#i absolutely love the silent princess screenshot

[skzfairyyydreamz]

Replaced? (Part7)

Genre: Skz smau, Text posts, Non!idolAu, Angst, friends to enemies, Mini series

Pairing: Bsf!skz , Fem!Reader, Stoner!Skz/Stoner!Reader, Bartender!skz, Club manager!Chan, Club security!Changbin, Bottle girl!Reader

Warnings: ‼️Slow build‼️strong language (obvi coming from the profanity queennnn) , mentions of alcohol and smoking, mentions of fighting, mentions of/implied SA, mentions of anxiety plz let me know if i missed anything!

A/N: thank you guys sooo much for all the love on this mini series, and my biggest apologies for the wait! i pinky promise NOT to take a whole month to post the next part!!! but with this series coming to an end prepare yourselves for non stop CHAOS DRAMA and ANGST! all feedback, reblogs, and replies are SAUR greatly appreciated !!! thank you for sticking around and reading my silly little stories!

© Skzfairyyydreamz - Plagiarism is a crime. Do not repost, alter, translate or copy without my consent.

<<<Previous | Next >>> Word count: 4K Screenshot count: 30

After what felt like 30 long and silent minutes of everyone collectively cleaning up the after math of that night, you finally broke the silence.. 

“Honestly Thank you guys sm for staying to help me with this crazy ass mess .. and you know…”  you spoke nodding your head in the direction of your bedroom referring to jeongin while avoiding saying his name like it was some type of bad omen.  

“No, Ofc!” Changbin spoke. 

“You know we wouldn’t leave you alone after all that happened tonight.” Felix added as he finished pushing all your furniture back into its designated places.  

“please" chris scoffed “as much time as we spend in this apartment, we’re practically your roommates! Ofc we’d stay to help out. ” he added as he came out the kitchen holding what sounded like a garbage bag full of empty solo cups and broken glass.  

“Girl go get some rest you're gonna need it, gimme that.” minho said while taking the broom and dustpan from your hands and shooing you away.  

“Agreed! ” Felix walked up behind you kissing the side of your head and gently rubbing your shoulders “You’re free to go shower and change or get comfy however you need darling.”  

“Nuh uh, you s-?” You turned around but he shut your protest down rather quickly. “I’m positive princess, go. We’ll take care of everything out here”  

“But -” 

“GO...I got it!” he turned you around ignoring the pout on your face as he nudged you in the direction of the hallway.  

It was nearly sunrise, and you were absolutely dreading the idea of having to face jeongin when he woke up. Even then in that moment walking into your bedroom to prepare for a shower, you dreaded even being in his presence. Just the thought of him possibly waking up at any given second was eating you alive, REGARDLESS to the sound of his grizzly bearlike snores and the sight of drool sliding down the sides of his mouth, indicating that he was VERY much sound asleep. However, You never even made it passed the doorframe of your room before the anxious knots in your stomach told you to turn around and run right back down that hallway.  

“ lix ... i cant- I cant do it.” you whisper panicked running up to him and grabbing his hand. 

“cant what baby ?”  “ i feel so nasty and guilty, i can't even look at him right now what if we wakes up!??”      

“ baby... first of all you have nothing to feel guilty for. And secondly, he slept through the sound of you trying bash sophies face in with glass liquor bottles...  I'm pretty sure that dude is not waking up any time soon my love” he let out a chuckle. “What if he does thoooo!??” you whined “ im not ready to face him babe what will i say to him huh??? Oh, hey there jeongin i just tried to kill your girlfriend because shes such a shitty unfaithful stupid little bitch, how did you sleep?” felix cackled out loud this time pulling you into a hug and kiss to calm your racing mind. “ okay okay I'll get your clothes for you, no worries princess”  

“ugh, thank you so much lix youre actually an angel“ 

“no problem jagi , tshirt or hoodie?”  

“hoodie” you continued to pout slightly , while trying to brush the weight of tomorrows worries away  “sweatpants or shorts?"

“shorts please” 

“mkay, be back in a jiff!!”  he began walking down the hall to your bedroom “pink towel, black loofa please!!” you yelled out to him. 

“you got it!” he answered back “you're so amazinggg, you deserved the world!! “ you thanked him aloud once more “ i already have her” he sing songed back to you as you smiled to yourself thanking the heavens you could go a least few more hours avoiding the inevitable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ~~~~~                                                                                                                                                                                           

“... no im telling you it was weird as fuck! Like her whole aura just completely changed when she saw him.” ( felix) 

“putting two and two together he clearly had to have said or done something to her for her to be so angry. We’ve known y/n for a long ass time and I've never seen her more mad than she was tonight.” (minho) 

“besides trying to murder sophie..” (changbin) 

“yes... besides that! Also not to mention his face was bright fucking red when we came back upstairs and they were the only two in the apartment.” (minho) 

“it WAS! Idk what happened but im pretty positive she smacked the shit out of him.” (changbin) 

“ hold on?... Yall left her ALONE  with that fucking scumbag?” lix raised his voiced stressfully running a hand through his hair as he scooted closer to the edge of the sofa, beginning to get more irritated by the conversation he and the boys were having. 

“WHOA! Hold on!” minho pointed at felix also scooting to the edge of his seat jumping quickly at the only opportunity he had to both calm felix down AND defend himself. “ it wasn't like that at all, the three of us went downstairs to get the birthday cakes out the car while y/n came upstairs because she had to use the bathroom. Alex was actually already here setting up his DJ equipment before y/n even got back!” 

“yeah thats true.. And that really only took about 10 minutes, truth be told. ” (chris) 

“and where tf was jeongin?!” (felix) 

“he and sophie had ran out to get ice” (changbin) 

“Listen, all i know is whatever happened it is NOT to be taken lightly. y/n is a tough girl and not much is going to make her cry so we WILL be getting to the bottom of this TODAY, THIS hour.” (chris) 

“ SHE CRIED!? ... oh imma kill him” felix let out a sinister almost emotionless chuckle as he slightly rocked back and forth in his seat being only seconds away from crashing out. 

“wait deadass? When??” (changbin) 

“im deadass. It was before the party started like right when the guests started arriving. I went in the kitchen just to chat with her and i noticed she was having a moment, she tried to brush me off but you know i always call her bluff.” (chris)

“and what did she say? Because Bin tried to ask what was wrong and she seemed too angry to even speak, she gave us a look but that was about it. she just poured herself a drink then went out to get some air on the balcony.”  (minho)

“ she didn't really tell me anything all she said was that she felt stupid and violated.. So ofc i told her i would handle that shit right then if she just told me what happened, but she insisted on dropping it and initially I wasn't going to but i just let it go and held her for a little bit once i saw her shed a few tears... however she did promise me that we would talk about it later and shes good for keeping a promise so ofc i trust her to do so.” (chris) 

“yeah... im ready to go to jail” Felix let out yet another emotionless chuckle. 

“okay, something definitely did happen between the two, yes. But lets just breathe and hear it from y/n first before we start collecting bail money.” ( changbin) 

“man fuck all that fr! I need answers this shit is really starting to eat at me” (felix) 

They were so caught up  in their conversation that they didnt even hear you come out the bathroom and back down the hallway. 

“So is sleep out of the question?” you spoke, making your Prescence known as they all snapped their heads in your direction. 

“entirely outta the question my love, we have quite a few things to talk about” felix responded patting the spot next to him on the sofa signaling you to sit and join the conversation.  

You hesitantly took a seat next to Felix on the sofa across from minho and chris, as changbin was sat in the loveseat to your right. Taking  a look around the room you let out a shaky sigh really not wanting to have this conversation after the hectic night you had but you knew you couldn't put it off any longer or they all would lose their fucking minds.  

“Take your time kiddo, no pressure.” Chris spoke softly sensing your body tensing up. 

“Whenever you're ready love, we trust you.” felix added holding your hand and kissing the back of your knuckles. 

