#elaine beale

[josephgraham]

EASTENDERS | 13.07.2023

[drewsbarrymcre]

You can have your cup of tea, but we need some beefcake as well.

[doyelikehaggis]

Frobby in every episode of EastEnders: 19.06.23 [2/2]

[sapphicsukeve]

“You deserved that.” 🔥

[jackbatchelor3]

Ballum-related spoilers from Digital Spy

👬🏳️‍🌈

[wankerwatch]

Commons Vote

On: Renters' Rights Bill: Third Reading

Ayes: 440 (79.0% Lab, 14.1% LD, 2.7% Ind, 1.1% DUP, 0.9% PC, 0.9% Green, 0.5% SDLP, 0.2% APNI, 0.2% UUP, 0.2% TUV) Noes: 111 (97.3% Con, 2.7% RUK) Absent: ~99

Day's business papers: 2025-01-14

Likely Referenced Bill: Renters' Rights Bill

Description: A Bill to make provision changing the law about rented homes, including provision abolishing fixed term assured tenancies and assured shorthold tenancies; imposing obligations on landlords and others in relation to rented homes and temporary and supported accommodation; and for connected purposes.

Originating house: Commons Current house: Commons Bill Stage: 3rd reading

Individual Votes:

Ayes

Labour (347 votes)

Abena Oppong-Asare Adam Jogee Adam Thompson Afzal Khan Al Carns Alan Campbell Alan Gemmell Alan Strickland Alex Baker Alex Barros-Curtis Alex Mayer Alex McIntyre Alex Sobel Alice Macdonald Alison Hume Alison McGovern Alison Taylor Alistair Strathern Allison Gardner Amanda Hack Amanda Martin Andrew Cooper Andrew Gwynne Andrew Lewin Andrew Pakes Andrew Ranger Andrew Western Andy MacNae Andy McDonald Andy Slaughter Angela Eagle Angela Rayner Anna Dixon Anna Gelderd Anna McMorrin Anneliese Dodds Anneliese Midgley Antonia Bance Ashley Dalton Baggy Shanker Bambos Charalambous Barry Gardiner Bayo Alaba Beccy Cooper Becky Gittins Bell Ribeiro-Addy Ben Coleman Ben Goldsborough Bill Esterson Brian Leishman Callum Anderson Calvin Bailey Carolyn Harris Cat Eccles Cat Smith Catherine Atkinson Catherine Fookes Catherine McKinnell Charlotte Nichols Chi Onwurah Chris Bloore Chris Bryant Chris Curtis Chris Elmore Chris Evans Chris Hinchliff Chris Kane Chris McDonald Chris Murray Chris Vince Chris Ward Chris Webb Christian Wakeford Claire Hazelgrove Claire Hughes Clive Efford Clive Lewis Connor Naismith Damien Egan Dan Aldridge Dan Jarvis Dan Tomlinson Daniel Francis Daniel Zeichner Danny Beales Darren Jones Darren Paffey Dave Robertson David Baines David Burton-Sampson David Pinto-Duschinsky David Smith David Taylor David Williams Dawn Butler Debbie Abrahams Deirdre Costigan Derek Twigg Diana Johnson Diane Abbott Douglas Alexander Douglas McAllister Elaine Stewart Elsie Blundell Emily Darlington Emma Foody Emma Hardy Emma Lewell-Buck Emma Reynolds Euan Stainbank Fabian Hamilton Feryal Clark Fleur Anderson Florence Eshalomi Frank McNally Fred Thomas Gareth Snell Gen Kitchen Georgia Gould Gerald Jones Gill Furniss Gill German Gordon McKee Graeme Downie Graham Stringer Grahame Morris Gregor Poynton Gurinder Singh Josan Hamish Falconer Harpreet Uppal Heidi Alexander Helen Hayes Helena Dollimore Henry Tufnell Hilary Benn Ian Lavery Imogen Walker Irene Campbell Jack Abbott Jacob Collier Jade Botterill Jake Richards James Asser James Frith James Murray James Naish Jas Athwal Jayne Kirkham Jeevun Sandher Jeff Smith Jenny Riddell-Carpenter Jess Asato Jessica Morden Jessica Toale Jim Dickson Jim McMahon Jo Platt Jo Stevens Jo White Joani Reid Joe Morris Joe Powell Johanna Baxter John Grady John Slinger John Whitby Jon Pearce Jon Trickett Jonathan Brash Jonathan Davies Jonathan Hinder Josh Dean Josh MacAlister Josh Newbury Josh Simons Julia Buckley Julie Minns Juliet Campbell Justin Madders Kanishka Narayan Karin Smyth Karl Turner Kate Dearden Kate Osamor Kate Osborne Katie White Katrina Murray Kerry McCarthy Kevin Bonavia Kevin McKenna Kim Leadbeater Kirith Entwistle Kirsteen Sullivan Kirsty McNeill Laura Kyrke-Smith Lauren Sullivan Laurence Turner Lee Barron Lee Pitcher Leigh Ingham Lewis Atkinson Liam Byrne Liam Conlon Lilian Greenwood Lillian Jones Linsey Farnsworth Liz Kendall Liz Twist Lizzi Collinge Lloyd Hatton Lola McEvoy Lorraine Beavers Louise Haigh Louise Jones Lucy Powell Lucy Rigby Luke Akehurst Luke Charters Luke Murphy Margaret Mullane Maria Eagle Marie Rimmer Marie Tidball Mark Ferguson Mark Sewards Mark Tami Markus Campbell-Savours Marsha De Cordova Martin McCluskey Martin Rhodes Mary Glindon Matt Bishop Matt Rodda Matt Turmaine Matthew Patrick Matthew Pennycook Maureen Burke Maya Ellis Meg Hillier Melanie Onn Melanie Ward Miatta Fahnbulleh Michael Payne Michael Shanks Michael Wheeler Michelle Scrogham Michelle Welsh Mike Kane Mike Reader Mike Tapp Mohammad Yasin Natalie Fleet Natasha Irons Naushabah Khan Navendu Mishra Neil Coyle Neil Duncan-Jordan Nesil Caliskan Nia Griffith Nicholas Dakin Nick Smith Nick Thomas-Symonds Noah Law Oliver Ryan Olivia Bailey Olivia Blake Pam Cox Patricia Ferguson Patrick Hurley Paul Davies Paul Foster Paul Waugh Paula Barker Paulette Hamilton Perran Moon Peter Dowd Peter Kyle Peter Lamb Peter Prinsley Peter Swallow Polly Billington Preet Kaur Gill Rachael Maskell Rachel Blake Rachel Hopkins Rachel Taylor Rosena Allin-Khan Rupa Huq Rushanara Ali Ruth Cadbury Ruth Jones Sadik Al-Hassan Sally Jameson

