#honestly I just wanted to explore Paul as a character because you don't see much inside his head or get much of a feel for him

[emsprovisions]

Hi y'all! I read so many Tarlos fics this past month so I wanted to do a little highlight of some of my favorites! It was honestly very hard to narrow down the one shots but I tried 😂

Oneshots

Rain on Me by @ironheartwriter Rating: Explicit Word count: 6,622 Why I liked it: Lana has become such a dear friend in such a short time and I said one little thing in a tumblr ask response and something like two days later she busted out 6k words of pure magic! I love this fic, it's so sweet. We get to see our boys have some downtime to themselves and they truly truly deserve it!

breathing deeper than i've ever done by @your-catfish-friend Rating: Explicit Word count: 4,693 Why I liked it: This fic is so hot! This fic is heavy on senses, particularly the sense of smell. There's a part towards the end that really makes me insane where TK and Carlos are taking a shower together and it smells like "TK-and-Carlos" which makes me insane because they really are One.

Butterflies and Sky-High by @paperstorm Rating: Teen and up Word count: 8,031 Why I liked it: Demi!Carlos my beloved. I strongly subscribe to this headcanon and Andie, as always, you have executed it so beautifully! I loved this exploration of Carlos's labels, his spiral, his conversation with Paul, how he finally talked to TK about how he feels, it was all so beautiful.

This is The Sound of You Here and Now by @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut Rating: Mature Word count: 3,040 Why I liked it: I was sick with a cold and asked for sick fics of my boys to get me through those trying times. J, thank you so much for delivering! This was beautiful and genuinely it made me cry. I love how they take care of and love each other.

Long fics

Right Before Your Eyes by Goody Rating: Teen and up Word count: 19,894 Why I liked it: This one is so much fun! It feels like watching an episode, it is that realistic. Your characterization was amazing! Also poor TK, he suffers so much already and we just put him through more! But this was still really good! (and if anyone knows their tumblr, please let me know so I can properly tag them!)

to build a home by @freneticfloetry Rating: Explicit Word count: 63,872 Why I liked it: I don't think I will ever recover from the feels this one gave me. I love Carlos exploration fics. I love how well the angst was balanced with fluff and spicier scenes! I'm working on a wip rn that has definitely been influenced by the layout and flow of this gorgeous fic. It's melancholic in the best way, beautiful, and true to character. I won't stop thinking about it any time soon.

Series

Missing Moments by @paperstorm Works: 34 Complete: no Why I liked it: special shoutout to the fic from this series, Homeward Bound because I think about it often. I really, really love this series. Sometimes I confuse details from canon with details from these fics because they feel so canon to me. We needed the background scenes and you have more than delivered, Andie! Love this series so much and I can't wait to see what you do with the rest!

wherever you stray, I follow by @strandnreyes Works: 2 Complete: no Why I liked it: My latest obsession is this series. TK and Carlos are soulmates and now they get to live for eternity. Sometimes it's a bit bittersweet, especially in the second part, when Carlos thinks about all the changes that will happen to them someday, but they have each other and all the love and time in the world and it is beautiful. I love the setting, I love author Carlos, and I love how you adapted all the other characters and how seamlessly they fit into their roles in Castine. This au is gorgeous and I found myself wishing I didn't have to leave that world so soon. I can't wait for the next installment! I am excited to see where you might take it.

[poliwhirl42]

Hi! What is your opinion on every pokemon season (by region) or at least the ones you have watched?

Oh man, a great question! I'll try to condense my thoughts about each into a few sentences but you should probably prepare for a novel haha:

Kanto: Honestly, when I watch the Original Series, I actually prefer watching the Orange Islands and Johto over the first season (I'll get to why in the next section). I think the first season is incredibly nostalgic to watch and has some of the most iconic moments in the entire anime, and the rest of the Pokemon anime wouldn't exist without it as a foundation, so I have to give it credit. Aside from most of the gym battles being kinda stupid, I do wish they'd followed up on lore they introduced that could've been incredibly interesting to explore, like Ash's childhood/his father's whereabouts, Jessie's mom, the Mewtwo/Mew stuff and other Team Rocket history from the CD drama, etc. But I also realize that the writers were just getting their bearings with making an anime adaptation in the midst of a rapidly-growing cultural phenomenon based off a video game, so I recognize the challenges and uncertainties that came along with that. Also quickly adding I highly enjoyed Orange Islands and my Pokeshipping heart revisits certain episodes from time to time as well.

Johto: Those who know me well know I LOVE the Johto series. I'm actually in the middle of a rewatch of it. Definitely rewatching it in full nowadays though, has definitely made me recognize that this series was far from perfect, but looking past its writing flaws, it's just purely entertaining for me. The English voice actors really found their voices and added so much to their characters, especially with the dialogue and the creative liberties they took in creating the dub. I like how certain backstories like Jessie's were explored a bit more in Johto as well, and I definitely think the gym battles were taken a little more seriously than they were in the first season. There were also some GREAT Brock episodes which I highly appreciated, and I never tire of watching the Butch and Cassidy episodes (aka the fortune telling one and the Lugia Arc). Also, Gary and Ash's battle in the League is my second favorite League battle of all time behind Ash VS Paul. Johto is also not only my favorite region but is also home to my favorite Pokemon opening song/OST of all time, and I generally just loved the vibes with this series where not every episode or scene had to be jam-packed with action every single second. It was nice to have episodes of them helping out a Character-of-the-Day or visiting a city or just laying in the grass taking a nap after camping out or having lunch. When I think of a Pokemon journey, those in-between moments are for me just as special as the action-packed high stakes moments. I definitely recognize the downside of this, though, because I do recognize that the constant repetitive pattern of Johto's plotlines in many episodes was fatiguing for many fans who wanted to see something different, and as much as I enjoy watching it, I agree. Johto itself is so RICH with its history and traditional Japanese roots and culture and it really felt like the writers shied away from integrating Ash's journey with a lot of the Johto game lore. It would've been cool to have characters like Jimmy and Marina interact with Ash, perhaps have Silver be introduced, and I also think they really dropped the ball on having characters like Casey and Ritchie be rivals in the Silver Conference. This is getting long though lol so onto AG next!

Advanced Generation: AG to me is like the underrated gem of the pokeani series. I think sometimes it slips through the cracks because it's not as "nostalgic" as OS but not as "hyped up" as XY or DP are. I really like AG a lot even though I don't talk about it much, but I do admittedly feel like several episodes or arcs at least in Hoenn are kind of forgettable to me or lackluster- the two major ones that come to mind are the Hoenn League and the Aqua/Magma arc, both of which should've been FAR more exciting and entertaining. DESPITE THAT THOUGH, I thought the group of four- Ash, Brock, May and Max was incredibly entertaining and brought a whole new dynamic which was different from the OG trio's. I also loved May assuming the role of dual protagonist and absolutely loved the concept of contests! I love Contestshipping and adored every moment May's rivals appeared on screen with their quips and banter. Her growth in this series was fantastic and her battle with Drew at the end of Battle Frontier was chef's kiss. Ash himself, this is actually my favorite portrayal of Ash as he's such a little egotistical brat in Hoenn- other people don't like this as much but I still eat it up, like you just wanna punch him but he's so funny. The battles were also SO MUCH BETTER in AG; I loved little scenes where Ash was teaching his pokemon new moves and actively training alongside them; really showed he was getting more and more serious about being a Pokemon trainer.