“y/nnnnie dont look so upset” changbin spoke next “ you know we’re not here to scold you, you did nothing wrong we just want to protect you and know that you're safe.” 

“ we just want to know what happened is all babe.” felix pulled you into a hug and began rubbing your back to calm you down.  

“ i know i know...” you took a deep breath and let out another heavy sigh.  

“just relax a bit, I'll go make some tea.” minho spoke before getting up and walking to the kitchen.  

It took about an hour-long conversation to tell the guys what alex had did and explain everything in detail. Emotions were very high but somehow you were able to calm them all  down and convince them to let it go at least for now. Chris had kept insisting that you press charges against him but you let it be known that you genuinely didnt feel the need to because one, you were more than proud that you found the strength to defend yourself when you really needed to, plus you were almost positive that nasty smack you gave him would leave a bruising. Secondly, you knew that regardless to lix being calm in that moment, he was definitely still on hots and there would be absolutely nothing nobody could do to stop him from beating alex’s ass again the next time he saw him. So for you the score board was 3 to 1, in your head it was perfect girl math. (LMAO) and truth be told you really didn't want to get lix involved and have him end up with assault charges for beating this man's ass multiple times. You just wanted to let it go and forget it all for as long as you possibly could.  

After the conversation had died, everyone just sat in complete silence with their own thoughts for a few minutes. Tiredness, worry and deep frustration sketched over the faces of everyone in the room. Not that you didn't already know this but this moment made it so evident how much your friends and boyfriend truly, truly cared about you.  

“ughhh! That was alot..I need another blunt” Felix broke the silence with a deep sigh.  

You lifted your head off of his shoulder to get up from your spot on the sofa, reaching for your stash box sitting on the coffee table in front of you. “I’ll roll , yall can meet me on the balcony in 5” you left a kiss on the top of Felix's head before walking out to the balcony. 

A few minutes had passed before both chris and lix joined you on the balcony, while bin and minho stepped out on a breakfast run for you guys. It was a bit passed 7 a.m the sun was out and the birds were chirping. You sat in silence while the joint rotated between the 3 of you. What you would normally consider to be a beautiful morning, had actually become the one thing you were dreading the most. You tried to at least enjoy the morning breeze against your skin as you ignored the burning feeling in your chest that jeongin would be waking up pretty soon and you would then have to face yet another conversation you did NOT want to have.  

Just as you finished up your smoke session and went back inside you heard the door to your bedroom creak open with jeongins voice immediately following “hey, where's Sophie? She didn't stay?” 

“Speak of the fucking devil...” you whispered to yourself.  

“bro .. what exactly are you trying to say to me right now?!” jeongin raised his voice, you could see frustration visibly building within him.  

“jeong listen.. You really need to start seeing sophie for the person she truly is or youre gonna end up broken in the end.” you said as calmly as you could.  

“so what im supposed to breakup with her and end my relationship because you say so?!” 

“jeongin if you'd just calm down and listen to what i have to say you would understand where im coming from.”  

“well wtf are you saying y/n? Stop beating around the bush!” 

“basically me and sophie got into a fight last .. and it almost got physical.” 

“what?? y/n tell me you did not hit her?? what could have possibly happened while i was asleep for y'all to even get into it like that?!” 

“i didnt get the chance to but you can thank chris and felix for that” 

“so what youre telling me is that you get drunk and sassy then start picking fights with your friends? I swear you cant leave drunk women unattended for shit” jeongin rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair as he walked away to pick up his phone, most likely to check on his girlfriend. 

“wth? jeongin when i have i ever not been able to hold my liquor?! It was the end of the night the party was already over by that time and i had already sobered up, just shut up and listen for a moment.” 

He let out a sigh as he flopped down on the sofa with his eyes still glued to his phone “im listening” he replied with annoyance lingering in his tone of voice. 

There was a quick moment of hesitation as you shared a nervous look between chris and felix “ you know you're my best friend and i love you right?”   

Breaking his gaze from his phone, He finally looked up at you clearly super annoyed with the conversation at this point “ ...yes” he replied with a blank stare. 

“ and you know I'd never lie or do anything to hurt you right?” 

“right ... except try to beat up my girlfriend” he said in a low sarcastic tone rolling his eyes before looking at his phone again 

“it wasnt unprovoked, jeongin! theres more to that story!” 

“like i said , im listening!! But im not hearing shit?!” 

“sophie kissed me!” chris blurted out, not being able to take your stalling any longer.  

And just like, the air and the whole atmosphere of the room had entirely changed like a press of a button. His face went to stone as he stood up from the sofa with his phone tightly gripped in his hand.  

“what did you just say?” he raised his eyebrow challenging Chris in a cold tone. 

“she had been making advances and throwing herself at me from the moment you passed out in y/n’s room, i told her NO multiple times and she literally forced herself on me in the kitchen.” 

“bullshit!” he glared at Chris. 

“Lix and i walked in on it .. we literally seen it with our own eyes, jeong..” you defended Chris in the softest voice you could, really not wanting jeongin to get any angrier than he already was. 

“BULLSHIT!” he repeated, turning to scream in your direction this time. 

“YO! WATCH IT! Felix yelled back at him wasting no time to defend you. He quickly stood up in the middle of you two, reaching behind himself to grab your hand once he realized the loudness of his deep voice had startled you. 

“wtf is this some sick and twisted joke?!” 

“jeongin, mate ..we have no reason to lie to you. I know this is a lot to take in right now and its gonna be rough but Sophie is no good ... we’re your closest friends and we just want what's best for you.” chris tried to calm him even knowing that was likely not to happen. 

Jeongin said nothing, he just let out a sarcastic dry laugh as he walked away from the conversation. The apartment stood quiet waiting for him to return back to the living room. And when he did, he followed the silence, quietly flopping back down on the sofa once more to put on his sneakers.  

And that was Chris’s last straw, jeongin’s silence had sent him over the edge. “SO WHAT?? IM A LIAR NOW?.. AS  LONG AS WEVE BEEN BEST FRIENDS THIS IS HOW YOU ACT OVER A FUCKING GIRL THAT DOESNT EVEN DESERVE YOU TO BEGIN WITH!?” 

Jeongin kept his silence as he continued to take his time putting his shoes on almost as if he was ignoring Chris. 

“Well if that's what you think wait for minho and changbin to come back and ask them yourself, they were here for it was well!” 

“nah I'm good” jeongin put on a false nonchalant act.  

“so you don't believe any of us is what you're saying? Minho, bin, y/n, lix, and i are all just gonna lie on your girlfriend unprovoked??” 

“i just dont undertsand when we started ganging up on eachother instaed of talking shit out ??!” 

“IS THAT NOT WTF WERE TRYING TO DO RIGHT NOW??” chris barked back. 

“ yall BEEN holding hostility against sophie, you think im fucking dumb i peeped the energy shift a WHILE ago!!” 

“ thats because sophie is a fucking werido jeong!” you jumped in to defend chris once more “Shes been doing hella weird and shady shit for a long ass time, but for the sake of YOU we tried to keep the peace and keep it under wraps! I even distanced myself from her a while ago because shes been lying on me and acting hella phony. Youre like my little brother ofc i didnt want to bring it up and end up putting you into a predicament where you had to choose between her and your friends that would be fucking ridiculous ..” 

“You think i wanna be doing this right now?! Jeongin us having to have this conversation is hurting my fucking heart because you love so blindly!! you dont even realize what this girl is doing to you!” your passionate argument had turned into screaming at this point and you were afraid that the love you held for your best friend and the action of trying to protect him had gotten lost in translation.

“i dont realize what shes doing to me?? wtf is she even doing ?!!?” he barked back at you  clearly clueless and stubborn not even putting any effort to try and understand your point of view. 

“oh my... fucking goodness ..” felix let out a loud frustrated sigh as he slouched back into the sofa. He and chris both facepalming simultaneously as you just stood there looking at him like he had four heads.. 

