#anyways Ripley route when?

[ja-lin]

*SPOILERS*

Trivia from the Pride 2024 special short story. You can find the game on my itch.io page. I did a crossover between my two fanfics, so it's "Villainous Dawn of Sin: Pride Special"

I came up with the name of the sequel "Villainous Dawn" as an April Fools joke a long time ago, but decided to name the new MC "Dawn" because it's what comes after "Night", so it's fitting for a sequel fanfic title.

The skyline from the title image is a view of San Francisco from the Oakland side of the bay, which is fitting since the original VN MC is from Oakland.

When you meet Dawn for the first time, the scene plays out in a similar fashion to when you meet Renzei for the first time in the original VN series.

If you choose the cafe brunch scene, you'll get nostalgia lines spoken by Dawn that come from Renzei's first cafe lunch scene in his route.

If you choose the cafe brunch scene, you'll get nostalgic lines spoken by Onyx and Ripley inspired by a cafe scene in Andi's route.

If you choose the bay view scene, that's the same location Renzei spoke of his desires to leave San Francisco to somewhere far away. And Dawn questions why her parents left in the exact same location.

If you choose Dolores Park scene, the frisbee scene is inspired by child Renzei showing up in Razi's route.

Anyways hope everyone had a Happy Pride month. :-) I went to the SF parade and event, was quite fun.

[rjschoicesstuff]

Ripley used to get bullied at her old school, like she had friends and also people she knew from her sports team that she got along with well. And due to that she definitely wouldn't say she had a bad time there or that she was happy to leave, like the bullies were more like 'shit stains on a nice wall'. She wishes her school had done more about it though, because she wasn't the only person who was targeted by the same group of people who'd just pick on anyone that stood out to them due to being different, basically.

She's like both excited and terrified of going to a new school, mostly terrified because she's like 'okay it's your senior year, everyone has their groups and you're gonna have to try real hard if you want to be included because it's not like anyone will notice you and think 'wow I wanna get to know the new girl'.

She's so happy when Gabriela just right away takes her under her wing and immediately just feels very confident like okay this is gonna be fine actually nvm. 😎👍 Thank u @ whatever higher power sent this angel.

Due to her experiences with being bullied she definitely has a tendency to angrily lash out when she feels like someone is threathening her + quickly feels like people are out to get her anyway. She threathens Cas with a silver cross multiple times and even threathens to kill him. Though he just thinks it's funny because she can't do shit, because she'd get in trouble with the covens again if she hurt him. Or if they found out at all that she's looking into ways to kill vampires. But that's also one of the things that intrigue him a lot about her, I imagine.

One specific instance where things escalated regarding the bullying was when one girl was messing with her, and at some point gave her a push because she got annoyed with Ripley ignoring her. Something inside her snapped due to being touched and a second later she's fighting her. Ripley got out of this unharmed, she's stronger than she looks lol. But after school the whole group waited for her on her route home to 'put her in her place'. Ripley is pretty open about her past but this instance she'd have a harder time talking about because she's embarassed about it, even if one person can't do much against a group of five, with two people holding you back. I think the whole situation with the vampires also jsut really brings back those feelings of being powerless, once she's been turned she also needs a while to forget about that, though she realises it's mostly just those in power that treated her that way.

I do think after the first time she really fought back most of her bullies would at least leave her alone whenever they didn't have friends with them. In a way it comforted her to know they were scared to be alone with her.

Artwork of the latter situation, I modeled the bully after my worst bully from highschool LOL

At first I ws gonna make one of the bullies be someone she used to be friends with, because projection + kinda healing to write about I guess, but then Cas' backstory was revealed and I was like nvm that's too similar.

[mwcowan]

A Whole New Chapter

Happy Birthday Max (and Ripley, Olaf, and Daisy)!

June 28th was Max’s 4th birthday (and all of his 8 siblings, though we only know Ripley, Olaf, and Daisy). He celebrated with a special birthday crown, and by devouring a HUGE liver and rice pupcake that Georgia made for him. He had trouble blowing out the candle though.

One thing Max hasn’t acclimated well to are the storms, with their heavy rain, lightning, and thunder. He’s always been shy about loud noises, and here, even the rains get loud. I’ve described the intense lightning and thunder before, but just to remind you it’s LOUD! This is all made worse by the fact that we live outside most of the time, often hanging out in our upstairs open-air foyer; even if we’re indoors we almost always have the windows open. We've read that some dogs deal with loud noises better if they wear earmuffs so we experimented. Here’s Max’s first “boom boom” helmet:

This seemed to help so we’ve since upgraded this to a commercial model that just slips over his ears. We’re not sure if it really muffles the noise or if it just distracts him having something wrapped around his head. He also seems to deal with thunder fairly well by retreating to a ‘sanctuary’, usually underneath my desk in the main room, or Georgia’s desk in our bedroom. We hope he gets used to it quickly – now that we’re in the rainy season we get a thunderstorm almost every afternoon. He’ll get plenty of practice at least!

And Happy 60th Birthday Noel!

Continuing to celebrate birthdays, last weekend we went to Manila to attend the birthday party of our dear friend Noel. Michelle had planned a fun 80’s themed (just my thing!) night, with DJ, dancing, and of course food and drink. We saw many friends there and – small world time – even met two of our neighbors from Kawayan Cove that we hadn’t met before. Here’s Noel with more than his share of lovely ladies.

On the Road Again

One of Georgia’s friends, way back from her McDonald’s days in the early 80’s, has a vacation house on Lake Caliraya, which is just south of the biggest lake on Luzon, Laguna de Bay. The friend had offered for us to use it anytime we wanted. Although she wasn’t there, we took the drive and spent a couple nights at the lake.

The lake is manmade, its dam constructed in 1939 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for one of the first hydroelectric power projects in the Philippines. The dam was blown up by retreating American troops in 1942 to keep it from being useful to the Japanese, who quickly repaired it. The Japanese in turn destroyed the dam in 1945 when they retreated. It was rebuilt in 1953 by the Philippines National Power Corporation and since no one has blown it up since, it's still generating hydroelectric power. In addition to power, this large lake (about 3 x 8km/2 x 5mi, with a convoluted 157km/98 mi shoreline) provides many recreational opportunities and supposedly the best largemouth bass fishing in the Philippines (we tried but didn’t catch any…).

Even without catching anything we enjoyed our time on this very quiet and serene lake.

The only downside of Lake Caliraya, for us anyway, was the journey. From Kawayan Cove it’s about 160km each way which shouldn’t be that bad, about 2 hours or so, right? It’s not that bad at all for the first 40km or so, where we have nice, uncrowded highways to Tagaytay/Lake Taal. Past that though, with the exception of less than 10km on the SLEX expressway, it’s a slog along crowded, narrow, surface streets, making in all a pretty stressful 5-hour drive. The last 20km or so, when the route takes you up into the mountains and to the lake, finally let me relax a bit on a twisty but uncrowded mountain road. Reaching the subdivision entrance we continued for a bit on a normal 2-lane road… which abruptly turns into a single lane composed of two narrow strips of concrete. In some places there were drop-offs to the sides of the strips so you had to be very careful to stay centered, and MOST places there was absolutely no room for two cars to pass. Not sure what we would’ve done but luckily we didn’t meet another car either going in or out.

Here's the 'road' as it goes by the lake house, one of the few wide spots where two cars could pass.

Although the drive was somewhat stressful, it was a good chance to get to know our new car. Yes! I got my Fortuner! We had to wait about a month after we ordered it (waiting for that special Platinum White Mica Pearl paint), and took delivery the day before our trip. Having a brand-new car probably added to my stress, but overall it’s a joy to drive. The Innova, which is now Georgia's mom's car, served us well, and though it’s officially not a minivan it drives like one. The Fortuner (sharing the chassis and diesel engine with the Innova and the Hilux pickup) is much sportier to drive, especially on the twisty roads. Now we have a mini-SUV and a full-size SUV!

It's a Jungle Out There

The other day our caretakers pointed out a snake that had roosted in a vine near our pool deck, in fact right above my favorite spot to sit and read. It turned out to be a reticulated python, common all over Southeast Asia. These are the longest snakes in the world – the longest one ever captured was 33 feet (9.9m)! One of our neighbors is quite fearful of snakes and warned us to get rid of it as it will kill and eat dogs and cats, cattle, carabao… and you! Well, maybe the big ones, but this guy (less than 3’ / 1m) would only strike fear into you if you were one of the frogs that used to hang out in that spot.

While we’re talking reptiles, yesterday when I opened our pool umbrella I was surprised by this friendly looking tuko who had taken up residence inside. A large (this one was about 10" / 25cm) and colorful member of the gecko family, these creatures are plentiful here but are very shy and you rarely see them, only hearing their loud “tu-ko, tu-ko, tu-ko” calls in the morning and evening.

And Back to the Friendly Skies

Tomorrow we’re starting our journey back to the states, for about a 5-week visit. Check on the house, visit friends and family, go to the dentist, that sort of stuff. Max will stay here with caretaker Vima, with whom he’s become very good friends. We’ll be coming back to Manila right before Danny, Ben and Lachlan arrive for a visit in late August, which we’re excitedly looking forward to!

So that wraps up this chapter. I’ll probably be back in September.

Until then, leaving you with a couple of nice sunsets. Take care everyone!

[liloinkoink]

Hello! I recently ready your treesekai AU and had a blast with it! It's so well written and had me thinking about it for days X) I don't know if you've answered this elsewhere, but we're you referencing something specific from the Life series with Grian almost lighting Bdubs on fire? Part of me felt like it was maybe the lava elevator from 3rd Life but I wasn't too sure. (I think I shamelessly also just love Desert Duo so much and am so hilariously entertained by a Grian mad with jealousy, ready to commit a murder)

first of all, thanks for giving me a good excuse to announce: hey guys i edited treesekai like two weeks ago to include more information on scar’s route, just for my own amusement. edits added like 200 words or so. if you’re a treesekai fan you might wanna check that out. (i also edited lamplight a ton too)

second, nah, that doesn’t intentionally reference anything from third life (tho the lava elevator would be a good guess). what it does reference is a plot point in normal isekai which shows up from time to time

honestly, when i was writing it, i was actually thinking of Rose setting Zeroni’s manner on fire in The First Night with the Duke in a last-ditch effort to keep Ripley away from Zeroni by killing her. it is shockingly common to see the love rival character attempt something drastic in these sorts of comics (not just isekai, but any historical or fantasy romance comic) to keep the attentions of the love interest character on themselves

which, hmm. granted, now that i think about it, i probably should have done attempted kidnapping rather than fire, since i feel like you see that in isekai slightly more… oh, well. fire is more grian, anyway. and, admittedly, i don’t usually get further in any one isekai than episode three anyway, so while i’ve started reading something like a hundred isekai comics, i’ve only read, like, maybe ten of them further than episode four. maybe fire IS more common, i dunno

(which. fun extra trivia for the AtPM game canon. i think this is the sort of game with little sprites on dialogue boxes, but they only have a handful of basic expressions and backgrounds, so any like action scene just shows up as a black screen. hence why this is a smaller fire and not a whole room fire the way an actual isekai comic scene might go—easier for the fictional devs to handle without too long on a black screen)

either way, the fire’s entirely from normal isekai, not third life

anyway. thank you for your ask and your interest! glad to hear you’re having fun

[touch-starved-apprentice]

TWST CHARACTERS RANKED BY HOW EASILY I COULD TAKE THEM IN A FIGHT

this is all for giggles and i wouldn't be able to take half of them realistically anyways don't yell at me pls

Grim - you’re done.

Riddle Rosehearts - i would never lay a hand on this baby boy but i really fucking could. i have no magic, what’s he gonna do? he’s tiny and i’m a big lady, i could bench press him.

Ruggie Bucci - this boy doesn’t fight fair. but that doesn’t fucking matter. i win. he’s getting yeeted out of the ring.

Azul Ashengrotto - without the tweels this man is nothing, i could throw him around like a sack of potatoes. i don’t know how much i could do to his merform because i don’t know how strong octopi are and i don’t really wanna find out, but i feel like i could still take him bc i run on pure feral energy.

Kalim Al-Asim - he just. he doesn’t have it in him. why would i do that? i can’t. he could drown me. but he can’t. and i just wouldn’t.

Idia Shroud - this man would cower beneath me and think it’s hot but the problem is that he very well could dox me after the fight. lucky for him i think he’s cute and we’d be gaymer autism buddies so i would not fight him. tbh if i DID fight him he’d probably just accept his fate and then Ortho (the other problem) would end me immediately.

Trey Clover - the strong baker arms cannot save him, i am too unhinged. he will run screaming for the hills.

Ace Trappola - he’s going down. he’ll fight back but i throw him against the ground ONCE and he’s done for.

Jade Leech - you give me a nailbat and this man is a goner. i don’t care how strong he is. yes he’s creepy but he isn’t as outwardly feral as Floyd or me, he cannot possibly match me in pure rage.

Cater Diamond - if he’s allowed to use his powers this is an issue. i don’t think i can take multiple Caters, he has so much energy. if not, he’s easy. Cater doesn’t strike me as a strong dude.

Vil Schoenheit - Vil is another that does not understand the pure unadulterated burning fury that resides in my bones and yes he could poison me or whatever, but if we’re talking like just a typical fight he’s gone. he’s not putting up with it, he fought back but he tapped out at record speed. Rook may kill me in my sleep that night though.