Sam Carling Sam Rushworth Samantha Dixon Samantha Niblett Sarah Champion Sarah Coombes Sarah Hall Sarah Owen Sarah Russell Sarah Sackman Sarah Smith Satvir Kaur Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Shabana Mahmood Sharon Hodgson Simon Lightwood Simon Opher Sojan Joseph Sonia Kumar Stella Creasy Stephanie Peacock Stephen Kinnock Stephen Morgan Stephen Timms Steve Race Steve Reed Steve Witherden Steve Yemm Sureena Brackenridge Tahir Ali Taiwo Owatemi Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Tim Roca Toby Perkins Tom Collins Tom Hayes Tom Rutland Tonia Antoniazzi Tony Vaughan Torcuil Crichton Torsten Bell Tracy Gilbert Tristan Osborne Tulip Siddiq Uma Kumaran Valerie Vaz Vicky Foxcroft Warinder Juss Wes Streeting Will Stone Yasmin Qureshi Yuan Yang Zubir Ahmed

Liberal Democrat (62 votes)

Adam Dance Al Pinkerton Alex Brewer Alison Bennett Alistair Carmichael Andrew George Angus MacDonald Anna Sabine Ben Maguire Brian Mathew Calum Miller Cameron Thomas Charlie Maynard Claire Young Clive Jones Daisy Cooper Danny Chambers David Chadwick Ed Davey Freddie van Mierlo Gideon Amos Helen Maguire Helen Morgan Ian Roome Ian Sollom James MacCleary Jamie Stone Jess Brown-Fuller John Milne Josh Babarinde Joshua Reynolds Layla Moran Lee Dillon Lisa Smart Liz Jarvis Luke Taylor Manuela Perteghella Marie Goldman Martin Wrigley Max Wilkinson Mike Martin Monica Harding Munira Wilson Olly Glover Paul Kohler Pippa Heylings Rachel Gilmour Roz Savage Sarah Dyke Sarah Green Sarah Olney Steff Aquarone Susan Murray Tim Farron Tom Gordon Tom Morrison Victoria Collins Vikki Slade Wendy Chamberlain Wera Hobhouse Will Forster Zöe Franklin

Independent (12 votes)

