#bringing it from a 5 star down to a 4.5 i fear

[gladiatorcunt]

taking a break from persona bc the kaneshiro arc/makoto is just not it….

[mediaevalmusereads]

The House in the Cerulean Sea. By TJ Klune. Tor, 2020.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: fantasy, lgbtqia

Part of a Series? No

Summary: Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

***Full review below.***

Content Warnings: references to suicide and child abuse, dark humor, prejudice

Overview: This book was recommended to me by a friend, and since I was in the mood for a found family story, I picked it up. What started out as a light-hearted, almost whimsical tale about a bunch of magical children quickly became a touching story about acceptance and love. While I don't think there's anything new about the plot itself (I've read a lot of stories about magical kids at boarding schools or orphanages), the characters are so endearing that it was difficult to put this book down. So, because of the characters, the whimsical prose, and the heartfelt message about acceptance, this book gets 4.5 stars from me.

Writing: Klune's prose style is infused with whimsy in that it's playful and simple without feeling underdeveloped. The author uses humorous names such as Extremely Upper Management while having characters utter phrases such as "oh dear" and "oh bother," which lightens the tone overall. This lightened tone meant that nothing felt particularly threatening, yet Klune still invites readers to become invested in the plot and the characters' well-being and creates stakes that are not rooted in life or death situations. This makes the book perfect for those wishing to avoid more grimdark tales where death is around every corner.

Plot: The plot of this book follows Linus Baker, a 40-something year old caseworker whose job involves investigating orphanages that house magical children. Linus is selected to investigate a top secret orphanage - one led by a mysterious guardian named Arthur Parnassus - in order to determine whether or not the children are being properly cared for. Upon his arrival, Linus quickly discovers that these children are unlike any others he has known, and his by-the-book worldview is quickly challenged when he suspects Arthur of hiding a dangerous secret.

I very much enjoyed that this plot was about found family and forming bonds in the face of prejudice. Magical children in this world act as a stand-in for oppressed minorities; they are tracked by the government and are treated more or less like second class citizens, to the point where many of them endure verbal and physical assaults. While nothing too graphic happens on page, Klune doesn't necessarily censor the struggles the children face - there are references to child abuse and government oppression, and some of the children are treated as monsters rather than individuals. It's easy to see this book as a commentary on modern-day prejudices against POC and lgbt+ people, though the message against discrimination itself is not particularly revolutionary or complex. Still, it was nice to read about, and the messages about love and acceptance were more frequent and vastly outweighed the "don't be prejudiced" message.

Characters: There are quite a few characters in this book, so I'll group some of them together in order to make this review an appropriate length.

Linus, our main protagonist, was easy to like because he had a clear arc and a big heart. Linus has lived his entire life bound by rules and regulations, but after 17 years at his job, he is more alone than ever. The children at the orphanage challenge his regimented life and quickly show him his value, and I loved watching Linus find his self-confidence, accept that rules are imperfect, and make real human (or whatever) connections.

The children were likewise very endearing. Many of them had a dark sense of humor but were simultaneously scared of things like spiders and snakes, and the juxtaposition make them feel like complex beings. I also loved that all of the children had individual interests but could come together to enjoy a meal or go on an adventure together. It made them feel like their own characters while also being part of a group.

Zoe, their sprite caretaker, was fun in that she was fiercely protective and unafraid to speak her mind. I loved that she pushed and challenged Linus without crossing any lines, and I loved her devotion to both the children and Arthur, their guardian.

Speaking of Arthur, he was also easy to like because of his gentleness and care. Arthur is particularly good at advocating for the children and makes a point of teaching them to accept themselves for who they are. My only criticism is that I think Klune could have done more to develop the relationship between Arthur and Linus; as it stands, I feel like we're told that the two have feelings for one another, but I think more could have been done to show how those feelings tip from mutual respect to romantic.

TL;DR: The House in the Cerulean Sea is a delightful, heart-warming, found family story that puts acceptance at the center of its narrative. While I do think some things could have been tweaked and the overall message could have been more complex, this is a light, optimistic novel that is sure to delight lovers of queer fantasy.

[manicdragondreamgirl]

I haven’t had chemistry since like 2008, and I’m also an idiot who likes to make my friends upset, so I rated the periodic table in order to tilt my friends:

Hydrogen - this is like your childhood friend who has always been with you more or less and always will be down to get a drink and chill even tho you haven’t spoken in years. Solid bro imo 7.5/10

Helium - always down for a good time, even if probably created Alvin and the Chipmunks which in some places is considered a war crime. 4/10

Lithium - Gives me bitchy vibes and is flammable as fuck if I remember. Skinny bitch with an attitude 3/10

Beryllium - idk this sounds like a sailor moon villain lol for that it can have a 6/10

Boron - more like BORONG amirite ha ha wait no seriously I have no idea lol 5/10 clean neutral rating

Carbon - *screaming* 2/10 I will not be taking questions

Nitrogen - cool cool cool tight tight tight 9/10 Nitrogen just is the cool hot chick you wish you were

Oxygen - kid who takes up all the glory for the group project even tho you did all the work, 4/10 for natural charisma

Fluorine - lol what are you knockoff chlorine lmfao bitch 3/10 reminds me of the dentist

Neon - I can vibe with this boy for his contributions to signs which cause my eyes to scream 8/10 modernized Art Deco thanks you

Sodium - 10/10 this is me and I won’t be taking questions next element

Magnesium - magnesium is a close relative of magnificent and therefore I think the case is closed folks 9/10

Aluminum - 10/10 for providing a home to my Diet Coke addiction I’d be dead without you

Silicon - 6.9/10 :smirk:

Phosphorous - This has a very soundly name and it’s welcome to do that but idk, not a fan, seems like he’d be smelly, 2/10

Sulfur - 1/10 pretty sure that dog farts are purely comprised of this and as such if I was leaving negative ratings I would

Chlorine - 7.8/10 for being in pools so we could swim without brain eating amoeba in the south you a champ

Argon - he seems like a nerd jk this guy has a good color 9/10 for just being himself

Potassium - I hate bananas and this word gives me the physical sensation of biting into one but only by thinking of abstract letters and making them into something which we can nutrientise from bananas and to me that shit is bananas, b a n a n a s — 3/10 for making me sing hollaback girl thru adhd word association

Calcium - hm my brain went to mega milk so you get a 2/10 today bud I don’t make the rules

Scandium - pretty sure this is fake lol what’s next faxdium, e-Mailite and copinium? 5/10

Titanium - this song’s a banger and also is the only thing that lets me wear earrings 10/10

Vanadium - if your erection lasts for longer than like idk it’s supposed to then don’t take vanadium wait what do you mean it’s not an ED treatment 4/10

Chromium - decent bloke shame the browser eats all your memory 5/10

Manganese - if a weeb tries to tell me how to pronounce mayonnaise one more time... 1/10

Iron - excellent tool against the fey, in your blood, what a bro, 10/10 this bitch slaps

Cobalt - has a powerful energy; I respect him. 8/10

Nickel - if I had a nickel for every time someone made this joke lol 5/10 he’s doing his best

Copper - taste bad 3/10

Zinc - isn’t that the dude in the green tunic and white tights who saves premcess Lelda or something lol 7/10 those games are good

Gallium - seems like a prick 4/10

Germanium - sounds like a child pronouncing geraniums which are superior 3/10

Arsenic - bad vibes coach 1/10

Selenium - isn’t this just sailor moon lol 10/10 love this bitch

Bromine - farmine wherever you aremine - 9/10 I love a good bro

Krypton - he’s okay I guess 5/10

Rubidium - yet another Steven universe villain who will be redeemed I imagine 4/10 seems a bit dull

Strontium - I feel nothing when I see this lad’s name and that seems like a shame 1/10 I don’t like it

Yttrium - this is an atrium in Yharnam, or something 8/10 would love to sit in one and make contact with higher beings

Zirconium - oh wait THIS is the sailor moon villain from the dead moon circus! 9/10 I enjoyed that arc

Niobium - seems sassy, I like that in an element 7/10

Molybdenum - I hate this one, rancid. 1/10 for making me have flashbacks to difficult Ancient Greek vocabulary there is no fucking way that sound combination is anything but Beta and Delta borking and then Latin being like oh imma steal that

Technetium - 6/10 decent name but seems a bit forced

Ruthenium - 5/10 kindly old lady element I guess lol

Rhodium - 10/10 this ain’t my first rhodium babee this lad has good vibes what a name what a king

Palladium - 10/10 for making me think of paladins

Silver - 12/10 I’m breaking the rules for this silver is the best it is so cool and also it is the other best tool for dealing with supernatural creatures when iron has failed you highly suggest Even if I am extremely allergic to it going into my ears...wait hold on

Cadmium - 2/10 sounds like a total douche

Indium - 8/10, i just think it’s independent and neat

Tin - 10/10 good ear sounds when involving rain and roof shapes and automatically reminds me of Nora Jones’s come away with me album which is also 10/10

Antimony - 7/10 decent protagonist good name all around seems rad

Tellurium - tell ur mom what? That’s so early 2010s league of legends humor bro 2.5/10

Iodine - strikes fear in my soul from having it poured on my wounds but this is why I have more pain tolerance than god 5.3/10

Xenon - I think this is a declension of Xena warrior princess which is a win in my eyes, 8/10

Caesium - kind of has a cunty Latin name, 4.5/10

Barium - yeah boss, bury’im! 7.5/10 I love a good mobster gag

Lanthanum - A bit pretentious on the Tolkien spectrum sorry bud 3/10 sounds like you’d be the dickwad elf everyone hates

Cerium - 6.5/10 I like this one, gives me a clean vibe

Praseodymium - the fuck who sneezed all their alphabet soup onto the paperwork and called it an element Christ we can’t keep doing this 1.5/10

Neodymium - oh my god what did I just say 1/10

Promethium - thank Christ we’re back to greek 9/10 Prometheus was a Chad I could get behind

Samarium - 5/10 gives me boring wizard vibes

Europium - 4.5/10 don’t rename opium chrissake can’t take these nerds anywhere

Gadolinium - 5/10 it’s a starship knockoff but it’s trying to be bold with the G sound

Terbium - 2/10 I don’t vibe with this one

Dysprosium - sounds like an antidepressant that has a lot of shitty side effects 3/10

Holmium - sounds like someone anxious asking their beloved to hold them 8/10 I like hurt/comfort fics

Erbium - you can’t just describe something as herby you daft bastard 2/10

Thulium - sounds like a spell I like it 8.5/10

Ytterbium - macguffin in a shite sci-fi show that gets highly overrated because BBC produced it and superwholock stans emerge and go utterly feral 1/10

Lutetium - bards are an element I agree 10/10

Hafnium - sounds like a river (my dog) sound and has a cute vibe, I’d offer it head pats 7/10

Tantalum - noooo you can’t be sad yuor so sexe haha 6.9/10 tantalizing

Tungsten - 10/10 this is a lad with history

Rhenium - 5.5/10 it’s ok

Osmium - 4/10 I wasn’t a big wizard of oz fan

Iridium - 9/10 sounds like iridescent and that’s in my top 10 favorite words and concepts

Platinum - 10/10 best Pokémon game

Gold - 7.9/10 all that glitters and all but it’s still pretty on some people, silver is better tho

Mercury - yikes 8/10 so it doesn’t kill me

Thallium - sounds like the brother character in a ps4 exclusive western rpg that oddly falls under the radar in terms of reviews and gets shafted at awards for no reason 7/10 I’ll support you tho

Lead - 2/10 that’s gonna be a no from me dawg pretty sure I still have lead in my hands from stabbing myself with my mechanical pencils

Bismuth - 6/10 sounds good in mouth and reminds me of biscuits for some reason, I’ll take it

Polonium - to thine own self be true so stop trying to act like the arts don’t influence science jk pretty sure this is named for Poland but hey that’s where we get the Witcher so you get a pass 6/10

Astatine - 1/10 I don’t even know what you are

Radon - 7/10 this motherfucker knows his shit and how to party, rad is right

Francium - I bring you francium...and I bring you myrdurdium... 7/10 for a good vine

Radium - killed the video star probably 9/10 I can get behind her

Actinium - as opposed to passtinium I prefer actinium in the voice of writing 8/10

Thorium - overrated Norse god 5/10 because lightning is still cool

Protactinum - sounds like some pretentious condom brand 4/10 wouldn’t do it with a dude who bought these

Uranium - I always thought she was a hot sailor scout 10/10

Neptunium - same for her I knew they weren’t cousins you couldn’t lie to me 4kids 10/10

Plutonium - sounds like a macguffin unfortunately 5/10

Americium - I read this with a pivotal letter missing and nearly died, 7/10 for the laugh

Curium - 10/10 gives me Curie vibes and also reminds me of curiosity which reminds me of—[old yellered before the association could set in]

Berkelium - what I shout when I want Burke (fam dog) to slaughter innocents and raze territories 2/10 world was not meant to know his commands

Californium - 1/10 California is cool with geography but probs could stand to chill with the ego sorry to my friends in Cali

Einsteinium - 6/10 it’s alright but we’re really running out of ideas huh

Fermium - 3/10 this one is porny

Mendelevium - 1/10 my brain didn’t like parsing this and I stand by my earlier statement of running out of good names

Nobelium - 0/10 you didn’t name any noble gases this cowards this gas can’t be a noble oh wait it’s NOBEL I take it back 5/10 seems an alright chap

Lawrencium - fear the old blood my sorry dead hunter’s ass I’ll never get back my life from the hours I spent trying to beat this lava shitting bastard 2/10 for being a boss who eats Taco Bell specifically before being challenged to have fresh lava shit with which to punish you for having the audacity to exist in his space

Rutherfordium - my god what a snob 4.2/10 I respect him a little but only because he sounds like a right lad

Dubnium - DROP THE BASS 10/10

Seoborgium - not sure about this one but it can have a 7/10

Bohrium - as an American English speaker this sound combination makes my pathetic throat become a black hole as I try to properly create the sound of it 10/10 I love when my body becomes a massive void in the universe

Hassium - lazy 2/10

Elements 109-118 can go fuck themselves I hate them all, collective 6.66/10 for their general demonic vibe

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Nonfiction, True Crime 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary:

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case. "You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark." For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." McNamara pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by McNamara's lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.