Floyd Leech - i don’t care how strong he is either. he gets bored and isn’t that resilient, i get the fuck back up. it’s to the death and i’m very much alive and full of pure rat queen energy.

Epel Felmier - he is smaller than me, but stronger than me, and matches me on rat boy energy so we may be at a standstill.

Deuce Spade - he could beat me if he was mad enough but why would i do that to him?

Headmaster Crowley - in a no magic fight i could Rhea Ripley Riptide this bitch. if there is magic involved though i am simply Dead and he moves up to spot 23.

Silver - the chillest man on earth and therefore does not deserve my wrath but he is a knight and could probs take me down easily. if anything if i fight him then i deserve his wrath.

Jamil Viper - this one is hard but in the end i don’t think i could. he’s spent his entire life protecting Kalim, is a dancer, and a basketball player, AND has hypnosis powers. i dunno if i could compete man.

Leona Kingscholar - there are two routes this could go. either he pins me down and ends my life instantly or he accepts his fate and i get concerned and take him to therapy. no in between.

Rook Hunt - this could go one of THREE ways. one, he snipes me before i have the chance. two, we have a fair fight and he comes out on top bc he’s stronger. three, he thinks i’m hot when i’m ready to end a man’s life and i gain the upper hand. a wildcard if you will.

Jack Howl - no thanks i’d like to not die by having my throat ripped out and also WHY WOULD I?

Sebek Zigvolt - he has spent his entire life training, i’m GOOD thanks.

Ortho Shroud - he could kill me instantly but why would i ever fight my son

Lilia Vanrouge - another whom if i fight them i honestly deserve to die, my beloved Lils. I would have no reason to fight my hubby, but if i for some reason did, he’d kill me on the spot. this man is a father he has KIDS to look after gfdi

Malleus Draconia - he could snap his fingers and i’d be a pile of ash but literally why would i ever fight him? he just wants friends to infodump about gargoyles to?

[practically-an-x-man]

for Harley Quinn (canon), Ophelia (yours), and Mihael (mine, no pressure)

1, 5, 9, 11, 12, 14, and 20 :)

Thank you!! I'll do my best with Mihael, unfortunately I don't know quite as much about him as I do some of your other OCs

Character Ask Game

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Harley: Well aside from her literally being my bi awakening... I'm a huge sucker for characters that are chaotic as all hell but have the biggest heart at the center of it

Ophelia: Kind of the same reason I like Harley, I wrote her to be a similar style of chaotic antihero (albeit a little more controlled than Harley is) since I wanted to experiment with a more morally-grey character

Mihael: I mean... I can't say I know enough about him to have specific details of why I like him, but he seems like a really cool character and I'd love to read more about him!

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Harley: Experiment on Me by Halsey. This feels like cheating since it was in Birds of Prey and all, but that fight scene is badass and the song always makes me think of her

Ophelia: Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar. I always envision her fight scenes set to this song, especially her showdown with Charybdis

Mihael: Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen!

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Harley: Honestly... I think I probably could. She's a wild card, but she's my kind of wild card if that makes sense? I can deal with off-the-wall decorations and at-home tattoos and hyenas as pets as long as she washes the dishes when she's done, you know? I'm a pretty lax roommate as long as things are decently clean

Ophelia: Easily. The one thing that might be a challenge is her penchant for long nights, but I'm a night owl myself so that wouldn't be too bad. And overall she'd be a pretty understanding roommate, she'd clean up after herself and wouldn't overstep her boundaries

Mihael: I would imagine so? Diplomatic and calm means we could talk through things without it turning into a fight, and I get vibes that he'd be one of the few people to actually switch pronouns for me instead of just taking the "easy" route, y'know?

11. Would you date this character?

Harley: In a heartbeat. I repeat: bi awakening.

Ophelia: Yes! Her faceclaim is Rhea Ripley, who I think is incredibly striking, and as a character I feel like she'd be a really good partner.

Mihael: In theory yes, but I don't think he'd go for me lol. I'm genderqueer yes, but I don't think I'd be his type

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Harley: Hm... the only tattoo she has that she didn't do herself is a cover-up of one she got with the Joker. She actually went to a shop for that one and got it covered with an assortment of birds and flowers (representing the Birds of Prey and Ivy who helped her recover from that whole situation)

Ophelia: Is it really a headcanon if she's my character? Anyway, um... her guilty pleasure is really stupid 90s-to-2010s comedy movies, since those require no brainpower and are good to wind down with after a busy day.

Mihael: Swears in English when he's mildly frustrated, but when he's really upset he swears exclusively in Welsh

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Aw shit, I know nothing about fashion aesthetics. Like, absolutely nothing. Maybe I could get by with the alt ones but that's it. Skip?

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Harley: I absolutely adore her friendships with Rick Flag and Boomer, no complaints here.

Ophelia: I mean, in the fic Peter Two (AKA Tobey Maguire's Spidey) is one of her best friends, and she was so close with Harry Osborn that they were practically siblings.

Mihael: I could see him getting along with Hartley (like, the original show Hartley, though probably your version too)

[contest-winning-pest]

"... So my first question is-- how are you in Lavaridge? I figured you lived in Mauville."

"Even therapists need to relax, Kerry." Xi wore the red suit, with the blue tie, this time. Was it someone different? Surely not.

Kerry wasn't sure how to take that answer, but sighed and laid down. "So now I'm interrupting your vacation, too."

Xi shook xir head, looking outside at the hot springs. "Let's keep the focus on you for now, please. I know this is tough for you, but, if you could, tell me from your perspective what happened over the past week or so."

"... Well, I got my Dynamo Badge."

"Congratulations."

Kerry found herself taken aback by this simple compliment. "Th-thank you? I-- Well. Wally and I-- I talked about him before--"

"Yes, when Ripley got injured, I remember."

"Anyway, we tried to go to Lavaridge together, but..."

Part way through-- "I see. So you knew these Pokemon?"

"-- Oh! Yeah. Mama Laxxy and Papa Loppy are my grandfather's. ... Were my grandfather's, I guess."

"You seem to care about them a lot?"

"Yeah! They were really the best. Mama Laxxy was always so warm, and I learned a lot of what I know about Pokemon care from Papa Loppy. Sure, it was basic stuff like brushing, first aid, massage, and things like that, but he was also-- well he was more patient than Grandpa."

"-- Hm. You don't seem to have a high opinion of your grandfather."

"No! No, he was fine. He was good. The village didn't like me much, but they tolerated Grandpa, and so when he took me in, they didn't complain at all."

"-- How did you know they didn't like you? Did they ever tell you?"

"Aura-sensitive, remember? I could tell every time they were feeling pity and disgust, or pity and anger, or shame." Kerry sighed. "It was pretty obvious by the time I was eleven that they saw me as a mistake. But. I am Iridia. And I want to bear their hopes forward. I guess... No, what am I saying? Someone got kidnapped, and I rushed out the door to help."

"Aha, I take it this brings us to the crisis."

"Well... The start of it, anyway. It's a long way from Fallarbor to Meteor Falls. It's about the same way from Meteor Falls to Verdanturf. The doctors said that I shouldn't have done that, but..." Kerry wrapped her arms around herself. "What else was I gonna do? I couldn't leave anyone captured and getting beaten on to get information. And even if I wanted to-- Even if I wanted to, how could I not go on to Mt. Chimeny knowing what I know? It was horrible. According to the routes I went some 95 kilometers over two horrible rides. By the time I got to Verdanturf, the doctor says I should have been useless for at least a week.

"Instead, I spent the night and made ready to climb Mt. Chimney."

"-- So, let me ask: why didn't you contact Security Team or other Survey Team members?"

"Well... Brendan had already been beaten by Team Aqua. And I don't know who Birch had in the area, but..." Kerry bounced her head from side to side. "-- Security Team's an odd way to say it, though."

"-- I like to occasionally be a bit more archaic in my speech."

"-- I see. Well. I could have called up Wattson, it's true, but..." She paused. "I was too tired. I didn't think of it."

"-- Well, that's progress. I suspect that before today you might have said 'who would believe me'."

"Because I have. Several times. It-- it'd make this story longer than it already is. So... Wally and I go up to Mt. Chimney...." Kerry continued.

"I have to ask-- was there a better way to have left the crater area?"

"Better? Yes. Quicker? No. And Wally was already choking, even with his respirator. I didn't have any gases on hand so I had to get him down the mountain as soon as I could." Kerry rubbed her head, at the temples. "I... Well. I took Jagged Pass instead. It... It was probably too much risk. I probably could have taken the cable car. But at the time, all my head was full of was... Mud, and worry."

"So. Do you remember the task I set you at our last meeting?"

"... Yeah. But ... If I hadn't been here, what would have happened?"

"An important question to Lavaridge, to be sure, but..."

"But this isn't their session it's mine," Kerry groaned, and then found herself calming again, before the vibes the therapist gave off. Warmth. Like she was in arms she didn't realize existed.

"So. On the one hand, I think you already talked through why this was a few different lapses in judgement. And the time in hospital wasn't very fun for you by all accounts."

"Yeah."

"And you mentioned feeling the hopes and dreams of the Iridia clan on your back, which is strange, I think, if you're so certain they hate you."

"... I wish they could take me back."

"Why can't they?"

"Dunno, ask them." Was she... Crying? "I wish there was somewhere I'm okay. Somewhere people don't fear me or hate me. But there isn't. And that's fine. I'll live. But it hurts."

"I think your world view is a little out of sorts, here..."

[agent-farah-hauville]

nora, piama & ripley 💖!!

Three of my fav women on the whole app? Im flattered!

[ultimatetrashgoblin]

Blaire Reviews: Nahara Season 2

Disclaimer: All of this is my opinion, you are allowed to disagree with me. (Minor spoilers for Wrath as I do compare an event in her route to this one)

Thank you @onehopefuldreamer for your request!

First impressions

What a way to start a season! Nahara’s heart has just shattered, and she and MC are standing there dumbfounded by a seemingly impossible event happening less than a minute after their first kiss! MC feels she’s at fault, believing that the kiss is the reason for this.

Nahara is (understandably) very distraught by this situation, and we watch this normally very calm and collected woman fall apart trying to grasp an explanation for what has happened to her. I feel like this scene best describes what both MC and the reader are feeling.

MC cares about Nahara. She doesn’t want to see her suffering like this. When Nahara’s heart shattered, so did her sense of reality and security. She felt empty, hollow, alone.

A seer, by definition, is someone who is able to see what the future holds through supernatural insight. But she’s uncertain of what might become of this, and for her, that might be the most terrifying thing of all.

To move onto lighter topics, I am in LOVE with Nahara’s room, and representation for people who have multiple cups in their room is very appreciated.

The group reacts about as calmly as you’d expect people to react when they’ve just been told that their friend’s heart shattered. And gotta love Ripley’s “heart stealer” joke (Lovestruck please let me date her).

We got a very fun, low-stakes introduction to Shadow Renzei’s long lost twin, and the shocking reveals that MC knew this guy from high school (when I tell you I gasped).

My one question is if Shadow is a fail safe for the troupe, where was he in other routes when they almost died? Or does he only carry out his orders once the troupe is already dead?

To add to that, where is the troupe during all of this? Shouldn’t they be informed if their Seer has an evil doppelgänger? Or that their Seer’s heart shattered? Because I’m willing to bet Malakai has some book with a ritual that could help with this situation. Nahara has always been there to assist the troupe when they needed help, why couldn’t they return the favor? Also if alternate dimension Ripley is still human, does that mean Onyx never became the envy assassin? LOVESTRUCK I NEED ANSWERS

Moving on, a piece of Nahara’s heart just... comes back. Because of course it does. Slightly anticlimactic and raises several more questions, but Nahara is happy, and that’s all that matters.

Before I get into the finale (because w o w), I want to take a moment to talk about Cristal and Fifi.

Firstly, as someone who is also an enby who happens to appear more feminine, if I catch anyone misgendering Cristal, you will catch these hands. They are non-binary, they use they/them pronouns, and if you want to try to argue that they “look like a girl”, unfollow me right now. (Gender in fashion is a myth and social construct anyway, wear what you want and don’t let anyone give you shit for it, you are and always will be valid in your identity.)

Despite me wanting to date both Cristal and Ripley, I’m also strongly shipping them together in this route. And the scene where Ripley reveals that her Cristal died was heartbreaking, and the way Cristal tries so hard to brush it off when they’re clearly having trouble dealing with this information just-

In short, Cristal is a precious baby and I would die for them any day.

And then there’s Fifi. I don’t mean to sound like a bitch (granted, I am a huge bitch, but not intentionally), but what purpose does she have in this route? Unless she turns into some sort of villain (which might be the case seeing as she clearly holds some sort of resentment towards MC), I really don’t get why she needs to be here. Honestly, I think this route would be better without her. She’s not that likable as a character, and she doesn’t seem to be that helpful. Personally, I could’ve done without her.

Now the ending, holy shit the ending. Nahara decides that she needs to travel to the alternate world and defeat her evil self before she gets the chance to come to their world. Shadow agrees to help Nahara travel between worlds so she’ll be able to get back and Cristal doesn’t have to die.

To Fifi’s credit, her being concerned about Cristal’s safety during this ritual does give her some likability, but she still doesn’t seem very useful.

I feel like the cliffhanger was slightly predictable, especially so early on. Obviously MC was going to end up in the other world so she could help Nahara fight evil Nahara (who has abnormally large eyes for some reason). But the last thing I was expecting was MC’s dad to show up. I actually forgot about him after Wrath’s route ended.