Adnan Hussain Apsana Begum Ayoub Khan Ian Byrne Iqbal Mohamed Jeremy Corbyn John McDonnell Mike Amesbury Rebecca Long Bailey Richard Burgon Shockat Adam Zarah Sultana

Democratic Unionist Party (5 votes)

Carla Lockhart Gavin Robinson Gregory Campbell Jim Shannon Sammy Wilson

Plaid Cymru (4 votes)

Ann Davies Ben Lake Liz Saville Roberts Llinos Medi

Green Party (4 votes)

Adrian Ramsay Carla Denyer Ellie Chowns Siân Berry

Social Democratic & Labour Party (2 votes)

Claire Hanna Colum Eastwood

Alliance (1 vote)

Sorcha Eastwood

Ulster Unionist Party (1 vote)

Robin Swann

Traditional Unionist Voice (1 vote)

Jim Allister

Noes

Conservative (107 votes)

Alan Mak Alberto Costa Alec Shelbrooke Alex Burghart Alicia Kearns Alison Griffiths Andrew Bowie Andrew Griffith Andrew Murrison Andrew Rosindell Andrew Snowden Ashley Fox Ben Obese-Jecty Ben Spencer Bernard Jenkin Blake Stephenson Bob Blackman Bradley Thomas Caroline Dinenage Caroline Johnson Charlie Dewhirst Chris Philp Claire Coutinho Damian Hinds Danny Kruger David Davis David Mundell David Reed David Simmonds Desmond Swayne Edward Argar Edward Leigh Esther McVey Gagan Mohindra Gareth Bacon Gareth Davies Gavin Williamson Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Geoffrey Cox George Freeman Graham Stuart Greg Smith Gregory Stafford Harriet Cross Harriett Baldwin Helen Grant Helen Whately Iain Duncan Smith Jack Rankin James Cartlidge James Cleverly James Wild Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Wright Jerome Mayhew Jesse Norman Joe Robertson John Cooper John Glen John Hayes John Lamont Joy Morrissey Julia Lopez Julian Lewis Julian Smith Karen Bradley Katie Lam Kemi Badenoch Kevin Hollinrake Kieran Mullan Kit Malthouse Laura Trott Lewis Cocking Lincoln Jopp Louie French Luke Evans Mark Francois Mark Garnier Martin Vickers Matt Vickers Mel Stride Mike Wood Mims Davies Neil Hudson Neil O'Brien Neil Shastri-Hurst Nick Timothy Nigel Huddleston Oliver Dowden Patrick Spencer Paul Holmes Peter Bedford Peter Fortune Rebecca Paul Robbie Moore Robert Jenrick Roger Gale Saqib Bhatti Sarah Bool Shivani Raja Simon Hoare Steve Barclay Stuart Anderson Stuart Andrew Suella Braverman Victoria Atkins Wendy Morton

Reform UK (3 votes)

James McMurdock Richard Tice Rupert Lowe

[directedbynoraephron]

books i read in 2024:

lady chatterley’s lover by dh lawrence

either/or by elif batuman

the color purple by alice walker

i know why the caged bird sings by maya angelou

idlewild by james frankie thomas

night sky with exit wounds by ocean vuong

five tuesdays in winter by lily king

death valley by melissa broder

mutual aid: building solidarity during this crisis (and the next) by dean spade

bride by ali hazelwood

the very secret society of irregular witches by sangu mandanna

gilead by marilynne robinson

operating instructions: a journal of my son's first year by anne lamott

how far the light reaches: a life in ten sea creatures by sabrina imbler

eileen by ottessa moshfegh

how to keep house while drowning: a gentle approach to cleaning and organizing by kc davis

there there by tommy orange

tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow by gabrielle zevin

another brooklyn by jacqueline woodson

big swiss by jen beagin

housekeeping by marilynne robinson

the guest by emma cline

the answers by catherine lacey

educated by tara westover

how to talk so kids will listen & listen so kids will talk by adele faber and elaine mazlish

call me a cab by donald e westlake

the nix by nathan hill

the essential gwendolyn brooks, edited by elizabeth alexander

song of solomon by toni morrison

the emperor of all maladies: a biography of cancer by siddhartha mukherjee

we the animals by justin torres

funny story by emily henry

the dutch house by ann patchett

the remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro

a great and terrible beauty by libba bray

the love affairs of nathaniel p by adelle waldman

assembly by natasha brown

beautyland by marie-helene bertino

the cost of living by deborah levy

a god in ruins by kate atkinson

doppelganger: a trip into the mirror world by naomi klein

if beale street could talk by james baldwin

mountains beyond mountains: the quest of dr paul farmer, a man who would cure the world by tracy kidder