*Opinions*

As always with all nonfiction books, it is difficult for me to rate them due to the fact that I am not an expert on the material being presented. That being said, as I have become more and more interested in true crime, I’ve heard a number of podcast episodes about the Golden State Killer and gotten familiar with the general nightmare-inducing facts of the case. However, as most of those podcasts are either drawn from the same information or from Michelle McNamara’s work itself, it is impossible to tease it all apart. All that, on top of the fact that McNamara didn’t even get to finish the novel and therefore there are a number of different voices that are mingling with hers as well as unpolished text from McNamara herself, makes it impossibly to really be able to rate this novel in any critical sense. I feel torn because if McNamara had finished the novel it would be a 5-star read without even a thought and I don’t want to judge it harshly because of unfortunate circumstances, but this is far from a perfect book.   While I enjoy true-crime podcasts, reading about true crime is a bit of hit or miss for me. If the author does not provide the information as a story but just a list of facts then I find it very boring. I am also finding that I am more connected, interested, and invested in a story when there is a focus on the victims and the people surrounding the crimes and not just whatever killer the book is about. There has been a conversation in a long time about how those covering crimes that they need to stop glorifying the killer as there have been criminals who state that they do these horrendous things just to get their names in the news and to live in infamy instead of focusing on the victims and their families. Yet as someone who has multiple mental health-related degrees, why serial killers become serial killers is interesting to me and most people want to find some common trait or thread to protect them from becoming a victim themselves McNamara walks the line between telling the victims stories without being voyeuristic to their trauma and speculating about who the Golden State Killer is without glorifying him. Never is he called a genius because that is the only way he could outsmart the police, but instead points out the lack of technology and the stubbornness to cooperate along with possibly a job that provided him skills and access to his victims that made it so the Golden State Killer hadn’t been caught at the time of writing the book. You care about the people who were terrorized and lost their lives because McNamara focuses on who they are as people, not because of the way they were attacked and killed. You can tell that McNamara wasn’t just obsessed with who the Golden State Killer is, but also cared about these people she had read about in police reports or spoke with find some closure. Reading this knowing that McNamara passed away not only before her book was published, but also before the Golden State Killer was caught gave an air of sadness to this novel. I know this was probably just my knowledge of the event surrounding the novel and events, but I almost felt that McNamara was slightly sad as well when compiling all these cases and all the destruction that had been left in one individual’s wake. She was also aware that she was missing parts of her personal life due to this obsession, which makes it all the sadder knowing how little time she had left while talking about forgetting anniversaries and hating movie premieres. That being said, the overall mood is frustration and determination that someone, somewhere would get this guy and she was right. When I read the notes compiled by others who finished the book I felt a little well when some of her notes were going down the ancestry DNA route, knowing that ultimately that is what helped them find him. I know that the individuals who wrote the last sections of the novel, Billy Jensen and Paul Haynes knew that they couldn’t write like McNamara, they said so themselves, still that last section was so disjointed that I found myself losing a lot of interest in the last 40 pages. That’s possible because I knew how the story ended, even though they didn’t while compiling the last part of McNamara’s research so it was just sad seeing all these things that she never got to finish than wondering if one of these pieces of information would have lead to catching a killer. Overall, this is a compelling and chilling story about one man making an entire state fear the dark for a decade. McNamara’s writing is real and emotional and likes having a conversation with a friend of coffee as she tells you about this thing she’s obsessed with. While I did not find the end of the book interesting, I think it is a 4.5 star read, which I will round up to five. It’s sad to think how many other people McNamara could have researched in an attempt to bring them into the light if she hadn’t passed away.

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG Watchthrough Episodes 17-20.

Home Soil: So from what I’ve read, this would be Gene Roddenberry’s final episode as showrunner before getting replaced by writer Maurice Hurly. I won’t comment on the behind the scenes drama and such that caused it because it was decades ago and not relevant for a First Watchthrough post, but since this is the last I wanted to make note of it. My thoughts? It was okay. This is very much borrowing from the TOS episode Devil in the Dark (the one with the Horta) with the plot being of an alien presence killing humans... but only because the humans were unknowingly causing it harm. It’s done fine enough, not being any better or worst than when TOS did it, but that’s about it. It does executed it a little differently with the events and the alien is FAR less willing to comply than the Horta was at first and ends with the alien backing down, but refusing contact with humans for three centuries, which DOES make it a nice contrast to how Devil in the Dark ended. It’s not great. It’s not horrible. It’s just okay with the biggest criticism being pulling too much from TOS again. Look, I love TOS and so far TNG hasn’t passed it. I outright have a 30 disc Blu-Ray set coming in the next few days of all the TOS material, including TAS and the films. If I want to revisit TOS, I’ll go watch it or read fanfiction or heck, go watch AOS. TNG has remained painfully average or not good at this point because it’s trying to retain what TOS had, despite it being over 20 years later and even the TOS films had changed how it did things compared to the show. Whatever one feels about Roddenberry, his removal I hope helped push TNG away from TOS and let it carve it’s own identity while still honoring what TOS had stood for, and according to history it did. Not sure if we’ll see the quality go up in these final few S1 episodes, but still. Sorry, felt appropriate to finally get this out here. Going back to the episode, it’s perfectly fine and it delivers it’s message well, and hey it’s not always a bad idea to showcase the same themes as the previous incarnation in a spinoff especially fi a relevant one/gets shown to viewers who hadn’t seen that TOS episode. Not the best, not the worst, and that’s not such a bad way to end up. 3/5.

Coming of Age: Alright Wesley, it took a bit but you’re starting to grow on me. So we have Wesley going through a test to get into the Academy while Picard and the crew are dealing with some rough interrogations and Picard being painted as an incompetent captain by the interrogator. They don’t seem that connected, but infact the latter is a test for Picard to determine if e’s ready for a promotion. I like how they bring up Picard’s actions in past continuity that WOULD present him as at least fallible to major error, ignoring certain conditions that caused it to begin with and how he got them out of the situation. Like I said, this was one of Wesley’s better episodes. While doing well with testing, his worry about the psyche test and not knowing his own fear and therefore worried about what the test will unleash upon him is very relatable. Heck his talk with Worf was a really nice scene, especially with Worf outright stating that only fools fear nothing which in turns add more depth and dimensions to the Klingons. The reveal fo his greatest fear, while I wish he had hesitated a little bit more, made perfect sense and he acted as a true Starfleet Officer. Which since this was before Undiscovered Country, is a VERY positive development. Picard guiding a kid who made a stupid decision was also good and shows why he’s a good captain, and his talk to him as well as encouraging a disappointed Wesley at the end was a nice moment to cap the episode off with. As far as Wesley goes, he may still be presented as too competent and intelligent, but he is more likeable and the testing setting allows him to shine like this without, again, affecting the adult characters. Plus text anxiety is super relatable haha. Now of course due to Status Quo is God, Wesley fails, but he takes it well and proved that he will be ready for it in the future. It was a pretty nice episode all in all. Nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it, neither plot overpowered the other, had a good theme of one’s integrity as a person/doing your best, good use of past continuity, and it really shows the best in characters like Picard, Wesley, and the crew’s loyalty to the former. 4/5.

Heart of Glory: Back in TOS, the Klingons were depicted as war-loving jerks. They weren’t without some depth and episodes like Day of the Dove did attempt to give them a bit more positive limelight, but it wasn’t enough to overpower the one-dimensional characterization. The films were a bit better, Undiscovered Country especialy, but that one hadn’t been made yet and they still stuck with the ruthless characterization, just changed up the makeup to make them look more alien like. It was weird sicne whenever I ddi watch TNG back when that’s all I knew of Star Trek, Worf never came across like a ruthless warmonger but like an honorable warrior which made him stand-out amongst the cast for me (that and because I freakin’ love Michael Dorn due to his animation voice over work, anyone else remember I.M. Weasel? XD). So now we get an episode where Worf gets to interact with other Klingons. I lift a brow at Worf not knowing about most Klingon customs when he seemed perfectly knowledgeable about i in past episodes. Maybe that wad due tot he shift after getting rid of Roddenberry/ IDK, but these kinds of retcons happens sometimes. This was an interesting one for sure. The Klingons are much better presented here than the entirety of TOS, showing more of their culture/customs and compared to Worf, who was raised by humans and therefore not fully in touch with his people and their ways. This is probably one of, if not the first time he’s interacted with his full culture and naturally he’d want to interact with them and learn more now that he has the chance. There’s the themes of one growing in another culture, how they adapt while still trying to be part of that culture, and finding one’s own path. There is the question on why Worf wans’t just returned tot he Klingons as a child and IDK if they address it down the line, but that type of life and struggle with identity/culture clash due to upbringing IS real and VERY relatable. I’m really glad to see the Klingons fleshed out past their TOS depiction and it’s overall respected by the cast, showing how far things have come since Kirk’s time. It fleshes out Worf’s character a great deal and makes him more likable/relatable and giving him a very realistic struggle, and in the end he stands by his beliefs and even gets the respect and offer to serve with Klingons in the future by Klingon Captain K’Nera. Very much glad that I watched this one~ 4/5.

The Arsenal of Freedom: Oh boy, war machines that killed everything! That theme never gets old! I’m not joking, with how modern warfare and technology are growing and being sold for profit, it feels like it just keeps getting more and more relevant. There’s a lot of tension in this one with Yar, Data, and Riker dealing with the arsenal that is intelligent and they’re unable to be beamed up, the ship getting attacked with Geordi in command and the Chief Engineer (they seem to go through a LOT of those this season, guess they couldn’t handle the strain of acting as miracle workers like Scotty) being an asshole to him, and Crusher injured with Picard trying to keep her alive and not get killed. Seriously, I loved Geordi here for being an effective acting commanding officer during a VERY intense situation AND telling off the Chief Engineer without even so much as raising is voice while encouraging the other officers. Badass and admirable. The away team scenes were also good with everyone being plain awesome~ Crusher having to explain to Picard how to treat her injuries while she’s in obvious pain was really good character stuff and Thank God that they avoided indulging in the obvious shipping fodder. I know they’ve hinted a little at Picard/Crusher... but I’m not really interested in it int he romantic sense at least currently. It comes off as a Captain and CMO trusting the other (not quite the same as say... Kirk and McCoy, but the trust is very much strong here plus Picard and Crusher should be allowed to form their own dynamic) and that’s the kind of interaction I live for~! It feels like everyone got a moment to shine, even Troi checking on Geordi’s mental well-being and letting him express some of his nervousness was really nice. And of course the arsenal having destroyed their own creators... like I said, a theme that just seems to grow more and more in relevance. Like I said above, some themes are necessary to repeat, and this one very much qualifies. But yeah this was great for it’s tensions, the characters being all great especially Geordi, and it’s themes (even fi IDK how intentional it was) being a huge reminder of the dangers of modernized warfare/using warfare for profit. It doesn’t go well. 4.5/5.

Okay, it’s late in the season, but we are FINALLY getting somewhere! The characters have truly grown on me and their characterizations are getting better (i.e. Picard is still a serious captain, but is very much warming up and not as cold as he was early on), the stories are steadily improving, and even with what I said about the first one, I really enjoyed this batch of episodes! Only five remain in the season, and the plan is to knock ‘em all out tomorrow. Might take a day or two off before tarting Season 2, but golly I’m finally feeling excited~!

[vreugd-madelon]

The Inheritance Cycle Series Review

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini is a 4 book long YA Fantasy Series. Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr and Inheritance are the names of the individual books. I listened to the books in English on Storytel, but I know that all together they are 2,894 pages.

It all begins when Eragon is walking through the woods looking for food and finds a mysterious stone. Being poor, he thinks that he may convice someone to buy the pretty stone off of him or trade it for some food. He brings it into town, but no one seems to be willing to take it from him since he found it in the Spine. Suddenly, one night at home, a screeching sound are heard, and the stone begins to crack.

I rate Eragon 4.5/5 stars, because it was an amazing introduction into the series. We are just as new to the world Eragon sets foot in as he is, and those book in my opinion are the best. We learn all of the thing he does at the same time. We never break from Eragon's POV, so with all that is happening in the world, the reader is just as clueless, and shocks of revealing come at the same time. To me it's stunning at how well Eragon is able to learn while on the road. And there is one death in the book that actually already made me cry as I cared for him. One thing I disliked in the beginning was Saphira's voice, since she is a woman I expected it to be more graceful instead of gravelly. But than again she is who she is.

I rate Eldest 5/5 stars, because while with most series there is a second book syndrome where it's of less quality, I didn't find it with this series. I just wonder where the story will take me. One of my dislikes is that I can't see the names of places and ancient language written down. So this makes it much harder for me to connect places to races and see how they are travelling across the world. I do like the detail in the training Eragon and Saphira get from Oromis and Glaedr, all while other POV's are introduced which makes the story move forwards even more; namely Roran and Nasuada. Both Eragon and Roran experience great character growth in this book, and it pleases me greatly. Another thing I find quite interesting is how both this book and the first have major battles as their climax. While in the first it seemed like a natural course for the plot, in this one less so. Nonetheless I must say the end and the battle that takes place, are incredibly well written, and made it the rating that it is. Now that I have listened to over 20 hours of audiobook, I must say that all together I don't find Saphira's voice as troubling as I did in the beginning of this venture.

I rate Brisingr 4/5 stars, because I had to take two breaks while listening to the books. I don't know why, but continuing after Eldest just didn't feel right. I foccused on other series before coming back a couple of weeks later. I must say that the beginning was really interesting with Eragon and Roran on their own journey to hellgrind. It really showed their brotherly bond and Eragon's resourcefulness. There were also a couple of scenes that stirred my emotions; 1. When Saphira mends Isidar Mithrim, the rose saphire of the Dwarves, it gave me chills. They way the mending and the result was described was so beautiful. 2. When Glaedr shares the dragons most valued secret, it brought me close to tears. It was described earlier as the most powerful and unique things, and to hand it over was such a deeply personal gesture of trust. Near the end many important backstories are revealed, which still keeps it all interesting and it gives an understanding for certain characters. The deaths at the end made me ugly cry, and the worst thing; I sat on a train with people looking at me. Awkward.

I rate Inheritance 5/5 stars, because this was the most amazing ending to a series I had in a long while. First of all I think Roran and Katrina are so cute together, and they are truly a relationship goal with how far they are willing to go for each other in their love. The battles and the seiges of Aroughs and Dras-Leona, and eventually Urû'bean as well, are describes with such detail that it feels real and dangerous as we get both the POV of Roran, the human with a hammer, and Eragon, the Rider with a flaming sword. They are Aroughs is full of ingenuity from Roran and Dras-Leona is full of fear for Eragon. Even while this is the last book in the Series, we get to know so many new detail about Alegaesia. Creatures like Snalglí and the Nïdwahl make their first appearance. We see Saphira's POV, where she calls humans round-ear two legs and Elves point-ear two legs. And Urgals call humans, the hornless. I found the best name for a sword ever and it belongs to Angela, the herbalist. Albitr, or as she likes to call it; Tinkledeath. I laughed every time when that name came up. Later on we get to see Galbatorix in the hall of the Soothsayer, where he tells Nasuada his past plans and actions. We get to see a glimps of his mind, and it's both terrifying and enlightening.

The ending is what I likes most. And I don't want to spoil too much, but for the last couple of chapters we see the aftermath of the battle of Urû'bean. A new monarch chosen, cities claimed, trades made. The new problems that arose are dealt with and resolved. The last thing we know is that Eragon travels east, with the greatest treasure Alegaesia has ever known.

The Inheritance Cycle - 4.5 Stars.

I give it this because while many aspects of the series is amazing; plot, side plots, characters, world building. There are somethings that bothered me, especially in the beginning and even throughtout; the dragons voices. They are rough and coarse while I somehow expected them to be smooth and elegant. Yet it always fit their character. The pacing was incredible. Even while I still don't know exactly where one book ended and the next began, because I read them all so shortly after another. My favorite main character is Saphira. The scenes where she dis extraordinary things were incredibly well writing and her POV's made me laugh. My favorite minor character is Sloan, because he got exactly what he deserved. The covers are absolutely incredible as they each depict a dragon alive during the series. Eragon: Saphira. Eldest: Thorn. Brisingr: Glaedr. Inheritance: Fírnen. The only one left out is Shruiken.

If you have any questions send me an ask here on tumblr or tweet me. If there are any books that you want to recommend, be sure to let me know!

P.S. There is a companion book for this series, Eragon’s Guide to Alegaesia. It addresses the reader as a new rider and it has some facts about Alegaesia. It has 3d elements in it, such as fur or cloth. Fold open notes and even the future predicting knuckle bones. It’s not a must to have, but a nice addition to your bookshelf.

P.S.S. There is talk of a 5th book in this series. Can’t wait!!!