The next point is going to include a minor spoiler for Wrath’s route, so if you haven’t read her route yet (which I highly recommend you do), skip the next point.

Does MC’s dad in the alternate world know about demons? Or did they switch it up and have the mom be the one to know about it? Or do neither of them know about it in this world?

Another question I have is if the MC from the other world died, wouldn’t the dad be more surprised by her being alive? Or is this a third world where she didn’t die? And if she didn’t die, wouldn’t that mean there’s two MCs in that world? Hopefully these will be answered in season 3.

Final thoughts

I adore Nahara and her route. It’s well written, the pacing is good, and Nahara herself is a goddess among humans and we are not worthy of her.

However, in reviewing this season, I discovered that there were actually quite a few plot holes that left me with a lot of unanswered questions. And Fifi is a pointless addition to the cast (again this is my personal opinion you’re allowed to like her), and the route would’ve been better without her.

Overall rating: 8/10

Also, I’ve had a few people message me asking me to include my favorite CG in my reviews, and after careful consideration (because I love all of them) I choose this one:

[jippy-kandi]

Digimon Adventure: 2020 – Episode 19: Howl, Jyuoken (Review)

Thoughts on the nineteenth episode of the Digimon Adventure reboot series.

This was a decent episode, especially compared to the previous one. The end was worth it!

I appreciated that the narrator (recap) said “Sora and the others” and not “Koushirou and the others”. Yes, Sora, take your third place back please. :P

I liked seeing a lot of digimon (even their silhouettes) that I didn’t recognise. Makes this reboot seem more “new”.

Taichi: “Sora, Mimi-chan, Jou-senpai!” Taichi showing how you should use honourifics. Learn, Koushirou-san. :P

I loved the other kids in the real world. Jou going to the police was so nice! He’s still so over-the-top but I’m used to him now, lol.

I can’t believe Taichi’s mum didn’t ask about him at all, oy vey. “Is my son dead in a ditch somewhere?” COME ON! And just hands off her child to an 11-year-old? (Albeit momentarily . . . though I think she won’t be seeing them again for a while!) She is totally not a responsible mother, and it’s really annoying how unrealistic she is. :P (HOW ON EARTH DID SHE BIRTH TWO SPECIAL CHILDREN?)

Sora is going to start her babysitting services with Hikari! Next up, her future brother-in-law, Takeru. :)

Leomon to the rescue! And he’s . . . OK, but so overrated. :P The only thing I find interesting about him is that he is voiced by Hiroaki Hirata, who also voices Yamato’s father and adult brother in another universe. Yamato was talking to his daddy/bro! :)

I appreciate that Yamato thought about Neamon. This is why he’s my favourite character. :)

The troopmon are totally sand people from Star Wars, especially with how they were fixing Valvemon. And . . . they are extremely bad shots. Every movie/show does this - where bullets miss the protagonists - but it’s a bit too much when they’re missing them 100% of the time, when the heroes are running in a straight line. At least have them dodge for cover or something! Fire these troopmon, Devimon. You can afford a better army.

It’s so silly that the only time the lasers hit is when Leomon shows off with his blade. He had to deliberately move his blade in order to actually connect with the lasers, LMAO.

Leomon: “It’s too easy.” You can say that again. I’m surprised you haven’t already won the war! :P

That was a very nice Taito moment where Yamato “saved” Taichi from Bullmon. Thanks, Toei, I appreciated it. ;)

I generally do like that the kids are more a part of the action with their digimon now. But Yamato riding into battle on Garurumon is a lot more feasible than Taichi somehow being superglued to Greymon’s head, lol. He literally doesn’t move at all when Greymon is moving, and it just looks silly. XD;

The reveal of Takeru at the end in a test tube (a la Ripley in Aliens) was amazing and made up for what was otherwise a pretty ho-hum episode for me. And Angemon is captured as well! Exciting.

I honestly liked the other kids in the real world + the Takeru end the most. I’m super into the Takaishida brothers since tri. (best siblings in Digimon, fight me), so I hope the reboot does their relationship just as well.

But I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority where I didn’t like their relationship that much in Adventure, lol. I’m a middle child with both an older and younger sibling, and I 100% thought Takeru was so ungrateful of Yamato, who was just being a typical protective older sibling (IN A WORLD FULL OF MONSTERS!). :P So I hope the reboot doesn’t play out their relationship in exactly the same way as the OG, although I think they will go down that route . . .

Anyway, still super excited for next week! :)

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

Hi mods I hope all of you are having a good day. But anyways when I saw a post on Ripley about how tf are the writers are going make mc fall in love with a bear. So it got me thinking, I do think that the writers would give us a new mc for Ripley’s route(i truly hope they do) but what if mc and Ripley were beginning to be a thing before turning into a bear. And mc didn’t know and went back to the troupe for Ripley. Or something like that... but ngl im still curious about Ripley’s story

-bubbline anon

Oh, that would be interesting, for sure! While I do think Ripley and the current MC would be super cute together, it would be neat to have an MC that knew her pre-bear, and came back just for her. And it would have a lot of potential for a type of relationship growth we haven't seen yet in Lovestruck! - Mod Runa

[diddlesanddoodles]

DEAD WALLS RISE - KERAL

The five men he’d brought were not the ones he would have wanted for the task, but there were two possible drop points and he would rather have the best make up one team and he take the cast offs. Among their number was an orphan, two whoresons, the son of a poor farmer, and a wretch who had fallen into hard times and had turned to petty theft for survival. They had all been branded criminals in the eyes of the Crown at some point. They were those pushed to the fringes of society. Men who had been dubbed worthless and cast out. Forgotten. They’d been given a choice, each of them. Serve their sentences, however long the term was, and move on with their lives or join the Blue Rangers. For those who chose to wear the blue, Keral had decided he was going to make something of them. They may have been content to be exactly what society thought of them, but he certainly wasn’t and certainly not under his watch.

Not everyone chose to wear the blue and in many respects, he understood why. Never would he have thought he would and when he passed on a much more respectable promotion of Captain of the guard, his poor mother almost disowned him. And rightly so. Though his brother had very little to say on the matter aside from a firm and old assertion that he was a “right fuckin’ idiot”. And perhaps he was. Keral had never been a man easy to read and he was not one to spend too much time on explanations. If folks found him confusing, that was their burden. Actions were louder than anything he could or would say. And there was still so much to do.

He and his five rangers waited at the far side of a bend in the road, just behind the cluster of trees and brambles. The moonlit night making them all but invisible in their blue colored coats. Their query had two possible routes. The south road or the east road. His money had been on the east road and so sent the second team south to stake out down that way.

A finger tapped him on the shoulder.

“That makes the hour, sir,” said a man beside him by the name of Ripley. His face was pockmarked and red and despite looking much like the village idiot, was very intelligent. Though he was illiterate and had left the school room by the age of six, he was quick on the uptake and absorbed and retained information with remarkable detail. From further up the road came the sound of cloven hooves against packed dirt and Keral grinned as the cart rounded the bend.

“Right on time.” Speaking to the men behind him, he said, “I want all of ye t’keep yerselves in check now. No rough handlin’. Don’t care if they bite ye fuckin’ fingers off. I want a smooth and easy extraction. Understand me, lads?”

“Aye, sir,” came their collective response.

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

There were two men sitting at the cart’s helm. The driver was older with long white hair and a clean shaven face, his loose jowls hanging off his chin like table cloths. The one beside him was younger, thicker, and meaner looking with a short sword across his lap. And behind them he could see the top of a third man’s head.

While four of his men got into position, he and Ripley stepped out into the road. He held his hand up to the cart’s driver. “Whoa there.”

The beast huffed as the old man pulled on the reigns, slowing to a stop, but did not say anything. Keral carefully walked up alongside the cart. “Good evening, sir.”

“Mm...’evenin’,” mumbled the driver. His younger companion was gripping the hilt of his weapon tight enough to turn his knuckles white. “What can I do ye fer, sir?”

“We’re conducting inspections this evening,” Keral replied, keeping his demeanor open and friendly. Almost apologetic in his tone. “We just need to check yer cart fer contraband. Then ye and yer boys can be on yer way. Won’t take but a moment.”

“How do we know you’re not just going to rob us?” demanded the young man with the sword. “If you’re looking for some sort of bribe...”

Keral held up his hands in a placating motion. “Whoa there, lad! Ye got me all wrong.”

“No,” he snarled. “I don’t think I do.”

“Quiet boy!” snapped the driver. To Keral he said, “We’re just bringin’ some onions to market sir. Yer welcome to sniff around.”

Keral nodded and made his way to the back of the cart. He made eye contact with the third man and it did not escape Keral’s notice how profusely he was sweating. Despite the night being pleasantly chilly.

“Go on and step down fer me, sir. The sooner I have my look, the sooner ye and yer companions may be on yer way.”

The man all but scrambled down from the cart, almost falling into the dirt, and stepping a few feet away. There wasn’t much inside the cart. Three crates, a hemp knapsack, and a few blankets. Pulling one of the crates closer to him, he could smell the onions, but he used the flat end of his knife to pop it open anyway and inside he found onions. Rotting onions, but nothing else. The second and third crates yielded the same results. The knapsack was filled with clothing and nothing else. He’d emptied out the cart, leaving it bare.

“As you can see, sir,” said the driver in an all too pleased voice. “All we have is some onions fer market.”

Keral eyed the man, deeply suspicious of his smug tone. Turning his attention back to the empty cart bed, he spent several moments staring at it and running his hands over the wood planks. Had they passed off the cargo to another team? Was this a decoy? He dipped down to peak underneath the cart. He came back up grinning.

The smug look of the driver’s face fell. “What?”

“Pretty ingenious of ye lads,” Keral said. “Can’t say I’ve seen this before.”

“What do you mean?” demanded the younger man.

Keral gave a one long and two short whistles and the four other blue coats stepped out of the shadows, surrounding the cart. “Please step down, gentlemen.”

The driver frowned and huffed indignantly. “I will do no such thing!”

Keral dropped his friendly tone and scowled at him. “Ye can get down on yer own or I’ll drag yer arse down.”

Still huffing, the old man complied at last and clambered down. His younger companion did so as well and with equal amounts of reluctance, never allowing his gaze to stray from Keral.

“Ripley,” Keral said, waving him over. “Help me with this. Grab a hold of that end there. Alright? All right now, lift and pull with me, aye?”

Keral placed his hands under the cart’s back edge near one corner and Ripley did the same with the other. They lifted and the false bottom of the cart clicked and as they pulled, much like a drawer, a secret compartment was revealed. It was nearly as wide and as long as the cart bed itself, but as they pulled it open, built in legs dropped down to help support it. The shallow drawer was lined with thick padding of straw and nestled within were ten humans. Young women. Their hands were bound together with shackles which were them bolted to the walls by a short chain. All of them seemed to be asleep, barely reacting as they were exposed to the air. Keral carefully reached down and propped one of the girls up to study her. She was limp in his hands and he used the crook of his finger to tip her head up so he could look at her face. Her eyes rolled listlessly in her skull and she moaned quietly.

“Drugged,” Keral remarked to Ripley. Despite it all, they were in good condition. Clean clothes, no visible wounds, and they appeared to be well fed and cared for. The oldest of them could not have been seen many years past twenty. The youngest perhaps seventeen. They were pretty little things and the implications made Keral’s stomach roil. Carefully, he laid the poor girl back down into the straw and though she was not sober enough to appreciate the gesture, he pushed back the hair from her face.

When he looked back up at the three men, his eyes were fire and hate. Before Keral could start in on them, the sweaty one shouted, fumbling for his purse, “We can pay you! We have money. S-silver! We can pay you in silver!”

He held out the black bag to Keral and the other two looked alarmed and irate.

“You damn fool!” the driver snarled and he reached out to grab the purse from his hands, but Keral snatched it first. It was heavy. Much heavier than it had any right to be. He pushed a finger inside and pulled it open for a peak inside. Glittering silver sparkled back at him and he dumped the lot of it into a hand. Fifteen silver pieces. A small fortune.

Keral looked to the four other rangers and gave a curt nod. All at once there was chaos as the four rangers descended upon the three men. Two of them were required to wrestle the short sword from the young man’s hand and after it was tossed away, Ripley slapped the irons onto their wrists. Keral stepped in front of them, taking a moment to study each one in turn as though burning their faces into his memory.

“We’re is the key?”

“What key?” huffed the driver.

“They key to the humans’ shackles.”

“We don’t have any fuckin’ key.”

“And who does?”

“I don’t know. Probably the fucker we were delivering the cart to.”

“And who’s that?”

“We weren’t given a name. Just an address.”

“Well, yer gonna be givin’ us that address. And the one where ye picked the cart up. If yer lucky ye’ll only catch a charge of kidnapping and smuggling. But If any one ‘a them girls don’t wake up from ye druggin’ ‘em, I’ll make sure yer all hanged.”

“We didn’t drug nobody!” snarled the driver.

“We didn’t know they were in there!” professed the sweaty one. “Gods above, we didn’t!”

“We just picked up the cart,” said the younger one, no longer puffed up with bravado now that he had been relieved of his weapon. “That’s all they were paying us to do!”

“And ye might be tellin’ the truth,” Keral replied. “Ye might not. But considerin’ how heavy this coin purses feels, I’m bettin’ ye had just a bit of an inklin’ just as to what or who ye were transportin’. No one pays three men fifteen silver to move crates of rotten onions in the middle of the night.”

