#i think it’s absolutely hilarious that here i am at my grown ass age with a whole apartment and full time job

[elliesbelle]

posting chapter 7 of ‘nobody compares to you’ yesterday got delayed cause instead of writing, i just played video games & watched a horror movie with my gf and then sexted my ex and took a nap 💀

BUT I WILL FINISH IT TODAY I PROMISE I’M SORRY AHHHHHHH

[manifestoonmoralmanlove]

What will be in my bag? Pre-ordered Manga. Straight and Lez edition.

Here’s a list of English-released manga I’ve currently got on pre-order, and manga series I ordered before but won’t be continuing with the series.

As a note: Some of these titles have been released but I have not received them yet due to a issues with covid backlog effected how things are released.  I personally find that if you pre-order it tends to get you manga quicker.  It seems there is more pressure to keep up with the new release schedule than chip away at the backlog.

I’m starting with the stuff I’ve already read some of and confirmed enjoyment, then stuff I’m shooting in the dark for, and finally series I have tried recently and have discontinued.

Heteros

My Androgynous Boyfriend

Story & Art by: Tamekou      Publisher: Seven Seas

It is rare for straight shit to end up in my library but My Androgynous boyfriend is an exception that will surprise no-one since it’s pretty queer adjacent.  This story is mostly a couple being lovey-dovey between jokes about sexuality and gender but (so far) isn’t problematic at all.  The female lead is quite enjoyable as she’s well-balanced and has agency throughout. There’s even ace representation! It’s very low-stakes, wholesome, and sweet so far. (Volume 3 is set to release in November.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

Yuri/Lesbian

Even Though We’re Adults

Story & Art by: Takako Shimura  Publisher: Seven Seas

Takako is also the creator of Sweet Blue Flowers and Wandering son.  I have dipped by toe in to both those series.  I overall find their writing kinda meandering and tepid (might just be me) but technically pretty solid.  I am hopeful for this series since it features adults....if the title didn’t make it obvious.  I was intrigued by the one character being married but the man finding out about the affair quickly and reacting more realistically and interestingly than the average male love interest in a Yuri.  I also found myself relating at bit to Akari’s angst about being unlucky with relationships with women.  I also do enjoy the artwork! This one is the most likely of my followed series to be dropped at some point. (Volume 2 of this manga was set to release in June this year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

For more click the jump!

Kase-san and Yamada

Story & Art by: Hiromi Takashima  Publisher: Seven Seas

This is a series I keep going back to.  While it is the very typical low-stakes bubbly, cutesy School age Yuri...it is a very good version of that.  Just warm bubble bath vibes. (Volume 7 is set to release in February of next year.  I think it was originally supposed to be released this May but was bumped back.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

NOW ONTO THE SERIES I HAVEN’T READ BUT I’M TAKING A CHANCE ON!

Adachi and Shimaura

Art: Moke Yuzuhara Story: Hitoma Iruma  Publisher: Yen Press

This, as I understand it, is a slow-burn romance about two delinquent girls.  I have heard good things about the novel and the anime series!  However I prefer manga to novels and don’t have a funimation account so I went to snag it in manga form. (Volume 1 was set to release in February this year and 2 in September)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

The Girl I want is so handsome!

Story & Art by:Yuama     Publisher: Seven Seas

The premise is a young lady has a crush on a handsome older girl who’s oblivious to her advances.  When she tries to confess she instead gets roped into being the club manager of the basketball team that her crush is a part of.  So it feels like it may end up cycling through 2 jokes and be so deep in the stereotypical manga bullshit you can easily-predict its beats volumes in advance. HOWEVER that is also a premise that is similar to Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun which is legitimately a hilarious series. Also I fucking love butch/stud/masc-presenting women/AFAB people.  So I’m willing to risk “The same Anime bullshit” for good jokes and a cute lezzy romance with a beautiful butch.  (Volume 1 is set to release of December of this year.)

My Excitement Level: Pretty nervous actually.  I hope it works out!

Monologue Woven for You

Story & Art by: Syu Yasaka     Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gives up on a career in theater gets tangled in a relationship with a woman passionately pursuing theater.  Since it is set between college age women, and appears to be about more personal and mature themes I am interested. (Volume 1 I BELIEVE is supposed to be released in February of next year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

Mizuno and Chayama (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Yuhta Nishio     Publisher: Yen Press

Two daughters of feuding families meet in secret.  This is by the same author of After Hours.  I read a bit of After Hours and found it fine but boring since it seemed without conflict.  Conflict doesn’t seem to be in short supply with a story like this!  While I enjoy the sugary-sweet high school lesbian romances...those are not in short-supply. So I am always hungry for something darker, meatier, more mature. (Volume 1 is set to release next February) 

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

5 Seconds Before The Witch Falls In Love

Story & Art by:  Zeniko Sumiya     Publisher: Seven Seas

It appears to be a playful fantasy about a Witch and Witch-hunter who’s antagonism turns romantic.  This may end up one note and stupid...but I’m always hear for queer romances set in high-fantasy and I haven’t read a Yuri where rivals turns to lovers. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)  

My Excitement Level: Low-key

Catch These Hands! (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Murata     Publisher: Yen Press 

A former delinquent runs into her high school rival.  After losing a fight to her she agrees to her terms...her terms being to go out on a date with her.  I mean the title alone makes me want to pick it up!  It may run afoul of bad anime humor, but I’m hoping with the fact that it’s full of gay adult delinquents that it’ll be a little different.  (Volume 1 is set to release next February)  

My Excitement Level: Medium-key

Series I have discontinued:

I’m in love with the Villainess

Art by: Aonoshimo  Story by:  Inori   Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gets reborn into her favorite Otome game but she wants to romance the villiain!  I had heard a ton of great things about the novel but I picked up the manga version. (If the novel is totally different I can’t speak to it.)  For me, the writing is ham-handed, the jokes flop 90% of the time, and the fact the lead’s only personality trait seems to be ~obsessed with a bully~ really dampens this title.  Her advances are so aggressive and unwanted I honestly started feeling bad for a spoiled rich bully.  I will say it’s saving grace is the fact that the lead is masochistically into the villainess’ tsundere abusiveness. For me I hate tsundere romances if framed like, “I like you DESPITE your insults.” It is only tolerable if it’s instead, “I like you cause you tell it like it is. I’m a dirty little pig. Please step on this bad little piggy!”

Our Teachers are Dating

Story & Art by: Pikachi Ohi      Publisher: Seven Seas

Well one reason I stopped the series is that cover you see up there.  The sex in this series is fade to black but FOR SOME REASON the 3rd cover has them both butt naked.  But on a less superficial note, the story is about two teachers who start dating.  And while cute at points, I was just underwhelmed.  I think a part of it, is the fact that this behaves like a stereotypical high school romance...and while set in a high school...these are grown ass women not 15 year olds.  So I have less patience with the, “Gosh when will I get to kiss my girlfriend?” bullshit.  I mean, I would hesitate to call it bad...but it’s just not a good version of it’s brand of bullshit.