the wide wide sea: imperial ambition, first contact, and the fateful final journey of captain james cook by hampton sides

wicked intentions by elizabeth hoyt

all the pretty horses by cormac mccarthy

small things like these by claire keegan

all fours by miranda july

nickel and dimed: on (not) getting by in america by barbara ehrenreich

the friend by sigrid nunez

veronica by mary gaitskill

a thousand mornings by mary oliver

the looming tower: al-qaeda and the road to 9/11 by lawrence wright

you should be so lucky by cat sebastian

the art of catching feelings by alicia thompson

tiny beautiful things: advice on love and life from dear sugar by cheryl strayed

love and other words by christina lauren

long island compromise by taffy brodesser-akner

the immortal life of henrietta lacks by rebecca skloot

giovanni’s room by james baldwin

the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson

perfume and pain by anna dorn

evicted: poverty and profit in the american city by matthew desmond

stay true by hua hsu

the pairing by casey mcquiston

fix her up by tessa bailey

66 total books broken down into: 35 literary fiction, 9 informative non-fiction/history, 9 romance, 6 memoir, 3 poetry, 3 self-help/advice, and 1 YA

[aliypop]

Way Down

Word Count: 1,046

Writers Note: Inspired by standing in the Smokehouse aka Gun Range at Graceland

Warning: Mentions of Guns.

Pairing: POC OC x Elvis

Summary: It's boys' night with the Memphis Mafia... At least it was supposed to be

Taglist

@darkmoviesquotespizza

@sissylittlefeather

@richardslady121

@thegettingbyp2

@presleyenterprise

@sissylittlefeather

@dkayfixates

@rjmartin11

@thetaoofzoe

@your-nanas-house

@zayurir

@60svintage

@sillybookmarks

@leapresley

Graceland June 1976

The Tennessee sun was beginning to set, and near Vernon's office was a crowd of beer-ridden rowdy roughens that Elvis called his friends. It was boys' night. It was what Elvis promised. No wives, no kids, and absolutely no cheating at aiming for the middle of the shooting chart. Coming from inside the house was Elaine. She and her brother were 15 now, but the guys still remembered the day the two were born. Jerry had noticed that her hair was nicely pressed, and she had on a little bit of makeup that Cecelia must have allowed. And Elvis must not have seen, 

"Hey Memphis, where you going?"

"On a date." She smiled, her smile just as crooked and charming as her father's,

"Do we know him?" Joe, Red, Lamar. And Billy, all asked as Elaine shook her head and laughed,

"No, you've never met her." Elaine smiled as Jerry and the boys were shocked at her response. She was wearing daisy dukes and a tied-up shirt, but for Jerry, the only thing he could say was,

 "At least she won't get pregnant..." They watched her sprint off towards a red 68 Mustang. The driver was a bit taller than Elaine. She had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles and was wearing a denim outfit,

"Is the infamous Memphis mob..." Estella asked,

"Yes, it is," Elaine said, "SEE YOU LATER UNCLE, JOE, RED, LAMAR, BILLY!" she shouted as Jerry cleared his throat. Elaine ran back to him. And she kissed his cheek, "Uncle Jerry, I'll be back at 9pm,"

"If you're not back..."

"My behind is wine."

"That's my Memphis." He ruffled up her hair. As soon as she left, here came trouble in a leather jacket and a The Doors shirt, "Hello Fella," Jessie smiled. His smile was soft like his mother's, but he had a stubborn cowlick like his, father, really he nearly had his father's face on his,  

 "Ah, yes, JVP, how are you feeling?"

"Pretty groovy cousin Billy." Jessie smiled. He'd been getting into a bit of trouble lately. Between his so-called friends and parties he'd been sneaking out to, leaning against the smokehouse, Jessie tried to take a whiff of Red's beer as he moved it.

 "Don't you have records to file, homework, a guitar to practice?"

"One, Carla is not in today, so automatically, the studio is boring. Two, it's summer..." 

"Carla, as in your mother's Intern?" Lamar asked.

"Yeah, she's, uh, very pretty." Jessie blushed, "Taking her to Beale Street tonight, actually..." He looked at his watch, "S-ShIt!! I mean shoot, I fuc-"

"HEY LANGUAGE!" Joe shouted as Jessie ran off, the mob shaking their heads. 

"Say, where's Elvis?"