The driver struggled against his irons and two of the rangers gripped his shoulders. “They’re just fuckin’ humans! Who gives a right shit?”

Keral sneered at the old man, resisting the urge to just punch him square in his face. “Funnily enough, yer King does. And so do I.”

“Since when were blue coats Silvaaran sympathizers?”

“Since I decided we were,” Keral replied tersely through gritted teeth. Looking up, he caught sight of the other team making their way up the road. When the target failed to show on their end, they had rightly decided to make their way to the second site. As they met, Keral waved over to the other team’s leader. “Come take these wretches to the castle, Dayne. Ripley, go with ‘em. Give yer report to Rheil when ye get back. Carter, Havish? Yer with me. We’ll drop these girls off with Gregis and head back.”

As the three men were dragged away down the road, swearing and cursing, Carter flagged him over to the back of the cart. “Sir? This one’s awake.”

Keral made his way back around and looked to where he’d been pointing. Sure enough, tucked up in the back corner was a dark hair girl with vibrant blue eyes that stared back at them with pure venom. She was shackled just as the others, but she had not been drugged and it only took Keral a moment to understand why. Beneath her kirtle, she was large with pregnancy with a belly so swollen that she was unable to sit up on her own with her hands bound as they were. She was curled up into the corner like a viper and had she not been gagged with a white piece of linen she would surely be spiting at them.  

“Well, fuck…” he said. Slowly, he walked towards her, but as he neared, she shrank back from him, angry tears beginning to pool in her eyes and she huffed heavy breathes through the confines of the gag.

“S’all right lil’ darlin’,” He said as he eased a hand closer to her. She flung her foot out to try and kick at him, but missed and only succeeded in rolling herself over so her back was to him. He allowed her to flounder for a moment, pitying her condition, and then helped set her back upright. Though she was clearly agitated, her body trembled against his hand and his heart break for the poor girl. With his free hand, reached back behind him to pull out the small knife from his belt. Upon seeing the flash of metal, the girl tried to scream and push away, flailing madly, but he curled his fingers around her shoulders and kept her still.

“Easy, lass. Easy! Not gonna hurt ye none. Just gonna get this damn thing off ye. Hold still for me. Don’t wanna cut ye by mistake.” She went rigid as he brought the tip of the blade to her face and carefully slipped it between the delicate flesh of her cheek and the fabric. With a small dip of his wrist, the blade cut through the linen and she spat the wad of it from her mouth, breathing hard. “That’s a lil’ better now, isn’t it?”

She stared up at him with seething hate, trying to shrug his fingers from her back and shoulders. “Don’t touch me!”

“If I let go,” he smirked, slipping the small knife back into its sheath. “Yer just gonna end up rollin’ away. As far as that chain’s gonna let ye, at least.”

She raised her bound arms and thrust her elbow back, striking the meat of Keral’s hand just under his thumb.

“Oi!” he barked. “Stop that.”  

“I said let me go!”

“Suit yerself,” he replied and obligingly released his hold. She felt back, but managed to keep herself from rolling, but it was a comical site to watch her struggle with her swollen middle making her movements difficult as she tried to right herself back up. In the end, she back herself once more into the corner, but used it as leverage to push herself into a sitting position.  

“Where are we?” she demanded.

Keral made a show of looking around. “…in the middle of the road looks like.”

She scowled at him.

“Oh, ye mean ye didn’t mean that literally?” He asked with mocking innocence. “Ah, well then yer about three miles from Westchester.”

The women continued to scowl and glare at him.

He returned her glare with an impish grin. “Doesn’t help none, does it?”

“Fuck you,” she spat.

“Hey now. That’s not the sorta words milady should be usin’ now.”

“I’m not your fucking lady! Bastard.”

“Pretty sure Dad and Mum were married by the time I came along.”

“Fuck off!”

“Easy, lass. Don’t be windin’ yerself up. Can’t be good fer yer lil’un there.”

She turned a bright shade of red and began to thrash against her shackled. “DON’T YOU TELL ME WHAT’S GOOD FOR MY CHILD YOU BLUE TITTED ARSE!”  

“Oh ho ho! Now I’m gonna have to remember that one,” he laughed and threw an amused look towards Carter. “S’quite a good one, eh?”

“Can’t say I’ve heard that one before,” he chuckled.  

Still laughing, Keral turned his attention back to the human. “What’s yer name darlin’?”

“I’m not your fucking darling.”

He leveled a flat glare at the girl and then sighed. Over his shoulder, he called out, “Havish. Ye got yer tools with ye?”

At his words, the woman seemed to freeze and all the fight and venom draining away to pure panic. The ranger checking on the beast’s condition answered back hesitantly. “...might be. Why?”

“Think ye could pick a lock this small?”

Keral did not miss the way the woman relaxed at that. Curious, he wondered what tools she thought he meant. The other ranger peered over the side of the cart at the shackle around the humans’ wrists and gave his captain a lazy smirk. “Fuck, I could just break the damn thing with my hands.”

“Not what I asked ye,” Keral replied, the barest hint of a warning to his tone.

Havish nodded and quickly said, “Yessir. I can.”

“Get to it then,” Keral replied, slapping the side of the cart and then gesturing towards the pregnant woman. “Leave her last.”

“Aye, sir.” Havish reached into his pockets and pulled out small roll of cloth. He rolled it out across his palm to reveal a lock picking set. He grabbed two of the tools and started at the farthest end of the cart. Carter held the shackled human’s arms up so Havish could work and it only took a few seconds for the lock to release and for them to move on to the next girl.  

“So what now?” demanded the woman, the vinegar of her voice having returned. “You’ve stolen us from some thieves and what? Gonna sell us off piecemeal? Line your fucking pockets with a few extra blood soaked coppers?”

“Coppers?” He laughed. “Woman, them three fellas my boy just hauled off in irons were paid fifteen silver just to deliver ye. Haven’t a clue what yer buyer actually forked over, but it’d have to be a few gold. At least.”

“Kidnapping is expensive work it seems,” she hissed.  

Leaning against the side of the cart, Keral idly scratched his chin. “Technically speakin’, we’re confiscatin’ ye. As under the terms of the law that gives me the authority to take possession of this here cart and everything therein, yer considered contraband.”

“Contraband?” she echoed dubiously.

“Aye,” he replied and huffed a small laugh. “But that kind of implies yer existence is illegal.”

“Oh, isn’t it?” she snapped back.

“Not accordin’ to the laws of Vhasshal.”

“So…what does that make us then?”

Keral turned his head so one green eye fell upon the woman. She was still scowling and coiled up, but she looked paler and her hands shook and there was a fine sheen of sweat across her brow. She was terrified. In a soft voice, he said, “Safe. Makes ye safe, lass.”

“…why should I believe you?” she demanded in a quiet voice.  

“Don’t matter all that much if ye believe me or not,” he told her. “Ye and all yer mates are still comin’ with us. But yer not doin’ yerself any favors workin’ yerself up.”

“Working myself up?” she spat angrily. “Do you have any idea what we’ve gone through?”

“Probably more than ye think. Ye ain’t the first human cargo we’ve confiscated and won’t be the last.”

“Then you should understand at least a little of why I’m so worked up.”

“Yer only scared ‘cause ye think we mean ye harm. But I won’t leave ye in suspense, girl. ‘Cause our only interest in ye is gettin’ ye away from scumbags like those three and getting’ ye some place safe.”

“You’re blue coats,” she said as though it was all the explanation needed.

“Aye, that we are. And that might’ve meant somethin’ else when the Blood King was on the throne. But I’m captain now and I serve his son. And for Warren, I enforce his laws and mandates. So we’re out here trackin’ down the monsters who would drug young women and chain them up to sell to some rich fuck with enough coin and influence to keep his disgusting proclivities hidden from the Crown.”

“Sir?” Havish said and Keral glanced over. “We’ve got all the shackles off.”

He nodded and stepped away from the cart, pointing to the woman. “Now her. Be gentle, lads. And careful. I have a feeling she bites.”

Much to his surprise, she did not struggle as Dayne grabbed her wrists and held them up for Havish, but she was still pale and trembling. When the shackles fell away, she took in a sharp inhale of breath as she struggled under her emotions. Her freed hands immediately went to cradle her belly.  

“So…” she said, addressing Keral without looking him in the eye. “You’re not letting us go, are you?”

“Not in the sense that I’m just gonna leave the lot of ye on the side of the damn road,” Keral replied. “No, we’re takin’ ye to a human village under the King’s protection. To see a man named Gregis. From there ye can decided if ye want to stay or go.”

Keral had his men redistribute the straw onto the top bed of the cart and used the blankets and clothes within the knapsack on which to lay out the still incapacitated humans. Keral balled up one of the shirts and stuffed it with plenty of straw. When he looked towards the dark haired girl, she was watching him with suspicious intensity. Without giving her much time to react, he swept her up from the corner where she’d wedged herself and laid her down into the makeshift cushion. She squawked indignantly at him, slapping his hand and scratching, but as soon as she sank into the straw filled shirt, she quieted down. But her glare was that much more severe for it.  

“You could have fucking warned me!”

“Aye. And I’m sure ye wouldn’t have make nearly so much a fuss if I had now would ye, hm?” he asked her with a raised eyebrow. He looked at the side of his hand at the thin red lines from where she’d scratched him and drew a breath across his teeth, waving his hand against the sharp pain. “Dammit, woman...”

“Bastard,” she snapped back, wiggling experimentally to see how much movement she had, but Keral had stuffed the shirt with enough straw that is effectively cradled her entire body and made movements, especially in her condition, extremely difficult. Which Keral’s knowing smirk told her had been the point.

“Just settle down, lass,” he said, pushing himself up onto the back of the cart so that his legs dangled off and his back was to her. “It’ll be a few hours till we get to the Hill Tribe. So try and get some rest.”

“Not a fucking chance,” she replied. “Bastard.”  

“Suit yerself,” he shrugged. Her twisted his body to look towards the driver’s seat as Carter sat himself down and Havish beside him. “We’re all set back here, lads.”

“Aye, sir.” The two of the echoed and with a firm snap of the reigns, the beast began to pull and the wheels began to turn and off they went.

Whatever drug they had used on the girls must have been potent. None of them stirred as they journeyed on, but Keral checked on them repeatedly to make sure they were all were still breathing. He could feel the dark haired woman’s eyes boring a hole into him as she watched. A little over an hour or so into their journey, he checked on the girls once more.

“Can’t have your breeding stock die before you can seed the field now can you?” the woman grumbled under her breath, but Keral heard her fine.

“That what they were usin’ ye fer?” he asked, not meeting her gaze. “So what, they throw some fella at ye and leave ye to ripen after?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

It was then that he turned his gaze to her, his expression borderline angry. “There’s a mighty difference between the back hill hick keeping one or two captured humans tryin’ to make some easy coppers and whatever the fuck ye and yer mates are caught up in. This is organized. Thought out. Well funded. This fucker behind this ain’t no small fish, lass.” Keral glared at the woman. “He’s a fuckin’ whale.”

The woman seemed almost confused by Keral in that moment, but right as she opened her mouth to reply, she shuddered and gave a startled cry. There was a growing wet spot on the tawny fabric of her skirts between her legs and for a moment Keral stared, wondering if she had just pissed herself out of anxiety, but after half a second, realization struck.

“Well, fuck...”

……………………….

“Don’t touch me! You fucking stink!” the woman bellowed, trying to swipe at Keral’s hand, but not having the current flexibility to do anything. As he settled his hand behind her and help her sit up more, her body went rigid as another wave of pain hit her.

“I think ye have bigger things to worry about then my odor rubbin’ of on ye, woman,” Keral snapped. He looked up to see Havish starring back at them. “Go as fast as ye dare, lads.” To the woman he said, “And keep that baby in there, dammit. ‘Least ye want the three of our ugly mugs as yer kid’s god parents.”

“Fuck you!” she yelled, breathing hard.

“Aye, ye said all that already,” her replied. “Now stop tryin’ to fight me, dammit. I’m tryin’ to help ye.”  

“Just stop lying!” she cried. “I know you’re just going to kill us, so why waste your energy lying to me?”

Keral frowned.

“I haven’t lied to ye. Ain’t gonna do a damn thing ‘cept get yer sorry arse to a midwife,” he told her firmly. “‘Cause if that lil’ buggar in yer belly’s that eager to to make his escape, we’re in trouble. I don’t know a damn thing about childbirth and ye ain’t gonna be in much of a position to walk me through it I don’t think.”

“I almost believe you,” she panted. “Gods, you sound too stupid to be lying.”

“Ah well yer not glowing ray of maternal sunshine yerself, woman. Hope yer kid ends up just like ye so ye can enjoy yer lovely personality thrown back at ye fer years to come.”

He expected his quip to elicit some sort of smart ass response, but much to Keral’s chagrin, the woman burst into sobs. “Oi! Ain’t nothin’ to cry over. We ain’t relyin’ on my skills as a midwife just yet.”

Through her body raking sobs, he could just make out her words. “Please…please don’t take him…”

“What are ye talkin’ about?” he asked, daring to lean in a little closer to her. The body against his hand was pulsing with frantic energy as though fighting the natural desire to flee from a perceived danger and her body’s response to readying itself for childbirth. She was overly warm despite the coolness of the night air.

