#i do think elements of the plot didn't hang together that well

[themathomhouse]

hot take, Ricky is knowledge without wisdom; but also there to show who Lindy is even when she's not being racist.

Ricky was only just stepping up when we meet him. We know one of the earliest people to die was over a week ago, and Ricky was trying to warn people - but his videos about it kept being deleted. Fair enough, it makes sense to try videos so you can warn everyone at once.

But what has he been doing since then? Lindy seems to be the first person he's helped - possibly because people had the bubble up, but he doesn't indicate he's tried anything other than the videos.

He knew about the conduits, how to contact the homeworld, pulse codes, the history of the planet (so possibly even information about the slugs) - but he didn't apply any of it. What good did knowing things do him when the facts just sat there? Everyone knows who he is, so he could have messaged pretty much anyone to try and tell them directly - which is what the Doctor did - but he didn't.

He might be less terrible than Lindy as he doesn't spend all day in the bubble, but he's still a product of the society that raised him.

Lindy trusts him immediately because he's One Of Them and he's also got clout and status - she's more co-operative with Ruby, sure; but she's incredibly rude to her at first and doesn't trust her. As soon as she sees Ricky, she's excited and nice to him - but she said to him that this was the best day of her life. He pointed out that thousands of people are still dying, and she brushes it off because that's just not important to her.

She expresses worry for her friends - or so it seems. I'd argue that actually, she only cares about them as it would mean she doesn't have anyone to talk to. We're shown exactly who she is when the dot comes after her, and she throws Ricky to the wolves to save herself. She loves him, he's famous and handsome and everything he's meant to be - he saved her and helped her, he is One Of Them. And she kills him.

She is completely convinced of her own superiority, and she's utterly self-centred. They all seem to be. They meet a new guy at the end and his first concern is who should be their leader (and he immediately suggests himself). They scoff at the doctor trying to help them; and after working two hours per day and complaining about being required to do literally anything, they think they can fend for themselves in the wilderness?

These people will Lord of the Flies each other inside of a week, and they won't even blink. She's just killed a huge celebrity (the only thing she responds to in any way) and lies to everyone about it without any feelings. She's not guilty. She's not sad.

They're all on the boat and going to die, sure. But it's not going to be the wilderness that does it.

It's gonna be a looong time before we stop noticing more details here

Yeah, it felt really weird in the moment how Doctor-like Ricky wound up being, and while of course he already has that reputation as a celeb, at the same time we can see first-hand that Lindy is a lot more cooperative with Ruby anyway

[olderthannetfic]

I’m aware that this is probably a dumb question but do people really get turned on by sex scenes in fic (specifically longfic or slow burn)? Obviously people read porn oneshots for that but if I’m reading longfic I’m reading for the emotional arc and not because the characters are going to have sex… what if the sex scene is like part way through isn’t that distracting from the rest of the fic??

--

Only if it's badly written.

And I don't mean badly written as an individual scene. I mean badly written in the context of a long slow burn or a plotty fic.

It's something I think about a lot in my pro work since the genre I write often sells based on heat level, and I want the option of explicit scenes, but I don't want them too early or on a schedule: I want them where they make narrative sense and further the emotional development.

I've read long things where the characters would logically have sex at a certain point. The scene wasn't there, and the fic felt lopsided. I've read far more long things where a sex scene was wedged in pointlessly.

Sex scenes are no different from major battle scenes or confrontations over "Why didn't you tell me piece of info X three chapters ago?" If you've written in a way that implies they're coming next, they should damn well be there. If you write in a way that makes it clear the battle isn't the pivotal part of the plot and we won't be seeing it, readers won't miss it when it doesn't arrive. If the emotional arc of the story hangs together without this emotional scene, you can leave it out. If you've written it in a way where the scene would have contained a major emotional beat and change how the characters interact, we need to see it on page.

Now, if your question is "Aren't some people really, really bad at writing sex scenes that are about emotional arcs rather than pure porn?" then my answer is GOD YES.

As for whether people get horny over them... uh... Yes. Duh?

Why wouldn't people get horny over a sex scene that is the culmination of much pining and emotion? Really emotional sex with someone you care about is far harder to get IRL than just any old sex.

The whole point of a lot of steamy romance novels or longfic is to add the feels back into the sex. If we didn't care about that, we'd often be watching rather than reading. Written porn adds a psychological element in much more overtly, and long stories that contain sex add a lot of emotional development.

Lots of people read a longfic through completely the first time, enjoying the whole emotional arc as it was intended, then return to just the sexiest parts or the most emo parts for a hit of the way the fic made them feel.

[woodsfae]

B5 s03e07 Exogenesis table of contents • previous episode

I try to pay attention to ships' names because they can give hints to the nature of a character or a thematic element, but today's is pretty oblique. The shuttle Dyson. Is it for Dyson physics? The interactions of quantum elements with physical matter from a quick wikipedia romp. Or is it another dyson that I don't know the reference for? Fun theorizing.

This newly minted Lieutenant seems plot-relevant!

Marcus the Ranger is hanging out on B5, it seems. I wonder if it's one of those times they talk about someone to remind the audience they exist, but they don't show up in the episode.

Yikes! The Dyson people are doing weird alien bugs melding into humans shit. Dr Franklin's probably gonna do more coke-fueled medical work.

Corwin the new Lieutenant is going to get Susan Ivanova's best subtle grilling as to his allegiances. Can't wait. But till then, some Marcus harassing a sleeping vendor by quoting the Scottish play to him.

And then a meeting with another Ranger who gives him the funniest information report imaginable. Not so much sharing information as making sly allusions to what may be. Funny and dramatic. It is interesting seeing Marcus work. He's like a local liaison, coordinator, recruiter, and information gathered all at once. I guess you have to wear a lot of different hats when you're in a small start-up with limited staff and a ever-widening scope.

I love the sheer medical garb and ppe, and also like the new mesh arm and shoulder layer Dr Franklin is modeling. Also like the 3d imager! The alien bug is now wrapped around the dead guy's spinal column and is imaged like criss-crossing threads. I enjoy this medical mystery for Dr Franklin. He could use some enrichment, and if there aren't mass causalities it might be almost relaxing for him.

Looks like Marcus's absent colleague/contact has fallen in with a new crowd. A crowd of people all infected with this new-to-Stephen parasite? What would a parasite's agenda even be? And the vendor who wasn't feeling well is missing as well.

Listen new Lieutenant. Listen to me closely. Susan Ivanova is not hitting on you right now. She is the second in command of Babylon 5. Obviously she wants to informally assess a new Lieutenant under her command!

Funny that Garibaldi was enthused about the idea of hanging with Marcus and inviting him to things, but now that Marcus himself is asking him to do something, he doesn't wanna hang. And I actually laughed at Marcus's clever wordplay. He didn't lie at all, but strongly suggested that Garibaldi cares a lot about the issue and is asking Dr Franklin to help Marcus. He must have studied at the same Aes Sedai school as Delenn!

Shenanigans are afoot at the old vendor's quarters! His shirt is all jacked up and his back is pulsing! I don't like that! Or all the parasite-distributers with guns.

Stephen and Marcus are asking the same questions I am. What are the parasites' motives? What are their aims? What are their actual effects on the humans?

Dr Franklin thinks the parasite takes control of their neural system. I wonder if they are trying to transport themselves somewhere, or survive somehow. Garibaldi's point about why they would be targeting people from Down Below is a good one.

Marcus is sassy! I like him. He's very roguish. He and Dr Franklin will be fine. I hope they enjoy their field trip together!

I hope Susan is fucking with this guy right now. Just tormenting him over the roses because he panicked and lied and said he found them lying on her doorstep.

An unsettling conversation with the person who says he "was once Duncan, but is now Vindrizi." And he says they are just trying to survive. dun dun! This still has the potential to be a mostly enriching field trip for Dr Franklin. And it's a great further introduction to Marcus. I like him tremendously.

Susan's testing the insubordinate waters is kinda sorta subtle. But she does get the necessary information. He would report another officer whom he say speaking or acting against Earthdome. They will have to work around him!

Oooooh, gossiping about Susan Ivanova! Franklin likes her. Marcus is concerned that she seems more distant now than when he first came on board.

Marcus: "I sense in her a key as yet unturned." Dr Franklin: "What does that mean?" Marcus: "I don't know, but I think it will be fascinating to find out."

dude is just saying allegorical things and then admitting he doesn't even know why he thinks that. Lol. But somehow it's charming?? What a little smartass (affectionate). Dr Franklin thinks so, too. And I love that they're failing the reverse bechdel test (I jest, I jest).

Stephen is right that Marcus is not Ivanova's type. We all her know her type is blond and telepathic with a tortured backstory.

This has been a very fun plot. Stephen has two patients in one, and Marcus just took out two guards in one plot! And got Stephen's Link and triggered a security protocol! Finally, some backup is on the way. There's just enough time for Marcus and Stephen to discover the aliens' tragic backstory and suddenly be required to negotiate for their safe passage to the recently-arrived security team. But they do have wrap up their little prison break first!

Aha! Information sharing! The person who was once Duncan says that all the humans there volunteered, and that they will all have a better life this way.

Aww, and they have a hell of a backstory! Less tragic, and more epic. Living histories. Less parasites, and more a holy order of record-keepers.

This is a wonderful little story. Very epic. Another of those cool details of worldbuilding. Also it's fucking hilarious how Stephen Franklin is like "I will only allow this if I get to medically oversee it every step of the way."

Oh, and here does come the tragedy. Duncan's…symbiote? left him so Duncan could convince Marcus and Stephen they were telling the truth, but the separation caused damage and he wouldn't be able to rejoin without permanent damage. But at least he feels inspired to go really live and see some amazing things with the rest of his life. And I think he's wise to say that we should all wake up and decide to be special.

Lol, Susan wasn't fucking with the Lieutenant Corwin about the roses. Inadvertently, that guy has played a hell of a prank on both her and Marcus! Hah!

Ivanova, throwing the roses on the bar: "Keep em!" Marcus, beaming and picking them up: "Thanks! I will!"

Really laughed hard at that one.

Alright, I'm starting to see where some of you acquired your crushes on Marcus! He's cute and charming! And very nonthreatening. I wouldn't mind being buds with him. He seems genuinely really an entertaining person to hang out with.

This was overall an interesting and fun episode. I enjoyed theorizing about it. I can't discern a connection between the name of the shuttle the symbiote record keepers arrived in and any plot. If you have thoughts on that let me know! It also isn't often you see symbiotic relationships with bug-like critters. I know now that DS9 was accused of lifting a lot of details from the original B5 pitch, but I wonder if this isn't a nod back the other way, especially since Trill symbiotes were introduced in TNG, which predated the B5 pitch if I'm not mistaken.

next episode

[mdhwrites]

So, are you the kind of person who thinks MLP Friendship is Magic should have ended in season 3 with Magical Mystery Cure since you think it went downhill in season 4 onward?