“dude.. She basically cheated on you! She kissed me.. ANOTHER MAN!! That man being one of your best friends and your roommate...that's literally right under your nose!! so she clearly doesn't give a fuck about you, she didnt even have the decency to do it outside of your friend group, jeongin” at this point chris knew good and well that the only reason jeongin continued to argue back was because he was embarrassed and in denial. 

He stood quiet for a few seconds just upset and breathing heavy not really having much to say to continue defending sophie (because what is there even to defend DROP THAT HOE!) 

“so what, she just left after that happened?!” jeongin spoke again attempting to argue back 

“no... I tried to take her fucking head off because why would she ever do some grimey shit like that?! But these two wouldn't let me hit her so i kicked her outta my fucking house.” you spoke with annoyance.

“ that shit dont make no fucking sense why would she try to kiss chris when we’re literally dating and everyone that was in here knows that!!” he raised his voice again 

“bingo dipshit!” felix’s frustration had began turning into sassy side remarks  

“THAT RIGHT THERE IS OUR POINT EXACTLY!!” you screamed starting to feel like you were talking to a brick wall 

“not TRY might i add .. she DID kiss me. She quite literally grabbed my face and kissed me after i told her to stop.” chris added in a sarcastic tone, he was pissed that this conversation was even still going on. 

“call her.” felix chimed in but jeongin just glared in his direction not saying anything. 

“call her right now with all of us here and ask her why she got into it with y/n last night 

He went silent once more ignoring felix entirely before getting up from the sofa to go grab his jacket and keys. 

This silence was much thicker than each one previously, and it left loud feelings of frustration and utter disbelief lingering in the air.  

“jeong, you deadass?..” you spoke again, standing frozen. All the anger in your body wholly dissipating, being replaced with the hurt that was painfully evident in your voice as it trembled slightly. 

Realizing how badly he fucked up, jeongin once again chose to stay silent and avoid your gaze. 

“Denial is a fat bitch to swallow isn't it?” felix scoffed. 

“ Fuck off, felix!” jeongin bit back as he began walking towards the front door 

“right back at ya cunt!” felix barked in a harsh tone as he flipped him the bird 

“you're mad at the wrong people idk wtf else to tell you but if you wanna choose to be stupid for this fucking girl than have fun with the outcome!” chris dusted his hands with the situation and walked away as jeongin walked in the opposite direction, storming out of the apartment slamming the door behind him  

You stood there staring at the door almost stuck in a trance. There was nothing you wanted more than for him to come back through that door or for this to just be some bad dream  but it most definitely was not.   

Slowly turning around towards felix who was already slowly making his way towards you feeling the sadness in your aura. He gently grabbed your hand immediately rubbing his thumb over the back of your kunckles in an attempt to comfort you. Your watery eyes met his apologetic ones and he could feel everything you were feeling in the that moment. He was pissed because every single thing that you were scared of happening had just come true.  

“ lix.. Please tell me i did not just lose my best friend over this bitch..” your voice was almost a whisper with a barely audible sob leaving your mouth before you could even finish your sentence. The tears began to fall at a rapid pace and there wasnt much lix could even say to comfort you. “ i knew it... i knew this shit was gonna happen!” the tears kept flowing He felt so defeated, and the only thing he could do was the one thing he does best, and that was hold you. He held you on the sofa for hours. You had cried and cried, fell asleep, woke up and cried some. Minho and changbin had come back and immediately realized exactly what had happened. Chris filled them in on all the details of how ridiculous jeongin was being and of course they were just as heated as the rest of you were. The guys had all ended-up crashing in your guest bedroom before felix had woken up and carried you to your bed so that you could rest properly. It was definitely needed after so much emotional destress on top of you being awake for 24+ hours and all the partying and drinking that had happened right before all the drama.  

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[echoesofwisdomcountup]

1 Day Since Echoes of Wisdom Release. Oh boy am I excited to share my initial thoughts and some screenshots I took. I played for about 4 to 5 hours and did the first rift and temple. Also got to the Gerudo desert area. So if you've already played past that, have no fear.

I made sure to take a screenshot of Link right before he got eaten by the portal. I knew the scene was coming so I had to take a little memorial photo. Also I died to Ganon the first time ... ouch. I kept mistiming the magical tennis section due to the lag bwtn my switch and laptop. Anyway, the three shot arrow thing was very cool and I ended up shooting Ganon a lot. Turns out you can just side step the heat seeking magic ball and shoot him in the head.

Me @ Zelda: The swordsman has a name you know. (little did I know at that point, Zelda did not know what Link's name was). Anyway, Nintendo loves to mess with a serious moment by having the item get animation. It's a classic.

"That's nice" she says. This one felt a little condescending. Zelda was like yeah a single rupee... you know I'm a princess right? Well Zelda despite being royalty you were broke when I picked this up.

Of course I immediately jumped on the fence and then on top of this house. No echoes needed. Parkour comes before seeing the King.

Zelda holding a pot right before breaking it. I joked to my partner that Zelda has a strange new compulsion after picking up that swordsman's cloak. Must break all pots.

ZELDA CAN SWIM???!! The way I jumped into the well water expecting to drown and being absolutely shocked when that didn't happen. She can just swim from the get go and dive too. Also she can jump with no rock feather. Crazy. The advantage of being a princess with tutors.

In the castle after breaking every single pot, is this a chicken? Or a loft-wing. Who knows.

SHE HAS A HORSE TOY IN HER ROOM!!! It's very cute. Also I wonder if those flowers are a nod to silent princess flowers. They also remind me of the flowers in OOT in the courtyard where Link talks to Zelda for the first time.

Gotta take a quick nap before seeing the King. Also Zelda has a cat. That's so cute. Idk what to name the cat.

Ok, that's it for today. More tomorrow.

[vintagegeekculture]

What are some actually GOOD Sword and Sandal movies?

One of the bigger genres in Italy who’s popularity came and went in waves from the silent era to the present, Sword and Sandal (or Peplum) films are Italian movies about gladiators, musclemen, Ancient Greece and Rome, and who’s main characters include Hercules, Spartacus, Ursus, Maciste (a homegrown, semi-Marxist Hercules who fights the rich and decadent who is purely a creation of Italian cinema).

The genre started in 1912, with Cabiria, an ultra-early Italian feature that predated D.W. Griffith, featuring a muscular African slave named Maciste, and due to his muscles and screen presence, Bartolomeo Pagano may have been the first true movie star, making dozens of sequels. The popularity of these movies went into hibernation in Italy until 1959, when it got a huge resurgence when Steve Reeves starred as Hercules, and consequently became the highest paid star in Europe. Hercules (1959) caused literally hundreds of movies to be made, assembly line, in a burst of about 5 years. The genre burned itself out through repetition in only a half decade, only to be replaced by the Italian horror/slasher film and the Spaghetti Western. It was down for good, only to have something of a resurgence of popularity in Italy in the wake of the popularity of John Milius’s Conan the Barbarian in the early 1980s.

Sword and Sandal seems to be a genre where any given film picked at random could be a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. For the most part, Sword and Sandal movies are mostly known for being the training ground of people who showed their skills in other genres, like how Mario Bava became a horror director, or how Sergio Leone, a second unit director on a few, was best known later for Spaghetti Westerns. And there is certainly some truth to the idea that, if you have seen one, you’ve seen them all. But there are certainly some good examples of the genre that are worth seeing.

Goliath and the Dragon (1960)

Don’t be fooled, this is a Hercules movie, but they renamed it because of some begobbled distribution rights issue.

If you were a Greek mythology kid (and most nerdy kids went through a phase they were into sharks, dinosaurs, Greek mythology, AV/Radio, writing in Dwarf runes under your desk after reading Tolkien for the first time, and lego) you might remember reading about Hercules’s semi-tragic end, poisoned and killed by his own wife and a centaur. It was the most fascinating story, where Hercules’s great strength and courage was defeated by jealous and anxious little people who tore him down. Americans don’t have much of a taste for tragedy, so it’s very seldom been adapted for American audiences.