Diamond and Pearl: Aside from Johto, DP is my favorite series and is actually the series that was currently airing when I first became fully invested in the Pokemon anime (I did not watch it much as a child), so it's very nostalgic for me. I love almost everything about it, between Dawn continuing the dual protagonist role, contests still being included, Ash's entire team, Paul being an amazing rival, the Sinnoh League being amazing and still my favorite League, rivals like Conway, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Nando, and Barry all being awesome in their own ways, so many fun arcs like the summer camp arc, Wallace Cup, Hearthome Tag Battle, Team Galactic's major involvement, Brock's development leading up to him becoming a Pokemon Doctor...I can't get enough of this series. The only thing I don't like is probably the giant amount of filler episodes they really didn't need at certain points and the gaps between Ash's gym battles; even though I love it to pieces like I do Johto, I agree that similarly both did not need to be drawn out as long as they did.

Best Wishes: Besto Wishes!!! So aside from me blabbering on about how much I love Burgundy, gosh I absolutely love BW. There are some things about it I will unfortunately never be able to forgive- like the confirmation of Ash being 10, the Rocket/Plasma arc being canceled, and basically the soft-reboot essentially making all of Ash's development pre-BW for naught. But gosh was this series so refreshing in other ways. Iris and Cilan, both amazing characters, offered a new dynamic with Ash that the previous characters didn't and I will die on this hill disagreeing with everyone who says that Misty and Brock are just like Iris and Cilan. I think Iris out of all the Pokegirls actually had the BEST portrayal of a backstory and I like the development she received. I also love that Ash rotated between pokemon that he caught, aside from his DP team I'm also very attached to his BW and loved all their starkly different personalities. BW was just so much FUN to watch. I go back so many times to rewatch the fun Battle Club arcs and I definitely think the rivals made the series so entertaining. I wish they had explored the connoisseur thing more and wish that Cilan had gotten way more episodes than he did. I wish his rivalry with Burgundy had been explored more as well, and honestly I think they could've done without the Decolore Islands arc. I really wish they had just stayed in Unova and had characters like Georgia and Burgundy return at least one final time since they weren't present for the Unova League. I could say a lot more of course but again don't wanna make this a novel so moving on...~

XY: XY is unfortunately the series I've seen the least of and it's known to be well...not one of my favorites lol. I have a lot of issues with the way Ash is portrayed which is why it's taken me so long to watch it. I have, ironically, seen all of XYZ though, and think the Team Flare arc is the absolute greatest villain arc in the entire series. But I'm still working through all the previous stuff! I was in college when XY aired, so I had unfortunately missed a lot of parts due to being so busy, but it also has its own layer of nostalgia for me, mainly because it was between BW-XY when I first came into the Pokeani fandom on Tumblr and was introduced to a variety of incredible friends, many of which I've now met in person and am still close with to this day. One day I hope to sit down and just power through all of it, because despite some of the issues I have, I know that it has so many good moments and is absolutely gorgeously animated. Also Sawyer is best boy he's my fave and his battle with Ash was one of the best things I've ever seen (my 3rd favorite battle ever).

Sun and Moon: Sun and Moon is simultaneously hilarious and depressing as hell, and I absolutely love it. I don't know if I can say too much because it's been a VERY long time since I've watched SM. It was the first series I watched consistently as it was airing but I also had a lot of stuff going on IRL so by the end I had dropped off just a little bit against my own will. Nonetheless I love so many things about it, between the humor, Ash's found family in Kukui/Burnet, Ash's team, the TRio's team and being so entertaining in this series, Team Skull/Guzma (I find Guzma very attractive lol), and of course Ash winning the Alola League which was amazing to experience and be part of that moment! I love the concept of family in this series and it's just so incredibly heartwarming, hilarious, AND heartwrenching all in one. I really need to do a rewatch of it though.

JN: I'm biting my tongue but I really do not like Journeys lol. I don't really wanna talk about it haha it makes me sad that everything I wanted to happen in the future didn't and it was just so poorly written. The only episodes I like honestly are Lillie/Gladion's return and Paul's return.

I KNOW A LOT OF THIS IS KINDA ALL OVER THE PLACE AND DISJOINTED BUT PLEASE ENJOY MY THOUGHTS and feel free to add yours as well!

[positivelybeastly]

Hi!! Is me, Stray! After many a trial and error, I now have an RP blog! Just letting you know I'm here and, uh, favorite music genres & favorite song headcanons for Hank?

Welcome to the roleplaying community! There's always a few ups and downs when you're first getting set up, especially if you've only ever set up the one Tumblr for personal use, but there's always room to learn, and I find that people tend to be generally pretty accommodating if you're as polite as you've been on Anon! If you have any questions about roleplay etiquette or the like, feel free to send another ask or just IM me.

As for favourite music genres and song headcanons for Hank, I generally think he's a pretty open minded fellow? There are a good few bands and types of music we know for certain that he enjoys.

Jocko Homo, by Devo.

Dead Man's Party, by Oingo Boingo.

Chopin's Nocturne.

60s rock! I can see him being a Creedence Clearwater Revival kinda guy.

Acis and Galatea!

The Rolling Stones!

Something you'll often see assumed of Hank is that just because he's a man of the arts, well read, and eloquent, is that he's some kind of music snob, that he only listens to opera, that he only enjoys classical, that he looks down on 'lesser' forms of music. And I honestly just don't believe that would be the case?

Like . . . here's the thing. Hank may talk fancy, but he is still, at best, a middle class farm boy from Illinois. If he has an accent, it's probably closest to a Chicago accent, if he hasn't trained his voice to do something entirely different - he does mention his voice has changed during his feline mutation to a baritone, so it's not out of the question. But he is not (or at least, he should not be) a hoity toity snooty asshole.

This is something even writers often get wrong about him - they assume that he's the smart character, ergo he must be the snooty, elitist character, which is something Ben Percy leans into, but it's not even just him, it's Paul Di Filippo in X-Men Unlimited vol. 2 #8, too. It becomes an asshole trait, and it's just. Not. Accurate.

Hank likes all kinds of music. In fact, I struggle to think of a kind he's outright stated he hates, though he's been around for 60 years, I'm sure someone can correct me. He's a curious fellow! He likes to explore! He'll consume any media, he quotes 1940s Superman comics, he watches Robin Hood movies with Wonder Man, why in god's name would he be a snob?