[elliepassmore]

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings Anthology Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: anthologies, fantasy, sci-fi, female-led stories, South-East Asian folklore, Indian folklore, Chinese folklore, Middle Eastern folklore, Japanese folklore, Korean folklore, Hmong folklore Forbidden Fruit: Roshani Chokshi 5/5 stars Filipino Chokshi's story is based on the Maria Makiling folktale based around the spirit of Mount Makiling. The style of writing feels like a traditional folktale, the ones that include morals at the end and cautionary warnings (which is perhaps a redundant statement), and is set in fantasy. I like how Chokshi included cautions about the tale "do not trust the fruits of Maria Makiling. If you find your pockets full of thorny fruit, throw it out the window" (5) as bookends to the tale. In this story, the spirit of the mountain is in the form of a girl, and since it's a love story, she of course falls in love with a human boy. The story is only 12 pages, but Chokshi develops the emotions of the mountain so she goes from curious and solitary to someone who would risk losing her heart, and though we don't really see the village or know what's going to happen, Chokshi also weaves suspense and the development of greed and jealousy within the pages as well. Olivia's Table: Alyssa Wong 5/5 stars Chinese Wong's story is based on the Hungry Ghost Festival, and is set in a mix between modern-day Arizona and the Old West. In this story, our MC Olivia has taken up her late mother's task of feeding the ghosts in an, pun intended, Arizona ghost town during the Hungry Ghost Festival. I really enjoyed Wong's interplay between loss and family and helping others. Olivia's mom died about one or two years before the story began, though she still keenly feels her loss and reveals that it's what led to her girlfriend breaking up with her. Going back to the Ghost Festival to cook the food is Olivia's way of getting closer to her mom--both a figurative and literal attempt, as Olivia hopes her mom will show up as a ghost. As Olivia helps the ghosts find peace and closure through her food, Olivia begins to heal by helping a forgotten ghost and a lady ghost she had a crush on as a kid. I'm not explaining it well here, but it's one of my favorite stories in the collection. Steel Skin: Lori M. Lee 5/5 stars Hmong This is one of the sci-fi stories in the collection, and it's the one that goes the deepest into the realm of sci-fi. Based on the tale The Woman and the Tiger wherein a tiger kills a hunter and sneaks into the home of his family, killing most of them, only to get killed by the remaining family in turn. Lee flips this on its head a little, and even after reading it twice I'm still not sure who's the tiger in the story. Yer is the main character of this story, and she lives with her father and memories of a mother who was killed in an android uprising. Yer's father starts acting strangely and seems to be working in a now-illegal field of technology. The story starts out kind of slow and slowly builds as Yer's dad starts acting stranger and stranger until Yer tells her neighbor/boyfriend she thinks her father's been replaced by an android and the two decide to finally find out what's going on with her dad. Still Star-Crossed: Sona Charaipotra 3/5 stars Punjabi Based on the Indian folktale of Mirza and Sahiba, two star-crossed lovers who end the way most of them do--with one of them dead. This story is a modern reimagining of the original tale, set in New Dehli, New Jersey. This one is mostly just creepy. At first, I thought it was going to be a reincarnating story, where the star-crossed lovers knew each other from a past life and they'd both remember and it wouldn't be quite as creepy. Not entirely the case, though Charaipotra hints throughout the story (and in the afterword) that it's kind of reincarnation for the both of them. However, it mostly seems like the guy remembers the girl and keeps 'finding' (read: stalking) her in hopes she'll agree to hang out or enter into a relationship with him. The twist toward the end makes it even creepier. The Counting of Vermillion Beads: Aliette De Bodard 4.5/5 stars Vietnamese Bodard's story is a reimagining of the Vietnamese tale Tam Cam, which is about two sisters engaged in a jealous rivalry. Bodard turned it on its head and made it so the two sisters are loyal to one another, but have different ideas of what they want and can do in life. Set in fantasy Vietnam, the two sisters are census takers for the emperor. The elder sister, Tam believes they can escape and be free and go back to their home, while the younger sister, Cam, believes that the only way to freedom is through the system. Tam and Cam both tug their own direction, leading to a rift between the two for a bit, until they realize they can reconcile their ideas of freedom into something new. Cam is the narrator and is more passive than Tam, unwilling to view the system they've been a part of and the walls that surround them as a cage for most of the story, which is why the half star was dropped. The Land of the Morning Calm: E.C. Myers 5/5 stars Korean This one is a meld of sci-fi and contemporary, as it is technically set in modern-times, but also deals with a computer game that may or may not have real elements...okay, so it's also technically fantasy as well, since the game centers largely around magical, ancient Korea. Based on the Chasa Bonpuli epic that follows the main players of death: the god of the underworld, a grim reaper, and a guide to the underworld. Sunny, the main character, lost her mom five years prior while playing a computer game beloved by the whole family. Since then, none of them have touched the game. As the story opens, the grandfather is convinced the mother is back as a gwisin, or a ghost/spirit, and is trying to tell them something. Both Sunny and her dad brush it off, though Sunny decides to play the game one last time before it's shut down forever, and is thus transported into the land of fantasy and sci-fi. During the story, Sunny struggles to reconcile the death of her mother and the difference between clinging to the past and honoring it. The Smile: Aisha Saeed 4/5 stars South Asian A retelling of the legend of Anarkali, a girl who danced for the king and purportedly fell in love with one of his sons. I liked the story at first, though there were creepy undertones in this one as well. It's in a more historical setting than a fantasy one, and I enjoyed the way Saeed built the world and the people in it. I also like how Saeed explored consent in a relationship where one is royalty and the other is a servant/dancer of the palace. I mostly docked a star because of the creepy factor and the anger of the prince. Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers: Preeti Chhibber 4/5 stars Gujarati A contemporary reimagining of Navratri, a Hinu holiday about community and dancing and being good to people. The story intertwines the actions of the main characters in the contemporary, magic-free world with the events happening that create the origin of Navratri. Three friends go to a Navratri celebration together and come into contact with the infamous (to them) Dinesh, who's sloppy dancing on Navratri years ago led to one of them having their skirt come unwrapped. In the spirit of the holiday, they decide to get revenge. It's a funny, lighthearted story and the star drop is mostly just me being unable to handle people being embarrassed, which both the girls and Dinesh end up being, to varying degrees. Nothing Into All: Renee Ahdieh 5/5 stars Korean This is another story about siblings and jealousy, this time based on the Korean story The Goblin Treasure, where goblins give two siblings the chance to gain treasure beyond what they know. Ahdieh is one of my favorite fantasy authors and I really enjoyed her contribution to this anthology. In this one, two siblings venture into the woods in search of the goblins they saw one year. The elder sibling, the sister, still feels guilty for something that occurred in childhood and thus attempts to hide her successes from her brother for fear they'll upset him. The brother has since grown up to be jealous and angry over his sister and what he views as his sister's selfish wishes. Naturally, one finds the goblins and the magic and the other does not and an argument ensues. The story is an interesting exploration through guilt, forgiveness, selfishness, and what one will do for family, even when said family has done wrong. Spear Carrier: Rahul Kanakia 3/5 stars South Asian This is a take on the Mahabharata, a famous Indian epic and, I believe, the longest epic that's ever been written. In the Mahabharata there's a huge battle toward the end of the story, and Kanakia has retold a portion of this battle from the perspective of one of the millions of people/creatures that have shown up to fight. It's another mix between contemporary, fantasy, and sci-fi. This is a story that I'm disappointed I didn't like better, especially since I generally like retellings of Mahabharata stories. I thought this was a really interesting take on the kinds of massive, all-out war we so often see in epics and high-fantasy books, even if I didn't necessarily like the story itself. The narrator of the story seems to be a high school- or college-aged guy who basically ends up accidentally agreeing to be a part of the battle and spends the time thinking of heroism and who we consider heroes and brings up the rather good question of why people were even fighting in the battle to begin with. I think this question, which is what the author says inspired the story, is really what saved this one for me. Let's face it, when we read stories of epic battles, we don't really ask where every soldier came from and why they decided to fight, we just role with it. Spear Carrier offers the answer that people came from all over, from all times, some for good and some for bad reasons, to fight in a war that needs corpses. If the narrator had been less....I don't even know, less preachy and less like the kind of person who thinks that just because they think deeply has few friends it means everyone else is shallow. Other than that, it's a great concept. Code of Honor: Melissa de la Cruz 3/5 stars Filipino This story is based on the aswangs, which de la Cruz describes as "banshee-like beings" (237) in Filipino folklore, and from what I've gathered from research for one of my books, can also be thought of like a cross between vampires and witches. Basically, they're awesome, oft-forgotten in the West, mythological creatures, which is why I'm so disappointed I didn't like this story better. The premise of the story is a good one: an aswang who's been orphaned and is searching for the rest of her bloodline. Unfortunately, this comes through by the aswang attending a prestigious high-school in contemporary New York and then being discovered by the bratty popular girl. With the undelivered promise of the story, the fight in the bathroom scene, and the not-quite-answered questions still left at the end of the story I had to drop two of the stars. Bullet, Butterfly: Elsie Chapman 5/5 stars Chinese Chapman's story is based on the Chinese folktale of Liang Zhu, translated as The Butterfly Lovers, where class and duty keep apart two lovers who, again, like most star-crossed lovers do, end up dying. In the original, these two lovers end up being resurrected (reincarnated?) as butterflies. This is the only dystopian/sci-fi story in here and it actually makes me wish there was more of them. Chapman flips the original on its head a little and instead of having the girl dress up as a guy to go to school, the guy dresses up as a girl to go to the factory. In this world, the girls are the only ones to work in factories until they're old enough to go to war while the guys are stuck at war or in training for longer (unsure how long, I don't think it's specified, but the guys go off first). Viruses keep ravaging the country, which is why the main character isn't off fighting in the war at the moment, he's in recovery. So, he dresses up as a girl and goes to the factory and befriends Zhu. I like the realness of the two of them as they work and get to know each other, the little details Chapman adds, such as the corner they eat lunch in where no one thinks to look. I also like the metaphors she weaves throughout the story, such as the butterfly bullet that's been invented and the gun smoke choking out parts of the country. It's a very metaphorical story based in tragedy, but the characters and their relationships make it worth any heartache. Daughter of the Sun: Shveta Thakrar 4/5 South Asian I believe this one is set in a urban fantasy (or rural fantasy??) setting, though I'm not entirely sure. It retells the story of Savitri and Satyavan from the larger Mahabharata epic as well as the story of the goddess Gangu and King Shantanu. In this story, Savitri is born with a sun heart, and because her parents worry for her, they remain mostly isolated on a large museum-estate. One day, Savitri finds a boy with a moon heart standing by the lake being coaxed into the water by a swan. She saves the boy from drowning and brings him back to shore, and the two become fast friends and lovers, only, Savitri is hiding from him what the swan said and why she was luring him to the water--an incident which he has no memory of. As the story goes on, Savitri realizes that the swan, and the goddess she meets, is correct and she cannot make decisions for Satyavan, even if it means letting him 'die,' and thus she gifts him back his choices. I like the story and I like the characters, but I'm a huge fan of choice, so Savitri's decision to take Satyavan's choices without thenletting him know is a hard no for me, hence the dropped star on an otherwise fantastic story. The Crimson Cloak: Cindy Pon 5/5 stars Chinese Set in a fantasy world with a golden ox, Pon's story is a retelling of the Chinese legend The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, which tells the tale of a cowherd whose talking ox tells him to steal the red cloak of a fairy girl because it will mean she must marry him. The two marry, have some kids, and then are separated by the fairy's mother who makes the Milky Way to keep them apart, only allowing them to visit on the seventh day of seventh moon. Pon makes the girl the narrator and a goddess in this one. In it, the girl, Hongyun, sees the cowherd and sets out to trick him into meeting her because she's curious. The two become friends and then lovers, and then realizing that she cannot give him what he wants, Hongyun tries to let him go. It's a story of loving and letting go and coming back together again and how we remember in parts even if we love whole. One of the things I particularly like about this story is how Hongyun directly addresses the reader "despite how the legend goes, the truth of the matter is, Dear Reader, I saw him first" (282). I think it adds a clever dimension to the story, and even in short stories I feel like it's not something that happens a lot. Eyes Like Candlelight: Julie Kagawa 3/5 stars Japanese Based on the Japanese myth of the kitsune, trickster fox creatures that have the ability to manipulate the mind and transform into humans. The premise of the story is good, it's set in feudal Japan and centers around a young man, Takeo, as he tries to find a way to meet the rice quote for the daimyo's tax. He comes into contact with a kitsune...which is sort of where I stop liking the story. I'm going to be 100% honest, I think this story has some rapey undertones to it. While the kitsune family helps Takeo and gives him the rice he needs to in turn help his family and town, the girl kitsune also heavily manipulates his mind and at the end there's hints that the two of them have had a kid even though they only meet as humans once and Takeo doesn't even seem to fully remembers what happened during that time, despite literally being the third person narrator.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Stationery showdown: Journals!

Inspired by one of my favorite vlogs, I decided to do a stationery review. Since I have a huge collection of journals, I thought, why not? So I’ve been taking notes for the past year on the journals I’ve used and my thoughts on them.

And So the Adventure Begins I found this cute journal in a gift shop during a trip and I just had to get it! The pages are colorful and whimsical designs relating to adventure and travel. I love the pops of color each page brings! However since the pages aren’t blank, you can’t really go all out with your weekly spreads. And there’s also the issue with some colors of gel pens not showing up well on certain pages, though it’s not a huge issue, just something to look out for. Great for mainly writing, which is what I mostly used this journal for.

The journal is a soft cover and opens flat, which is a pro in my book. There’s minimal ghosting and bleed through, another plus for me. The size is a bit bigger than what I normally use, but in this case it works well with the colorful pages. 

Final Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars 

Azure by Paperblanks Another journal used primarily for writing. A bit pricey, but definitely worth it! The cover’s a beautiful, intricate blue and gold design with a latch on the side. The pages are guided with a pretty design as well! Not ideal for collages because of the latch clasp thing, but good for just writing. I felt so fancy taking this journal around and writing stuff in it! Not to mention it’s the perfect size to put in your bag and take anywhere!

Like I mentioned, this journal is on the pricier side. The binding is well done, reminiscent of these fancy old fashioned books, which many of the company’s designs are based on. These journals are what I call the “splurge” stationery, the kinds I’m hesitant to use out of fear out of ruining them. Because of how fancy it is, I wanted to save it for the right thing. The book also comes with an envelope to store little things, which I often do. If you have a few extra bucks to spare, I definitely recommend not only this journal, but pretty much any other book by Paperblanks!

Final Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars

Quatrefoil This is a handmade book but since I used it quite a bit this year, I figured that I’d include it - mostly just to talk about what works for me and what didn’t. I made this journal using washi tape, cardboard from a cereal box, quatrefoil scrapbook paper, and paper from a $1 drawing pad. It was one of those spur of the moment art projects, something to keep me busy.

What I like about coptic stitch books is that they’re perfect for art journaling, specifically collages. Because of the binding, when closed it’s more like a photo album when all the pages are blank - like a triangle. Then when you start adding stuff, the journal will eventually “puff out” and unlike hardcover journals or certain softcover ones, you don’t have to worry too much about the binding buckling or falling apart - at least not for a while. Since the paper I used is very thin, there was a lot of ghosting and bleed through, so it was more ideal for photos and stickers. It was small, so it was easy to take around and use as a scrapbook, and filled up fairly quickly.

Final Verdict: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Personalized by Anthropologie Have you ever had a journal that felt like it dragged on too long? There’s a reason why I find 160 pages to be ideal for me. At 360, I often found myself trying to keep things fresh with new spreads and layouts, which was a good challenge at first but then I started getting bored and uninspired. It did push my creativity but at times it felt forced. 

As for the journal itself, it’s a simple cover orange with my initials in a cute font, a Christmas present from Dottie, who left a cute note on the inside cover. The binding is like a hardcover book with the fabric cover that’s found inside the jacket, making it feel like I’m writing a novel. Not ideal for collages, but good for doodles, and the paper is kind of glossy but not to the point that ink gets smudged. Also I’m impressed with the paper quality, especially how well it holds up to gel pens and markers with little to no ghosting.