Goliath and the Dragon is that story. It literally starts with Hercules finishing his hardest heroic Labor, and retiring. However, his younger brother is jealous of him, and a conspiracy of schemers work to get rid of Hercules by manipulating envy. Along the way, Hercules feels abandoned by the gods and he turns against them in anguish after a lifetime of service. It has a dragon, and quests into the underworld, yes, but it is primarily not an adventure film, which is what makes it interesting.

It also stars Mark Forest, who might be the only one of the bodybuilders to play Hercules to have a legit screen presence. He later left movies to become an opera singer and voice coach. 

Eric the Conqueror (1961)

This is one by Italian horror titan Mario Bava, and because it’s kind of a well known film, it actually has a half-decent transfer, including availability in the original language instead of a shoddy 70s dub - this is utterly, absolutely unheard of in this genre, where the copies of these movies on streaming (even on Amazon Prime!) are sometimes literally off VHS and have “snow lines” and other phenomenally half-assed signs of VHS transfer, like the original FBI WARNING stickers.

The film is about two Viking brothers, one of who is raised by Christians as a knight, the other of whom grows up the son of a pagan Viking warlord. It’s a film about the contrast between Christian and Pagan, and the one thing about it people remember is that it stars a pair of Playboy Playmate twins. Stylish and action-oriented with lots of red blood, it’s like a cool version of Disney’s “The Island at the Top of the World.”

Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)

Hercules vs. Christopher Lee –need I say more? Christopher Lee is a vampire who took over a kingdom and hypnotized Hercules’s true love, shrouding the land in eerie darkness…and so Hercules has to descend into the underworld. This is a case where the screenshots really tell the story, they get across the eerie, surreal Gothic ambiance of the film. It doesn’t actually feature Castle Greyskull, but it would perfectly fit in with the décor.

As far as I know, Hercules never actually encountered vampires in Greek folklore, but in Italian cinema, they seem to feel that the supreme challenge for the Son of Zeus is the undead (see also, Kobrak in Goliath and the Sins of Babylon).

I feel guilty having two Mario Bava movies on here. But of the two, this one feels the more…Mario Bava, in lighting, design, and ambiance, which is really the reason to see it. Essentially, it’s Hercules Goes to Hell, and it’s treated as more of a truly eerie horror movie, with weird lighting. The presence of Christopher Lee makes it feel like a bodybuilder accidentally wandered onto the set of a Hammer Horror film, with crumbling castles and she-vampires in negligees.

Maciste in Hell (1925)

Speaking of the essential plot of a muscleman going to hell, you wouldn’t think a movie of that kind would be whimsical, charming, imaginative, and creative, but it is. Satan tries to tempt Maciste, a pure in heart muscleman who represents the pure, incorruptible goodness and strength of the working class. Maciste movies, distinct from Hercules films, always had a strong Marxist undertone, with villains who were super-rich and decadent, all the while Maciste resisted their temptations and hung out with the lower classes and sponsored a revolution. The movie is full in intertitles like “the Dragon – Hell’s Aeroplane!” And the quest by female devils to turn Maciste into a demon himself with a kiss. Essentially, it’s a movie where if you’re pure in heart and have biceps of steel, there’s no problem you can’t bench press, grip, or grapple, even Satan. 

According to his memoirs, this was the movie that made Fellini want to become a director.

Hercules and the Princess of Troy (1965)

Made at the absolute dying gasp of the genre, this one is essentially the “Enter the Dragon” of Sword and Sandal movies, in that it was a Hollywood/Italian co-production, much like how “Enter the Dragon” was the first Hollywood/Hong Kong co-production. It wasn’t a movie at all, but a pilot episode for a television show that never went to series…to everyone’s shame, because if it had been made, it would have been a crowd pleaser, if the pilot was anything to go by. I all but guarantee it would be a syndication favorite that would have turned everyone in it into a star, the kind that would be on Nick at Nite forever, or the earliest incarnation of F/X, where it was just a scrappy rerun network with a pre-Survivor Jeff Probst (I still remember the F/X house all the VJ like hosts lived in).

This one has Hercules (played by Tarzan Gordon Scott) as a sea captain and leader of a Greek ship named the Olympia, who is accompanied by two sidekicks, Ulysses (a young, clever Ulysses as Herc’s sidekick was also a trait of Paul Levine’s Hercules and Hercules Unchained), and Diogenes, Hercules’s smart friend, a medical doctor and proto-scientist who comes off as the project’s most interesting character, a Dr. McCoy like curmudgeon who adventures to stay away from his awful wife, who creates a chemical that burns on water and who uses the Socratic Method to solve a murder mystery. If this had gone to series, I can see him overshadowing the theoretical leading man in a similar way to Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith overshadowing the Robinsons. 

The pilot was great fun. It had mythological creatures like invulnerable horses and a terrifyingly unique sea monster, that was some of the earliest work by the now legendary Carlo Rambaldi (creator of E.T. and the Alien) that is light years ahead of the shag carpet dragons musclemen pretend to wrestle in movies like this. Not to mention a mystery, and Hercules facing intrigue that, as a trustworthy and direct man of action, he is incapable of dealing with (a trait of nearly every single interesting Hercules movie).

[irwinkitten]

hair dye adventures | a.i

pairing: bi!reader x ashton notes: so this is part three of the bi reader series! a big thank u to @burncrashbromance who not only helped with the creation of the bi series from one small request but also for dealing with me when my writers block was a menace. love u jill. warnings: none word count: 1.9k

---

Y/N wasn’t any stranger to having impromptu hair dying sessions. If anything, she was so used to them over the years, especially when her closest friends were on tour and she’d have a text asking if she could fly out to deal with Michael’s hair.

So when she woke up to the text from Ashton, asking for her to drop by a bit earlier than planned, she found herself trying to work out what could’ve set her boyfriend to ask her that. She briefly wondered if he’d planned a surprise, but there was nothing big happening, no announcements to make.

Her stomach dropped for a second as she wondered if he’d seen the tweets that she’d seen, fans having dug through her accounts and found old photos of her with ex girlfriends. She hadn’t discussed with Ashton her sexuality and she could feel the fear bubble in her stomach as she got ready to go.

So when she turned up to his home, wrapped up in one of his hoodies that he’d lost to her long ago she couldn’t help but giggle at the excited hug she was swept up in, her nerves settling at the positive reaction from him.

“You saw me two days ago.” She deadpanned him and he shrugged, peppering her face in kisses until he heard the giggle he adored.

“Two days too long. Your job sucks for sending you on that trip, especially when you’ve got such big plans.”

“And real bad thoughts.” She couldn’t help herself, and his responding grin always made it worth it in her eyes.

His lips met hers briefly, not long enough to set them on a different path, but enough to remind her that she was loved. It was a kiss that she loved because as he pulled away, she found herself leaning towards him, a pout on her lips.

He grinned, meeting her lips once more before pulling away and lacing her hand with his.

“C’mon beautiful. We’ve got a date in the bathroom.” Immediately she could feel the heat in her cheeks and thanked her lucky stars he wasn’t paying attention. “I decided I wanted to change things up a bit.”

Her mind was running away with all sorts of scenarios and she knew that whatever he had in mind would be something different, but just the thoughts that appeared sent her body feeling the butterflies.

As he pulled her into the bathroom, she found herself mildly disappointed when she spotted the hair dye boxes before excitement flooded her for a different reason.

“You’re finally letting me dye your hair?” She knew it was obvious, but she just wanted to confirm the image that she was actually seeing. For years she had pleaded to put some colour in his curls, even though she adored his honey blonde locks.

His answering grin caused her to throw her arms around his neck as she laughed.

“About fucking time! Right, shirt off, park your ass and I’m going to grab my kit I’ve kept here.” She kissed his cheek briefly, disappearing from the bathroom and rushing down the stairs, leaving a very confused boyfriend in her wake.