I'm going to answer all three MLP asks you sent together, this, the one asking what I think made S4 start the decline, and if I might go back to Equestria Girls at the same time because the S4 one is short and so is the EqG one: Season 4: I can't say exactly. It's been over half a decade since I watched literally anything MLP:FiM related. I remember thinking the plots were more boring, that characters acted like assholes a lot more and just that I enjoyed it less. Like I remember people praising Rarity in Manehatten while that episode in my opinion killed the interesting elements of Rarity's character. I can't say a lot of specifics though because I just haven't even had other people talking about the show to refresh my memory like with stuff like Avatar. EqG: I have been tempted in the past to go back to it but would honestly rather not do the coin flip for it. After all, Rainbow Rocks, maybe the one MLP thing I could talk more concretely about because I talked about it a lot, I consider to almost be the epitome of all that went wrong with the show. The girls are half the problem, no one actually seems to be nice or give a fuck about one another (Rarity broke down sobbing on stage for some reason, let's YELL AT HER despite being IMMUNE to the anger magic), and the jokes, voice acting and pacing are all just worse than they used to be. So yeah, Sunset is great, I like Sunset, but... I don't want to risk just ending up liking everything less by watching more of it.

ANYWAYS, this ask:

I like S3 a LOT more than I think a lot of people did but I did agree that Magical Mystery Cure had a finality to it. The thing was that it wasn't a series finality to it: It was a character finality. It was the exact opposite of what Twilight had been like when she first entered the show (see why her regressing to make Starlight look better might have pissed me off?) while also still having her intellect. She literally joins her mentor as a peer and is no longer the student. It is a great way to end her journey and potentially bring in a new character.

Even if they didn't, there was still stuff they could have done. Her tackling what being a princess means. Her tackling the power imbalance between her and her friends. How her worldview changes. S4 is even smart enough to start with some of that. Then... Yeah, people are right to call out that they do nothing with this and seem to mostly just ignore that she is a princess.

Honestly, that lack of depth and nuance and interest in exploring the characters is part of the problem I had in the long term with MLP. Everyone was an archtype, yes, but there was a little more. Not so much to make them ever purely escape their archtypes but enough to make them feel vibrant and alive while still being malleable which made them good for the fandom. I feel like S3 was the last time, and this is the ONLY thing I might give the Fausticorn assholes, when a lot of that spark to the characters was in full force. Even then, Faust has freely admitted that other members of her team were helming the show long before she left anyways because she didn't get to do the adventure series she wanted.

The show didn't have to end at S3. Not by any means. But... It sure does feel like they started struggling for ideas more after that half season. At least that's how I remember it.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[adamwatchesmovies]

TMNT (2007)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

In some ways, TMNT is a better film than the previous live-action installments in the series. Unfortunately, it still suffers from major shortcomings. This makes it less fun than even the worst of the ‘90s adventures because there’s nothing nostalgic about it and no elements that are so bad they can be kind of fun despite themselves. This movie is doomed to obscurity - theatrical release or no theatrical release.

3,000 years ago, a warlord named Yaotl opened a portal whose energies granted him immortality but turned his four trusted generals to stone. The portal also unleashed 13 monsters into our world - previews of the army the portal would unleash the next time someone opened it. In present day, Leonardo (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), Raphael (voiced by Nolan North), Michelangelo (voiced by Mikey Kelley) and Donatello (voiced by Mitchell Whitfield) have grown apart. Leonardo has been sent away to South America to train and his brothers have either taken on mundane jobs or become masked vigilantes. When Yaotl resurrects his generals and begins gathering the monsters with the help of the Foot Clan, it can only mean trouble for New York and its shell-wearing protectors.

While there’s a certain charm to the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and their practical special effects, making the next chapter in the series an animated film was a good idea. It gives the characters freedoms they never had before and they're the most expressive they've ever been. Too bad they have nothing interesting to say and the plot is a complete mess. There’s just way too much going on here. Why 13 monsters to collect to open up the portal? Eight of them are captured during a montage and the turtles only interact with three of them, making that number way excessive. In fact, why are there monsters in the movie at all? Isn’t a villain that's trying to open up this portal to a dimension of demons with his four granite warriors - none of which get more than a handful of lines - enough?

Let's examine this story deeper. The portal only opens up once every 3,000 when the stars align, and only if the creatures are arranged in a circle. Yaotl sure was dragging his feet gathering them then, wasn’t he? They’ve been around for longer than Christianity and he’s gotten exactly NOTHING done before the plot kicks in. Thankfully, the monsters are - for reasons that are never made clear - hanging out in New York city, waiting to be scooped up like Pokémon. This entire plot is so muddy and so full of holes you just don’t care about any of it.

Not helping are the titular heroes. Splinter (voiced by Mako) has sent Leonardo away to train to be a better leader. Did he really need to go to a different continent to do this? Speaking of bad ideas, the “Nightwatcher” subplot makes NO SENSE. Raphael has been wearing a disguise and sneaking out at night to fight crime. Why? The turtles live in secrecy in the city's sewer tunnels. He has no civilian identity to protect. The disguise fools no one anyway - well, except his brothers, who take forever to put two and two together. As if the huge humanoid with three fingers and a big shell on his back jumping around doing martial arts wouldn’t be immediately recognized by them. And if he is going around fighting crime as a vigilante… so what? The turtles have always been vigilantes! So is their friend Casey Jones (voiced by Chris Evans)!

Once again, the plot centers solely on Leonardo and Raphael, with the other two turtles given nothing to do. You’d think with the years of comics and television series, someone would’ve figured out a way to give everyone involved some task crucial to defeating the villains. Donnie could hack into a security system, April (voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar) could gather intelligence or put on a disguise, Mickey and Casey could distract the guards, that kind of thing. No. We get hammered by themes of family and brotherhood over and over but all the siblings do is argue until the final act when they finally put their differences aside. None of it is any fun, and certainly not with the quality of the jokes we're subjected to. The entire picture only contains one funny moment, which makes the brisk 87 minutes feel like an entire season of a TV show you’ve been forced to sit through.

Despite all my criticisms, I must admit that an 11-year-old who loves the ninja turtles would probably love this movie because the ridiculous story seriously (too seriously, I’d say) and feigns a grim and gritty theme throughout. Nothing about the story or visuals will date TMNT like its predecessors but it’s hard to imagine anyone fondly looking back at this 2007 film. (March 26, 2021)

[shortkingshapeshiftr]

Ok, So I Rewatched Brother Bear II - Let's Talk About It!

Alrighty, so I just finished re-watching Brother Bear II. I recall viewing it almost a year ago, but I didn't have many positive things to say about it. But what do I think about it now that seen both the first and second movies recently? Well, let's get into it! It's gonna be a long one, lol.

Starting off simple, I'd say the animation is decent enough. The backgrounds are, arguably, the closest to the original movie. There are some moments where the character models do look off, giving that sense of "direct-to-VHS Disney movie vibe." When comparing it to other low budget Disney animated sequels of the 90's to 2000's, it doesn't look half bad. Not as pretty as the original, but still good-looking!

Music-wise, I found the discography to be rather forgettable and disappointing. Perhaps this is a hot take, but I wasn't entirely a fan of the soundtrack in the original, either. Now, that isn't to say that the first didn't have fantastic songs! The song "Transformation" is easily one of my favorites, and I find it to be emotionally very moving. It just feels like some of the songs, even if they mean something to me, are under-cooked. And maybe this is another hot take, but I'm not big on Phil Collins music, either. No hate to Phil! Getting back to the soundtrack of the second movie, I can't really say that much about it. It's rather boring in my opinion, and I find myself not resonating with it. The first movie had songs that meant something to me, but I do acknowledge could've been tweaked more sonically or lyrically, "Welcome" being an example of this. Brother Bear II's lacks any bite. So in short, the OST for the sequel is pretty mediocre and didn't spark much in me. Definitely a downgrade compared to the original.

Next up is the story/plot elements. Maybe this is just bias, but I personally didn't find the story or plot to be that interesting. It is a rather generic love story; one about two long-lost lovers who start off disliking each other, only to get together in the end. Many of the plot elements felt more like mindless filler than intentional story/character development. The scene with the raccoons being the prime example of this. In general, I would say this is much more of a "silly" movie compared to the original. This film is definitely marketing towards a younger audience, but in a rather cheap, half-baked kind of way. Now I do understand why scenes like the raccoon scene exist, it gives a reason for Kenai and Nita to bond with each other and eventually fall in love. My issue is just how it's handled, that's all. It feels... disingenuous? Forced? I'm not sure how to describe it, but Kenai and Nita's relationship and how it's handled leaves me feeling... odd. I don't know, just in general I feel like it could've been fleshed out more and, again, have a little bit more bite like the original.

Onto the character stuff! Again, similar to my previous talking points, the characters just didn't live up to the original. Throughout the movie, I just kept yelling in my head: "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER ALREADY, COMMUNICATE!" That happened a lot in this movie, moments that easily could've been solved if you just... talked honestly for like two seconds. It was a smidge frustrating, given how easy some of the tension could've been lifted. I also feel like Kenai's constant flip-flopping between Nita and Koda to be a bit off as well. In the beginning, Kenai is clearly jealous that Koda is getting along with Nita (Nita isn't romantically interested in Kenai, which Kenai is upset about.) Later on in the film, this is flipped, so now Koda is jealous/upset that Kenai is hanging out with Nita. My issue is how quickly Kenai forgets about Koda, given what happened in the first movie. Kenai is responsible for the death of Koda's mom, Kenai knows that Koda looks up to parental/familial figures in his life. Kenai understands that he owes Koda so much and has to look out for him, but in a short span of time practically ditches him. It just felt kinda of off, given that the end of the movie was literally about Kenai becoming the titular "brother bear" to Koda and being responsible for him, loving him. That massive element of Koda's character, his emotional attachment to a parental figure, really only comes up later in the movie. I felt like this could've been expanded upon a smidge more, perhaps through... communicating with the other characters. As a side note, I also find the moose characters to be kind of unnecessary. To me, the comic-relief moose in the first movie were one of the weaker parts, so considering they got significantly more screen-time in the sequel just made it a bit more annoying. In the end, they get the girls who magically lose their self-awareness, regardless of how manipulative they were. It's ok, the story and plot is ok. Nothing to ride home about.

It's all just middle of the road, that's the best way I could describe Brother Bear II. It's not as good as the original, and I feel like it has many pitfalls. It doesn't really expand much on the world of Brother Bear, and it is rather generic. Again, it's just an inoffensive, mid movie that I can't bring myself to get that mad about. Not much else to say about it.

That's all I got for now. Thank you for toiling through my long-ass, late-night post. There will be more bear stuff to come! 🐻

[castysandthedeep]

It was 100% worth my while! Love the age gap (considered asking about it but decided not to, for some reason?), really love the switch awakening, and I always go bonkers for Minecraft realism. I guess I’m curious how decked out works as a theme for the story, like, what all does it impact? Or is it more of a metaphysical theme rather than something actively going on with the characters?