"He's running a bit late from the studio," Cecelia said, stepping out in her bell bottoms and cropped tied shirt. She had a gun on her hips. She looked like Foxy Brown.

"Nope,"

"No, what... Lamar ..."

"No wives." Red joked,

"Well, this is my house. You're drinkin the beer I bought for you so."

"C... it's Boys night at the smokehouse..." Red said,

"Well, I'll stand in for Elvis," 

"Fine! But I bet you can't shoot that-"

BANG!

         BANG!

BANG!

"Shit..." Joe gasped, 

"How... Why..." Jerry asked,

"Who are you?" Lamar blinked,

"My glammy taught me to shoot, with help from my mother," She sighed, "Though I feel a little rusty..."Cecelia sighed, "Bill, could'ja hand me that riffle, please." She asked as he handed it to her, "You might wanna move back. It's got a kick to it..." She mumbled, leaning over to focus. She made sure her stance was strong. She aimed her gun and pulled the trigger and-

PLOW!

A few hours later, the boys had a clever idea to throw her a challenge.

"See, y'all started without me," Elvis said as he took his sunglasses off, 

"Cece's been shootin every gun we can find!" Red said as Elvis chuckled,

"Sounds right," Elvis smiled as she wrapped her arms around his fuller frame, "I guess I'll let you have your guys' night now." She smiled as Elvis kissed her forehead,

"What, no, Cece, You're practically one of the boys!" Joe whined as Elvis laughed, 

"Stay, have a beer, talk shit with us!" Billy smiled,

"I don't know, you did save no Wives and..." Holding up her ring finger with the updated wedding ring, which had the diamond from his TCB ring. 

"I'm a wife, so..."

"E, please make her stay!" Lamar said,

"Red, Jerry?" Elvis asked,

"Fine, she can stay, but can you fix a tire?" Elvis laughed at Red's question,

"Meet me in the garage, I'll fix your car." Cecelia winked, 

"Who taught you to do that?" Jerry asked,

"My Glammy... Her brother was a mechanic." She shrugged,

As the night continued with the boys and Cecelia shooting and carrying on, they ended up in the garage talking, "Shit, Red! How the hell are you even alive!" She asked as Elvis and Jerry were looking at his spark plugs.

"Gee, I don't know." 

"We see..." Jerry laughed,

"Tell us how bad. Is it!" Lamar asked,

"About as bad as chicken shit." She hiccuped a little. She may have drank some of Elvis's beer to taste it, 

"Can you fix it?" Joe asked,

"Shooot does a rooster crow in the mornin!" Elvis handed her the needle nose pillars, and she changed them out,

"This is like if Dusty in Viva Las Vegas knew cars." Billy laughed,

"Dusty was beautiful, of course. She was Ann Marget." Cecelia said as Jerry laughed, 

"Sounds a little jealous."

"Me, nah, why, if I was a man, I'd scoop her up." Cecelia smirked at Elvis, and the boys laughed, "She's a smokin' hot babe."

"I see where Elaine gets it from." Jerry chuckled,

"Hiya, everyone!" Elaine smiled, stopping by, "Hi, daddy." Elvis leaned down so she could kiss his cheek, 

"Did you have a nice date?" He asked,

"I did," She giggled,

"Not too much touchin?"

"Daddy!" She laughed,

"Hey, I don't want you gettin no ideas, little biscuit." He laughed, "You go on up. And get ready for bed, okay." Elvis smiled as Elaine nodded,

"Night, everyone!"

"So... can I help?" Jessie said his face covered in lipstick kisses, 

"And that's my que to leave." Cecelia chuckled.

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Check out the Red/Blue Ships List here X

Continuation of my attempt to create a tierlist for every color scheme, here is the Orange/Black tierlist, which also includes Orange/Purple and Orange/Blue pairings due to the amount of overlap I was seeing in the color schemes. I was a lot more lenient here than the Red/Blue one on what counts as I figured there would be less, though I ended up with a lot more than I thought.

I don't know all the pairings here personally and just tried to include all I could find - If I left any of your favorites out let me know and I can retroactively add them (This goes for the other lists too).