When she returned with a small bowl, dye brush and black latex gloves, he could only raise an eyebrow as he pulled his shirt off, rolling his eyes at her beaming smile.

“Are you my professional hairdresser now?” He teased her and she shrugged, meeting his lips with hers once more before she began to mix up the red, making sure that it was the right consistency before she turned to Ashton and made him sit on the edge of the tub, his feet resting in the tub so she could start from the back.

They didn’t need to talk as she began to put the colour in, using the brush with ease before tapping his shoulder, a silent request for him to spin around so she could do the front parts of his hair.

Even though he could see the concentration on her face, Ashton could also see the underlying worry on his girlfriends features. His own worry seemed to bubble in the pit of his stomach.

“What’s going on in that pretty mind of yours, sweetheart?” She could see his eyes studying her and she figured now would be the best time to talk about it, before one of two things happened. Him seeing it or one of the boys seeing it and passing it onto him

“Fans have been tagging you in screenshots recently.” Her hesitation stopped him from making any kind of silly comment. He could see that she was struggling with her words, so his hand reached out, resting on her hip; his thumb finding its way under her shirt and rubbing soft circles into her skin.

He could see her shoulders relax slightly.

“So I’m being tagged in screenshots?” He prompted and she let out a breath of air.

“Screenshots of some of my previous relationships.”

“To make me jealous?” His tone was curious. He knew that she’d had previous relationships that ended on good terms, that she still talked to some of her exes now and then. At first he’d been worried until she had explained to him that she wasn’t likely to fall in love with anyone else considering she was in love with him.

That had been their first ‘I love you’s’.

“Previous relationships with girls.” She finally added on and he didn’t freeze up, or feel any kind of worry in his chest. His thumb continued the circular motions as she finished off his hair quietly and set the timer for forty five minutes.

They moved from the bathroom to the kitchen, his hand refusing to let go of hers.

“Why were you so worked up sweetheart?” His question was soft and he watched as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Immediately he pulled her closer so that she was in front of him, his free hand coming up to wipe the tears away.

“I was just so worried about how you’d react. I’m used to harsh comments, to nasty remarks. But they were so determined to out me to you before I was even comfortable telling you myself.” And he could see how it was hurting her.

“Sweet girl. C’mere.” He murmured, pulling her closer and resting his chin against the top of her head, his lips pressing briefly into her hair. “I’m sorry you felt like you needed to hide that side of you from me. And I’m sorry that you felt pressured to tell me before I found out from some shitty fans.”

Her tears were slowing down, her grip around his waist tightening marginally.

“I’ve never known when the right time to tell partners that I’m bisexual. If I told straight off the bat, they’d ghost me. If it was so far into a relationship, they’d resent me and say I was cheating on them and giving them a valid reason to dump me.” She whispered and his own arms tightened around her.

Pulling back slightly, he moved a hand to under her chin, coaxing her to look up. When his eyes met hers, he could see the worry, the fear in her eyes and so instead of words, he leaned down and kissed her.

It was soft, slow at first, his tongue tracing her bottom lip. They parted under his touch and his tongue brushed against hers. There was no heat, no rush. Just soft and slow as he held her that little bit tighter. When he pulled pulled away, his forehead resting against hers, she let out a shaky breath of air.

“I’m none of them, I love you no matter what. I’ll support you regardless, even if you’re in a straight passing relationship.” And if her heart wasn’t bursting before, she knew it was now as she tried to wipe the tears.

“How the fuck did I get so lucky with you, Ash?” He found himself grinning as he brushed his nose against hers.

“The universe decided to give you someone who would actually be a decent human being?” This made her giggle as the timer went off on her phone and she absolutely beamed up at him.

“Time to wash the dye out, handsome.”

He grinned before using his grip around her, lifting her up, making her shriek in laughter, her arms automatically wrapping around his neck, trying to be careful of the hair dye as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

It took him a second, bouncing her up slightly so that his hands could shift from her waist to her thighs and he kissed her briefly before making his way up to the bathroom.

“You’re joining me in the shower, princess. No arguments.” He grinned and her cheeks warmed up as he finally dropped her onto her feet, his lips on her cheek before she pulled away, a grin on her lips.

“Let me wash the hair dye out first.”

Once they were finished up in the shower, taking far too long with Ashton’s distracting lips as she tried to wash the dye from his hair, they’d migrated to the couch, his body lay on hers, head resting on her stomach as they watched a TV show.

Unable to help herself, she snapped a photo, his head turning towards her only seconds after and he smiled, making her snap another one.

“I think the red really suits you.” She murmured softly, her fingers running through his hair. His eyes closed momentarily at her motions, a soft hum escaping him before asking to see the photos.

“Can I post them?” Her question was quiet and he smiled.

“Of course.”

So she went to Instagram, typing the caption before clicking ‘share’ and putting her phone to the floor, enjoying the moment with Ashton as they shut off from everyone else.

It was hours later when they were stood in the kitchen, wine glasses in hand whilst she attempted to cook, did he bother to check his social media. And he soon saw what she meant. There were accounts that were repeatedly sending him the same screenshots of photos of her with another girl. It was the comments of ‘aren’t you worried?’ that got to him though.

“I’m gonna settle the dust because apparently people are more fussed about your sexuality than they are about my new hair colour.” This made her snort.

“I’m more interesting than Ashton Irwin? I’m flattered!” He stared at her for a full second before they both started laughing, her body hunched over the pan as she tried to keep herself upright, placing the wine glass on the side.

Ashton couldn’t help himself as he snapped a photo of her and took to Twitter.

‘I see y’all trying to out my girlfriend, sucks to be you. I know and still love her, every part of her. Catch me and my bi badass girlfriend at the next pride parade xoxo’ He attached the photo before sending the tweet.

Once they were finished eating, he told her what he’d done. He didn’t expect her to straddle across his lap and kiss him, but he certainly couldn’t complain.

“You’re the fucking best. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, princess.”

---

tag list: @cals-babylons , @glitterprincelu , @calumspeachy , @wrappedaroundcal , @cosmocalum , @monsteramongmikey , @talkfastfletcher , @hereforlukescruff , @astroashtonio , @catchinqcalum , @roselukes , @5saucewho, @babylon-uncrowned , @dontstopisagoodsongchangemymind , @therainydays4 , @asht0ns-world , @silverchainbee , @hidd3nfangirl , @doodleasouarus , @empathycth , @mylovehes , @songforhema , @kinglyhood , @youngblood199456 , @makecoffeenotwars , @5squash , @negative-love , @softboycal , @kinglycalum , @you-of-ghost , @meetyoutheremgc , @lmao5sosimagines , @lietoash , @aw-hawkeye , @calntynes , @drummerboy794 , @itjustkindahappenedreally, @mycollectionofnuts , @abitloudforanaccousticset , @boytoynamedcalum , @teampreator , @dukehoods , @dweebluke , @calumhampton , @lashtoncurls , @toofadedtofight , @gigglyirwin , @blue-skies-are-alright , @hearts-to-the-sky , @tiddlerrr , @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you , @thesensationalcalum , @ashtxns-hxe , @cakeassx-blog , @dancingonanemptywallet , @rotten-kandy , @vipclifford , @musiclover1263 , @rosecoloredash , @jpgluke , @cathartichaoss , @5secondssofssummer , @cozyfivesos , @balsamichood , @cliffordstxngue , @lukesbellas , @myloverboyash , @cxddlyash  , @gabiatthedisco , @rosesfromcth , @gorgeouslygrace , @calumsssparkle , @valentinelrh , @meetashthere , @softforcal , @notoriouslyhood , @hotmessmichael , @fangirlforever0704 , @caswinchester2000 , @long-termplanwithshort-termfixes , @josierosie , 

if you want to be added to my taglist, drop me a message!

[kanonavi]

Basil anon again

More suggestions, movies this time because I have nothing better to do than bug a stranger that I really want to be mutuals with but am too scared to actually properly introduce myself to and aaa;;

Final Fantasy movies(7 and 15) fun fact with a vpn to japan(i reccomend tunnelbear) you can pirate the whole movie on youtube for free!