I DID NOT SEE THIS FOR SIX DAYS. oops. yeah so i wrote this au back in the peak of my decked out hyperfixation, and the plot ended up heavily revolving around it because it was basically all that was on my mind at the time. i was thinking about how in certain fields of academia, professors aren't just teaching, they're also working on their passion research projects as long as they can get funding/investors. this would ABSOLUTELY hold true for tango, who does enjoy teaching, but is really in it for the resources and the opportunity the university offers him to build a giant redstone-powered dungeon game.

decked out is very much still under construction when jimmy meets tango, and it's generally well-known among the student body, especially redstone majors. tango makes it a collaborative project, inviting building majors to design interiors for certain rooms, and inviting student test runners to help him test the game. jimmy ends up being one of those test runners, and it gets him a lot of one-on-one time with tango. it's also a convenient excuse to be hanging around him all the time. and yes, they DO fuck in that dungeon.

you didn't ask about this part but i wanted to talk a little about some other professors and different majors in this au. i don't go super in-depth with anyone but jimmy and tango, but the characters that are also professors in this au are impulse, who also teaches redstone, doc, who probably teaches some redstone classes and some other less-common high-concept game-breaking nonsense shit, cleo, who teaches armor stands/sculpting, and bdubs, who teaches building. etho is NOT a professor but he's a legend in the field of redstone and all the other professors and redstone majors are obsessed with him. he's probably done some very laid-back guest lectures, and he's always hanging around the campus server because that's where decked out (and bdubs) is. i just can't see boat boys getting together in this au. i think the taboo element with jimmy and tango is lost if everyone else is regularly fucking people with significant age gaps.

the characters i have right now as students are jimmy, grian, joel, mumbo, scar, pearl, scott, lizzie, and i don't think i've mentioned gem in the fic, but of course she'd be in the student category as well. scar is a grad student. mayyyybe martyn would be in grad student category as well? no one really has a specified age but jimmy and his friends are stated to be close to graduating, so probably 20-22.

[gleefullypolin]

You could (and probably should!) write fic for them, I'm sure it would be lovely if that little snippet is anything to go by.

I truly adore Eloise and can't wait to see what her place is in all of this. I know there are people waiting for some sort of revenge plot from her or hoping she outs Penelope based on the end of last season but then again, there is a distinct lack of media literacy the last few years that's truly sort of exhausting at this point.

I feel like the fight between them had to happen. Penelope being isolated from the people who know her best is now motivation for her narrative. Anthony felt isolated and under pressure and it was a large part of his motivation in his season. Colin will now be isolated from his usual friendship with Penelope and that will be part of his motivation, etc. Our Freytag's Pyramid essentially started with the end of s2 for our dear Penelope and Colin but also feel like they've always given the main characters a bit of the Hero's Journey without the supernatural element to contend with as well.

(Well now I'm just going to call him Lord Obi Wan Kenebling)

I am curious to see how they handle Colin knowing, in the book he was worried for her more than anything and I think I'd like to see that played out with the contrast to Eloise's anger. Having both Colin and Eloise get viscerally angry at her and saying the worst sort of things isn't going to do anything to move a story forward imo and will just feel redundant. Colin being in love with her by then very well may soften it and having them work together, especially since they keep saying how much it's friends to lovers, how they're going to be able to tell each other things they wouldn't tell anyone else, would be a good departure from the avoidant behaviors of earlier seasons.

Oh yes, I don't think she's going to hold anything against him. What he said was not something she didn't expect, it was the hurt of him saying out loud to everyone like that. I do think he will be the architect of his own suffering and I have to admit that I find that much more enjoyable than some perceived punishment that someone who loves him would dole out.

I did just stumble into the info that they were going for Marlboro Man for him vs sexy pirate and either way, they're very clear on him being a man now, ha. I think at this stage, she is used to him looking at her, even so much as staring at her at times, but she's never managed to read him right when it pertains to her and I think it will be fun if they play with that insecurity of hers, she won't quite get it until she *gets* it and it will be very satisfying indeed when he finally says it to her out loud.

I really don't think you can ever go wrong with using longing looks and yearning as foreplay tbh.

I have been writing the final chapter of my last Captain Swan fic for 2 years now. I keep telling them all it’s almost done as I write one sentence and delete it over and over again. I swore I was done writing. I dare not try my hand at things anymore for the sake of sucking me in. Hahahaha!

Back to the point at hand, I will be so annoyed if Eloise does out her to Cressida. I just don’t feel like she would do that even out of revenge. She’s angry and acting childish but they have been friends for so long, I can’t see her of all people just being cruel for cruelty’s sake. I just saw the snippet of her and Cressida on Netflix and you can see in those few seconds that their friendship is not because she WANTS to be with her, its not because suddenly she’s a girls girl who wants to hang and gossip. She’s hurt and feeling a way and who is the one person who would hurt Pen more than Cressida? Women can be cruel creatures when reacting with each other. But that does not mean she wants to cause her permanent damage by outing her to the Ton. She knows what that would mean and if she had wanted to truly hurt Pen, she would have done that already.

I can never not unsee Lord Obi Wan Kenebling and so I shall forever address him as so! Thank you!

I agree with you whole heartedly, if Eloise is angry and seeking out the one person that would anger Pen as revenge, I do not want to see Colin treat her with the same anger. I want to see Colin show after of course his initial confusion and anger, because of course he was affected by Whistledown himself and then trying to understand why she would do such a thing and take such a risk and especially, not tell him of all people. But I also want him to be the one person that understands her in the end.

I want him to be her refuge, her safe space, and the place where she finds her acceptance. Colin has always been some sort of home to her. Whether it was the one person who sheltered her in the sea of people at the ball, or the person who was interested in her thoughts while he was traveling and heard her desires via her written word, Colin has been the home to her heart, and I want that to be where Whistledown comes to find peace too.

She’s going to be scared when she realizes there is a price on her head, and she is alone in this only to have someone to offer her security and acceptance and THAT is going to glorious because it has always been Colin. But now, he will recognize that too. He’s been a bit slow on the uptake! I’ll have to really control myself not to fast forward out of impatience to get there. I love angst but I also hold it in great disgust for what it does to my heart!

I have a feeling that all the sultry stares and dare I say lustful, breathy ways these two will say Colin or Penelope will surely make up for it.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Do you have advice for plot specifically in stories? I am usually able to figure out characters, setting, and worldbuilding, but I struggle a lot when it comes to plot. - Amethyst

I do! I can share what helps me figure out plot and approach the story, but keep in mind every writer is different; if what works for me doesn't work for you, that's okay!

There are two big things I do when thinking about plot: asking why, and the skeleton. I hope they are of some use, and happy writing!

Asking Why

Plot is a messy conglomeration of worldbuilding, situations, and character reactions (among other things), so what's key for me is understanding why things are the way they are, and following that trail of questions. If you have a certain situation, prompt, feeling, etc, you want to convey, ask why it's there. Asking why and trying to answer those questions give your story more reason to them, which makes it feel more solid and believable. A healthy scattering of whats will also help.

I'll use a recent shorter work of mine, our corner of the world, a keefitz sick fic, as an example. I'd been given a prompt that someone was sick, and the other person didn't know how that had happened. So then that leads me down this trail: Well, why doesn't Keefe know Fitz's sick? They're not together when he falls ill. Well if they're not together, why does Keefe ask him about getting sick in the prompt? He must've had a reason to see him then, that way he can ask. Well, why does Keefe need to see Fitz? Maybe they had something planned. Okay, well the prompt is that he's sick, why is that important here? Oo, what if he's sick and that means he misses a date/hang-out spot. Okay, well what's Keefe's reaction to that? Thinking Fitz has had enough with him and self-doubt, so he goes to check on Fitz and after a little bit, they talk things out.

That process of asking questions of the very baseline situation I'd been given and the characters I was working with allowed me to think and explore in-depth various ideas. This was just one possibility, it could've led me a different direction.

Asking those questions to help create the plot instead of creating the plot and trying to fit it into the story I find allows it to feel more natural. I don't have to force things together because the two work in tandem. The baseline creates the plot, and then through the plot it enriches the characters and situation. It's more fluid this way, for me

The Skeleton

The other thing I like to do is write down the most bare bones outline of that plot I questioned into existence. It can be as simple as a single sentence explanation, but I make sure to know where I'm going. If I leave it open, I find my story wanders and loses sight of itself, and I never touch on what I want to. You may be different, but knowing (at least vaguely) my end goal is crucial.

For that keefitz fic, I wrote something like "Fitz sick. Keefe worried. Visits. Talk it out." Right there I've hit the most basic elements. There's the situation (sick, worried), what Keefe does about it (visits), and how it ends (talk). I know where I'm starting and I know where I'm ending, so I can get a better grasp of the space and story I have to work with.

For longer stories, like the wings au, the same thing applied. I was a little more sophisticated and decided an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, but each of those was just as simple. My notes legit say "big fight" for the climax.

From there, if you want to be more detailed, you can fill in the gaps between that and add muscle and fat and nerves to that skeleton, some organs to flesh it out (pun not intended but acknowledged). There's no rule about it, just however much you want to. I was fairly thorough for the beginning of the wings au, but way less so for the ending. For the keefitz fic I didn't go any further than what I said above and kept everything else in my head. Do what you like!

A final thing to keep in mind: plot can change! just because you've written things down doesn't mean you have to stick with them. Follow your story and don't be afraid to deviate. The original falling action and resolution I planned out in the wings au ended up not fitting with how the story developed as I wrote, so rather than force it into old plans I allowed it to grow outside of them.

Sometimes asking yourself more questions (why or otherwise) as you write will illuminate new opportunities you can incorporate, so if you're not certain of something now, it's possible you'll figure it out as you go. There were a few very important plot things in the wings ai I didn't know until after I'd started writing--like the little girl's role. She wasn't in my original plans at all, but ended up being very important!

So those are my main two things for plot. I find them very useful, so hopefully that helps answer your question :)

[laoih]

Middle-earth without Tolkien

Review of "The Rings of Power": Episode 4

In this fourth hour of The Rings of Power, I thought the series was getting better, but while writing this review I noticed that it also got worse.

In this episode the Southlands plot moves somewhat forward, the Eregion plot explores the characters of Elrond and Durin a bit further, and the Númenorean storyline is doing more things wrong than it does right.

On the upside

This episode continued with the storyline of Elrond in Eregion, and as previously this one was the storyline that used actual elements of Tolkien's writings the most, and it also had character moments that worked:

Amazon's Elrond still feels like the most real character in this story in so far as he actually seems to have real connections to other people and a history that somehow fits the character.

Once again the moments he shared with Durin were the best: first the swearing of an oath – indeed an element found in Tolkien's writings, even if it's not this particular oath – and telling Durin about his father and how he feels about his absence. However, these scenes aren't without flaws either. They are good within the episode, but by no means perfect as I will explain below.

Elrond, Durin and Disa share a cute scene.

Another part that also still works is the interaction of Elrond, Durin and Disa together. That litte moment when Disa asks Elrond how he and Durin met and the story that Elrond tells is quite adorable.

A few other tiny bits that I liked were:

Arondir (and Theo) running through the woods & Arondir turning to defend them was kinda cool.

Durin not revealing the Khuzdul word for mithril was a nice reference to the secrecy of the Dwarves with their language.

Disa's hair looked a lot better just hanging down – and it had quite an impressive length! (It doesn't compensate for the lack of beards though...)

Pharazôn's false recount of past events: he claims that Elros' host conquered Morgoth. Unfortunately it also reminds me that Galadriel does that as well... which is less good.

I guess with Adar's ultimatum the plot in the Southlands finally takes some sort of shape. I think the premise is interesting to explore, so that's a plus, but I'm not much of a fan of how they do it (see below).

Rowan not wasting any time in the village and getting the hell out of there when it got spooky. I don't care that he ditched his friend, it was the smart thing to do in that situation. Since he's rather a background character, he would have died if he had waited around until the Orcs appeared, so good for him.

There were no Harfoots in this episode.

On the downside

EREGION

The storylines in Eregion unfortunately were not just all sunshine...:

Celebrimbor: The little scene with Amazon's Elrond meeting with Amazon's Celebrimbor was overall unnecessary and brought many problems with it:

We can see that the construction is already well under way, so the alliance between Dwarves and Elves has been made somehow, but we barely see anything of this "diplomatic achievement of the age". Outside of Elrond's interactions with the Dwarves there is no interaction of Elves and Dwarves shown at all. As a result Ost-in-Edhil feels empty and unreal – it's not a real location with people in it, since we ever only see Celebrimbor and Elrond in it, and nothing else of the city or its inhabitants. It seems like a part of the show that had its budget cut for some reason.

