#i legit do not know if there's some kind of final split

[jlf23tumble]

I go back and forth between thinking if Larry are still together or not. Lately I feel like they're not because of Louis ending it with Eleanor (her being Harry's proxy), pushing his dad image so much and now making it really clear that LT3 might not be factual. The change in atmosphere in the fandom makes me think it too, that others have noticed a change. Harry stopped wearing the peace ring too. What do you think? If you do think they broke up when do you think it happened? I know you said before around Fine Line. But did they get back together and break up again? I don't know.

anon 2: Louis posted a selfie today at the same time as Harry's show and I feel like he's throwing shade at the gold stars who have been saying that his recent pics in LA are old (they're not) and he's secretly in Germany with Harry. I really feel like the past several months in particular he's been trying to get rid of Larries. At his LA premiere there's a vid of a fan asking him to sign a Larry phone case and he doesn't look happy at all, but Larries ofc are making excuses.

******

Posting these together since they're kinda related!

Anon 1, I've talked about it a fair bit, but for real, nobody has any idea, no matter how many gold stars are out there crowing about how "loud" these two are. If you're asking for my own personal opinion, yes, I think they were together and super hot/heavy in the early years, but since ~2015, it's giving me on again/off again vibes, trying out the whole open relationship thing at least once, living through just a real hot mess of a situation, quelle dramatique, etc. I mean, I listen to the last 4 albums these 2 have put out (and that last 1D album, while I'm at it), and there are zero hoops I have to come up with to prove to myself that things are a-okay because a) they're chaotic human beings, and b) sometimes things just aren't.

Anon 2, are people still pulling that kind of magical airline fantasy bullshit??? I didn't see the LA premiere vid, but jesus, I can imagine, like, it's creepy enough if they're together--what do you think he's gonna do, start weeping in #larryisreal on the floor in front of you? Secretly signal to you with his ao3-trademark fond face? And if they are NOT together, wow, the layers of ouch to just try to ignore it and move about his day. He (and Ariana Madix) are made of tougher stuff than I am, I'll tell u what

[iloveavatar]

idek what i’m doing but i’m hoping it turns out ok!

neteyam x reader!!

there are many things about neteyam that drive you absolutely insane. how gorgeous his eyes look when the sun hits them just right. how when he flies around with this certain type of authority, it makes him look older. how he can look so gorgeous while doing the simplest thing…

what really bothers you is how he is always getting himself in trouble or hurt to save lo’aks ass.

the last time you saw him injured was when he got into a fight with another na’vi by the name of Zuk’tay. Rumor had it that Zuk’tay was picking on lo’ak due to his alien hands.

neteyam heard of the rumor, and next thing you know the boy is shuffling his way to you with his head down, avoiding all eye contact with a split lip adorning his face.

being neteyams oldest friend since he was 3, you were the first one he always came to whenever he got injured. he was always nervous to see his father in fear of disappointing him. his mother terrified him whenever she threatened to pluck his eyeballs out...

“neteyam…” you sighed, “we talked about this!”

“i know, i know and i’m sorry. but i couldn’t let lo’ak get in trouble again. he’s already on his second warning” he explained. he still avoided eye contact with you.

you sighed and stood up. you slowly walked over to neteyam and lifted up your hand. you gently grasped his jaw and guided his face to the point where his yellow eyes met yours.

“i know how much you hate seeing your brother get in trouble. but you also know how much i hate seeing you in trouble.” you softly spoke “all i want, is for you to be more careful.. please?”

he kept his gaze on your eyes as you pleaded. he’s never realized how beautiful you looked while you scold him. he didn’t even know it was possible to look gorgeous while giving him a lecture. his mother always looks terrifying whenever she’s scolding his father, yet his father always had this lovesick look on his face and had always told her she looked beautiful. he never understood why… until now.

looking at you while you worry for him, he finally understands what his father sees in his mother.

“…eyam? neteyam? …. you’re not even listening! i’m trying to tell you how you always make me nervous and how you make me worry for you constantly and you’re not even list-“

you were cut off as his arms wrap around you and pull you closer to him. you didn’t fully understand why he was hugging you so abruptly, but you slowly hugged him back sensing he needed some kind of comfort at the moment.

“thank you y/n” he whispered.

you had no idea what he was thanking you for, but you just hugged him tighter to you.

it was at that moment the two of you finally realized you will always have the other as a sense of serenity if your lives. that moment, was the first of many other intimate ones the two of you will share. this was just the beginning to a beautiful relationship that neither of you could wait for.

pls let me know if this is ok. i’ve legit NEVER wrote anything before so uh yeah! hopefully it doesn’t suck..

[your-ne1ghbor]

Magnifico's "Wish Stealing form" design/some Character Dump (Disney Wish)

Oh boy ya'll in a BIG BIG Story beat plus some more information on Amaya and Magnifico in my rewrite:

The Kingdom of Roses and Thorns

Oh yeah...this is another long post and Ik @oh-shtars @chillwildwave @signed-sapphire @annymation @uva124 @rascalentertainments is gonna love this idea

For starters...

I Had this nightmare of Magnifico because of this form and now you all will see it too :3

There were also other posts that inspired this design too, so I'll link them here:

Anyways, this post is mainly an MAJIOR STORY IDEA DUMP for my sweet sweet emo Maggy- erm Magnifico (he is glaring at me guys send help please)

Soooo....

I had this terrifying idea for TKoRaT Maggy, even before I had this nightmare of him, where he legit becomes somewhat something like this, but with more vine core when he is taking the wishes/"monster in my closet" wrong vibes.

More like this for the idea I'm going for:

This is one of the ideas I had for Maggy when he is taking the wishes. This is might not be final in my final version of Maggy, hell, I might change that particular design to be Amaya's form when she takes the wishes too, since hers is more smoke which is more or not on par with her character in my rewrite/redesign. It might end up being more of Maggy's thing with Amaya helping him get into this state of transformation to take the wishes since I'd imagine it more of a whole process, but it could also just be something they both do together.

Some more design details I added was his scars from when his kingdom was attacked and almost everyone died because he showed mercy to the attackers. He doesn't really have them in his main design, probably because he covers them up with Amaya's potions or the wishes could have some form healing abilities? Idk I'm still firguring out the magic system of my story or that I just keep forgetting to put those scars in his design so awesome???💀

In my post here, I said that they don't hold ceremonies that has them granting/taking the wishes like they did in the movie. This is mainly because I wanted to do a little something original and gives me the oppertunity to take in the horror aspects of the story (because I love scaring children(not in a bad way, but to show them that there are these kinds of people in the world yk?)). This is why I am intentionally making Maggy and Amaya horrifying in their own way because well...good people can become the bad guys if pushed in the right direction. Especially in what they do to other people. Mainly inspired from Hunchback and Prince of Egypt, with subtle, but TERRIFYING pieces.

BUT, They do have a ceremony, but it is not related to the wishes, it is just there to give them some sympathetic traits to Maggy and Amaya (after all they've been through, I just feel bad, they literally wanted to good things and the world just beat them with a 90 foot pole).

This one I tried making Maggy more jagged. Although it seems like he is a different character here, thats mainly my fault since I really tried to figure out what he would say to Star Boy in this "idea" scene but my brain blanked out and couldn't think of anything so wahoo

Star Boy in this scene doesn't even know he has a desire, he just didn't think stars can form desires (ofc Maggy and Amaya is going to manipulate the hell out of him and Asha :3)

ALSO

This is also the main reason I split Star Boy's powers between what Amaya and Maggy does.

Maggy has only 1 shape-shifting form, and it is only done to steal the wishes. He can't shape shift into anything else, but it is why when he steals star's powers, he becomes more of a terrifying shapeshifter.

Amaya creates dangerous potions, and more or not lurks in the darkness in some way like a cat to bring them to their doom. Although it would make more sense if Maggy has the creation part of Star's powers, I gave it to Amaya since it works for her too, and keeps the power system balanced in some way. If I do give Amaya the ability to also shapeshift into a monster from my dreams, I could also say the same thing can work in reverse too, I just personally think the creation part of her character conflicts with Asha's ability to create/draw magic.

Power wise for this design...

This form also gives Maggy the ability to see people's desires that HE could take. He can't really take them until they are 17-18 years old and older (ruh oh, 2 of our main protagonists fall under that age gap). Plus, he cant take them from children since they are young and dont understand these kinds of things.

This form also falls under the MAIN conflict of why the hell is everyone miserable when they turn around 17/18 years old? Oh yeahhh this is going to fall under how he steals the wishes, but I'm not going to say anything here yet because I really want it to be a surprise.

Nothing that he does is not without reason. He blames the stars for not granting his wish (there is a reason why they didn't), and for not stepping in when a star, or Aster (NOT STAR BOY) went "rouge" (not Aster's fault btw, they didn't have a choice). So, this presented him with this ideology (that I personally believe Amaya first started thinking this way, out of pain and wanting to blame someone for what happened a century ago) that in order for people to not wish on stars, is for them to never wish/dream again. The story in my version is the aftermath of this. Still figuring out THE MAJIOR STORY BEATS, but this falls under Star Boy as well.

Star Boy represents the thing Magnifico hates the most. Plus, Maggy has more of a personal beef with the stars so of course he is going to make sure Star Boy dies, becauseeee he didn't do it last time, so second times the charm, am I right? (OR MAYBE THE THIRD WHO KNOWS, LETTING THE STORY WORK ITSELF OUT ;3)

ORIGINALLY, this was going to be Amaya's thing, but as I said, this might end up being mainly Maggy's thing, or it is something they both do, since they share the same goal, but here is the designs I was going to show for that:

Anywaysssss, ya'll can ask me questions regarding to this design if ya'll want to! I'll gladly answer them! I also will accept suggestions for the design/abilities for this "wish stealing..." thing. I might come up with a better name for this form later. Soo have a happy weekend as your neighbor watches some marvel movies as I work on my projects for my classes.

explodes

Edit: Okay my imagination took my to the most tragic part of his character then randomly imagined star boy getting stabbed by this guy and said "now you feel the pain I felt when everyone died" and star boy, in the worst condition says "almost everyone" then gets a another stab from him💀

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Tuesday Fandom! If that's a thing lol Officially half way through s3. Insane. I love this episode. It’s one giant married moment. They are at the height of their banter and marriage flow in this one. This episode is one big continuous work flirt that doesn’t stop. Idk why people didn’t like this ep when it first premiered. It’s Chenford gold. I remember loving this kind of ep for Castle too. It was split for that fandom as well. I think they’re hilarious snippets I enjoy them a lot. The looks alone in this one are primo. This one is more me analyzing their commentary on the case since everyone is segregated in this one. But lets get started.

3x07 True Crime

We start our ep off with Tim and Lucy being the ones called to Corey’s house. There was signs of blood and they enter the house and find a ton of it. Thus starts their amazing run of snippets in this episode. They are being interviewed since they were apart of the investigation. Tim is instantly surly with the director LOL Shock surprise eh? Last thing he wants to do is be here. To him they could be out on the streets instead of this. Lucy is the natural antithesis to him about this. Legit beaming and he is miserable.

The epitome of grumpy x sunshine in every single way. These interview pieces showcase that so well. It makes me giddy and happy haha Tim wants to get out of this ASAP. While Lucy is so excited to be there answering any and all questions. Even cuts him off in her excitement. She is bursting at the seams with elation. Then apologizes to Tim but still can't contain her glee by saying ‘This is fun.‘ Tim judges her some more I’m dying. The look on his face at the end of the second gif above. LMAO

This next section I like to call. ‘How to show you’re in love with someone without saying a word.’ By Timothy Bradford. He is all heart eyes in this scene. First one he's settling in to listen. When his girl speaks he listens, second is him agreeing wholeheartedly with her assessment and lastly is heart eye/admiration city. Doesn't take his eyes off her most of this scene. They’re talking about Corey Harris’s acting class. How he used them to start a bling ring to steal from celebrities. Tim goes on to say how anyone they caught wouldn’t flip on Corey. So he got away with it.

Lucy adds in her own portion. Explaining how Corey promised his students everything. Money, fame. This in turn inserted him in their lives even further. Basically convincing his students he could control their destinies. Saying he did this because he probably didn’t have any control over his own. Tim is just nodding along with a proud look on his face. Just admiring her take on it. 100 percent loving her analysis of him. You know he loves how her brain works. He is just sitting back and enjoying her breakdown of Corey. As transparent as a glass of water sir.

What comes next always has me rolling when I watch this ep. Gotta love the way Lucy tells him like it is no matter the situation. Keeps him in check. Tim is so cocky in his deliverance of his teacher line. Smug really and Lucy shoots that down instantly. He’s all smiles (love this man's smile btw it does things to me. mmm) then realizes how much she’s got him on this. He is dead to rights and has no comeback. You watch in the gifs above he goes from smug and smiley to straight up defeated LOL

He exhales with a ‘You win’ sigh. It’s fantastic. He thought he had this clever quip against Corey. Survey says no. Wifey shut you down lmao Her face through out the whole scene is so funny. Like this is her idiot and she can’t help but poke fun at him for his comment. This moment will always make me laugh. He’s being so ridiculous and she doesn’t let him live it down in the slightest. Her reaction in the final gif is the best. Can't believe he's being such a goober. The work flirt begins and does not stop. Be more married you two please.

They end up finding a script at one of their crime scenes. The director thinks this is an odd thing to stumble upon. Apparently it is a completely normal thing in LA according to Tim. Just another day on the job in this city ha Their polar opposite replies are so indicative of them as characters. The way Lucy is like well yeah when they’re asked if they’ve written one. Tim's is an instant and hard 'God, No' LMAO. These two. Opposites truly do attract.

Her face in the first gif what makes me laugh so hard. That sheepish embarrassment. Eric and Melissa are just pure gold in this one. Their looks alone are some of the best parts besides the banter. Tim can read her like a damn book. All he has to do is look over at her and see her answer. At first he’s waiting for her to say she hasn’t either. Expecting her to follow suit.

She does not…his body language while he’s waiting for her verbal answer is so funny. Like a slow realization. Then it’s judgy city after that. The way she weakly defends why she has is too damn funny. He is none too pleased she has written one. We all know how Tim feels about screen writers. His face says everything. God I love these two sfm.

Their looks in this one have me rolling the entire episode. Eric is the master when it comes to this in the first place. He crushes it in this one they both do. His reaction to her excitement as they get closer to the climax of this case is hilarious. The judgy side eye and furrowed brow he gives her above is extremely amusing.

Tim truly doesn’t understand why she’s enjoying this so damn much. He’s trying to just get through it and be done. His grumpy old man is showing extra hard in this moment. Her sunshine demeanor despite him is amazing. She is of course the opposite and doesn’t know why he doesn’t enjoy this whole thing more LOL Lucy is having a friggin blast. Its coming off her in waves every time it comes back to them.

I feel like Lucy owns Tim’s ass for most of this ep. He literally doesn’t stand a chance against her witty comebacks. Every time he tries to be cocky or make a joke she shuts him down so hard. His crack about a woman scorned. Lucy puts him in check real quick with that one. His soft tone when he says he’s not trivializing it....(but you are my love)

He doesn’t want her to be mad at him for his stupid comment. Then she takes him to school even further with her logical stats. He has nothing to say except 'Most...'' No leg to stand on Timothy haha. Lucy is proud of her self for this one. No one puts Tim Bradford in check better than Lucy Chen. We all LOVE it. (He does too let's be honest...) This episode is pure gold for their banter. Married idiots in this one for all to see.

The director then comments on how Lucy was the one who broke the case wide open. Lucy is beaming from ear to ear. Lights up like a Christmas tree at hearing this. She is so excited to be recognized. Tim isn’t so fast to heap on that particular praise. Now Tim doesn’t give praise out easily to begin with. Add in she just schooled him in front of the director, he’s gonna be extra salty haha The director then asks well if he wouldn't describe it as such how would he?

Tim takes a shot at her social media addiction as his answer. Then Lucy looks like she wants to punch him so hard. Like how very dare he say about her. Ha She is so affronted telling the director 'That’s hurtful' LOL (but a little true...) Side note. I can totally see them in bed. Tim falling asleep to her endless scrolling. It becoming a comfort thing for him. Her going till she is ready to sleep. Shortly after him I imagine. Tis a nice thought to think about now that they're together. But let's get back to the present ep at hand before I daydream any further hehe

The cute looks in that final gif though. Be still my heart. She is so exasperated with him and he’s soaking it up. No regrets whatsoever taking her praise and boiling it down to luck. The absolute shameless flirting going on between these two. It’s like they don’t even know they're putting on a show for this director LMAO It's truly delightful.