Okkos inn(very cute, watched it last night, cried)

Ghibli everything with a few exceptions(my neighbors the yamadas was not my style, mononoke made me have nightmares but i was like 10 so i should probably rewatch it)

Mary and the witchs flower

Patema inverted

Your name

A silent voice

Its probably weird that I'm doing this I'm so sorry :')

Welcome back, Basil! Again, I promise you that you don't have to apologize for dropping in, I enjoy chatting with you!

So I've actually seen a few of those already. I saw A Silent Voice in theatres with my friend and absolutely cried at the end, and then had to yell at my friend for falling asleep lmao. Mary and the Witch's Flower I streamed with some friends a few years ago, but I'd love to see it again because I've honestly forgotten a lot of the story other than that it was pretty and the soundtrack was even prettier.

As for Ghibli movies, I've actually been picking my way through them bit by bit. So far I've seen My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, and Howl's Moving Castle. Those last two ended up being my favorites even though Howl's Moving Castle confused the crap out of me. The Cat Returns is next on my list, but Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind are probably the ones I'm interested in the most after that. AND SPIRITED AWAY! I FORGOT! Because I'm a plebian who somehow hasn't watched Spirited away yet lolol

Now Okko's Inn and Patema Inverted I just had to google, but they both look very neat! I'm like 90% sure that I saw an amv of Patema Inverted a couple weeks ago, and if I'm remembering correctly, holy shit that animation is gorgeous and I need to check it out.

Your Name is just another unchecked box on my Anime Fan Requirements List, so I'm sure that I'll watch it eventually. Makoto Shinkai films are always beautiful and from what I've seen in gifs and screenshots, Your Name is no exception. It's just a matter of time. Also, my next romance anime film is probably going to be I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, because my roommate really likes it and is going to force me to watch it probably sooner rather than later.

For one last note on the FF movies, I see myself going for the games before I go for any anime or movies, but I do have to thank you for the VPN recommendation! I've been thinking of getting a VPN for a while now but I know a lot of them can be kind of dubious, but Tunnelbear seems like a good one at first glance. If it ends up being the one I pick after I do some more research, I thank you for telling me that name!

[the-morleys]

Uchiha Family Analysis Episode 22

I wanted to not post anything until the next episode and then I was going to post an analysis of Gaiden but everybody has been so sweet with the messages and comments, I wanted to just leave a short analysis for episode 22. Thank you so much for all the love ❤️❤️ Let’s start off with Mamakura in this scene…

My interpretation of this scene was that Sakura is coming to her own realization and understanding of her daughter’s emotional trauma in regards to Sasuke. She always knew Sarada was struggling with the fact that she knew little about her dad and the trauma she must have experience with activating her Sharingan at a young age, but she always believed that Sarada would come to realize with time the depth of her dad’s love because they are “connected” by love. In the flashback, she adorably imitates Sasuke’s voice and phrasing by poking Sarada’s forehead telling her “I’ll tell you next time.” When Shin mentions that the bond between a child and parent is merely just a genetic transmission to promote evolution, Sakura vehemently denies it because she believes that “feelings of love” creates a connection not blood just as the rest of Team 7, Sasuke and Naruto, have learned. However, she is realizing that by keeping things secretive regarding Sasuke in order to protect her, Sarada could have misunderstand her bond with Sasuke just as Shin is.  Despite being told how much her dad cares about her, it is hard for a child to understand “feelings of love.” It would be understandable for Sarada to feel an empty “blood connection” rather than the “feelings of love” connection Sakura herself feels towards Sasuke.  Sakura now realizes that she needs to show this “feelings of love” connection to Sarada and show her first-hand how connected her and Sasuke really are. (The battle scene better be EPIC!)

Side Note: I am just gushing over how adorable our little Uchiha princess looks in this scene and Sakura rightly deserves the most beautiful kunochi title IMO.

Now to the next scene. SP this scene was not needed because we get Sasuke and there are so many more valuable CANON parts to animate, but if you are going to give me lemons I will try to make lemonade out of it. @hope2findthelight 😉 😉 😉

I’m going to interpret this scene positively and say that SP included it in order to further highlight how an aspect of her father’s personality that Sarada needs to learn is that Sasuke’s words sometimes don’t match his actions. In the first photo, you could obviously see the distress on his face, which Naruto understands well being well-versed with his method of communication, but Sarada knows little about her father’s personality. Sasuke is not a man of words, but rather a man of action and silent communication. He doesn’t need to react and openly display or express his worry. This ties into this feelings towards Sakura and how they are connected by feelings of love and how one simple look is worth thousands of words in expressing their longing, love, and understanding. Additionally, some part of Sasuke might believe that he is teaching Sarada a valuable lesson regarding the Shinobi way and to not get too caught in your feelings and an even bigger part of him wants Sarada to not be anxious in regards to her mother like how he was hiding his mission to avoid causing her anxiety. He even refuses to take her along until Naruto reminds him that she is safer with them. With no traces of Sakura known, it is more efficient to focus on getting Sakura back as soon as possible with a rational and level head rather than emotionally reacting uselessly. Obviously, his words don’t fully match his actions because he tends to be a bit “careless” in his Shinobi way due to his emotional feelings or as Naruto put it best…

I find it HILARIOUS how desperate and hurried Sasuke is about finding Sakura, but at the same time he is confident about her abilities to take down any enemy she is confronted with. The guy is so desperate that he doesn’t notice anything else happening around him, like when Sarada ran off with Naruto only to return with a dirty look for him (Naruto gave him one too). I swear if Sarada and Naruto didn’t get on his Susanoo, I am confident he would have left without them. However, I have to say that I am so salty about SP not including the line where he mentions that Sakura would have “tidied up the place” by the time they got to her, but I am appreciative that we at least got “my wife is not weak.” I mean nothing in the line came as a surprise to us because we always knew that Sasuke believed in Sakura’s abilities even before she was aware of them herself such as back in their Genin days and his knowing smirk after she displayed her full power in Shippuden. However, I just loved how he threw it in Orochimaru’s smug face…it was so satisfying. Sasuke was being so abrupt and brusque with his questioning that even the great Orochimaru seemed so insulted by his lack of manners. What he fails to realize is that there is no room for manners when Sasuke’s WIFE is missing. My wife my wife Sasuke was just perfect in this episode.  😂 😂

Just see how reacts in this scene…

You can see Sasuke straining to keep calm and be rational, but he struggles because he is overcome by anger towards the person who endangered his child and wife. He is downright threatening Orochimaru and cannot contain his anger. The last screenshot is interesting to me because it connects with a parallel theme throughout the manga and anime in which whenever Sasuke is in danger of expressing his true emotions, his facial expressions are concealed. We are not allowed to see his emotions as viewers because Sasuke the character will not show it to us. It is my absolute favorite parallel.

See here…

And even in the last episode when he was discussing Sarada. He tells Naruto that he won’t regret keeping Sarada in the dark if it means that her future will be bright. However, his facial expression is hidden from us immediately after because he knows he will regret it but doesn’t have a choice in order to protect her.

Or in this scene when Sakura walks passed him. His face his hidden from us again because he is concealing the regret he feels in not being able to comfort his daughter and be honest with her. (Sakura is concealing some emotions of her own in this scene…she must have unfortunately picked up the Uchiha way 😂 )

Side Note: This image CRACKS. ME.UP. Just imagine if Cho Cho was there when Sasuke was under the curse. She would just been shoving chips in his face as he is laughing maniacally and planning to destroy the world. Cho Cho needed to be in Shippuden.  😂

Lastly, the DNA test scene. Sarada just broke my heart and her VA is doing an AMAZING job in expressing the conflicting feelings towards her parents Sarada is experiencing. However, what I enjoy most about this scene is how Naruto and Sarada share a common connection here regarding their feelings of loss and loneliness.