“Please don’t take my baby…I can’t lose another…”

“Who did they take, lass?” he said and then looked up to Carter and said quietly, “Pass me the canteen.”

“When they first caught us,” the woman cried. “They took my son, Theo. He’s only but three. They took him. They took all our children and we haven’t seen them since. Please…I can’t lose another son…”

“Not gonna take yer lil’un,” he repeated in the same even and gentle tone as he carefully pulled his hand from supporting the woman’s back. He used his small knife to cut a portion of one of the old shirts and then used one hand to twist off the canteen’s cap. “Ain’t no one gonna take ‘im from ye.”

He poured a small bit of water back into the cap, lowering it down and into the woman’s field of vision and she stared at it uncomprehendingly for a long moment. “Drink,” he ordered.

She didn’t off any insult or witty quip, but leaned closer and eager slurped as much of the water as she could stand. Only when she fell back into the cushion did Keral pull away. He poured water over the cloth scrap he’d created and squeezed the access out, letting the wind catch it for a moment and chill it. He folded it over and laid it across the woman’s forehead. She inhaled sharply as the touch, but a hand rose to press onto it, reveling in the cool cloth.

“...I’ll die if I lose another,” she sobbed quietly.

“This would’ve been one big waste fer ye to keel over on me,” he told her. “Whether ye truly believe me or not, we ain’t out here lookin’ to kill. Our jobs are to bring ye to Gregis safe and one piece. Meaning both of ye. Ye and yer lil’un. And yer mates. By tomorrow, yer gonna be in a warm bed with nice folks to look after ye and I promise, that baby’s gonna be nestled in yer arms. Safe, fat, and happy.”

The woman took in a long wavering breath and said, “...Iva.”

“What?” he asked.

“My name,” she replied. “It’s Iva.”

……………………………

Iva was delirious with pain by the time the Hill Tribe came into view and every contraction sent her screaming into the air so much so that well before they should have met any of the posted guards, one ran to meet them.

“What in all the bloody fuckin’ hells is goin’ on?” he demanded. Upon seeing their blue attire, he frowned. “Well?”

“We brought ye some waifs, Renton,” Keral answered from the back. “And this lass back here’s ‘bout ready to push this babe out any minute. Be a good lad and go wake Gregis and Sasha. Best have Nonna woken too. She’ll be right pissed if she found out about this later and wasn’t on hand to help. I’ve got ten all together and nine of ‘em were drugged.”

Iva let out another loud scream, her hand grabbing onto Keral’s sleeve as she rode out the contraction.

Renton peeked over the edge of the cart and upon seeing Iva, paled and quickly did as Keral bade and ran off to wake the welcoming party. “R-right!”

“We’re almost there, Iva,” Keral told her. “Just a bit more.”

By the time they arrived at the main gate, they had a whole assembly waiting for them. At the head of the group was a middle aged man, balding, with a short cut peppered beard and beside him was a sturdy woman still in her night dress and only a simple cloak over that. Gregis and his wife Sasha. A smaller woman of many years stood next to Sasha, clutching a tall walking stick. Two guards stood off to the side, watching over the procession with hawk like eyes.  

“Keral,” Gregis greeted as the cart approached and came to a halt. “What have you brought us this time?”

“Trouble,” Keral answered as he stepped down from the back of the cart. He reached back in and swept up Iva and the cushion, cradling the whole thing in his arms before lowering himself down into a crouch and placing her onto the ground.  

Two human men pushing a cart lined with blankets followed behind Gregis as did the small older woman, but she walked passed them all straight up to Iva and Keral.

“Sorry to have woke ye, Nonna,” Keral said. “But I knew ye would wanna be around to help with this one.”

“Right you were,” said the older woman with a smile and knelt next to Iva. “Tell me, girl. Are you in pain?”

Iva nodded, wincing and unable to speak.

Nonna nodded and reached out to grip the hem of Iva’s skirts. “I’m gonna check and see how yer doin’ sweetheart.” The white haired woman dipped down to peek under the skirts and jerked back up with a start. “Oh, this baby’s coming, lads,” she said. “Come one, let’s get her inside now before she drops him right here in the field.”

Moving with alacrity, the two men brought the push cart over.

“Careful of that one,” Keral said as Iva was guided to the much smaller cart and helped inside. “She bites.”

Nonna grinned up at him. “Oh, believe me lad. If ye had to push a baby out yer lower bits ye’d bite plenty too.”

For the first time that night, and more than likely the first time in quite a long time, Iva laughed.  

………………….

“In all likelihood they used milk of poppy,” Gregis said, watching his men carry the drugged girls into the village walls one by one. “It would explain why they did not give the pregnant girl any. But I will have the physicians look them all over. I expect they will be just fine though.”

“Aye, I suspected that what they used,” Keral replied. “Was worried they may have been too heavy handed and they’d overdose. But after seeing how much those men were paid to just deliver ‘em. Someone with deep pockets. They’re careful.”

“Any clues as to who it could be?”

“Not yet,” Keral said. “And it’s chaffin’ me to not have a lead.”

“I’d like to be there when you finally hang the bastard,” Gregis said with a snarl. “I always knew depravity was a bottomless pit, but I detest being continuously proven correct.”

Keral nodded in grim agreement.

“I was hopin’ to ask ye,” he said. “The group before last that Dayne brought in. All them lil’uns. Was there a boy named Theo among ‘em? Three years old, maybe four?”

Gregis took a moment to think. “There’s a little boy named Theodril. Four years old, I believe. Why do you ask?”

“Iva said the one’s who caught them initially took her son. She called him Theo. Might be her son they took. Not sure if any of the other girls had children taken, but it might be worth checking.”

Gregis nodded. “I’ll speak with the boy first light. It would be the most marvelous miracle if he was her missing son. We could do with a little less heartbreak these days.”

“After the girls have settled for a week or so I’ll be back,” Keral replied. “Maybe they’ll have remembered something that might give me a lead to go on. And to see how Iva’s gettin’ on.”

“She will be just fine,” Gregis assured him. “Both her and the baby will be in excellent hands.”

“Well, best be gettin’ back. Ripley’ll be giving his report to Rheil and I’ve a few things to add myself. If ye find anything our from the girls, let me know. As it stands, I’ve got the three bastards on kidnapping and smuggling and possibly a minor offense of threatening a Crown officer and a bribery attempt.”

“Bribery?” Gregis said with a grin. “How much?”

“One of ‘em threw his whole purse at me. Fifteen silver.”

Gregis nearly choked. “F-fifteen silver?”

“Aye.”

“I’m glad you don’t work on commission, Keral. Too expensive for my blood,” Gregis said, waving at the blue coat and walking back towards the gate. “If I have anything for you, I’ll send a messenger bird. I’ll say good night then.”

Keral nodded. “’Night. Let me know how Iva and that babe of her’s gets on will ye?”

“Will do.” The guards closed the village gates behind Gregis and Keral turned to Carter and Havish, patting them both on the shoulder.

“Good work tonight, lads,” he said. “Now lets get on home. I don’t know about ye two, but I need a fuckin’ drink.”

[abrokenherocomplex]

heroes and villains and paintings and it’s not all what you think

continuation of this post

Uhh I made this because @shining-panda said they wanted more <3 and I also wanted to write more, so it’s a win-win!

I have given my characters names! Usually I don’t love to ready hero / villain stuff with names, but when I’m writing it’s very helpful. Here you go:

Isa Raskin = friend

Karamikov = Villain

“Rory” Ripley = Hero

Isa stepped out of the building’s lobby and onto the cold streets of the city. Cars whipped past the grey buildings and people bundled in their late-winter early-spring coats bustled past, just as they would any other day. At first glance you couldn’t even see Karamikov’s guards blending into the buildings, immobile except for one who moved swiftly to assist an elderly woman across the street who had tripped, dropping many of her belongings, which scattered themselves across the sidewalk and under the feet of uncaring city goers.

Isa snorted. On the surface it was almost funny to see Karamikov - the perpetrator of her city - having guards who did good deeds. She tried to ignore her sinking heart. It’s not that she didn’t want her city to prosper… it just didn’t seem right under Karamikov’s rule. Maybe she had to admit that Rory might have been right, that something evil has taken root. Isa shook her head, she was supposed to be humoring Rory, supposed to be hoping that Karamikov, despite his ill means of gaining power, would be nothing but another good mayor… another good mayor with guards on the street. Isa could see Rory’s fear, but she needed him to calm down, to yield for a while for his own good. But she supposed heroes never sleep.

Isa hesitated a minute more, beginning to turn right, her usual route for whenever she went out to the grocery store or the bookstore - the essentials. But she faltered. Right now turning left was no different than turning right. Karamikov would find her anyway. There was no doubt she was being watched. A good, safe society didn’t necessarily mean a free society… or did it?

Isa glanced up into her and Rory’s usually closed apartment window. Their dead plants rustled in the sill garden as the window opened a crack. Karamikov wasn’t the only one watching her, it seemed.

Maybe the two pairs of eyes on the back of her neck cancelled each other out because Isa found she was quite enjoying her crisp stroll through the city. For once she didn’t have a destination in mind and it was nice to get out, stretching her legs in the late morning light. For this reason, and maybe also in remembrance of the many occurances when Rory came back to their apartment all beaten and bloody, Isa scowled when Karamikov deftly stepped alongside her, matching her stride around her third block of walking.

“Emerging from the shadows now, are we? Quite Dracula of you,” Isa muttered, she stared forward, no need to look at the man who turned her world upside-down just yet.

Karamikov didn’t answer at first, until, “Did I turn your world upside-down? Or just the world of your precious friend?”

Isa stopped in her tracks, a chill running up her spine. Karamikov followed suit. The other grey city-goers merely parted around them, as if Isa and Karamikov were just a rock in a stream.

Karamikov continued, apparently oblivious of Isa forcing herself to meet his eyes.

“Your life has managed to maintain its mundanity, has it not?”

A scowl came back to Isa’s face at the insult. She glared at him. “How did you do that?”

“What?” Karamikov put on that innocent, charming smile that had probably worked its way into dozens of - ugh, never mind.

“You read my mind.”

Karamikov merely shrugged, his shoulder nearly knocking the hat off an innocent passerby. “More or less.”

“So that’s how you did what you did. How you got to the top.”

Karamikov nodded. “It was fairly easy, actually. Once I was in close proximity to you or your friend, I knew exactly what your counter-attacks were. They were brilliant.” He admitted, “if I couldn’t do what I do I’d have had a much harder time…”

He trailed off at the look on Isa’s face. She caught his hesitation and tried to smooth out her features, emptying her mind. Which was actually quite difficult to do when your sworn enemy was standing two feet away.

“The battle plans,” Karamikov murmured. “They were yours, weren’t they?”

Isa nodded. “Why did you do it?”

Again, Karamikov didn’t answer at first, only staring ahead for a moment. “Miss Raskin, it seems as though we have much to discuss. Will you accompany me to my headquarters?”

Isa raised an eyebrow, unsure of how to answer.

He continued, looking at her. “I promise no harm will come to you when you are under my roof. You have my word.” He held out a hand.

Isa swallowed. “I suppose then, you claim to be a man of your word?”

Karamikov nodded, not breaking eye contact.

Isa folded her hands behind her back.

“Lead the way.”

“As you wish,” Karamikov dropped his hand, turning into the crowd. Isa made to follow when he spoke again.

“And Miss Raskin? I am not your sworn enemy. Mr. Ripley may have enemies here, but I can assure you, you do not.”

[outdoorguyuk]

Granada!  It’s so Moorish (boom boom...Kill me Now)

Long before I got back into climbing, I booked a holiday with the fam along with Andy & Elaine (from the Brecon Beacons fastpacking trip) and their children Esmé (9) & James (5 months).  We booked an Airbnb to Otura at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada in Spain.  It turned out to be an absolute gold mine of amazing climbing routes and hiking.  Kerching!

I bought a couple of local climbing guides (I’d particularly recommend the Andalusia - Guia de Escalada Deportiva (if you want it please click on the link and buy it so I get a bit of cash from Amazon too!) and spoke to a local guide called Nino from the amazing Club Cabraloca (the appropriately named crazy goat when translated - Seriously, if you want to climb in Granada hit him up, he’s an absolute legend and they do everything through canyoning, via ferrata to diving or caving).  We chatted by email in the run up to the holiday - Nino doesn’t speak English so it was a great opportunity to practice my Spanish (I’m terrible at languages but I’ve been trying to relearn since before our last trip to Barcelona with Andy and Elaine - I’m rubbish but getting there).

Lads Lads Lads - From left to Right; Antonio (interpreter & dog owner extraordinaire), Andy, Yours Truly and Nino (Club Cabraloca and all round legend)

I explained to Nino that there would be 4 adults (who apart from Sammy, climb regularly indoors, along with me having done a bit of rock climbing as a kid), Lenora (age 7 - an absolute beast), Esmé (9 - who has done a bit of bouldering indoors), Autumn (3 - who has done a bit of bouldering indoors but mainly will be climbing for our entertainment *please don’t call social services) and James (4 months, who most likely won’t be up for climbing but we would see how he feels on the day).

We wanted to climbs somewhere (in order of importance) 1 - That was in the shade (It’s brutally hot in Granada in August), 2 - (that had grades between 4-7 in the same spot so that everyone could have a challenge) and 3 - My Spanish isn’t particularly good so would he have someone that spoke English (I’m happy ordering a few beers or chatting conversationally, but don’t want to die because of getting a verb mixed up).  Nino was all over it and reassured me all would be taken care of.