Lucy scrambles to defend herself. It’s pretty comical. Saying she was on her phone doing ‘research’ Tim shaking his head but enjoying this none the less. Says that she got a notification and that’s what drew her eye to Corey's video showing he's alive. Lucy says she still has the video on her phone. So ready to take Tim down a peg. She pulls it up and it’s her on her own page doing some sort of dance. I’m laughing so hard.

I want to see this video in its entirety. Read the comments. All of it. I don't know what’s funnier Lucy being mortified that came up or Tim wanting a peak at the video. He’s confused as hell but wanting to see what she was showing the director. If you need a pick me up episode this is it. This one doesn’t disappoint on so many levels.

His confused face is everything after she quickly hides her phone. There are facets to her personality that allude him completely. This is one of them. Alas Timothy this is the woman you’ve chosen to love hahaha I love her being a dork sfm though. It’s that light hearted dork that brings the best out in him as we see in s5.

Their final scene doesn’t disappoint. Lucy’s face during his rant LOL. Tim going off saying what a waste of time this is, he should be doing stuff more important. Said this before but that line from Aaron in S5 fits perfectly for this rant. He's the old dude from 'Up' Such a good line because its so true for him. I love him so much for his grumpiness though. You know Lucy does too. Loves every piece of this man.

Her face is like the wife letting her husband rant even though she thinks he’s wrong. Tim gets humbled one last time. The director tells him about his last project. The way Lucy watches him the entire scene is adorable. She loves her idiot. The look they share after he says ‘Oh. Alrighty then.’ The smirk on Lucy's face. I can not. He has grown so much btw to not to be continuously defensive after he's corrected. Just rolls with it in this last scene. Like Oh... Oops.

Tim gets the last laugh though. Lucy is beaming slash word vomiting her love of true crime while Tim rolls his eyes LOL Thanking the director for letting her be in this. She is exuding sunshine and happily looking at him. When she finishes up Tim pops her happy bubble. Tells her about the thing in her hair. They’re constantly trying to one up the other. Take each other down a peg. Competitiveness even in an interview. Unreal. Lucy has his number this entire episode. So it’s only fair Tim gets his shot in last minute.

I do love in the second gif he stops himself from getting said thing out of her hair though. You watch him reach for it then stop his hand before it makes the full journey. Lucy is so affronted she doesn’t even notice. Her arm is already up and blocking any attempt to grab it anyways. I do love his almost attempt though. It's the little things.