Naruto sees himself in Sarada. In the last episode, he tells Sasuke…

Undoubtedly, he must be referring to himself and how Jiraiya protected him from the shadows. He knows personally the pain and loneliness Sarada will feel because Sasuke is essentially doing the same thing.

And it is in this scene where Naruto imparts the most important message he learned and imparted to those around him throughout the whole show especially to Sasuke and now to his one and only daughter. This message IMO defines the Sasusaku connection, Team 7, and essentially embodies Naruto’s character…

This is what makes Gaiden so beautiful to me. Even among all the unnecessary drama, it’s true message is about Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto all trying to teach Sarada that feelings of love are the only connection you really need. They all learned about this connection from being part of Team 7 and they want to impart this lesson to Sarada who represents one aspect of each member of Team 7: Sasuke and Sakura’s love and Naruto’s dream.

Sakura, by being the amazing mom she is, has been teaching her all along that feelings of love is what creates a connection. That’s why Sarada realizes that she cannot leave her mother and needs to save her because feelings of love connect them even if blood doesn’t (she is obviously misunderstanding the blood connection). In the next episode, Sarada will learn this lesson about how people are connected by feelings of love despite distances whether it be a physical distance like with Sasuke or a biological distance as she believes currently with Sakura. Sarada will learn about her connection to her dad through the connection she has formed all along with her mom.

[breeeliss]

If you are still talking fic suggestions how is this: Chloentte with Chloe in deep denial about being gay, but everyone except Marinette can see it?

i got carried away again oops

words: 1668

“Jesus, you think it’s possible for Chloe to flirt with Adrien any harder?”

Nino winced as he watched Chloe twirl a lock of hair between her fingers and bat her lashes as she leaned against Adrien’s study table in the library. Adrien was doing his best to ignore her as much as he could, but Chloe’s hand was half covering his maths textbook and she wasn’t really leaving any room for Adrien to block her out. “It’s almost sad to watch,” Nino agreed. “Like she has absolutely no shame about it. Poor Adrien.”

“Should we rescue him?” Alya asked. 

“And try to take on that little monster? No thank you. I’m staying right here. Adrien’s handled her before, he’s a big boy.” Nino poked Marinette in the side with his elbow. “What’s the miracle you’re not running over to break that up? Last time Chloe was flirting with Adrien you practically leaped across the desks to interrupt them.”

Marinette shrugged and kept reading her novel for literature class. “Not worth it.”

“Seriously?” Alya snorted. “This coming from the girl who stayed on the phone with me for like an hour complaining about Chloe trying to steal the love of your life away.”

“Yeah,” Marinette laughed. “That’s definitely not a concern anymore.”

“Why?”

Marinette blinked and looked between her two friends. “Wait…you guys don’t see it?”

Alya blinked. “See what?”

“Are you serious?” Marinette exclaimed. “It’s so obvious!”

“What’s obvious?” Nino asked. “The fact that she’s an overdramatic gremlin?”

Marinette snorted in disbelief and shut her book. “Guys. Chloe is gay as shit.”

Nino shook his head. “Chloe!? Chloe who flirts with Adrien at every available opportunity and dreams about purchasing a couch made out of attractive boys. That Chloe is gay?”

“Yah,” Marinette said, as if it were the most obvious deduction. “Super gay.”

“No way,” Alya smirked. “You’re messing with us.”

“Am not!” Marinette insisted. “I’ve been collecting evidence for the past two weeks and the results have been pretty much undeniable. She is a flaming lesbian.”

“Alright, Marinette “Token Bisexual” Dupain-Cheng. Prove it to me,” Alya demanded. 

“I’m so glad you asked,” Marinette smirked. She pulled out her cellphone and waved her two friends over so that they were sitting on either side of her. “We will begin with Exhibit A, exactly 15 days ago in the café across the street from the bakery.”

Alya squinted at the screen. “Holy shit is that a video?”

“I was scrubbing the windows,” Marinette shrugged. “And I happened to be looking across the street and then I saw this.”

“I don’t get it,” Nino commented. “It just looks like Chloe and another girl having brunch. What’s the big deal?”

Marinette hung her head and sighed. “You two are hopeless. Okay. Two things you must know about Chloe. One, she’s a little princess who preaches about good posture and sitting with your back straight and your shoulders back and your boobs out. She brags about how she won’t ever be accused of looking sloppy, so her posture is on point at literally every available opportunity. Look at her right now with Adrien, you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

Alya did just that and tilted her head in thought. “Huh…that’s really prissy.” 

“But she’s on a date with this girl and she’s thrown that Golden Rule out the window. She’s slouched in her chair and leaning over the table just so that she can lean in close. Second thing you should know about Chloe is that she doesn’t let anyone touch her unless she’s close with them. Sabrina and Adrien are probably the only ones who fall into that category. Everyone else? Casual touching is totally off the table. But look at this! This girl is touching her hands, knocking her foot underneath the table, and tapping her on the nose. Totally out of the ordinary.”

“So? That could just be a close friend of hers that we don’t know,” Alya reasoned. 

“Plus how the hell do you know this much about Chloe?” Nino asked. 

“Nah she doesn’t know this girl I stalked her Facebook friends,” Marinette said offhandedly. “And it’s super obvious, Nino. Pay attention to her for like ten seconds and you can’t miss it.”

Alya snorted. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Okay, so this is exhibit A because….”

Marinette waggled her eyebrows. “It was totally a date. That’s the only logical explanation. She likes this girl, it was a date, and all of this lip biting, laughing, and keeping her gaze down on her hands is her being flirty. That whole eyelash batting, hair twirling shtick is way too forced, you can tell. Whatever she’s doing with Adrien, she’s not flirting.”

“Dude,” Alya breathed out. “How much time did you put into – ”

“Exhibit B!” Marinette opened up the notes app on her cellphone. “Now, Chloe may be the spawn of Satan, but she’s rich and gorgeous so she obviously gets attention from other boys. So I decided to do a little research and see how many times boys came up to talk and flirt with her and how she reacted each and every time.”

Nino frowned. “Gorgeous?”

Alya raised a brow. “You’ve been spying on her for two weeks straight?”

“Shush! Both of you!. Anyway, over the past two weeks, including today, a totally of eighteen boys have approached her to say good morning, ask her how she is, and compliment her. And because she literally has no friends other than Sabrina and Adrien and everyone knows how mean she is, they must be trying to hit on her. She has shut every single one of them down.”

“That’s hardly surprising,” Nino said. “She thinks she’s better than everyone else.”

“Nah, Chloe looks for any opportunity to have the spotlight on her. She feeds off compliments, if there’s an opportunity for her to get some, she’ll milk it. But with these boys, she either totally ignores them, scoffs at them and walks away, or laughs and keeps on moving. Heck, look at Kim! He confessed to her and she didn’t even take advantage of the chance to have some boy fawn over her. She just totally rejected him.”

“I guess….that is weird,” Alya hummed. “Boy, you sure know a lot about her.”

“And finally, the most damning piece of evidence, Exhibit C. So remember three days ago when Chloe stole my sketchbook? Well, I stole her phone as revenge, so – ”

“Marinette,” Alya groaned. “We talked about the stealing phones thing.”

“Not important!” Marinette interrupted. She pulled up her photos. “Found out her passcode because I have to sit next to her during history and she’s on that thing literally all period. Now originally I was just going to take some stupid pictures on her phone and post them on Facebook or something. But then I found this!” She showed the two of them a screenshot that looked to have been taken on Chloe’s phone with one app in particular circled in red. 

“Wait what is that?”

“One of the most popular lesbian dating apps in the App Store,” Marinette grinned victoriously. 

“Let me guess,” Nino said. “You also use the app.”

“Not only do I use the app, my dear Nino,” Marinette started. “But I use it frequently. I had to swipe for like two hours to find it, but I present to you Chloe’s profile.” Marinette swiped two pictures over and showed off a screenshot off her own phone of Chloe’s profile on the dating app. “Bam! Lesbian. Case closed.”

