#but its defo outside perspective here

[mushroomgrenade]

hi!! turning off anon to confess that ever since i joined the tmnt fandom i admired you from afar and always am delighted when i see you pop up on my dash. love people who are active in the community, but i totally understand too if you stop posting tmnt. even as a lurker, i get overwhelmed by fandom stuff and worry that i will upset someone

LMAO dude (first thanks and bless for the support) I woke up to being called out again by the same group of minors. When I have. minors dni HAHA

(Sorry this is just an excuse for me to clear up and rant) Hi people who are probably stalking me, just a heads up, when I meant : 'As a VA I should be able to do many roles at once. If Im hired to voice in a children's show, and at the same time something more mature, nsfw, 18+, heavy themes, I should be able to do so.'

I meant like. Oh if Im voicing kids shit, I should be able to do shit like adult swim, bojack horseman, helluvaboss etc. cause. im a actor. lmfao

I didnt skim through enough but uhh another thing is, hi im neutral i dont care I have more things in life to focus on chronic kids online. I think western ideology is WAYYY too comfortable in like, harassing people when they dont agree with things. If you think going around and telling people to kys or having people burnt at the stake for your ideology is gucci- you are no better than like, a conservative christian. (Hope im using the words right, english hard).

Oh yeah and I stand by my words :

'IAs an adult, to me, I can very clearly tell how fiction doesn't = to reality. I'm strictly working them in a professional manner, the only conversation I've had are casting calls, directions, and vocal cords. If this was an irl grooming situation, I would 100% not be interacting. But since this isn't my responsibility, nor is it my private life. And as long as they are not publicly talking to children or any minors either, or harassing, showing minors things that shouldn't be shown, I have no qualms with it.

We all have our boundaries, and I understand people's concerns on these topics, but I personally prefer to stay out of anything/any drama, hate, harassment on social media, as that would be affecting to my irl mental health too. Likewise, everyone have boundaries, and personally, I feel like as long as we don't cross it, or have a clear line, we should move on.

What I think is morally right currently - are boundaries, and not harassing people. I think a lot of reasoning behind how comfortable people are in harassing others in fandoms is defo a culture thing too. I'm Taiwanese, for example, and in my culture, this kind of behavior is frown upon. I think an interesting outside perspective for Europeans is this article if you ever feel like taking a look

Linked here, if you plan on quoting anything, read the full thing so you don't misunderstand anything <3

I am not at all a TMNT only person, I don't label myself to any extent, and have put my boundaries of minors dni. So if anyone really wants to make any point on that, those are my boundaries that they decided to overstep.

+ as is my own social presence, I will do my best to mold it the way I wish to myself. Plus its not like I ever hid stuff.

But THAT WAS SOOOO offtrack- and thank you, I honestly appreciate the support, Im not one to be annoying and ask for them, but rn is like, HEAVY appreciated cause its annoying. I didn't even know people liked my work enough! haha, you are very sweet

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Poor Things

What if Dr. Frankenstein's creation was a success? What if the Bride of Frankenstein's monster became an actual person? A young woman with accelerated mental development and wanted to venture out into the world to experience life and womanhood. Well that's almost exactly what this original story was and I quite enjoyed the breath of fresh air it was. We've seen the coming of age, adulthood and life dramas and comedies, but this one was more on the level of delivering not only that type of story, but also a dark comedy that would either bore you or fascinate you. There was a great deal of fantasy elements that makes for a visual feast as we explore the odyssey in which the main character embarks on. There were some thought provoking and very witty dialogue between a number of characters and they all had unique perspectives on everyday life that apply today, even though this was a period film.

Emma Stone delivers an outstanding and evolutionary performance as Bella Baxter. To see her develop mentally from child to adult inside a grown woman’s body, was done so tastefully and almost effortlessly. She captures that ever curious wonder of the outside world and all that is to be learned. Her observational presence and wonderfully blunt delivery of sometimes hilarious dialogue was exceptional. Bella's exploration into the world's beauty and horror was the type of pure character growth that was captivating and sorely missed in modern films these days. I enjoyed experiencing her journey into becoming a woman and finding her freedom. Willem Defoe was excellent as her caretaker, creator and father figure, Dr. Godwin Baxter. He was a mad scientist that truly has a tragic backstory, but he doesn't let that stop him. I loved that he had a unique look on life and his studies into true human development was fascinating. The chemistry between Godwin and Baxter was heartwarming and not your typical relationship at all. It was a paternal relationship that developed intellectually. Ramy Youssef was great as Dr. Baxter's apprentice, Max McCandles. He was a young and enthusiatic student and I loved his genuine care for Bella. He was one of the purest and gentle souls of the film. Mark Ruffalo delivers a fantastic and manic performance as the very charming and petty womanizer Duncan Wedderburn. From moment he's on screen, you get the characters' intentions and how shallow of a human is. I loved that his confidence slowly gets chipped away by Bella's unwillingness to be controlled by his overbearing nature. It was a great affair that propelled the film along and their chemistry was excellent. Jerrod Carmichael was also excellent as the realist, Harry Astley. He drops some truth bombs on Bella on the world view of the rich and the poor and how society functions as a whole. His words may hold weight, but they were conflicting nonetheless. Christopher Abbott was ruthless and despicable as Alfie Blessington. I won't spoil his character too much, but I will say that he was absolutely the disgusting version of a man in that time period and he really shows his motives quickly. He acts as the final narrative payoff to a plotline that was almost an after thought thanks to the amazing performances all around.

The score by Jerskin Fendrix was fantastic, whimsical and unconventional as Bella Baxter herself. It truly brought out the comedic tone in a number of great scenes and underscores the experimental nature of the story. I loved the score the most during the moments Bella was at sea. Speaking of which, visually this film was stunning and almost dreamlike. I am a sucker for the usage of black and white to evoke the sense of time, but here its a character. The transition to vibrant colors as Bella explores gives the film a burst of life and also informs you of the characters feelings. Director Yorgos Lanthimos has undoubtedly made one of the best films of the year and the cast all around deliver outstanding performances. This is a must watch on the big screen and I highly recommend it in Dolby for the colors. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in comments below. Thanks for reading!

[daisylikesmedia]

Series 7 Episode 10: Hide

Welcome back to another review and we are flyingg through 7B. Today we’re going to be talking about Hide, an episode where 11 & Clara are trapped in a haunted house, and must cross into a pocket universe to save the day.

Yea this episode slaps. I’m not even someone who’s particularly into ghost stories or anything like that, but the atmosphere is nailed here just like the previous episode. The mansion itself fits that haunted house vibe soo well. Reminds me of games like Haunted Mansion/Luigi’s Mansion which I used to love playing n watching others play as a kid. All those winding corridors and dimly lit rooms, the dark forest outside, etc etc. It worked well.

Also I had completely forgotten about the creature designs this episode because the way they were designed and animated is top tier. You can see how they sort of stutter and then move obscenely fast in the outside of the frames and it makes them seem so much more jittery, unpredictable, and thus more scary. They also do just work from a body horror perspective they’re like these twisted kinda human kinda not things that walk on all fours that’s spooky by itself.

But the main reason this episode shines is because omg it’s the cutest love story ever and there are like 3 going on at the same time.. SO we’ve got Emma & Palmer, with Emma as a psychic guessing that Palmer likes her back but being scared she’s getting mixed signals (Palmer does, of course, like her back). We’ve got 11 & Clara growing closer together, with this being the story where Clara learns to get along with the TARDIS to save the Doctor despite Emma warning her to not trust him. AND BEST OF THEM ALL the twist at the end there are two of the cool twisty monster people and they just wanted to reunite so the Doctor reunites them at the end and it’s rly cute… Call me sappy I don't care this is a cute lil episode of Doctor Who and it works for me.