Celebrimbor has mentioned that he was interested in making contact with the Dwarves, but in episode 2 he didn't get the chance because Elrond first had to settle things with Durin. Since that has been solved by now, Celebrimbor obviously has met with the Dwarves off-screen, and developed a relationship with them enough to be irritated by Durin avoiding him, but this is all told in short dialogue, and nothing of this relationship between Celebrimbor and the Dwarves is actually developed. When considering how famous that relationship was in Tolkien's lore, it is very regrettable that the show chose to include it in the series only to skip it off-screen.

Celebrimbor seemed absent-minded and lost in thought, indeed like an old man who was in dire need of an afternoon nap. The tiny info that he had known Elrond's father felt unbelivably forced, like the writers clearly wanted to set up this little piece of information but had no idea how else to do it.

"Elves who don't age"...?

Elrond's "friendship" with Durin: I said before that this relationship is actually a relationship in the show that I like, but as in the second episode there is a weird element to their friendship in this episode as well that I really dislike.

The issue is once again Amazon's Elrond, who has a very weird idea of how friendships are supposed to go: he spies on the whereabouts of his friend when his friend clearly doesn't want to be found, and then wanders into areas in Moria where he clearly isn't supposed to be. To get there, lazy writing is involved as well: Disa says Durin is away, but then meets him afterwards where everyone can see them. Elrond finds the hidden door easily and immediately seems to know that the song the children were singing before was the password – and the show doesn't give us any reason why he should believe that this is the password or why the children knew that password in the first place.

Elrond then lectures Durin about not keeping secrets (as he had done before with Disa as well), and this I don't like simply because I don't agree with it and feel it's a stupid characterisation for Elrond. The Dwarves are known for their secrecy, so just based on this fact alone Elrond should show more respect for their culture. This also applies to Durin, who is not only Elrond's friend but also the Prince of the Dwarves in Moria. And especially Elrond, who had ignored his friend for 20 years, has no right to expect his friend to reveal all secrets to him now.

Mithril in Moria: I like the idea of telling the story of the Dwarves finding Mithril in Moria. However, how they did it felt cheap: we barely see any of it and nothing of the Dwarves actually mining it. Even when one a part of the mine collapses, we don't see any of the Dwarves involved or Durin and Elrond actually going into the mine, we just see them vanishing in a cloud of dust. If anything, this scene – like that with Celebrimbor – felt like they had to save some money and therefore decided not to show the actual mithril mining.

Aside from the show telling more than showing, the issue on the narrative side of things is the reason for the secrecy. Elrond rightfully asks why the Dwarves keep the mithril a secret and why they don't celebrate it. And Durin's answer is: "It's perilous to mine. My father has restricted our every efforts in the name of caution." While this sets up a later scene between Durin and his father, it is no real explanation to Elrond's question. Do they want to keep it a secret because they worry if word gets out, more people will come and get hurt because of this mining peril? Are their worried about their own safety if word gets out? If so, why? Are they worried they can't mind it fast enough because it's dangerous, and other people would be some form of competition? Are they worried about a sudden increase in demand for mithril that they can't satisfy? Are they worried about thieves? Nothing about this is explained, and as much as I liked the oath scene, with the current logic it just makes no sense to keep this all a secret.

As a result I'm not completely sold on Elrond swearing the oath either. Given Elrond's past, you would assume that he is someone who is especially hesitant about swearing and oath, and in this instance it's not even clear why he has to do it...

Father and son relationships: As much as I want to like the reference to Eärendil, it does not really feel earned either. The issue I have with all of this is how it is set up: not at all.

We don't see Durin and his father get in an argument, we don't get to hear their position in their arguments. We only know Durin III wants to seal off the vein out of caution, and Durin IV is against it. But it's not explored in any way and so we can only make assumptions about Durin IV's character: does he simply not care about the safety of his people, or does he believe that his father is overracting? Is it greed that motivates him? We simply don't know. All we get is an angry Durin IV claiming that he sometimes wishes that he wouldn't have to speak to his father again.

Mostly the show is setup without pay-off, but for this scene it was pay-off without setup.

This is the prompt for Amazon's Elrond to go on his lecture about his own father and how he wishes he could speak to him at all. It fits, somehow, but it also feels like an overreaction because I didn't get the impression of Durin that he actually meant it – he was just venting his anger after what seemed like a heated argument.

This is followed by a scene that feels even less earned: Durin IV visiting his father to apologies. The two Durins reconcile, but since we didn't actually see their previous argument, I didn't feel anything when watching it. It was just irritating because it felt like watching a part of a story where I had only seen the end but not the beginning.

NÚMENÓR

Amazon's Galadriel continues to be one of the worst characters of the show. She continues to be rude, disrespectful, and ignorant of other people's cares. She constantly demands to be paid attention to, to be catered towards, and it's simply not fun to watch. If she wouldn't have Elendil and Halbrand to calm her down and guide her, she wouldn't have gotten anywhere on this island.

Galadriel's face represents my feelings about her whenever she is on screen.

In this episode Galadriel, after first receiving what she had asked for in the previous episode, now demands more. When this is denied, she once more calls for the manager, and rightly gets locked up. After a very bad fight scene that makes the Númenoreans look weaker than the Orcs, Galadriel gets out, breaks into the chamber of a sick and dying old man, and only then gets the slightest idea that this was probably inappropriate.

Anyway, she bonds a bit with Míriel about being a poor woman who nobody listens to and who gets ignored, but what really bothers me about this whole dynamic is that Galadriel tries to convince Míriel into an alliance with her without actually knowing anything about the current situation in Númenor. She knows they have a difficult relationship with the Elves right now, so is this really someone you can count on as an ally, Galadriel? You don't know what Míriel actually thinks, how stable her position is, how the military leaders would feel about this… this looks to me like a huge gamble because apparently there haven't been any diplomatic relations for a long time.

The main other issues I have with this plot are rather with Míriel. So, next up is...

Míriel: This is the first episode where we really get an impression of Míriel. Unfortunately, her storyline has a lot of issues. Summed up, her story goes as follows:

Tar-Palantír probably was Elf-friendly, but "restratined in his beliefs". However, the Palantír (the stone) showed the king a vision of the downfall of Númenor, and he became convinced that the Númenoóreans had to turn to the old ways, including being friends with the Elves again. The result was a rebellion, the old king was exiled in his tower, and Míriel was chosen to rule instead. The king then showed Míriel the Palantír, she had the same vision, and now is also worried about the end of Númenor. Galadriel is somehow part of the vision, so her arrival on the island means the vision becomes reality. As a result, Míriel wants Galadriel gone and hopes to avoid the downfall in this way.

A vision of the downfall of Númenor in bright daylight.

So, here are my problems in this episode connected to this storyline:

Míriel dreams about the downfall of Númenor, and even in her dream she gives exposition about things anyone in Númenor should know.

So far, Míriel hasn't shown any moral stance when it comes to the issue of befriending the Elves, and even her father isn't necessarily a friend of the Elves: both mainly seem to worry about Númenor (which is, of course, their job), but in this light anything that they do seems to be out of the desire to protect Númenor, and not because they themselves think it's the "right" thing to do. We see that in this very episode: Míriel refuses Galadriel's request because she believes she can thwart the future shown in the vision this way. Once the petals of the tree fall and she realises sending Galadriel away won't help, she turns around and decides to help her instead, hoping that this is now the right path. This wasn't something that Galadriel achieved with her (unconvincing) arguments, it's just Míriel doing one step after another and seeing how vision and future will react.

The last scene of this plot was particulary annoying because the order of events is weird or just edited way too short: Míriel sends Galadriel away to the ship, then walks back to makes an announcement, then notices the falling petals, and THEN apparently backtracks and has Galadriel return from the ship, and then finally makes the announcement that she will join Galadriel in her journey to Middle-earth. The few seconds that the show spend on this chance of heart makes it even less of a character moment for Míriel – we don't see her making that decision which is actually a major shift in her politics – and why would we? She is just trying what works best against the vision, so there it's no moment of character development anyway.

Last but not least: I'm annoyed that the Palantír here works like Galadriel's mirror in The Lord of the Rings, and not like a Palantír is supposed to work. Palantíri aren't actually supposed to show visions, they are used for communication with each other, or to see real existing places. At best, maybe even existing places in the past, but there as been no hint in Tolkien's texts that they ever showed visions of a possible future in any way. And if that was the case, the person using it would still have to direct them to show the past or future with the power of their will. Three different people seeing the same "vision" in the Palantír is very very unlikely.

The anti-Elf movement: There is one issue with Númenorean politics that I haven't discussed with Míriel yet and that is the anti-Elf sentiments among the population of Númenor. When Galadriel first came to Númenor, she said that we may find out why Númenor stopped the contact with the Elves, and in this episode we get our first glimps of it... and it's just stupid. What are the worries here?

The show has not time to explore the Númenorean attitude towards Elves with subtlety, so we get a chanting crowd instead.

"Elf workers taking your trades" – seriously? No Elf has ever lived or worked on Númenor! The Elves in Middle-earth slowly but surely leave, the Elves of Tol Eressëa rarely sail all the way to Middle-earth. Númenor should be the military and economic power in Middle-earth without anyone left to be its rival. And the show tries to make this about the old they-take-out-jobs complaint? Ridiculous. I have long given up now on hoping for the show to adhere to Tolkien's writings, but even if they worry that Elvish workers "don't sleep, don't tire, don't age" – how can this really be about jobs? In addition: how can the show still pretend that Elves don't age when they have Celebrimbor being played by a 52 year old actor? What does "don't age" even mean for this show at this point?

In no other place like this is the attempt to "modernise" the story more visible than in this one, and it's just embarrasing to watch. Tolkien wrote about a story that to it's core is about Humans being unable to come to terms with their mortality, and this desire to not die, to be immortal, sets them at odds with the Elves who have that immortality. It's jealousy, it's bitterness. It's not about Elves taking their jobs. Or about "Elf hands [taking] Númenor's helm".

Usless Númenorean soldiers: Galadriel being able to easily defeat four Númenorean soldiers is just sad to watch. It's a bad fight scene, and it makes the Númenorean soldiers look usless and incompetent. And even worse: it makes Pharazôn look like an incompetent weakling as well. He is not a fighter who is admired for his skill by his people, he won't ever be a celebrated warrior who can lead an army into battle. He has been turned into a politican who can calm crowds with mediocre speeches and drinks that he has always on stand-by, apparently. At best, we can assume that with all the guilde crest he's wearing he is a very skillful man in many ways, but the character just isn't explored so far, and what we get from him is frustratlingly little. There are simply too many characters in this show, and as a result barely anyone is done justice.

Isildur and the fabricated drama: Isildur's plot still isn't really going anywhere, and that wouldn't bother me in any way if they hadn't artificially created some drama for it. So, Isildur makes a mistake on the ship, admits that it was his fault, and then he AND his two friends get kicked off the ship.

This is dumb simply because I can't see any reason for this. Throwing Isildur out – fine. But why the other two, who haven't done anything wrong? I understand the idea of punishing all three of them so that Isildur takes things more seriously because he doesn't want others to pay for his mistake, that's not uncommon in any military unit. However, this only works if there is room to actually learn from this mistake, and that's simply not the case if all of them are thrown out. All that the captain did was to punish two guys even though they didn't do anything wrong.