As for headcanon? I have tons! I often think, hmm, this feels like a song Hank would like, or a song that feels like a Hank song, when I listen to music, because. You know. Big blue guy's p much always on the brain.

I have a Spotify playlist that I occasionally add to, but currently on there is:

Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Joe Jackson - self deprecating, but also kind of a banger.

Carry on by fun - fun is an amazing band, and I definitely feel the lyricism and scale of their music would appeal to Hank.

Rain on Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande - I don't know if Hank would listen to this, but it has his vibe.

Cells by They Might Be Giants - I'm sorry, but have you fucking heard a band that more encapsulates Hank's personality?

Dr. Wanna Do by Caro Emerald - my old Abigail RP partner used to use this as her ringtone for Hank. I think Hank likes some jazz.

Cure for Me by Aurora - again, not one I think Hank would listen to, but again, it feels like Hank to me.

Very Good Advice by Robert Smith - Hank totally digs new wave and the Cure, and literary references mixed in with that vibe? Totally.

Moonshine by Caravan Palace - this song leads into Lone Digger by the same band, which I put on Dark Beast's playlist, representing the continuity between them. It has the right energy.

There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards by Ian Dury and the Blockheads - songs Hank would sing in the middle of the fight if it weren't full of swearing and comics were allowed to do that.

I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick - he does.

On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz - this just has exactly the right energy.

I Will Dare by The Replacements - "How smart are you? / How dumb am I? / Don't count any of my advice. / Oh, meet me any place or anywhere or anytime / Now I don't care, meet me tonight / If you will dare, I might dare."

Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift - another one that doesn't feel quite like something Hank would listen to, but I think we can all relate to this song a little bit (does that make me a basic bitch? Maybe), and some of the lyrics are so awfully Hank. "I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror," like, fuck.

Turning Japanese by The Vapors - Iunno, I just think he'd like it. I often think that if I were gonna make an OG X-Factor movie, this is what would start the movie during a fight scene.

I would also like to give @brw a shoutout for their excellent Hank playlist, which introduced me to, among other things, Touch-Tone Telephone, which feels like Hank's theme song.

Oh, also, The Plastic Age by The Buggles. Hank absolutely loves prog-rock, you know he does. Oh, and showtunes! The man just will not stop singing, in the middle of fights or while being filmed for the nightly news, so he totally vibes with some Broadway. I'd also be lying if I said that Dust and Ashes doesn't feel like a New X-Men Grant Morrison Beast vibe all over. And Hank would love it! A musical based on War and Peace? Sign him the fuck up!

[umnitsa]

TLDR: Things changed in fandom and I'm not sure I like it anymore; it's a sign of the times and I don't know what to do

I see many fanfic writers taking mental health time. Hell, I am too.

I started writing fanfic almost 30 years ago. Before I reached the internet. I wrote them for myself, in big notebooks that I had to hide from my mother, because I was a horny little thing and I really wanted to fuck Captain Kirk and Data (mostly Data - I fully blame Data for being a rampant technosexual).

It was so much fun, but something in me wanted to show those writings to people. I wanted to share my thoughts and my words. Sadly, some of it was immensely dirty and I have always been ashamed of my writing. Ended up ripping all the notebooks in little pieces and throwing them away.

I grew up, internet started being a thing and I found out fanfiction. I'm Brazilian, you see; English is my second language. So at that time I read more than wrote, but I didn't have the courage to post anything anyway. I felt the desire to be a part of it, anyway.

In my early 20s, LiveJournal happened to me. And that's when things took a turn. I really really wanted to write, so I joined Stargate RPGs, and wrote with a LOT OF PEOPLE. It was immensely fun and those people welcomed with open arms, even if I didn't write well or didn't write that well in English.

If my written English is good I credit to them fully. We plotted and plotted and wrote and wrote...

I wrote so many awesome stories (some dirty and some not). I still remember one story arc where my character was uploaded to Atlantis and I had SO MUCH FUN writing him awakening through commands, heavily inspired by my experience with Linux at the time. It was beautiful, honestly, writing my sweet Nemecsek confused, trying to regain his senses through trial and error as his whole being became a machine (Nemecsek was his nickname, I love 'The Paul Street Boys' - there was a reason for the reference, but I digress).

LiveJournal had the Kink Memes too, and they were insane. People anonymously prompted the most varied kinks and characters, and writers anonymously filled them. We were... Free. If you didn't like the kink you could jump to another thread. Most of the comments were commenting the works, some prompts were filled multiple times and some of them never got to be filled. The variety of kinks and kinds of writing were glorious. No one judged. People understood it seemed to be a space of exploration (in many many ways).

I wrote in other fandoms, and people were nice and kind. Never got a single shitty comment; people either helped me improve or left me alone... Well, left me to write with my friends.

LJ started going bad, I tried Dreamwidth, and I saw the birth of AO3, joined Tumblr for the long form RPGs, but things weren't the same for me.

Life started happening, and I didn't write fanfic for a LONG LONG TIME. The experience with fanfic gave me confidence to write in Portuguese, my own stories. I kept writing, just not fanfic.

I came back recently, and I decided for Tumblr; I like the things I know. I wanted to write erotica. I realized I love erotica as a vehicle to show different sides of characters, what can I say? I was raised reading Harlequin romances and I was a BIG FAN of Ellora's Cave. It is what it is and I will not complain or explain myself further.

But things were different. There was this crazy pressure. In the era of content, fanfic doesn't seem to be an act of love anymore. It's a platform to raise a public. To become famous (fuck Cassandra Clare, I remember where she came from). It became weirdly professional in crazy ways (well, crazy for me).

People demand everything now, from updates to perfection, passing through stances in public discourse.

I feel this insane pressure. I can't just 'write' anymore. People plan and work their way to followers and... It's all so polished I feel I can't just write.

I'm afraid of sharing now. I AM AFRAID OF SHARING AND THIS IS INSANE. Fandom have always been about sharing. Sharing opinions, sharing art, filling gaps, playing carelessly with plot holes and characteristics.

I'm trying. I'm really trying to come back, and I see people trying to come back, but it's hard to do it with this pressure.

I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to fight and keep writing, making friends. Part of me is insanely afraid of being seen. I don't tag my shit right, I can't afford these shitty interactions. I get anxious whenever people share my stuff, even if I truly want people to see it; I keep asking myself when is someone going to be shitty to me.

So I get it, my friends. Take your time. I'll miss your writing. I hope it's still flourishing in your beautiful minds, even if I can't see it. I wish I could be sharing it with you, but I completely understand. Please take care. I'll be here when you come back.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Paul Higgs: Baby Daze

Tomorrow I will return you to your regularly scheduled whump programming. Today... this is what wanted to be written.