Breath of Flowers

Story & Art by: Caly                       Publisher: Tokyopop

Absolute train-wreck, this is hands down the worst Yuri I have ever bought.  The story is nonsensical and all over the place.  There is a love rival who’s trying to break the two of them up so she can get with Gwyn...but then switches mid-gear to put in a lot of effort to bring them together intentionally...but she also still wants to hook up with Gwyn...it’s very ????????????  The main conflict of Gwyn is hiding their gender so they can play basketball on the boy’s team (not well explained) is built up hugely and resolved with a hand flick.  There is a melodramatic moment where a school nurse says more or less, “GIVE IT UP YOU’LL NEVER BE A BOY!” And it’s like “OH SHIT! The fact that Gwyn is on the basketball team is cause he’s a transboy trying to live life as a boy! Oh gosh it makes so much more sense now!”  But the author seems to not even know that trans people exist cause the story bumbles along as if that scene never happened.  The closest we get is at the end Gwyn is like, “Look I’m learning to do make-up on myself to make you happy lawl!” Which is I GUESS supposed to be, “NO NO DON’T WORRY ALL OF GWYN’S GENDER STUFF WAS JUST THERE TO MAKE THE MAIN CHARACTER SEXUALLY CONFUSED WHEN SHE DISCOVERS GWYN’S TRUE GENDER!  HER TRUE GENDER IS 100% CIS WOMAN CAUSE SHE DID MAKE-UP ONCE! IT’S FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!” Like whaaaaaaaaat?  And it ends on a very random scene which doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the story.  Ugh just very bad do not interact!

A White Rose in Bloom

Story & Art by: Asumiko Nakamura    Publisher: Seven Seas

At an all girls catholic school a young woman falls for a mysterious foreign student.  I grabbed this cause it’s gay and I overall like Asumiko Nakamura’s work (she also does Doukyusei, double mints, and others.)  However I was just not grabbed with this title.  I just felt like I wasn’t getting what was making the MC pants on head obsessed with Steph.  Also the lead’s mother tells her that she’s getting divorced and therefore will no longer have money to pay for the university and she’s framed like a super bad person for this.  Like I get why the MC (a teenager) would think that something like that is THE END OF THE WORLD! But I remember them really framing the mom like a selfish bitch for this...when like...it’s well established that her mom and dad’s relationship has been toxic for YEARS and that they TRIED SO HARD to fix it.  OH WELL!  This might be good but it just didn’t grab me in the 1st volume.

I’ll make a post on the BL titles later! Take care and Stay Rotten!

[jjkpls]

crayons ‘set’ (PG)

> genre : fluffy fluff, light angst, comedy

> pairing : kim namjoon x reader

> words : 3.8k

> warnings : none (except a rusty quill)

>Y/N, a primary school teacher, is way too soft for the quiet, timid new child in her class. Little did she know, the adult version, who engendered this cutie, is even more charming.

> prior

> next

The principle of balance. 

It’s a curious concept. Like most of the things that turn people into different versions of themselves, just from an unconscious force brought to light by the sheer inner sense of competition that inhabits every single person. It’s quieter in some people. Feel non-existent sometimes. But it’s here, dormant, just waiting on the right trigger to awaken. 

You didn't think you would see it in Jimmy. The little boy lacks completely self-confidence and affirmation. But a voice and a stance, easily remarkable, end up fitting him.

It turns out that you witness it quite quickly after the Progress has started. And it manifests in the most adorable and comical of ways. 

It’s been a few weeks since you've met his dad. There wasn’t much to talk about with him yet. Every day, longer lingerings of the gaze, less tucking away in the far back of the rest of the group, more definite wordless participations during class -nodding and clapping along. The progress you've been wholly satisfied with but nothing so drastically different that you thought necessary to call his father in for. 

Nothing absolutely astonishing. Therefore you didn’t call and what a surprise this one Thursday afternoon turns out to be when he appears at your class’s doorway.

He’s wearing very casual clothes, a simple light linen shirt and some distended jeans to pair, sneakers and his hair -you've only seen neatly tucked to the side- is floating about his forehead, freshly washed and devoid of any wax. It’s a pleasant surprise, especially with the evident appearance of calm and quiet tranquillity he’s carrying. 

This man looks rather handsome when he’s on vacation, stressless and well-rested and seemingly content, you note.

“Mr Kim?”

He looks up from his son he is holding the hand of, eyes wide and bewildered as he stares a little. You chuckle, confused but amused. He’s the one paying you a surprise visit but he’s shocked when you do talk to him?

“Is it bad timing? I can come back another day...” From the look he’s giving you, or more accurately, barely sparing you, body already aiming for the corridor, you wonder if you should return the question. It'd be cruel though, to tease, therefore you choose to simply shake your head and insist on him walking in. And then it happens, the man can’t take a step inside, for some reason. He’s just paralysed, looking like a million contradicting thoughts are fighting inside his brain and he simply cannot make out the best option, if he would or not step in; and it’s Jimmy who takes the decision for him. Puffing his cheeks out in annoyance, he pushes against his father's leg, small hands pulling the bigger one towards him. It’s like watching a tiny mouse trying to drag along a giraffe. It has little to no physical effect until there’s an aggravated tiny whine of “appa”. He moves, at last, letting himself stood in front of me before Jimmy lets go of his hand. 

He gives you a look you're not sure you interpret well. Dark eyes all serious, attention loud, he seems to be intrusting his father to you. A gentle smile, hiding your teeth biting back a hilarious grin, sends him away towards the very back of the room. Taking a seat next to the bookshelf, it takes Jimmy a few minutes only after you've diverted your attention from him to grab an image book and start going through it patiently.

He's so comfortable. Almost too comfortable. He looks strange, like that. Strange because different from usual but still, oddly, it fits him well. It's like a projection, a little vision of a future little boy, easygoing, at peace with himself and his environment, that won't take too long to be born again.

And it's now the dad who's acting weird. He's standing on his two never-ending legs, the tip of his fingers toying nervously with the button of his vest, his mouth keeps teasing, opening slightly, as if about to spill a word, only to shut itself right up, a lightly aggravated sigh following soon after. It happens quite a couple of times until you get tired of waiting. Tired of the eyes avoiding you, the tension heavy for no particular reason that you could decipher, you ring him awake with an abrupt overexaggerated clearing of your throat.

"Mr Kim?" He's confounded again, caught off guard somehow. "Did you mean to discuss something with me?" It's hard to make an adult talk, you realise. Sometimes children can be difficult. Put aside Jimmy's case, sometimes children are like that. Making them want to share, especially when they are at that age where they can't express themselves and their ideas as well as they wish they could, frustration, laziness at times can get the better of them and having a fairly constructed conversation with them is like pulling teeth out of a very adamant, unwilling person. But you manage. Adults, on the other hand, have never been too much of your cup of tea. There's a reason why you chose to spend the better part of your weeks with children instead of adults. You're not that terrible at getting along with them, you do it pretty well, honestly. But the reason is probably the fact that you're not difficult. You're convenient as a person, always willing to help, always trying to be positive, you do not get in people's way and most of the times, it's enough to make it through.