There is one nagging thing tho and that’s that I do find this episode is kinda heteronormative in how it deals with love? I don’t mean this just as in all 3 of it’s love stories are between men and women, but as in the Doctor describes the oldest story in the universe as being a boy and girl falling in love and I’m like, hmm is it tho? I’m no history buff but I know that gay love has been around forever and ever cause we always find a way 🙂. This is a tiny lil nitpick tho it just sorta hit me out of left field when the attention got turned into love being a boy and girl thing rather than just a thing.

Oh yea another thing the TARDIS is all like “yea if I go into the pocket universe I can only be there for like 10 seconds or I die so we gotta be quick..” and then the TARDIS flies in there TWICE and is defo in there for longer than 10 seconds. I’m sure there’s some explanation for that but I remember noticing that too gdsfkl

TL:DR/Overview: Hide came out of the shadows and bonked my pessimism about series 7B on its head. Sure, I have a couple of nitpicks about the plot and themes it’s going for, but overall the sweet love stories and the spooky ghost vibes won me over. I came into this half of the series expecting no episode to rise above B tier, as that’s how I remembered the quality of the series being, but credit to Hide. You get to go into A tier.

[tennessoui]

FeralObi anon here. How do you come up with these so fast?? Are you an infinite number of ideas and worlds in human-shaped form? I love both of those ideas. The first one kills me tho, Obi gets his first kind touch in years from lil Anakin. Also you can have lil Anakin coming home one day with a skulking, snarling nonverbal murder puppy and saying brightly, "He followed me home, can I keep him?" Schmi thinks this is definitely worse than the time he brought a krayt dragon home.

ah! hello! yes this is the first idea of a feral obi-wan who meets anakin when he's still on tatooine. i will also still do the second idea because like. i liked them equally as much rip me

but i told myself these were going to both be very short snippets and instead this one is uh 2k so i'll post the second one tomorrow instead of tonight!

(ficlet where obi-wan is captured by pirates/unspecified forces at a young age and then tortured for a decade before he escapes to tatooine when anakin is like 6. obi-wan, after a decade of torture is....not alright in this fic though he's only here at the end) (2k)

Shmi had known that when she sent her little Anakin away to follow after the stern-faced, warm-eyed Jedi Master, that this would not be the last time she ever saw her boy. She couldn’t explain how she knew, just as she had not been able to explain how she became pregnant, but she knew beyond a doubt that one day, she would see her little boy back in her arms.

She just hadn’t known it would be so soon.

“He died, Master Jinn died,” Anakin mumbles into the front of her dress, unwilling to move his head far back enough from her hug that he could talk clearly. “On Naboo. And the stupid Jedi council refused to train me even after I was so amazing in the air. Mom, I destroyed a blockade! Entirely! And they wouldn’t--they didn’t--” his little face scrunches up and then he’s bawling into his hands.

A slave, a born slave, knows intrinsically the injustice of the galaxy. It is not often they know hope.

“Oh my boy,” she whispers, smoothing a hand over the top of his head. She has questions. She has so many questions about everything he’s just said and what those strangers have put her son through, but the most important thing is a question she cannot wait until he has cried himself out to ask. “Is your chip gone, Ani? Did they remove your transmitter?”

Because she had sent him away from her so that he could be free. And that had been her own twisted version of hope, that her son could know a life she never would again. If the Jedi masters had proven to be just like every other master in the world, she would find herself sobbing into her own hands.

“Yeah,” Anakin sniffles and wipes at his ruddy cheeks, pulling back a few steps. “They removed it and everything. And--”

He pauses and drops his satchel to the ground in front of her. “They gave me credits. To buy you. For my trouble.”

He spits out the last three words like they’re the most disgusting thing in the entire world. As if Shmi’s freedom isn’t laying at their feet, mere centimeters away.

“Republic credits are no good here,” she hears herself say faintly.

“Padme, the handmaiden you met, she talked to the queen about me I guess,” Anakin mumbles, kicking his feet. “And when the queen learned that the Jedi didn’t want me even after all that, Padme says the queen says I’ll always have a place on Naboo. Me and my family. And then she took the Jedi credits and gave me these instead. It should be enough, Mom.”

Shmi sits down on the floor. With shaking hands, she opens the bag and looks inside. Yes. Yes.

There’s more than enough.

There’s enough to buy her freedom and take her boy away from Mos Espa. There’s enough to take her boy away from Tatooine completely.

“I…” she says. “Ani, I…”

“Padme said she’d send a ship for us,” Ani reports as if their lives are not changing right in front of their eyes. “In two days ‘cause I told her it might take a little bit of time to get Ben to come with us. But we can’t leave without him.”

This is said fiercely and with his arms crossed tightly over his little chest.

Shmi stares at him.

“I’ve already left him once!” Anakin says, stomping his foot. “But that was okay, because I knew you would bring him food and water and stuff. But if we’re both gone, no one’s going to be there for him.”

Shmi bites at her lip. There’s a lot of things happening very quickly right now, and she doesn’t know how to process half of them.

Her son has come back, after only being gone for a week and a half.

He has apparently either endeared himself so much to the queen of Naboo that she was willing to give him the money necessary to buy his mother from slavery and also promise him sanctuary on her planet. He says he’s done this by single-handedly ending a blockade, which is something she just cannot even think about right now.

He has told this queen--queen--that he will gladly live on Naboo with his family. Yes. Alright.

His family seems to include his imaginary friend, Ben.

Anakin has been talking about Ben for years now, ever since he was six and a half years old and sent by Watto to retrieve any scraps he could from what looked to be a crashed pod in the Wastelands. She’d let him ramble on about the ghost of a friend, because she’d known it to be something all children go through and experience. She hadn’t thought Anakin a lonely child, not with the friends he made in Mos Espa, but she’d always known that Anakin had a wandering spirit, ill-suited for Tatooine. If he liked to imagine an older man from a strange world hiding in the caves of the Wastes, then she wasn’t going to say anything.

“You have been leaving him food, haven’t you, Mom?” Anakin asks, almost accusatory. “I told him to expect you and everything.”

No. Shmi has not been traveling to the edge of the Wastelands every day during her precious few hours of free time in order to leave food to be picked apart by womp rats and desert critters and not her boy’s imaginary friend.

“Ani,” she says cautiously, quietly, “we cannot...we won’t be able to bring Ben with us when we go.”

Anakin, predictably, does not react well. “Why not!” he yells, backing away from her even further and looking as if she is the enemy. “Padme’s fine with it!”

“Aren’t you a little old for imaginary friends?” Shmi asks desperately, feeling cold suddenly even though the heat of the mid-morning sun has not abated at all.

If anything, her son looks more offended. “He’s not imaginary! Saying...saying that he’s not coming with us...is...is a bunch of poodoo!”

“Anakin!” Shmi gasps.

“Come on,” her boy says forcefully, grabbing at her hand and tugging her towards the door. She gets on her feet reluctantly and has half a mind to pull back just because he needs to learn that this sort of behavior is not okay, war hero or not. “We’re going to buy you from Watto. And then we’re going to go visit Ben!”

---

Buying her freedom takes less time than Shmi Skywalker ever thought it would. It feels distant as well, as if it’s happening to someone else.

It doesn’t help that her Ani is impatient and surly by turn, spilling the coin out onto Watto’s counter and barely waiting for him to finish counting it before he’s looking at the price of renting a four-person speeder parked outside.

“You won’t survive out there on your own,” Watto sneers, even as he’s passing her the kill-switch of her own slave chip. “Days. It’ll be days until the Hutts find out there’s a newly freed slave with no connections out there in the open. Ripe for the pickin’.”

Watto doesn’t have to tell her any of this. She knows. Gods, does she know.

But Anakin seems so sure about possessing the favor of the Queen of Naboo, or at least her handmaiden, which might be close enough to the same thing. She thanks Watto--she thanks him and then doesn’t even know why--and meets Anakin outside.

He’s bouncing around the speeder, little hands clutching his satchel to his chest. “Good!” he says when he sees her, hopping onto the machine and putting the parcel between his feet. “I got Ben something called a fig on Naboo, but I don’t know how long it’ll take for it to go bad. Apparently they’re sweet.”