All of this, just so that Isildur's (former?) friend has a reason to be angry at Isildur and start his rant about how Isildur doesn't deserve to be in the Sea Guard, and complain about Isildur's brother, and his dead mother, and whatever... it's jet another contrived attempt to get some exposition about Isildur out, and I hate it because it makes no sense.

Somehow, Isildur gets blamed for the captains unfair decisions. It's needed for character exposition I guess.

Two irrelevant characters doing irrelevant things: that's Eärien and Kemen in a nutshell. They barely have any character so far, barely are related to any plot, and are probably just there as a setup for later episodes or even seasons, and I simply don't care for them. At all.

Halbrand, lst but not least, is also there, but I still can't enjoy them. He once again says stuff that makes me suspicious of him. If he ends up not being Sauron, all these guessing-games will have lead to me simply not being able to enjoy his character on the first watch (and there probably won't be a rewatch). And if he ends up being Sauron, I'll be annoyed anyway. This character is just not salvageable anymore.

Also, why is he free again in the end?

THE SOUTHLANDS

Refugees in the Watchtower: For some reason, these refugees forgot to bring food. I can understand that they were scared, but to run out of town without food, so that the kids now can run back into the village and simply pick it up? That's just unbelivable.

Theo: I'm sorry because the actor is still a kid, but I just can't get invested into the boy. The acting just isn't that great, and the script the actor has to work with isn't helping him either. All his story parts in this episode were annoying – him complaining in the tower, going to the village in secret (how? there is only one bridge that leads to the tower, aren't they watching it?), hiding in the well and the Orc first hearing him and then suddenly not, the stupid surprise-jump at the corner, Theo in general not telling his mother about this sword... listen, if the sword influences Theo that much that he thinks a magical sword isn't worth mentioning, then you'd have to show that a lot better, but this isn't happening because there is no time for this plot because the show is dealing with at least five other plotlines.

Guess who's waiting around the corner...

The chase scene: while the part in the forest was kinda cool, it shortly turned stupid again when we saw Bronwyn running through the woods. The timing and place is way too convenient, and it was irritating. And that just wasn't necessary; you could have had her seeing Arondir and Theo running out of the woods where the Orcs have to remain in the forest. She still would have seen Arondir save her kid without her needlesly interrupting the chase scene.

Another issue with this scene is the Orcs at the border of the forest: sure, fine, they can't or won't go in direct sunlight. But then have Theo and Arondir just look back and then keep running – Arondir could have picked the boy up and carried him. Don't have the Orcs wait for an unreasonable amount of time before they start shooting arrows way too late – it can't be the first time that they have encountered sunlight in an unlucky moment. They should have shot arrows at Arondir and Theor right away, as they were doing in the forest. Why stop now?

The Bronwyn & Arondir love story still doesn't work for me. At this point I think it would have been better if they hadn't established it yet and would have used this as a starting point for a possible romance, because of the existing one we barely have seen anything, so they might as well start here. Once again this show suffers from not giving any storyline and barely any character the room to breath. Especially Bronwyn still comes across as wooden.

I guess it's not their fault that the show has a focus-issue.

Adar is the last entry on my list. I guess for someone who has never read Tolkien he seems like a cool character, but when I watch the show I can't help but set him within the context of what I know from Tolkien's writing - and then he just offends me. The fundamental wrongness of this would need a long post to explain, so I will skip it. Let's see where they go with this misunderstood-villain type.

Another issue I had with this scene is that it didn't explain why the Orcs spared Arondir's life in the last epsiode. There was no sign that Adar gave the order to spare him, there is no indication why it's Arondir who is supposed to be the messenger now, and there is no reason why he should have gotten his weapons back. It just screams protagonist-plot-armour to me, and this happens too often in this show.

In summary

The episode shows some potential, but the issue of the bad script is still there. There are some useful ideas that could be deveoped into something interesting if the show would actually take time to explore its stories.

Elrond and Durin's story continutes to be the strongest, Arondir finally managed to make me care just a little but unfortunately the rest of the story was sort of dumb. Galadriel continues to be unlikable, and her whole storyline in Númenor has too many storytelling issues to really work for me.

But there were no Harfoots, and that really did help the episode. Let's hope they just don't come back...?

[purplerose244]

My thoughts on Seabound!!! 🌊🌊🌊 (3/4)

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Yep yep yep, I'm liking this season a lot! 😍 Although I hope we'll get into a more frantic situation now, like with more battles and more bonding moments (Nya and Maya hopefully, but with Bentho too 🦈🦈🦈)! We got half a season to go, I'M READY!! 😎😎

Alright, here we go!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I do like the season a lot, maybe MoM was a little more cohesive? Idk but it's not a big complain, I still love it so far 😍

Also maybe I would've liked more interactions between Nya and Maya about how they've been apart for so long, they had a chit chat but I would've loved even more. Maybe with Nya saying that it was fine and she grew up only to realize she is still hurt by that, even though it wasn't Maya's fault. I still like how they did it, I wished there was more that's it 🤷‍♀️

While I do make sense to Maya's behavior, that while it seems a little different from Hands of Time it had its logic in my opinion, maybe Ray feels a little weird? He seems less courageous than before, and it was established that he is a hothead like his son so that came off as unusual 🤔🤔

But I do love the fact that he's here and he's bonding with his son, for real, I've been waiting for this for so long so I'm happy nonetheless 🤩

Maybe I'm just easy to please and I take all I can get idk 😅

THE STORM AMULET

Oh, are we gonna address the wind element? It feels like we haven't really seen a Morro reference since Hands of Time, that would be cool! 😍 I mean, why even mentioning the wind then 😅😅

Well what do you know, they tracked them, who saw that coming?... me, I saw that coming... we all did probably 🤷‍♀️

Jay took upon himself making a quick recap on how Ninjago will be destroyed this time, thanks Bluebell 👌

Yep nyeheh electricity makes Nya go crazy for sure ❤💙 ... wait it wasn't a Jaya pun?

Jay wear your seatbelt please, you risk you life enough 😅😅 Pff lol "are we there yet" and they are actually there, biggest plot twist I've ever heard of 😂

LEGO HUG 💜💜💜

And with someone who might as well join the League of Jay apparently 💙

I liked The Island yet it was not as exciting as I hoped for, but now understand the meaning of it. The ninja helped the keepers and they are all allies. Without The Island the moment where Mammatus gives Nya the amulet wouldn't be as meaningful

Is it just me or Nya looked even more gorgeous during that moment?... just me huh? Okay then 😂💕

Wait that's a fake? Wait... UNCLE POWERS?!? OMG THAT I ACTUALLY DIDN'T SEE COMING 🤯

Here I thought he was just messing around, he always makes things harder 😅 Or maybe better? I mean, they kinda missed a bullet on this one...

BENTHO IS SO SWEET AND COOL OMG HE IS ALREADY OUR FRIEND 💙🦈💙🦈

Jay somehow had his own TV show in the past and yet he's got that horrible acting skills wth 😂😂😂

Kalmaar is a very cool villain, like, deeply evil. Not only he's calculated and merciless, he stops at nothing to get what he wants. And the people that get in the way? He wants them to suffer because they had dared to confront him 😳

And yes the voice does help a lot, I'm sorry I'll keep saying it until the season is over 😂 (or even beyond? Please cast Giles again LEGO 🥺🥺🥺)

Awww Nya no my poor girl 😢 Jay wanted to hug her to comfort her he is so sweet my SHIP ❤💙❤💙

MOM PEP TALK MOM PEP TALK!!! 🤩🤩🤩 How cool was it?

Like, this isn't even Maya asking Nya to believe in herself, this is her saying that she KNOWS her daughter can do anything when she puts her mind into it. FINALLY SHE SEES HOW AMAZING WATER GODDESS IS 💜💜💜

MORE LEGO TEARS OMG THIS SEASON IS FILLED WITH TEARS 😱 Which... kinda makes sense considering it's a water based season 😂

Nice one, and now? NOW WE GO BACK TO KAI COLE AND RAY YAS!!! ❤🖤❤🖤

RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX

That is... surprisingly Egypt theme like? It feels like a title coming from the Fire Chapter of season 11... well we got two fire elementals so 😍😍

SPARRING KAI AND RAY

I REPEAT SPARRING KAI AND RAY!!! SPARRING KAI AND RAY!!! ❤❤❤ Lol Ray got old, but how can someone blame him? He did touch death while aging in Hands of Time, I'm just happy he is alive 😂

Yep, master prankster Wu, that's what I love 👌👌 I always thought Wu had become a father figure for Kai at the beginning, so seeing Ray and Wu in the same picture feels very wholesome to me 😚

Ah, uncle Powers, I both love you and hate you so freaking much 😌�� But you make cool slides nonetheless 😂

ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME WITH BEAUTIFUL SMITH INTERACTIONS??

BECAUSE I LIKE IT KEEP GOING 🤩

Oh no you guys are stranded on an island whatever are you going to do?? It's not like you had already before and managed to survive (Skybound) or you got stranded on a rock in a sea of sand filled with giant monsters (Fire Chapter) or you were on a freaking COMET in SPACE (Rebooted). Yeee, this is the worst yet 🙂

I'm starting to think these ninja are just a bunch of drama queens so no matter what happens, it's always hopeless 😂😂 I feel like I'm kinda right on this one honestly 😛

Whoa whoa WHOA WHO IS NYAD THIS SOUNDS VERY COOL???

Aww I like that, while Ray told his kids stories about dragons and how they traveled through the Underworld, Maya told them about Nya the first water master that could summon whales 💙❤💙❤

Pff imagine if it turned out Nya was the master of fire, carrying a very water based name? Lol

Maya: I would know if it was possible!

Nya: Yeah, like she knows that I can control a bit of ice because it's frozen water

Maya:...

Maya: YOU WHAT

I find both interesting and very annoying that this explorers club thinks so highly of themselves, to the point the deny to aid even the FREAKING SAVIORS OF THEIR FREAKING LAND 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Misako got good reflexes after all, Kai was probably ready to melt this guy's face 😅

Oh, so a trial by Sphinx is a challenge? A mental one? A cultural one? A physical one? Idk but Misako is actually taking charge and that is cool I guess 🤷‍♀️

Okay this is kind of weird, how is Ray so afraid? Is it because there's fire?... did he... did he grow afraid of fire for some reason? Because it feels a bit off for now, but if there is a deeper meaning that could be interesting 🤔

Wait is that the riddle from Decoded? That's fire right?

IT IS FIRE 🔥🔥🔥

Lol at least in this one Kai wasn't completely ignored 😂 I know my flame babe isn't the most rational person, but I do like that it was an answer connected to his element where he used his head!

Ah Clutch, you really got no backbone 😅 And apparently you're the only explorer who doesn't, dang look at the others go! I'm having a bit more respect for them now 😚

LOOK AT SENSEI GO FINALLY!!! 😍😍 FIGHTING SCENES HECK YES!!!

Kalmaar: I'm your conquerer

Wu: so after skeletons, the serpentine, nindroids, the Stone Army, Chen's army, ghosts, oni, more snakes but on fire and people from a game, that makes you the tenth. Have a free cookie

Kalmaar:...