You don't deal with adults the way you deal with children. With great pleasure and passion, you insert yourself into your pupils' existence, try to leave a mark and help them have the better, feel the better, be the better. Adults, you don't get too involved. They sound complicated, complexed, too many compromises, too many facets. You know because you are one too.

And Mr Kim, looking all nervous and troubled seem the very embodiment of this bias you have. He looks some sort of troubles. Probably nothing that terrible. He appears too childish for it to be that grave. But he's serious about it, about the anxiety, the struggle, the uneasiness he's feeling, you can tell, just from the way he hasn't been able to look at you in the eyes since he appeared in your class. Still, whatever it is, will cost some of your time, and with that, might clog up some very much needed space you require in this busy head of yours.

It's happened before. A new neighbour trying to get closer to you, maybe because they've just moved in the city, didn't know anyone, and you looked friendly enough and they needed someone to listen to the exhaustive list of all the things that made them leave their hometown -even though, you don't necessarily care for any of it. Or a colleague, trying to get you involved in their office dramas, simply because people need the attention, the feeling of importance and support.

Quite frankly, you've never been interested in any of them. Adults sound like too much work, especially given the fact that, as filled with flaws as they are, they are a pain, and often impossible, to fix. And they say things they don't mean. And they want things that they don't need. Their words and their acts hardly ever match. They're for the most part unrecoverable and unfixable, and you don't want any of it.

But Mr Kim and his dimples -invisible to the eye at the moment, but that you realise marked your brain so strongly you can picture them exactly where they should be winking- are piquing your interest. You're ninety-nine per cent sure it is not about Jimmy but you'd like to know. Never mind that curiosity killed the cat.

“Yes, uh-“ Clearing of the throat, scratching of the neck and more clearing of the throat. “about last time...”

You're lost. For a second, your body freezes to give your brain its full capacity to wreck through the whole place and retrieve a memory that seems to have been lost somehow, somewhere. You have no idea what time he is referring to. 

He seems so invested, so intensely experiencing his emotions you're left shocked and deeply embarrassed to not remember something that had that effect on him yet didn’t leave a single trace on you. 

He insists then, having to face your transparent confusion. The more you stand in pure oblivion, the more awkward he gets. Stuttering more, an accent, very deep, adding rough edges to his voice, colouring his words with new shades that you've never heard before.

“Mr Kim-“

“Namjoon.”

“I’m sorry?” 

“No, it’s me, I am, I’m-“ You will, later, feel terrible for it. It’s undeniable. But right now, facing this grown-ass man, usually so collected now decomposing in the most adorable red-cheeked boyish thing, you can only start laughing. It renders him speechless which in a way is almost an improvement and when you finally can restrain the giggles from bubbling straight from your belly, you start again,

“Maybe take a deep breath, take your time.” You bite your lip down to the blood, poorly concealing your grin when he actually does it. “What did you mean by ‘last time’?” You're mortified to ask, honestly, persuaded that you should know but at this point, it’s pretty mean but you don’t think you can embarrass yourself that much in front of him, not when he’s been such a mess himself. 

“When we met. When I came to talk about my son.” Calmly, diligently he answers. Like a good boy answering his teacher’s question, a shadow of worry covering his usually sharp gaze. 

“Oh, what about it?” Curiosity melts with confusion as you refrain yourself from pressing him further into elaborating faster, eager as you are to understand. You were sure he was not going to talk about him. 

“I’d been a bit much and I wanted to apologise personally to you.”

Been a bit much? 

“In what sense? I’m not sure I understand.”

“It’s just- I poured myself and our luggage on you when you’re- I know you care about my son but I shouldn’t have, I don’t know, I shouldn’t have-“

You hate cutting people off. It’s a terrible habit you are constantly trying to teach your students to drop. But here he is, struggling to express an idea that irks you strongly. Is he able to put the words he needs? Does he even know them in his own mother tongue or do they even exist? Maybe what he's trying to express are pure emotions. Unease coming from a heart shameful for having shown itself vulnerable to a stranger. You'd know about this feeling. You've experienced it plenty of times, throughout all your life. Even if it wasn’t in the form of you stripping your heart off to someone, like he did, simply showing that you cared gave you the same sense of vulnerability, of terrifying exposure you've always had a hard time dealing with. 

You hate the idea that he regrets it, especially with you. At that time, you could tell he had words to pour out. You were glad, you were even enchanted to be the one helping out no matter how small you just assumed your impact to have been. And now, he's trying to say that he regrets it?

“You said you were thankful to have someone to talk to.”

“I did say that.” He mumbles, pressing the pad of his fingers against his closed eyes. 

“Then don’t regret it. I don’t want you to be embarrassed about this, seriously. I had parents do way more, actually embarrassing, things in my career. Don’t even worry about it.” He’s thinking it over. You can tell your words have little to no impact on his bruised ego. “I’m not sure how appropriate it is for me to say that but if you need it, whenever in the future, don’t hesitate. I’m not a psychologist, but I’m just- I’m willing to listen if it can help. I mean me or anyone else, really, you should in general just share. It’s important. You don’t want Jimmy to mimic such bad habits like so, holding in and all.” You may be talking too much. The man just looks so eager to hear those words and it spurs you on. “You really shouldn’t feel embarrassed. I can understand the feeling, where it comes from, but it’s pointless with me.”

“You’re really kind.” You give a smile, only. It’s not much but you're pretty sure it’s the genuineness tinting it that renders it enough. Again, he seems surprised. As bewildered as last time but undoubtedly convinced. “I’m glad he has you as his teacher.”

Your cheeks burn intensely. You don’t know how conscious he is of his words. If he realises that he perfected the art of flattery and of slipping people in his pocket. He really did. Especially when he’s leaning slightly towards you, gaze intense and on you now that the embarrassment has vanished for the most part and he can bear looking at you, seemingly hanging out for any other words you may have in stock.

There’s nothing left for you to say though. It takes you quite a few attempts to skim over your brain, trying to formulate a sentence, any word, but you come out completely empty. You can’t even stutter a thank you from how utterly flustered you're feeling. 

Therefore you choose the easy way out. Waltzing on your heels to give him your back, your hands reaching to the barely messy top of your desk to pretend they’re busy. You believe yourself to have been sleek enough but apparently not so -maybe it’s the fact that you're just picking up stuff to put them exactly where they belong, at the exact same place. 

“Was I inappropriate? I’m really sorry, Mrs ___. Sometimes I just talk too much and I don’t realise that maybe I shouldn’t.”

“Please stop apologising. It’s fine, you’re fine. You’re just- You saying nice things that you mean,” You stumble upon the last words as if maybe you're getting over your own head to just assume and claim so loud that he must mean the sweet things he said to you but that bashful yet adorable expression he's wearing, with the eyes a bit wide and the bottom lip munched, fill you with a regain of confidence, “can’t be an issue. It’s just unexpected and- I mean you’re fine you can say whatever you want. I mean I’m not asking for more compliments, I’m just saying-“

It’s terribly unnerving. You don’t know what impression you're giving off as a teacher. Lacking so much elocution, scrambling to form sentences and turning into a messy, overwhelmed emotional mess. 