CW: Teen pregnancy, some crass language surrounding said pregnancy, brief gun reference, some organized crime references

Approximately eighteen years before Tristan Higgs became another casualty of WRU…

-

"Well, look who’s here! Billy Higgs’s boy, come to see us after school, then?" Sean Malley claps him on the back and Paul nearly stumbles forward, just barely catching himself as he crosses the threshold from the sun-warmed walkway with straggly weeds growing stubbornly up through the cracks into the chilly shadowed warehouse. His sneakers scrape along the ground, but he stays standing.

He's hardly even as big as a stick compared to his dad's work buddies, all older guys with thick muscled forearms and sleeves rolled up to their elbows. He’s never had much muscle on him at all, but then his dad didn’t have much in old photos either. Maybe he’d get some as he got older, if he worked here. If they let him. "How’s things, hm? Keeping your grades up?”

Paul smiles, a slightly strained expression. The smile is automatic, it’s what everyone expects with small talk. At school he mostly doesn’t even bother with it, but with his dad’s friends… well, a smile’s polite. Right? Friendly. 

He tries to look more friendly. He needs them to say yes to what he’s about to ask for.

“They’re fine,” He says, squinting as his eyes adjust to the change in light. “Same as always, A’s and B’s.”

Mostly B’s, but they don’t need to know that.

“Good, good.” Sean slides an arm around his shoulders, jovial as always. Paul tries not to be visibly uncomfortable at the touch. Everyone is always touchy, in the world, and he’s never liked it much. Except with Ronnie, but… that’s different. “So, talk to us, Paulie. What's got Billy’s boy mucking around here at the Garden with the old-timers?" 

It's not actually much of a garden, unless you count the dandelions in the sidewalks and the bits of scraggly grass along the edges of the pavement as your rows of plants. Instead, the big warehouse stretches wider than two Walmarts, chopped off into pieces by the standalone temporary walls inside that don't reach the ceiling. 

The ‘Garden’ is a place where things happen that no one with a badge is ever supposed to see. There's shouting, good-natured calling out of sums and figures and code words Paul doesn't know, bouncing and echoing in a constant chaos of sound. Metal scrapes, an odd clicking Paul vaguely recognizes but can’t quite place until he thinks of his dad cleaning his guns now and then at night, carefully putting them back together once he’s done. 

All that noise lays heavy like a blanket over his skin. He pushes past it - he's got a reason to be here, and he won't let Ronnie down. He can’t let her down.

"I'm here to work," He says, going for strong and loud. He doesn't change expression when the men around him laugh. 

He doesn't think their laughter is meant to be unkind, and besides, he doesn't really care if it is. These men have all known him since he was born - if anyone’s going to give him what he needs, it’ll be them. "My dad told me I could pick up some shifts this weekend as a lookout, that you pay cash at the end of the shift, right away. That I could get a couple hundred if I’m good at it, maybe five if I do some running, too.”

"Oh he said that, did he?" Sean meets eyes with Cilly, whose real name Paul has never learned. He isn’t entirely sure anyone here has ever given him their real legal name. Not even Sean. "Will might've let the family know first before he sent his boy here, hm? 

"Well, it's. It's important I get cash. Um. Fast. I just spoke to him, probably he'll call you in a bit thinking he's giving you a warning." Paul tries for another smile, and hopes it's warm enough. A bit of coppery strawberry blond hair falls over his green eyes as he looks hopefully from man to man. 

He's not even eighteen yet, but really, isn't that even better for a lookout? He knows where they do their business, he knows who to watch for, and he doesn’t look like he’s one of them at all. He's paid attention, sat up at night making maps of where they work and what they do. He knows they’ve gotten into business with WRU, even, the big Facility up in Berras has been sending people down here now and then. He’s good at this sort of thing. He knows he can do this. He’s going to make a living at this one day, and everyone starts somewhere.

He just… has to convince them. These men aren't unreasonable, and they're family. Well, sort of. In a way. In that they all commit crimes with his dad. And some of them actually are real family, although he’s not always sure exactly who.

"What d'you need cash for that can't wait for your parents to come back from Florida, then?" That's Cilly, scratching idly at a red spot on his face, sipping a mug of hot tea like they're at a kitchen counter and not a fold-out table by a warehouse door. The others all have takeout coffee cups, but not Cilly. 

Paul's mom buys him new mugs on all her vacations. A gentleman among thieves, she said once. 

Nah, Paul's dad had said. Just a thief. But he puts on airs for you. 

All the more reason to show him my appreciation, Bill. 

The mug he’s drinking from now was one of Paul’s mom’s presents to him. It has a little palmetto tree on the side and Nothin’ Could Be Finer written in swirling script. It came from a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina when Paul was seven. 

He hated that trip. He never liked sand. Or the ocean. Or the noise of all the people everywhere in the street. He would have been happy with a book on the couch in the condo if they’d have let him stay there. 

"They're not in-"

"Think they're in Georgia," Conor pipes up, the oldest with hair gone nearly gray, cousins to the real boss, a man Paul has met maybe three times and knows only as Mr. Sondheim - which isn’t even a little bit his actual name. 

Conor makes Paul’s skin prickle, the way he thinks maybe a cat feels when it sees a mean-looking dog across the street. Paul's dad came home once with blood he had to wash off his hands and a shirt he had to throw out. When Paul asked, he said only, Conor's temper is going to get someone who matters killed one day. Too bad his grandson's as bad as he is. "Aren't they?"

"Nah," Sean says, shaking his head. "Florida. Definitely Florida."

"Actually," Paul starts. "They're in-"

"I thought Texas," Cilly says, almost thoughtful. He interrupts Paul thoughtlessly, and Paul’s face colors a little with embarrassment. He feels like the odd man out in a conversation meant to be about him. 

"They went to Alabama," Paul finally says, soft. Thinking no one’s listening, but they all look at him then. That's worse than when they weren't paying attention at all. He never meets any one person's eyes, instead focusing on Sean Malley's forehead, a spot that'll look like eye contact without having to be it. He's never liked having to look too many people in the eye. 

Or anyone, actually. 

"Ah, all right then. Alabama. Well. What couldn't wait for them to get back from Alabama, Paulie-Wol?"

No one's called him Paulie-Wol since he was eleven - and he hated it then. He blushes even darker. He's always been easy to make blush, and they laugh again. It's a little meaner this time. He has to not care. It’s important not to care, so they’ll let him work. 

Paul Higgs straightens his narrow shoulders and pulls a crumpled but of paper, shiny on one side, out from his back pocket. "This is why. I need money. Fast. For this."

He can't help how his voice dips, hushed, almost in awe. Sean is the first to take the little piece of paper, eyes widening in surprise at what he sees, before he hands it to Conor, who whistles through his teeth. Cilly takes it next, with a soft exhalation that's either curse or prayer. 

With this group, it could be either. Or both. Paul’s dad always says God doesn’t care overmuch about the difference.