Wu: you're not special

Is this a little throwback to Possession too? Nya seems to always control better water when she doesn't actually think about it. When her feelings are free, so are her powers 🌊🌊🌊

Also this opens up more possibilities! Creatures connected with other elements might get summoned too! I would love something like that 😍😍

This was NEAT, or maybe I just missed Kai that much ❤ What's next??

PAPERGIRL

ANTONIAAAAAAAA!!!! MY GIRL IS BACK!!! All my girls are back in this season, I'm so happy 😍😍😍 And if she is here, sweet little Nelson has to be around and I cannot wait! Bring in the purple ninja! 💜

Owww Antonia's last day as a papergirl? Nooo why??

She's got a job at the... DAIRY DRAGON??? OMG OMG OMG IT'S THE ICE CREAM PLACE BRAGI TOLD US ABOUT ON TWITTER!!! 🤩🤩🤩 I remember the post, he was asking about names for the place and ice cream flavors. Now I can't wait to see what did he choose 🍦🍦🍦

UNAGAMI BABY HI HONEY!!! 🙋‍♀️ I hope he's doing great 😘😘

This is so cool honestly, Antonia got her own character arc going on! Living in a chaotic city like Ninjago City must be pretty dang exhausting 😅

Was... was that Dareth in the garbage can? Am I wrong? Poor brown ninja 😅🤎😅

SPINJITZU SWIRL, BANANAKHAN, ORANGE SERPENTINE, I'M DYING 😂😂😂

Their friendship is so wholesome, I'm so happy they are still together no matter what happens 💕

I thought Kalmaar wasn't much of a fighter but DANG he's got skills! Also the fact that he uses tentacles makes the fight very cool to watch! 😚😚

RAY RUNNING IN AFTER KAI GOT HURT HECK YES ❤❤❤

Well at least you tried Ray 😅

Ah, little cameo of the original Weekend Whip, always nice to hear it again... AND DO THE WEEKEND WHIP!!! 🌪🌪🌪

EVEN NELSON GOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT I'M SO PROUD 💜

I don't even know what is cooler, the kids being mad lads on their bikes, Kalmaar driving a TRUCK or Kai going full parkour on the buildings to follow them 🤯

I'm sorry... am I the only one that during the Kai and Kalmaar talk kinda thought of Jestro and Clay? I miss my boys from NK, they're even more at odds now 😭😭

KAI YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE OR EVEN TRY TO DIE GET BACK HERE AT ONCE 😱😱

Kalmaar just loves to make everyone feel inferior, gotta be his hobby 😶

Oh good Kai is back

OH NOT GOOD KAI IS NOT BREATHING?!? FLAME BABE I TOLD YOU YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE 😱😱😱

Antonia, Nelson, you guys are now my heroes. You saved my fave, I'll be forever in dept with you ❤❤❤ Am I being overdramatic? Most likely, but Kai is one of the few that didn't almost die or did die in a dramatic situation and he is also my absolute favorite character so that... kinda keeps my sanity in check in this show 🥴

I wonder... does he still not know how to swim? He saved Lloyd in Possession but I wonder if he was only trying to float on the surface... THAT'S TERRIFYING

This episode was so adorable, I love Antonia and Nelson so much 💜💕💜💕 It's nice to see what the other people of Ninjago do while everything goes mad 🤣

Wait hang on my Ninjajan is a little rusty

"Ninjago City. City that never sleeps" well if that ain't the truth 😂

MASTER OF THE SEA

Like Master of the Mountain? Wait are we going back to Shintaro?? VANYA?? ANOTHER BEST GIRL RETURNS??? 💛

Hey hey hey, we got a full Nyad backstory! I really like when they do these little drawn shots, they feel more like legends! And... the ending sounds terrifying? Like, they wouldn't let Nya sacrifice herself and die... again... right? 😱

Bentho: and the world was in balance, until now because of my brother

Lloyd: and the Overlord before of course

Bentho: the what now?

Lloyd: the evil one my grandpa the first Spinjitzu Master fought?

Bentho: YOUR WHAT NOW

Why do I like this offscreen "hiiiyaaa" that sensei Wu does before actually going into the scene? 😂😂

No matter if they come from the underground or the sea, these are all snake-like creature with the same intellect 😅 Kalmaar and Garmadon would have a lot to talk about, sea king dealing with his minions does remind me of Lord Garmadon in season 2 a lot 😂😂

KAI AND RAY FIGHTING TOGETHER KAI AND RAY FIGHTING TOGETHER ❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥❤

OMG Kalmaar is such a brat and petty villain I love him so much 😂😂😂 Yes I didn't even mention his amazing voice!... AH DANG IT 😳😳

*Misako kicks Kalmaar and is actually useful* 🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️

*Misako gets taken as hostage immediately after* 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

KAI LITERALLY JUST GOT SAVED FROM DROWNING WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO HIM!!!... and Ray and Cole and Wu of course, I care okay 😅

OMG that face 🤣🤣🤣

That some meme material right there

Whoa Vincent that voice just got super up when the Unsinkable showed up, it kinda sounded like Jay's lol

NO NOT BENTHO!!! 😢😢😢

Kai: Nya talks to whales now? (I snorted so hard at this 😂😂)

HECK YES NYA GOT THE AMULET!! 😍😍😍 ... we got, like, four more episodes to go so something needs to happen in between... do I need to be scared? I feel like I need to be scared 😅

Jay starting a fire then blaming Kai?... this is so in character I got chills 😂😂

SHARK BOY IS STAYING TO THE MONASTERY THIS IS SO PRECIOUS!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 I want all the shenanigans and we need to write fanfictions about more shenanigans and AAAAHHHHH 🦈🦈🦈

Bless these two fire idiots

They own my heart ❤🔥❤🔥 Also Vincent, this is supposed to be a fun little gag moment, your amazing voice acting is kinda distracting me 😭😭😭

ANOTHER LEGO HUG

YOU GUYS ARE SPOILING ME OVER HERE HECK YES 💙🌊💙🌊

Maya learned that her daughter is capable of everything, I love that. Nya simply understood that she doesn't have to give up when something gets difficult. She is AMAZING and can do anything she puts her mind into. She simply has to hold on until the end 💪💪💪

Omg Benthomaar playing billiard with the guys I already love this 😍😍

YES IT IS SHINTARO!!! THE UPPLY ARE HERE OMG!!! HI VANYA YOU LOOK AMAZING GIRL MISS YOU I HOPE YOU'RE DOING OKAY!!! 💛💛💛 ... I just really like Master of the Mountain okay 😅

I love how Vanya doesn't even question it. It comes from Cole and he said it needs to be protected? Done and done 👌

Wait what, did something fall?

IS THAT THE FAKE?!?!? WHAT HOW WHEN??? UNCLE POWERS??? OR KALMAAR DID SOMETHING??? SOMEONE??? I'M LEGIT CONFUSED AND EXCITED??? 🤯🤯🤯

Well dang, I didn't see that coming, now what Seabound? What do you have for me?

[americanphysco]

Plz I wanna hear your kissing booth rant

ty for the reminder meer <3 this is kind of long and mildly incoherent so here's a readmore for yall

so the first kissing booth is okay. it's a pretty solid romcom, although there are some elements that make it boring to me, so this rant isn't about that one. it's about the second and third movies, which I think are very compelling stories that center around elle as a character rather than just her relationship with noah.

in the second movie we see noah and elle struggling to do long distance, but after some communication in the form of a phonecall, and noah reassuring elle that he loves her/misses her, they seem to be doing a great job managing things. they feel very happy together, and like the two of them are a good fit. things only become complicated when chloe is introduced. the chloe plot is well done to me, because we see elle struggling with accepting the knowledge that noah might've cheated (he didn't!). she trusts him a lot, and feels guilty over even suspecting as much. noah isn't even pursuing chloe. the two of them are just friends, but chloe oversteps a lot of boundaries (crashing at his place without telling him, behaving in an overly familiar way around him, playfully fake flirting with him), a trait that she unlearns and grows beyond in the third movie. and we also see elle and noah discuss this issue a lot, and they always end up resolving it through communication. I also liked how the rachel arc was handled. it makes sense why she'd be upset with elle, but as soon as she realizes it's a misunderstanding and that lee is the one at fault she apologize to elle and the two of them make up, becoming friends again. it's sweet, and it's nice seeing elle have somebody in her life who isn't a flynn. I also liked marco a lot as a character! he's fun, and even outside of a romantic sense, he cares a lot elle. it's nice seeing the two of them hang out, and they work very well as friends. but! I'm glad that they did kiss, and that elle admitted to having feelings for him. I feel like in most romance movies, that kiss would be dismissed as a spur of the moment thing with no meaning, but it was refreshing to see elle admit that there was something behind it, but that she doesn't want to pursue it because she loves noah and needs to make things right with him. it's a moment that speaks wonders to elle's character, and it makes me like her relationship with noah even more.

the third movie is even better for elle's characterization, and joey king's acting is incredible. she really captures that exhausted, constantly stressed and on the verge of a breakdown feeling elle is experiencing for most of the movie. but with elle in this movie, we see her making most of not all of her decisions for the benefit of others, jumping between whatever lee wants or her dad wants or whatever noah wants (he's not at fault here. lee and her dad are assholes. noah just keeps trying to do nice things for her, but she's too busy and too guilty to accept them!!). she even chooses what school to go to based on the other people in her life, getting a job and, in the last movie, stressing over a dance competition to earn enough money so that she can even afford to attend the same school as noah or lee. she's such a selfless character and she wants nothing more than to be a good friend to everyone, even trying to platonically reconnect with marco over the course of the film. she forgives chloe for any misunderstandings and the two of them become close as well, something I really appreciated seeing. I especially loved the way elle's arc finished, with her confronting lee and choosing to go to an entirely separate college than him or noah, and pursuing gaming as a career, something weve seen her be interested in ever since the first movie. (side note here but personally I wish she would've gone into dance instead, since it would be symbolic of her holding onto the past while still stepping into the future, remembering what she had with lee and marco but changing it into something she can finally do alone. plus, dance is often regarded as an extremely expressive art form, and it could be a metaphor for elle learning to open up and express what she wants, rather than just going with whatever anybody else wants for her). I wish she and noah had stayed together, but I get why they didn't, and leaving the ending ambiguous about whether they become just friends or rekindle their romance was a very good decision on the writers parts. there are some other very sweet moments in this movie, like elle's apology to linda, all of her conversations with molly ringwald's character, them retaking the beach house photo, the scene of elle saying goodbye to the beach house with all of the flashbacks to them as children, etc etc etc. my only gripe is that rachel and lee should've broken up, but that's just a personal thing.

overall these two movies are genuinely well done films, and all of the actors involved seemed to have fun working on them, if the bloopers are anything to go by. the third one in particular is a very emotional piece, and I honestly was really moved by it during both my first watch through AND my recent rewatch. I feel like a lot of people hate these movies because they go into them with the expectation of them being bad, so they focus solely on the movies' flaws rather than their strengths, but noah and elle are a great fit for one another and I'd honestly love to see them fic things in a fourth movie, even though I know that isn't a possibility.

[snarkwrites]

02 | upside down; steve harrington

Notes:

I suck so bad. I meant to post these before I left to go on my little trip and life got hella busy. But, I didn't get around to it. BUT BUT.. I am now. They're not really that edited, so yeah. I was happy with what came out, despite this turning out to not be a slow burn type thing at all like I originally wanted. So for all those hoping for a slow burn, oopsies?