Ships featured (In order of appearance):

-Sunati\Austen from Always Human

-Aki Hayakawa\Angel Devil from Chainsaw Man

-Allison Argent \Lydia Martin from Teen Wolf

-Aang\Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender

-Wanderer (Scaramouche)\Tartaglia (Childe) from Genshin Impact

-Hermes\Charon from Hades (Supergiant)

-Zhongli\Tartaglia (Childe) from Genshin Impact

-Giyu Tomioka\Sabito from Demon Slayer

-Subaru Akehoshi\Hokuto Hidaka from Ensemble Stars

-Rue Kuroha\Ahiru Arima (Duck) from Princess Tutu

-Fakir\Ahiru Arima (Duck) from Princess Tutu

-Hubert von Vestra\Ferdinand von Aieger from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

-Felix Hugo Fraldarius\Annette Fantine Dominic from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

-Lorenz Hellman Gloucester\Leonie Pinelli from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

-Papika\Cocona Cocomine from Flip Flappers

-Philip J. Fry\Turanga Leela from Futurama

-Son Goku\Chi-Chi from Dragon Ball

-Kamisato Ayaka\Naganohara Yoimiya from Genshin Impact

-Sansa Stark\Margaery Tyrell from Game of Thrones

-Harrowhark Nonagesimus\Gideon Nav from The Locked Tomb Series

-Kyouko Hori\Izumi Miyamura from Horimiya

-Hercules\Megara from Disney's Hercules

-Benery\Gordon Freeman from Half Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware*

-Retsuko\Haida from Aggretsuko

-Vriska Serket\Tavros Nitram from Homestuck

-Rukia Kuchiki\Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach

-Jade Harley\Davesprite from Homestuck

-Jotaro Kujo\Noriaki Kakyoin from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

-James "Logan" Howlett (Wolverine)\Jean Elaine Grey (Phoenix) from X-Men

-Shoyo Hinata\Tobio Kageyama from Haikyu!!

-Katarina Claes\Mary Hunt from My Next Life as a Villainess

-Calvin "Freckle" Mcmurry\Ivy Pepper from Lackadaisy

-Honoka Kosaka\Umi Sonoda from Love Live!

-Thorin Oakenshield\Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit

-Heath Burns\Abbey Bominable from Monster High

-Zelda\Midna from The Legend of Zelda Franchise

-Twilight Sparkle\Sunset Shimmer from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls

-Rainbow Dash\Applejack from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

-Rarity\Applejack from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

-Mondo Owada\Kiyotaka Ishimaru from Danganronpa

-Sho Suzuki\Ritsu Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100

-Jack Skellington\Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas

-Umetarou Nozaki\Chiyo Sakura from Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun

-Nobara Kugisaki\Maki Zenin from Jujutsu Kaisen

-Nozomi Tojo\Rin Hoshizora from Love Live!

-Nami\Nico Robin from One Piece

-Yoo Sangah\Han Sooyoung from Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

-Phineas Flynn\Isabella Garcia-Shapiro from Phineas and Ferb

-Puss in Boots\Kitty Softpaws from Puss in Boots

-Ray\Emma from The Promised Neverland

-Leon\Raihan from Pokemon

-Sonia\Nessa from Pokemon

-Professor Sada\Professor Turo from Pokemon

-Chloe Beale\Beca Mitchell from Pitch Perfect

-Popuko\Pipimi from Pop Team Epic

-Raeliana McMillan\Noah Volstaire Wynknight from Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion

-Alfredo Linguini\Colette Tatou from Ratatouille

-Kanaya Maryam\Rose Lalonde from Homestuck

-Kazuto Kirigaya (Kirito)\Asuna Yuuki from Sword Art Online

-Naruto Uzumaki\Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto

-Kyoko Mogami\Ren Tsuruga from Skip Beat!

-Akira Okudaira\Fumi Manjōme from Sweet Blue Flowers

-Daphne Blake\Velma Dinkley from Scooby Doo

-Clary Fray\Isabelle Lightwood from Shadowhunters

-Sun Wukong (The Monkey King)\Liu Er Mihou (Six-eared Macaque)

-Juri Arisugawa\Shiori Takatsuki from Revolutionary Girl Utena

-Osamu Dazai\Chūya Nakahara from Bungo Stray Dogs

-Jasper\Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe

-He Tian\Mo Guanshan from 19 Days

-Sonic the Hedgehog\Miles Prower (Tails) from the Sonic Franchise

-Hijirikawa Masato\Jinguji Ren from Uta no Prince-sama

-Nanami Haruka\Ichinose Tokiya from Uta no Prince-sama

-Nanami Haruka\Hijirikawa Masato from Uta no Prince-sama

-Ash Ketchum\Misty from Pokemon

-Akira Takizawa\Saki Morimi from Eden of the East

-Fox Mulder\Dana Scully from X-Files

-Futaba Sakura\Yusuke Kitagawa from Persona 5

-Angel\Gaige from Borderlands

-Judy Hopps\Nick Wilde from Zootopia

-Riko Kurahashi\Natsuo Maki from Love Lab

*As a rule I use official art or personal edits for these but since that was not possible for Benrey/Gordon Freeman I used a fanart found here: X by Giaru-Orihidero - They are very talented so please check them out!