"You're a bit young, aren't you? To need money for this?" Sean asks, and he's… concerned, Paul thinks, and he tries to square himself up even taller. “What’re you, Paulie, fifteen?”

"S-seventeen. It’s-... we didn’t plan on it, Sean, it just happened." This time when his face stays red, heat burning under the smattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose, they don't laugh. All their smiles are gone, too.

They've gone serious, these men who aren't quite blood but might as well be. They aren't laughing at or with or because of him. They look worried about him.

"Paulie," Conor says, shaking his head. "Paulie, you know better than this. Don't they teach you how to make sure this shit don't just happen? Thought we’d stop having teenagers knocking each other up once we got past the eighties.”

"They did. I had a whole health class where we-... but it doesn’t matter, it still. Happened, okay?" The absolute last thing he wants to do is talk to these old guys about Ronnie, and why, and when. If they ask him he’ll melt into the floor, and die, and just be dead right here and now.  

“So, when you say you need money… Are you looking to drive her up to Berras?”

“No, that’s not... We talked about it, but she said she already thought about it and made her decision. This isn’t… Don’t look at me like that. I like her decision. I’m happy.”

“You are?” Sean blinks, surprised.

“Yes! I'm happy, so don't tell me I fucked up, because I did. I know I did, but… but I talked to Ronnie, and we have a whole plan and I need money for my plan. And just. Look at it.”

Sean glances back down, taking the paper back, smoothing it out. Shiny on one side, it's a printed black and white image, a smeary blur of monochrome shades. Unmistakable in its center, more or less, is a gently rounded blob of white, topped with another and with other little blobs coming off its sides. Labeled along the top is Baby Botham, 14 weeks 3 days. 

“Botham?” Sean asks, head cocked to one side.

“That’s… that’s Ronnie’s last name. She, uh. She didn’t tell them… Because we’re not married.” Paul squares himself up again. “Yet. We’re not married yet.”

He tries not to think about Ronnie crying on his shoulder about how her parents and her sister had screamed at her when she told them, that no one was talking to her and they might throw her out, like this. His throat will close up if he does, in hurt for her, and in anger. 

His own parents he’d just told on the phone today, heard the long silence on the other end. Whispers that didn’t quite carry through the line. Then his mother had said, brisk and no-nonsense as always, So what does Ronnie want to do? We’ll help however we can. Will she need somewhere to stay?

“You’re not married yet,” Cilly repeats, not with derision, just with a kind of flat uncertainty. “You’re seventeen, Paulie. Little young to be talking marriage, don’t you think?”

“Well, we’re talking it, anyway,” Paul says firmly. “And don’t tell me it’s stupid. We already made our minds up.”

“Well, far be it for me to question your judgement,” Sean deadpans. “Since you’re clearly making excellent decisions already-”

“I got married at sixteen,” Conor points out. “Wife and I been married forty-two years this December, too. Sometimes it works out.”

“Different world, different times,” Cilly counters, and Conor has to nod in agreement to that. “Lots of those didn’t work out either, now did they? Besides, kids got options now we didn’t have back then.”

“Ronnie doesn’t want those other options,” Paul says, forcing his voice to be loud enough to carry, surprising all three men, who give him a new kind of look. Maybe even seeing him as nearly a man and not a kid, just for the moment. “She doesn’t. I never told her to do or not do anything, we talked about it, and she knows what she wants to do, and I agree with her. Ronnie and I want to get married, and we’ll need somewhere we can live when-... when the baby comes. So I need to start making money. And I want-... I need some fast, this weekend.”

Cilly’s expression goes cold. “Don’t tell me your folks are making you find a place that fast. I’ll take Billy to the woodshed myself if he’d be such a bastard to his own kid when things get tough-”

“He’s not,” Paul says quickly. “They’re not. Mom and Dad aren’t-... but they get it, they’re helping us. It’s not for an apartment, not yet. It’s so I can buy her some stuff.”

"This is a serious thing," Sean says, and he rubs his thumb over what Paul is pretty sure is his baby's head. The blobs are all sort of odd to look at, but… he's pretty sure that one's the head. It’s where he would put the head, if he were designing a person, anyway. "But I can see you’re quite the serious young man, now. What sort of stuff are you lookin’ to buy, Paulie?" 

Paul swallows, nervously rubbing his palms along the seems on the outside of his pants. “I… I don’t know. What do you buy someone who’s pregnant? I thought, like, baby clothes? Or a crib?”

“No, no, no.” Sean shakes his head. “You can’t just get her baby stuff, not this early. You are not starting with a crib, Paulie. You got nowhere to even put one yet.”

“Then… what do I buy?” Paul looks from man to man. “I’ve never known a pregnant person before, not anyone I cared about.”

“You were around for my wife’s last pregnancy,” Sean says, mildly offended.

Paul shrugs. 

The three older men look at each other, and then sigh nearly as one. Someone pushes out the fourth chair from the fold-up table and Paul sits, each of the other men sitting in turn. Sean picks up his phone and dials. “Hey, Don. Let everybody know we’re off-limits for the next couple hours, ‘til lunch. Yeah, Billy Higgs’s boy stopped by. He’s sniffing around for some lookout work this weekend. Find him some decent jobs for me, will you?”

Paul starts to smile, and it’s genuine this time. Sean hands him back the little picture of the blob that will become a baby, his and Ronnie’s baby, and he tries not to crumble it fully in his hands, worried his sweat will smear the ink. She’ll get another one in a few weeks, said her doctor told her it’ll look more like a person, then. Less like a weird frog. Or like a really, really bad painting.

“Thanks, I’ll owe you.” Sean hangs up the phone and grins, leaning on his elbows on the wobbly little table. The sun shines warmly through the open warehouse doors on Paul’s back. “All right. Between the three of us, we’ve got, what, ten kids?”

“Yeah, but five of those are all Cilly’s,” Conor points out. “And mine stopped bein’ kids decades ago.”

“Yeah, but babies don’t change, and they don’t need much. You need a pen and paper to write things down, Paulie?”

“Write… write what down?” 

“What you’re gonna spend your money on, for your girlfriend. You don’t just show up with baby clothes, kid, you gotta go all out. Let’s talk date, let’s talk gifts for this Ronnie, let’s talk it all out.”

“What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” Cilly says. “They all get that book, right? Isn’t that the one?”

Sean snorts, derisive. “Don’t get her that, not this early. That damn book had my wife in fucking tears telling her everything that could go wrong. We need to think of a happier book than that.”

“Well, call your wife and ask her what she’d want, then.”

“Maybe I will.”

“You should!”

“She’s liable to start planning a damn baby shower if I do. You know how Christa is about little ones.”

Cilly grins. “Think she’ll make those deviled eggs I like for the shower?”

“Cilly, for God’s sake, we found out about this five minutes ago.”

“Right, but... deviled eggs.”