“So why is she flirting so hard with Adrien?” Alya asked. 

Nino looked completely dumbfounded. “Are we ignoring the fact that she swiped on a lesbian dating app for two hours just to find Chloe’s profile?”

“It’s obvious she’s not out yet,” Marinette reasoned. “The café she was at during that date was really low key and inexpensive for her, so she was probably trying to keep it hush. I think she’s overcompensating and trying to appear like she’s straight so as to keep suspicion off of her until she’s ready to tell people. Adrien’s the perfect person to flirt with because he’s her friend and she knows he won’t ever take her seriously. Ergo, Chloe is not a threat to me. Thank you for time. Any questions?”

Alya nodded. “Yeah. One. Why?” 

“Why is she gay?”

“No, why did you spend so much time figuring this out?”

Marinette shrugged. “I love a good mystery.”

Nino muttered under his breath. “Yeah that must be it.”

Alya bit down on her lip to keep the chuckle from escaping. “So what’s next for you, huh?”

“Obviously to like her profile on the app,” Marinette reasoned. “She knows I’m bi, so I’m curious to see what she’ll do when she sees that I’ve liked it. I’m not going to out her or blackmail her or anything, but I want to see what she says if she decides to talk to me.”

“Dude, you are being so extra about this,” Nino breathed out with a knowing smile. “I’ve only ever seen you obsess over Adrien like this.”

“I’m not obsessed,” Marinette scowled. “I’m invested in learning as much as I can about my enemy. That’s all.”

Alya smirked and pulled her homework back towards her. She gave Nino a look from across the table and silently promised that the two of them were definitely going to talk about this when Marinette wasn’t around. In the meantime, Alya tried to appear the picture of innocence as she picked up her pen to do her literature homework. “Alright. Chloe’s gay. Interesting information. Thanks for all of the evidence. You must have worked hard for it.”

“I’ll keep you updated on the whole dating app thing,” Marinette told Alya, temporarily forgetting her homework and instead reading over Chloe’s dating profile again.

Alya hid her face in her book and laughed silently while Nino hid his grin behind his hand. “Oh I’m sure you will, babe,” Alya answered, her voice laced with humor. “I’m sure you will.” 

[pryngols]

“A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader’s. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it.” ― Ian McEwan, Atonement

2019 favorites shortlist

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2020 has been kind to you so far. As promised, here I am with my 2019 wrap-up. As you can tell from the above photo I had a tough time coming up with a strict Top 10 favorites. From my initial list of 40 I was able to narrow it down to 24, then down to just 10. It was really challenging but lots of fun, too. I am happy to report that I have been successful with my 2019 reading goals: 1) to read diverse authors and genre, 2) to reach my Goodreads goal of 100 books 3) to build my Netgalley profile and 4) to join blog tours.

I am a mood reader so this will be a diverse list. As a friend of mine once said, one can never know what I’ll be reading next. I hope you connect with some of my favorite books, too. Without further ado– presenting my Top 10 Favorite Reads of 2019, in no particular order:

  My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier – was absolutely stunning, the perfect mix of romantic gothic mystery. It’s a tragic but beautiful tribute to the female charm and power.

    Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff – a hypnotizing tale of a unique marriage between two very intense forces.  This book is on point about everything that a marriage is and is not. Though I found the first part a bit dragging at times, the second half of the book simply took my breath away. There is no love story like Lotto and Mathilde.

  This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a short but intense scifi read that leaves you wanting more. It’s an epistolary romance that surprised me with an unexpected level of passion.

  Everything Under by Daisy Johnson – as I have discussed on a previous post, this book is a heady meditation on language and memory, as we follow the story of a mother and daughter living on a boat by a river. It’s an intoxicating mix of folklore, contemporary and magical realism.

  In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – This book is more than your average crime thriller, not only because it is based on a true story, but because it is a lengthy meditation on a nation’s culture of violence, the insufficiency of justice systems, and explores the reader’s limits for empathy. ⁣

  Atonement by Ian McEwan –  is perhaps the saddest love story ever told. It’s simply beautiful, heartbreaking and unforgettable. The best thing about it is how the author used the form and structure of the novel to get his message across. Remarkable.

  Solanin (Solanin #1-2) by Inio Asano – though not as polished and sophisticated as some of Asano’s popular novels, this one has become my favorite among his works. The raw emotions and simplicity of style made the story not only more relatable but also showcased the artist’s storytelling prowess, without his usual embellisments.

  The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank – I honestly felt like I had a wonderful friend in Anne Frank while I was reading her writing, and it is such a privilege to be able to do so. These are thoughts of a brilliant young girl, way ahead of her time. I devoured all her entries as though I was the one who needs comfort, and not she. Though I knew how it all ends, I was not prepared with the amount of tears I shed on the last few pages.

  Miracle Creek by Angie Kim – is the book that surprised me the most this year. It is an intricate and soulful tale that will challenge the way we see humanity: its relationships, its sense of justice, and the consequences of our actions no matter how big or small. I talked about this in length here.

  The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson –  I love the build up of tension, the quiet sadness and the terror of human loneliness. It is one of those rare short stories collections wherein all of the stories are equally great, or at least wonderfully curated to make the whole thing a cohesive masterpiece. I talked more about this book here.

  Of course I just can’t limit my favorites to just 10 (I’m so sorry!) I still have a lot more to recommend, so here are some of the honorable mentions:

CRIME/THRILLERS

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Twisted by Steve Cavanagh

FANTASY 

Castle in the Air (Howl’s Moving Castle #2) by Diana Wynne Jones

A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld #32) by Terry Pratchett

GRAPHIC NOVELS 

Patience by Daniel Clowes

Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection by Junji Ito

Sleepwalk and Other Stories by Adrian Tomine

QUIET BLOCKBUSTERS – These titles are not so popular, and they are not action-packed or exciting or thrilling, but I love them for being beautifully and skillfully written, with exceptional insight to the human psyche.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

A Separation by Katie Kitamura

Rosalind by Judith Deborah

WORTH THE HYPE 

Illuminae series (The Illuminae Files) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

HARD TO READ FAVORITES – These titles are some of my most loved reads this year, and they did not make the Top 10 list only because they were not as effortlessly enjoyable as the others, and have taken me a lot longer to read. But they are definitely more than worth it.

The Vorrh (The Vorrh Trilogy #1) by Brian Catling

Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History #1) by George R.R. Martin

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

  Below are some screenshots from my favorite bookish tracking app/community Goodreads. If you are also a member there, let’s connect! Add me here.

  Some interesting statistics!

  I have read a total of 151 books. 151! My personal best. ⁣ ⁣ 2020’s goal is to actually read less. As much as I love reading, I think last year has been more of a therapy for me, a sort of escape from reality. 2019 is the worst year of the decade for me and my mental health. So I’d like to DO more this year. I’m hoping to do online courses, go back to running, travel, more projects!! Wish me luck.

I remember how when I first started my bookstagram and this book blog, one of my main reasons for doing so is that I wanted to have a platform where I can talk about books. Before all this, when I finish a book I just mark it as “Read” on Goodreads and then move on. I am somehow left with a feeling of loss because I knew I might eventually forget how or why I loved a certain novel. Currently, I am at least comforted by the fact that I now belong to a community that celebrates the same passion for reading, that always welcomes me when I have all sorts of book hangover. I can now say farewell (see you later!) with ease to these stories, and most importantly–I don’t feel so alone anymore.

All I am trying to say is thank you for being here and for tolerating my bookish obsession. Being a part of the bookish and blogging communities has not only motivated me to read more, but has also encouraged me to do more of what I love. I have learned how to be comfortable with my own thoughts, and to be more open to other’s as well.

⁣I appreciate each and every one of you. Care to share some of your 2020 goals, bookish or not? Let’s chat in the comments! 🥂⁣

    Princess & Pages Year in Books 2019 “A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader's.