[rebeccadumaurier]

2023 Books in Review

a tiered ranking of all the books i read in 2023! originally i was going to write up my commentary on each one but then i was like hahaha.....no, so below the cut is just a list of the titles/authors in each tier instead.

changed my brain chemistry

The Idiot, Elif Batuman

Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang

The Borrowed, Chan Ho-kei (trans. Jeremy Tiang)

My Cousin Rachel, Daphne du Maurier

Vagabonds, Hao Jingfang (trans. Ken Liu)

The Membranes, Chi Ta-wei (trans. Ari Larissa Heinrich)

Under the Pendulum Sun, Jeannette Ng

Severance, Ling Ma

He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan

Vita Nostra, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (trans. Julia Meitov Hersey)

Network Effect, Martha Wells

top-tier stuff

Our Share of Night, Mariana Enriquez (trans. Megan McDowell)

Brainwyrms, Alison Rumfitt

The Door, Magda Szabo (trans. Len Rix)

The Lover, Marguerite Duras (trans. Barbara Bray)

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

Strange Beasts of China, Yan Ge (trans. Jeremy Tiang)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, Kim Fu

Tell Me I’m Worthless, Alison Rumfitt

Bliss Montage, Ling Ma

How to Read Now, Elaine Castillo

Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer

The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin

If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin

My Brilliant Friend and The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante

The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri

good, well-written

Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu

Life Ceremony, Sayaka Murata (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori)

Yellowface, R. F. Kuang

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine

Assassin of Reality, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (trans. Julia Meitov Hersey)

Witch King, Martha Wells

Tokyo Ueno Station, Miri Yu (trans. Morgan Giles)

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler

Peaces, Helen Oyeyemi

Gingerbread, Helen Oyeyemi

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir

The Pachinko Parlor, Elisa Shua Dusapin (trans. Aneesa Abbas Higgins)

All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Fugitive Telemetry, and System Collapse (Murderbot #1-4, #6-7), Martha Wells

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee

The Dry Heart, Natalia Ginzburg (trans. Frances Frenaye)

Gods of Want, K-Ming Chang

Paradais, Fernanda Melchor (trans. Sophie Hughes)

The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Tsing

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency, Chen Chen

The Hurting Kind, Ada Limon

Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie

An Unauthorised Fan Treatise, Lauren James

Upstream, Mary Oliver

The Art of Death, Edwidge Danticat

Meander, Spiral, Explode, Jane Alison

alphabet, Inger Christensen (trans. Susanna Nied)

Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

flawed, but enjoyable

The Wicker King, K. Ancrum

Exit West, Mohsin Hamid

Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters

Flux, Jinwoo Chong

Bang Bang Bodhisattva, Aubrey Wood

The Murder of Mr. Wickham, Claudia Gray

Natural Beauty, Ling Ling Huang

The Monster Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson

Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Likeness, Tana French

The Cabinet, Un-su Kim (trans. Sean Lin Halbert)

The Kingdom of Surfaces, Sally Wen Mao

The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, Franny Choi

good, well-written, but not my cup of tea

The Good House, Tananarive Due

The Transmigration of Bodies, Yuri Herrera (trans. Lisa Dillman)

Roadside Picnic, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky (trans. Olena Bormashenko)

The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan

At Night All Blood Is Black, David Diop (trans. Anna Moschovakis)

Family Lexicon, Natalia Ginzburg (trans. Jenny McPhee)

The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo

The Kingdom of This World, Alejo Carpentier (trans. Harriet de Onís)

Against Silence, Frank Bidart

flawed, less enjoyable

Tenth of December, George Saunders

Counterweight, Djuna (trans. Anton Hur)

Authority, Jeff VanderMeer

Comfort Me with Apples, Catherynne M. Valente

Babel, R. F. Kuang

The Genesis of Misery, Neon Yang

Carrie Soto Is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid

not ranking

These are nonfiction and they aren’t literature-related, so it just felt weird trying to rank them.