Paul takes a deep breath, and sits back in his chair. “I’ll remember, whatever you say. I promise. I don’t need to write it down. Just tell me what I should get her, what I should do.”

“Right. Well, then.” Sean spreads his hands. “Let’s talk gifts.”

-

Tagging: @burtlederp , @finder-of-rings , @endless-whump , @whumpfigure , @astrobly @newandfiguringitout , @doveotions , @pretty-face-breaker , @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @boxboysandotherwhump  , @oops-its-whump  @cubeswhump ,  @whump-tr0pes  @downriver914 @vickytokio @whumpiary @orchidscript @moose-teeth @nonsensical-whump

[maxwell-grant]

Sooo... The Penguin: One Bad Day?

...Honestly?

Considering the genuinely abysmal precedent set by the prior two One Bad Day stories? I'm just glad this didn't push Penguin absurdly far into complete monster territory. I'm glad it didn't assassinate the character, like the other one that should go unnamed. I wasn't even gonna touch it until you dropped this ask. I kept reading the entire issue waiting for the other shoe to drop with some twist like, oh he's gonna kill all his associates in the end because he doesn't care for them or, oh he's gonna have some awful new detail added to his backstory like they did for Joker's Asylum or Pain and Prejudice but, no.

I did like a fair deal of how it depicted Oswald, I was rather shocked by it. It passes my "I can hear Paul Williams reading this" test and that's pretty damn high praise coming from. I did like spending some time with Penguin at his lowest and how this does the "Oswald claws his way to the top" set-up but without violence being his biggest asset, more so his ability to negotiate and manipulate and even beg his way into assembling just enough of a crew and just enough firepower to scrape by. I kinda liked Tiny Homeless Trash King Penguin as a concept (I figure Spamton fans who are also Penguin fans might get a kick out of this story).

I like that it establishes that Oswald's relation with his henchmen is that he thinks he treats them significantly less shitty ways than he actually does, which still makes him several tiers better than most other Gotham rogues even if not, great, and in the end he will in fact try to make amends. I like that it establishes Oswald's history with being lonely and ostracized as a reason why he treats his goons a little better and why he employs people that would be otherwise discarded, and this is ultimately why he wins (you can argue that this comic represents said people poorly and, you'd be right, but, it's a Batman comic, if you're in too deep in those, at some point you kinda have to settle for the less-abysmal depictions of mental illness / physical deformity / race / gender / etc when given such)

It didn't shy away from showing many of Oswald's character faults, but it also played straight the idea that, overall, he is indeed a better class of criminal and significantly better than your average mobster, if nothing else it also gets major points with me also for the lengths it went to avoid the misogynistic Penguin cliches others default to. It even goes so far as to state that Penguin played a significant hand at both ensuring Gotham's rogues had the tools necessary, as well as secretly kneecapping them so that the game between them and Batman would never escalate too far, to the extent that Penguin thinks of Batman as "a piece in his conglomerate". Honestly? I'm still not sure this is an idea that works, but I don't hate it? In fact it's kind of something I always wanted to see explored, even something I'd toyed with on my personal Batman or superhero-related ideas?

If nothing else, this does go someway towards explaining why Batman tolerates Penguin to the extent he does. Not because Penguin's good at looking legitimate or because he makes for good intel, but because Batman pretty much always has someone or something worse than Penguin to stop, and because wasting time with Penguin inevitably means turning his back on worse problems happening at Gotham (I feel like the Reeves film continuity is kinda heading in this direction as well). And Batman hates it, he hates that Oswald knows this, but this story also points out what happens when Penguin's removed from the picture to be inevitably replaced by some far worse scumbag with no interest in theater or balance. This idea wouldn't work for any other character in Batman's Rogues Gallery, except for Penguin. Granted, this also kinda means that Oswald's purposefully kneecapping himself but, at least it acknowledges this as part of the set-up required to make mob boss Penguin work.

Even the fact that Penguin resolves the battle by going full beast / Returns, I don't mind that much here, it's played for contrast of Penguin spending the entire issue powerless or being played as a gentleman (if a deluded, cutthroat criminal one) for most of the issue. Honestly? I like this as a display of monstrousness way more than "ruins your life for coughing within earshot", I'd have little to complain if Penguin tearing out the throats of mob bosses with his teeth was the lowest he'd be willing to go, in fact I think he should do that more often. I do like some savagery in him.

I mean, yeah, the whole reocurring animal thing, and it culminating with him thanking his former bully for instilling the idea on him that he's just "a little animal", has some whiff of that "the bullies get it right" awfulness from Frank Tieri's one-shot but, it's not going that far. There's some issues in this story and especially from a plotting perspective but, I'm not sure how much I liked this because it was a good Penguin story that utilized the character in an interesting way or even a good story in general, or how much I liked this because it wasn't as aggressively dogshit as I was expecting and how much better it was than so many other modern Penguin stories but, I'm pretty lenient on this, I liked most of it well enough.

I don't know how this relates to the current continuity that I'm not reading, and I don't care either, but between this, what little I've seen of other recent Penguin moments and the upcoming show, I'm feeling pretty good. It's kinda seeming like the character's getting some of his groove back. I'm pleasantly happy with it.

[confetti-cupcake]

4, 5, 13, 47 💕

Thanks so much for the ask Jenwyn! 💕💕💕

4) what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

If this is counting plots that I've started on, definitely my Survivor fic. Whenever I get into a new show or fandom, I always think of how the characters would do on Survivor. It's my favorite reality show of all time, and it's always been my dream to write a fic that's essentially a full season of the show in a narrative format. Growing up, I'd always draft out fictional seasons of Survivor with original characters and find like stock photos of people that looked like what I pictured the castaways to be like lol. At one point in high school, I even drafted out and wrote part of a season that involved characters from Nickelodeon shows. And the second I watched 9-1-1, I knew I needed to explore this with them, because I think a lot of the characters would actually be really good at it!

I'm going to amend your question a little to why I haven't finished it and experience deep existential dread — in short, the existential dread is completely tied to how best to execute it. So back when the pandemic started, I had a ton of time on my hands, and I wanted to make a real meal out of the story. I had what I felt was a great beginning, a fitting end, and had some really fun stuff in the middle linking it all together. Although I love Buddie with all my heart, I love all of the main characters on 9-1-1 and I wanted it to be a mini character study on everyone (including Lone Star people). I wanted at least one scene from each character's POV, I wanted to explore relationships between characters that don't interact in canon, I wanted to give every single person on the cast a meaningful and satisfying story arc, I wanted to tell the complete story of each vote out, and of course, I wanted there to be a Buddie love story. So I wrote like 120k words of it, and then set it aside for a while because I wasn't sure how much of a crossover there would realistically be between 9-1-1 fans and Survivor fans. Well, turns out, there is a decent amount! So I revisited it. And now... it all feels like a lot. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like a majority of people who go into the fic will only care about Buddie. Will they really care about a scene told from Michael's POV? Or from Michelle Blake's POV, for example? Will they really care about how Athena or Paul or TK play the game? I definitely care — but at the end of the day, I do want people to read this thing and not glaze over for 75% of the story 😂

So the dilemma I'm essentially facing now is which audience I should cater the story to — the 9-1-1/Survivor fans (who are fewer in number, but would probably be invested in the scenes of all the characters and the actual outcome of the game), or Buddie fans (who are higher in number, but may just want to cut to the chase of Buck and Eddie getting together)? The full story is definitely the one I'd prefer to write and would be most fulfilling for me personally, but it would also be loads more work, and for possibly a lot less "return on investment", so to speak. We'll see! It's something I ponder over every day, honestly. If anyone reading this has any strong opinions on the subject, please let me know!