Lucy is so mad he let that be in her hair the entire time. He did it because well it’s Tim. I adore these two so very much. He sighs heavily as she berates him on the way out. So exasperated by her it’s so funny. This is such a fun flirty light hearted episode for them. We got their banter in spades with side helping of heart eyes and flirtation. One of my fav eps of the season for them. Much needed levity after the intensity of the last two.

~~~~

Side notes- non Chenford

Not much. Was good to find out what happened to Sterling. Gino just disappeared last year without a trace. So having ending to them was nice to have.

Harper was hilarious during the interviews to always love me some Nyla Harper. ❤️

Forever Thank you to all who read these reviews and like, comment and reblog means the world :) see you all in 3x08

[butterflydm]

wot reread: the gathering storm (chap 43-end)

spoilers through the gathering storm

Egwene spends some time internally processing her feelings on being rescued from the Tower, trying to figure out if her feelings of anger and failure are legit, even if the 'failure' was pushed on her by others, and how she could have done things differently to prevent the rescue from happening.

2. Egwene then works on coming to terms with the idea that being the leader of a group of people does not actually mean being in charge of your own destiny. Another tie to Rand and what he's been struggling with for the whole book series! Egwene thinking about the illusion of control here really ties into the struggle we've seen Rand deal with as Dragon Reborn and what Mat dealt with as ta'veren in books 3-9. It's interesting to me that we've never really seen Elayne struggle with this on page -- maybe because she's always had the background/training on it?

3. Ultimately, Egwene decides that her only choice is to assault the White Tower before Elaida has the opportunity to heal the Sisters injured in the raid and to regain her power in the Tower. She and Gawyn have a brief conversation where she thinks about how it isn't a bad thing for Gawyn to argue with her in private, but that he must never disobey her in public. Which, for the lover of a ruler, I don't necessarily disagree with, but they don't have any kind of actual arrangement at this point. She wasn't his boss, and he waited for Siuan before actually moving to action. In the grander scheme of things, it doesn't really matter if Egwene is here or in the White Tower right now (because she already Won By Default when Elaida was taken in the raid), but I agree that it's important that they have conversations about their expectations in a relationship. And actually HAVING a conversation about their relationship would put them ahead of the majority of the relationships in series, which mostly happen either by accident or by trying to jam puzzle pieces together according to the words of a prophecy, lol.

4. Back in the White Tower, the five heads of the Ajahs who are still around are talking about how badly things are going. We do finally get the mystery of the ~young Sitters~ solved here -- deliberately sent by the heads of the Ajahs in order to make a smooth transition back to a reunited White Tower when that hopefully happened. Right now they're talking about how their plans have failed because: a. they didn't take the Tower split seriously enough (they assumed the rebels would come crawling back for forgiveness); b. Elaida was a disaster (allowing her to disband the Blue Ajah made the rebels caving much less likely); c. they were too obvious about their collusion, in times when normal Sisters were avoiding spending time with anyone outside their own Ajahs.

5. So now they talk through (and reject) a number of women as candidates to replace Elaida, who they know was taken by the Seanchan. It is Adelorna (head of the Green Ajah) who first mentions Egwene as their potential new Amyrlin. Because of how bravely she took the novices under her wing and protected them and any Sisters she found from the Seanchan. She also points out there is no better way to bring the rebels back into the fold than raising up their Amyrlin as the Amyrlin of the Tower as a whole. I really enjoyed this whole discussion. We finally get answers on the young Sitters mystery that was bothering Siuan for so long, and the five heads of the Ajahs here (everyone but Red and Blue, essentially) all agree that Egwene makes sense as a choice. They even approve of Egwene clearly NOT being puppet material, because they've seen how badly that can go with what they tried to do with Elaida. And I like the contrast between Egwene thinking of herself as a COMPLETE FAILURE for disappearing after the raid vs that literally not even coming up as a point against her when the Ajah heads are talking her over as a possibility because they are all busy talking about what she actually did DURING the raid.

6. Though Siuan worries that what she did may have lost Egwene's trust, she absolutely believes she made the right choice to disobey. Siuan says that she believes the rebels were very close to losing heart and giving up on the cause, with their leader gone for so long. And thinking back to what happened with Siuan herself in TSR, she knows this from personal experience! Anyway, I still don't care much about Siuan/Bryne but this scene between them isn't bad. Their relationship has been a LOT more grown-up since Sanderson took over. Instead of throwing things at Bryne, she's actually talking to him.

...huh, I'm making some connections about Jordan's ideas of romance again. Siuan throwing things at Bryne. Tuon throwing pottery at Mat in her first scene in CoT. I'm wondering now... was the reason that Tuon was such a pre-teen bratty version of herself in CoT & KoD because Jordan saw brattiness as inherently a 'sexy woman' thing, and so Tuon being a brat to Mat was meant to show off how ~desirable~ she was? I'm gonna give that some more thought. But it is interesting that there's no more tantrum-throwing from the women ~being courted~ anymore, at least not so far.

7. Oooh, Egwene stole the Oath Rod from the White Tower. Good looking out. Anyway, she's called the Sitters together in a private meeting of the Hall because it is time to call out the Black Ajah. Step one: she takes the Three Oaths and then announces that she is not a Darkfriend. When Egwene announces her intentions for every woman in the Hall to unswear and then reswear, to likewise prove that they are not Black Ajah, Sheriam embraces the Source -- Egwene was expecting this, of course, because of Verin, so she promptly shields her. She manages to trick Sheriam into lying by building up a series of high-stakes questions that Sheriam instinctively says "no" to and then hits her with "do you have red hair?" and Sheriam is amped up enough that she says "no" to that too. Which reveals she is not currently under the Oath against lying, because it would have stopped her tongue.

8. When Egwene continues to press the others about swearing, Moria leaps up to try to run away, revealing herself and getting caught. But after that, of the Sitters currently present, all the rest are able to reswear the Oaths and declare themselves not to be Darkfriends, so Egwene now has certainty about who she can trust, which is very useful! Everyone present here knows that everyone else present is not a Darkfriend (twelve people total).

9. I do think it's really funny that Egwene... Traveled to the Tower to fetch Verin's books, and Traveled back AGAIN to the rebel camp. Anyway, she also lets them know that they're going to assault the White Tower tonight, after they've cleansed the rebels of all the Black Ajah Sisters but since we already know that the Tower is leaning towards Egwene as Amrylin, I feel safe to say that this will not actually be happening.

10. Shifting back over to Rand's plotline, he and Nynaeve are arguing over the best place to enter the Blight, with Nynaeve voting for Tarwin's Gap, but Rand is feeling like that would be a waste of resources, since Lan can provide a useful distraction there while Rand Travels his army directly to Shayol Ghul. Obviously, this is very upsetting to Nynaeve. She also notes here that Rand seems ~particularly determined~ to assert his independence from ~Aes Sedai~. It's so weird to me that Nynaeve doesn't seem capable of processing that Rand is deeply traumatized? (though I guess she didn't get Min's overshare about Rand's traumas; that was reserved for the Aes Sedai that he trusts the least of those around him, lol)

11. Oh, here we have Rand definitely embracing that Lews Therin death wish -- when Nynaeve protests that Rand's plan is going to get Lan killed, Rand says, "Then who am I to deny him that? We all deserve the chance to find peace."

12. The interesting thing to me about Nynaeve's argument here - that the people of the Borderlands wouldn't be particularly grateful that the world has been saved from the Dark One if they are cooking in Trolloc cookpots -- is how easily it can get turned around on the "we must ally with the Seanchan" argument. How grateful will the Seanchan slaves be that the world has been saved, when the world being saved only means that they continue to be trapped into slavery with no hope of escape? Right now, Nynaeve is mourning that the people of the continent are going to be crushed between the Trollocs coming from the north and east, and the Seanchan coming from the south and west, and tries to think of any way to convince Rand to find a new strategy.

13. Trying to figure out how to meet Cadsuane's ~task~ for her (find Perrin), Nynaeve resorts to asking Rand (actual communication being the hardest task of all, lol), saying that her reason for asking is worry over Perrin and Mat. In response, Rand tells her that she's still not a very good liar. (lol yikes). Also, Rand saying about Perrin, "He has tasks set before him and performs them." lol, if only you knew how completely untrue that statement is, Rand. Perrin has done anything BUT try to perform the tasks set before him, lol.

14. Oh, I really like this conversation between Nynaeve and Narishma (they are talking about the Borderlands delegation that Rand is meeting). This sentence from Narishma hits particularly hard: "I want to trust them. I know them for good people. But good people can do the wrong things. Particularly when men who can channel are involved." Nynaeve also notes here how clearly loyal to Rand Narishma is. It really is a shame that Rand avoided the Black Tower as much as possible because the (non-Darkfriend) Asha'man that he pulled away from the Black Tower have all been A+ people and very loyal and goodhearted. Narishma, poor Eben, Damer Flinn, Karldin, Jur Grady, etc. And it's especially a shame that Rand didn't let himself become friends with any of the Asha'man traveling with him, feeling like he had to treat them as weapons instead, because it's clear that several of them do care about Rand a lot. So it's just really a shame that the Black Tower couldn't serve as a support group for all these men who are all going through similar traumas.

15. The "delegation" that the Borderlanders sent to meet Rand consists of a single person -- Hurin, the sniffer from TGH. Rand is very distrusting of this and assumes that the reason that they sent Hurin in particular was to try to take down Rand's guard. Hurin tells Rand that the Borderlanders want to meet with Rand inside the Guarding of Far Madding (where he will not be able to channel). No one is ever willing to meet Rand on neutral ground anymore. It always has to be in a place/situation where they feel they have an overwhelming advantage over him. First ~slaver empress~ and now the Borderlanders. Rand Travels with Hurin, Nynaeve & the others to just outside Far Madding. They look over the army that is assembled here and Rand gets some pretty rough ptsd, thinking of his time trapped in Far Madding. I wonder if Rand believes that he's only thinking most of the things that he says here -- we've seen in his PoV that he thinks he's being stoic always, but in other PoVs, there's mention of him talking to himself. As far back as TFoH, iirc.

16. Right now, Rand is pondering the notion of ~teaching the Borderlanders a lesson~ about trying to cage him. Yeah, when Nynaeve tells him that he can't attack the city because it's full of innocent people, he's surprised that she's responding to his words. He definitely thought that was a private conversation with LTT in his head. As soon as he realizes that Nynaeve can hear him, he goes emotionless and cold in affect. He tells her that he has no plans to attack the city. Then he tells Hurin to go back to the Borderlanders to tell that that he is willing to transport them to the Blight and, if that isn't acceptable to them, then they can explain to future generations why they shirked their duty.

17. Rand Travels with Nynaeve to Tear, and tells her that Perrin is camping by a statue, though he can't tell her where exactly (he's mentioned that he, Perrin, and Mat are ~connected~). He does describe what the statue looks like and says that scholars might have a good guess where it's located.

18. Nynaeve, I love you, but it is so WILDLY hypocritical for you to be thinking about how RAND likes to hoard information away from other people. Please, consider yourself and your own choices. I am asking you to please do this. Physician, heal thyself.

19. Nynaeve thinks here that some part of her feels like she abandoned Mat when the Seanchan attacked Ebou Dar, but then she dismisses the idea that he might be doing anything other than drinking it up at an inn. Despite. Literally finding out that he was just traveling with the HEAD of the SEANCHAN EMPIRE. Nynaeve, do you hear yourself when you think? Even a little, do you hear the things that you think? Anyway, Sanderson doesn't give us a reason here why Nynaeve never told Rand about Mat being left behind in Ebou Dar, because there never WAS a reason apart from "Mat's plot is in Ebou Dar" and she can't exactly say, "The author wouldn't let me tell you". The bizarre mental contortions that everyone took in WH to not tell Rand about Mat being left behind in Ebou Dar still give me a headache if I think about them for too long lol, because that really is the most blatant Hand of the Author situation in the entire series. It MUST happen for the plot and therefore it DOES happen, no matter how little sense it makes.

20. "All this would be much harsher on the one who shared his heart." The ONE? You were there for the group love confessions, Nynaeve! You were Team Elayne back in the Stone of Tear. What is this bullshit about Min being ~the one~ who shares Rand's heart? Anyway, Nynaeve is making excuses for why Min is spending all her time with Cadsuane, the woman in the city that Rand probably trusts the LEAST, lol. Though, hey, once again, I'm gonna appreciate that this means that I've been getting a lot of Min-less Rand scenes. I will take that for the win that it is. Still, I can't believe that Nynaeve is literally not even thinking about Elayne or Aviendha here! Especially Elayne, her hijinks bestie.

21. Nynaeve says that she wants to know WHY Cadsuane is looking for Perrin before she shares the information, because she wants to make certain it doesn't lead to Rand getting hurt further. Cadsuane scoffs at the idea that she'd hurt Rand. I stare off into the middle distance, reliving my, and Rand's, Terrible Times With Cadsuane.

22. Anyway, Min "claims that she hates sharing her viewings" Farshaw has been obediently telling all her viewings to Cadsuane, because she actually loves telling her viewings to literally anyone who will listen. Cadsuane uses Min's viewings as a way to scare Nynaeve into telling her the info about Perrin without needing to give up anything in exchange. RIP, Nynaeve's spine. You held strong for, like, a solid minute there. Anyway, after Nynaeve caves and tells Cadsuane about Perrin, she gets rewarded with a crumb of information for being a good girl. It's not Perrin himself who matters; the person who really matters is one of Perrin's companions. ...I know Cadsuane doesn't mean it that way, but that really does feel like Perrin's story overall. Perrin is mostly useless, but he has helpful people around him who Get Things Done and then he gets the credit, lol.

23. For the battle (that isn't going to happen), Egwene is wearing crimson, as a reminder that she does not plan to disband the Red Ajah the way that Elaida disbanded the Blue. We learn that "over fifty" Black Ajah Sisters have been stilled and executed, including Sheriam of course. And Egwene has now gone through another of the trials that we saw leader!Rand go through -- needing to order the execution of people that she genuinely liked. Egwene thinks of how holding and then losing Moghedien has taught her that it is much wiser to kill Darkfriends & Forsaken outright, rather than try to use them for information, out of 'greed' for knowledge. We also learn that Verin only missed three Black Ajah Sisters among the rebels. Good job, Verin! And I really love the note here that the Warders of the Sisters who were found to be Darkfriends are under guard for now, not killed. We know from some Black Ajah PoVs that not all Warders to Black Ajah Sisters are Darkfriends too, and I'm glad that Egwene realizes that this could be the case.

24. We learn that there has been no word sent back by the envoy of Sisters that were sent as an embassy to the Black Tower, which is naturally very disturbing news. also, just to note: I don't have any issue with Egwene's thoughts here on the Black Tower needing to be 'dealt with', though that's partly informed by my own outside knowledge that Rand has been ignoring a festering problem for months. SOMEONE needs to deal with the Black Tower, and Rand has shown himself to be entirely unwilling. This is the same issue that Egwene is dealing with right now: she's cleaning up her own house. That's something that Rand has just been refusing to do. His houses kinda stink right now.

25. As they are on the edge of the assault, a group of Sisters come to the bridge from the White Tower, to speak with Egwene. She's told that they plan to raise her as Amyrlin and that Elaida was taken in the raid last night. When Siuan (who doesn't know the Seanchan and how damane are treated) mutters that it's what Elaida deserves, Egwene (who DOES know) corrects her: "No woman deserves that. Better she had died." As I've been saying! We are in absolute agreement, Egwene. And Egwene now feels hope that the seeds that she planted in the Tower already WERE enough. <3

26. After she is officially raised as Amyrlin by the Hall, Egwene gives them a blistering setdown on letting things get so bad in the first place. The Hall was meant to be a check on the Amrylin's power and instead they allowed Elaida to do... well, everything that happened in the past books. And she names the previous Mistress of Novices, Silviana, as her Keeper, because that's one person that she can say stood up to Elaida purely out of principle, when she felt that Elaida was abusing her power as Amrylin. She addresses the rebels for their part in the Tower division as well, to help mend the breach between the two, and declares her intention to have a reforged White Tower to face the Last Battle. Overall, a pretty satisfying climax for Egwene's part of the story! Honestly, the only issue I have is Elaida getting taken off by the Seanchan -- though I'm guessing that was largely for timing reasons, since doing a proper reckoning with Elaida (who is not a Darkfriend) would definitely have added a lot of pages, plus this way the Seanchan (boo) get Traveling and any advantage that the Westlanders would have over them in that regard has been neutralized (sigh).

27. Rand is in a real bad place, emotionally and mentally, wondering if he even counts as human anymore. I just... okay, we all know my feelings on Rand and Min at this point but it really is baffling to me that she gets so much credit for ~helping Rand~ when she dips out when things get to their worst and is spending all her time conspiring with Rand's worstie Cadsuane. Anyway, Rand is feeling particularly troubled because seeing Hurin is making him feel doubt about his acceptance of his fate (his death). And wow, it's fascinating how thinking about Hurin sends him right back to thinking of Mat and Egwene (and now I'M thinking about how the show made a point of including a mention of Mat in show!Rand's perfect world) and about the boy he used to be (and honestly it kinda sounds like LTT's persona has become dominant? I think the quiet voice is probably RAND trying to be heard past LTT). He thinks about how that younger Rand had thought there was nothing more complicated than worrying over his friends hating him.

28. He gets a brief flash of Perrin, and then Mat in Caemlyn, and seeing Mat there in Caemlyn gives him that same kind of "this is not fair" feeling that Aviendha had, chapters ago, when she was thinking about how Min got to cuddle up with Rand every night while Aviendha had nothing but punishments. He thinks here about how he MUST remain far away from Elayne (just like he thought it was good that Aviendha left) because longing and nostalgia makes him weak, and he needs to be strong. And LEWS THERIN thinks "better to run from the past than to face it". Rand's raw longing here over how much he misses Elayne is getting to me. Seeing Hurin really opened the emotional floodgates for Rand in a way that neither Min nor Nynaeve have done, which is kinda fascinating to me, because it seems so closely connected to the journey that he undertook to get the dagger and save Mat. We've had a couple of mentions of Perrin in Rand's various memories so far this book, but a lot more of Mat -- it's Mat he thinks about when he's in Falme, and it's Mat he focuses on more here as well, returning to him a couple of times in his thoughts. It's Mat who Nynaeve throws in his face, and it's Mat who he needs to defend against an outsider (Tuon).

I do wonder what the show might do to trigger that kind of moment if Hurin a. gets cut from the show and b. would likely have been in Perrin's storyline and not Rand's anyway, given the setup.

29. lol, Rand thinking that he hopes Cadsuane hasn't lost Callandor the way that she lost the male a'dam. Standing in the Heart of the Stone of Tear, Rand thinks over the prophecies and tries to figure out why Callandor is at the heart of one of them, when it isn't the most powerful sa'angreal that he has at his command. Rand does come to the conclusion here that the prophecies were a more effective box than the Aes Sedai and... hmm, I think the only major difference here between what we'd seen Jordan write in this sort of situation and what Sanderson writes here, is that Jordan tended to use the 'leash' metaphor a lot when it came to Rand's fears of being trapped by the Aes Sedai or his destiny, while Sanderson is using 'box' metaphor more. Leashes and boxes are not the same, of course, but both metaphors are things that ARE literal threats in the series as well, plus they are both caging/trapping symbology, so I don't think they're so terribly different.