Shmi goes along with it. Shmi doesn’t know why she goes along with it, but she does. She can see this is important to her boy, and though she’d rather spend the afternoon and early evening saying goodbye to her friends, she will allow Ani to say goodbye to his imaginary friend. Maybe she’ll even talk to it. “Hi, hello, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the imaginary blue milk and delicacies I’ve left out for you this past week and half. Oh no, it was no bother. My son insisted.”

The ride is quick--Anakin has always been a driver to push the limits of any engine he comes across--and before she knows it, he’s dismounting on a piece of desert and rock that look exactly the same as the last four pieces of rocky terrain they’ve past.

“Ben!” Ani calls, satchel clutched firmly in his hands as he makes his way deeper into the crevices of the landscape. “Ben, it’s Ani! I’m really sorry that I left! Ben? Ben! I’m back now! Ani’s back!”

It’s actually...quite pathetic, to watch her boy speak so pleadingly to the cold stone faces of the rocks around them, but if this is what he needs to do to say goodbye to his life on Tatooine, Shmi won’t say a word.

“Ben--” Anakin draws in a breath to call again, but then there’s movement out of the corner of Shmi’s eyes, and something jumps from the rock down to land on her boy.

She screams and darts forward, but the thing on top of her son snarls at her in guttural warning.

“No, Ben,” Ani coos, stroking at the face that yes, is human, now that it’s not in unnaturally fast motion. “That’s my mom, Ben.”

Ben--Ben??--growls anyway, pinning the boy--her boy--beneath him with his legs and arms.

“She’s fine,” Ani murmurs gently, one hand reaching up to stoke over the beginnings of a beard on Obi-Wan’s face “Oh Ben, I’m sorry.”

The man on top of Shmi’s child finally looks away from her and at her boy, which is both better and worse.

“Ani,” Ben drawls out, as if the word--or perhaps forming the word--hurts him.

Anakin is happy. Shmi can tell he’s happy without even being able to see much of him. It’s like the very air vibrates with his joy. “Yes!” her son says. “Ani. Ben.” He taps the man’s chest. “Ben. Ani.”

The man buries his head into Anakin’s hair, hands rubbing up and down his sides and his arms and his face.

Shmi needs to say something, wants to say something about this strange man touching boy like he owns him, but the memory of his growl and the flash of his golden eyes stops her from stepping forward.

“Anakin, get away from him,” she hisses instead of stepping forward and tearing the stranger off of her son. She has the distinct feeling Anakin wouldn’t let Ben go anywhere, not with the way his little hands are holding so tight to the man’s shoulders. The man’s shoulders that are covered with one of her old tunics that Anakin had told her became unsalvageable after its last wash.

“No,” Anakin says, tightening his hold on his...friend. “He says you didn’t give him food the entire time I was gone! He’s hungry.”

Shmi thinks there’s a very good possibility that this Ben is going to eat her, but she knows not to say anything of the sort. Not when it’s two against one.

“He hasn’t said anything!” She cries instead.

Anakin huffs at this and pats at the feral’s head. “Maybe not to you, but he talks to me.”

Shmi stares at him and wonders if there’s something she’s supposed to be doing or saying here. The man won’t allow her to tear him off her child, she knows that automatically. But she can’t--she doesn’t know--

“Anakin,” she tries, desperately.

But Anakin doesn’t even look at her, too busy petting over the man, who has at least allowed him to sit up. “Hey, I’m sorry, I thought she would,” he tells him in an undertone. “I really thought she would, but I’m back now. I’m not going anywhere without you again--”

He extends his hand and Ben presses his cheek against it with enough force that it pushes him back slightly.

“You’re coming to Naboo with us, Ben,” Anakin promises, clutching at the ends of the man’s long hair. “Or I’m not going at all.”

To Shmi, it sounds like a threat.

The way her son’s eyes flash an unfamiliar golden color makes her feel cold as a Tatooine night. She shivers, but no one notices.

[violettelueur]

GOJO SATORU + GETO SUGURU || NEVER MEANT TO BE

| featuring : gojo satoru and geto suguru from jujutsu kaisen

| warnings : mentions of murder, manga spoilers and grammar errors

| form : imagine

| word count : 1704

| published : 15 November 

| request : hellloooo i hope this doesnt sound confusing but tbh im just requesting this since no one requested sum from the manga. how about something like reader arriving at the train station as gojo gets trapped in the prison realm in around chapter 90-91? like shes a shaman and she see geto and has a flashback cuz gojo her and geto were like past buddies? and to think someone could bind gojo?

| barista’s notes : for the people that haven’t read the manga, I would recommend you reading it first before reading this imagine because it has some MAJOR spoilers and I dont think you’ll understand it either way ʅʕ•ᴥ•ʔʃ but defo read it if you haven't, it’s amazing! but moving on from that i hope that you love your order of a cup of black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request)!

Rushing down the stairs of Tokyo Metro, you were trying to get to floor B5F where Gojo was last noted before you heard about the information that he was somehow sealed. With the help of the three other groups that were around the area, you were able to get through the shields that surrounded Shibuya to get to where you needed to be.

You were exhausted. Not physically but mentally as you didn’t know what to expect at all. The second you heard of Gojo’s report on curses forming alliances with each other, you thought he was just bluffing at first and to be honest, his ridiculous drawing wasn't helping with his case either. However, he was someone that you knew you could trust extremely, it had always been like that since both of you became students at Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.

With your katana hanging from the side of your hip, you quickly jumped to the bottom on the stairs to save precious time before quickly turning the right corner to see what was the whole situation. However, once your hand was on the handle of your sword, your eyes widened in shock from what was right in front of you. 

‘Isn’t he supposed to be dead? That's not him is it?’

What was in your sights now was something that was technically impossible. He was supposed to be dead, there was no way he was alive sitting on the station floor. There were no such possibilities for him to be sitting with his back turned to you right now.

Geto Suguru.

                                                 ꕥ

You, Gojo, Geto and Ieiri were standing in front of the now-destroyed house due to Gojo using his technique to free both Utahime and Mei Mei from the house that they have been investigating for the two past days. 

“Don’t you think that was a little too much Gojo,” you commented with an awkward giggle as you saw tiny to large pieces falling to the ground, leading to your second-year friend saying, “I don’t think it was too much Y/N-chan, besides how could I have impressed you if I didn't take the opportunity to?”

“I shouldn’t have asked part one...” you quickly muttered, before Gojo started to tease Utahime, who was in the middle of the rubble that was created by your flirtatious friend himself.

“Satoru, it’s not nice to pick on the weak,” Geto suddenly commented, before using one of his spirits to devour the curse that suddenly appeared behind Utahime, only for Gojo to state, “who the heck’s gonna pick on someone strong? You’re the one teasing her without even knowing it Geto,” causing your other friend to now to realise what he had said. 

No longer being able to handle both of them, you quickly turned your attention to Utahime and asked, “Utahime, are you okay?”. This small but kind gesture of yours caused the grade-two jujutsu sorcerer, to say your name with such glee before you continued with, “we were worried about you since you didn't call for two days” to which only led the woman to pull you into a tight hug.

‘I shouldn’t have asked part two….I’m legit getting no air’

“Y/N don’t you dare become trash like those two, okay?”

“I’ll try my best”

However, this happy and hilarious moment had to sudden halt when Mei Mei suddenly asked, “where’s the curtain?” causing you, Gojo, Geto and Ieiri to look at her with dumbfounded expressions on your faces.

‘Ahhhhhh shi-’

                                              ꕥ

“There’s someone here who said they put up a curtain and then up and left the auxiliary manager behind and forgot about the curtain too”

At this moment and time, all four of you were on your knees in front of your sensei Masamichi Yaga, as he found out from the news that was shown on the TV above that someone *cough*Gojo*cough* forgot to put up a curtain up like him and Mei Mei stated.