For anyone that hasn’t been, I can’t recommend Granada enough.  It’s a small city that isn’t very busy (coming from London that’s a massive plus), there’s very little traffic, you’re right on the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range (which has Mulhacen, the highest mountain in Western Europe outside the alps as well as the most Southern ski resort) and some ace beaches (the lesser known Costa Tropical) which don’t suffer the hordes of people and Brits that other coasts nearby do.  Plus the Alhambra, Nasrid Palace & Generalife Gardens are truly spectacular.

The Nasrid Palace, presented to you by Big L

We spent a few days checking out the area, visiting the tourist spots, going to the beach, lounging around our pool and BBQing (with some drinking thrown in too), but also scoped out some climbing routes on a hike too.  For those not in the know, Los Cahorros is a fantastic trail of rope bridges, rivers and stunning views through a gorge and mountainsides.  It’s also famous for having some incredible climbing routes, so we had a good old hike around to check it out.

A hill at the start of Los Cahorros

It’s always a good idea to set off early when the days get so hot so we did most of our hiking in the morning to head home at around 2.  The hike is really fun and family friendly with plenty of access to mountain run off water (I always bring my Sawyer Filter with me wherever I go where I might run out of water, despite the several litres of frozen water we had with us, as it’s ace just to fill up whenever you need.  Super handy, very light, connects to a regular bottle and lasts forever. link on image below).

Los Cahorros only has about 300m of elevation across the hike so is family friendly whilst being hard enough work when Elaine was carrying James and I was mainly carrying Autumn.  

Lunch in a nice little cave

Anyway...it’s really cool with a load of rope bridges, stunning scenery, great access to water, lots of shade & amazing climbing routes.  Do it.

Next up on the list was hooking up with Nino.  Unfortunately Antonio, Nino’s buddy and translator couldn’t make the Thursday so we rescheduled for Friday.  No biggie, as we had a lazy day by the pool but come Friday we were all super hyped to get on some rock.  

We met Nino in the Lidl car park near the main Decathlon (I love Decathlon) and had a good laugh about my obscene amount of emails I had sent Nino.  He had been very patient and was just as nice in person as he was on email.  His mate Antonio would be our translator as Nino’s English was similar to my Spanish, and Antonio came with the added bonus of his dog who was epic.  She was a jet black Belgian shepherd and the kids were super hyped as they were missing Ripley (our Sproodle).

After a quick drive to Alfacar (there are loads of routes within a very short drive of Granada) we found our wall.  After a pretty steep hike up the hill through some trees (I was a little worried about Elaine as she had James strapped to her chest, but she’s an absolute machine and didn’t seem phased at all) we got to a really nice and shady ledge below our climbing spot.

Autumn kicking back at basecamp (poser)

All the gear, all the ideas (Nino & Antonio, at least)

Sammy, checking out the photos, being stalked by the dog

After setting up, Nino asked who wanted to go first - before he’d even had the chance to finish the sentence, Lenora was up and putting on a harness whilst simultaneously saying ‘I will’ in a manner that suggested this wasn’t up for discussion.  Within minutes, she had blasted her way up the first route (route 8 of el Sector del Esconchón in the Guia de Escalada en Alfacar Granada, if you’re interested) and cockily confirmed that it was easy.  

Lenora (just turned 7) before ‘warming up on an easy route’ - her words not mine

Esmé and Autumn found it a bit trickier and only made it half way up, but Esmé doesn’t climb as much and Autumn is only 3.  To give her credit, she got a good 8 metres up and it’s her first time climbing outdoors.  We all had a good laugh when Autumn rolled over onto her back, hanging from the rope and started shouting “I can’t roll over!  I can’t roll over!”.  Please don’t call social services.

Like a beetle on it’s back (Autumn, 3 years old)

I normally belay with a Black Diamond ATC Guide (linked to Amazon) but Antonio got me on a Grigri+ for the first time and it felt a bit odd to use.  Paying out the rope was a little more tricky but I appreciated the extra safety feature knowing that it auto locks if someone is belaying me and not paying attention (having 4 kids with us, that’s quite possible too).  I’m still in two minds about which I prefer to use, but then redundancy is key in climbing and the GriGri definitely offers a greater level of safety.

Esmé getting involved

Sammy had a good old crack at the route and managed to top out, but freaked a bit when she saw the view.  It’s a bit different to an indoor wall, when you’re already 1350m up, the 30m feels a lot higher.

Nino and Antonio started planning out the more challenging routes once they’d gauged our abilities on the warm up route.  They put up a harder route (route 5) which Elaine and Andy promptly powered through, followed by me.  It was a challenging route (a V+ in the local grades, which according to the guidebook and the UKC website which have a conversion chart shows the local grades being two lower than normal French grades, so this would have been a 6a+ apparently).

Andy!

Esmé having a crack at the second route with Andy on belay

Not one to be outdone, Lenora got tied in and had a shot at the harder route.  I wasn’t sure how far up she’d get as it wasn’t particularly easy and she’s still only small.  Of course, she flipped the beast mode switch and absolutely crushed it.  

She never fails to amaze me.  Big L went up the wall like a rat up a drain pipe & both our guides were super impressed by how brave she was.  Putting in all those hours at YonderE17 and the Arch obviously paid off.  Things were going really well until Lenora reached up into hold (in the side of the big rock in the picture above and got a nasty surprise.

Lenora topping out but getting a nasty surprise

There was a really spiky bush in the rock which Lenora put her hand right in to, so the pain combined with a sudden realisation that she was super high up freaked her out.  She wanted to come down right away, but was pretty gripped so lost her concentration.  Usually at the Reach and Castle climbing centres (which I think are about 15 metres) she loves abseiling down, with whoops of joy and wild/possibly real claims that she’s a ninja/special forces etc.  Things were a bit different here, with the wall not being as flat as in a climbing centre what with overhangs and the risk of other spiky plants.  It all got a bit much for her but we finally got her down.  Nino was great and climbed over to her, got her to relax a bit and then things were fine.

Nino helping Lenora find her Zen 

Meanwhile, Antonio had set up a much harder route (route 2 in the guide) along with changing the first easy route over a few metres into a similarly hard route (route 7).  Elaine had a crack at the hardest route and despite having the background noise of a crying 5 month old baby James being held by Andy, a mildly hysteric Lenora, along with Autumn and Esmé arguing over who was more of a unicorn, managed to focus and get on with it.

Elaine, getting stuck in

After Elaine got down, the kids were getting a bit grumpy so I helped Elaine and Sammy get them all back to the comfort of the air con in the cars (and iPads) so that Andy and I could have a crack at the last routes before helping Nino and Antonio Pack up.

Where’s Wally?  I’m on there somewhere (shots from the cars)

Me, topping out on route 2 - loads of fun & a bit of a challenge.  Great shot by Andy

The view over Granada from Alfacar

All in all it was a great day.  I thoroughly enjoyed the routes - the final two routes were the most challenging and in very different ways, but I think we could have pushed it up a grade looking back even.  The view over Granada was spectacular and the size of the mountains is really humbling.  To give context, Alfacar (a low to medium size mountain) from where we parked the car, was starting at around 1300m, which is roughly the height of Ben Nevis (the highest peak in the UK at 1345m) with the peak topping out at around 1400m.  

I’d love to get back to the area again for more exploration - apparently Autumn is ideal as it’s still nice and warm, but not so punishingly hot.  This opens up a number of walls that don’t have shade at the bottom, so that would be nice.

All in all, I can thoroughly recommend Granada and if you get the chance to go, make sure you hit up Nino at Club Cabraloca to save you lugging a ton of kit over whilst getting the benefit of a super experienced local guide.

[swan2swan]

TFA Rey and TLJ Rey: Acting vs. Reacting

This could easily go on for longer than I want it to, but I realized the other day that one of the stark contrasts between Daisy Ridley’s performances in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi comes from the number of times she acts vs. when she reacts.

What’s the difference between “acting” and “reacting”? Acting is when a character clearly has a choice (however much of a split-second decision it might be), and then takes action that indicates a clear definition of character. Marty McFly’s dad punching Biff, Ellie Sattler running to help Alan Grant close a door, Ripley arming up to go and rescue Newt, Leia mocking Tarkin and sneering at him, those are all actions. Reacting is when a character doesn’t have another viable option in a scene, and the actor is basically just performing in how the character would respond to a situation. Marty McFly’s dad wincing as headphones blaze in his ear, Ellie Sattler dropping a severed arm and running from a velociraptor, Ripley frustratedly screaming as she watches Newt be dragged away, Leia screaming “WHAT?” as Tarkin announces that he’s going to destroy Alderaan anyway, these are reactions. 

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Rey’s presence in The Force Awakens was heavily driven by her actions, while her role in The Last Jedi was driven by her reactions. She wasn’t devoid of actions in the second movie, obviously: she chased Luke for the first act of the movie, she made the decision to try and rescue Ben, she ran away from the exploding ship, she went down to Crait, and I guess she even stole the sacred texts (we don’t really see that, though, so I don’t know if that counts). But there are a number of scenes that, well...here are the examples.

I’m going to start with what might be the most obvious contrast, even if it’s not the most definitive: the Call. In The Force Awakens, Rey feels a mysterious pull as she hears her own child voice crying out, and, well:

She stands at the top of the stairs and makes a choice to go down.

Now, this is almost like she’s in a trance, so it’s debatable as to whether or not she’s fully in control here, but Daisy plays this with curiosity and concern--she’s not walking along in a hypnotized state, but as someone genuinely curious and in need of an answer.

Then a door magically opens. Was this Rey? Maz? The lightsaber? A malfunction? A regular old automatic door? Who knows? It seems magical, though, so this one isn’t quite an action (though Rey has little to no reaction to this, again, trance?).

Finally, though, Rey goes in and opens the box herself. The box doesn’t magically pop open. She chooses to unlatch it and slowly lift the lid to find the saber inside, and then she reaches out and grabs it, and is then overwhelmed by the vision, stumbles out, talks to Maz, and then chooses to run. Action! Decision! Definition!

...so now let’s look at what happens in The Last Jedi...

Okay, so that’s from It, but the cave scene isn’t available in good quality yet, and the point is the same: Rey gets physically dragged in. Yes, she goes to the edge and looks down first, but there’s no moment where Rey says “I want to go down there and face whatever darkness is in there” (arguably character development for later, but that’s another essay!). Rey goes and considers, and is then suddenly dragged into an...evil house of mirrors. Where she stands, looks around, and clicks her fingers. It’s a cool scene, but Rey doesn’t make decisions, she doesn’t work to find her way out or actively showcase her learning, she doesn’t reject the terrifying visions of everyone she’s met dying or face an evil doppelganger of herself, she just finds out that she’s afraid of being alone. Or something. It’s really unclear, and the point is, Rey’s actions there are “click my fingers to see if these are other people or just my reflection”, and not “I’m going to lift the lid of this mysterious box and take this weird weapon” or even “I’m going to run away from everything forever because that will solve my problems” (sidenote: I really love the look on Maz’s face when Rey runs away from everything forever).

(sidenote: reaction to Rey’s action)

(further sidenote: look at Daisy run that is just hilarious)

Now, I could make this essay longer by putting more shot-by-shot examples, but here are three key Rey action moments from The Force Awakens:

1. Choosing to go and rescue BB-8 from Teedo (and straighten his antenna!), and then choosing to let BB-8 follow her.

2. Choosing not to sell BB-8 for food.

3. Charging at Finn when BB-8 tells her about the jacket. 

Note: these are all in her first ten minutes of screentime. Later on, you have her choosing the course to take in the Falcon, shutting the door on the Rathtars, bypassing the compressor, shooting stormtroopers (with the safety OFF!), pushing back against Kylo’s interrogation, mind-tricking a stormtrooper, escaping, feeling the Force and using it to push Kylo back, and then ultimately climbing the steps. Among others, but those are the big ones (also, important note: Act-1 protagonists often have a lot more reacting taking place, because they’re ending up in a story they didn’t choose, it’s the second and third act where they become more in charge). 

One of Rey’s big action moments from The Last Jedi was cut (rushing to save the village), but some of the remaining ones were:

1. Following Luke and demanding his help (all good!).

2. Practicing with the lightsaber (pretty good).

3. Asserting that she won’t fail Luke like Kylo (data not found).

4. Fighting Luke to save Ben (action or reaction?)

5. Refusing Kylo’s hand (action or reaction?)

6. Flying the Falcon and saving everyone (yessss)

7. Lifting the rocks (action or reaction?)

8. Shutting the door on Kylo’s stupid face (action or reaction?).

There are a few more, but you may notice that some key moments are missing. The duel with the guards, for example: that’s really a no-choice scenario. What’s she going to do? Just run from the room? Apologize? Leave? No, she’s stuck fighting her way out. The fight scene is started by Kylo, and she’s his backup dancer--he’s the one who acts in that scene, and Rey is the one who reacts. 

This is also why I question so many of her actions in the second movie: is she doing these because it’s in-character, or because it moves our plot along and is done according to the actions of Snoke and Kylo? Rey doesn’t rush off to save the dying Resistance fleet or to save her captive friends, she goes because she's been tricked into thinking that she can save Kylo--she never thinks about if it could be a trap, she never persuades Chewbacca to help her with the scheme, she basically says “Okay, I will come to you.” The actions throughout the film belong to Snoke and Kylo, who were reacting in the first film as Rey did more and more things that they did not expect.