OH.. And before I forget, chapters one, two, three and potentially four take place BEFORE the actual series starts. ;P

Summary:

She moves back to Hawkins and manages to turn his life completely upside down. In the best of ways.

But how will everything play out between them? Also, can they handle all the weirdness ahead? We shall see.

Warnings:

LOOSE CANON COMPLIANCE AT BEST, TOTAL DEVIATION AT WORST - this is just an up front catch all because sometimes, things happen that I don’t particularly care for (the senseless death of Barb, anybody?) and if you’re one of those canon only people, this is here to warn you that this is not the fic for you. LANGUAGE, OCCASIONAL GORE, MONSTERS / FANTASY ELEMENTS, TEENAGE DRAMA AND SHENANIGANS - Obviously, teenagers are going to do stuff. They’re at that point in their life where not every decision they make is the best one. So if you’d rather skip over this kind of thing (teen drinking, fighting, etc) then yeah.. you’ve been warned. THIS IS NOT A SLOW BURN, I REPEAT NOT SLOW AT ALL / EVENTUAL FILTHY GOOD NESS - because lets be real.. we’re all wondering when we’re gonna drop the plot and get to the good stuff. When this chapter occurs, I will flair it with an M. In the meantime, if you’re not into slow burn or mutual pining, then you’re probably not going to care about this.

Other Parts

[ SOUNDTRACK | part one]

Other Stuff

[ FAQ - TAG LIST DOC ]

Tagging:

There’s nobody on my list yet but… If you wanna be tagged for this, tell me pls. It will make me overjoyed.

Throwing out a no pressure tag to @RAMPAGEWRITING​ and @TWISTNET​ as well as @CHASINGEVERYBREAKINGWAVE​ just because. No pressure though bbies!

TWO.

Monday came with no sign of Steve. Then Tuesday. By Wednesday, I felt like I was about to lose my mind. Still no sign of him.

It was now Thursday afternoon. And honestly, I’d put the whole thing out of my head. Started to convince myself that I’d been right about Steve Harrington and his intentions after all. Nana Ginger had gotten Jonathan to come and help out by bussing tables in the dining area for an hour or two so I could go over the books for her with no interruptions. When I caught sight of Steve’s silver BMW pulling into the parking lot, I was perched atop the counter in the gas station doing just that.

With Billy Idol blasting quietly from a little boombox nearby.

I raised a brow when instead of coming in like usual, Steve wandered around back. Out to where Nana's boyfriend Hank was working in bay 3 of the garage behind the place.

“Oh. Oh no. Steve, why the hell…” I muttered to myself. Sitting the ledger to the side as I tiptoed carefully to the door that lead out into the garage from the front of the buildings attached. I pressed my ear against it, trying to listen.

All I could really make out was Hank laughing out loud. And Steve asking what was so funny about what he’d apparently asked. Then Hank telling him verbatim, that he didn’t know if he could trust him as far as he could throw him while pointing out that he’d been a teenage boy once too and that he knew exactly where this was all heading.

My breath caught in my throat. I waited on Steve to offer some form of rebuttal. Seconds later, he finally did. “ You’re actually completely wrong about me, sir. With all due respect.”

“If you can get her to say yes to a date in the first place, kid, by all means. But if you hurt her, you’re not gonna have anywhere to hide. We clear, kid?” Hank said this as loud and as plain as day. Clearly enough I could hear it completely through the door separating the two areas.

Steve muttered something else I couldn’t quite hear and in a mad scramble that had Jonathan nearly doubling over in laughter, I was trying to perch myself back on top of the counter at the front of the gas station. Balancing the ledger on my lap. Trying to force myself to concentrate on running numbers.

My reading glasses started to slip down the bridge of my nose and swearing, I pushed them back up. Eventually taking them off to unfocus my eyes and give them a little relief from strain. Jonathan spoke up from nearby.

“Hear anything interesting just now, Jen?” he gave me a teasing smirk and I grumbled, playfully flipping him off as I gave a soft smile. I nodded. “Yeah. I guess I have to at least consider saying yes to Harrington’s constant asking me out. I mean… takes a brave guy to talk to Hank.”

“You’re definitely not wrong there.” Jonathan muttered, chuckling quietly. Digging around in the pocket of his apron and tossing me a cassette tape. Smirking. “I made it during the countdown last night.”

“Oh?” I turned the cassette over in my hands, smiling. “I’ll put it in right now, give it a listen while I’m doing the rest of the books. Hey, do you need somebody to give Will a lift to Mike’s on Saturday?”

“If you don’t mind?” Jonathan asked.

“Not at all.” I grinned, adding quickly, “I’m supposed to drop Dustin Henderson off there too. Figured since they’re going to the same place and I’m gonna hang out with Nancy for a while, why not?”

“Thank you.” Jonathan gave a grateful smile and an idea kind of formed. I smiled and mentioned casually, “Ya know, Jon.. If you really want to thank me.. You could talk to Nancy sometime.”

Jonathan eyed me with a raised brow. I held out his mixtape and added, “She loves The Clash.”

“Really?” his brow raised.

“Just take my word for it, Byers.”

“ You’re sure you don’t mind me giving her this?”

“Why would I? I told you to, silly.” I laughed, shaking my head. Jonathan was being called to the back dining area again by my Nana, so he hurried off and I stood, stretching. Slinking down the aisles of the gas station, over to a cooler.

I grabbed myself a Diet Pepsi and dug around in my pocket for the money to put in the register to cover it. Once I’d popped the top against the counter, I settled back on top of it, getting back to balancing the books.

I heard a throat clearing from the doors about ten minutes later. The smell of cheeseburger and french fries wafted straight to my nose, making me groan quietly as my eyes fixed on Steve and then promptly lowered to the grease stained brown paper bag he held in his hands as he grinned at me, nodding to the glasses perched on my nose.

“Fuck.” I scrambled to take them off. Steve stepped into the gas station completely, walking towards me. A teasing gleam in his eyes as he shook his head. Stopping on the other side of the counter, in front of me. “You don’t have to do that, Jennie. I’ve seen you wearing glasses before, remember? The red framed ones you had in kindergarten.”

I cringed, laughing a little. Leaning in slightly. Gazing at him almost helplessly as the bits of conversation I’d overheard between him and Hank out in the garage earlier replaying in my head.

Remembering that tonight, if he asked me on a date yet again, I was going to say yes. And not just because of some silly dare given to me by Barb and Nancy. Because I couldn’t keep fighting Steve Harrington off the way I had been if I wanted to, to begin with.

I was leaning closer where I sat. It occurred to me when Steve chuckled quietly. Stepping between my legs, the way they dangled over the counter on his side. He sat the grease stained paper bag to the side and he bit his lip, gazing up at me.

“Your grandma told me to come and drag you out of here. She told me to tell you not to worry about waiting the tables, she’s trying to help Jonathan get some extra cash on the side. She also said don’t argue.” Steve flashed me another one of those charmer grins and I swallowed hard. My mouth opened and closed for a second or two because I just couldn’t think of anything clever to say. Weird, because normally, I have plenty to say. Constantly.

Out of habit, my fingers drifted up to the dainty cursive nameplate that hung on the silver chain around my neck. I toyed with the lettering as I pretended to mull it over, just to be slightly difficult.

So I could feel better about giving in when I inevitably did.

“C’mon, Jennie.” Steve pleaded. Eyes locked on mine. Gaze dropping briefly to my lips and lingering there just long enough that I could feel my breath when it caught in my throat.

I finally managed to get my mouth and brain working in tandem and licking my lips as I gazed at him, I muttered quietly, “It’s Jen.”

“Maybe I like Jennie better.” Steve leaned in just a little. A teasing gleam in his eye and a flirty tone to his voice as it dropped lower. Quieter.

And when Hank’s throat cleared from the door between the garage and the front of the building, I wanted to puddle into a pile of goo in the linoleum tile.

“Interruptin somethin, Jaybird?” he asked the question so casually.

Steve looked like a deer in headlights. He pulled away just a little and despite myself, I pouted.

Satisfied that he’d interrupted things between Steve and I, Hank smirked a little, dragging an oil stained hand over shaggy brown and gray hair. Gazing at us both. Giving Steve that universal gesture that clearly spelled out “I’m watching you, kid.” before going to a cooler to grab himself a six pack of beer, counting out the correct change in bills and coins and handing them to me.

I grabbed hold of Hank’s hand. “Nana is gonna have a fit. I know that’s not super glue I see holdin skin together, sir.”

“It is, Jaybird. Because if I don’t get that damned Chrysler off my lift, I’m gonna burn her to the ground.”

“Oh Hank.” I shook my head, clucking my tongue at him. Digging around for antiseptic and a bandage, holding it out to him expectantly as he withdrew his hand. He chuckled and shook his head. “It’ll be fine, kid.” he waved away the antiseptic and the bandage and made his way into the garage area again, making me shake my head.

Taking the time to pull myself together decently enough that I wasn’t a stammering mess when I glanced at Steve again.

“C’mon. Please?” he asked again.

I tapped my chin, pretending to think about it. Slipping off the counter. By this time, he’d stepped in close all over again, so me slipping off the counter had us body to body. His hand settled in the curve of my hip and I barely restrained a gasp.

“Okay. Alright. I’ll leave with you.”

He grinned brightly. Holding the door open for me after I clocked out and placed my timecard in the slot with my name on it. I ducked my head into the dining area and my Nana’s only response was to smirk and wink at me. Shooing me out of the diner.

“Get her outta my hair, kid!” my Nana smiled as she called out to Steve, who was standing right behind me. His hand at my lower back. The second I realized this, I could feel myself burning up all over. Just the simplest touch.. Felt comforting. Intimate. And me, being of dirty mind, well.. Me and my dirty mind, we took that and ran.

Jesus Christ, of all the times for my hormones to manifest, it’s now? When I’m trying to break 2 prior generations of questionable romantic choices? I wanted to shake my head at myself. I reminded myself calmly that just because my Nana and my mom did the things they did, that didn’t mean I had to cave in and repeat. I am my own person, after all. And apparently right now, that person is giddy with… Thoughts.

“Gladly, ma’am!” Steve called back, laughing.

He pushed open the door and we stepped outside. When he opened the passenger door, I sank down into the seat, leaning back against it a little. Steve wandered around to the driver side, getting into the car. Starting it.

“Where are you taking me?”

He chuckled. “ I think you’ll like it.”

“Steve.” I pouted, “A hint?”

“It’s outside.” was literally all he’d tell me.

“Well that really narrows it down.” I teased with a laugh.

He parked at this old park we all used to play at after school. Just as the sun was starting to go down.

We got out, wandering over to an old picnic table. Sitting on top of it, digging around in the bag for our food.

“So.. That dumb carnival is this weekend. Starts tomorrow night, I think.” Steve hinted after a few minutes. I nodded to where carnival workers were already setting up a midway a few feet away from us. Taking a bite of my burger, I mentioned casually, “I thought about going. But Nancy’s grounded again and Barb’s got that date with some guy Logan.”

“You could go with me.” Steve chuckled as he said it.

I smiled, taking another bite. “I could.”

“Would you?” he asked a few seconds later. Adding quickly, “Tonight isn’t a real date. Tomorrow. That would be.” flashing me that charmer smirk.

I nodded. Smiling as I spoke up. “ Yeah. I will. Hey… since I don’t have to go back to the diner…” before trailing off and gazing down at my legs . Reminding myself to have boundaries and restraint. But all the mental reminders in the world just weren’t cutting it. At all.