“Fess up”

“Sensei! We’re better than pointing fingers at each other,” Gojo randomly commented, as he raised his hand up to emphasise his point. On the other hand, you, Geto and Ieiri had other plans and all pointed at Gojo for this mishap that had occurred without him realising.

“So it’s you!” your teacher shouted, before landing a strong punch on top of your friend’s head, causing you to know to never mess with your teacher anytime soon. 

Even though it wasn’t the best time, you and Geto let out a sly giggle before looking at each other, which only led to both of you laughing, even more, the second you stepped out of the room. As chaotic all four of you were, you wouldn’t change it for the world. 

However, it was never meant to be.

                                               ꕥ

“Hey!”

Turning to your right, you saw your friend Geto wave at you with a bright smile on his face. To the outsider, it just seemed like two friends meeting with each other or friends that just casually bumped into each other in the crowded streets. On the other hand, it wasn’t that.

Geto was a criminal on the run. You were just informed by your teacher that your friend massacred a whole village as well as the possibilities of his parents. You didn’t want to believe it. Of course, you couldn’t believe it. Geto wasn’t that type of person, he wasn’t like that at all during your time at Jujutsu high together, were the three years a facade?

“Yo, it’s the criminal” you teasingly greeted him, trying to hide your dejection from his view, “you need something from me?”

“I guess I’m just testing my luck” Geto replied back before taking a stand next to you. From your side perspective, you could see what Gojo was talking about a while back. Your longtime friend looks thinner than he did a year ago, you could clearly see the bags in his eyes indicating that he hadn’t had any sleep the past few days. It was like that ever since the killing of the Star Plasma Vessel, a mission that you, Gojo and Geto failed at.

“I’m gonna ask just to be sure, but are those false charges?” you quietly asked, hoping that all this was a lie, a stupid cruel prank that was set up by someone. However, you knew somewhere in your heart that this was the reality that you were in, there was no escaping from this one.

“Nah, unfortunately not”

“Again to be sure, why?” you quietly questioned him, trying to conceal the tears that were threatening to flow down your face.

“I’ll create a world where only shamans exist,” Geto calmly answered, causing you to snap your head in his direction. A world where only shamans exist? What more stupid of a reason he could give you?

“That’s hilarious,” you stated, before you slowly carried on with, “if humans were eliminated, we shamans wouldn’t even have a purpose at all, your reasoning is the most stupid thing I ever heard in my life Geto,”

Geto turned to look at you, only to find you casually open your phone to call Gojo on your sightings on your friend.

“However, I hope that you’re happy now that you're choosing this path. I really hope you get what I’m saying and you don’t live to regret,” you stated, as you place your device next to your ear. “I hope you're happy in the end my friend, that’s all I’m asking for,” you ended your statement before Gojo was on the other side of the line.

“Thank you Y/N”

“Gojo, I met Geto in Shinjuku”

“Did you question him? Did you kill him?”

“I didn’t…...have the heart to Gojo, I’m sorry”

There was nothing but silence between the both of you which gave you the chance to look to your right, only to see that your friend had disappeared from your side. As if he wasn’t there in the first place.

“Hey Gojo...it was never meant to be ha?” you rhetorically asked, as a single tear slowly slid down your face.

                                              ꕥ

Geto Suguru was right there in front of you. Sitting on the ground on the train station with his back turned to you.

However, as much as you wanted to believe that it was true, you knew that it wasn’t really him.

It was just impossible.

Taking your katana out of its black wooden sheath, you were preparing for any attacks that could happen around you right now before you could begin to question who the person in front of you was.

“Who are you?”

The man turned around, slowly showing the face of a man that was someone that was close to both you and Gojo all those years back causing you to look at the person that was in front of you with sorrowful eyes. You wished it was him. But as you said, it was never meant to be.

“Y/N! I'm not surprised that you were able to get through all those shields, you are powerful like Satoru after all,” the man happily commented with the same smile that you missed so dearly.

“I said who are you?!” you repeated in a firmer tone, telling the person that you weren’t playing around anymore as you raised your katana, making the sharp pointed tip to be in level with his face - even if he was far in distance.

“Come on, is that how you greet an old friend?”

“How the hell did you get the Prison Realm within your possession?” you asked, as you looked down at the small cube that Gojo was supposedly in. How such a small thing was able to seal such a powerful shaman like Gojo? You would never know.

“Y/N, we were in the same team for three years, I would assume you know I’m able to get what I need, I am Geto after all,”

“Shut up!” you shouted, surprising the person from your sudden outburst. “I’m not stupid, so don’t you dare play with me for even a second”

“I know you’re not Geto”

“Me and Gojo knew that from the start”

“It wasn’t meant to be”

[fae-fucker]

Review: Cinder

by Marissa Meyer

A forbidden romance.

A deadly plague.

Earth’s fate hinges on one girl . . .

CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She’s reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen – and a dangerous temptation.

Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth’s future.

This is not the fairytale you remember. But it’s one you won’t forget.

I DNF’d this book several years ago, probably soon after it came out. I thought the intro was super boring and ended up forgetting this book for literal years.

But, through peer pressure and hype, I decided to give it another shot.

And I’m glad I did! Once I got past the very dull first chapters, I was quickly pulled into the plot and found myself staying up late to finish the book.

A positive review? From ME? I know: wild:

The Writing

I’ve always been open about the fact that I don’t enjoy “pretty” prose. I find it very distracting and unimportant, personally. Which means that I, for the most part, enjoyed Meyer’s writing! It wasn’t usually in the way, and didn’t distract from the plot while still being well-crafted enough to convey the characters’ personalities.

I did find myself skimming a lot of the longer descriptions and action sequences, however. They often felt a bit confusing and sometimes unecessary as I knew the outcome of each, and in the case of descriptions, didn’t feel like I needed more than I picked up from the context clues within the scene.

Overall, I can’t remember a single gorgeous nor a single terrible quote, which is, like, pretty neat, I think.

The Characters

I honestly don’t have much to say in this department, I think the main cast were all well-written and developed for their respective roles.

Cinder was by far my favorite, with Dr. Erland a close second. Cinder was spunky and strong while still feeling like a person with insecurities and weaknesses, instead of being a 24/7 snark-machine. I found myself especially charmed by her massive crush on Kai, usually I think that shit is obnoxious in YA, but here it felt innocent and sweet, and the fact that Cinder herself acknowledged it and accepted it was refreshing.

Iko and Peony and the rest of the family all serve their purposes well. Even Adri, whom I found to be comically evil at times, still showed some depth every now and then. Pearl was probably the most boring of all the family members, I definitely think she could’ve used some more depth, but oh well, this is just the first book in a series and she’s a minor character, so I’m not too disappointed.

My biggest disappointment is probably Kai himself. I found him to be … very generic. I do like how kind and sweet and obvious he is with his feelings for Cinder, it’s so unheard of in YA where everyone’s brooding and obtuse at all times, so that was defo a plus, but other than that, I think he could’ve used more flaws. Or more good qualities. Or … any qualities, really. Even now I can’t really pinpoint any particular personality trait that guy has.

The Story

So, first things first: this isn’t really a Cinderella retelling. Which is fine! But I was expecting something more faithful, and that’s not what I got.

Cinder makes use of the iconic imagery of Cinderella, but it’s so awkward and inconsequential that it sticks out like a sore thumb. They’re introduced as subtly as shining a spotlight on a nuclear explosion (one character directly compares Cinder’s orange car to a pumpkin) and then discarded in one final scene, and after that the book has nothing to do with the fairytale at all. I get that it doesn’t have to be 100% faithful, but the marketing suggested more than what amounted to a bunch of shallow references.