“I don’t mind giving you more compliments, Mrs ___.” Here comes that curious principle of balance again. You're half-dying of mortification and he seems to be having fun, smiling kindly, with a hint of something else -amusement, maybe even smudginess. 

Is he flirting with me? There’s no way he’s flirting. I think I’m losing my mind. 

“It’s Miss, actually.” You swear to yourself, silently, that you're not flirting back -assuming he is, in fact, doing just that- and you just mean to be called by an accurate name. 

“Oh.” He almost gasps. Looking shocked and you don’t understand what’s going on anymore. Was he really not flirting? Why does he look so shaken as if you misinterpreted his intentions and now he’s misinterpreting yours and think you're getting over your head -because you're not, you were not flirting!

“I’m not flirting with you, I’m just clarifying!” 

You hate this whole conversation. You hate yourself, your life and anything and everything that may or may not have led you to this tragic instant.

You're positive you screamed a little. You get confirmation of just that from the tiny mop of hair bouncing up in your peripheral vision, as Jimmy gives you two a slightly concerned, curious look. 

The tension is blatant. It's a mixture of irritation, of anxiety, of embarrassment. You couldn't have messed up any worse than you did and you positively want to simply die, right about now.

The mere thought that you'll have to live with this humiliation not only for the whole day ahead, blatantly hanging out at the back of your head, sometimes probably too close to your consciousness for any sense of comfort to ever inhabit you again, but for your entire life makes you want to throw yourself out the window. You decide not to indulge in the pressing pulsion only because you're on the ground floor, therefore, it would be pointless if not even more humiliating.

Mr Kim, somehow, helps a little. By not wearing a mask of pure revolt, revulsion or aggravation. He stares soundly, expression not giving off much to work with. Just enough to understand he is not mad, simply lost in his own thoughts he doesn't seem too keen on sharing.

A spark of sensibility blooms suddenly in your brain. You're so thankful for it, you jump right on it, grab it with your two hands and start again, as if nothing happened, as if you haven't just humiliated yourself in front of this man (and his son), "Jimmy has made a lot of progress, I've noted."

Mr Kim blinks a few times, unnaturally so. "Yeah? I mean, yes, I've noticed too, actually." He keeps staring with the same obnoxiously loud thoughts running in his mind. His brain is on full activity mode. It's obvious. And he doesn't care too much about talking about his son right this second (even though he doesn't seem to care much about sharing what's going through that private head of his either).

How disappointing. You sincerely thought the one subject that matters the most to him would successfully tear the attention away from you but you're a fool. Apparently, even the cute little bean of a son he has can't divert the attention from the humiliation you've just submitted yourself to.

"Anyway, I won't hold any more of your time, you must have work to attend to."

"Actually I'm not working today. I have the day off." Your lip now too sensitive, you attack the inner part of your cheek with your teeth -thankfully you've turned your back to him again, feigning observing with great attention something through the windows- to stop yourself from screeching. It takes him so long, so fucking long for him to decide, finally, that maybe he should leave. The longest dozens of seconds of your life. Staring outside, picturing him behind you, probably watching you wondering to himself how you can be so lame and how he could have thought you a good fit to be his precious son's teacher. "Ah, I should leave anyway. Your class is about to start?"

"Ah, yes. Well, thanks for passing by. I hope you rest well." It's the least genuine you've been with this man, and anyone for the matter, in so long. Your heart and mind are in such a shamble you don't actually remember the reason for his coming and if, really, anything positive came out of this conversation.

It's ridiculous how you feel, all bothered and nervous, aggravated with him for making you feel so flustered. You give him the most convincing fake smile you own, not taking the time to check if he buys it as you don't dare lingering your attention on him for any longer than the blink of the eye takes.

When he leaves, only after having scattered a bunch of smooches on Jimmy's face, you find yourself breathing again. It's like you've been holding in for so long, you're getting dizzy at the taste of oxygen again, heart beating furiously in your chest, sweating all over.

Fuck, that was painful.

You're such an idiot sometimes. Why do you have to be such a fucking idiot? It's not like you're asking much in this life, honestly. You're not aiming at any groundbreaking, universe shaking novelties. You're staying in your line, trying to be good and do good in your own little world. Not asking much, not taking without beforehand being offered. Is it really that much to ask to not be absolutely humiliated in front of one of your kids' parent, who happens to be a stupidly handsome man? (Yes, he is. You can admit that -to yourself. It's probably the reason why your brain stopped working properly, by the way.) You're cursed. I'm cursed, I'm cursed, I'm cur-

"Mish?" The quietest little call comes from the quietest little boy. Standing a secure meter away from you, his peculiar big black eyes staring with a silent demand in them, Jimmy waits patiently for your attention to be given to him. You offer it to him with great enthusiasm. Because between self-pitying your dumb ass and celebrating the first-ever-self-willingly-uttered word to you by this boy, the choice is not even to be pondered over.

"Yes, Jimmy?" He's holding in one hand your crayons he slowly tends your way, careful not to spill them all from his tiny fist. In the other one, there's a paper he's drawn on. Your eyes instinctively are driven to it, curious to see what he decided to draw when he felt comfortable enough to do it. He catches the line of your attention, evidently, and it takes him a second but then, finally, he decides you're allowed to see it. It's a too accurate copy of the ugly cat you made for him the other day. The colours are different, the traits a bit shakier yet, completely unbiasedly, you have to admit that he somehow made it look better. "That's a very pretty cat, Jimmy."

He looks at it, ruminates your words, trying to make sense of them, verify their accuracy. Suddenly he seems to decide that you're right and giving you another candid look, he returns to his table where he proceeds to carefully slip the drawing in his bag.

You realise your eyes are filled up with prickling tears while you sniff. You're not sure how much is due to this, how much the terrible, terrible encounter with his dad worked your emotions so intensely you're so sensitive now. In any case, it turns out for the better. It's this cute little cat that ends up making you and your day ahead feel better. You're so thankful for it.

Again, you know you're too involved but how are you supposed to do any different with them? Maybe it wasn't a punishment earlier. Maybe it was the storm before the ray of sunshine. It's probably the case. You're less aggravated, suddenly. Less vexed and probably more lenient on talking to this man again given, not the ray of sunshine, but actually rainbow that he may have helped cause to colour your day.

A/N: thanks for reading 💜

[ourlastbastion]

Etherian Mall Ch. 8

The One with Catra & Frosta

Catra had been minding her own business. Really, she had. She had just been sitting at a table in the food court, minding her own damn business.

Yeah, maybe she had been alone at the time. It was her day off and her friends were busy.

She had just been sitting around in the food court waiting for some of them to finish up their shifts so they could hang out. Nothing more to it. All that mattered was that Catra had been keeping quiet and not causing any trouble for once.

In fact, Catra had nothing to do with the trouble that started. She had been minding her business eating one of those big soft pretzels.

But the fact of the matter was, regardless of Catra, trouble started.