Final verdict: 3 out of 5 stars

Bloom I got this from a drugstore and bought it because of the cover. I’m a fan of cute, whimsical floral designs, so I got this, and it was cheap and a bit of an impulse buy. It’s paperback with lined pages so it’s good for writing and art journaling. A simple journal, nothing too special. I’ve been getting into tarot cards lately so I’ve been using this one to take notes/use as a guide.

The lines on the pages are kinda small and even though my handwriting is on the small side, it can get a little cramped. The paper is also on the thin side so it’s ideal for fine tipped gel pens, not so much for felt tip. However the main issue I have is that the book does not sit flat when opened so I often find myself using my phone to hold it down. Again, it’s a nice journal for jotting stuff down and it’s a little less than $5, so it’s a decent price. And even if it doesn’t sit flat when open, the binding feels strong and durable, which is always good to have in a journal or else the pages will fall apart.

Final Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars

[eurovosion]

 some thoughts on this year’s entries

or i guess just a ranking with comments tacked on

albania - this year’s nf season was a let down for me, partly because a lot of the winning songs weren’t the best on offer, and partly because albania picked first and nothing could live up to it. i love the depth this has, the dark, almost tribal vibes, and most of all i love how they didn’t fuck up the revamp like they usually do. if this is staged correctly, i think this could do really well. 10/10

greece - i feel like this has been overlooked in the wider fandom, which is odd because greek entries are usually pretty polarising, for better or for worse. regardless, i really like this. it’s atmospheric, powerful as hell, and katerine is more than capable of nailing it live. don’t count greece out just yet! 9.5/10

portugal - festival da canção was easily the best nf this year and the portuguese public picked wisely. telemóveis is such an intriguing song with a really curious sound, so traditional yet so modern at the same time. i’m not 100% on the staging, but they have time to figure it out. 9.5/10

spain - la venda wasn’t the song i was rooting for in the selection (rip todo bien, never forgotten) but i’m fully on board with it now. this works so well with a big audience, and you just know that the crowd will be on his side. if this doesn’t go top 10 at the very least i’ll be stunned. 9/10

cyprus - this is just as instant as fuego for me. not sure if tamta will do as well as eleni, but the cypriot delegation has definitely found their winning formula. 9/10

malta - malta is not fucking around this year. this is a verified banger, and their best entry in years, perhaps their best ever. take as many youtube ads as you want, michela, you deserve them. 8.5/10

azerbaijan - without a doubt, azerbaijan is back with a vengeance. you can tell they’re determined to set the record straight and prove that last year was just a blip, because this is great and hopefully the live performance reflects that. 8.5/10

denmark - i really should hate this, but i can’t. it’s so innocent and cheerily optimistic in a way that i can only be jealous of whilst humming along to the chorus. this deserves to do well. 8/10

italy - it took me a little while to warm up to soldi, but once i finally got there i really started to appreciate it. i don’t think it’s a winner, but it’s a very good song, and in the end that’s all that matters. 8/10

san marino - yes, serhat is in my top 10, and what of it? you only wish your fave could write a song in ten minutes and have it go off like this. and yes, if he doesn’t qualify you’ll catch me openly sobbing in the streets for weeks. 8/10

switzerland - an unabashed bop with some actual choreography, but lacking lyrically. then again, so was fuego and that popped off live. he’s also working with the same stage director as eleni, which can only be good news for him. 7.5/10

the netherlands - don’t get me wrong, it’s a very polished song and i’m sure duncan’s great but like... is that it? this is the big fan favourite? i’m very whelmed. 7.5/10

armenia - i was expecting something like yete karogh es from srbuk, so this came completely out of left field in the best way possible. i thought we’d lost our token edgy pop song when ukraine dropped out, but armenia saved us at the last minute. the only thing i’m worried about are her vocals, because, from what i’ve seen, she isn’t the most confident performer. 7/10

serbia - another respectable but ultimately pretty safe pick from serbia this year. nevena has a really strong voice and she sells the song well, so i think she’ll avoid another moje 3 style placement. 7/10

germany - first of all, aly ryan was robbed. secondly, thank god the surprise song didn’t win. thirdly, this is alright. nothing spectacular, but it’s cute and the spinning stage was a great stylistic choice. 7/10

latvia - thank you latvia for letting this win and rejecting markus riva’s basic ass for the sixth year in a row WHEW i really love the whole atmosphere that surrounds this. barring a miracle, however, i don’t think it’ll qualify, but it’s still a good attempt. 6.5/10

sweden - i don’t think it’s john’s most solid composition, but it’s a decent entry nevertheless and it’s nice to see sweden picking an entry that isn’t generic pop again. 6.5/10

united kingdom - my only faint glimmer of national pride so far this year is that we managed to pick the only good song from the flaming garbage pile that was our nf. yeah, the lyrics are redundant and it’s a ballad by numbers, but michael gives it his all and it really pays off. 6.5/10

ireland - this will absolutely not do well but who cares, it’s fun and harmless. super chill and easy to listen, and i think sarah’s a big eurovision fan already which is nice. also i’d just like to take this opportunity to thank her for ditching the ylva and linda song she originally applied with. 6.5/10

iceland - hm. this is one where you need to listen a few times to get a full impression of what the fuck you’re hearing/seeing. i really did not like this when i first heard it alongside all the other söngvakeppnin songs (and most of them sucked lbr), but now i’m kind of ambivalent towards it. i still don’t like the screaming or the key change, but it’s something different and i can admire that. 6/10

slovenia - fine, but forgettable. she has a nice voice, but there’s a distinct lack of stage presence from the two of them and i fear that this might get lost in the semi final. 6/10

israel - i’m conflicted here. i definitely don’t think home is as bad as the fan polls and reviews imply, but it’s not great either. a verse or two in hebrew would have really elevated this and i’m a little baffled as to why the writers didn’t include even a little bit considering the contest is on home turf this year. still, kobi’s a very convincing performer and israel probably didn’t want to win again anyway. 6/10

poland - this is an odd one, which isn’t a bad thing at all in a year full of safe entries. not sure if using the bilingual version was the best shout, but it’s clearly still very polish and i’m glad to hear that they’ll be wearing the traditional clothing on stage in tel aviv. 6/10

czech republic - the chorus absolutely slaps, and if i was judging by music alone this’d probably be in my top ten. unfortunately, though, the rest of the song exists. the lyrics are truly abysmal, with some of the lines ending awkwardly and without proper rhymes where they’re needed, and the spoken-word section is genuinely unbearable. 5.5/10

austria - i honestly don’t know where to place this one. very underwhelming when it was first released, but now i feel like there’s potential here. most of austria’s recent entries have been very under the radar only to end up doing quite well. i’m not as optimistic about this as some of those, but only time will tell. 5.5/10

hungary - not a patch on his previous entry, but pleasant enough. he’s a good performer and unless the staging really sucks, he’ll do fine. 5.5/10

north macedonia - it’s a nice ballad? i guess? and, unlike a lot of their recent entrants, tamara is an established singer who we all know can sing live. there are also rumours that the delegation has been planning the performance for a while, so who knows, perhaps this’ll qualify. 5/10

georgia - this has been growing on me lately. the song itself is a bit of a bust, although the revamp helped, but oto really brings it to life on stage. even if you don’t understand what he’s saying, you can tell by the emotion in his voice that he really means it. 5/10

russia - the nightmare dream team hasn’t produced a good song in over a decade at this point, this included. kirkorov needs to quit fooling himself and let someone else have a go. 4.5/10

belgium - belgium’s had quite the glow up since 2014, but i fear they’ve gone for style over substance this year. wake up is very polished, but it doesn’t go anywhere and eliot’s live performances haven’t been convincing as of yet. 4/10

lithuania - i don’t know what was more shocking, him winning the selection or me finding out that he was lolita zero’s real voice in 2017. this isn’t awful, just very repetitive and strangely put together. 3.5/10

norway - sue me, i don’t like this. the bald guy feels out of place and out of tune, it sounds like it was written by a child, and oh my god it’s so unbearably cheap. 3/10 

estonia - eesti laul was such a let down this year. usually there’s a good mix of mainstream and alternative genres, but the new producer doesn’t seem to give a shit about variety, which is a real shame. anyway, victor’s performance is slick, but he can barely sing and the song itself is nothing to write home about. 3/10

romania - when this was first selected i didn’t mind it, probably because i just really didn’t want laura bretan to win, but as the season drags on i’ve really soured to it. it feels like it lasts for a minute longer than it actually does, and the whole ay-ay-ay part was not a good choice. 2.5/10

australia - as someone who was a big fan of estonia last year, this is honestly the furthest thing from that. it comes across as quite cheap (even without the questionable staging), and the chorus really grates on me. 2.5/10

belarus - i didn’t watch the entirety of the belarusian auditions for them to reject the potato monks in favour of lidl’s own brand zara larsson. 2/10

france - this is why delegations should be wary of selecting social media stars for their national selections. yes, they might get the viewing figures up a little, but they’ll probably win and the song will be Bad. i respect his message, but holy shit is this hamfisted as hell. 1/10

finland - if anyone was wondering how darude only ever had one hit two decades ago, here is your answer. 1/10

moldova - they really don’t want to qualify this year, huh. could’ve had ca adriano celentano, but nope. basic tune, painfully simple lyrics, but i guess her voice is nice enough 1/10

croatia - this... is awful. upsettingly so. at least jacques’ last entry had a novelty factor, but he’s doomed this poor kid to failure. 0.5/10

montenegro - i have absolutely nothing positive to say here. honest to god one of the worst songs i’ve ever heard, and no amount of clumsily shoehorned in folk instrumentation was ever going to save this. i can only pray that they’re spending their preparation time wisely and taking singing lessons, but considering that they probably blew half the budget on the music video, it’s unlikely. 0/10

as for potential winners,  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

a lot of the big fan favourites don’t have a winning vibe about them, so we might be in for a shock this year. please let it be albania or greece

also feel free to drop me an ask if you want to chat about last year’s entries since i kind of ditched tumblr for a year or two lmao

[caitsbooks]

Caitsbooks Reviews: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

Overall: 5/5 Stars Characters: 5/5 Setting: 5/5 Writing: 4.5/5 Plot and Themes: 4/5 Awesomeness Factor: 5/5 Review in a Nutshell: Kingdom of Ash is a fantastic conclusion to a series that has taken over the YA community. 

“Hers was not a story of darkness. This would not be the story. She would fold it into herself, this place, this fear, but it would not be the whole story. It would not be her story.”

Blog || Goodreads || Bookstagram || Twitter  || Reviews

// Content Warning: War Themes, Mature Content, Graphic Torture (seriously, it's very intense), Sexual Assault (Mention), Death, Murder, Violence, Self-harm, Suicide (Mention), PTSD, Depression, Animal Abuse, Animal Death, Abuse

“Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom …”

- Premise -

Kingdom of Ash is the final Throne of Glass novel. This book takes place after the events of Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn and follows an insane amount of characters as the war begins.

“Let’s make this a fight worthy of a song.” 

- Setting -

I absolutely love the world that Sarah J. Maas has built with this series. This book adds even more onto the lore and even discusses the other worlds, which made me so extremely happy. There were also plenty of things set up in this world even from the first novel that finally come into play in this book, which I found impressive. Sarah J. Maas either is a genius or found clever ways to fix plot holes (or both?)

“Remember that we have something to fight for, and it will always triumph.” 

- Writing - 

I think it's pretty well known that Maas' writing in the later books has gotten a bit repetitive and much more mature, but I felt that while writing this book she took these complaints to heart. I won't lie and say it's absolutely amazing and no line made me cringe, but it was an improvement from Empire of Storms (I'm not comparing it to Tower of Dawn because that book was absolutely amazing). The sexier scenes were less detailed and more fade-to-black, which is a lot more appropriate for the YA audience and makes more sense considering the plot. However, if that's why you loved this series- sorry! The romance aspects are still adorable though!

“Do you know the story of the queen who walked through worlds?”

- Plot-

This book had a lot to do, and a lot to live up to. I left it feeling satisfied with the ending, but there were definitely a few plot points and deus ex machinas that pulled me out of the book. Mostly towards the end, there was one specific thing that was so out of nowhere that I got annoyed, and the ending itself was a little too neatly wrapped up for how things were solved. I'll get into that more in a spoilery section. As for the pacing, this book was relatively fast-paced and engrossing despite being 1000 pages. There were constant battle scenes and action that moved the book along, mixed with some amazing character-defining moments and even a couple of lines that made me laugh despite the war and death. After a while, specifically the Lysandra and Aedion chapters did get a little slow and predictable, but the other perspectives made up for it. Also, I want to mention that the first quarter of this book has a lot of graphic torture scenes that can be hard to get through. It's absolutely brutal and I found myself having to step back from the book a few times. 

“Who do you wish to be?” 

- Characters - 

The cast of characters in this novel is immense, and I can't talk about every single one, but I wanted to mention a few of the standouts and a few people/relationships I needed to talk about: Aelin - She really had a great arc in this book. We've seen her grow and develop so much over this series, but this book definitely has the most growth for her. I was getting a little apathetic towards her in Empire of Storms, but in this last novel I really began to feel for her again and care about her. Fenrys - If you asked me, before this book, what I thought about Fenrys, I would probably ask you who you were talking about. That said, after reading Kingdom of Ash, I would die for him. Sarah J. Maas developed him into an amazing character who stole the show for me. Dorian - Dorian was one of my favorite characters in this entire series. I need to start with that, because Dorian in this book was just kinda meh. I think part of it had to do with his relationship with Manon. It just felt forced and unnecessary (and this is coming from someone who loved Manon and shipped them back in Queen of Shadows). Aedion & Lysandra - This is another relationship that lost its adorableness for me. I loved them in the previous books, but Aedion said and did some things that really ruined my love of them as a couple. I still like them together, but I wasn't excited to see their relationship develop like I was in the previous books. Chaol - What a journey. I've gone from hating him, to loving him, and this book just cemented how much I love him now. I loved his interactions with Yrene, and how he defies the trope of overprotective husband and lets her make her own decisions and risk her life if it means saving the world. I just love a healthy relationship.

“Her name was Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius. And she would not be afraid.”

- Conclusion -

Pros- Lots of action, satisfying conclusion, epic setting as usual Cons- Meh writing, a few unbelievable deus ex machina, lack of diversity, ALSO- check out Aentee(Read At Midnight)'s review which brings up a lot of amazing points Overall- 5/5 stars. Kingdom of Ash isn't perfect, but it is a conclusion that fans of the series will adore, and casual readers will still enjoy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spoilery Section - Only read on if you've finished Kingdom of Ash

Okay I have a lot of thoughts and I want to try to go through them in a way that makes sense, but let's be real, that's not gonna happen. Most of the spoilery things are things I'm disappointed with so if you want positivity... sorry? 1. The Thirteen I loved The Thirteen so much, which is why I hate what happened to them. I understand Maas couldn't let everyone live (more on that later) but why them? The only people who died where them and Gavriel, a.k.a the only people every cared for without heterosexual love interests (and since she tortured Fenrys enough I guess she didn't want to kill him as well). I cried so hard at their deaths, and then when I stopped crying I was just upset. They deserved a better ending than that. 2. Literally no one who lived could be single or straight. Once again, Fenrys is the exception, but let's face it. She's probably going to write a spin-off featuring him and probably ending with him marrying some unnaturally beautiful girl (don't lie, you know the end of this book sets it up perfectly). 3. (Not a complaint) THAT CROSSOVER!!! Did everyone notice Rhys' little cameo when Aelin was falling through worlds???? I loved it so much!!!! 4. (Back to negatives) Gravriel & Aedion's "reunion" Okay, am I the only one loved Gavriel? I adored his character, and I thought this book did a great job developing him, and I was so upset that all that work was done only for him to reunite with his son for one page being killed off. I just felt like it was used as a cheap way to get emotion out of the reader while also killing someone so no one can complain like after A Court of Wings and Ruin 5. Deus Ex Machina That Wolf Fae thing at the end. That was just out of nowhere and really unnecessary. It felt wayyy to convenient and just pulled me out of the book. Also, the entire army dying after Erawan died. That felt like another cheap way to wrap up loose ends. I understand why she did it, and it makes some sense, but it did leave me feeling a little bit disappointed. It was anticlimatic. 6. Character Deaths in General So a lot of people were upset with the ending of ACOWAR, and while SJM clearly did try to kill some people off, it just wasn't done well. She conveniently killed off those who were paired up so this book could have the happiest ending possible, which just made it seem so unrealistic in a series that has always felt down to earth for a high fantasy, assassin-fae YA series. 7. (another good thing!) The Nameless King I just wanted to mention the King of Ardalan. I always wondered why she never gave him a name (I thought she just didn't like naming Kings because she didn't name Hybern), and I love how she actually had a reason! I really loved how she handled his and Dorian's relationship and how Dorian was coping, since we didn't see much coping in Empire of Storms. Also, I loved the reveal of his name. I was afraid if she did reveal his name it would be disappointing, but it really wasn't. 8. Speaking of names- LORD LORCAN LOCHAN Just say it out loud a few times. It's too fun. (Also I love Lorcan and he's precious).