But, despite that, I still think the story is probably this book’s strongest asset. It introduces new complications and escalates the conflict smoothly while skillfully juggling Cinder’s inner struggles as well as her blooming romance with Kai. Honestly, the best thing I can say about the romance is how restrained it was. There wasn’t any pretense about the depth of their LUURV, they were just two sweet teenagers with crushes, and I loved reading their interactions. One thing I would’ve liked to see is Kai’s POV when he interacted with Cinder, because I never really got why he’s into her. I mean, I can guess, because she’s pretty neat, but it would’ve been nice to see her from his eyes.

(I know usually seeing the protag from the love interest’s perspective means lots of worthless wank, but I’d trust Meyer to do it right.)

I don’t really want to spoil any more of the plot, so I’ll end it there, but I will say that if you’re older than 15, you’ll probably see the twist coming the moment the first hint is dropped, which I suppose it comes with the genre. There was a minor twist that did surprise me, mostly because it was also an organic part of the previous worldbuilding and had a natural explanation outside of the twist, so clearly Meyer is capable of writing decent twists, which makes me wonder why the main twist wasn’t hidden better.

The Worldbuilding

This book suffers from Selectionitis, aka All Countries On Earth Have Glooped Together In The Future For Some Reason. Except here it’s worse as now the continents ??? have Glooped Together??? Luckily it’s not as relevant here than it was in The Selection, so it’s not dwelled on long enough to get Uncomfortable beyond the initial implications. I’m not wholly comfy with this choice, but other people with more knowledge have talked about it already, so I’ll just leave it at that.

(Diversireads has a breakdown of all the racist and orientalist issues in the worldbuilding of Cinder.)

There’s also a new race of people introduced called Lunars, who have Space Magic, and the book sort of jokes that it’s space magic but also tries to explain it using mumbo jumbo science-y terms that does it no favors.

Tbh, I’m perplexed as to why Meyer decided to set this on earth in the first place. There are few references to the real world outside of place names, and it’s far enough into the future that there’s been more world wars (but Cinder’s car is still somehow functional, alright), and the aforementioned Glooping, I wonder why she didn’t just make up a planet. I suppose it’s easier for a younger YA audience to absorb familiar concepts instead of having to introduce a completely new world.

BUT, whatever. It serves its purpose and has an internal consistency, and I didn’t find myself questioning everything as I read, so tbh, it could’ve been much, much worse.

The Conclusion

Cinder is a breath of fresh air and a total surprise! I can see now why it’s as popular as it is. It definitely has flaws, as does any book, but I think I can recommend this to people with a good conscience. It’s a fun read that you don’t have to turn your brain off to enjoy but doesn’t require too much effort to get through. The writing is breezy, the characters are charming, the plot is intense (once you get past the first 5 chapters), and the worldbuilding is solid, if problematic.

I look forward to Scarlet, so do let me know if you want me to review that one as well once I’ve read it.

Also, do send in suggestions for what you want me to review next!

[isisisak]

About the Abi motto: first of all, thank you for your answer and thank you for explaining the situation a little bit more to me. Now, I of course don't have the absolute Knowledge™ but I'm pretty sure it's conceptually right to use the word mafia to describe any type of family-based organized crime that governate itself by certain rules, but in my experience when we use the word mafia we not only mean the italian one, but most specifically the sicilian one (1/6)

(2/6) (there are other names for the organized crime in other regions), but we do use the plural form (le mafie) to indicate organized crime in general. I just want to clarify that I'm in no way blaming the translators and I'm always grateful for their work, and in no way I'm expecting of them to know the shades of meaning that something may or may not have in my country, but I think I felt that strong about it and maybe I misunderstood bc saying something is tied to the mafia

(3/6) has a very specific meaning and opens a whole new can of worms (they did expand all over the world and Germany has actually been one of the most common countries for people that moved out of Sicily for working so I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to "export business" there, or if they already have), so you saying that they are a separate, unattached organized crime family in Berlin already changes things for me.

(4/6) I am also aware of the fact that I may be particularly sensitive about the topic and it may trigger a reaction out of me that not everyone can understand (not only people outside of Italy, imo, but even italian people that have other backgrounds) but I don't think it's something bad per se, I think one of the most important things in life is actually talking with others, comparing opinions and experiences so that you may understand their point of view and enrich yourself.

(5/6) I truly appreciate reading your opinion on the matter bc it made me see things into a new perspective, even if it didn't really change my overall opinion, but that's not always the point of a discussion, I think it's bs that everyone should always agree on everything in order to get along, and not everything is black or white, right or wrong. Sadly I don't think I will ever be a fan of that storyline, for entirely personal reason, and it's ok, 

(6/6) also bc I don't expect Druck to represent me and my culture, it would be stupid of me tbf. Thank you for engaging with me in this journey lol 💕💕

1-2) yeah i think so too but im not sure either heh but ok! same page so far ;) and yes dont worry i dont think it sounded like you were saying the translators are to blame 3) good! that it helped heh i mean the topic stays the same that its in no way ok to romanticize it but as i said i dont think its whats gonna happen or how its seen ... im not sure if thats a german thing we always uhm.... make bitter jokes about the dark stuff? if that makes sense i forgot if i already said that skdjskdj 

4) defo agree here!!! we cant know everything or every point of view but if we dont try to talk to each other about stuff thats important to us we wont get any better will we 

5) hhhh yes!!! 100% agree! im glad i could make you see it from my pov even if you dont uuuhm adapt it (? the right word is missing from my brain rn im sorry) its exactly as you say that not always the point of discussing things and if it already helped a little so you can if not enjoy or be neutral at least tolerate the storyline more im glad!!! 

6) anytime!

[potahun]

Reasons why Best Wishes is GREAT.

The main trio

Just the greatness of the main trio deserves its own post tbh

SATOSHI, IRIS, AND DENT…. KINGS AND QUEEN OF CHILL

BUT ALSO KINGS AND QUEEN OF DORKINESS

The most beautiful team dynamics. But aha what makes it work is that the teamwork permeates the action. Their closeness rarely gets spelt out – and it pretty much never gets spelt out in touching terms. Most of the times, we only know they like each other because (a) well they stuck together for a whole region i guess (b) the jokes (e.g. dent and his mentions of marriage here and there) (c) the natural synchronicity they grew to have (synchronized excitement and glee, synchronized panic etc). They dont stop to tell each other ‘im glad youre here’ and they dont have touching episodes about friendships growing deeper and speeches about learning from each other — even iris and satoshi’s episode about fighting and making up was done in a light-hearted way with jokes throughout (all the zooms out with dent’s narration), and whenever dent talks about what he learned from the two others he has to add a bit of his sommelier air (which makes things naturally light)…..

but thats the whole charm of it! The beauty of Best Wishes is that the relationships speak for themselves, they speak through the fact that the jokes are thrown and hit back like ping pong in the dialogues, and they speak through the fact that despite all the natural clashes in their personalities, they wanted to and managed to stay together. which kind of leads to the next point:

They are three independent and self-reliant souls - meaning, the only reason they stay together is because they each looked at the other two and thought : ‘hey. im having a good time right now. i want to continue some more’. I think BW is a bit peculiar in the sense that this is the only time since OS that Satoshi travels with two companions that are experienced (e.g. Haruka, Hikari, and Serena started out as their respective series did) Iris is actually more experienced than Satoshi, considering how young she was when she started battling with Doryuzu. Dent is also a Gym Leader. From this perspective, Satoshi doesn’t have to mentor anyone in the BWOT3; at the same time, he’s seen his own fair share (and defo has the most experience in terms of travels) so he’s not getting mentored by anyone either (in OS, he was the newbie). This directly affects their dynamics as a team. Basically, No one puts anyone on a pedestal in this trio.

Sure, dent was a bit fascinated by satoshi in the beginning, but he’s definitely not getting mentored hahaha oh boy and there is no idolatry there. In fact, each of the 3 is painfully aware of the others’ quirks and shortcomings from the get-go. and moreover, they ALL HAVE AN EGO THAT HAS THINGS TO SAY.