She ignored it at first, the mocking jeers and taunts, the snarky answers back. She just kept eating her pretzel and looking at her watch. Maybe she got there too early because there was still over an hour until the two would be done with their respective jobs, and that was if they weren’t made to stay later because of something happening.

By the looks of it, most everyone else was also ignoring the apparent bullying going on in the food court. A few people would glance in the direction of the voices and quickly look away. Not wanting to get involved.

Catra couldn’t blame them.

Eventually, though, curiosity got the better of her. Taking a bite out of her pretzel, Catra turned around in her seat to look and see just what was going on.

Surrounding one of the tables was a group around her age, a couple looked a little younger, one looked a bit older. Leather jackets and snakes on the back, Catra recognized Lashor’s gang easily. What really took her by surprise was that they were circling and taunting Frosta of all people.

Now, Catra couldn’t say the twelve-year-old was a friend of hers. No, Frosta was more of Scorpia and Adora’s friend. Sure, Catra was friendly enough with the kid, as friendly as one ought to be to someone in your friend circle who’s not your friend in particular.

Hell, the most they’ve done that went beyond simple hellos was when Frosta punched Catra in the face last week. Not that Catra could blame her. She was more impressed than anything, the kid had a good right hook.

Frosta’s parents owned a winter gear store on the second floor of the shopping center, and the kid spent a lot of her time just wandering the mall and hanging out with people older than her, so seeing her wasn’t unusual by any means.

No, what was odd was that Lashor’s gang was picking on a twelve-year-old.

Finishing off her pretzel, Catra stood up and slowly made her way to their table, her tail swishing back and forth and her ears twitching a little.

She wasn’t doing this for Frosta, she wasn’t doing this to be a hero, of course not. That just wasn’t her style. She just didn’t like Tung Lashor and if she fucked up some of his goonies, that’d piss him off, and boy she got a kick out of pissing people off. Had nothing to do with her not liking grown ass adults picking on a kid.

“What, gonna cry?” hissed the bigger of the five, a bulky reptilian who spoke with a hiss. He leaned on the table and snatched fries that Frosta had probably been eating, downing them all in a single bite.

Another, a slim woman with goat horns cackled as she leaned against a shorter individual. “Cry for mommy and daddy?”

Frosta, for her part, was red in the face with embarrassment and rage, her hands shaking as she glared at them. “Go away before I make you.” It probably would have been more intimidating if Frosta wasn’t so small and so young. Instead of scaring the group off, the thugs just started laughing at her.

“Oh man, is this kid for real?” one of them wheezed, resting his elbow on her head. “Go away before I make you! Ah, that is hilarious.”

Catra smirked as she sauntered up, leaning against the table and looking at the gang, “What’s so funny?” she asked innocently, arms crossed over her chest and tail curling behind her. The laughter stopped when she spoke.

Now that Catra was at the table and getting a proper look at the group, she recognized two of them, the goat-woman and her small four-armed companion. Two people Catra had already beaten up and earned respect from. For those two, they clammed up as soon as Catra had spoken, backing away a little. The others, though? Not quite as easy to chase off.

“Aw? A kitty coming to the rescue?” the reptilian mocked, looking down on Catra. “You think you’re tough, how adorable.”

Catra smiled, raised a hand and let her claws extend. “I can show you just how tough I am if you want.”

She knew his kind. He was all talk, the type who relied on his intimidating appearance and bravado to scare people into submission. Catra knew how to deal with that, it was to show that you weren’t scared and that you were confident in your ability to take him down. She smirked, eyes locked on his as she let her claws slowly dig into the table, leaving deep scratches in the surface.

Almost a minute passed  before the thug broke her gaze, taking an uncertain step back as he glared and glowered. “She’s not even that much fun, anyway,” he muttered as if to protect his own pride, and began stalking away with his entourage following.

“While you go, tell Lashor hello for me,” Catra called after with a laugh, they flipped her off which only made her mood that much better.

“I didn’t need your help.”

Ah, there it was.

Catra was still smirking as she turned to look at Frosta, meeting her glare with amusement. Frosta, so prideful, so reluctant to rely on help. She reminded Catra of herself in a way. Catra faintly remembered Adora talking about how Frosta treated her when they first met, trying to act like she was mature and capable when really she was just a kid.

“I’m sure you could have,” Catra said, sinking into a chair.

Bristling, Frosta moved to stand. “I could have dealt with them on my own! I didn’t need you to interfere, I didn’t ask for you to help me!”

“Hey, who said I was helping you?” Catra asked in response, watching Frosta and chuckling a bit when Frosta looked absolutely confused. “If anything, I was just saving those idiots. If I hadn’t stepped in, they would have been leaving in an ambulance once you got through with them.”

Ah. There it was.

Frosta smiled. Well, it was less of a smile and more of a smug grin. “Well, of course. I was just waiting for the right moment to punch them in their stupid faces,” and as if to accentuate the point, she balled her hands into fists and raised them up to the air.

She couldn’t help it, not really, but Catra grinned and laughed. “Their faces are pretty dumb looking.”

Leaning back and glancing to the ceiling, Catra hummed, her smiling falling as she started to think. She could just leave right now. She stepped in, Lashor’s gang backed off, Frosta could take care of herself from here on out. But… well… Catra kind of didn’t want to? Sure, Frosta wasn’t her friend, but…

“I’ve still got some time to kill before Lonnie and Scorpia are done with work, want to hang out?” Catra asked, not really looking to Frosta. “I’m sure Scorpia would love to see you once she meets up with us, too. Better than just loitering about on your own, at least.”

“Depends,” Frosta said, bringing back up that ice queen façade, but Catra could see the cracks in it. “Can we play laser tag?”

Catra grinned, and it felt nice seeing Frosta smiling too.

Needless to say, the two of them were an unstoppable team once they geared up.

[spirit-of-vengeance]

7th ROTG anniversary. Time to get emotional.

I never written this down, but now I feel the need due to the intense nostalgia and the notice of how quickly time is fleeing. I have a tale to tell, I need to share my story about how this film changed my life. Warning: it's long.

Brief into: I believed in the Santa, Easter Bunny (I really wanted in the Toothfairy too and unfortunately never heard about Jack or Sandy) even when I was 10. (Which was considered pretty old to believe) I even got into an argument with my teacher in the 3rd grade because she said 'stop being childish, they aren't real' because I was excitedly whispering with my classmate about catching the Santa this year. A boy, who ironically looked exactly like Jack Frost began endlessly teasing me and calling me stupid for still thinking he's real. On the way back home with mom I confronted her about this, not giving up until she told me whenever he was right or not. Backed into a corner, she was forced to give up. I cried every day for weeks. The magic was ripped away from me.

Year 2012, December. I'm 11 and a victim of hardcore bullying since my whole life. Students, teachers and sometimes parents. To cheer me up, mom took me to the shopping center to watch a movie. We couldn't really decide & she saw a giant poster of North smiling at people. Her eyes lit up and excitedly said 'Let's watch that! ' I followed the direction of her finger and my face scrunched in malice "I am not watching a movie with the Santa. Its stupid. I'm a big girl, I want to watch a bloody action movie! " but she was unbending. She could bribe me into it with a large bowl of popcorn; I was still grumbling when the lights went out.