But by far the most essential crux to the argument comes from the scene most people have talked about with Rey: the revelation of her heritage, or rather, the elimination of her heritage. The scene where she learns about her parents gives Daisy nothing to do but to stand there and react in horror. She doesn’t beat the information out of Kylo or engage in conversation with Luke, she doesn’t thumb through First Order archives or confess that she’s always known the truth but never wanted to believe it--Daisy Ridley just stands there and looks upset. She cries, and she struggles, and then she runs away again; she doesn’t even have a chance to wrestle with her future after that. There’s no scene of her in the Millennium Falcon, talking to Chewbacca about what this means for her now: if she has no falthier in this race, why should she risk her life? Should she return to Luke and resume her training, or rush to the planet to try and save her friends from impossible odds, and most likely die fighting for them? We don’t get to see her making a choice, or even to be challenged in such a way. Because ultimately, in this movie, Rey’s character is simply a camera: she goes to Ach-To to let the audience see why Luke exiled himself, she goes to Snoke so we can see Kylo Ren kill him and claim the throne of the First Order, and then she goes to Crait to give our heroes an escape route while Luke holds off the invading forces. This is no crime for a protagonist, but when we compare it to Rey’s journey from the first movie, it’s no wonder Daisy Ridley’s name comes up behind Adam Driver’s in the credits. 

Further consideration:

1. How many actions did Finn take in the first movie, and how many did he take in the second movie? How many reactions did Finn take in the first movie, and how many did he take in the second?

2. How many actions did Luke Skywalker take in The Empire Strikes Back? How many reactions did he have?

3. How many actions did Padme take in Attack of the Clones? How many reactions did she have?

4. How many actions did Kylo Ren take in The Last Jedi? How many reactions did he have?

[uterusclub]

The very moment we discovered Moulin Rouge was being made into a stage production, we KNEW we had to see it! Unfortunately, the debut occurred in Boston, which well, was expensive to fly to, but we were also, unsure of the ‘reviews’ for the show. It was decided, thereafter that whence it went to Broadway in NYC, we would make the trek. Thus, our adventure begins . . .

Our kick-off to NYC was not without it’s complications. My parents, fortunately, informed us that ‘work’ was being done on the blue line and therefore, offered a ride to an open station with which to catch the ‘el to the blue, then orange line (damn you Southwest for being so damn far). Rousing at 2:30 a.m. was fairly delirious due to Christmas Eve-ed sleep but we rallied as best we could and eventually arrived at Midway Airport with approximately 1/2 hour until boarding. It is at this point; we thanked the transportation Gods or rather, ourselves, for being pre-check TSA members as we quite literally waltzed through security in a matter of minutes. Booyah! Chicago to New York travel time is not terrible – approximately 2 hours. We amused ourselves by using the on-flight, Wi-Fi entertainment to watch Crazy Rich Asians, which was good enough to pass the time.

Off the plane and on our way to public transportation, I left all the work to Sharon who had watched a video about catching buses from the airport to travel into the city. First step, get a ticket to catch a bus to a connecting bus/train. Next – get on appropriate bus to take us to . . . oh wait – is this the correct bus? Yep, immediate confusion. Sharon’s phone kept re-routing which caused her ultimate reaction to be ‘let’s just go one more stop’ as we could see our pinpoint on a map begin to divert from our destination. Long story short, we got off in, who knows where, and caught an Uber already housing a very nice couple who bid us well in our travels once they departed.

We were dropped off at our first, essential stop – a gift and luggage store in Times Square to relieve ourselves of our burdensome baggage. Sketch-tastic to say the least but the concern grew less worrisome as we noticed a multitude of said shops along the streets of Times Square. Luggage-free, we headed to our first endeavor: Madame Tussauds Wax Museum! There was quite a line outside but surprisingly, it moved along quickly and we entered without a hitch (thanks Groupon). Naturally, we grabbed a bunch of awesome pictures – despite the fact that I was unfamiliar with a good portion of the figures we observed. It was delightful surprise to see a commemoration of Cats since we’d seen the production recently (refer to previous blog), however the best part of the entire exhibit was most definitely the Phantom of the Opera shtick where you could pretend you were singing as Christine and also stand/sit on a fake chandelier! Let me not forget the mirror maze as well which, at one point, I lost Sharon and careened into glass with my phone on several occasions.

Following our wax museum adventure, we walked next door to the conveniently situated Ripley’s exhibit (again, thanks Groupon). Now I’ve never, personally been a huge fan of these since I don’t care to reach much but I guess this is a Sharon nostalgia thing. In any case, it was pseudo interesting. We took a few pictures and Sharon disappointingly found a Zoltare machine that provided no physical fortune. There was a cool, trippy, tunnel in the middle of the exhibit, which was cool for a minute but nothing to write home about (irony). Towards the end of our walk through, it became pretty apparently that we were both STARVING. We had made reservations at a little French restaurant down the street; however, we were a bit early but proceeded there anyway.

Le Rivage was our first food stop for our trip! I did minimal research on this place but based on location, reviews, and the fact that they did a show pre-fix meal option, was pretty much sold. We were both pleasantly surprised that the restaurant appeared casual and ‘classic’ – if that makes sense. This place was definitely not ‘hopping’ and had a more ‘old-school’ feel to it that we both dig. Upon being seated at our table, I noticed a can-can picture in an adjoining seating area and made my way over there to grab some pictures. We pre-faced our meals with mimosas and indulged in a French Onion Soup Burger and Boeuf Bourguignon – both DELICIOUS! Swooning in culinary satisfaction, it was now time to get MORE physical uncomfortable. Up to this point, I have failed to mention our ingenious plan on packing our Moulin Rouge-designated outfits in our purses. A much-debated discussion, it made much more sense to dress sensibly for the plane ride and then change into said outfits right before the show – especially since mine involved a tulle skirt and corset! Post-meal, we both took turns walking downstairs to the restroom to change. I’m not sure how Sharon’s transition went but it was quite the production getting in a corset and tulle shirt in a tiny, bathroom stall. Once I excited the stall and begin adding my accessories at the sink, an older lady entered and quite literally gawked at me. She complimented me and just continued to stare before mentioning that she’d heard the producer of the movie Moulin Rouge raved that the stage production was ‘spectacular.’ Transition complete, I headed upstairs to rejoin Sharon and was met with silenced stares all around the dining room. Quite honestly, I did NOT think the outfit was THAT unusual. It probably didn’t help that I was filming the entire area for the duration of the stare-down. Almost felt like I should have choreographed something as part of my exit! Next time.

Get-ups secured, we were now set and ready for Moulin Rouge situated just about a block or two down the street. It was about an hour til show time but upon arriving at the Al Hirschfield Theatre, there was already a line down the block. For the next 40ish minutes, we stood in line with beaming hot sun and bellowing scalpers antagonizing our wills to live. At one point, I peered into the restaurant we stood outside of and saw a girl conveniently dressed in what I’d consider Moulin Rouge attire. She would eventually be seated nearby us like some groupie conspiracy. Once inside the theatre, complete chaos ensued. Sharon immediately went to grab some very expensive sippy-cupped drinks while I perused the gift-shop area – convinced I would pay anything for something Moulin Rouge-inspired. But a $100 hoodie was not in my budget. So I opted for a magnet. When we finally entered the seating area, our minds and eyes were BLOWN! The stage was BEYOND gorgeous! I was most impressed and grateful that everyone was allowed to take as much video and pictures as they liked – although that eventually became annoying when we attempted to take a selfie with no one in the background (impossible)! We received MANY compliments on our outfits and ended up sitting towards some like-minded Moulin Rouge fans who raved about it being their favorite movie. As the minutes neared show time, performers began slowly slinking about the stage in scantily clad outfits – staring Legolasy at the audience.

Once the show was underway, it was magic – but with some drawbacks. Sharon and I would later have a full-blown, extended conversation about the show but to summarize our feelings on it, it could have been better or perhaps, different. As purists, we honestly just wanted a replication of the movie on stage. This, was not as such. The main story line was there, sure, but the adaptation felt a bit forced – almost TOO much freedom was taken with it, I fear. To be more specific and assuming you’re familiar with the movie, the original does throw-backs to a few contemporary songs. This show took that concept and multiplied it by a thousand ie there were a lot MORE snippets of a lot more RECENT songs which, again, I feel lost any sense of integrity. Every time a throw-back clip was initiated, audience members laughed in recognition, which to me, makes a mockery of the movie. Sharon internally lost her shit when Satine began singing Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ and I couldn’t agree more. I wont knock it and say there weren’t SOME good additions – for instance, Christian singing Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ but all in all, it didn’t work for either of us and I’m fairly sure we were the only ones in the theatre feeling that way.

With a slightest defeatist attitude, we made our way back to the gift and luggage store to re-burden ourselves with our belongings. It was at this point, Sharon realized one of the wheels on her luggage bag was defective and not moving. Scraping her back down the street, she ultimately began carrying her entire case in her arms like a massive, dumb baby. While we were, fortunately, not going too far, the walk, still in our uncomfortable outsides, felt long. We eventually arrived at our next stop: Bibble & Sip which is an ADORABLE coffee/tea/pastry shop that is Alpaca themed! With the combination of luggage frustration and scrunchiness, Sharon remained in the distance while I got in line to grab some goods to go. I opted for a Good Luck Hazelnut Alpaca dessert and Black and White Mouse cake which were, oh my god, AMAZING!!

Our desserts weren’t consumed until we arrived at our Airbnb which again, was trekked to under blistering heat, faulty luggage and air-constricting clothing. But we made it! Sharon had found this joint situated at 50th and 3rd Avenue in East Manhattan. The ‘renter’ was a Japanese man who, based off of the amount of signage and locks on things, appeared to be a bit OCD but it tolerable. We had a bed and couch, ability to access a/c and well, minimal tv capabilities. All in all, not a bad set-up and for the price and location, no complaints! After arriving, we changed and ‘regrouped’ for a minute before deciding NOT to venture out for a late-night, rooftop silent-disco we had acquired tickets for. Instead, we decided to slum it for the remainder of the evening – and by ‘slumming,’ I mean grabbing drinks and getting some dinner.

During the course of our very, extensive research, one of us had come across a place called Ophelia Lounge that was conveniently located a few blocks from our Airbnb. We headed there for a celebratory, evening drink and were very impressed with the elevated view, delicious cocktails and unpretentious hospitality! We had only wished it had been later in the evening for an even more spectacular, night view. Following our drinks, we attempted to pre-order our food for pick-up but the restaurant we called was busy so we walked over to Hide-Chan for ramen that I’d read wonderful things about. The restaurant was confusingly situated next to another Asian restaurant that we accidentally venture into first. We then headed next door to the ascending stairway at which time, the hostess informed us they didn’t do ‘take away’ requests. Huh. Odd. We then asked if the adjoining restaurant was there was well but couldn’t exactly make out the response but upon going next door, the men was most definitely, NOT ramen. We then decided it was in our best interest to hike back UP the stairs and just eat there and I’m very glad we did. This was the first time I’d ever seen/ordered garlic butter edameme and it was AMAZING! This was also the first time I’d been asked about the firmness level and shape of my noodles. In any case, food was STELLAR. My only complaint would be the SUPER boisterous, young Asian men seated next to us who were having the time of their LIVES! Ramen in bellies, we headed home and passed the eff out. Day one = complete!

The next morning, we roused fairly early with plans of walking to Central Park, which was about 30 minutes away. After heading out, we grabbed coffee at a Dunkin Donuts and made our away to Central Park Zoo to see their red pandas and penguin feeding. The zoo, while quaint, was comfortable and their employees, very helpful. While in line for our tickets, Sharon inquired if there were any bats and were told yes! Making our rounds once inside, we up the bats first which was nothing short of a glassed, dark room with flittering figures. At one point, I asked Sharon to use her phone flashlight to see if the bats were hanging on the ceiling and sure enough, they were! Walking clock-wise, we hit up the red pandas next but sadly, saw nothing. We continued on our way to came across the seals that were super adorable and rambunctious. We then circled back to the red pandas and were pointed out one, hidden and barely moving, shrouded in foliage. Our last stop off was the children’s petting zoo, which contained guess what – an Alpaca – and some sheep’s that were cool. Sharon was offended the Alpaca walked away from her after supplying some food.

After our fill of animals, we now headed through Central Park in order to see Belvedere Castle. On the way, Sharon bought a hot dog from a vendor who attempted to up-charge her. She was offended with both the hot dog and the altercation. Once we reached the castle, we were both pretty underwhelmed. The joint was swarming with people and it was a clusterfuck attempting to ascend the narrow, winding staircase to get to the view-top. Continuing on our way through the park, we were now headed towards Astro West Fine Minerals, Fossils and Meteorites shop, however finding an exit out of the park became problematic. We kept walking, soaked in our own, hot juices, for what felt like forever. On several occasions I suggested scaling the walls in order to reach actual ‘street.’ And of course, once we asked where an exit was, it was a few feet ahead of us.

Making our way to the streets, we eventually found Astro West Fine Minerals, Fossils and Meteorites, which, our sole purpose was to split a geode for a souvenir. I had called the shop a few days prior to inquire if they had an ‘abundant’ available since I’d read complaints about them being out of stock. When we arrived, there were maybe 15 available – all ugly blobs situated inside a marked barrel. I selected one based off solely based on its symmetry and we watched the machine in action that was really just a glorified saw. Once split, the attendant showed us the inside which he described as a ‘light blue.’ I’d describe it as a bunch of bullshit, personally. Definitely NOT worth $25. But I guess you win some, you lose some.