It’s painfully clear from the very beginning that they each have very strongly anchored personalities and that these personalities are not a natural match. Dent and Iris are like a big bang of their own concerning this, with all their Truth vs Ideal symbolism and contrast galore…but that applies to all 3. All 3 have a strong sense of self, and this leads to a refreshing trio because in the end, none depends on the other 2 to define themselves. They are more than willing to learn from each other, but they do so by observing things and internalizing them, while having fun on the outside. At the end of the day, Iris and Dent weren’t truly following Satoshi or enabling him. They were independent spirits on their own journey, and that became super clear in the way they separated at the end – relaxed, without drama, and without tears. In that sense, the trio never seemed to revolve around Satoshi, but was instead 3 free spirits sharing the same path for a while – which actually makes for a real trio, rather than two companions for Satoshi, with Satoshi as the centre piece.

The Mon teams

EACH POKEMON HAS A PERSONALITY THAT HOLDS ITS OWN

My exposure to pokeani is limited tbh, but Best Wishes seems to have paid less attention to creating a storyline between mon and trainer (e.g Gekkouga in XY, Lizardon in OS, Hikozaru in DP)? There was a bit of stuff with Pokabu, a bit with Iris’ Doryuzu + Kairyu, but overall, not much is explored. In fact, Satoshi doesn’t really have a regional ace in BW (arguably Waruvile? although there’s not much storyline). NEVERTHELESS, there is a charm to this absence of special mon in the storyline.

Firstly, all the mons got a chance to let their personality shine. And they did! They each had a personality, just like human characters. Secondly, in Best Wishes, the angst level in general is reduced to a minimal level….and so, this got heavily reflected in the dynamics between all the mons.

The mons in BW all have very well-defined dynamics, but these are all on the light-hearted side: Emonga and Tsutarja have contrasting personalities, Mijumaru and Pokabu clash too for different reasons, Zuruggu my God Zuruggu is a wonder of his own…. Just like the main trio, the trio’s mons are a recipe for smiles/laughter, rather than being emotionally touching in the traditional sense. This whole thing makes the mon teams in Best Wishes especially charming, and fit perfectly into the general mood of the series! which leads to the next point.   

The MOOD

Best Wishes is incredibly chill.

It’s dorky overall — not just in the sense of having dorky characters; the show as a whole is written and built in a dorky way so that it can at anytime walk into crackland and no one can ask any questions about it.

AND IT DOES walk into crackland. The fillers in BW are either full-on crack, or actually have a plot with an intrigue/mystery (still with, often, a touch of crack). One of the episodes was basically Inception in Pokeani. Even when the plot itself is not crack, the show makes it a point to keep humor high on the list of priorities…and boy it is high

Dent, on its own, invites crack. But there is something in the way the series is crafted that allows all the characters to hit you hard with the jokes and the punch lines. The jokes in BW don’t go stale, because they take unexpected turns at unexpected moments, and are delivered in refreshing ways. Characters like Dent (with his 300 hobbies and out-of-this-world speech pattern) are not stuck with the same kind of lines / jokes / reactions all the time. Even Iris’ “You’re such a child” line changes completely depending on her tone. She’s also very dynamic so she can easily alternate between making you laugh and making you cry.

Also, her facial expressions. Everyone’s facial expressions

Sometimes, there are running gags, like Bel crashing into Satoshi, or Kenyan’s name, but most of the time, there are more dynamic characters like Dent, Iris, Cabernet, or even one-time characters like Gothimu and her trainer, to keep things moving. The jokes are sometimes inappropriate, sometimes unexpected, sometimes both – so overall, BW rly let go of all inhibitions when it came down to humor (and made one question whether it was still a kid’s show sometimes), and that was one of the most refreshing parts of it.

The so-called “downside” to this is of course, since the whole series looks like a sitcom of sorts, the battles/league really arent the main point. But that’s it. They’re not the main point. The main point is to have a good time.

The script writing

This is rather related to the technical side of it, but Best Wishes is great because it’s written in a way that flows smoothly.

The reason why the main trio’s dynamic speaks for itself, or why the jokes actually work for more than just kids, is that the dialogues flow naturally and are interesting. They worked well with characterization and have a great rhythm! My experience with Pokeani is that it sometimes serves lines that are supposed to send a great message, or are meant to act as the punch line, but they are not delivered in a way that fits the rhythm of the conversation/scene. As a result, a scene ends up seeming like it’s plain, cheesy, or a little boring, even. BW nailed the dialogues throughout. It’s part of why the series could manage such a huge cast of characters without getting lost.  The script was just well written.

The other great thing related about the writing + the humor is just…the storyboard and the directing, i mean…

There are just…comedic choices that were made and were golden in this series

BW!Satoshi

This deserves its own point

He’s suuuuuuuuuper chill

Satoshi in Best Wishes is just the ultimately level of laid-back, forward-looking and sweet, because he combines the reasonableness and level-headedness of a trainer who’s already seen 4 regions before, with the liveliness and goofiness of the child that he is. He’s basically more laid-back/less competitive about battles than in DP, more lively and dynamic than XY, and more mature about misshaps and losses than in OS.  

He was comfortable, relaxed, and having fun. And that made him adorable and endearing.

Basically

Best Wishes is amazing. If you need to destress and have a good time, watch it

[dustandthunder]

Haven’t been on here in forever !

I’m back at uni now (20/09/19), I moved back last Friday and so far it’s been absolutely amazing. My room is the nicest ever I love it so much, my housemates are the best and everything is going so good so far !

Mom came down with me on the train on Friday, I got no sleep because we had to leave the house at half three in the morning to get a bus to town to get the 5:30 train. It was quite stressful because my railcard has expired and I didn’t realise so I had to buy a new one on the train and I felt really sick for some reason , but we saw an amazing sunrise and it was pretty fun to go with mom.

We had a great day, went for breakfast, did a grocery shop, walked round town, did my room ... it was so fun ! Mom paid for my first grocery shop which was really nice!

Other than that I’ve been out a few times for freshers, I’ve sort of been working on a basis of one night out, one night in. So I went out on Saturday night which was my first time in academi as I never went last year, and that was pretty fun I actually had a great time! Gen and I made friends with this group of gay guys who were really funny and cool, and one does geography and he gave me his number if I need help !! I also saw sash and Ollie from hockey and then this guy off my course who I have seen before but I hadn’t got a fuckin clue what he was called, I did ask his name but I didn’t hear it and I didn’t want to ask again hahaha. I danced with him and his mate for ages- he asked me where I was living about 5 times it was so funny, and he kept talking into my ear and I was just going along with it cause I couldn’t tell what he was on about Hahahha. He was cool though ! Then he went to the loo so I ran back outside to find Glenn cause my phone was dying, and then we went home I think. It was so sick! Then Monday was a messy one hahaha, I was more drunk than I’ve ever been and truly I don’t remember half of it. Like I wasn’t black out awful drunk but like I woke up and didn’t remember bits of the night. We stayed in the house and played card games and drinking games, then we went to BV for a round and some shots , then we went to rascals and I had this green drink and I don’t even know what it was cause I never buy my own drinks so I just take what Gina gives me hahaha (not like in a scabby way, I wouldn’t ever expect or even ask my friends to buy my drinks for me) so that was that.... then we went to academi and truly I do not remember being in academi at all. I remember leaving and I saw AJ from hockey and I didn’t remember this but he told me later that apparently I was just making Brooklyn 99 references hahahahaha oh my gosh that proper made me laugh when he told me that. Anyway I was crying really bad on the way home cause I really was missing Matt and I called him and he thought someone had done something to me so he was going to drive here yikes but it was ok I told him I was just sad and he stayed on the phone for ages while we wakes home. Gina wasn’t too drunk but joe was plastered unbelievably because he was quite sad cause his girlfriend cheated on him over summer and I think he’s still pretty upset about it. So he couldn’t even walk, turns out he didn’t even get into academi cause he couldn’t stand up, so he just came home with Gina and I. Gina went into the takeaway to get food which I don’t remember, and two people who I don’t know were holding joe up, but I just remember him lying on the pavement throwing up. It wasn’t good. And then I sort of ran off down the street cause I really needed a wee and I was talking to matt and Gina was yelling at me like a dog to stay put Hahahahah . Anyway we managed to get home- I throw up which I remember was VILE cause I’d just eaten chips (actually I had only eaten chips that day) and they basically came up whole . It felt absolutely vile. I did take all my makeup off though ! Joe slept in Gina’s bed and she slept on the floor. I woke up and I didn’t feel so bad, like I didn’t throw up or have a bad hangover or anything. Regardless, I am never doing that again. I know people always say that but I actually mean it 100%. Anyway I was supposed to have a hockey training session on Tuesday at 3:30 and as time was creeping on I started to feel a bit dodgy and I wasn’t sure whether to go cause I thought this is either gonna kill me off or make me feel loads better. I did go in the end and it made me feel better and I was totally fine afterwards so I was happy I went !!! It was so sunny as well, and I stupidly wore a thick long sleeved top . It was funny we were doing this drill and I kept hitting the ball into Lewis’ feet pretty hard so he was hobbling hahahaha and then he pulled a muscle so all in all it wasn’t great for him. Oh as well he’s best mates with patrick in my house which is sick cause I think Lewis is sound so if he’s round ours it’ll be cool :)