30. Oh, and Rand realizes that he's standing in the same hallway now as when he failed to bring the little girl back to life, back when the Stone was attacked in TSR. He misses Moiraine, and then makes up his mind that it's time to take the access key and drive the Seanchan back into the sea. And he goes to his room and... there's his dad. It shakes him hard, seeing Tam. Like... REALLY hard. Rand was already struggling with the bounds between who he was and who he feels that he has to be, and seeing Tam makes those worlds painfully collide. "He hadn't truly had a home since he'd left the Two Rivers." My HEART.

31. Rand's aside about how Min as the ~Dragon's lover~ is an exploitable weakness but not as bad as him having a father because ~lovers are expected~ but fathers made a person real and not mythic is... very jarring when set against the genuine heartache and longing we literally JUST had when he was thinking about Elayne. Sorry, he doesn't even think that Tam being here is a weakness worse than having Min as his lover, but "a woman like Min" which is somehow so much weirder and colder. It really makes it feel like Min is there to fulfill a role rather than there because Rand loves her. Has Sanderson ever said anything about his own personal feelings about Rand and Min? Because their relationship has ping-ponged a lot in this book -- sometimes it's treated as The Only Rand Relationship That Matters (especially by Nynaeve, for whatever reason) and at other times, it's treated as the throwaway relationship that DOESN'T matter and doesn't need to be protected the way that the relationships that are important need to be protected.

32. At first, it seems like this conversation is helping Rand. He's shocked, but this is his dad, and he loves him. And then the magic word comes out -- Cadsuane. And it does make me really sad because... if this had been a genuine gesture from Nynaeve because she was worried about him, Rand wouldn't have snapped the way that he does here. Because instead, this just feels like he's been betrayed by someone that he deeply trusted. His FATHER is taking marching orders from CADSUANE! Rand is not in a receptive mindset for hearing this information! So he snaps, nearly kills his dad, and is horrified at himself for... you know, repeating the past and almost becoming a kinslayer like LTT was. I mean... don't get me wrong. Rand was still very very close to the edge. But it's clearly the feelings of betrayal that make him fall off that edge.

33. He didn't have this reaction to nearly killing Min. Despite him explicitly comparing her ~near-death beautiful agony~ to Ilyena back when it happened, not only did that not make him snap, he then continued to share a bed with the woman that he'd almost killed, literally while she still had the bruises from his fingers around her neck. *pokes at the Min-Rand relationship with a stick, willing it to make sense* Anyway, I'm guessing that the reason is because he knew it wasn't his choice, and this was but... Min still being in Rand's bed after he almost kills her is just... such a weird vibe. Anyway, after Rand snaps back to himself and realizes that he almost balefired his father, he flees through a gateway to Ebou Dar.

34. Min's relationship with Cadsuane seems to mirror her relationship with her viewings and with fate itself: "Regret had come and gone. Min had moved on to resignation, tinged with a hint of frustration." Min has a tendency of getting swept up and essentially 'owned' by the most powerful force of will in her presence -- first Moiraine, then Siuan, then Rand, and now Cadsuane. It does seem... and this is something that I do disagree with Jordan on philosophically, lol, but it kinda feels like Min is his ~model citizen~ when it comes to dealing with fate -- resign yourself to it and make up your mind to enjoy it whether or not it's what you wanted, because it's gonna happen anyway so you might as well make your peace with the fact that you have no choice. That's what he's had Rand struggling against for books, and that's the conclusion that he has Mat (very abruptly) come to at the end of Winter's Heart.

35. Tam bursts into Cadsuane's room, pissed off as fuck. Oh, hey, when Tam talks about Rand almost killing him, Min has an actual emotional reaction to flashing back to her LOVER nearly STRANGLING her with his own hands. !!! Cadsuane tries to chide Tam for going off-script and chides him for his manners, and he just straight-out calls her a bully which, yes, I found cathartic because I have been calling her a bully ever since she first appeared! Anyway, Min does feel regret now for teaming up with Cadsuane, but it's too late.

36. Rand walks the streets of Ebou Dar. I am frustrated that the da'covale have been entirely forgotten, as Rand thinks here that people who can't channel are ~safe~ under the Seanchan.

a. No, they are not safe. Especially not if they're pretty.

b. People who can't channel can have kids who can channel.

c. The Seanchan literally invaded the continent and have murdered or enslaved anyone who fought back, like the ENTIRE headquarters of the Illuminators in Tanchico. Aludra says at one point that she basically IS all that remains of the Illuminators and she is probably exaggerating to a certain extent, but not entirely.

d. The Seanchan not only have slavery, they have multi-generational chattel slavery (Selucia is a slave because she comes from a slave family and was owned by Tuon even when she was a tiny baby who was not yet mentally a slave-owner; many of the slaves of the Deathwatch guard were also born into slavery).

e. Any society that un-persons people this easily can use that as a weapon on anyone that they dislike, with only the individual 'honor' of the slave-owner mattering, because there are no rules to police them. Egeanin mentions that it's ~socially frowned upon~ to cut off your slaves' feet after they've tried to escape, but people still do it. Both physical abuse and rape will flourish in that kind of system (and Tuon is aware that sexual abuse of damane exists and she finds it kinda icky because ~ew you're having sex with an animal~ but she still thinks the damane system that permits that abuse is a-ok -- we learn this from a conversation she has with Mat in Winter's Heart).

f. If you are the slave of a High Blood, you are expected to kill yourself if the High Blood dies.

g. We know that their system does NOT lead to actual peace and prosperity (except for the Blood), because we know there have been countless uprisings in various districts back in the homeland.

h. Their system of Listeners is pretty much designed to foster a community based around betrayal and paranoia. You can't trust ANYONE because anyone could be a secret spy for the government. Your mom could be spying on you for the government.

37. That being said, obviously Rand couldn't drive the Seanchan back into the sea at this point, for narrative reasons. I would have preferred he be given different reasons for holding off his attack though. "It's great to live under the Seanchan as long as you can't channel" is just straight-up not true. Like, all the "the people are grateful for the stability" just... is not actually true about what we've seen of the Seanchan either in Winter's Heart, or in Falme, or back in their homeland. otoh, idk if I feel like CoT/KoD Jordan would have handled this any better than Sanderson did. I am just... honestly, not happy with the treatment of the Seanchan storyline overall ever since Crossroad of Twilight began. It remains frustrating because it really did seem like it was going to quite intriguing places even through the end of Winter's Heart. CoT remains the point when the disappointment in how the storyline was being executed began but... yeah, not fond of this beat here either. It's especially jarring coming right after their brutal assault on the White Tower, too.

38. So I'd have preferred a slant of "these people have been through enough already; I don't want to be yet another disaster for them" rather than the spin that it's being given where we're supposed to think "sure, slavery sucks for the few but it makes life better for the many, so I guess we should just suck it up and accept it" viewpoint. But, regardless, Rand decides that he cannot destroy the Seanchan today, and he leaves Ebou Dar.

39. On the hilarious side of things, ~the tiny Seanchan empress~ has not been in charge for THAT long yet (given that Rand and Egwene are synced up, time-line wise, and Tuon had only recently taken control when she was told about the meeting with Rand, due to needing to travel back to Ebou Dar from where the Band was), so most of the progress that Rand is currently admiring was likely done under the direction of Suroth (a Darkfriend). Obviously, this means that the Dark One is just a bro who means well and we need to stop giving him such a hard time. Look how great Ebou Dar is doing! Isn't that proof that the Dark One isn't so bad?

40. Rand flees Ebou Dar, first going to the place where he last failed against the Seanchan, and then going to Dragonmount.

I do enjoy Rand’s epiphany, which apparently is semi-controversial, lol. I think it’s sweet and heartfelt and that it makes sense as a “breaking point” epiphany because of how it mirrors LTT’s original “breaking point” into despair and self-hatred. On the place where he created Dragonmount, Lews Therin chose to die, because he felt hopeless. He’d destroyed everything that he loved. On the place where he created Dragonmount, Rand chooses to live, because he’s realized that it’s NOT hopeless. Everything was not destroyed. The Wheel continued to turn. He was able to have a peaceful childhood. He was able to fall in love. And Rand can accept LTT’s losses without letting them define him. That’s what it meant to me, anyway.

41. What if the Dark One is right? Rand asks himself, asks the Pattern. What is the point of all of this if there is so much suffering?

Because there is not ONLY suffering. Because there is also love, and hope, and good things. Not always now, but it continues to exist, and it is worth fighting for (to reference another fantasy series that has some similar themes). And, to get a little personal here, as someone who has struggled with (clinical) depression in my past, including several years of self-harm when I was late teens/early twenties... this epiphany meant a lot to me. So I'm not even sure if it's possible for me to look at it with jaded eyes. Because this is something that I had to learn for myself too, in order to make it through some sad and lonely nights. Suffering exists, but it is not the only thing that exists. And I really love that Rand lets himself be angry here, too, before he finds his reason to live. For all that Rand's molten, unpredictable temper has been a huge plot element for books, it's always been right alongside his deep REPRESSION of his anger, of constantly feeding it into the flame so that he wouldn't allow himself to feel it. Because he felt like he couldn't do what needed to be done if he allowed himself to genuinely FEEL the rage that he felt over his destiny. But he needed to allow that anger to truly fill him so that he could begin (and I do see the epiphany here as a beginning and not an ending) to process it.

42. Also, to sing the show's praises for a moment, but they have already set up this moment so well! Both in Tam's speech in episode 1 but also with Ila's talk with Perrin. And we have the nihilistic counterpoint already laid out too, from Dana's speech to Rand. Those elements for Rand's internal fight and his final epiphany have already been laid out in the show so that, if they need to, as long as they know ahead of time that they're entering the final season, they'll be able to wrap up in an effective way. Very clever.

43. So instead of using the Choden Kal access key to destroy the world and the Wheel of Time, Rand uses that power to destroy the Choden Kal itself instead. He takes that massive power boost out of the equation.

44. In Egwene's epilogue, she's settling in as the Amyrlin. We learn that she plans to have the damane that they captured during the raid trained as Aes Sedai. She doesn't think about the sul'dam here. We learn that roughly sixty Black Ajah Sisters from the Tower were able to escape, off to join the Dark One for the Last Battle, I will assume.

45. Forty women were taken in the slaving raid. "Those women would be beaten, confined, and turned into nothing more than tools." I'm sure that's nowhere near as many as Tuon wanted, but it's still awful. Egwene has to push past another flashback here, of the collar around her neck. So, yeah, literally right after that whole chapter about how the Seanchan are just wonderful for the ~average folk~, we get a reminder of how horrifically awful they are to the ones that they un-person (this is also why Tuon ~petting the dog~ in her interactions with Olver meant nothing to me in CoT & KoD, because he's not someone that she instinctively un-persons, so her being civil to him doesn't really mean much).

For those keeping track at home, Tuon got FORTY women in this slaving raid, which means that Perrin is, I guess, the more successful slaver of the two of them at the moment, since he sold TWO HUNDRED women to Tylee in exchange for helping save Faile during KoD.

46. Egwene thinks here that the Forsaken in the Tower had probably known about the raid in advance but that is actually likely NOT the case -- Semirhage and Suroth were both gone by the time Tuon gave the order for the raid. It was entirely Tuon's choice, made out of fear and hatred, and not influenced by Darkfriend involvement. Egwene worries that Mesaasa is still in the Tower, having found a way to defeat the Oath Rod (all the women of the White Tower have now removed and resworn their Oaths and said that they are not Darkfriends). Even so, that's only one woman to worry about instead of many Black Ajah Sisters so things are looking up!

47. The light of Rand's epiphany has been spotted coming from Dragonmount and when Egwene sees it, it gives her a feeling of peace and comfort. Aw.

Okay, new thing I’m doing for this book and the next one: how close did we get to being ready for the Last Battle?

Rand: Sanderson pushes Rand to his breaking point so that we have a turn-around with Rand in the next two books. So... yes? Rand’s basically ready by the end of the book, having hit rock-bottom and bounced up again. Honestly? I felt like we didn’t get to spend long enough with rock-bottom Rand. I enjoyed rock-bottom Rand, who had as little patience for the bullies in this book as I do when I’m reading it. Rock-bottom Rand was cathartic. So I wish we'd held off on Rand's epiphany until the next book. I don't have any issue with Veins of Gold itself, but I wish that it had waited until the end of ToM (oh, if they'd done that, then the book itself could have been named Veins of Gold, instead of Towers of Midnight which, if I recall correctly, is a bafflingly irrelevant title). I understand why Sanderson probably felt like he needed to put Rand's turning point in this point (he needed to hook the fans who were feeling iffy about him finishing out the series, so he would have to put something big, so he did the one-two of Egwene & Rand's big turning points) but overall... I kinda wish it had happened in the next book and that we'd ended on Egwene reuniting the White Tower.

Egwene:  I hate that Egwene Wins By Default here, with Elaida being hauled off to a Fate Worse Than Death (I don’t care HOW BAD any specific character is -- absolutely zero (0) of them deserve to be enslaved by the Seanchan). But Egwene now is roughly where Elayne was at by the end of KoD, in terms of having consolidated her power, and I liked the majority of the build-up towards the ending. Just wish that Elaida hadn’t been captured by the Seanchan.

Mat: ...spent the book doing a side quest? wtf? THIS should have been the book where he did the Tower of Ghenjei plotline, since we spent so much page time on him anyway. Like, if he didn’t appear in this book, I would understand that plot being held off, but he has a LOT of page time. It was just spent dithering around, like he’s Perrin or something. I didn’t even dislike his sidequest but... it should not be happening. He should be in Andor right now. (I know Hinderstap is not actually a side quest ...I think) (but it FELT like a side quest). That being said, I actually did find this Mat more enjoyable than CoT/KoD Mat, even when I take into account the terrible sexist speech he gave at the opening of his first chapter. He starts out full-on pod!Mat from CoT & KoD but gets progressively better over the course of the book, and he's the most enjoyable that he's been in ages by the time we get to his conversation with Verin. And I also loved the return of the Cauthor crumbs. They actually think and talk about each other like the emotionally constipated best friends that they are. Poor Perrin is definitely still The Third Friend at this point.

Nynaeve: she actually DID have a little investigative side plot in this book, which is more than she did in CoT or KoD. Roughly on par with Nynaeve in Winter's Heart, I would say. She's definitely in secondary character territory now though, along with Cadsuane and Min, and not actually a plot-driver herself. She's essentially ready for the Last Battle, though.

Perrin: now that Faile has been rescued, Perrin can care about other things, so we’re kinda back to LoC!Perrin. Not ready for the Last Battle yet, but he’s been reset to before his character downslide of The Slog (TM) books.

Elayne: didn’t show up. :-( But she’s pretty much ready for the Last Battle already. Elayne has already done her work AND her extra-credit.

So, overall, Mat and Perrin have TONS of work left to do to be ready for the Last Battle, but everyone else is in a much better position. Rand needs to clean up his house, though, like Egwene cleaned up hers.

Though I have some complaints about this book, wow, it is a VAST improvement on Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams, and I liked it better than the mid-tier books too, and it breaks just past Lord of Chaos for me. Overall, I think Mat and Rand were better than KoD; Egwene is pretty great though I wish that Elaida had stayed at the White Tower for trial; and the majority of my irritations that do happen with this book are carryover from things that were either already happening or had already been set-up in KoD.

The two biggest things that I feel like Jordan would have ‘done better’: I think we wouldn’t have lost the secondary characters’ plotlines in Mat’s PoV & I think Jordan would have done something (anything lol) with Rand and Aviendha in Rand’s storyline. But nothing in this book is as jarring as Mat's characterization change from Winter's Heart to Crossroads of Twilight. Like, if you'd told me that CoT was when a new author took over (and I didn't know the truth), I would probably believe you! And dislike that new author a lot for what they'd done to Mat! But it was, in fact, the same author who also wrote all the stuff I liked in the earlier books, lol.

Series ranking:

The Fires of Heaven (😍)

The Shadow Rising (😘)

The Dragon Reborn (😘)

The Path of Daggers (😘)

New Spring (😘)

The Great Hunt (😄)

The Gathering Storm (😄)

Lord of Chaos (😄)

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A Crown of Swords (🙂)

The Eye of the World (🙂)

Winter’s Heart (🙂)

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Crossroads of Twilight (😒)

Knife of Dreams (😞)

[trinitywc]

bombanon from some time ago here no idea if anyone cares but I'm back and I just finished tgl. FINALLY .something happened in my life that kind of distracted me from everything and I left it almost finished with only the epilogue left for like a month or however long I was gone. Either way I'm so emotional over it. so many cats died in such a short period of time that I legit have to go back and check who's left. I also wasn't so positive that dandelionfall survived lmao but oh my god???? Is that her???? Or is that someone else omg???? Is that chestnut with her OH MY GOD THEY HAD A BABY??????????? WHOS BABY IS THAT???? Is it theirs or did they just find it on the side of the road?? How far into the future is this where are they in the timeline right now? Did Flaxstripe find them??? Is anyone else there? Ouzelheart? Cranestar??????WHAT is happening I'm so excited I'm starting book 2 like right now. Also I wish I had the words to describe how much I like the way you characterize everyone ESPECIALLY pinefrost I find the way her character evolves throughout the book so intriguing and heartbreaking idk if the endless winter is split pov or just houndpelt (I'm assuming it's him) but if it's the latter I'm going to miss her SOOO much dude she's grown on me more than anyone else it's actually so funny how I didn't even know if I was going to like her at first but now she's my numero uno

omg hiiiii!!!!!! hope all is well with you!!! is that dandelionfall? is it cranestar? idk! fun fact tho that little epilogue was one of my fave things to write and match with the opening. also !! im so glad you like Pinefrost. i love how everyone loves her numero uno wet rat. (spoiler!) Endless Winter would have been cool as a split POV but unfortunately it is not : ( i do have Houndpelt and co POV work planned (and there is a Woolycloud mini fic)

[doyozen]

ROOM 37. haechan.

part 4. 6.8k words.

playlist here

in which she falls for the guitarist next door.

ft. jeno, renjun, jaemin, yangyang, xiaojun, kun, soobin, winter, yeji

genre enemies to lovers, band au

warning contains drinking, smoking, mature content, haechan is an asshole at first

❝that attitude of yours is awful,

lee haechan. i don't care how

hot you are.❞

❝you think i'm hot? how sweet.❞

stars luminated and danced in the night sky once the sun had fully set after the show. the friendgroup walked down the sidewalk under the lights of family businesses taking over the street, sticking close to one another as comfortable conversation filled the air.

the band had joined in on the friends strolling around tiresomely which had yangyang and xiaojun too interested in their lives as a local band, but sunny cautiously looked over her shoulder to scowl at their loud laughter. even haechan welcomed himself. even his girlfriend.

"are they dating?" jaemin asked to both yangyang and xiaojun silently, referring to youngmi and soobin holding hands.

xiaojun sighed as his thick eyebrows pushed together in thought, swishing the beer can in his hand around. "i actually have no idea."

"not officially," yangyang chimed in, "but i mean... look at them. they might as well put a title on it now."

"youngmi is kind of picky about the guys she dates so i have faith in this kid. he seems cool."