[xtisumi]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Hope you enjoy the long journey that is reading ur bday msg mwhahahaha @aoutd 

*Sorry for this super long post, but this is for you so I know you’re going to appreciate it! Anyways I’m splitting this msg into three parts just because there’s a lot that I have to say and I want to organize it a bit so you could understand it easier! With that being said...

- Part One - 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY dude I’m going to say this a lot throughout the post so sorry if it loses value but IDC I FUCKING LOVE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH. You’re one of the best gifts life could have ever given me. You’re one of the greatest human beings, dude to me you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met and I’m just so fucking grateful that in less than a year we managed to become best friends. You’ve been so amazing to me and sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve you :( However I’ve enjoyed every single second that we’ve hung out. Whether it was watching Haikyuu!! or trolling you in ToS, teaching you how to play golf and later minecraft. Our random playful fights on discord or sitting in a call with you till 5 am just talking. Our first time rocket riding or when you first showed me BTS. I’ve enjoyed every single second being in your comforting presence. I fucking mean it when I say you make me the happiest person alive!!! Hopefully you enjoyed having me in your life :3 DUDE everything about you MAN HOLY FUCKING SHIT just I love everything about you like you truly are one of the most stunning, amazing, dorkiest, prettiest, smartest, strongest people that I know. You deserve the fucking universe and I just like fuck I just wanna wrap my arms around you and bury my head in your shoulders and just cry to you about how much I love you. I wanna feel the warmth of your body and be comforted by your energy and just be there hugging you and not wanting to let go :( I’m so happy we were able to meet and I hope you have the greatest birthday you’ve ever had!!! One day I’ll be there in person for your birthday. 

- Part Two - 

So I want to change the tone up a bit and kind of reflect on some things. If some parts are more serious than gay, I’m sorry but I wanna address some things. First thing I want to mention is that so far we’ve had an amazing friendship, everything about it seems perfect but we’re both mature enough to know even our friendship has flaws. If we want this to last then we both need to be mature about future complications. So far we never really fought or got genuinely mad at each other and I really hope it stays that way but like I said we’re both mature enough to understand that there will be times where we fight or argue and may cause problems. I’m bringing this up because the easy part was getting to that bff level while now the hard part is ensuring we last forever. I have faith that if fights occur we both will act like adults and own up to our actions and we get through any altercations that can cause turmoil between us. Dude ily and this friendship too much to see it end over pity shit so here’s to us working any trouble out together as adults <3 Now I wanna just talk about what you and your presence have meant to me. Kelly you’re by far one of the best things to ever happen to me. In every aspect you’re just too amazing and stunning and it’s just sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve you in my life. You’re one of the best humans on this planet and you’re fr a God. I love everything that you and your friendship has bestowed onto my life. You have no idea how grateful I am to have met you and how lucky I am to be living at the same time as you. Dude I’m serious you have made me cry in private because of just all the feelings I have for you. I love you so fucking much that it pains my heart and at times at night I cry because you simply exist. Not to get emo but I fear not death itself but what follows death... The earth is 4.5 billion years old and I only lived 20 years of that and I don’t remember the moment when I took my first breath. So when I die will I even remember my life? Will everything be blank and my existence transcend beyond this realm and into an empty void? This scares me because when I die I might forget you and my own life. I only have one life to live and I just so happened to have fallen in love with you. Now I know you just want to be friends and I respect that but the reason I’m saying all of this is because even as friends please let us make lifetime memories that I can cherish even in my final moments. I don’t want to ever forget you but if death causes us to forget each other and the life we lived then please let me have more memories with you. For about one year worth of being friends, we made some amazing personal memories and I really want to continue making new ones. You became a big aspect of my life now so I don’t want to feel like there’s things that we weren’t able to do. Another thing is we really got to meet up soon. Before 2018 I asked if you saw us meeting irl and you said probably. I never brought it up the subject that we should meet especially throughout the summer since tbh I’m not ready to meet you and also the vibes you give off rn makes it seem that you would see it more of a drag. Hopefully in 2019 we do meet up and you feel so excited to the point you’re running through people just to get to me :3 Seriously I want you to show me Chicago because I hardly explored it myself. Also I promised your little angel of a sister that when I meet you I was going to give you the painting I made for her ^~^ speaking of your siblings (you should feel more happier than I should) but I’m glad CoolGuy and your sister actually love me. It fr warms my heart knowing that they like me and even though I don’t know your other brother, I hope he sees me in the same way that your other siblings do :D I wanna meet your little sister one day and give her the warmest hug ever dude she fr an angel and I love her so much and even though she already knows... I want to tell her in person how much I love her older sibling Kel

- Part 3 -  

Okay sorry switching the tone a bit or whatever. Part One being that standard gay msg you’re familiar with and Part Two being some weird shit idek. So for this final part, I wanna just make this something that can bring the biggest smile on your face!!! What better way to approach it by stating that I LOVE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH IT ACTUALLY HURTS MY HEART ON GOD. I love that you’re a dork, I love your stupid giggle when we talk, I love making you smile, that damn fucking smile is something I will see with my own two eyes, I love your cheesy jokes/remarks, I love your personality, I love the fact we’re so similar and how we can relate to each other. You’re seriously the best fucking friend I could ever ask for and I’ll always cherish this bond that I was able to make with you dude. I’m never going to find someone else like you. Okay time for some cheesy lines to make you do that damn adorable giggle 

- If you were a flower, you’d be a sunflower (my fav flower and it shows that you’re my sun ^~^)

- If you were a book, I’d never put u down jk I’ll slam u on my desk and read u all night long LMFAO jkjk

- If you were a restaurant, you’re ass would fr be a 5 star one cause GODDAMN you’re a whole ass meal. Like the gods fr ain’t have to go all out on creating u :p the fact ur single is fr the 8th wonder of the world

- If I was able to listen to your voice at night, I’d finally be able to sleep with your monotone ass voice LMFAO jkjk I love hearing that warming and comforting voice. Not to be thirsty on main but like I’d fr would love to be in your arms and have you talk with that lovely voice and help me sleep :( 

Dude I’m fr so blessed to have met you and I’m just the happiest when I’m with you. Being fr posts like these could never fully grasp how much I actually love you and I just wish for the best for you! I fucking can’t wait to see how successful you’re going to become. You work so damn hard and I’m so fucking proud of everything you’ve achieved so far dude I know this is a weird request but please let me, if possible, be invited to your college graduation :( Like I want you to come to mines as well dude but yeah I want to be there in person and just see your little ass walk on that stage and get the diploma and degree that you’ve spent hours busting ur ass off for. I would fr cry dude being serious like that’s my little Kells, everyone look at them look at how amazing they are :’) Hopefully you love this message and also I hope you do have an amazing birthday <333333 One day I will fill that void in your life and tell you in person how much I love you

Believe it ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️     

*U call me Naruto from time to time so here’s a perfect gif of how I would actually be irl smiling at ur beautiful ass <3

[exothermic-filth]

Half-Sweet?

A cute little milk-tea shop, SFW (though there is some swearing and mild violence warning), reader x Junkrat story! Gender-neutral pronouns for the reader :) escapism from current stresses was the inspo here! 

You stare at the long line of people stretching out the door. The forecasters said it was going be hot, hot day and it seemed like the entire city wanted cold drinks.

“Can I get a medium taro milk tea?” The customer half-shouts. The buzz of conversation filled the air in the tiny shop.

“Of course,” you chirp happily, scribbling the order on the “medium” plastic cup. “Dairy or non-dairy creamer? What level of sweetness?”

Get a degree they said, you’ll get a better job they said. 

“Uh…. non-dairy please, and normal sweetness, oh and with mini-boba,” the customer produced their credit card. 

You hand off the annotated plastic cup to the tearista closest to you and close the transaction. 

 It had been almost 5 months since you graduated and one month since you gave up on the job search in your field. 

The milk tea job you worked as an undergraduate took you back and gave you a managerial position to boot because of your experience, but it still felt like returning to square one. You didn’t like being here. Graduating was supposed to be the finisher, the closing statement in the old chapter of your life. But student loan deferment only lasted 6 months and you couldn’t bear asking your family to foot the bill… so milk-tea it was. It’s not so bad. Just lonely. All the tea-ristas share classes and everyone got to commiserate about midterms and projects and finals. You… you’re still living in the same crowded flat trying to make it in a big city… 

“Uhm… *your name*…” one of the tearistas touched your arm, bringing you back to reality. 

You notice the sudden quiet; there’s only the gentle whir of the air conditioning unit. The line had vanished. The seated customers all had wide eyes and terrified expressions. 

It takes you a moment to realize the tall man standing before you. He stares at the drinks menu, quietly murmuring to himself. His grenade launcher rests on his shoulder, glistening in the bright sunlight. 

“Let’s see here….” he pause, rubbing a sooty thumb across his chin in deep thought. 

His enormous companion grunts. You could see the big man roll his eyes beneath the weathered mask. 

“I know, Roadie, I know, sheesh… let a man think about it will ya’?” The tall man tuts. 

You gulp. The infamous Junkrat and Roadhog stood before you. You’ve heard stories on the news of their misdeeds: murder, arson, grand theft and grand larceny...

Someone must’ve tried to make a run to the back room because before you could blink, a heavy chain whipped by you. You turn to see a panicked employee hooked back. He slams forward into counter, inches from you with a small scream, then slumped to the ground in a gasping heap, clutching at his stomach. 

Junkrat turns to face you and your staff with a toothy smile, “Ah yeah, wouldn’t try doing that if I were you, mate.” 

Roadhog shook his head and rewound his chain, huffing.  

“Alright, alright, shut up, I’ll order. You sure you don’t want nothin’?” 

Despite the mask, you could feel the glare. The older junker has his arms crossed and taps his foot impatiently. 

“Fine, but you’re missing out. This place’s got like 4.5 stars on those review sites or whatever,” Junkrat turns to you, grin on his face. 

You could feel your legs wobbling but you force a smile and cheery voice, “Welcome! What can I get you?”

“Large original milk tea, half-sweet with extra boba, darl,” he grins. 

“We use a dairy creamer in all our teas, unless non-dairy creamer is requested. What would you prefer?” 

“Whatever tastes better.”

You smile cheerily, feeling faint, “I recommend the dairy creamer, richer flavor and whatnot.”

You write the drink order out extra carefully, taking time to strike all the t’s. You place the cup on the counter and turn to your crew, pleading look in your eyes, “We have a large original milk tea, half-sweet with extra boba!” 

The tearistas look at each other and no one dare move. 

Junkrat chuckles and pats his grenade launcher, “Time is money, loves, and I hate to get apprehended before I get to drink my milk tea.” 

You looked around the shop, feeling your breathing shallow. Your team gave a small whimpering noise, and something inside you ticked. 

You turn to Junkrat and gave a small bow. You put on your best customer-is-always-right voice, “Many apologies, sir! The team is unused to performing under pressure. Your order will be out right away!” 

He cocks a quizzical brow, but lowers his weapon. 

You grab the cup, stepping over your wheezing coworker. It was like muscle memory. Grab the shaker, measure out 5 parts black tea base, 1 part dairy-creamer base, 1 part sweetener syrup. For a half sweet, adjust to 6 parts, and 1 part dairy-creamer, and 1 part sweetener syrup. Shake the tea with ice, vigorously, just like making a martini. Strain and ladle boba into the cup. Top with ice. Pour the shaken tea. Lid on and present with straw.

“Order ready! Large original, half sweet with extra boba.” 

He steps forward, tearing the straw from the wrapper with his teeth. He stabs it into the cup and takes a massive sip. Junkrat throws his head back, “Fuck that’s good!” 

You manage a weak smile. Red and blue lights streak across your vision and you hear a voice, filtered over the megaphone. 

“JUNKRAT AND ROADHOG, THIS IS THE POLICE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!”

Roadhog groans, muttering to himself. Something about a stupid rat. 

Unfazed, the junker leans towards you, over the counter, “This has honestly got to be the best milk tea I’ve had in a while.”

“WE KNOW YOU HAVE HOSTAGES, WE WANT TO NEGOTIATE. WE ARE PREPARED TO PAY ANY AMOUNT.”

Without taking eyes off you, Junkrat cocks his head towards the door, “Ay, Roadie, mind telling the cops we’ll be off soon? We…” -his eyes roam over you- “..we got what we wanted.” 

The giant man walks out the door and you hear a deafening shatter. People begin screaming and you could swear Roadhog single-handedly just hooked and smashed a police car into the street lamp. 

You give a nervous smile and laugh, “Y-yeah! We make our own dairy creamer mix and soak the boba in a honey syrup. Makes… makes it tastier that way.” 

“The half-sweet is just right. Not many places get it right,” he keeps looking at you. His eyes bore into you and you feel naked, exposed.  

“I get that,” you keep grinning nervously, feeling your cheeks flush, “sometimes it’s too sweet to be half-sweet. Sometimes it’s like…watered down milk tea.”

 He leans in closer, and you find yourself not pulling away. You’re close enough you can see the soot and ash baked into his skin. You can see the singed edges of his hair, see the glowing edges where it’s actively burning. He smells smoky with an unctuousness of burnt rubber and much to your surprise, he’s sweet the way gasoline smells sweet. 

“Come with me.”

You blinked, “Wha?”

“Come with me,” he extends his hand to you. 

Courage surged through you, “If… If I come with you, will you promise not to hurt anyone else here?”

“Course, darl,” there’s a gentleness in his voice. He’s coaxing you. You know it. He patiently sips his drink, waiting for an answer.

You give one final brave, smile to your staff, helping up the tearista on the floor, “Uhm… uh, be good everyone. Pleasure working with you all.”

You unclip your name badge and grasp his hand. Electricity surges through you, you feel free. He helps you up and over the counter and next you know you’re walking into the scorching outside. Sweat immediately beads on your forehead.

You throw your hands in the air, “Stop! STOP! He’s letting everyone go!!” 

Roadhog pauses mid-punch. The  police officers straighten up from behind their cars. One shouts through the megaphone, “STOP OR WE’LL SHOOT! JUST DROP THE WEAPON AND LET THE HOSTAGE COME FORWARD.”

You halt right at the doorway, frozen in fear at the number of guns pointed at you… or rather in your direction.

Junkrat emerges next to you and practically snorts, “Can’t do that mate, also something tells me you won’t shoot, not with this lovely civilian next to me.” 