The change: first snowflakes, first notes of the piano worked like magic. I immediately shut up and wondered what actually happens here. Why is it so soothing? At the first few shots of the North Pole when North is working on the ice train, I jumped in my seat and I shit you not, I thought the Santa is actually getting murdered. My eyebrow rose higher when I realized that guy with the chainsaw and swords is the Santa. Unfortunately, I can't remember more first reactions; stress, depression, traumas really ruined my long term memory. It seems silly now, but I kept the last piece of popcorn what I was munching on during it, I still have it in a little jewel box; one of my sacred memories. The car ride back to home was quiet, I was staring out of the window my mind stirring with creativity.

Aftermath: 2013-2018; while my classmates were busy getting drunk, being a petty bitch, giving oral in the toilet, (yes. I am talking about elementary school.), getting laid, I was lost in a world of wonder. I learnt 60% of my English knowledge in 3 months with reading fanfiction. I browsed deviantart for hours and laughed my ass off at the hilarious, extremely well done fanarts.

I grew up on mostly Blackice videos I wasn't 100% aware what I'm actually seeing tho, I was exposed to gay ships from a young age and plot twist, nothing serious happened😀. My mental health wasn't shit because I saw the Bogeyman and the Winter spirit kiss.

I began talking to the Moon. I cried my pain to him. Sitting on my windowstill, debating whenever I should jump or not. My extraordinarily strong bond with my mom and this film were my only lifeline. I was making it through, in my own world. My imagination created wonderful sights, scenarios; at nights I was certain I can spot Sandy on his cloud, at Christmas North trying to push himself out of the chimney cussing, at Easter that enormous bunny running around, at winters mostly yelling at Jack 'get out of my country' because I'm a summer person, going to school on a chilly yet sunny autumn day and see Pitch standing on the edge of the misty forest.

I began to change, respond to the pressure from my bullies. My personality began to morph. See the wonder in everything; like North. There's hope and spite, don't dare to give up; like Bunny. Awaken and enjoy creativity; like Sandy. Shit on the rules and have a damn good time no matter what; like Jack. Cherish memories and friends; like Tooth. Be ruthless and stand up from the most brutal blows; like Pitch. And never forget, the Moon will always be there even when he's an antisocial dick and says nothing.

My aim, my dream was to write the sequel. When I was done I wanted to send it to William Joyce. I wrote 200+ pages, but unfortunately in Hungarian. I still don't know why I stopped, why I abandoned that plan.

I was looking for ROTG posters because I wanted to email them to my friend to show what I've been obsessed with. I was just lazily staring at a Pitch poster, realizing his V neck actually never closes - then my eyes crossed the date: November 21. I let out an ungodly shriek of disbelief and mirth. Mom rushed into the living room with terror and met with the sight of me screaming in ecstasy "RISE OF THE GUARDIANS CAME OUT ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!! "

Around 2016 I became really interested in this roleplay stuff and oh god I was terrible. Cindy Flame then was an always angry Mary sue but after years of practice, expanding she is a completely built, extremely complex character, flawed, strong, tragic and ruthless; divine yet oh so human. So I was making friends online, most of them failed, I think one of them committed suicide but that belongs to an another story.

I have been lurking Tumblr for 3 years? More? Because I had no idea how this site worked and I was shy because I thought my writing is not good enough I realize now I felt right. I admired blogs from afar, read their writing and falling deeper and deeper into this fandom.

Nearing present day: I actually came to Tumblr to pursue a friend of mine. I was borderline desperate because I've thought they are one of the last one in the fandom and it scared me. The fun thing is, I actually never interacted with them after making this blog. So I break this two year old spell and hi @kingofnxghtmares it's me, Jasmine😊 You don't have to answer/interact/or anything, I wanted to get everything off my chest and finally tagging you just felt right.

So now I'm on Tumblr. And I love every second it. I've found amazing friends, insanely dynamic muses, crack threads, angst, the chance to expand my muse even more and where I belong. So there I am, wondering where 7 years went. I've grown up (somewhat), and I'm glad I was protected from the 'disaster teenage years ', drinking, heartbreak, drugs, etc instead I grew up in a magical world interviewed with reality so closely; it became an escape place when reality became too heavy.

About ROTG & finale: masterpiece. The animation is insanely lifelike yet fantasy. Every tiny, microscopic detail is perfect, the characters, the storyline, the atmosphere original and capturing. The music is gut wrenching. Everything is absolutely, 200% on point. I don't think there ever will be an animated movie which can be better than Rise of the Guardians animation and/or storywise. No 'love is the answer ' movies can ever come close this iconic masterpiece no matter how they rip it off looking at Frozen 2😒

I watched it today (I have it in Spanish as well and I only can encourage everyone to watch it, the Spanish voice acting is, 100% in my opinion Pitch's bested Jude Law, damn that rich hiss of malice was incredible ) on my 18th birthday while cuddling with mom, laughing and heavy with nostalgia. I think I will remain in this fandom for a very long time, I don't think I would ever be able to let it go due to my deep emotional ties. I would like to thank everyone who were present in making this film, the artists who still keep this fandom alive, all of my friends, roleplay partners; thank you for brightening my childhood, giving me purpose and a place to belong.

To my all of my friends:

@paintbrushtheelf @muerte-rojo @nightmarinqs @mr-mansnoozie @gatekeeperoftheunderworld @50shadesofpitchblack @flossinspector @magicmiyeh

@black-equals-mysoul @nxghtlight @lindzem

I love all of you,

Jasmine

[reddielibrary]

Still The One

Secret Santa: Katie | @kaspbrak-eddie

Gift for: Elmo | @ellomello16

Special Message: Merry Christmas to the sweetest member of the fandom! I hope you enjoy this lil fic and I hope you have a good day, ily ♡♡

Word count: 6,789

*click title to read on AO3

Richie Tozier had never considered himself to be a wildly successful person. In school, he’d always been above average but had never been the top of his class, putting little to no effort into homework and exams but still managing to maintain mostly A’s and B’s. It may have been impressive, sure, but he had never been exemplary, and he prided himself in that. The slight apathy he felt for his schoolwork still yielded the same outcome that most of his friends and peers could only barely achieve through long, arduous hours of intense reading, writing, revising, re-revising. He didn’t bat an eye at assignments his classmates lost countless hours of sleep over. School had always come easily to him, as most things did. He was an incredibly charming man, never failing to make even the most stuck-up assholes crack a laugh every once in a while. 

Humans he had never taken issue with, he felt most comfortable in social situations and threw himself into them head-first every opportunity he had. Meaningful human interaction, on the other hand, deep, personal, one-on-one connections, well that was one of the few items on the list of things in life that made Richie uneasy. And he had a string of failed relationships to show for it, one that was longer than a suburban mother of six’s grocery list. Richie had simply never been able to connect with anyone on that profound, meaningful level that everyone talks about--that his partners talked about feeling with him. He had simply always felt like there was something missing, something not right. It felt as if something--or someone--was pulling him away, but if there was one thing he was sure of, Richie Tozier knew that he had never been in love.