jaemin nodded, but stayed silent with nothing much to say about soobin, and the conversation about the pair remained short-lived.

youngmi kept her hand in soobins grasp as she became immersed in whatever it was sunny and eric talked about. mainly in attempt to drown out the voices from haechan and his girlfriend, the sound of their laughter that they didn't try to hard to conceal right behind her as they walked. her hand subconsciously squeezed soobins hand tighter when she suddenly felt insecure that they were laughing at her.

"dads started asking me for money again," youngja sighed as she twirled her fork around her food, feeling seemingly pull after a half empty plate.

the sisters sat in their favorite local diner together, as they did on their free time since kids. "really? you'd think him having a rich girlfriend the same age as you, he wouldn't have to do that anymore."

the elder shuttered at the thought, still feeling grossed out. "yeah, but apparently she wants to split up with him. i wish i could say i'm surprised but i'm used to it at this point."

as sad as it was, all three siblings were entirely used to watching their father go through girlfriends like nobodies business. they were all too familiar with him only contacting them when he needed something, even when they were kids, and once he started dating a woman the same age as youngja, they finally stopped having hope for his change.

"i wish he would just leave us alone forever," youngmi said, "i know he's our dad but life would legit be so much easier."

"i mean, i do too to an extent. i stopped believing he was gonna change but i don't know. something keeps telling me i shouldn't hold it against him if he ever actually wanted to change."

youngmi hummed, sipping on her lemonade. she didn't fully agree but she definitely understood where her big sister was coming from. "anything new with you lately?" youngja asked.

"i made some friends, met a guy, xiaojun came back, i hardly sleep at night because my neighbors kind of a dick. life is good." the two laughed at the final part of her sentence.

"i'm gonna need you to run that last one back."

youngmi huffed, "well, he's a guitar player and plays his little guitar for hours every single night and i hate to say it, but i think i got used to it."

"people can be assholes," youngja muttered, shaking her head at the thought.

and she was right.

"hey, i'm outside your place."

"...what?"

"sorry babe, i know it's early and sudden but can i ask you a favor?"

youngmi was barely awake when she answered a call from sunny, groggily humming as she stood up to go answer the door. sunny on the other side sent a wide grin. "good morning!”

the girl mumbled more incoherent words back as she moved to the side to allow her friend inside, still registering what was happening. sunny walked to the couch and plopped down, patting the seat next to her where youngmi trudged over lazily.

"what's up?" the younger yawned, her swollen eyes finally opening properly.

"can you come to dinner with me tonight?" she asked urgently.

"i'm flattered, but i only see you as a friend," youngmi joked back, earning a laugh and a light shove from the other.

"what i mean is, i have to go to dinner with my parents tonight but i cannot go alone. like i just can't. haechans bringing his girlfriend and it's bad enough that i have to hear my parents for an entire night, i don't wanna be a third-wheel in the process."

"not that i don't want to, but what about yeji or winter? or even eric?"

"the girls are busy and eric secretly can't stand my parents."

"okay, that sounds promising."

"i'm sorry, i know it sounds dreadful but i neeeeed you. i'll literally do anything."

the idea of spending a night with two adults she didn't know, a guy she can't stand, and his girlfriend (who she assumed was the same girl she met in the laundry room) who seemed just as bad as him, did not sound pleasing whatsoever. however, youngmi really had nothing better to do with her life. the least she could do was do this one favor for her friend.

"okay, yeah, i'll do it."

"holy shit, thank you," sunny sighed in relief, grabbing her friends face and placing a lingering kiss on her cheek, "i owe you. i'll pick you up tonight!"

the girl stood once sunny was out the place and had shut the door behind her. with another yawn, she moped back into her bedroom to go straight back to sleep.

hours later she was fully awake this time, no interruptions from friends asking for favors, no music or guitar playing. she now was rummaging through her clothes to find something decent to wear to dinner, awaiting a text back from sunny after asking her what she should wear.

when she finally responded and said it was quite the fancy restauraunt and to dress nice, she was in even more of a dilemma because she knew she hardly had a lot of clothes to begin with, let alone something formal. sunny seemed to have been too busy with something else to text back since when asked how nice, she kept it short by saying anything nice.

this didn't help at all.

youngmi decided finally with a plain black dress that hugged her body, one that she'd usually only wear on a normal summer day, but quite literally had no other option. she had no idea if it was too nice, especially paired with heals, but sunny had yet to open her phone and respond to the texts to the few mirror pictures sent from youngmi.

then by the time she did, she was already on her way to youngmis house and were running late. youngmi grabbed her things and quickly ran outside into the elevator and out the building.

"hi," she greeted sunny after she was inside her car, "i had no idea what to wear, i really hope this is okay."

"you look hot, please, and i'm wearing a dress too. if we were wearing anything else we'd be ridiculed by my mother."

"she sounds real nice."

the drive was silent, sunny growing more nervous as seconds went by and youngmi noticing her quietness and didn't want to further bother her by saying something stupid. the two were just a few minutes late, the others already seated and waiting.

"i see them," sunny said, stress clear in her voice. "if anything goes even a little bit left, we run."

youngmi laughed, though she was pretty sure sunny was completely serious, before their arms locked together and they went over to the table. her mom noticed them almost right away, a visible crease in her eyebrows from frowning an rapidly sending texts to her daughter asking when she'd arrive.

"sunhwa, you're late." she said, her voice low but just right amount of warning tone that easily made sunny fearful.

"i'm sorry, traffic was crazy," the daughter replied, leaning in to kiss her mother on the cheek before pulling away, "mom, this is my friend youngmi."

much like her son, their mother kept pretty much only one expression at all times. blank. her thin face accented by light makeup, the only pop of color being a bright red lip, only the smallest bit of wrinkles around her eyes with not even a slight grin.

"nice to meet you. mrs. lee, and that's my husband." the woman looked behind her and youngmi peered over her shoulder to give the man a slight wave, to which he responded with a friendly smile. "have a seat, ladies."

it was only then youngmi turned to make eye contact with haechan, as his eyes were glued to her the moment she made her presence at the table. she could see his piercings were gone, but didn't look for long as she sat down in between his girlfriend and sunny. the girl she met briefly in the laundry room made no attempt to seem even the slightest bit interested in the dinner, just latching onto haechan and her eyes looking everywhere that wasn't his parents.

sunny slipped her jacket off, twisting her body a bit to place it neatly on her chair when her mother scoffed. "i can't stand looking at those tattoos. you really ruined your body, sunhwa."

sunny kept her eyes ahead of her with a small sigh. "sorry you feel that way."

"i mean, how do you expect to get a real job with those? there's no way that can be ever deemed as professional."

"didn't we come here to eat? if i wanted to sit here and listen to you complain, i might as well just move back in with you." haechan stepped in, arms leaned against the table.

mrs. lee glared, lifting her head slightly before sucking her teeth. "right, okay."

"so youngmi," mr. lee began, trying to save the awkward atmosphere, "what do you do?"

"oh, i work at a record shop. i'm really big on music." the girl nodded, for some reason feeling embarrassed announcing her job to the table. the parents seemed well put together and probably expected more from her.

"really? my son here, he's in a band! they're amazing." the man beamed, smiling from ear to ear talking about his son.

"yeah, i've seen them. they're good!"

haechan couldn't have cared less about the conversation or the fact that he was being complimented, just stirring his straw around his glass mindlessly and slouching a bit in his chair like a child. he couldn't even bother at least saying thanks.

"i wish my kids would get real jobs." mrs. lee muttered.

"hey, didn't you say you make a good amount of money, doing gigs?" youngmi asked hesitantly, turning her attention to haechan and his eyes lighting up when he realized he was being spoken to.

"...yeah?" the boy replied with a 'so?' tone.

"money or not, it's not a career. he'll learn that someday."

"i have to use the bathroom," sunny interrupted as she stood up abruptly, "come with me."

before youngmi could think, sunny was practically dragging her to the bathroom, huffing loudly the second they were away.

"you see what i mean now, right? she drives me fucking insane." the girl rubbed her temples as if she felt a headache forming.

"she's kind of awful, i'm sorry."

"don't be. she is."

"i'm guessing that's haechans dad out there?"

sunny hummed with another sigh, turning to the mirror to fix her hair. "my dads a deadbeat, you'll probably never see him. i hardly even see him."

youngmi nodded at the situation that felt all too familiar. she was glad she at least wasn't alone in that. "do you wanna go? i can make up some dumb excuse to leave."

"nah, i'd never hear the end of it if i leave now. plus the food here is really expensive and really good, so we should stay here just to make my parents pay for our over-priced meal."

youngmi laughed, not fully hating the idea as she was just glad sunnys parents even offered to pay for everyones meals because the prices were nearly as much as her rent. the pair took their sweet time fixing themselves up in the restrooms to pass time before gathering back up the courage to get back to the table.

the rest of the meal was spent with more of their mothers complaining, bickering, haechans girlfriend speaking about absolute nonsense, haechan hardly speaking himself unless it was to protest about something he didn't agree with, and youngmi silently watching everything go down while chowing down on her food.

"thank you for dinner," she thanked mr. and mrs. lee, bowing politely before leaving the place as quickly as possible once it was over.

"we survived!" sunny exclaimed dramatically as the four young adults stood outside the restaurant, the sun fully set and now a fully luminated moon in the sky.

"i'm gonna wait in the car." the girlfriend huffed, moving her legs without waiting for anyone to respond.

sunnys eyes followed her, a glare and even a slight snarl over her face. "why are you still dating her?"

haechan, who held a cigarette stick between his lips and dug through his pockets for a lighter, turned to look at his sister. "because i like her, obviously."

"she's a dick. you really know how to attract your own kind."

"very funny."

before sunny could further insult him, she felt her phone vibrating from her purse and pulled it out. youngmi watched as her frown quickly turned into an annoyed expression. "i'll be back." was all she said before turning on her heal back into the restauraunt.

awkward silence filled the air with the occasional sound of the wind drifting past and light huffs of haechan exhaling smoke from this mouth. the two stood just inches apart from each other, but youngmi couldn't even look his direction. though she's called him names that aren't very nice, told him his head was big enough for her to further inflate his ego, but now she felt herself practically shaking in his presence.

"why'd you come?" he was first to speak up this time, startling youngmi as she finally looked his way.

"um, sunny asked me to."

"hm."

thinking he was going to say more, youngmi kept her attention on him and when she realized he was done, turned her head back with both embarrassment and confusion.

she took in a breath before reluctantly opening her mouth again. "i feel like we... we got off on the wrong foot. so, i wanna apologize for the stuff i said to you. that's not the type of person i am."

the dark-haired boy still kept his eye ahead of him, taking in another hit of the stick, it at this point being nothing but a nub before he let it fall to the ground. "you wanna apologize?"

"yeah, that's what i said."

now that youngmis eyes were ahead of her was only when haechan finally turned to look at her before chuckling lightly. "you'd be more likable if you weren't so... cautious of the things you say. you think i'm an arrogant, mediocre guitar playing, big-headed asshole? then fine, think that."

in simple words, that wasn't quite the response she was expecting. "i'd be more likable? that's so... that's just rude. i try to be nice to you but you have not once said a word to be that wasn't just fucking rude."

"the more you say it, the more i start to believe it."

"you shouldn't be proud of that."

"never said i was."

"you act like it."

a stupid little sly grin was now over the boys lips as he glanced at her again before looking straight ahead of him. "so you want me to say sorry now, or what?"

"not if its insincere, which i know it will be so don't bother." her voice got quieter as she grew more annoyed, crossing her arms.

"not a problem, youngmi," with his tone in voice emphasizing the way he said her name, she didn't get a chance to say anything back before he was walking to his car.

"oh my god, is that the park youngmi?" was the very first thing yangyang said when youngmi entered the doors of the record store. a frown followed by a laugh left her as she set her bag down.

"the hell you on about?"

"two of the guys in that band came by, asking for you," he said with a playful grin, "renjun and jaemin, i think? something like that."

the shorter froze in her feet for a moment, the frown reappearing. "...did they say why?"

"no. i told them you wouldn't be here until later and then they just went on buying records and shit."

youngmi nodded slowly, not sure of how to reply and couldn't think of any reason why them, of all people, would be asking for her. "that's weird."

"weird as hell. but like, also, can't even lie, they seem so cool. like they're in a band, and they just do whatever they want. is that not so sick to you?" the boy beamed, following youngmi around, as he usually did during their shifts.

"yeah it's cool, i guess," she replied, obviously not that interested in the conversation. "you can always be friends with them if you think they're so cool."

"um, wasn't it you saying not to get involved with them? for whatever reason?" yangyang said, crossing his arms. "no! all because you hate haechan. that's why."

a glare was shot quicker than yangyang could think from youngmi, but she realized he was right. "maybe i was wrong. not about haechan, about the other ones. because i know first hand that haechan is a prick, but from what i've seen from the other guys, maybe they're not all that bad."

youngmi was never the type to judge people based on first impressions, or gossip, because she knew she'd hate if people did that to her. the band, besides her neighbor, seemed normal as far as she'd seen. although her new friends seemed entirely sure of their opinions, and that the best option was just to stay away, maybe it wasn't really fair to do that.

"right, but, i've never seen so many people so interested in getting to know you. no offense."

"me neither."

it didn't stop there, of course. yangyang had left work while youngmi was just in the beginning of her shift, just in time for soobin to come strutting in. his big eyes lit up when they landed on youngmi, the corners of his lips curving upwards as he walked his tall body her way.

his hands behind his back and a lively expression on his face. "i brought you something."

confused, but still way too happy to see him, youngmi placed all of her attention on him. "yeah?"

he pulled his hands from behind his back, revealing an iced drink in his hand, which youngmi immediately thought there couldn't be anything more perfect on such a hot day. "for me?!"

"yes, duh," he chuckled, "here."

the girl happily took the drink from his hands, sipping on it and thanking him. "you didn't have to, but thank you."

"no, of course, i wanted to," soobin replied, leaning his side into a shelf, "i also wanted to ask if you were free tomorrow night?"

"yeah, i should be. what's up?"

"can i take you out on a date?"

the simple question that easily made youngmis heart beat faster than usual. the straw between her teeth bent down as a toothy grin formed while she nodded. "yes, you can."

the taller smiled the second he saw her smiling, his stomach twisting and turning at the sight, even more so when she agreed, trying hard to seem confident when he was really internally losing it. "okay! be ready by 6."

cliché was the word to use, but it didn't feel right to youngmi. she'd never met such a gentleman in her life and he was so her type, for the first time ever she was anticipating a date.

her sudden glow was so prominent for the rest of her shift, even kun was looking at her like she had two heads until she was fully out the door. unable to wait until she was home, youngmi spent the entire car ride gushing to sunny on the phone about the date, the girl on the other line being just as excited.

"i'm here," the sound of sunnys voice followed by the front door being slammed shut echoed through out the small space, "i came as quick as possible, but i can’t stay long. what's up, babe?”

youngmi had tried on about 5 different outfits in the span of 5 whole minutes, doing twirls and poses in her body length mirror, being completely unsatisfied with every single one of them. sunny happened to enter the place as she wore a tight lacy dress she bought when she was 18 without the intention of even wearing it.

"holy shit," she gasped, "you're fucking hot. tell me you're wearing that."

"thank you, but absolutely not. this is too... much. it's too much, right?" the girl huffed, getting ready to pry the dress off but was cut off by a knock at the door.

the two girls looked at each other, each with widened eyes of both fear and confusion. "...soobin?"

it was nowhere near 6.

youngmi stepped her bare feet out of the room and to the front door, sunny following closely behind to ensure she was there if someone needed to get knocked out. youngmi stepped up, looking through the peephole before turning back to sunny.

"who is it?"

"the guys, from the band? the one we saw?"

sunnys head cocked back in surprise, that being the last thing she expected to hear, and got ready to tell her friend not to open the door but was beat to it when youngmi swung the door open.

the three boys she knew as jeno, renjun, and jaemin stood on the other side, in their usual dark clothes and messy hair and piercing in their face and ears, paired with silver jewelry. they looked as if they were positive on having something to say once the door was opened, but suddenly couldn't even remember what it was when seeing youngmi in such a tight dress.

once she saw them eyeing her body with slightly parted lips, she quickly grew shy and crossed her arms. another minute went by with no one saying anything, and sunny couldn't stand it. "what do you dickheads want?"

"hm? oh," jeno was the first to speak up, "we were chilling at hyucks and he told us youngmi lived here, so we're saying hi!"

"okay! you said it! bye!" sunny wanted badly to urge them away, but they insisted.

"sunny, babe, when will you become nicer to us?" jaemin teased, his perfect playful smile over his lips.

the girls face twisted in disgust at the nickname, "don't call me babe. if you don't need anything else, be on your way—"

"what are we talking about?"

behind the guys of three, haechan appeared, entering the conversation which only made sunny become more irritated. youngmi still hadn't said a word, on the other hand, watching everything go down in her too revealing of a dress that all she wanted to do was change out of.

while her eyes were glued somewhere else, haechan couldn't help but notice the attire over her body. "you gonna invite us in, or what?"

youngmis eyes lifted up from whatever it was she stared at, getting ready to snap at haechan about how she didn't need to do anything before remembering who else was in front of her. the others didn't protest, perked up eyebrows as if they were waiting for her to invite them in, and she found it rude not to.

"um, come in," she said quietly, moving to the side to allow them in fully before closing the door. sunny grabbed onto her wrist before she could go anywhere. "i wish i could stay so you wouldn't have to be alone with these dorks, but i have work. let me know how the date goes, alright?"

youngmi nodded with a small smile, gently squeezing the girls hand. "don't worry about it, and i got you."

as the older stepped out of the door, closing it behind her, youngmi then realized she was fully alone with four boys she hardly knew. "it's crazy how identical your apartments are, yet youngmis is so much cleaner." renjun commented, plopping onto the couch.

"thank you?" the girl chuckled, "uh, i'm gonna change."

"change? why? you look good!" jaemin beamed.

she quickly felt her cheeks heat up from the compliment. "too revealing, but thank you." and scurried away into her room before the redness on her face became too noticable.

though she still had no idea what she was going to wear, she stripped out of the dress and rummaged through the pile of clothes she already went through piece by piece, settling with a mini skirt and a cute blouse, deciding it was just going to have to be good enough.

the four had already made themselves comfortable in her place, tv blaring and arguing over what to watch, haechan in the kitchen head first in the fridge. if it was anyone else, youngmi really wouldn't have minded, but everything haechan did just irked her soul.

her faint footsteps stopped just as he stood tall to look her in the eye, being the only two in the room with just the view of the back of the other guys' heads in their sight.

"why do you not have any alcohol?"

"i..." she started, feeling small, "i don't really drink. that's why."

"you should. i feel like you could use letting loose a little bit."