The officer points at him, confidence in his voice, “That’s where you’re wrong. We have trained snipers! Now… let the civilian walk forward…” 

Roadhog drops the poor sap he’s been punching and turns. Unusual, the police officers don’t usually break out the snipers this early, but then again there was that massive 25 million dollar bounty placed on their heads a few continents back.

Junkrat runs a hand through what hair he has left and chuckles, “Nah, nah Roadie, I got this.”

The cop is looking at you, motioning for you to come forward. You’re rooted in place. Not from pain, not from danger. But fear of losing your chance. He’s your chance. This is it. This is the only time in your life you’ll be able to escape. To leave. 

You turn to Junkrat. Eyewitnesses that day would swear to the media that the poor hostage had a look of utmost desperation and horror in their eyes. But Junkrat knew otherwise.

“Right,” he softly murmurs. He steps forward, closing the distance between you. 

“STOP RIGHT THERE OR ELSE WE’LL SHOOT!” 

Before you knew it, the junker loomed over you and his hand closed around your throat. Keeping a firm, but gentle grip. In his right hand, he produced a terrifying looking explosive, “How about you stop, or else we’ll blow this poor thing up to bits.”

The officer stopped for a moment, an unmistakable breaking in his voice, “The sniper is trained to hit marks within an inch. GIVE UP! We have you surrounded.” 

Roadhog shakes his head. 25 million dollar bounties could make people do crazy things but come on. These guys are supposed to be professionals. Where were these guys getting trained? Hostage 101, do not escalate the situation. But then again, Rat was being unusually calm. 

Junkrat pulls you closer, you can feel the heat emanating off his skin, “Willing to bet an innocent bystander’s life on that?”

The officer pauses for a bit.

“Tell you what, mate,” Junkrat drops the explosive at your feet (eliciting a gasp from the officers), “We’ll be going now, and this precious sweetheart is coming with us. Call it uh… shit, what is it called again, Roadie?”

Roadhog grunts.

“Ah! Right! Insurance… call it insurance!” He produces a remote trigger from his pocket and wiggles it at the policeman, red button gleaming tauntingly. “Let me and Roadie go, give us, ehhh let’s say and 3 hour head start and no harm will come to hostage.” 

The officer grits his teeth, his hand shoots for the radio at his hip. 

In a moment of inspiration you start crying. Years of customer service taught you how to fake a smile and a chipper attitude. It’ll help you now. You struggle against the junker’s grip, pleading, “I don’t want to die!! Just give him what he wants!! For the love of god! Listen to him!!!” 

Junkrat grinned, trying to stifle a giggle, “Ya’ heard ‘em. Now, move before I paint the road red with both our guts.” 

You keep at it, laying the desperation on thick, “Please!!! My coworker’s in the shop and he’s injured! Let them go or else he’ll die!!” 

The junker shrugs, “Ya heard ‘em mate… clock’s tickin’.”

The officer furrows his brow before finally speaking into the microphone, “Stand down. I repeat stand down.” 

“Alright, plug your ears darl’ this is gonna be loud,” Junkrat stoops down and scoops you up in one fluid motion.

You watch the officer’s face contort in a scream and then nothing but bright white. A deafening bang destroys your ears, and you’re sailing. The scream in your throat doesn’t even make it out, but you grip onto him tighter, digging your nails in. 

He rolls as he lands, protecting you in his embrace. You’re a bit smoky, but unscathed. Your ears are still ringing and the vertigo from the sudden launch is making your vision spin.

A rough hand hoists the both of you up and you feel motion again. This time you’re being propelled forward. 

“Damn shame you didn’t get to try that milk tea, Roadie,” Junkrat positions you more comfortably in the sidecar, gently moving an arm or a leg there. 

The older junker grunts, “Don’t like it.”

You whizz through the city, past your old college, your old haunts… this, this was it. There’s no going back. 

The sound of sirens wailing pulls you out of the haze. The younger junker, the infamous Junkrat, pulls out his grenade launcher and began loading a fresh clip of bombs. 

The grenades launch forward with a ga-thunk! and the cars swerve to avoid them, losing speed in the process. 

“Had enough of Junkrat and Roadhog, yet??” 

You watch him, manic, explosive glory and all. His silhouette in sharp relief with the blazing sun behind him. And this… this was what you had been needing. The adventure you’d be wanting. You are literally being whisked away and though shit was crazy… though you could never return to the familiar.. this was it. You smiled. He caught your eye and the crazed expression mellowed, protectiveness replacing the blood-thirstiness. Your eyes begin to flutter, feeling your body black out from the exhaustion, sleeping into the deep sleep you much needed. Half-sweet. This was all half-sweet. 

[glowingjunmyeon]

Lost and Found (an EXO fanfic) - ch.12

Pairing: Xiumin x Reader

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: Language

Summary: Marion’s life was going perfectly well before it had fell apart. She had moved out from her family’s house to New York City almost a year ago to attend her dream college. She had gotten a small job and had a great group of friends to keep her happy. Then everything went downhill the moment she found out that her father had died. What made it worse was the fact that her father’s bank account was mysteriously empty, leaving her and her family completely broke. Marion suddenly didn’t have any time to go to college anymore or even grieve her father’s death as she thrown into working multiple jobs to support her family. Her happy college days were gone, instead replaced with working at a Chicken restaurant during the day and serving people drinks at a bar by night. It wasn’t until a rather handsome man walks through the Bar doors that lightens things up in her life. He’s attractive, charming and likable-everything a girl would want in a man-until he does something that leaves her never wanting to see him again...but he still wants to see her. Sometimes you live with memories that you wish you could forget, but not always regret.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 |  Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16

             Marion woke up in the morning to hearing the sound of someone humming in her kitchen. Marion did not remember how she got on her bed and she did not remember putting an empty plate and medicine on her nightstand. She wondered for a second if she had gotten drunk last night but then realized that if she had been drunk she would’ve had a hangover right now-which she did not. She sat up, feeling a little unsettled at the humming coming from her kitchen. She stood up, grabbed the baseball bat from her closet and walked slowly to the kitchen. She could feel her heart in her throat and fear pulsing through her veins as she took a peek.

It was Minseok. His half shaved hair ruffled and his broad back faced her as he stood facing the stove. He wore a plain black shirt and matching pants-what shocked her was how relaxed he seemed-in her house.

“What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. Here.” Marion said, with a sharp pause between each word.

She felt irked when Minseok didn’t turn around to look at her and instead stopped humming to say, “I’m making you breakfast.”

She raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms, “You didn’t go home last night?”

He finally turned to look at her, his dark almond shaped eyes meeting hers, “I did. But I may have stole your extra pair of keys to come back here and make you some breakfast.” His voice neutral as he said all of this.

She placed the baseball bat down, “Minseok-“

He cut her off, “Look-I would talk with you but I actually got a busy day today. I made you some scrambled eggs and brought you a coffee right there,” He pointed at it on the counter, “That’s your breakfast. There is some leftover Chinese food from last night that’s in your fridge-that’s your lunch, okay?” He didn’t give her a chance to reply as he continued, “I’ll be here for dinner so don’t worry about that. And don’t forget to drink your medicine right after breakfast, I brought you an extra pack in case it runs out. You have to drink it every 4 hours. I’ll text you to remind you anyway.”

While he had said all of this he had turned off the stove and walked over to coat hanger to grab his trench coat. He had slipped it on and placed his hat over his head. She had been too shocked to move until he had went to her key hanger and took her extra pair of house keys.

“Hey!” she yelled as she surged forward.

He slipped out of the door while yelling, “Stay home and rest up! I’ll be back for dinner!” Then he shut the door with a loud slam, just as she had thrown herself at it.

             Minseok was walking out of the studio with Chen, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Suho. The rest had decided to stay longer to work more. Minseok shuffled on his coat as he walked down the steps, listening to Baekhyun speak beside him.

“Man-my throat is sore from doing all those high notes.”Baekhyun complained while rubbing his throat.

Chen’s head snapped up, “Ya-they weren’t even that high.”

Baekhyun sniggered, “Look who’s talking.”

Chen reddened, “Ya! That’s exactly why I’m talking.”

Baekhyun cupped his hands around his mouth as he yelled, “Chen the #1 singer worldwide!”

Chen shouldered Baekhyun while shaking his head, a big cheeky smile on his face, “Shut up!”

Suho chuckled, while checking his watch, “Are you guys hungry? Let’s eat out.”

Chen patted Minseok’s back with a bright grin on his face, “Yeah-it’s Minseok’s turn to pay.” All the members had a rotation of when to pay for the food-there was no way you could get out it. You were going to pay one day or another, the members were very serious in remembering who had to pay next.

Baekhyun hooted, “Ooh yeah-how about some Pizza?”

Kyungsoo spoke, “No.”

Baekhyun countered, “Why not?!”

Chen shouted without realizing it, “We ate so much pizza already!”

Minseok glanced up as Chen’s voice echoed around the staircase, “You guys are so loud.” He mumbled.

Baekhyun countered, “But New York’s pizza is soooo good!”

Kyungsoo replied, “I’m tired of it.”

Baekhyun smiled wide jokingly while shoving his face into Kyungsoo’s, “I’m tired of you.”

Kyungsoo shoved him back and Baekhyun laughed it off but from the corner of Minseok’s eye he saw Baekhyun rubbing his shoulder afterwards. Minseok chuckled.

Chen spoke up, “Why don’t we eat something new?”

Baekhyun replied, “I’ve never tried German food-or Italian food.”

“Pizza is Italian.” Suho said with a cheesy grin.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened in shock, “Really?”

Chen rolled his eyes, “No pizza!”

Suho spoke while staring down at his phone, “There is a German food place only 10 minutes away from here. It has 4.5 star rating. Wanna go?”

“No.” Baekhyun said almost immediately.

“Why?” Chen asked.

Baekhyun replied with a stupid grin spreading across his face, “It has to have 5 star rating.”

Suho smiled, while Kyungsoo replied, “You’re not funny!”

Chen placed his hand on Minseok’s shoulder when they finally reached the bottom step, “Ya-what do you think? German food?”

“Why don’t we just hit the bar and get drunk?” Baekhyun mumbled with a tiny grin.

“I’m not going to be eating out with you guys.” Minseok stated, calmly.

Kyungsoo blinked while Suho said, “Why?” at the same time Chen had said, disappointedly, “Ah-waE?!”

Minseok shrugged, “I have to go somewhere.”

Baekhyun grinned while wriggling his eyebrows, “Ooh, is it Marion’s place?”

Minseok ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah…she’s actually sick.”

Chen shook his head, “Ah-everyone is getting sick during this weather.”

Baekhyun patted Chen’s head, “But Mario works two jobs! Imagine how hard that must be.”

Minseok turned around, “What?”

Baekhyun faced Minseok, “Oh-you didn’t know?” Baekhyun said, with a slightly shocked smile (aka the smile that you give when you know something that the other doesn’t). “She works at some Chicken restaurant in the morning.”

“No she doesn’t.” Kyungsoo said, his voice coming out more stern than he intended. He remembered that Marion had told him and Kai not to tell Minseok about her working at the Chirping Chicken-he didn’t know why but he still wanted to keep up to his promise.

Baekhyun nodded, “Ya-man, she does! You weren’t there but when she stayed over to eat breakfast with us she said that she worked at some Chicken place. That was the reason why she had to leave early-right, Chen?”

Baekhyun looked over at Chen expectantly while Chen nodded, “Yeah, she said it herself.”

Minseok frowned, “Oh-I guess…it slipped my mind,” Minseok paused before adding, “I got to go. See ya.” Then he turned towards the door and pushed it open. Just as Minseok stepped out he heard Baekhyun ask, “Now who’s going to pay for the food?”

               Marion was laying down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling expressionlessly like there was nothing else left in her life anymore, all because she had just finished watching her current favorite drama series. She almost jumped when she heard a knock on the door and a familiar voice mutter from the other side, “It’s me.”

Her dark eyes flitted to the clock on her wall. 8:43 pm. Just as he said he would be-he was here at dinnertime. She sat up slowly, hastily twisting her hair into a loose low bun that sat at the nape of her neck. She suddenly frowned placing her hands on her hips, “And why should I open the door for you?”

She heard a slight quiet sigh before some shuffling and then the click of her door unlocking, “You’re right-why should you when I have a key.” He jangled the keys playfully in his hand before slipping it back into his pocket. She gaped, forgetting that he had taken her extra pair.

“Minseok!” she yelled while fast walking over to him. She reached her hand out to his coat pocket but he moved aside, dodging her with a small tired grin on his face. She reached out towards his pocket again, “You have no righ-“

She was cut off when she felt a smooth hand grip her chin, bringing her face up to look at him. Her heart skipped a beat at how close their faces were. She felt herself freeze in shock. She couldn’t help but notice how perfect he was up close-there was not a single scar or pore visible on the smooth planes of his face-and the way his angularly cut jawline jutted out from the sides of his face-it was unreal. But it was his eyes, his pretty, dark, almond shaped eyes that had truly captivated her, the way they raked over her face so slowly-so sensually-she couldn’t breathe. His voice came out softly from his shapely lips, “Hmm…well at least you don’t look sick anymore.” That brought her out of her daze.

She pushed his hand back as he chuckled slightly, walking past her to the kitchen. She turned around to give him a look as she touched her chin with a frown, “Did you really have to grab my face to check that?”

His back was facing her as he put something in the microwave, “Did you drink your medicine?”

“Yes I did, but-“

He interrupted her, “Did you eat the breakfast and lunch I made you?”

She rolled her eyes, “Yes but-“

He interrupted her once again, “Did you stay home all day?”

She frowned, “Yes but-“

Just as he opened his mouth to interrupt her again she yelled over him, “Do you have to be here?”

He finally turned to look back at her to see her scowling at him. He opened the microwave pulling out the box of Shrimp Scampi pasta, “Do you want dinner?” he asked, with a slight glimmer dancing in his eyes as he knows he won.

She made a face before crossing her arms, “You’re only getting away with this because I want food.”

He grinned slightly, walking over to her living room with the box and two forks in his hand. “I know, I know.”

He placed the food down on the coffee table and sat down on the ground beside it. He heard her slowly make her way towards him and quietly sit down beside him in front of the table. He shook off his trench coat and threw it on the couch. She huffed slightly, He’s acting like it’s his own house. His eyes widened as he caught her huff and he acted as though he were going to pack up all the food again, “Oh? Is there a problem-” He asked, innocently.

She quickly cut him off and patted his hands back down gently, “Oh-no-no-no, of course not. I love having you here.” She said, with a fake warm smile.

He tilted his head adorably, a few of his wavy black hairs falling over his forehead in the process, “Aw, you’re too nice to me.” He said, while smiling sweetly.

She stared at him for a second in shock before swatting his arm lightly and laughing a bit, “Shut up.” she said, while shaking her head. A smile split across his face as she laughed. God, he loved her smile. He quickly faced the food so she couldn’t see him flush lightly. He placed some of the shrimp pasta onto her plate, “Did you ever have Shrimp Scampi before?”

She shook her head as she reached for a fork, “Nope, but if there is anything with seafood you can count me in.”

He watched her pop a shrimp into her mouth casually, “You like seafood?”

She nodded, slurping up one of the noodles that hadn’t made it to her mouth, “Yep.”

He took a forkful of his pasta with a pleased smile on his face as he thought, I knew it. But he didn’t realize he said it out loud until she shot him a look, “Okay, okay. Mr. Perfect.”

He chuckled lightly at that, knowing that he was far from it. They finished the rest of the food in a comfortable silence. He snuck looks at her when he knew she wasn’t looking. He felt relieved to be here with her. The whole day he had been antsy-wondering what she was doing and if she was alright. Even the members had noticed. He felt bad but he was just aching to see her, it had been like a nagging pull in the bottom of his stomach. He was just relieved that she didn’t seem as sick as she had been yesterday-besides, she hadn’t even sneezed once yet.