5) have you ever made a playlist about something you were writing as an elaborate means to procrastinate when you could have been actually writing and if yes drop a link, son

Answered here! Be forewarned, it's all Survivor soundtrack music and will not be everyone's cup of tea. That being said, I feel like the "emotional" songs are incredibly beautiful. They really set a tone, even outside the context of Survivor, and unironically bring a tear to my eye. I usually put them on when I'm trying to really dig deep and articulate very profoundly sad or hopeful emotions.

13) talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

When I was new to Tumblr, I had a lot of stuff written, but really wanted a second opinion on it. So I put out a call for beta readers that would be willing to help me. I expected zero response, and if by some miracle somebody did reach out, I wasn't sure of the quality person I would end up with, since I was essentially asking for the help of total strangers. I struck gold because not one, not two, but three amazing people reached out to me offering to help, and have been completely invaluable in giving me honest feedback on my writing. I really feel like the quality has grown a lot since I started working with them, and I always look forward to their comments when I send them a new chapter 😊

47) what story are you most proud of?

Right now, I am most proud of my Are You The One? AU. I feel like all nine matches are pretty well thought out, and I've had so much fun dropping in little subtle hints about who's paired with who. I really want to finish it soon, if for no other reason than I want to see people play along and try to solve the logic puzzle! I'm proud of the amount of planning and forethought that went into it to make the puzzle playable and the story (particularly the Buddie part) satisfying, and I really hope it all pays off!

Send me another ask from this list!

[bringmecoffeeandroses]

for the askk thing...P A U L? don't kill me.

Hahahaha, I fucking love that, why would I kill you?

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Uh, how about a non-apocalypse AU where Paul tries to steal from Daryl and Merle instead? Like, I’m terrified where that would go for Paul’s sake but that could be a definite thing.

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Desus, Daaron, and Jaaryl are all things that are charming and fun and currently on my list. Also, Rositara is growing more on me with more fanfic I read. (honestly, though, I want to draw some Daaron/Rositara…when I have spare time.)

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

Lord, okay.

Paul Rovia from The Walking Dead, for obvious reasons. I love my compassionate badasses with more issues than they’ll ever let anyone see. RIP, my lord and savior. You deserved everything. If you need more information on wy I love Paul Rovia, just look at my Paul Rovia tag ‘cause I can’t spell it out all in one post.

Elena Alvarez from One Day At A Time. I don’t talk about this show a lot. But, holy hell, go watch it because being a queer girl is an experience but this show just makes it feel good? Like, she’s so damn positive when exploring all these things for the first time? with a mostly supportive family? And the storyline? with her father? Dear God, I could rave about this show and it’s depiction of woc, mental illness, queerness, gender, and even asexuality all. fucking. day. GO WATCH IT NOW AND LOVE THIS ADORKABLE GIRL.

Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, aka the most underused bisexual in all of Marvel. Honestly, I’ve fallen out with the MCU over and over again, gotten lost in comic continuity - literally, Civil War 2 frustrated me so much that I dropped all of it for a straight year, nevermind the bleh Hydra shit that gone on before that - but I still love Steve Rogers down in my soul. His character is as much an idea as it is a person but Steve Rogers being the fighter that refuses to quit but also the most clueless hot mess of all time? It’s a damn fucking mood. I still have a love for the bones of MCU!Steve and all the things they did right as opposed to Ult!Steve and I highly recommend “The American Captain” fan comics from early after Avengers to kinda see why – as a person that suffers from PTSD and depression…it just hits home.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.) 

Erm….Negan is ridiculously charismatic due to JDM’s acting and adorableness?

Hope that was what you wanted, anon!

[geek-gem]

Rewatched Friday The 13th Part 2

So after a bathroom break I basically rewatched part 2 and I did talk about that.

Really rewatching it I will be honest and even before then I have thought Friday The 13th Part 2 may be a favorite Friday film in the series. But also rewatching it I do notice problems.

Especially let me tell you this I see part 2 as a great start to the series as much as part 1. You both need them and yeah also because it's Jason first movie as a killer. But part 2 is one of the stronger entries in the Friday series. It's a very nice follow up to the original and what Steve Miner brings to the table is a entertaining film. Maybe not as scary because I don't seem affected much but I like this entry.

Including I wanna say with the next one part 3 the reason why it's so weak is because probably all the focus on it making it a 3D movie. Especially I remember Cody Leach during his part 6 review where the idea of new writers for each film mostly which is bothersome. That what hurts this series is the continuity issues at times or something.

Yet basically yeah Steve Miner does a good job on this and it's stronger then the next film we get. Including because theirs more focus in this one.

Back to the movie it's a very nice sequel and a classic in it's own right. A classic in it's own right.

I would recommend seeing this first along with the first film if your new to the series. Or whatever but back to more stuff.

The characters are pretty enjoyable. But I will admit I do feel certain characters need more traits or developed a little. As I've talked about before or something I love Ginny. Especially I like characters like Paul, Mark, Ted, including Vickie is alright but even her along with Terry, even Jeff, Sandra, along with Scott need to more stuff to work with. But I honestly enjoyed everyone.

Along with back to Ginny Field to me she is another iconic protagonist this might sound weird but iconic like the likes or Laurie Strode and Nancy Thompson. Don't worry I do like Alice Hardy. Especially I do like Tommy Jarvis. Yet I do seriously dig Ginny's character and wouldn't of mind if she returned or we explored her character a bit more. But yes the confrontation between her and Jason is amazing.

Really it saddens me we didn't get the original story for the third even if Amy Steel decided not to return even though she regrets it. Don't worry I still love you Amy Steel.

Also let me talk about Steve Dash as Jason. Yes I know their were more actors for him in this film other then Warrington. It's like the same case with the original Halloween that it wasn't just Nick Castle. Yet Steve Dash is nice in this role because I feel it's a nice start to Jason as the main killer. Especially it fits. It's something unique before we got more if hulking Jason which I love.

Including let me say I enjoy this film a lot because of the humor it has. Especially lines like from Paul the, "These kids smoke better dope then I do" line or however he says it. I love that dialogue especially other moments that aren't dialogue but are funny.