Tuesday was obviously a night in , which was needed and appreciated !

Wednesday was amazing .... Gina has gone to Llandudno with Sean all day so me, Glenn, joe, Michael, and Alex went to serendipity which is the student fair where you sign up to all the socs and clubs . We went at like 11 in the morning and it was such a good day ! We walked round and got fuck tons of free shit, I got a slice of pizza (although I gave it to Glenn as I don’t like pizza lol) a subway cookie and a load of subway vouchers, a canvas bag, a pen a wall calendar which I was sooooo happy about, a coaster, some post its, Morrison’s vouchers, free teabags, 4 booklets of spoons vouchers, a free smoothie, a free burger ... it was so good. I signed up to hockey obvs and ask mountain walking as mom wants me to do and I was going to go last year but it clashes with hockey a bit and I didn’t know anyone else. Turns out joe did it last year, and Michaels doing It this year so I’ll defo go !!! Then we went outside and played with the lacrosse stuff (Glenn does lacrosse) and we were just lobbing the balls at the goal, but they kept smacking the halls windows hahahaj, then there was a strip of Astro and a crazy catch for hockey and a couple of the lads were there like lyells, dyson, AJ etc so I was doing that do ages. It was sooooook much fun the sun was baking and I was wearing such a nice outfit and everything was sick !

All the hockey girls were asking if I’d go to social that night so I did end up going. I met holly and Maggs at BV and then we walked down to varsity with this old girl called Sam .

Social was actually ok ! I just had a pint of cider black currant which was ok and it was only 1.50 which was good cause I lit took 5£ with me out Hahahah. We played drinking games but they were the nicer ones they so it was fine. Then we went to harp for shots at 11:15 but I didn’t have one ‘cause hell no lol then we went i academi again, although it was absolutely dead in there. I danced for a bit then went outside and sat with Eleanor and the others outside for a bit. There was a really funny fight / argument where this girl was saying ‘I’m not wasting my time on you’ to this lad and then idk what next but she just yelled ‘your jackets from a charity shop!’ And it was so fucking funny cause he was so angry he was like ‘this jacket was £340’ loooooool .

Anyway I left a while after and just walked home cause I had a headache and my phone was on 6% so I just called Matt and went home, was so so lovely to have a relatively early nice still , I was in bed weeeellllll before 1am . Yum .

Then yesterday was sick too, it was the freshers hockey taster session . I wasn’t like ‘supposed’ to go but I went along anyway cause it was a peng day again and i has nothing better to do so I headed over. It was cool I just stood with Eleanor and AJ coaching and I joined in with some of the drills and Lydia and I passed it around a bit so it was really fun !!! Baking though!! Luckily I’d frozen a litre bottle of water the other day so I took that.

Joe and I made dinner together as Gina was at a law dinner, so we were just chatting and that, and then I was on FaceTime to Matt until like getting on for 1 . We were talking about how we’d treat our kids like in terms of differences between a boy and girl and we had a massive conversation about it all. Matts quite traditional because that’s his upbringing so he said he’d be more in line to be stricter on a daughter with going and stuff because of the risks, and I said my whole Spiel about I wouldn’t tell my daughter to put more clothes on to go out because that’s like saying it’s her fault or she’s asking for it when I don’t agree with that and that is be more likely to be stricter on my son with stuff like u know absolutely do not touch a girl without consent, don’t spike drinks, don’t harass girls etc so stuff that seems obvious but I feel like isn’t drilled into boys enough... so we had such a lib conversation and it turned into all the worldly social issues. I like those conversations because whilst often I do not agree with matts view it’s good to talk about it, and much as I’m not trying to always make him agree with me, i do like to try and get him to see things more radically and then understand where I’m coming from (because not being funny but i do truly think I’m right) and it does make me pleased when he shifts his stance slightly because he’s seen things from a different perspective - esp because I’m a girl and he isn’t . It was actually such a good thing to do, esp cause I am really passionate (if u will) about stuff like that. I almost with I’d recorded it to listen back lol .

Anyway we’re all going out today to acid lakes- should be amazing since the weathers good and everyone’s sound. Updates to follow xoxox

[g-taire]

ah okay this'll be hard to articulate but my feelings abt enjolras sorta stem from a wholly different place- i /really/ really relate to him, which ig is kinda odd as im also a mentally ill queer person lol. but anyway, fandom characterization of enjolras (and like.. so many people tbh, but fandom is as fandom does) really irritates me bc he is said to love love. like, a lot of mischaracterization i think comes from the fact that hes a sort of 'tough love' person in the book, but even then +

(p2) i feel like people forget that hes leading a revolution in an oppressive dictatorship and he doesnt really have Time to be Soft. anyway, back to my original point on love. love is enjolras’s driving force- if you are leading a revolution For The People, you arent above the common people or are cruel to them??? you would have to love them to risk your life for them. and you also love your friends?? bc your friends /are/ the common folk. like feuilly is a working man (and i could continue +

(p3) listing people off but I Won’t). but enjolras doesnt see them as a Cause, he isnt /inhuman/. he loves his friends for the same reason we all love our friends?? plus theres a moment in the barricade where i read it and sorta had a different reaction than others. when enjolras tells grantaire to leave the barricade and sleep off his wine, i feel like its less “youre worthless to us bc youre drunk and therefore cannot help” (altho w/ the eras POV on alcoholism it cld defo be a factor) +

(p4) and moreso enjolras doing what he did with the fathers in a different way- he doesnt want anyone who didnt believe in what they were doing (ie grantaire) to risk their life and possibly die for a new day that enjolras probably knew wouldnt happen in their lifetime. he doesnt want unnecessary blood on his hands (like, remember the line “death, i use you but i hate you?” or something along those lines). ANYWAY I RAMBLED ON A LOT BUT I JUST REALLY LOVE ENJ AND PROJECT ON HIM A LIL BIT WOW SRRY

I don’t think it’s odd at all!! Enjolras is a classic queer character, i think it makes perfect sense. 

that’s a perspective i hadn’t considered (re: tough love leading to mischaracterization), to be quite honest!! I could see how people could mischaracterize enjolras (he is, at times, brutally efficient, see le cubac) but i was more frustrated as to how they (seem to) miss the love aspect all together. 

also the second, about sending grantaire away. what an interesting reading!! to be honest, i skewed more towards the general perception; that he was sending grantaire away because he was in the way and obviously seemed incapacitated/too drunk to help. 

in the scene, grantaire is being crass about women and then depressing about their fates and his uselessness since birth, which prompts courfeyrac to tell him to shut up, and enjolras to tell him to sleep elsewhere.