Visual Thinking, Temple Grandin

On Web Typography, Jason Santa Maria

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo (trans. Cathy Hirano)

[boricuacherry-blog]

Ng's family said they stopped hearing back from her on October 19. They also received a cryptic call from the retreat's organizer informing them of her disappearance. The Guatemalan Navy began search-and-rescue efforts the same day, but suspended the search after 72 hours without any leads.

"We don't really know exactly what happened," Nancy's brother Jonathan Ng told NBC. "The witnesses that were able to see what happened have not been extremely communicative."

The rescuers have spent the past few weeks scouring the murky volcanic lake with boats, aircraft, and drones, but have found no sign of the missing woman. Chris Sharpe, the owner of Black Wolf Helicopters, said that many witnesses have not been forthcoming and have since returned to the United States. "For me, this is now becoming a criminal investigation," he told ABC.

Nancy went missing on Oct. 19 during a "Be the Change" yoga retreat organized by Los Angeles instructor Eduardo Rimada. She went off on a kayaking excursion in Lake Atitlan with around ten people, including a San Bernardino County public defender named Christina Blazek. Blazek was allegedly the last person who saw Nancy before she disappeared, and Ng's family has desperately sought answers from Blazek but was met with silence for weeks, before Blazek finally spoke out - through her attorney. And this was only after the private search-and-rescue firm hired by the family to continue efforts on the ground, released Blazek's name in a press release to encourage her to come forward.

G. Christopher Gardner, Blazek's attorney, said in an interview with KABC-TV of Los Angeles last Wednesday that his client had tried to warn Nancy of the lake's rough waters when they were out kayaking right before she disappeared.

"[Blazek] kept one leg in her kayak and one leg in [Nancy's] kayak and tried to get back to her...and got close to her," Gardner told KABC. "And then apparently, [Blazek] lost the kayak again and she turned around to go back to get the kayak again, and when she turned back around, Ms. Ng was gone."

"If it is like she says and it is an accident, I don't understand how she could choose to leave my family in the dark for almost four weeks, and not just say that from the start," Ng's sister Nicky told ABC 7 LA.

But Blazek's account has prompted new questions from the family and resurfaced ones they've had.

"Nancy's a good swimmer. I don't understand how this could have happened. Was she struggling for a long time? Did Christina hear her scream or yell for help?" Nicky said. "What was the scope? The circumstances? Did she just disappear? Was there a land nearby that she could have swam? I had no context or not enough context of what was going on. So those are the same questions we still have today."

Gardner claims that his client didn't come forward sooner because she needed time to herself after going through the "traumatic experience."

Nancy's disappearance, however, has been even more devastating for the family of six, Nicky said.

"When we think about the [possibility of] drowning, my dad, he takes it really hard because he taught Nancy how to swim," Nicky said. "I think they're taking it really hard, and at the same time, they're trying to be strong for me and my brothers."

Nicky added that the search for Nancy, who worked with special needs children, has been difficult for the students she was close with as well.

"We have had a lot of her clients' parents reach out to us and just say Nancy had a special connection with their child and that their child now doesn't understand why Nancy's not back," Nicky said.

The investigation is ongoing and the FBI continues to interview witnesses in the case.

Earlier this month, the owners of the kayak company used by Ng before she vanished said the group she was with 'immediately clammed up' after she disappeared. Lee and Elaine Beal, the proprietors of Kayak Guatemala, said that ten people went out on the excursion, but only eight returned - with Ng and another woman seen paddling further into the body of water.

Eventually the woman returned to shore alone, with no sign of Ng.

"No one in the group was interested in talking to anybody," Lee told Good Morning America. "It was almost like, immediately clamming up and like we are not going to say anything."

The group failed to pay the owners then all left the country 'within 12 hours' of the suspected accident, which struck Elaine Beal as odd.

"They didn't say a word to us. I just don't understand that part, leaving within 12 hours," she added.

The couple described how they were watching the group, with Ng and the female kayaker about 100 yards away. The women continued paddling until they were out of sight.

The next thing the couple saw was a distress signal, before the woman returned alone.

"I witnessed the survivor being ushered up the steps," Elaine added. "She was clearly distressed."

Guatemalan authorities had struggled to locate the woman who was last with Nancy, or the tour guide as they left the country.

[partywithponies]

Elaine and Eddie can both get straight in the bin. How shitty do you have to for Cindy Beale to come out looking like the voice of reason.

[doyelikehaggis]

Poor boy only got more baffled every time someone got his costume wrong

[sapphicsukeve]

Elaine Peacock, Callum Highway + Kathy Cotton (20/09)

[jackbatchelor3]

"She's meant to be dead." - Ben Mitchell