youngmi couldn't stand how condescending his tone was whenever speaking to her. he was always sarcastic, but never in the way it was when just talking to her. "i don't like it, so no thanks."

her arm reached down into the fridge, hand grasping at a water bottle but was stopped by being caught in haechans grasp. a small gasp left her lips, but he seemed unphased. "where are you going dressed like that?"

"a date."

"a date? like that?" a hoarse chuckle left his lips, making youngmis confident smirk leave her lips.

the two now too close to each other for her liking, her being able to see every single detail over his face, youngmi snatched her wrist away. "i didn't ask you for fashion advice, asshole."

"all good, sweetheart. whoever's taking you out must be really lucky." with his expression so blank, youngmi couldn't tell if he was genuine or not, but quickly realized he likely wasn't because that was just the person he was.

as it always went when talking to haechan, youngmi wasn't able to get another word out before the boy walked past her to the living room where the others were. youngmi inhaled a breath before exhaling deeply, reminding herself silently not to let this guy push her buttons as much as he was clearly intending to. giving him the reaction he was so craving would only motivate him further.

the clique had barely been in her home for no more than five minutes before youngmi decided she needed them to go to get ready.

"excuse me," she called politely, catching all four heads turning her way, "um, i have to get ready so.. sorry to cut your time short?"

they looked at her for another second, processing what she was saying, before standing up hastily. "no problem. sorry for bothering, love." renjun apologized.

"no, no! it's all good, just... yeah. you guys seem cool though, maybe another time?"

jenos hands found haechans shoulders, squeezing tightly as his eyes stared down youngmi while walking past her to the door until they were gathered near it.

admittedly, she almost felt bad kicking them out. they genuinely seemed like nice guys, as much as sunny wanted her to believe otherwise. she hoped this wasn't just her taking the too-trusting route over the safe route, giving them the benefit of the doubt, and wouldn't regret it at some point.

a tense sigh left youngmis lips as she read the text on her phone from soobin, telling her he was just outside her apartment building. somehow the outfit and hair she decided she was satisfied with looked awful to her suddenly, and she went back to her room before realizing it was definitely too late to change and left.

she was so nervous that she started overanalyzing every thing she was doing, from the way she held her purse, to the way she walked outside and approached soobins car. there was no doubt that she possibly looked like she had a cramp in her leg with the way her short legs moved.

once the boy heard footsteps his way, his head perked up while he was leaned against his car, immediately standing up straight with his signature charming smile that sent crazy butterflies to youngmis stomach. she felt her relax a bit when she noticed he was dressed pretty much the same as her, formal but not too formal as if they were going to a ball.

"wow, you look stunning," he complimented.

refraining herself from rejecting the compliment, youngmi waved him off. "ah, thank you! you look good!"

"thank you! just like, 5 minutes ago, i saw haechan and the guys leave."

"really? did you talk to them?"

"yeah, um, jaemin said you look really pretty. he was right." the boy laughed awkwardly.

"oh, yeah, they stopped at my place to say hi. i told you that haechans my neighbor, right?"

soobins already high eyebrows perked up, shaking his head lightly, as if the news was more surprising than it should've been. "he is?"

youngmi hummed in response and the two didn't say anything else as soobin opened the passenger door, a flustered grin growing on her face as she stepped inside before he went on the other side.

the night was warm, as it was during summer nights, cool air from the car air conditioning causing goosebumps to cover youngmis bare arms and legs. the excited smile couldn't leave her face as soobin drove the bumpy roads and past the little buildings on each street.

"where are we going?" she turned to ask, unable to fight the curiosity.

the grin on his face further grew, but his eyes remained on the road. "there's this restaurant i really like not too far, and i wanted to take you there because the food is amazing."

they passed all the typical restaurants youngmi has seen and even been to herself, all cheap and easy but had some really good food. she didn't make a whole lot of money, and spent way too much time at family owned places and fast food services that quickly got tiring before she decided she definitely needed to start cooking for herself.

the last thing she expected however, was for soobin to pull into one of the most expensive places in town. even from the outside it was obvious the place was not cheap, with its fancy build and beautiful lights on the outside. not to mention it was huge, much bigger than an average restaurant.

the girl gasped lightly when she realized they weren't driving past. "soobin... this place is—”

"i know, i know," he laughed, "it's probably too much, it's just—when i like someone, i wanna be spontaneous and all that. i hope you don't mind."

don't mind? this is outrageous. "no! no, it's perfect, you're perfect. this is so expensive, i just... i can't afford it."

after fully putting the car in park, soobin turned his head to look at her. "youngmi, that's okay. you didn't think i asked you out to make you pay, did you?"

"no! of course not, but seriously i can't let you—"

youngmi stopped herself when she felt the boy grab onto her hand, not letting her further talk herself out of letting him do something nice. "hey, i promise it's fine. i got it!"

his doe eyes made it impossible for her to say no, just nodding her head as the two stepped out of the vehicle and walked inside together arm in arm. the sound of chatter hugged youngmis ears and she instantly felt out of place, watching people who more than clearly looked like they had a lot of money eat their exquisite meals.

she hated when people did anything for her, of course she was grateful, but she felt bad people wasting their time on her even if it was the smallest thing. she knew she was going to have to do something even better for soobin after this, she just didn't know what.

a hostess didn't waste a second lifting his eyes at the sound of the door being pushed open, a friendly smile formed over his lips. the talking from the people surrounding them made it hard to hear, but soobin held up two fingers and the hostess nodded, immediately understanding and signaling for them to follow.

youngmis arm found its way hooked into his own, keeping her body close to his as they past tables of guests enjoying their over-priced small-portioned meals.

just moments later they were sat a cornered table, a booth with a perfectly round cushion with just enough room to give space between the two. a menu was handed to each of them, giving a kind smile to the hostess before they left the two alone.

the night was luminous with stars and the infatuated pair sat with plates of expensive food half eaten in front of them, other guests already begun leaving but youngmis ears were occupied with soobins chatter with stories from when he was younger.

he had endless things to talk about, and she loved listening to it. she just couldn't relate to a single thing he said. their lives were incredibly different and it almost felt embarrassing comparing her troubled childhood to his, which seemed perfect.

eventually the conversations died down and nothing else was left to be talked about, awkward silence filling the air between them while their eyes wandered everywhere but each others.

"should we head out?" the boy asked, eyes glancing between the food they were no longer touching.

youngmi hadn't realized her slight slouch until the question made her sit up straight immediately. "yeah, definitely."

after a check had been paid, the two were walking out the doors of the restaurant and to soobins car. his hands tapped against the steering wheel during the quiet drive to distract himself from feeling a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere, while youngmis stayed on her lap with her eyes on the road ahead.

for the event that had youngmis heart beating out of her chest the entire day, she hated how in that moment she was just a little disappointed with the outcome. with it being the first real date she's ever been on, she didn't fully know what to expect or how she was supposed to feel by the end of it.

too tuned into her thoughts, she hadn't realized where they were until she felt soobin slow down in front of her apartment building. a hand brushed through her hair to get it out of her face before turning to the boy, who was already looking at her with a small grin.

"that was really fun," he spoke quietly, as if the moment was delicate. youngmi nodded, too immersed in the way he looked at her as he unbuckled both of their seatbelts.

snapping back to reality, the girl followed his movements and opened the car door, stepping out into darkness with nothing but a street lamp giving light to the two. the atmosphere was still warm, just a breeze giving a slight chill across their bodies.

stopping just outside the doors of the building, they turned to each other. "thank you, so much for dinner. i did have a great time and you were right, the food was amazing."

the pair stood in silence for a moment and youngmi could've sworn she was hallucinating when she saw him slowly lean in. it wasn't until his eyes started to flutter closed when she panicked and jumped back. "uh—sorry."

fuck this is so embarrasing.

"oh! no, sorry. sorry. i don't know what i was thinking," the boy pulled back, awkwardly holding his nape. "i'll get going."

the girl could feel herself wanting to curl up into a ball and pray for the awkward feeling to go away. the second soobin was out of sight her hand flung up to her forehead.

"what a way to reject someone," the sound of another's voice caused youngmi to jump ten feet into the air, turning her head in the direction of the sound just in time to catch haechan dropping a cigarette to the ground and squashing it with the tip of his feet.

"jesus—what are you doing here?" the girl asked, holding a hand to her pounding heart.

with one hand shoved in his pocket, he gestured with the other one the bud he'd just dropped, "smoking. obviously."

his tongue grazed over his ringed lip as his eyes moved to hers, watching her blank expression move into pure irritation while a heavy sigh left her lips. he didn't move his vision away when she didn't say another word, just opening the doors and walking inside. his head shook slightly, fighting laughter behind a small grin as he followed her inside.

"not gonna tell me how your date went?" he taunted, standing beside her when she stopped at the elevator.

"don't follow me."

"we live on the same floor, darling, i can't not follow you."

youngmi kept her eyes ahead at the elevator door that opened after what felt like forever, stepping inside while haechan followed after.

"is it safe to assume it didn't go great?" he asked again once the door was closed.

"no, it went great, haechan." she muttered.

the taller felt himself freeze up at hearing her say his name, relaxing quickly and going back to his usual self before he thought too much into it. "yeah? why didn't you kiss him then?"

honestly? because it didn't feel right. maybe because it was only our first date, maybe the fact i feel like we didn't click and we might never click after this. "some people don't kiss on the first date, believe it or not."

haechan chuckled. "some people are pussies."

"what? no?" the girl exclaimed, dropping her crossed arms to her sides.

"never said it was a bad thing. if you wanna be a pussy, go for it."

a scoff instantly left youngmis mouth as she shook her head, a million different things to say back running through her mind but didn't want to give him what he wanted, though it pained her not sending some snarky remark back to him.

silence fell between them with nothing but muffled elevator music playing, and though they were only going to the third floor, it felt like the they were on their way past the clouds. youngmi hadn't realized how close together they stood until the light scent of cologne entered her nostrils. it was the farthest thing from overbearing, so pale of smell that it just made haechan that much more attractive.

he let out a huff as he impatiently rocked on the heels of his feet, his hands shoved into his pockets with his elbow occasionally brushing against her body. the small motion easily caused her heart to beat faster than it should've been.

when the elevator door finally slid open, she practically flew out of there with haechan slowly trailing behind as they walked to their doors.

youngmi felt the breeze from his body as he passed her to his own, pulling out his keys lazily in contrast to her rummaging through her purse as if her life depended on it.

he seemed the notice the eagerness the second his eyes moved her way, as he was always so entertained watching her do anything. "that eager to get away from me, huh?"

the girl finally lifted and turned her head to make eye contact with him. "do you ever have anything, you know, not sarcastic to say?"

haechan tapped his index finger to his chin; sarcastically, pretending he was thinking hard about what to say next. "probably not."

a small sigh fell from youngmis face. "you're such an asshole." before finally jamming the keys into the doorknob and twisting open her apartment door.

part 1

part 2

part 3

taglist (comment to be on it) @matchahyuck @sundamariis

[seriously-mike]

Elephant on the Road

or, How I Had To Re-Learn How To Drive After Two Decades

As you know, my father died over a year ago, leaving not only his apartment with a fully-stocked fridge, but also his car - a 2000 Nissan Patrol, at that point disassembled and split between a mechanic and a body shop, with the extensive repairs paid only halfway. A year later, it was finally put back together, with 3/4s of the drivetrain replaced, the frame rust-proofed and a new coat of Raptor finish in graphite color. Then, it stood at the local parking lot for five goddamn months before I got the courage to get behind the wheel and drive it.

So holy shit, there I was, trying to wriggle a two-ton War Elephant out of its parking space, some guy's shiny new Mercedes to the left, three trucks behind me and zero knowledge how the whole thing behaves - acceleration, braking, turn radius, I knew fuck-all about that. But, with some slight fettling, I got out of the parking space, out of the parking lot's gate and OHMOTHERFUCKERITURNEDTOOHARD. Literally, I turned the steering wheel too hard, jumped the curb, ran over the remnants of a decorative fence all of four inches tall and swung the car back onto the road in the initial stages of a heart attack.

Fuck. And I mean, FFFFFFFUCK. Turned out that the two-ton War Elephant has really nice power steering for a beast slightly more than half my age and I need to turn gently. So, down the street I go, letting the pedestrians cross the road as they have the right of way on crossings without traffic lights, the brakes aren't that bad either, the soundtrack from Brutal Legend is blasting from the radio because my dad bought one with an USB port long ago and then asked me to make a thumb drive with his favorite songs on it (which I, sadly, failed to do), I'm GOING. Baby, am I going. But then, I have to turn into the large avenue and I'm all kinds of afraid what's gonna happen then.

So, apparently, the first rule of the road is "act like everyone else, and nobody will suspect you don't have a driver's license" (I actually do, for the record, I just didn't have a car for the last two decades and the last one I had to drive was a rusted-out fifth-gen Nissan Sunny with a busted manual gearbox that had issues with switching gears). So I'm rolling down the avenue, regulation 50 per (km/h, mind you), and I haven't even killed anyone yet. I'm even using turn signals, correctly, because the War Elephant has an American dashboard with two separate turn indicator lights so I know whether I'm flashing left or right. So, off to the right lane and I tuuuurn right into another avenue.

Much to my joy, I see a "Speed Limit: 80" sign on the overpass (this one is a part of the large transit road through the town), so I floor it. I floor it so eagerly to keep on the tail of the guy before me that I go all the way to 100 per before noticing and gently slow down back to 80 before hitting the tunnel.

I fucking knew I forgot something, and that something were the headlights. Halfway into the tunnel, I turn the headlight knob, swearing and hoping that no undercover cop car saw me. Okay, now we're driving 100% legit, only one car honked at me, no hits, no scrapes, I stay in my line like a motherfucking tram. Off a roundabout that isn't a fucking roundabout (who even named it like that?!), down another street and after some more uneventful ride I arrive at my dad's former apartment to pick up some junk from the basement. Hell, even parallel parking was easy because someone was nice enough to leave a car and a half's worth of space between the two already there.

I forgot to turn off the lights, as you can see in the photo, because I'm a derp and I haven't figured out what the incessant pinging after turning the engine off meant. So I take the photo, notice the lights on, open the car again, turn the lights off and head to the basement to pick up the junk.

Coming back was a bit more difficult, mostly due to me being unable to tell which of the three turns left was the correct one (note to self, it's the third one, the largest), but it resulted in an "always wanted to say that" moment when some absolute fuckwad decided to cut from the right lane all the way to the left and up the overpass, prompting me to go "Turning left from the right lane, you unschooled dickwad?! Last time I've seen idiots like you in Night City!"

[themattress]

THE TOP 5 BEST AND WORST DEEDS OF ONCE UPON A TIME’S MAINSTAY VILLAINS

THE EVIL QUEEN (REGINA): 1. Confronting Tinker Bell - The first wholly altruistic, no-strings-attached deed Regina does in the show’s present-day narrative happens early into Season 3, where she splits from the rest of the “Nevengers” in Neverland in order to confront Tinker Bell, who plans to murder her. Regina risks her own life, fully accepting the fact that she might die and probably deserves to, in order to convince Tinker Bell to help the rest of her group save Henry. And afterwards, she even reconnects with Tinker Bell as a friend, in full honesty. It’s a legit great moment for her.

2. Atonement on the Town Line - In order to stop Peter Pan’s out-of-control Dark Curse from killing everyone, Regina reverses the effects of her original Dark Curse so that it cancels it out. This means that she and everyone else from the Enchanted Forest will return there, and she has to give up Henry, since he and Emma will stay behind and forget everything. She does so gracefully, and even gifts Emma and Henry with good memories of a life where Emma never gave Henry up for adoption. She even accepts that she was a villain and that this painful personal sacrifice is karma for her years of atrocities. Damn it, why couldn’t she have just stayed like this!? Her character regression did no-one any favors, least of all her.

3. Evil vs. Wicked - The writing for it may not have always been the best, but everything that Regina did in Season 3′s second story arc as she and the others struggled against Zelena was totally on the up and up. Splitting Snow White and Charming’s hearts so that the latter could survive, not succumbing to her obsession with Henry and being willing to forge a new type of relationship with him, training Emma in magic, opening herself up to a new romance with Robin Hood, defending Snow from Cora’s wrathful spirit, and ultimately saving the day while also sparing her half-sister’s life in order to give her the same kind of second chance she got....all of that was good and further showed a Regina that was capable of true nobility.

4. Saving “Maid Marian” - Yeah, I know she technically killed Marian in the original timeline. But in the present day, she saved her life three times: first from a snow monster, then from the freezing curse that Ingrid the Snow Queen put her over, and then insisting that Robin Hood take her across the town line when it looked like staying in Storybrooke was making her deathly ill. Being willing to give up the man she loved to save his other love interest is heroic no matter how you slice it. If only it really had been Marian and that last one not a total con...

5. Partaking in Operation Firebird - While this one certainly could have been better, with her taking an active role in confronting her dead victims and helping them move on, I will begrudgingly admit that her signing on to Operation Firebird in the Underworld and being in support of it at all shows some measure of decency, even if somewhat selfishly motivated. -----------

1. The Huntsman - She ripped the man’s heart out, used it to control him which included raping him, and when he finally defied her as Sheriff Graham in Storybrooke, she crushed his heart, murdering him. That she completely got away with this remains a sore spot for many.

2. Razing Villages - Men, women and children were murdered. Families were torn apart. Hearts were ripped out to create new slaves. And why did she do any of this? For the lolz.

3. Wedding Crasher - I don’t mean Snow and Charming’s wedding; no no, I’m talking about the time she encountered a random civilian wedding being held on her lands without her permission and when the groom tried to apologize for this, she ripped his heart out and crushed it. Killing him in front of his friends, family and now widowed bride. What. The. Hell!?

4. The Failsafe - In the case of the curse breaking and her losing her grip on Storybrooke, Regina prepared what amounts to a magical nuke that would wipe the town and its entire population off the face of the Earth. And she was fully ready and willing to use it, only helping to stop it once it was forcibly taken away from her and used in a way that endangered Henry.

5. Casting the Dark Curse - This one was a given. Killing her own father to enact a curse that would upend the lives of countless people and trap them in a never-ending day-to-day cycle of misery where she reigns supreme over them all, just to satisfy a petty grudge? It’s pretty damn heinous. The only thing worse would be enacting a curse that forcibly merged all realms together without their inhabitants’ consent and her getting to reign supreme over the whole magical universe. But no, that would be way too stupid, so I won’t bother considering it.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN (MR. GOLD): 1. His One Phone Call - When Gold is dying from Dreamshade poisoning inflicted by Hook in the middle of Season 2, he calls an amnesiac Belle on the phone and gives her a heartfelt speech about who she really is and what she meant to him, all for the purpose of providing her with comfort and the strength to carry on living a good life in spite of her memory loss.