“Grantaire,“ he shouted, “go get rid of the fumes of your wine somewhere else than here. This is the place for enthusiasm, not for drunkenness. Don’t disgrace the barricade.

and of course these lines: 

“Go and sleep somewhere else,” cried Enjolras. 

But Grantaire, still keeping his tender and troubled eyes fixed on him, replied, “Let me sleep here, — until I die.“ 

Enjolras regarded him with disdainful eyes.

“Grantaire, you are incapable of believing, of thinking, of willing, of living, and of dying.”

so i can understand the general reading: grantaire is disturbing everyone with his drunken ramblings, enjolras needs his men to fight and potentially die. but… that doesn’t invalidate your reading either. grantaire is not only in the way, but also an unnecessary death.  

this is a reading i haven’t seen before, and i’m not a les mis scholar, but i think it is very much supported by the text!! i think it fits perfectly into enjolras’ character, and you have quoted exactly the line i would have to illustrate enjolras’ feelings on the matter. this is outside any sort of shipping or other relationship enjolras and grantaire have; this is purely a character action reading that, i think, is kinda brilliant

tbh i don’t have anything to add to that, i just want to share it

[crashpaddiaries]

Dear Crashpad Diary #34

Yooooooo beasts… hahah whats the story??

I´ll write this one down to have the last few bit of the trip registered… we actually are atm in Dublin… enjoying the new life… having a blast and organizing pretty much everything hehehe

yep… coming back takes time, energy and some mind work hehehe

well… lets go back few pages… I´ll tell yas what happened during our last weeks of the trip in Thailand… plus… we can grab all the awesome energy we were accumulating there!! =)

So… after the fantastic days we had in Pai, enjoying the altitude, the weather a little more chill, the beautiful nature and all the days of the street market… the one you start in one side of the street electing the food you´ll get and at the other end you´ll have so many dishes and snacks already chosen in your had that you have to go through the list a second or a third time and chat loads with your conscience in order to get the food you want not the ones your eyes chose! hahahahaha

And off we went driving the same route… 762 curves back… no one got sick… actually in a bike it´s quite hard getting motion sickness… I, instead, got some bee coming towards us when we were at prob 60-70 km/h and bit me… yep… thats it… the bee came as a bullet ready to make me suffer!! that little bastard!! hahaha

The animals that day were mad… we almost crashed into a crab that was crossing the bridge… haha it sounds crazy but… it´s Thailand!! hahaha

We had to go back to Chiang Mai to get the train… we had already the tickets of the night train to Bangkok… what a great one… we slept well… enjoyed the trip and could relax before getting to the Big City!!

Bangkok, as usual is great… noisy… big… hectic… full of possibilities… options to have fun… and parks… many of them! As we had been there in the past we went for the different attractions and quite started settling down… we needed some time to calm down after all the “jumping from one place to the other kind of trip”!

The parks in there have open-air gyms and we frequented pretty often… we had to get started going back to our normal life right?? And the best option is getting healthier and stop eating all the shit stuff available and that you really don’t care much while traveling hahaha

But be careful peeps…. if you’re exercising, you should look for assistance from a pro if you´re not used or don´t know what to do… cuz we saw some weird drills going on in those open-air free gyms!! Of course, you get the same weird people exercising back in Europe as well… in fact I´ve seen many doing moves that will… at some point… injure badly the person…. mainly guys doing wrong… because if the instructors at the gyms see a pretty girls doing wrong…. they will “professionally” help her correcting the posture… merely because it´s their job!! haha

Among all those “breaking bad” exercises, the ones that stick to my mind are the old man that works out chest 5 days consecutively and the guys that was trying to grow a six pack in his neck…. cuz man… that´s defo not a workout for core…. he was moving his head up and down only!! hahahahah No joking now…. I´ve seen these type of exercises here in Ireland too…. it might be getting hyper!! hahahaha Way to go peeps…. the 6 pack protecting your jugular artery is the trendy!! hahahaha

Talking about weird people… we had the unpleasant experience of sharing a room with a guy that… on the night before his departure (which would be at 5am)… he decided go for a marathon of packing…. he was incredibly packing and unpacking his belongings for the whole night…. I´m not even kidding…. he spent literally the whole night getting ready to his trip…. and the worse is that he did that just outside the room… opening and closing the door every fucking minute hahahah If only he had loads of bags… but spend the entire night doing that with one bag must be quite boring for him!! haha And for us… the sleepy people inside the room…. twas a nightmare hehe oh well…. when you get a dorm it happens though!! =)

You have to be prepared to pretty much everything…. people are amazing!! And they can be awesome for the good or the bad… its a matter of lucky…. but you´ll certainly have fun!! Either or!! haha

Speaking about joy…. we had so much rain the last days in Bangkok…. seemed that the weather Gods wanted prep us to our time back to Ireland haha …. but that was awesome in fact… it is so good the warm rain down there… =)

During the entire trip I´ve been asked how was the life in Ireland with all the rain and stuff… and I always say that people complain too much… the rain is not bad as the rumours… Funny enough… since I came back… in 8 days I got 7 rainy ones!! hahahahah

As we had some days left before heading home, we decided of going in a last adventure… to Ayutthaya… an old city… full of temples pretty close to Bangkok and man… it is worth it!

The Place is just by the river… the temples give it a different atmosphere… Bangkok have´em too… but if you consider the size of the city… Ayutthaya has a concentration of ancient architecture that impress… adding up… the small night market and the people, it all made the experience sweet!!

And bitter at the same time… hehe as this one would be the last trip of the biggest adventure… 11 months of tripping, smiles and love sharing, people, foods… was coming to its end...

We took the train back to Bangkok… incredibly cheap once again…. and as usual… we had to experience the normal life… commuting with the locals gives you a different perspective of the country!

And hilarious facts too… during the trip we were photographed by a local photographer that was taking pics of the station and asked us to pose for him hehe but the best story happened during the trip… I was sharing my seat with an old and huge scale that belonged to the lady selling fruits veggies and all while bringing them to the capital… I was sitting facing the window, listening some podcast and enjoying the way the trees and small cabins were steady while we´re moving but sometimes I would imagine them moving while we were steady…

Funny thoughts going on when, suddenly, some mangoes passed by my head flying through the window.. but I could even feel the wind they created passing close enough to my ears…. I look back and there was the old lady separating the good mangoes and shooting the “not good ones” at whatever was outside the train hehehe PS…. as a mango freak… I would defo eat the ones she was disposing!! (I needed to highlight that for some reason!! haha)

So… after a photo shoot and mango shoot we were back to the big city…

This time of the year the rains are often and you´ll get wet… don’t worry! But the good part is that the water is not cold at all… one must enjoy that type of rain… I loved =) such a great feeling going out… close your eyes and just let the drops and its lack of pattern hit your skin for a while… =)

What is not enjoyable though… is the way coming and going everywhere when it rains… when you add water to that city and its causeways… you get a huuuuuuge iceskating rink as a result… haha it gets seriously dangerous!! The ground becomes so slippery that you must forget about your concept of waking and need to start applying all your skill you gathered during your years of skating/iceskating/inlineskating/snowboarding… and if you´d never done… don´t worry… you can start practicing the most popular sport during the rain season in Thailand… the Water Skating!! BTW… the Converse All-stars are the best for that kinda sport!! hehe

Off course you´ll see many many many peeps failing and ending up in the middle of the street with bleeding knees as so on… but as the philosopher says… there is no way to get better in sth if you don’t struggle!! hehehe

I was thinking of writing an End to the trip… you know… grabbing our bags… taking the uber at 5 am to the airport… enjoying the “awesome” inflight meals…. the movies and the huge spiral of feelings related to the trips… the thoughts of the future and the certainty that amazing things are coming….

However... as life is THE TRIP…. I just wanna emphasize my infinite gratitude and paraphrase Douglas Adams… DON´T PANIC!! =)

Have fun beasts and see you soon around carrying smiles, good vibes, my crashpad and.. a towel! hehe

Evan