see a romance that grows from friendship, showing genuine comfort and love. Of course, I would’ve loved more Polin love scenes—just like we craved more in the Kanthony season.

Colin and Penelope’s Journey

I enjoyed Colin’s struggle to find his way and be the husband he’s meant to be. He’s figuring it out, and it’s endearing to watch. Penelope’s unwavering commitment to her career dreams, without sacrificing them for a man, was a refreshing nod to characters like those in "The Devil Wears Prada."

What I Could Do Without

Lady Tilly. She had too much airtime and a rather pointless storyline. This is where "Queen Charlotte" excels, with its on-point side stories.

Character Development

Watching Penelope and Colin’s growth through the seasons was delightful. Their development and eventual shine were heartwarming. While I wish they had more screen time, we did get the wedding of the century on TV, and that’s enough to keep me content in the Bridgerton universe.

Final Thoughts

If I have to wait another 2-3 years for the next season, I’m not sure if my interest will hold, but only time will tell. For now, I’m satisfied with this beautiful closure.

[courtz-thoughtz]

The Humans (2013) Matt Haig

📚 3.5/5 📚

In Matt Haig's The Humans, an alien is sent to Earth from the technologically advanced planet of Vonnadoria to murder an obnoxious mathematician and his family (and anyone else necessary) after he solves an equation that could advance the human race too far. To do this, the alien must morph into the mathematician and assimilate into human life to figure out who else knows the equation has been solved...and who else must die. The alien quickly loses sight of his mission after he falls in love with the mathematician's wife and experiences the joy, wonder, and pain that comes with the territory of being human. He then endeavours to protect the family as another alien is sent to complete his original mission.

As somewhat of an alien myself, I really resonated with the observations made about Earth's nonsensical social etiquette during the alien's assimilation into human life. That shit was very funny to me and I loved a lot of the quotes:

"He stuffed some crisps into his mouth and made no attempt to conceal their fate."

"She was standing on top of one form of primitive technology (step-ladder) changing another one (incandescent light bulb)."

"The 'pub' was an invention of humans living in England, designed as compensation for the fact that they were humans living in England. I rather liked the place."

Personally I enjoyed the first half of the book the most because I found it delightfully cynical, charming, and funny, but I was put off by the sappy messaging and instagrammable quotes about life and love in the second half.

To me, a lot of this book is the introspective monologue of someone exploring the philosophical questions of life - and while some may find this quite moving, and some of it was necessary for the plot, I personally thought it would've been a more entertaining story without most of the contemplative analysis. Notwithstanding, in Part 3, there is an argument between our alien (who no longer wants to kill the humans) and his replacement (who absolutely does) that I think gives a spectacular insight into the internal wrestle some of us have between love and hate for our species, and the stark contrast in viewpoints prompted me to think about how the beauty of life really does lie in the eye of the beholder.

Only a person who has suffered a severe and crippling existential crisis could have written this book, and kudos to Matt Haig for his work as I sense it was a very personal journey. Overall I thought this was a very interesting way to explore the darkness and beauty of humanity through an 'outsider's' perspective.

I rated this one a 3.5, with 0.5 of that awarded because I loved how much airtime and appreciation there was for the family dog, Newton.

Thanks for tuning in for Court's thoughts on this one.

Cheers