Wanna say even that ending of just focusing on Pamela's head is creepy. Also giving the idea Jason is still out there. But also the original idea for that scene was to have Pamela's eyes open but they decided to not do that because it sounded silly to them.

I also wanna say I like the look Jason has. Because it makes sense in a way for him to look like that. Again it fits before he stole some clothes and got the hockey mask from Shelly.

Other then that I watched it on my PS4 it was nice seeing it already and it goes quick once you expect a scene or more. Despite that might bother the experience of watching the film. But I still enjoyed it none the less or whatever that means.

Tags done anyway wanted to share that but also don't wanna forget to share this picture I took of the cover of the DVD I watched.

Anyway enjoyable movie my favorite along with the original, part 4, and the 2009 film.

[kindabraveandlittlestupid]

A love/hate review of the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story. As a movie, it felt pretty formulaic which can be a good and bad thing for some movies. I love the Marvel Movies which are formulaic as fuck but they still make me feel good after the credits so I let it slide. No, with Solo it was formulaic and also let way too many opportunities slip thru their fingers instead of exploring them more fully. I will get to those opportunities below. This movie was ‘good’ but didn’t leave me with that tingling feeling that I get after a good movie that makes we want to go out become a scoundrel smuggler.

The Blaster (Love)

Seems kinda of small (which it is) but not every detail about Solo movie needed to be its own in-depth scene of how it became part of who he (Solo) is. The scene around the campfire where Beckett removed the stock and barrel from his rifle making it a simple blaster was all I really needed. For that matter, the ammo belt that Chewbacca received becoming the same over the shoulder strap that he wears for decades pretty much gave me the same effect the blaster did which was a good warm fuzzy feeling.

Mimban Campaign (Hate)

Just to be clear I didn't hate this scene because it was in the movie, I hate this scene because it was so damn short. One thing that Rogue One did right was showing a prolonged battle between the Rebels and the Imperials on the beach planet. It was gritty and fun to watch like Band of Brothers with Stormtroopers. In regards to Solo, we only get a small glimpse of Hans military career for the Empire and the battle itself was little more than lasers into the fog and a couple dead Stormtroopers. Tagging on 5 to 10 minutes of action might have drawn out the movie some but we don't want witty banter the whole movie, sometimes we just want to watch the Empire at war.

Marketing (Love)

I am not grasping at straws here people, I will get deeper into what I liked about the movies and characters further down but I have to give a nod to the marketing work for this movie. The painted posters were nothing short of awesome and the kind of movie posters you frame and hang up in your hall if you were the story to have a hall leading to a private theater in your house which I don't have but a man can dream.

The Crew (Hate)

Another thing in the movie that I actually loved but they just seemingly let it all slip thru the cracks. Comparing Solo to Rogue One again we were introduced to characters, got to see them in action thru out the movie and then lost them one by one in final scenes which pulled on our soul. Solo had that opportunity but ended up killing Val and Rio which basically felt like empty deaths for two characters we hardly knew. It was a shame because they both felt endlessly interesting and about the only meaningful death besides Beckett was L3-37 being the sassy British android she was.

I understand Val (Thandie) needing to leave the set to get back to shooting Westword but they could have at the very lest kept Rio in the movie to perhaps be betrayed by Beckett who wants the easy payday and is embracing his own dark side after losing Val. Just a thought but damn I wish they explored the heist crew more then they did.

Dryden Vos (Loved)

I am biased here as I think Paul Bettany has been one of the best voices (and actors) to come thru Hollywood in the past 20 years. He, of course, appeared on my radar in The Knights Tale and being the voice of Jarvis and eventually, the voice/body of Vision made him one of my favorite actors. Besides my appreciation for his acting chops, I thought he made a great villain who was not outright wicked but rather an understanding criminal lord who expects loyalty and for the job to be done. I love a villain with some moral ambiguity to them and he seemed to provide that very well in his character willing to provide Beckett and Han a chance to make things right for the Crimson Dawn syndicate. If it was any other Star Wars Villain you likely get choked out, shot or cut in half. I suppose what I am trying to say is his reasonability makes him an interesting bad guy.

Enfys Nest (Hate)

Once again not a character I hated at all. I actually hope they do more with her as a character in the series if they ever do a squeal (which they totally should). What bothered me about her was the whole big helmet reveal scene on the sand. It felt like it was supposed to have some gravity to the plot and for a moment I thought it did being Val and Beckett's daughter who has been competing with her parents for resources to give to the rebellion. I was clearly wrong because that was NOT her backstory and we were all supposed to be surprised that she was a ginger girl with freckles on her face. Honestly, I like my idea better than the studios ‘surprise it's a girl’ attempt that honestly didn't really surprise anyone. *sighs* Another missed opportunity making her have a connected backstory.

The Cast (Loved)

Pretty much EVERYONE in the movie was a brilliant casting option, I sit here now trying to think back to anyone that didn't work in the film and struggle to do that much. Alden as Han? Pretty good choice, a little gullible but still a great option. Woody as Beckett? Pretty hard not to see Woody Harrelson as Woody Harrelson but he plays the rogue well. Donald as Lando? Fucking amazing pick for the role. Thandie as Val? Short-lived but still a great pick who I would love to see more of. Phobe as L3-37? Spunky like most robots now in the SWU which is something I always love to see. Emilia as Qi’ra? How can I resist Khaleesi? Everyone fits into the movie well which makes it so much sadder that all those missed opportunities in the movie amounted to it losing its heart.

Side Note: Lando, Qi’ra, and L3-37 all deserve their own little note on this review but I didn't want to take TOO long writing this.

Writing (Love/Hate)

It should be pretty clear I liked the movie but also didn't like it. There was so much potential here but in the end, they wasted way too many great chances to explore this chapter in the Star Wars Universe. The train heist should have been longer, the battle on the swamp planet should have shown more conflict, Enfys should have been Val and Beckett’s kid, and they should have kept the heist crew together so we could become more invested before losing them. 

In the end, I just didn't feel as connected as I should have. Perhaps I was/am still coming down from Disney scaling back the Star Wars Universe to the movies (and the cartoon). Maybe I am still feeling a little pissed off with the Last Jedi having such a great lead-in before the new director changed the direction of the second movie. Maybe I had expectations for the movie subconsciously. I really don't know why but something was missing and I didn't feel too impressed by the end. I know they tried to put that shocking hologram of Darth Maul but honestly, I was just kinda meh by that point.

Conclusion

Go see this movie. Its far from the best Star Wars has to offer but consider it an investment for a sequel which it deserves (at least that much). They laid some fine foundation for the story and characters which could lead to a great second movie before Star Wars Episode 4. Most of my ‘hates’ above are only half hates where I enjoyed most of the things presented it was their execution that was off in the movie. So maybe I did like the movie but I simply wanted it to be so much more. As always thanks for the read.

Regards Michael California