Once she finished her plate she placed her hand on her stomach, “I’m full.” She said, while leaning back against the couch behind her. He picked up her empty plate and his, “Good.” He said, before walking to the kitchen and dumping it. She watched him do so with a slight guilty smile sneaking onto her face-she would never admit it but it felt nice to have someone look after her-she still had mixed feelings about him. She stood up, stretching out her arms before picking up the forks that he had left behind to dump them in the kitchen herself.

He waited for her in the living room, standing still as he watched her make her way back to the couch and snuggle into the fuzzy blanket. After a moment she asked, quietly-sensing something off about him as he looked at her thoughtfully, “Why are you staring at me?” she asked, quietly.

He blinked looking away as he smoothed out the front of his sweater before sitting down across from her beside the coffee table on the ground. He shrugged, “Ah-nothing.”

She frowned slightly but-surprisingly-didn’t question it. Instead she slowly used her feet to move his trench coat off the couch. She was stopped mid-way though, when she heard Minseok ask, “How’s college?”

She blinked-tensing up slightly. His eyes searched her intently as he waited for an answer, “Don’t you go to NYU?” he asked.

She was still, her lips pursed as she felt herself slowly zone out into her thoughts. College? I don’t go to college anymore, fool-but you don’t know that. No one knows that. I don’t want anyone to know. His voice cut through her thoughts once more, “How do you work two jobs and manage going to college at the same time?”

Her mouth fell open slightly, “How-who told you-“

“That you work two jobs? I had to hear it from Baekhyun. Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his eyes intent on hers.

“Does it matter?” she said, an undertone of sharpness in her tone as she didn’t meet his eyes.

He tilted his head, “I don’t see any textbooks or a backpack in your house.”

She muttered, coming up with something on spot, “I left them in my car.”

“You don’t have a car.”

She was silent for a moment, before shooting back, “It’s not like you told me about being in band?”

And before he could ask she added, hastily, “I had to find out from Kyungsoo.”

Minseok frowned slightly, “I thought Kyungsoo wasn’t home the day you stayed for breakfast?”

Marion felt like he could see right through her as she snapped, “Can you not change the topic?”

His eyes furrowed as they met hers with twice the intensity, “Can you not change the topic?”

She glared, “What even was the topic?”

“About how you manage college life with two jobs.” He said, straightforwardly.

She was silent as she pulled the blanket over her head and turned away from him. After a moment Minseok whispered, “Marion-what is going on?”

Marion didn’t reply, instead squeezed her eyes shut as she tried not to think. Tried not to let any guilt consume her. She suddenly felt a hand brush over her shoulder, “You’re shaking.” Minseok said, quietly.

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.

She suddenly felt him grip her shoulder, “Marion-what’s wrong?” She didn’t realize that she was shaking harder until Minseok tried turning her to face him. “Marion! Look at me! What the hell is wrong!” she could hear the ferocity in his voice.

“I’m fine.” Her voice came out dry and small and she hated how it sounded close to tears when she wasn’t.

She felt him shake her shoulder lightly before letting go, “Stop lying to me!” He demanded.

She gritted her teeth, “Just leave me alone, goddammit!”

“I can’t!” she heard him yell back with anger and a tinge of helplessness.

“Yes, you can!” she yelled.

“Tell me!” He said, his voice sounded higher-as if he was standing beside the couch. She felt his hand come up to her shoulder again but then she shoved it back, throwing her blanket off from around herself in the process. “I don’t go to college anymore!” she said, her heart pounding as she said it. It was the first time she had admitted it to someone.

He backed up a couple of steps, the blanket that she had thrown off now in his hands. “Why?” he asked, confused.

“Why?” she repeated while laughing dryly. “Because my Dad died. He wasn’t the only one who left his family behind-so did his fucking money. He didn’t leave 2 fucking cents in his bank account. My Mom was a housewife-until she found this out and started as many jobs as possible at once and she told me to do the same. I already had one part time job at the bar when I had college but when I realized that wasn’t enough to pay my mom’s mortgage and my rent I got another job. At the stupid Chicken Restaurant. I thought I could manage it-balance school in there somehow but that’s fucking impossible! My mom doesn’t know that I work multiple jobs-she thinks I only work one but how the hell can I work only one job when there is no else supporting my family! My family needed fucking money! We are living paycheck to paycheck god-dammit! We didn’t even get our Dad the mahogany wood coffin-why? Too expensive and we didn’t have the money!” Then she laughed dryly, so much pain in that dry laugh- “But I was stupid and optimistic I thought everything work the fuck out. I completely ditched going to school-too busy working at my job I forgot college even existed until-“ her voice cracked and she gulped as she closed her eyes remembering the moment.

“Until…” she continued, “I got a phone call from my counselor. She told me-“

“Marion…you don’t have to.” She heard Minseok whisper quietly but she didn’t dare open her eyes to look at him. Instead she held her knees up against her body and let her head lean back against the couch to face the ceiling.

His body ached to see her in pain like this. Her voice didn’t waver when she continued, but he could hear the pain and energy that it was taking for her to say each word. “She told me that I was unenrolled. My scholarship was withdrawn because I had missed too many classes.”

She finally opened her eyes and looked at him, “And you know whats worse?” her voice dead of any emotion-god, he didn’t like seeing her like this. Without the light in her eyes and instead you could see the raw feeling of pain in them. How could this happen to her? He wanted to do something so bad-she didn’t deserve this.

She laughed dryly again. Please don’t laugh like that-please. “My Mom doesn’t know. She thinks-she thinks I’m skipping over to college everyday-thinks I’m being a good student-studying, reading, writing. When in reality I haven’t done that shit in a month!”

She looked down laughing slightly before bringing her knees closer to her chest and dug her face between them. She could feel her shoulders shake slightly as she grit her teeth and shut her eyes hard. I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry-She felt someone sit on the couch beside her and clamp their warm large hands on her shoulders. “Marion-it’s okay to cry.” He urged, his voice a mask of forced calm.

“No-no-no-no!” she muttered, her voice rising with each word. “It’s not okay-don’t say that to me. I need to get over it and just face my life the way it is.” She wished she could believe her own words.

“Marion-stop it.” She could hear the urge in his voice but she shook her head, not even understand what he was referring to. Suddenly she felt him pull her towards his hard muscular body, her head fitting under his chin as her curled up body leaned against his on the couch. She tried to pry herself off his grip, “Let go of me!” she said, continuing to try twist herself out of his arms.

“No.” He said, his voice undeniably firm.

She tried shifting her legs and arms out of his grip, “Let-go!”

His arms were horrifying strong, like bands of metal holding her against him. “LET ME G-“ she meant to yell and put all her pressure against him to push him off but she broke. All the pent up emotion that had grown inside of her once again exploded-the grief for her father, college, work and her mother-it all came spilling down her cheeks in tears and muffled cries against his sweater as she had let her body fall against his frame. She cried and cried-letting her heart pour through her tears, punching him at a point and then squeezing him so hard at the other but he still didn’t let go. He never let go, even when she fell silent and slack against him. Instead his arms around her held her closer. The last thing she heard was his heartbeat and the peaceful feeling of his fingers running through her hair.

Sorry I feel like I take ages to upload the next chapters to this story but thanks for still sticking with me if you still are lol. Remember I love hearing your comments and opinions so don’t be afraid to drop into my ask and tell me what you think! Love ya

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG Watchthrough Episodes 21-25. Final episodes of Season One.

Symbiosis: Remember kids, drugs are bad! Okay tbf this WAS back in the 80’s where crack and stuff were a growing issue and drug addiction episodes were not at all uncommon. Heaven knows that I saw PLENTY in cartoons from the time, such as Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue or a VERY infamous episode of Captain Planet that I’m shocked got by the censors. As with many of those cartoons though, this episode is... well, pretty preachy. Not as badly, they save it for just one scene for the most part, but still. I don’t think that tackling addiction in ST is a bad idea, but... well, 80’s. I guess if it educated people then that’s good. Frankly I was on Crusher’s side that they should do something, but they stick with the Prime Directive which I guess they’ve gotten a LOT stricter about since the TOS days. The ending is pretty depressing with the addiction continuing, the assholes continuing to sell it, and our heroes can only allow it to happen aside from depriving them of ships to stop shipments, leaving them to figure it out themselves. Hopefully one day things can get better for them. Otherwise, it was just okay. Not the worst drug PSA I’ve ever seen by a long-shot. Oh and apparently there was a Reading Rainbow episode where Levar showed the making of this episode, so if you can find it you should check it out~! 3/5.

Skin of Evil: So... I already knew going into the show that Yar died and Worf would take her place as Security Chief. It’s a shame tbh cause while underdeveloped, I really liked Yar and had she held out, she could have gotten some REALLY good development. But I understand why the actress was unsatisfied with being on the show and left, and I read that she does get to come back for an episode later on so that’s nice. I’ll go into how her death was handled in a bit. As far as the episode itself goes, we have a VERY creepy black liquid monster holding Troi hostage in a crashed shuttle and considering it just managed to kill a person, the danger is VERY real. And it did it essentially because it wanted to cause suffering which Troi senses, which makes it all the more horrifying. The tension and fear is very strong and them themes of a being that serves evil just because... yeah that was something. Picard causing it to break down was freakin’ awesome, Kirk would be proud! Now Yar’s death. The reactions of everyone were appropriate and the event was properly shocking. I went wide-eyed when it happened since I did NOT expect it to happen that fast in that kind of manner. The funeral was also properly sad and showed that Yar was a valued member of the crew and very much respected by her crewmen, and that she respected them in turn. The final scene where Data is confused if he missed the point by feeling lost and Picard telling him that he got it exactly right? That was a perfect note to end on, and by God is that the truth regarding grief/loss. That being said... while I understand why it was done as it was and can’t complain about the execution and tone, the abrupt end just feels unsatisfying. I hate character deaths like this because it makes the character feel wasted and robs them of a proper sendoff, even with Yar’s message. They just feel like fodder. So while it had the proper weight, I’m still unhappy with how it’s done and I hope that Yar’s later reappearance will allow more closure or her. Because even if underutilized, she deserved a better ending. Still, even taking that into account, the episode is dark, tense, and Yar’s death does leave a shocking impact that TOS never quite gave me (Spock got brought back so that doesn’t count, plus he got a proper sendoff that would have been satisfactory fi he hadn’t come back). 4.5/5.

We’ll Always Have Paris: So after major character death and evil tar monsters, we get an episode on Picard’s love life! I guess a pre-requisite for being a Starfleet Captain is to have a crappy one of those. Then again maybe Sisko will break the curse when I get to DS9, we’ll see. Anyways! As the title hints, this is essentially the ST version of Casablanca. Picard has an old flame who left him, got married, and now the couple are in need of help while that old flame between Picard and the woman Jenice (is Janice and variaiton fo Janice just... a REALLY common name in the future? There was Janice Rand, Kirk’s ex in Turnabout Intruder was named Janice, now in TNG we have Jenice, how is this a pattern?!). Isn’t love fun folks?! So the episode was... okay. The time distortion or whatever broke my brain so that didn’t help. Picard and Jenice... didn’t work for me? Like... I felt no chemistry. It felt like two people in denial about a flame that fizzled out ages ago than one that burned for many years but was lost. IDK fit hat’s on the actors, the script, and/or the directing but I felt nothing, plus Jenice flirting wih Picard while her husband was in sickbay possibly dying... felt pretty shitty. Oh and the Picard/Crusher ship tease also made me feel nothing. I like Picard. I LOVE Crusher. I don’t have any feelings for them as a pair especially considering that Crusher’s husband was friends with Picard and died on duty with him... which just makes it feel WRONG to me. And poor Troi has to deal with everyone being emotionally repressed idiots, the poor woman deserves a niiiice Shore Leave. So it was average, but the lack of romantic chemistry and me just being confued by the time distortions cause... time distortions just left me confused and uninvested. So yeah... that’s all I can say. 2/5.

Conspiracy: Well a title like that can only mean good things, right? RIGHT?! So... remember the brain slugs from The Wrath of Khan? Well they decided to bring that concept back! They’ve taken over the admirals of Starfleet and are taking over with our heroes having to try and figure out what’s happening and stop it. It’s an interesting one for sure. We have Picard on Earth with the admirals while Quinn from a previous episode is on the Enterprise and causing chaos on there. It’s pretty scary to think about, the higher ups being brainwashed and could have easily destroyed the Federation from the inside out if Picard hadn’t been warned ahead of time. When Picard is utterly surrounded and they were eating the worm things... God it was scary. Although Riker really DID fool me into thinking he was possessed, so I outright cheered when he pulled out his phaser. Badass! Oh and Crusher blasting Quinn until he was down was also badass. It was also shockingly graphic with the bugs and the one guy’s body that hosted the alien... how THAT got by the censors I will never, EVER know. In the end, we never find out about who unleashed the parasites (apparently it was going to be The Borg but it didn’t work out) or what they wanted, but it certainly left an impact. Plus I think the ambiguity makes it all the more horrifying. Someone or something almost took over... and they’ll never know who or what. Overall, really good episode. 4/5.

The Neutral Zone: Well they’ve mentioned then and hinted at it a few times, but at last in the season final, the Romulans have made their return. IDT thy’ve been major villains since The Enterprise Incident back in TOS S3. Speaking of TOS... I thought we were done reusing plots, but this is more or less Space Seed except the frozen people aren’t evil, bio enhanced lunatics. So not a direct reuse but it’s pretty hard to ignore the major similarity. Anyways, we have a bit of an interesting premise with people from the 20th Century being thawed into the 24th Century and letting them interact. There would be major culture shock and values dissonance because even compared to the 80’s and the 2020’s so many values and views have changed. So imagine how much changed in between four centuries with concepts like phones and banks no longer a thing. It was... eh? I like the idea but I just didn’t care for these people much? Well the one guy who is a walking Southern redneck stereotype didn’t especially when he... was alone with Crusher. I HATED that guy, and I’ve seen rednecks my entire life! The other two I at least felt some sympathy for especially the one woman, but not enough to get me invested in this particular plot. Though I WAS amused by some things like TV not surviving past 2040... yeah THAT I find difficult to believe. Ah, the irony of making TV shows set int he future when you have no way of predicting what will and won’t happen. But yeah I get the parallel they were going for by the end with the civilians and Romulans being out of touch with the Federation, but I just didn’t care enough. The Romulan half of the plot? The build-up to it was good with everyone on edge since this will be the first time dealing with them in over 50 years and who knows what they’re like now compared to the TOS era. And when we finally see them? Well they’re very much still intimidating and a sense of danger is very much still existent, though they do agree to share information on this one issue so they aren’t foolish. It very much brought back whatever investment I had in them back in TOS, Went hey said that they’re back, that was a promise and I am all for it~! As far as being a season finale goes... well TOS weren’t exactly great in that area so it being just fine is par for the course, but it is just fine. Really the Romulan bit was what helped this episode, otherwise it’s just okay, but at least the ending scene promises more to come. Not a bad note to end on. 3/5.

Well it took much longer than I had hoped, but we have finished TNG Season One! It was... rough, but I knew going it that it would be. There were some bright spots and it did well enough to get renewed, but clearly a lot was going to need to be done to fine tune the show and let it reach it’s full potential. Will Season 2 be an improvement? What changes will they make? Will they be good or bad for the show? Will Riker ever get his glorious beard anytime soon? We’ll find out in due time. So tomorrow I’ll do the Top 5 Best/Worst list for S1, then by Friday I hope to get S2 underway. For now one season down, six to go. The adventure continues.