2. Embracing his Father - In a deadly embrace. When Peter Pan is about to kill his loved ones, Gold makes the ultimate sacrifice, using his enchanted shadow to root his father to the spot while he thrusts the Dark One Dagger in his back. When Pan tries to tempt him to stop with promises of a happy ending, Gold simply replies that he’s a villain and that villains don’t get happy endings, right before literally twisting the knife and obliterating the both of them.

3. Choosing to Forget - When the Rumple of the past forces a time-traveling Emma to reveal that his son Baelfire dies in the future, he is tempted to alter time in order to prevent that from happening even though it could risk worse things occurring. But when Emma pleads with him to respect his son’s heroic sacrifice and not potentially condemn him all over again, Rumple gives in and drinks a memory potion to forget he ever heard anything of the future.

4. Doing the Right Thing - During the Final Battle, Gold is tempted by both his mother Fiona and the embodiment of the Darkness taking Rumple’s shape to do the wrong thing for the sake of power yet again. But finally realizing he can’t bypass the price of magic, Gold refuses to give in, doing the right thing and saving his son Gideon’s heart...and Emma’s life as well.

5. Unlikely Friendships - As Rumple and later as Weaver, he forges a tight bond of friendship with both Alice/Tilly and her father, Wish Realm Hook/Rogers, looking past the latter’s resemblance to his former nemesis. This friendship ultimately leads him to sacrifice his life to save Rogers from Wish Realm Rumple, even risking not reuniting with Belle in the afterlife because he now knows you do right for right’s sake, not for the sake of a reward. ----------- 1. Killing his wife twice - In a fit of entitled rage when he discovers his wife Mliah left him for a pirate, Rumple rips out her heart and crushes it.  Later, he actually reconciles with her in the Underworld as Gold, only to end up betraying her as part of a deal with Hades - throwing her into the River of Lost Souls which erases her individual personhood; basically re-killing her.

2. Abandoning his son - The act that drove Rumple into complete madness: letting go of his son’s hand and allowing him to fall through a portal to another world, all because he never got past childhood trauma and was too scared of the possibility of living without his power. So much pain and suffering followed for so many people, all because of this one cowardly deed.

3. The Sorcerer’s Hat - Everything that Rumple / Gold did in his quest to harness the power of the Sorcerer’s Hat in the first half of Season 4, both past and present, was an example of the great cruelty and selfishness he is capable of. It was particularly bad in the present, where Gold’s recent trauma at the hands of Zelena convinced him all he can ever be is a villain, and as a result there is no line he’s not willing to cross in his pursuit of absolute power.

4. Beauty and the Domestic Abuser - Yeah, from lying to her in his wedding proposal all the way to trying to force her pregnancy to speed up so that he can kidnap her baby, Gold was the definition of an emotionally and psychologically abusive husband to Belle. Then again, given what he did to his first wife, are we really all that surprised? Stopping short of killing Belle hardly lessens the myriad of other ways he harmed her throughout their marriage.

5  The Darkest Dark One - When there was a real chance to destroy the Darkness once and for all, Gold sabotaged it, betraying the heroes and re-absorbing the Darkness that was now fully charged by the souls of all past Dark Ones, becoming the most powerful Dark One ever. And he has no remorse for it, fully accepting it as proof of the kind of selfish man he truly is.

CAPTAIN HOOK (KILLIAN JONES): 1. Neverland - It was Hook that allowed the Nevengers to reach Neverland in order to save Henry by coming back with the magic bean in the Season 2 finale, Hook who provided the ship they sailed upon, Hook who guided them through the terrain he knew well, Hook who saved David’s life, Hook who was responsible for rescuing Neal, and Hook who followed Emma’s lead at all times to see the mission through to its success. He was excellent here.

2. Bringing Emma Home - Trading his beloved Jolly Roger and his career as a pirate for a magic bean, Hook travels to NYC to restore Emma’s memories so that she can return to Storybrooke and save her family, all for a love that he fully accepts may remain unrequited. 

3. Making Amends - Several times, Hook wrongs someone, only to later redeem himself by fixing his mistakes. Aurora, Belle, David, Neal, Ariel, Ursula, Nemo, Liam...the list goes on.

4. Sacrificing his life four times - First in the alternate reality that Isaac creates in order to buy Emma and Henry time to escape, then in Camelot in order to save Snow’s life, then as Dark Hook in order to vanquish the Darkness and save Emma and her family, and finally in the Underworld where he gives up on ever finding a way to return to the land of the living so that Emma can make it out on time. For Emma and her family, Hook will truly do anything.

5. Repairing the Broken Kingdom - In the Underworld, Hook teams up with the man who killed him, King Arthur, in order to help Emma. He shows Arthur his passionate dedication and nobility, making the king rethink how he lived his life. At one point, Hook even saves Arthur from being dragged into the River of Lost Souls. Together, the two of them play an pivotal role in Hades’ downfall, and because of Hook’s influence, King Arthur goes on to become the new ruler of the Underworld who restores all the lost souls and reshapes the whole despair-ridden realm into a place of hope and healing. Understandably, Zeus deems this proof that Hook is a True Hero, and thus restores him to life so that he may reunite with his True Love, Emma. ----------- 1. Taking Ursula’s Song - A meeting with the mermaid Ursula almost reforms Hook during his villainous years, but then in order to spite her father he steals her singing voice, the thing that brought her the most joy. This leads to Ursula finally snapping and becoming a villain.

2. Killing David’s Father - Hook killed David’s father....who was literally about to be killed anyway....so that he wouldn’t tell anyone he robbed a carriage belonging to King George and killed his soldiers...even though a pirate thrives off reputation and should want his crimes to be known. Yeah, I’m not sure what the Hell went on with this one. It was so fucking dumb.

3. Stealing Aurora’s Heart - In order to restore his alliance with Cora, Hook stole Aurora’s heart while she was sleeping then manipulated her into thinking he was on her side by setting her free. It was all a ruse so that he could give Cora her heart to control her with, allowing the two of them to set a trap for Emma, Snow and Mulan. His smug attitude about pulling it off and his vicious taunting of Emma once she fell into the trap only made this evil deed worse.

4. Shooting Belle - Aboard the deck of the Jolly Roger, Belle convinces Gold to spare Hook’s life, and how does he repay her for this? Shooting her in the back so that she falls across the town line, causing her to lose all her memories. To be fair, he did want to die...

5. Pawn of Darkness - When Emma turned Hook into a Dark One against his will and even attempted to control him with the Dagger, he regressed into his old depressed nihilism and became a willing servant to Nimue’s sinister agenda, crushing Merlin’s heart to enact the Dark Curse and, once back in Storybrooke, bringing the souls of Nimue and the other past Dark Ones to the land of the living in order to exact his revenge on both Gold and Emma.

THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST (ZELENA): 1. Aiding Belle - In the Underworld, Belle comes seeking Zelena’s aid when she wants to be put under a Sleeping Curse so that her baby isn’t born in the Underworld where Hades can take it. Zelena gives it to her out of an unexpected feeling of empathy toward the “bookworm”.

2. Killing Hades - After Hades kills Robin Hood, his Olympian Crystal winds up in Zelena’s hands. Defying his urges for her to kill her sister Regina so that they can “have everything”, Zelena stabs Hades with it, disintegrating him and finally putting an end to his reign of terror.

3. Giving Up Her Magic - When the Black Fairy tricks her into imbuing crystals with her magic that can then be used to produce the fairy dust needed to start the Final Battle, Zelena prevents this from happening by giving up her magic altogether. After having lived in her sister’s shadow for so long, she finally was able to do something Regina was never able to.

4. Crash Course - She hits the Black Fairy with a car. That is all.

5. Motherhood - Under the name of Kelly, Zelena ended up becoming a pretty great mother to Robin / Margot, putting her wicked ways behind her and raising her daughter to be a hero. --------- 1. Her Tyranny in Oz - An obvious one. She’s the Wicked Witch of the West. Duh.

2. The Death of Neal - Tricking Neal into signing his own death warrant in order to have Rumple resurrected was a truly nasty deed, one she never shows any kind of remorse for.

3. Caging Rumple - After killing Neal, Zelena used the Dark One Dagger to enslave the newly resurrected Rumple, keeping him locked up in a cage and doing everything she could to make him feel helpless and vulnerable out of pure sadistic spite, while also kind of forcing herself on him. The trauma this caused him directly led to Gold’s relapse into pure villainy.

4. The Maid Marian Switch - Traveling back in time, Zelena kills an unconscious Marina in order to absorb her appearance into a glamour charm, making herself appear to be her. Returning to the present with Emma and Hook, she then willfully kept Robin Hood and Regina apart and eventually getting herself impregnated by Robin....so, essentially, rape.

5. Helping to Create Dark Hook - In Camelot, Zelena betrayed the heroes and teamed up with King Arthur, which led to the scuffle where Arthur fatally wounded Hook, which led to Emma turning him into a Dark One. In Storybrooke, Zelena is the one who made Hook regain the lost memory of having become a Dark One in order to get back at Emma for kidnapping her and planning to kill her. She even takes advantage of the crisis Dark Hook creates to steal sole custody over her baby away from Regina and Robin Hood, who had previously been generous to allow her to even have a share of custody at all. It’s just all so...wicked.

[bisluthq]

I don’t think it’s pretending though? It’s how you actually feel when you’re in love? And while there was a lot of good with Joe, they were incompatible and there were always some cracks in that relationship. So maybe in the good times, there were also a lot of stressful moments (the jealousy issues for one). She says in SLL that she was scared every day, and it wasn’t something new because she had songs like Cornelia Street in Lover. They had a lot of happy moments together and I’m not trying to take away from that, but it’s clear that she wasn’t ever as comfortable and calm as you should be with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

I’m not necessarily blaming Joe for it either, or saying Travis is objectively better than him, I don’t even know if they will work when they have to spend more time together. But Joe and Taylor weren’t right for each other. It’s okay to say that. It’s okay to acknowledge that the relationship wasn’t as good as it seemed.

I think a lot of you were really into this relationship and for some reason you get offended when someone says it was anything less than perfect, but Joe and Taylor would probably both agree with what I’m saying. I don’t know why you guys feel the need to fight for a dead relationship when they’ve both moved on and they both probably agree that they weren’t compatible and that that caused issues throughout the relationship. No one is saying they were miserable every single day because that isn’t true, but it does seem like it was a stressful relationship to be in and it’s certainly possible that she feels much safer and calmer with Travis now. That’s okay. It doesn’t mean Joe is an asshole or that their relationship was horrible. But you do have rose colored glasses on when you’re with someone and you don’t realize a lot of the things that were wrong with that relationship until it ends or until you get with someone who makes you feel better

Agree. I also am a firm believer that, unless you’re both very committed to it, we all have different people for different seasons. I think it’s amazing when people are willing to put the work in to be together forever (and it is work - not necessarily bad work, but work). But I think that takes a very special kind of couple (for it to be happy like obvi some people just stay together miserable because religion and kids and society but I’m talking happy couples).

I think for the rest of us, different people for different seasons is a good way of looking at it. If I met my HS bf now for the first time, it wouldn’t have worked because I really cannot see myself even going on a date with an accountant who likes gym and vinyl collecting rn like that’s so deeply not a person who’d interest me and from his end I think a woman who smokes and liberally takes substances and has as much of an array of jobs/interests as I have would be a huge turnoff. Like I think if we met now like on an app and had swiped on each other based on looks and even made it to a date, it’d be legit one date. Which is okay. Doesn’t mean we weren’t each other’s first loves or it didn’t matter or anything or he sucked or I suck but we met when we were supposed to and we split when we were supposed to and that’s kinda how I feel about all my past things and again why I like All of The Girls (and invisible string but I don’t believe in one string/destiny/fate - as I say I believe in the right people at the right time in the right moment and the fact that there well may be different people for different seasons).

finally like… lol some of the stuff you love about a person can become the exact stuff that annoys you when you stop loving them. That’s not lying or pretending, that’s just hormones and… love as an emotion being a tricky beast.

[pbandjesse]

Today was a pretty nice day off. A true day to myself, I was on no schedule, I got a lot done. I felt good.

Some of it was sleeping better. My breathing and my nose still continue to struggle. But I woke up at 915 with no alarm and felt pretty good.

I got cleaned up and put on a soft grey jumpsuit. I felt pretty cute in a cozy kind of way.

I overwhelmed myself at first though. So many directions I could take the day. There was a dishwasher to unload. And I wanted to clean the apartment. And deal with some snails. And and and. I kept picking things up to start something but then seeing something else and I was a little frustrated with myself. Finally I just put everything down and went to have an egg salad sandwich and some chips and give myself some direction.

Once I ate I decided I would start with my candle project. I have a lot of half filled or less vanilla candles. And decided to melt them down with new wicks for Christmas gifts. I saw someone put the jars in a low pan of water and heated it over the stove. And this worked really well! It was slow going but it did work and that was pretty great. I had already added the wicks but I would need sticks to hot them straight up and I am pretty proud of how they came out. And they smell good. I put some strawberry in them too so it's a light fruity floral vanilla. Made the whole apartment smells nice.

While the candles were melting I went to deal with the dishwasher but a bunch of stuff was still dirty. So I reloaded it and put it on heavy duty hoping that would work. And it seemed too though everything was still really wet in the end. I think that something is clogged in there. I may have to investigate tomorrow.

In the mean time I worked on a Christmas card and continued to work on some sewing and some knitting.

I also spent a lot of time vacuuming. I cleaned the kitty litter. I sprayed down the bathroom. I delt with some snails. I did finally break my fish tank vacuum and will have to replace that. But that's alright. I needed to go to the pet store for vacation feeders anyway.

The doorbell would ring and it was a package for me for a Christmas gift for James. So after I ran down and grabbed that I started wrapping those as well. We are mostly out of our silk scarf collection we are using to wrap each others gifts. But I figured some old paper from last year is just fine too.

I would do some work on inventorying the gifts we have for other people. James made a list of people and I wrote all the gifts down and now we just have to make sure they all go to the right person. I was able to add my candles to the list which was nice. And they would come out really good! I am going to melt the tops with a hair dryer tomorrow to fix a few little imperfections but I'm really really pleased with how they came out.

I would spend a lot of this afternoon working on my knitting and drawing on my tablet. Me, James, and Jess are going to get some matching tattoos in January and I wanted to draw up some flash for myself because they are all small the artist was chill with us doing a few. And I have a few on my wishlist that I want to fill in my arm a bit with. My last tattoo was incredibly painful so I'm hoping that she has a lighter hand. Jess just got a chicken tattoo from her yesterday and said she was very fast and very delicate. So fingers crossed.

Callie let me know she would be coming over at 5 so we could talk about schedule stuff and Tipis and all things camp and Christmas and life. And we had gifts for each other. I was very much looking forward to seeing her.

When she got here she was dressed up all cute because she would go to meet her family for dinner after she left us. But in the mean time we talked and went over things in my computer. We exchanged gifts and they were legit perfect. She screamed over the macarons, particularly the box. She tried to get me to split one but I was like nooo they are your gift you enjoy all of them!! And she gave me a knife shaped like a fish and I could not love it more it's perfect. It's everything. I love gifts where you feel very very seen.

James would come home and jump right into their chores. Started the laundry and then ran to the grocery store. They would pick us up frozen pizza. And would be back pretty soon. Me and Callie chilled on the couch talking and having a fun time thinking about the house and the plans for it.

I am trying to be measured still but I am excited and incredibly nervous. I was joking about a TikTok I saw that was basically "everyone loves a maximalist until it's time to move" and man that could not be more on point. Cause like in moments I'm like. Throw it all on a box and get it over there but also. I hate living in half done spaces so you have to time it right. I feel like we will probably start with our storage stuff like my bikes and decorations and camping equipment. Then my studio would logically be next. Then maybe like our extra clothes. My suitcases. The extra towels. I don't think I would want to take down much of my wall stuff until we are closer to living there because it will make me sad having bare walls. I know that's silly but it's how I feel!!

Callie would head out when her family was getting to the restaurant. And I hope she had the best time. Hugs and goodbyes.

Once she was gone I continued working on some knitting. And James came and started wrapping family gifts. And I worked on a small silly gift for Jess that had Callie and James laughing so loudly. It was just a really lovely evening.

I took a late shower and started this post late when I started creating a plaque for my fish knife. That's mostly planned out now but the real work will have to wait for tomorrow.

I am supposed to have the make up private class with Naomi tomorrow. But I want to spend the morning finishing up some projects and starting to pull together everything I'm packing for our Christmas travels. I hope it is a really chill day and we get word about the paperwork for the house. They accepted the offer but we need it in writing before we can do anything!! Ahh!

Sleep well my friends. Take care of eachother. Goodnight!!

[calliethetrekkie]

Star Trek TOS S01E04: The Enemy Within

Original Thoughts

"So The Enemy Within was a legit tense episode of Star Trek. I’m a sucker for the whole good/evil sides of a person being split into separate beings kind of scenario, and the contrast of the Kirk's is interesting and freighting. The Good Kirk struggling as he slowly loses his ability to be decisive without his more assertive half was also compelling and helped give more insight to his character, which again I’m a sucker for. The final breakdown of Evil Kirk was also intense and helped give some personification as well. A well-played scenario all in all. However, the episode is bogged down by one big factor: the outright tasteless treatment of the attempted assault on Yeoman Rand, or at least the aftermath. It’s unfortunate, but the story and conflict with Kirk was still a worthwhile watch."

(Original Post, edited from original)

Rewatch Thoughts

You ever had an episode that you like about 95% of, but there's a moment or two that really bogs it down? Yeah, as my original thoughts alluded to, this is one of those cases.

I'm going to avoid going into that scene. I did it before, and I was able to at least tolerate it this time (though fast-forward also helped). I also don't want to risk triggering anyone on a topic that I myself don't feel qualified or comfortable talking about from a show that took place in a different time. That being said, the scene still made me uncomfortable, and even moreso how the aftermath was handled. That is all I'm going to say about it, let's move on.

Thankfully, I have nothing but good things to say from this point. Even despite what I said above, this was one of the episodes I had really enjoyed the first go around, and I'm happy to say I still felt that way. This one has so much that I can go into concerning the plot, the philosophy, and Kirk himself and how his relationships with Spock and McCoy are showcased here. I don't know where to start... but I guess we're gonna try.