Eddie Kaspbrak, on the other hand, had. Countless times. He fell easily, and when he did, he fell hard. Lamentably, he had a nasty habit of falling for people who could not even come close to reciprocating the love he gave--the absolute, irrevocable adoration that could only come from someone who aimed to please. The household Eddie had grown up in had been built around his mother’s intense, all-consuming need to be needed. Eddie had never known her as a rational person, although he supposed she probably had been at some point in her life. To Eddie, she was overbearing, almost dictatorial. Everything he did had to be passed through her first, and she approved of almost nothing. After years and years of the constant hounding, the unremittant whining and worrying, Eddie had learned that it was easier to just let her have her way, and he’d carried with him this skill of always striving to please. And he was damn good at it. It affected every part of his life as an adult, relationships with friends, with significant others, but most importantly, it made him incredibly good at his job.

He was passionate about his career--he threw every part of himself into his work, and he loved it. Although the work was unceasing, exhausting, it was a good outlet for his energy, especially when the same tendencies that made him great at his job had a propensity to affect his relationships negatively. Everyone he’d ever dated had had one of two problems with him--either Eddie was too clingy, fell in love far too quickly and let it overtake his entire personality, often morphing it completely to become more appealing to his partner. That, or they fought with him constantly about being work-obsessed, stating that he spent too much time away, or even when he was home, that he was distant, thinking about work; they complained about his going above and beyond to be the best, never supporting him the way he needed. By the time he was in his late twenties, Eddie had decided that he was done with relationships. He was exhausted and completely fed up with pouring his endless love and energy into people who didn’t champion his goals and applaud him for reaching them. In his memory, he had never had someone like that, someone who he could be himself with, someone who wanted him to be his very best. And he assumed he probably never would.

It was a Wednesday morning when Richie had gotten the call at 7:45, jolting him awake abruptly from a deep, heavy sleep. He groaned and patted around blindly for the phone on his nightstand, brushing his sleep-kinked, floppy hair out of his face as he did so. “Tozier here,” he grumbled into the phone, his voice thick and deep.

“Rich! It’s me! Get your ass out of bed, you lazy piece of shit!”

Still half asleep, Richie groaned, “The fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m just kiddin’ buddy. But seriously. Great show last night, you were fuckin’ hilarious!”

“Yeah, Steven. You always say that. That’s what you’re supposed to say, you’re my manager.”

“Yeah yeah.” Richie’s manager, who doubled as his best (read: only) friend, pushed on, ignoring Richie’s humility, “So the guy from SNL called back finally. You’re golden, baby. They want you to come out next week to audition.”

Richie’s eyes shot wide open, he was definitely awake now. He scrambled for his laptop on the floor by his bed as he replied, “Steve-O are you serious? If you’re fucking with me right now I’m gonna drive to your house and murder you.” He opened his laptop hurriedly to check his email, first reaching over to the bedside table to grab his glasses, sliding the thick, bulky lenses over his eyes to bring the world back into focus. Once he got his email pulled up, he desperately refreshed the browser, clicking the ‘get mail’ button incessantly.

“Bro, I can hear you clicking from here. Relax, I haven’t sent you anything yet. I’ll get it to you once I put everything together, I literally just got off the phone with the guy.”

Richie sighed. “Steven, you really are a genius. It’s happening!”

“It’s not me, Rich, it’s all you. And I always told you it would, have I ever lied to you before?”

Richie chuckled, rubbing at his eyes, pushing his glasses up to his forehead, still in disbelief, “Stevia, baby, you lie to me all the time.”

“Hush now. You know when I do it’s just for your own good. Alright, well, I’ll let you get back to sleep… Or back to whoever is in your bed right now.”

Richie mock gasped, “Are you accusing me of having premarital sex? You know I’m waiting until marriage, Steven, sorry to disappoint you.”

“Oh shut up, Richie. Goodbyeee...” He dragged out the last syllable as he audibly pulled the phone away from his face and hung up, his voice trailing off as the microphone was drawn further and further away from his mouth. A few minutes later, just as Richie was succumbing back to sleep, his phone vibrated with an email containing his itinerary.

Eddie sighed as he lay down on a cot in the on-call room of the hospital he’d worked in for almost four years now. He was halfway through another long shift, it was almost 6:00 am, but he could at least take comfort in the fact that it was just a twelve-hour rather than a twenty-four. Eddie had always had a penchant for medicine, even when he was young. Growing up with a mother whose every waking moment was dedicated to her only son, Eddie had been the target of her constant and unrelenting care. Although all of the illnesses she was sure Eddie suffered from had turned out to be fake, the excessive doctor visits as a child had made him extremely comfortable in hospitals and outpatient centers. As he’d grown older, he’d taken comfort in understanding his “illnesses,” and in doing so, he had begun to understand the source of them. He’d never been a slow kid--neither mentally nor physically--and at the ripe age of eleven, he’d realized just how his mother’s protection had hurt him, and he had vowed to leave her the very second he was able.

The only support system he’d had as a kid had been the friends he had made, who, after he’d left town for college, he had forgotten more and more about every single day. He was unsure if it was due to the influx of new information and experiences or something else, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t conjure up any of their faces in his memory, not even a single name. There was something there, he knew, something--someone--tugging at him. Something that panged in his stomach every time he walked past someone on the street with dark, frizzy hair, something he couldn’t put his finger on. There was the day in college he’d gotten reading glasses, and that night just as he was turning the light out, the sight of the frames laying on his bedside table gave him the strongest sense of déjà vu he’d ever experienced in his life, so much so that he had felt light-headed for a few seconds before regaining his composure. He had not slept well that night, dreaming of his childhood, blotchy and blurry, the only clear parts he could pick out in his head were a pair of impossibly thick glasses, beat-up black sneakers, scraped knees, and popsicles melting in the sweltering summer sun.

He’d been awoken by a panic attack in the early hours of that morning, something that rarely happened anymore, only when he had these dreams. These confusing, disorienting dreams. They were trying to tell him something, that he was sure of, but after years of having them, he was resigned to the fact that he’d never figure it out.

As he curled up in the cot in the on-call room to take a quick nap he thought of these dreams, hoping against hope that someday soon he’d understand what they meant.

As Richie boarded the plane at LAX at 5:00 am, he was so jittery that he could barely stand still. Most of it was from the four cups of coffee he’d already downed that morning in the Uber to the airport, but the rest was from nerves. He was nervous about the SNL audition, sure, but he was also nervous about something that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Something that was in New York. Something he couldn’t remember. He shook his head quickly to rid the thought as he flashed the cute, young flight attendant a small smile, pushing his glasses up and turning to look down the long airplane cabin and find his seat.

He didn’t get much done on the flight, too distracted to think straight, his mind running a million miles an hour. Immediately after he sat down he pulled his laptop out of his backpack, searching for the hours of SNL footage he’d downloaded to watch on the way in hopes it would ease his nerves. He lost himself in the footage, even laughing out loud at some points. He’d lost track of time, but about halfway through the first episode he’d started, he felt a tap on his shoulder and pulled his bulky headphones off, knocking his glasses askew. Fixing them quickly, he looked up.