He reached out, curling his fingers beneath my chin. Making me look up at him. “What were you going to say, Jennie? You can tell me.” he coaxed. Biting his lip as he gazed at me intently.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go swimming with me. There’s this little place out by my Nana’s out in the woods I go to swim…” I gave a soft laugh. I had to laugh at myself, it was pretty much all I could do.

Look at me. Going overboard.

“Yeah.” he nodded, smiling. We finished our food, and after, we wound up driving around a little. And about an hour later found us walking through the woods. Well, he was walking, glancing around warily, swatting at spider webs that he almost walked into a time or two and I had hold of his hand, practically dragging the poor guy.

We stepped out onto the sandy bank and he chuckled. Dragging his hand through his hair as he gazed down at me. “We don’t have suits or towels.” he mused, stepping closer to me. Staring me down all over again. I could feel my breath as it caught in my throat because if you want me to be honest?

I hadn’t thought this through properly. And was now freaking out silently. Just a little bit.

But I did my best to shove that out of my head and play it cool and calm. I went for turning it around on him, hoping to fluster him like his observation had flustered me just now.

“I know Mr. Lady Killer’s not worried about somebody seeing him in his Calvins.” I teased, sticking my tongue out at him. He chuckled. Going for his shirt, tugging it over his head. Letting it settle on a branch nearby without tearing his eyes off me for a single second as he did it.

“Did that look worried to you, Jennie?” he muttered, stepping closer. His hand at my hip as he gazed down at me. Waiting.

I cleared my throat, gesturing for him to turn around. He did, but as he did so, he joked that I was the one who was worried. Which to me, sounded like a challenge. So I tapped his shoulder so he’d turn around after lowering my shirt.

He eyed me, a brow raised.

“Challenging me, Steve?” I questioned, giving him an amused laugh as I reached down, tugging my shirt up and over my head. Letting it settle on the branch next to his polo shirt.

Steve sucked in a sharp breath and muttered something to himself, closing the distance between us. His hand settled on my hip again and he laughed quietly. Leaning down a little bit so that we were face to face, his forehead against mine and one of his hands cradling my face.

My heart was pounding. Hard and fast. So fast that I thought it might break out of my chest. I went to lick my own lips and my tongue brushed against his mouth. His fingers dug into my hip lightly and he muttered huskily, “ I see you still can’t turn down a dare, Jennie.” only half teasing. I shrugged, biting my lip as I gazed up at him. Trailing my fingers over his chest mostly just so I could ignore the way my hands were shaking and I was wet, getting wetter by the second. I glanced over my shoulder and nodded at the water. “If we’re going to swim, we should get in.”

Steve cleared his throat, nodding hastily. Stepping away, bending to tug off his sneakers and nearly tumbling over in the process. Making me giggle softly as I pulled off my boots. When my pocketknife and my mom’s old lighter fell out, he eyed me and then nodded to the items on the ground.

“A knife?”

“A girl’s gotta be prepared.” I shrugged it off. Steve tugged down his jeans and while I told myself I wasn’t going to peek or stare, I wound up failing at this miserably and got so distracted watching him that he was able to turn around my own words on me as soon as he kicked his jeans free at the ankle.

“If we’re going to swim, Jennie… we should get in.” he gave me a playful smirk as he said it, stepping closer all over again.

My hand shook as I lowered it to the button on my cut offs. As soon as I’d shed those, I took off for the water full speed. Nearly tripping on a stump in the hill leading down to the water. Steve’s arms shot out and he caught me, pulling me back upright. Pulling me hard enough that when he did, I found myself pressed against him completely.

He chuckled quietly, raising a hand. Pulling a leaf free from my hair.

“The water’s not going anywhere, Jennie.”

“I know.” I answered, my breath catching in my throat when our mouths brushed against each other’s just a little more with each word spoken. His fingers dug into my hip a little more and he took a shaky breath, asking the question quietly, “If I kissed you right now…”

My heart was hammering away in my chest but I managed to answer, “I dare you, Steve...No… I triple dare you.”. The hand he’d placed on my hip was tangled in the hair at the back of my head, pulling my mouth all the way against his mouth. His tongue swept out, outlining and then parting my lips. Massaging my tongue. Slow. Deep. Savoring the moment, even after we both clearly started to get light-headed from lack of actual oxygen. His hand moved up and down my body, settling on my lower back. Pulling me up to tiptoe slightly. The kiss broke long enough for both of us to properly breathe and then his mouth found mine again.

When it finally broke completely, Steve dragged the back of his hand over his mouth. Taking a few deep breaths. “Yeah.” he chuckled to himself.

I raised a brow. “Hm?”

“That was exactly how I thought it’d feel.” he mused, adding quietly, “Wow.”

My stomach churned and I tensed up a little. He chuckled, shaking his head. Placing his lips against my forehead. “It’s not a bad thing. Not at all. I mean.. It wasn’t for me?” he was the one who looked anxious now.

I muttered quietly, “ I definitely wouldn’t mind a repeat. A few repeats, actually, if I’m being honest.” while still quietly reeling from the intensity of it all. Melting myself against him, my fingers dancing slow over his chest. He sucked in a breath, catching hold of my hand. Tilting my chin so that I had to look up at him.

“You’re blushing.” Steve was teasing gently. Rolling his thumb over my bottom lip, leaving it quivering.

“I’m not!” I pretended to be offended by what he said, pouting a little. But I knew I was, I could feel my cheeks burning hot. I stepped away and turned my back, taking off at a run down the hill. Hitting the cool water with a loud and obnoxious splash. Steve dove in behind me, swimming over. Surfacing behind me and pressing against me from behind. I turned to face him and when he splashed me and dove out of the way, I sent up an obnoxious spray of water in his direction, making him yelp because he hadn’t been expecting it.

After about an hour of swimming around and walking the creek down further, we made our way back up to the bank, flopping onto the sand.

My restraint was well out the window by now. If I even thought for a second I was going to fight off the magnetic pull I felt to Steve, I was mistaken and I knew that now. I settled my head on his shoulder and he looped an arm around me, and we lounged around lazily, watching the sky get darker and darker.

Talking. A lot.

I realized that it had to be getting late and I sprang up, holding out my hand. Steve grabbed hold, pulling himself up. After we’d gotten redressed, we wandered up the hill and out of the woods, over to where he’d parked his car at the end of my nana’s driveway..

When he went to walk me up to my front door, we wound up body to body. My arms raised, settling around his neck. My back met the front door and he pulled me into another long and drawn out deep kiss that had us both breathless when it broke.

“Kind of don’t want tonight to end.” he admitted as he gazed down at me. I nodded, definitely agreeing. “Me either.” I admitted quietly, muttering the words against his lips. The porch light started to flicker like crazy and I smiled into the kiss, wiping my mouth as I finally managed to pull away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Steve asked, reminding me that I’d agreed to go to the carnival in town with him. I smiled and nodded. Pausing in the doorway of my grandmother’s house to steal another quick kiss before finally making myself go inside.

I leaned against the door, pulling myself together and my Nana called out from the kitchen, “Well? How did it go, Jennie Bird?”

I wandered into the kitchen, sinking down in a chair at her kitchen table. Smirking at her as all I did to answer her endless stream of questions was to shrug.

“You’re no fun, girl. No fun at all. I wanted to hear juicy details.” my nana reached out, pulling a leaf from my wet hair, holding it at me, smirking as she did so. “Any reason you’re all wet and dazed, bringing half the forest up in my house?”

“We went for a swim down at the creek.”

“Mhm.” my nana teased, laughing softly. “I know you’ll use your head. God knows one of us Brown women needs to, neither me or your mama, god rest her, could ever manage it.” she nodded to the phone on the wall by the doorway. “Might wanna call Nan and Barb. They’ve been calling all afternoon, wondering where you were. They both told me tell you they wanted full details.”

“No listening from upstairs, Nana.” I teased as she shrugged. “Makin no promises, Jennie Bird. You know me. I’m a nosy old broad.”

I grabbed the phone and managed to make the cord stretch to the living room, where I sprawled out on the old couch, legs over the back, telling Nancy and then Barb everything that happened that afternoon.

At one point, while I was talking to Nancy, I smiled to myself when she went into a good ten minutes of gushing over Jonathan walking her home from the library earlier. And giving her a mixed tape.

To be fair, it’s about time he finally talked to her. I was beginning to wonder if I’d have to shove them both in a closet and walk away.

“So… how’d it go with you and Steve tonight?”

“So many sparks.” I gave a dreamy sigh as I spoke, making Nancy laugh. Toying with the necklace and smiling softly to myself as I continued, “ Between you and me? I needed the dip in the cold water…”

“You went swimming?”

“Mhm.” I answered, taking a deep breath. “He’s taking me to the carnival downtown tomorrow night.”

“Oh my god. Get out. Really?” Nancy laughed.

I rolled onto my stomach, twisting the phone cord around my fingertip. Laughing softly as I explained exactly what transpired when Steve showed up at the diner earlier. By the end of it, Nancy let out a low whistle. “He really sacrificed himself to Hank.”

“Mhm. Left me with no option but to say yes. We know how my nana’s boyfriend is. It takes… a brave one to even attempt that.”

“Confession… I may or may not be meeting Jonathan at the carnival tomorrow night too. And Barb mentioned earlier that she’s going to come to it after the movie ends over at the theater, with Logan.”

“Group date?” I asked, giving a giggle. Raking my fingers through my hair as I reached for the Diet Tab I’d gotten myself before grabbing the phone, taking a sip of it.

“Yes. Group date indeed.” Nancy answered. I could hear her mother yelling at her to hang up, and I let her go, calling Barb.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, you are not going to believe what happened to me this afternoon, Barb.”

“Your nana told us you left with Steve earlier. How’d that go?” Barb asked in a teasing tone. “I told you he liked you, you realize this, right?” she added.

“All I’m saying is I needed that swim to cool me down. I needed it badly.” I giggled. Agreeing reluctantly when she reminded me that she’d been telling me he liked me all month long. I rolled onto my back, twisting the cord around my fingers again. “Hey, are you and Logan gonna stop by the carnival after your movie?”

“Yeah! Did Nancy tell you? I told her to tell you so we could all meet up or something.”

“I am dying for funnel cake. And maybe getting stuck at the top of the Ferris Wheel like some cliche romance novel…” I muttered, giving a soft laugh at the end.

“Aww how cute!” Barb teased.

I took a few more sips of my diet Tab and smiled to myself. Excited about tomorrow night. Barb spoke up again, “Wait… you said you and Steve went swimming…”

“We did.”

“What was that like?”

“Oh, it was interesting. Very,very interesting.”

“You’re no fun girl!” my Nana’s voice cut through the call and I groaned inwardly, lowering the phone to call up the stairs to my Nana in her room, “Seriously?”

Barb was laughing. After my nana hung up, we talked a little more and I told her about Steve going out to the garage. WIth all the tools. And my nana’s boyfriend Hank… to ask him if he could take me on a date.

“He did? And he’s alive? How?”

“I don’t know, actually. Hank’s always giving him shit when he comes into the diner, I did not see it going the way it did. But.. I’m glad it did. Ah, I had such a good time tonight.”

“He’d better be good to you or I’m coming for his knee caps.” Barb teased, going quiet for a few seconds. Her mom must have come to her door to tell her she needed to use the phone, because she had to get off. After I ended the call with her, I wandered up to my room, falling across my bed.

What.A.Night.