Next on the agenda was Grand Central Station. Arriving in style via Uber, we immediately made our way upstairs to the Campbell Bar, which is allegedly haunted. Our bartender was pretty awesome and gave us some free shots. The decor was outstanding. To keep on schedule, we then headed back downstairs to find the Jacque Torres Chocolate shop on ground level. On our way, I caught an amazing ceiling in my peripheral view and followed it to an outstanding, horoscopial view! We then continued on our original journey, found the chocolate shop and nibbled on some free samples before grabbing another Uber for our next venture!

Remember Stomp? Yes, I know, it’s definitely been a minute. I haven’t thought or heard of it in a very long time but it is most definitely alive and kicking! I should know. We bought tickets. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect with this show – not that I wasn’t familiar with the basis for the show – but the longevity of its existence made me a bit leery. When we arrived, we were told no photos or videos were allowed. Ok, fine. We took our seats at the far, back end of the theatre but were eventually upgraded for ‘good behavior’ to the second row! Once the show began, I was in COMPLETE awe. I think that a good portion of the show, I was imagining myself a part of it – like, I actually started considering trying to audition for it! I was blown away by the talent and attitudes of all the performers. Everyone appeared to be having such a good time with each other but also as solo performers. Talk about an inspiration! Next time you’re in NYC, definitely make a point to see the show!

Just around the corner from Stomp was our highly anticipated dinner reservation at Beetle House! Which reminds me, I dressed for the occasion – ie I bought and wore green, light-up suspenders for a good portion of the day. In any case, we were far too early upon arrival and as such, loitered outside the restaurant a bit. Eventually we were let in and seated. The restaurant was cool, yes, but very tiny and a bit understated for what I had anticipated. We had both seen video clips promoted the restaurant that entailed costumed performers. We saw none of this, which sure, it was still relatively ‘early’ but nonetheless, the emo-inspired work staff didn’t really convey much of a Burton feel to me. Our meal option was a pre-fix appetizer and main course that we were both pretty underwhelmed with. We did order some cocktails, which apparently all come with dry ice for major points for smokey drinks! All in all, disappointed. I’d go back – but only for the drinks.

Following our dissatisfied meal, we then took a transit-commute from hell in hopes of reaching Brooklyn. After being given opposing directions from pedestrians and Sharon’s wonky, ever-changing GPS assistance, we eventually ended up at a witch store and then eventually at Urban Jungle  – a thrift store. Again, unimpressed with this underwhelming Ragstock wanna-be, we continued onto Brooklyn Cider House. This place, well, seemingly pleasant, left us wanting in terms of customer service AND cider. Our waiter was less than helpful with recommendations and most of the drink options appeared to be ‘dry.’ As our spirits continued to dwindle, we then headed to the bookend for the evening – Theatre XIV for burlesque! And if you haven’t yet caught the trend, we were again, far too early to be admitted so we walked down the street to a bar called the Johnson for some $6 ‘Painkillers’ ie. frozen, pina colorado concoction. Four drinks later and claw-machine defeated, we were buzzed back to a state of satisfaction. Making our way back to the theatre, we entered and marveled at the Fifty Shaded Wonderland surrounding us.

Adorned to the nines, this show, Queen of Hearts, was eccentric, to say the least! I have NEVER seen such a mind-boggling burlesque show in my LIFE! There were obvious, classically trained dancers involved, not to mention, MANY male performers. Dancing, singing, hooping – there was no end to the extravagances our eyes beheld. Speaking of, we spent a good portion of the show staring at the couple seated in front of us which entailed a very uncomfortably, molesty dude who we could only assume, was sloppy rich. We discussed trying to corner his companion in the bathroom to find out what the deal was but we were both far too lazy. Sharon bought me an expensive, gingery cocktail that was god-awful. We followed up the rest of the night’s consumption with canned ciders from which we both got pretty blitzed! While we awaited our Uber, we saw the aforementioned creepoid with his girl being photographed by police officers. We can only begin to wonder whatever came of them but I’d be very confident picking him out of a lineup. For the duration of our Uber ride home and still beaming from booze, we spent the entire ride arguing over the virtual trivia game situated in the backseat area. Sharon doesn’t recall giving me bad/wrong answers and/or giving me crap for being incorrect but it was boisterous and most likely, very annoying, fun.

Ah, good o’ hungover Monday. Yikes! With a slightly rough-start to the morning, we took our time getting ride in order to avoid the hectic, rush-hour commuter traffic. After pre-GPSing our route, we successfully public transited to Supermoon Bakehouse for some blueberry and Pomegranate croissants! Sharon was mind-blown by this place – simply based on not only the aesthetic peel of their goods but also, the deliciousness! High recommendations for this joint – although, I’d suggest taking your food items to go since the tables and chairs were that of children.

Continuing our route, we now headed towards what would appear to be Chinatown for a confusing stop-off at a gorgeous, Jewish Temple museum called Eldridge Street. I’d literally come across this place during research and noted that Mondays were their pay-what-you-can. Being non-religious and certainly non-Jewish, my interest was all about the glorified ambience and were were NOT disappointed. There was a calm, safe, feel to the temple. Definitely one of the more beautiful things I’d high recommend when visiting NYC.

Next on the roster? Catacombs! Oh but wait, this isn’t what it sounds like, unfortunately. The description was giving us Catacombs by Candlelight, which we both assumed, would somehow involve ghosts. This was not as such. We were met with quasi-interesting, New York history involving politicians and rich families that were memorialized in the underground passageways. The highlight of the tour was the Australian couple we spoke with briefly about koalas – duh. I’m sure under different circumstances (not tired, hung-over, bored, hot, wanting ghost stories), one would find this tour highly interesting (my mother) but ‘twas not as such. The tour even ran a bit over-time so we bounced early to catch an Uber to our lunch at Thai Villa.

I researched this restaurant and loved it solely based on its gorgeousness. Unfortunately, we caught this place during the boisterous, lunch rush and weren’t entirely able to enjoy any sense of calm. We could barely speak due to the deafening sound – including the pretentious, vapid couple next to us. I did not enjoy my pai thai but was also suffering from post-laxative discomfort, to be fair. We ate as quickly as possible and headed out towards the next item of our agenda: Rose Wine Mansion.

Once again, with reservations at 2pm and us far too early, we killed a minute or two buying an I Love New York, pink onesie for Bear (yeah, yeah, he loves it) from a souvenir shop before standing restlessly in line for admittance.

When we were finally hustled in, accompanied by an ear-drum throbbing, security alarm, we took an elevator to the entrance of the exhibit. As we were basically the first people in ‘line,’ we got first dibs on every single room. We also didn’t care too much about the ‘interactive elements’ of most rooms, which killed a lot of time. We pressed on fairly quickly as we are want to do, indulging in our favorite, Cleopatra-endorsed red wine, Banfi Rosa Regale. Case in point, we drank some last night (8/2/2019) as you can buy it at Binny’s (SO good)! Other than that and taking a bunch of free photo-booth pictures post-exhibit, it was a quick in and out for us.

Making our way down the street, we stopped off at the free Houdini Museum situated, strangely, inside a high-rise building. The ‘museum’ was quite small, though we were told it was the second largest in the world. We took a once-around stroll while some magic nerds exchanged card tricks in the center of the room. Disinterest in tact, we caught another Uber with a delightful, Asian man who almost got pulled over for running a light but played off his foreignness to get out of it and eventually showed me his uncompleted dragon tattoo. He dropped us off near Enchantments – an occult store we’ve previously ordered, personalized candles. The store was awesome – cute, black kitties sleeping and hilarious, witchy employees who seems very down to earth. We requested personalized, carved candles and hung out for the duration of their creation. Once obtained, we headed over to one of the many bars on our roster for the afternoon: Mother of Pearl. Hawaiian-themed, this joint, wasn’t, again, open when we arrived so we pre-drank at a hookah lounge down the street. Once we re-attempted Mother of Pearl, was ordered their well-known ‘Shark attack’ drinks which I found unimpressive. I also can’t recall what type of alcohol they entailed but definitely, not my jam. Our bartender though, was pretty awesome.

The evening continued with an Uber back to where we had been for the Rose Mansion for two more bars: The Magic House Rooftop Bar & Lounge and The Fleur Room. Now the Magic House Rooftop Bar & Lounge sounded and looked very impressed from the videos I’d watched. There’s rotating carousal seats, mini-golf and an awesome view. But in all reality, the in-person was not up to snuff. All the carousal seats were ‘reserved,’ the ‘mini golf’ consisted of maybe four rounds revolving around sexified animal statues and the drinks were, well, at least mine, expensive and just terrible. Waste of time and money – not to mention all the effort to actually get UP to the joint! Security is completely elaborate and unnecessary – I felt like the goddamn FBI was running the entire thing! Not a fan. Next up – The Fleur Room. To be fair, we were both kind of at our wit’s end at this point in time. Once we made our way up to the bar, again, beautiful, poshy views and the decor was GORGEOUS but after looking at the drink menu, I just couldn’t do it. I was super over the expensive, elaborate drinks that sounded and inevitably, tasted like garbage. Maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to get the appear or maybe these places are just trying too hard. Either way, we refused to spend more money on drinks we’d end up hating and just took our necessary pictures and videos to supply to ya’ll.

As our final stop-off and NOT on our original agenda (we cut a bunch of stuff), Sharon researched a pizza joint nearby our Airbnb for an easy, chill dinner at the home front. She came across Patsy’s Pizzeria. I called in a large, garlic and cheese pizza for pick-up during which time; a lovely Jamaican woman named Diana who complimented my tattoos and pants accosted me. This woman kept on talking about her brother being a dance choreographer and professional in Milwaukee and eventually tried to network us. I gave minimal interesting and effort in the exchange on account of exhaustion and hunger. Eventually, pizza was on hand and we made it back home to consume said pizza that was actually pretty decent.

Our final day in NYC was quite a doozy. We woke up fairly early and again, killed time to avoid the rush hour, commute traffic. Luggage in tow, we caught some pre-GPS-ed public transit to NYC’s Magic Jewelry to get aura photographs. After once again, standing in line, waiting for the place to open, a little crowd began to form behind us. Eventually, one snap and a brief explanation later, we were done! Side note: Sharon is now obsessed with purchasing the equipment to start her own business. We then walked over to the nearby Ghostbusters Fire Station that became a clusterfuck due to the gapping tour crowd and the fact that the firehouse is ACTIVE. We stood and waited for a truck to pull into it before snapping a few pictures and heading immediately away.

After once again, catching pre-GPS-ed public transit, we now headed towards of lunch-stop: Cafe Colette. This place got awesome reviews and also had beautiful pictures of the inside. When we arrived, the staff obligingly took our luggage from us for storage. I was once again, underwhelmed by the atmosphere, however, the food was definitely on point! Sharon apparently ate some orgasmic chicken sandwich while I consumed some delicious, fish tacos. We were both quite satisfied. Trudging along with our luggage we continued on our way to the Williamsburg Hotel for their Hightea Teapot cocktails we’d seen advertised videos for. When we arrived at the bar, our bartender, Angelo, advised that it was not available during weekdays. After a polite plea by Sharon, he agreed to make us a cocktail anyway which we shared and was MOST delicious! With time to kill and dessert on my brain, I suggested we find a place for dessert. Sharon quickly googled a nearby French pastry shop by the name of Caprices by Sophie. We shared a delightful, chocolate éclair before ultimately deciding that we should forgo any additional, scheduled plans and head straight to the airport.

One very long Uber ride later, we were at LaGuardia several hours early for our flight. Once we again, fast-tracked through security via Pre-check TSA and began to get settled, Sharon noticed our flight had been canceled! And queue confusion and anxiety. Never have I had this happen to me before. As we had already checked into our flight, I was unable to attempt a reschedule on my phone. We ended up lining up at the Southwest desk in order to speak with an attendant. Throughout the chaos, we realized there was an earlier flight boarding for Chicago. With attempts and determining if the flight was booked, Sharon called Southwest and was told, they could not advise as such. We were, safe-net, booked into a later flight that would eventually connect in St. Louis with an arrival in Chicago at midnight; however, we were still hoping to hope on this flight about to leave. Eventually, amidst the chaos and confusion and annoying and anxiety, we were allowed onto the earlier flight home which, with it’s own delays; brought us home at approximately the same time we were originally scheduled to arrival. The hellish commute involved sitting on the runway for takeoff for god knows how long and my discomfort with a very antsy, obnoxious, Alabamian seated next to me. Despite the very, very long commute, the dadness grabbed us at the Montrose blue-line, accompanied with Bear whose distress meowing ironically comforted me. When we reached our wonderful, sweet, home, we showered to rid ourselves of the New York stink, downed some food and barely absorbed some background television.

It’s crazy to think about how fast-paced Chicago is and yet, New York feels even faster! Or perhaps it’s the abundance of things and people and the distance between places that makes it feel so much more arduous. It could also have to do with our inclinations of packing in as much funness as possible into every single trip. Regardless, Chicago was most definitely missed. We were a part of you, New York, New York, but you can keep your hot, street garbage.

Where the Streets Have Hot Garbage The very moment we discovered Moulin Rouge was being made into a stage production, we KNEW we had to see it!