[comicsbooksnews-blog]

Box Office Preview – AVENGERS: ENDGAME is Ready to Obliterate the Box Office

Box Office Preview – AVENGERS: ENDGAME is Ready to Obliterate the Box Office

Welcome back to the Beat’s weekly Box Office Preview!

Not sure I really need to tell anyone what movie is opening this Friday, because it’s a movie that may have one of the biggest anticipation factors… maybe ever? That’s right. Marvel fans had to wait a WHOLE YEAR to find out what happens next after the climactic ending of Avengers: Infinity War and that brings us to…

AVENGERS: ENDGAME (Marvel/Disney)

Cast: Brie Larson, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, Karen Gillan, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Tom Holland? Chadwick Boseman? Bendict Cumberbatch? Sebastian Stan? Elizabeth Olsen? Don Cheadle? (Sniff)

Directed By: Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, You, Me and Dupree)

MPAA Rating: PG-13

To say that Avengers: Endgame is the “BIG ONE” would be the understatement of the century, and that is no hyperbole either… even if it sounds like it is. Okay, it probably is, but hey, that’s the world we live in now.

Last year’s Avengers: Infinity War set a new opening record of $257.7 million, besting the opening for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which kicked off a new series for that venerable franchise. Obviously, Marvel fans were dying to find out where the storyline with Thanos would go, who would live and who would die, the story having been set-up over the course of a decade of Marvel movies. The cliffhanger ending of Infinity War floored fans and left them immediately wanting more.

Even though we might be entering new territory with Endgame, there are some precedents to consider.

In fact, before we go on, let’s look at some numbers for comparison’s sake:

Marvel’s Avengers (5/4/12)

$207.4 million opening / $623.3 million domestic total

Avengers: Age of Ultron (5/1/15)

$191.3 million / $459 million

Avengers: Infinity War (4/27/18)

$257.7 million / $678.8 million

Captain America: Civil War (5/6/16)

$179.1 million / $408.8 million

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (11/4/16)

$248 million / $936.6 million

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (12/15/17)

$220.1 million / $620.2 million

When Marvel’s The Avengers opened with more than $200 million in 2012, many thought we had seen the biggest opening weekend we might ever see. In 2015, Jurassic World beat that record, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens besting Jurassic World later that same year. The Force Awakens went on to become the highest-grossing movie in North American history with $936.6 million, and Infinity War didn’t even come close to that amount. It wasn’t even able to best Black Panther’s $700 million domestic gross earlier last year, although it did come close.

Something that’s good to point out is that despite the success of 2012’s Avengers, its sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron opened softer and made less money in total, maybe because it wasn’t a direct sequel. Similarly, The Last Jedi opened about $28 million softer than its predecessor and didn’t even come close to the monster gross of Force Awakens. Bearing that in mind, one would think that might be the same case with Endgame. Nope!

First of all, Endgame is the direct sequel to a monster blockbuster, and obviously, fans are going to want to see the movie as soon as possible in fear of having the movie spoiled for them. In fact, Marvel and the Russo Brothers (directing their fourth Marvel movie) have gone out of their way to keep as much about the movie a secret as possible, not showing the movie to anyone before the premiere on Monday night.

What’s interesting is that Endgame is the height of the Marvel Universe where the movies no longer rely on one star like Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans to succeed. It’s very much the sum of the parts as Brie Larson and Benedict Cumberbatch and even Paul Rudd have managed to sustain blockbuster-grossing solo movies on their own, and bringing them together has a similar effect of the very first Avengers movie.

Not only is the “sequel factor” very much in play, but there’s also the “ending of a franchise” factor, which creates an elevated interest. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a good example of how that story ending after eight movies made the last one even more of an event. Oddly, The Hunger Games: Mockinjay – Part 2 didn’t get quite the same bump, with the finale making less than Part 1.

Although I personally have been avoiding reviews and reactions for Endgame until I get to see the movie myself, Avengers: Endgame is already proving itself one of those review-proof phenomena that any positive reviews or reactions will only help to bring in any of the few non-believers. It’s absolutely no surprise that most of the earliest reviews were positive either.

Our own Kyle Pinion also reviewed it.

When tickets went on sale for Avengers: Endgame a few weeks back, it almost literally broke the internet with demand, setting a new record for Fandango and other ticket resellers for the highest first day of sales. At this point, many Thursday night and Friday screenings are already sold out, as are many of the premium showing in IMAX and the like, so that’s a lot of money already made. (In other words, those reviews won’t really matter either way.) On Monday, it was reported that the movie had already sold somewhere between $120 and 140 million in tickets, which is huge, but that could also point to an over-saturation of advance ticket-buying that would account for the number of sell-outs on Thursday and Friday. (There are a few theaters in the country which are showing Endgame literally around the clock all weekend… just in case someone wants to see it at 3 in the morning.)

Apparently, the movie also has the largest and most expensive marketing campaign ever staged by Disney for a Marvel movie, though that shouldn’t be too surprising, as the studio has been flying most of the cast around the world for international junkets. Obviously, this movie is going to be as big overseas (or even bigger), and matching Infinity War’s $2 billion gross shouldn’t be too big a problem.

Domestically, Disney is going to give the movie their widest release for a movie ever in more than 4,600 theaters, which is very close to every theater apart from art houses. That should best Despicable Me 3’s current record of 4,529 theaters in 2017, and The Force Awakens’ record of $59,982 for a theatrical average might also be toast after this weekend.

What’s interesting is that while Endgame should set a new opening record and open bigger than Infinity War, it could be more frontloaded to the point where it will only make slightly more in total. You see, there is a certain saturation of moviegoers who will see Endgame in theaters, and it’s basically the same people who went to see Infinity War in theaters, although more of them might go out opening weekend.

I think we’re looking at quite a few new records, although I’m not sure The Force Awakens’ $57 million Thursday preview is in danger. In that case, we’re talking about almost a decade of anticipation for another movie, whereas for Endgame it’s just one year. On the other hand, Force Awakens’ single day record of $119 million could be taken down when you add Endgame’s Thursday previews into Friday.

I think we’re looking at around $48 million on Thursday, $125 million on Friday, including those previews — that would break Force Awakens’ single day record — and then somewhere around $280 million for the weekend. (I’m not brave enough to state that this can open with $300 million even if it did sell tickets faster than Infinity War – “faster” is not the same as “more.” Sunday may also see a massive drop due to an important episode of Game of Thrones, too.) The movie should also hold up well for a few weekends with Warners’ Detective Pikachu on May 10 being the first real threat, and that’s not for two more weeks. It’s officially summer, folks!

(Feel free to give your own predictions below!)

This Week’s Box Office Predictions:

Avengers: Endgame (Marvel / Disney) – $282 million N/A

2 – 10. Who Cares?!?

Just kidding… expect big drops as many theaters give up screens to meet the demand for Endgame.

The Curse of La Llorona (New Line/WB) – $11.1 million -58%

Shazam! (New Line / WB) – $7.8 million -53%

Breakthrough (20th Century Fox) – $6.2 million -45%

Captain Marvel (Marvel Studios/Disney) – $4.5 million -51%

Little (Universal) – $3.5 million -52%

Dumbo (Disney) – $3.1 million -55%

Missing Link (U.A. Releasing) – $2.3 million -45%

Pet Sematary (Paramount) – $2.2 million -55%

Us (Universal) – $2 million -52%

It may seem like suicide for ANY movie to open against Avengers: Endgame, but there are still a few independent genre films giving it a go, including Roxanne Benjamin‘s thriller Body at Brighton Rock (Magnolia), Josh Lobo’s paranoid thriller I Trapped the Devil (IFC Midnight), as well as Ralph Fiennes’ The White Crow (Sony Pictures Classics) about Rudolf Nureyev’s defection to the West.

Check back through the weekend for updates on how Avengers: Endgame is doing, as far as breaking all those records mentioned above.

Next week, four new movies will tackle the second weekend of Avengers: Endgame. Competing for 2nd place, at best, is Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron in the comedy Long Shot, the thriller The Intruder, STXfilms’ Ugly Dolls and the action-thriller El Chicano.

Content Source

[perception-6]

(Photo Credits go to Goodreads!)

This book blog has no book posts. Let’s amend that!

I give you, Heir of Fire. Rating: 4/5

Heir of Fire is the third book in Sarah J Maa-

Oh. Right. Forgot what platform this is on.

Heir of Fire came out right around the time I was becoming aware of the presence of bookish communities on the Internet. 2014 (as far as I can tell) was the year when this series freaking BLEW UP on social media, and HoF was the book that really stoked the young Throne of Glass fandom. So, for me, finally reading this book close to three years after seeing it everywhere in my first explorations of Booktube (And trust me, my first encounter with Booklr a year later got the point across that the love for these books was still going strong) was sort of surreal.

In all honesty, HoF was almost… well, disappointing. I should clarify that I rated Throne of Glass 4.5/5, both times that I read it, and that I gave The Assassin’s Blade and Crown of Midnight a solid 5 stars each. If it feels like I put too much fire (hahAHAHAHA I hate myself so much) on this book, that’s partly because it fell flat in comparison to its predecessors; but, all things considered, this book was pretty great and I definitely recommend giving it a shot if you’ve come this far in the series.

(Mostly thematic but some specific spoilers from this point onward!)

Heir of Fire follows four main storylines through four different characters: Celaena, Dorian, Chaol, and the new one, Manon Blackbeak. One of the most jarring parts of HoF was that only half the book, if that, was set in the city of Rifthold, which was the stage for the other SJM books that I read, except the first half of Assassin’s Blade. By itself, this doesn’t mean much (Lord knows I wasn’t particularly attached to Rifthold), but the shift comes with a greater shift in the nature of the plot that took some getting used to. THIS WAS NOT A BAD CHANGE. I LIKED THE DIRECTION THE STORY IS TAKING I SWEAR. But, it made getting into the story that much harder because I wasn’t expecting it to be so different.

Chaol and Dorian keep on keeping on with regards to finding some of their Magic Answers, and it was beautiful to see them make up (apparently they were still hostile at the end of CoM?). I did find their plotlines more or less interesting, though the only major changes until the end were the subtraction of Celaena and the introduction of new characters.

Sorscha was cute, her relationship with Dorian sweet, and the revelation of her treachery was actually pretty surprising and made me like her character even more. I had a feeling she wouldn’t make it to the end though- I was SURE Tumblr would’ve talked about her more if she was in more than one book.

As for Aedion, he wasn’t at all what I was expecting, either in position or in character- For one thing, he’s a general in the army of the King of Adarlan, when I thought he was in some royal position in Terrasen, while still being ruled over by the King. For another, he’s not nearly so clear-cut and chivalrous as I once believed, though after he reveals his intentions to Chaol it’s clear that he would do anything for his cousin. Yay for unconditional loyalty! I was actually pretty nervous for Aedion’s fate in the end of the book, but it looks like I’ll be able to see that reunion I was wondering about in future books.

Celaena’s plotline takes predominance in Heir of Fire, which makes sense; I really wasn’t expecting any sort of real contact with the other continent, which seemed to me like the land beyond the sea in Lord of the Rings- more dream than reality, anyone who goes is leaving the story (remember that healer in Assassin’s Blade? I miss her. (ALSO REMEMBER ANSEL?? I SAW THAT, SARAH, AND MY ANSWER IS VERY YES)). Wendlyn is a total game changer because, unlike in Adarlan, magic is still very much present and usable, and the Fae and Demifae inhabitants are very magical in nature. Was I excited to explore the magic that the other three books danced around? Of course! At the same time, I was very aware that the introduction of magic meant that this was no longer just a human story.

All of the story emphasis up to this point has been placed on the characters, not the magic. Throne of Glass,_ The Assassin’s Blade_, and Crown of Midnight each did a spectacular job exploring human struggles like grief, fear and tyranny. This may be silly, but I’ll always be a bit nostalgic for the days when the main problems were death by human methods. Which I realize makes no sense because Chaol, Dorian, and Celaena opened a portal into the Wyrd after almost being killed by a human twisted and mutated by magic. And I realize that magic can definitely be a plot mechanism that fuels human characteristics like Celaena’s identity or The Kings’ and Arobynn’s hunger for power. Still, I feel like the change of setting and introduction of magic make the world of this story larger, and more complex (But, I mean, it was large and complex to begin with. Am I making sense at this point? Probably not.).

In a less silly way, the introduction of magic took away from the plot in part because time was needed to introduce the rules and systems of practicing magic, and build up Celaena as a competent user of magic, both of which could barely be played around with in magic-barren Adarlan. I was less interested in Celaena’s plotline in HoF because so much of it felt like a prolonged daily training story- which is fine, but a bit slow after the fast-paced love affairs and killing sprees of the last three books. Ironically, training in magic brings so much more focus onto Celaena as a character because of how it forces her to look introspectively. Given how shielded Aelin can be, even to herself, finally seeing her acknowledge the early parts of her life and seeing a full-ish view of her past was satisfying.

Rowan was also a nice addition to the story, but once again I was wary of setting high expectations for an element of the story that Tumblr had hyped up to the extreme. All things considered, Rowan resonated well with me, almost to the point that I’d be into a romantic relationship between them, even if I’m not sold on it yet (because I mean, it’s not guaranteed to happen, is it? oh wait). Wherever Rowaelin goes, I have to say that as of this book, Rowan has something over Dorian, Chaol, and even Sam (sorry, bro.): Rowan has seen it all. Or at least, closer to all than the others ever got. He’s been with her through her revisiting the deaths of her parents, her time in Endovier, Nehemia, LITERALLY ANYTHING PRE-AROBYNN. Dorian never got anything of the sort (as far as I can remember), Arobynn forced her hand by taunting Sam with her past (after which Celaena still wasn’t willing to say anything to him), and she only gave Chaol a vague hint after their relationship was over and she was about to leave Erilea for a long time. Even if it isn’t romantic yet, Rowan and Celaena have developed a strong sense of trust (on the deepest levels) that’s unique among her relationships so far. That’s really nice to see.

Now. Let’s. Talk. About. MANON FUCKING BLACKBEAK. THIS QUEEN. THIS AMAZING STORYLINE. Manon intrigued me from the start (again, thank you Tumblr for giving me presuppositions of various characters in books 3-5), and she sure as hell didn’t disappoint when I got to know her more. The witches were kind of a blank space so far in the story (ANSEL WHERE ARE YOU), and learning a little more about their backstory, history, and characteristics was very satisfying. As for Manon herself, I am (as usual) a sucker for female badass villains (Is Manon a villain though? Not that it matters. She’s abrasive, she doesn’t take crap, and she’s aware of the empathy within herself, and she’s conflicted, and well-rounded, and I love it). Manon and Abraxos are the ultimate OTP of this book, since most of the other romances are dulled down for now. Sorry, Sorian. But. Animal bonds. Trump. All things. If anyone reading this has also read_ The Scorpio Races_, by Maggie Stiefvater, that’s the kind of sentiment towards fantastical animals that I love to see in books, and Heir of Fire captures it perfectly.

 Anything else? Oh, yeah, Arobynn’s probably back next book. Which I have a feeling about, but I’m not sure how… pulls our Tumblr-English dictionary let’s see…. My… Son? MY SON. Yes.

Overall, even though it wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the other Maas books I’ve read, Heir of Fire had a very distinct flavor; it truly stood out from the other books, and I swear I mean that in a good way. As I got further into the book, I kept finding that I when I wasn’t reading, I actually wanted to read it. I’ve been in a pretty aggressive reading slump for the past few months, so finding that feeling in any capacity was nice. Even typing out this review now, over a week after finishing the book, that same addictive quality is creeping back into my mind. Part of how you should judge a book is how often you think about it once it finishes it. By that standard, Maas has never had much trouble with me.

I really need to stop waiting so long between these books.