I love the concept of having Kirk split. His good half and his bad side as separate entities. The good Kirk seems like how Kirk would normally be, but as time goes on he deteriorates into being indecisive, lacks any ability to assert himself, and just seems to be becoming more meek and insecure. The Bad Kirk is, as Kirk so elegantly puts it, more like a wild animal. Aggressive, violent, easily-provoked, and while by no means unintelligent, he's prone to being driven by fear and instinct. He does, however, have the strength, assertion, and ability to act that Kirk needs to be an effective captain and leader.

We tend to look at our worst traits and try to lock them away. It's terrifying, the thought of having this potential ugliness inside you. An ugliness that could drive you to doing unthinkable things. The Bad Kirk, with the lack of morality, threatens McCoy, is willing to harm other crew members, and what happened with Rand can speak for itself. Kirk would sure as Hell never do anything like that unless he had a good reason under any circumstance. But without the good half to balance it out, the bad half is in its most raw form. Unable to be tamed or controlled, and without that self-control, who knows what a person could be driven to do.

But in the end, without any darkness, what are left with? We lack a certain will-power. A certain assertion. A certain strength that can only come from feelings such as fury and desperation, for example. Anger can be a powerful motivating power, as we've seen in real life for both good and bad reasons. It's as McCoy told Kirk, we need the darkness. It doesn't make you automatically bad, it's a part of what makes one human. Makes one whole. Without that darkness, the good Kirk cannot be the captain that he needs to be and he can't afford that. He still has the traits he needs, such as his logic and morality, but without the balance he is giving into passiveness and uncertainty. Neither the good nor the bad can exist and function apart. They need to exist together, no matter how unwanted one may be.

The episode handles it incredibly well. Honestly, I think that this was the episode that really sold me on Kirk as a character. Up to that point I had only the pop-culture depiction of Kirk to go on. Which came off as a reckless, womanizing, arrogant hot-shot. I could not have been more wrong. This shows Kirk in one of his most vulnerable states. He can't perform the duty that defines his identity. Yet, as Spock points out to him, he can't let it show because otherwise it will cause unrest among the rest of the ship. He sees himself at his worst, and the fact that he has to merge back with it is terrifying. Why would he want that? How can he accept that such a feral being is a part of himself? Is himself? And what is he himself left as without it? Seriously, I just wanted to hug the poor guy through most of the episode. And despite it, he still shows his dark side so much empathy and care.

I think what most helps represent this struggle is his interactions with Spock and McCoy. I detailed a lot of it here, but here's the brief version.

We have Spock with Kirk as his second-in-command and trusted friend, having been asked by Kirk himself to speak up if he feels that he is slipping. He has to remind Kirk of what happens if he tells the ship the full scope of the situation. He's the one that Kirk trusts to help him face the Bad Kirk in the lower decks, unwilling to let anyone else see it. He's the one who has to inform Kirk of what he is losing and what the end result will be. He's not doing it to be cruel, but it is the reality, and it can't be ignored. That's Spock's job as First Officer, to be able to keep the captain on track and step in when needed. He's also ultimately willing to take the risk of merging Kirk back when it could kill him, certain that such a thing will not happen and even if so, it must be done so that they can rescue the landing team. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.

Then we have McCoy with Kirk. We don't get it as much as with Kirk and Spock, but it's very much still present. He tries to assure Jim that he can still act as captain, seeming almost offended that Spock would seem to question him. But he does ultimately admit that Spock is right, comforting Jim and talking with him to help him find the self-assurance he needs to go through with it. Then he refuses to allow Jim to go through the transported, utterly against risking his life despite the lives of the landing party in the balance. McCoy is worried about what is of concern at that moment, as we already saw in The Corbomite Manuever, and in this case it's Jim.

Kirk is left in the middle. He sees both sides, but in his current safe that's as far as it can go. He can't make a decision on what to do. He can't make any command decision, even needing Spock to take over talking to Sulu at one point. Thus, Kirk's left with the two and can neither choose nor compromise, ultimately just having Spock keep working on the transporters and McCoy conduct an autopsy. It shows how important both perspectives are, but as his role is to normally mediate it, we also see how it is when he can't. The two sides are left unresolved. It ends well enough with Kirk ultimately going through with the transporters, but it still shows how much Kirk both needs Spock and McCoy and how much they need him.

So with all that said, my final thoughts? This is a great episode. Great plot and concept, great pacing, great character moments with Kirk especially, it's all very well done. I guess Shatner's acting isn't going to be for everyone, but I think it worked alright, and I think he did pretty well with Bad Kirk's breakdown at the end. The only thing holding it back is that one part that unfortunately bogs it down enough that I can't give a perfect rating still. But all that said, this is one I'd very much revisit if I felt like it. I had a lot of fun coming back to this one, and I'm glad I did.

Original Ranking: 4.5/5.

Rewatch Ranking: 8/10

[My TOS Reviews]

[TOS S1 Reviews]

[Previous Review] / [Next Review]

[buddieisgoingcanon25]

Legit she is angry shooting in those videos. Sometimes I just think about the fact that they posted that story right before the break up that said “forever” and now knowing that it was indeed leading to the break up it was their way of saying that at least they would still be family. But maybe the original plan was to leave it at that and keep the breakup somewhat quiet and private at the time but for some reason that article was released and clearly right before it was released Chrysti must have found out because of the block and deleting of R from her main IG with R slowly deleting the photos as well. And then she went silent because she was fuming which is a bit weird because the “forever post” implied that the split was amicable and agreed upon so she should not have had that much of a furious reaction to the article but the fact that she did kind of implies that she didn’t want it out to the public right away because technically the article made R look like the good one because he was the one that tried to make it work based on what the source said and clearly she did NOT like that because she was like “why would he he ever want to leave me because we are power couple goals” so clearly there was some embarrassment on her part. But it’s interesting that R never confirmed anything because the magazine said it has reached out for comment…so who leaked the article…R’s PR team or the source? Either way whoever reached out to the magazine certainly wasn’t team Chrysti. And she hasn’t gotten over that embarrassment of her “hot hubby leaving her” so what does she do, she uses the idea of custody to get R back behind the scenes and once she has him back it’s just been an endless plan to humiliate and embarrass R because everyone is so confused as to why he left and came back and there really isn’t any romantic love left between them she’s just draining him dry for what little credit his name has left and the current money he is bringing in while she can stay controlling and sabotaging him with the threat of custody and finally when she has had enough of him SHE will announce the split on her terms to make it look like she is the empowered women and choosing to leave him so he can feel that embarrassment for ever trying to leave her in the first place and by that point she’ll have some kind of plan in place to keep the money and attention flowing.

⬆️ 👍👀

[blahandwhatever]

So I thought I'd spend the last few days of November getting as much low-paying work done as I could, but my mind was so split by indecision about which tasks were most worth doing - truly, none of them were - that I barely did anything. Had a ton of microtasks available from Appen (not generative AI stuff, but the company seems to like to market itself around that because it's trendy [also, "Clients include eight of the top ten largest technology companies" but they pay like shit because whatever amount of success they have is likely based on the business model of "we can provide this service cheaper than anyone else" a.k.a. worker exploitation, which is just so depressingly prevalent]), but they were all such a combination of low-paying and tedious that the idea of filling a whole hour - much less the multiple hours required to make a sum of any significance - with god knows how many of them was simply inconceivable. I've never been able to do the microtasks on MTurk, either. Some people can do this stuff in a focused and sustained enough way that they can make some legit low-wage job earnings, but I am so overwhelmed by both the tedium and the sense of interminability that it is literal mental torture, and I'd rather make half as much per hour just doing some surveys.

Meanwhile, the low-paying real job I thought I'd be starting this week got delayed by some onboarding processes and issues, and the reviewing of an assessment for another job (also low-paying but not as badly) got delayed by Thanksgiving, but I did finally get the job, so there's that. Still keeping my eye on higher-paying jobs to apply for, but my motivation to actually work on applications is very limited. One of the big lessons I've learned from my latest miserably protracted job search experience is that I have to apply to both high-paying and low-paying jobs to some extent, like, from the beginning. For a long time, I was avoiding lower-paying jobs altogether because, like, why would I downgrade. But I had no idea how insanely long it would once again take to get a better one - and in the meantime, I still needed to make some fucking money. So I finally caved and applied for some lower-paying ones recently. And they are easier to get. And I resent them for their pay but need to take whatever I can get for now. In the end, it's not that much of a commitment if the jobs are flexible, and it adds at least passable security while I continue to look for something better.

I've also been drained of getting-stuff-done time and energy by Sleepiness again, which I've allowed myself to indulge most days, though I have to put some kind of limit on how late I get up - plus one day I had to go to Naperville to help with the dog because my father was gone and my mother was working a long shift, and yesterday I wanted to go for a walk before sunset, which I just barely managed. Each day I tend to feel a little better, and I might have like a four-hour window for which I feel legitimately motivated and energized, and then I seriously overestimate how productive a day I'm going to have, not knowing how I will crash again. My plans never ever account for the power or possibility of The Sleepiness.

I'm forever behind on chores like always, but I push myself to do At Least Something each day. Today I washed my sheets, remade my bed, and added the extra comforter layer I add for winter - which then led to sorting through the latest clothes pile disrupted by the bed-making, which then led to doing a bit of organizing in my closets because it would otherwise be impossible to place my freshly folded clothes in there without simply allowing it all to dissolve into anarchy and throwing them onto the Pile that had developed in there too. Of all chores, the Pile of Clothes is the one whose dread never exaggerates the reality. It truly takes forever to go through and organize the hundred fucking things that manage to accumulate on my bed somehow. So, I guess I can feel pretty accomplished.

[simthorium]

Shea and Asia held hands inside the local mall. Shea was absolutely smitten with her new girlfriend, and put in a lot of work thinking of dates for them to go on together. The mall wasn’t her best idea, but she was starting to run out of cute locations for them to hang out.

“Oh my gosh babe, look at that sale on Doc Martens!” Asia said. Shea quickly spun around, trying to see what Asia was talking about. “Where, where!?” she exclaimed, looking around desperately. “Wait a minute--”

As soon as Shea turned back around, she was met with a large water balloon to the face. The girls laughed at the silly prank, Shea brushing the water and wet plastic pieces off of her. “Oh, I’m getting you back good for that,” she said. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

The girls made their way to the mall food court, grabbing a table. “What do you want?” Shea asked. “It’s on me.” “You’re such a gentlewoman,” Asia said with a smile. “I’m not that hungry, you wanna split a pretzel?” “Split?” Shea asked. “Yeah right, I’m getting my own.”

Just as Shea was about to stand up, she noticed a man walking over to their table. She looked to Asia, silently informing her of the dude coming up to them. The girls were used to guys assuming they were just friends hanging out, typically flirting with Asia. But this guy was way too old, she thought. That’s not what this was. Was it? “Hi,” the man said in a booming voice. “This is gonna sound really crazy, but I want to cast you in a movie.”

“Is this some kind of a joke?” Shea asked. “Why do you want to cast my girlfriend in a movie?” “Not your girlfriend,” said the man. “You. Have you ever read The Magic Princess book series?” “Duh, everyone has,” said Shea. “I’m Martin Jackobi, I’m a director and we’re adapting the book into a movie trilogy. We’ve been searching for our lead for months, and I think I just found her. Mind if I sit?” Shea looked to Asia, who was beaming at her. “Yeah, of course you can sit!” Asia exclaimed. 

Martin took a seat between the girls. “I don’t want to be rude or interrupt or anything, but I saw you guys and immediately knew that you’d be the perfect Calypso. She’s the main character.” “I know that, I just said I read the book,” Shea muttered. “Shea,” Asia said in a soft voice. “Just hear him out.” “I know this is random, but I just think you’d be perfect,” said Martin.

“I’m not an actor,” said Shea. “I don’t even know you. How do I know you’re not just a kidnapper trying to murder us?” “How about you bring your parents to my studio this weekend and we have a more formal talk?” Martin asked, handing her his business card. “Also, I’m not a kidnapper.” “That sounds exactly like what a kidnapper would say,” said Shea.

“Babe, don’t you wanna be a movie star?” Asia asked. “This would be so cool!” “It’s a big commitment and a lot all at once, I know,” said Martin. “But I’m very good at my job, and I know talent when I see it. Just bring your parents to my office, you’ll see this is all very legit.” Shea thought about it for a moment. “The Magic Princess was my favorite book as a kid,” she said with a smile. “I hated reading, but then one summer I went to camp with my cousins, and we’d all read it together every night.” “See?” Martin asked. “You already have a connection there.”

Martin stood up to leave and Shea stood with him. “You’re serious about this?” Shea asked. “You want me to be in a movie?” “I’m serious,” he said. “I mean, nothing’s final yet. But, I think it could be great. Just give me a call, we’ll figure it all out, ok?” Shea nodded and shook his hand. She turned back around to Asia. “This is the weirdest date ever,” she said. “Are you kidding!?” Asia exclaimed. “This is the best date ever!”

[best-movie-ever-tournament]

My favorites among the second round's losers

(still by alphabetical order)

Bride and Prejudice (2004): It's actually a very compelling movie AND a compelling adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The songs are catchy, the financial security stays the same but the "respectability" of marriage is lowkey replaced by the security of a green card to go to the States (Mr Collins' equivalent works for "Lady Catherine"'s american company as an accountant) and everything is otherwise very enjoyable.

Encanto (2021): Despite the fact everyone keeps telling me it's good, it actually IS good. You know how the proverb goes etc. Anyway I legit cried at the flashback with the death. I don't know if I would watch it in repeat for a week but it certainly was nice.

Enchanted (2007): I enjoyed it! I also enjoyed a bunch of parodies of it. I no longer remember what is in the original and what isn't except for the guy playing the secondary bad guy, who's played by Timothy Spall whose versatility as an actor I respect. Anyway if you've got an evening to furnish with a movie, it's a good go-to.

The Blues Brothers (1980): Let it be precised before I go in that Rythm and Blues is absolutely NOT my kind of music. And yet. This movie has something magical that captured me. Remember how i said of encanto that it's not the kind of movie i'd watch on repeat for a week? Well the blues brothers IS! It has everything you can wish of a movie. Carrie Fisher firing a flamethrower at two brothers with no explanation until the ten last minutes? The most cars totaled in a car chase in any movie (probably)? Great legends of music having cameos or roles (Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles...!!!!). The two "brothers" were raised in the same orphanage and try to raise money to save it from closing, and for that they're 1) putting on the biggest Blues concert of the city 2) somehow getting on the bad side of neo-nazis, a western country band, the police, and Carrie Fisher. It only gets weirder from there. Let it be said that The Blues Brothers is to my childhood what Princess bride was to the childhood of seemingly half of tumblr, and I do take into account the entire "was it written on crack" (yes it was) aspect of it as well as the quotables.

The Princess and the Frog (2009): I don't remember much of it. It scared the crap out of me when i first watched it. It's good though. Sorry I can't give it the same kind of panegyric as The Blues Brothers.

White Christmas (1954): Danny Kaye is in it which is already like. 50% of the final grade. Anyway it's a very enjoyable movie. It starts in the middle of the war when a guy saves another soldier. He will proceed to use and abuse his credit to insert himself in the other guy's life up until the point where they co-own a musical review and can't be separated ever again or about it. Then that same guy decides he absolutely has to get his buddy married so he can have some time for himself, and sets his sights on one half of a sisters musical number (obviously he will himself end with the other girl). After much trickery, the four of them (one half of each pair being in on the 'matchmaking the other half' scheme) end up in the same ski resort, only to discover its owner is their old CO from the army. In order to cheer up the retired general and to save the ski resort, they will I KID YOU NOT put on the biggest talent show put up their own musical review in this part of town where no one will come to see it, just to make their old guy smile. Also misunderstandings abound and then the wrong couple get engaged while the other splits up, and they're like "uh ok somewhere our matchmaking took the wrong turn". Anyway it's very good. Plenty of catchy songs.

What's your favorite musical from the bracket? Feel free to wait until it's eliminated to answer.

I'll be honest with you, I don't know a lot of musicals (kinda started this tournament to get recs, honestly). At least that's what I thought until i realised i had seen a bunch of the submissions. Now, granted, it was particularly popular ones, not the nichest ones, but still.

Anyway, I have a bunch of favorites, and I'll reblog this post at the end of every round with the list of eliminated movies I know and like.

For this round, we have, by alphabetical order:

Duck Soup (1933): It's completely silly and nonsensical, and I can't stand anyone involved in the plot, but it's also a great movie. The number of one liners I still quote, the entire jab at governments in general and dictatorships in particular... Groucho Marx being a gold digger and an asshole isn't new, Harpo having a horn and miming stuff isn't new, Chico speaking with a fake italian accent isn't new, but I absolutely love it anyway.

Into the Woods (2014): I know, i know, the stage musical is better, but consider: i haven't seen the stage musical. I do realise that most of what I love about it probably comes straight out of the musical itself, but there's also Meryl Streep so there's that. The first half is absolutely great and I don't care much for the second half even if there are still some bangers (the song about who's at fault and the Last Midnight among others)

My Fair Lady (1964): Haven't watched it since I was a child, and in the mean time I've learned how to speak english and what phonetics were, so I'm sure I would enjoy it even more. I can't remember much about it apart from what is common knowledge though.

Sing (2016): It's cute and funny and deep and not-so-deep and there's friendship and I'm not even a fan of animated musicals, anthro animals or the musical genre of most of the songs but. Consider. It's so good.

The Court Jester (1955): Absolute banger. Put it in front of a musical i had never heard of on the first round because I had high hopes for it. Well c'est la vie. Anyway you absolutely have to watch it. It aged very well I think, despite what the promotional materials show. It's got fencing and true love and torture and masked vigilantes and musical numbers and dancing and honestly this is my Princess Bride. Like everyone on tumblr is always like "princess bride is my entire childhood" and then point at a comedy swashbuckler with a prince trying to get the hero's girlfriend, his right hand man who's sinister, etc. Meanwhile The Court Jester has everything of that and MORE! It has a tender male lead, it has comedy at every corner, and more importantly, it is my whole childhood. I blame it for making me learn english in the first place (we only had it in english with subtitles).

The Inspector General (1949): Adapted from a russian play and yet it feels like preparatory work for The Court Jester in some way. It's still a banger don't get me wrong, and keep in mind that the version i have is not a very legal one and the image definition is very very bad. It still manages to pull through as great. I love it.