“Sir, we’re taking off. You have to put that away until the pilot gives us the go-ahead to get large electronics back out.”

Richie nodded and hastily shut his laptop, stuffing it in his bag and slouching down in his seat, looking out the window as the plane taxied the runway slowly. The take-off was excruciating, his seatmate asked him to stop bouncing his leg at least four times, having to speak up over the mechanical, monotonous roar of the engines. He apologized profusely each time, only to be asked again a few minutes later, not even having noticed that he’d started again. Once the electronics light above him lit up, he grabbed his laptop again and tried to relax, doing breathing exercises he’d learned from a school counselor while he was in college to try and ease his anxiety. It worked somewhat, and the five-hour flight raced by quickly. Once they’d landed, he rushed through the airport carelessly, almost mowing down a few toddlers on his way to the exit; airports always made him uneasy, too many people, he always felt overstimulated. As he made it to the arrivals area and found the driver he was told would be waiting for him, he broke into a near sprint, running up to the unexpecting man out of breath. “Hey,” he took a heaving breath and gestured in between the sign and himself, “That’s… That’s me. I’m Tozier.”

“Hello, Mr. Tozier. Pleasure to--”

“Just call me Richie. Please.”

The man nodded solemnly, “You got it, Richie. And is that the only bag you brought? I was told you’d have a suitca--”

“Oh, fuck!” Richie exclaimed in a hushed yell. “Be right back!” He took off, loping through the crowded baggage claim area, his backpack swinging behind him.

Richie managed to find the baggage carousel fairly quickly, and his bag was--by some fucking miracle--one of the first up. He grabbed it and rushed back to the driver, who was chuckling quietly to himself. He unzipped the suitcase to retrieve his winter coat--something he hadn’t needed in years since he’d moved to California. “You ready to go now?” The driver asked kindly after Richie had thrown the old, worn coat over his shoulders and zipped it up tight.

Richie nodded and extended the handle on his beat-up suitcase to wheel it behind him. The ride to the hotel Richie’s manager had booked for him took about an hour and a half. The hotel was in the middle of the city and traffic was, as always, an unbelievable nightmare. By the time they arrived there, it was just after noon, and Richie was starving. The car pulled up to the curb and waited as Richie paid and pulled his suitcase from the trunk. He shot the driver a two-fingered wave and turned around. Right into a shorter man, a man who looked to be around his age. He donned a set of blue scrubs shrouded by a thick parka that went down to his knees, his chestnut hair was tousled and frizzy under the hood, the guy looked exhausted. “Hey, can you fucking watch where you’re walking? Fucking touris--” His voice was cut off as he looked up to glare at Richie, and all of the breath left his lungs.  “Do-- Do I know you?” His eyes went soft as he let the hood fall off the back of his head, looking up at Richie, his gaze tracking quickly back and forth over his face.

“I don’t… uh. Maybe? You look kinda familiar…” Richie trailed off, pulling his suitcase in closer to his legs in order to avoid the looks of antipathy from passerby.

“Sorry, you just…” the guy shoved his gloved hands in his pockets nervously and took a deep breath, his exhale condensing in the air in front of his cheeks, flushed from the cold. “You look like someone I used to know��� I think. I don’t know. Sorry, have a nice day,” he said as he quickly turned on his heel and hurried off down the street.

Well that was fucking weird, Richie thought to himself, I could have sworn I… He shook his head to clear the thought from it, he needed to focus. As he checked into the hotel, he couldn’t help but be slightly absent, his mind running circles, distressing over the audition, but also blindsided by the strange interaction on the street.

Eddie huffed as he replaced his hood on his head, tucking his chin into the jacket so that as much of his skin was shielded from the cold as possible. You’ve gotta fuckin’ stop with this, Eddie. The dreams… they don’t mean anything. He’s just a dude in glasses. Nobody. Focus. Forget about it. He sighed, quickly weaving through the slow walkers on the sidewalk and darting down into the subway tunnel, taking the stairs two at a time, grateful for a break from the incessant wind. When he got home and went to sleep, he had the same dream as always, but this time it was clearer than it had ever been.

The audition went fine, not as well as he’d hoped, but Richie wasn’t worried about it, he enjoyed his job in California; although Los Angeles did seem a bit lonely sometimes. He was glad to be heading back to Maine for the week to spend Christmas with his parents, who he hadn’t seen in over ten years, always too busy building his career to make it back home. This was the first year since he left for college that he was finally able to take a few days off and be home again. He thought about his childhood as he packed up his hotel room from his quick, three-day stay, pondered why he could remember hardly any details from that period of his life at all--not even the name of his best friend.  

He’d run around with a bunch of kids in those years, but there was just one. He knew there was always just one. The one that he wanted to spend all of his time with, the only one he still had any semblance of a memory of: band-aids, tears, cheeks flushed a darker red than Richie had ever seen in anyone--or had ever seen since. The one thing he remembered from his childhood, clear as a bell: the tinkling, warm laugh that echoed from his friend’s freckled, pink lips. The laugh he’d spent his entire childhood and adolescence doing anything and everything to elicit. The reason he still enjoyed making people laugh, why he’d made a career of it. He smiled to himself as he puttered around the room, his mind distracted by all manner of things, the man from the other day all but forgotten.

He gave one last look around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything then rolled his suitcase out the door behind him. The drive to the airport was slower this time than it had been three days before; snow began to fall about halfway through the drive, covering the city in a layer of pristine, sparkling powder. Richie watched out the window as the car blazed past skyscraper after skyscraper, his breath fogging up the window.

By the time he got dropped off at the airport, the snow hadn’t stopped, in fact, it hadn’t slowed at all. It looked as though there was a large possibility of his flight being grounded for the night, although he’d been refreshing his email every five minutes for the entire duration of the car ride, checking for news from the airline as well as from SNL. No news yet, so he strolled on in and through security quickly. He grabbed his backpack and tennis shoes from the scanner after they came out and sat in a nearby chair to put them back on. As he was slipping his second shoe on, a body plopped down next to him to do the same, dropping a pair of suede ankle boots on the tile floor with a loud slap. Richie could overhear him talking with someone on the phone frantically and snuck a peek up at the man. He was pressing his iPhone between his shoulder and his ear tightly, rambling so quick Richie wasn’t sure how he could get a breath between the words.

“I know, Ma.”

“Yes, I checked, it looks like it’s still going out.”

“It’s really not that bad, I pr--”

“Well, the news always exaggerates, you know th--”

“Yes, I’ll tell the pilot to be careful. Sure.”

“Mhm-- Yeah. Bye, Mom.”

He sighed loudly as he hung up the phone, dropping it onto the seat next to him then bending over to put his shoes back on. He chuckled quietly, “Sorry if you overheard any of that…” he said as he fiddled with the hems of his jeans, folding them just so and tucking them back under the tongue of his shoes, tying them up with the thin laces. He smiled over at Richie, who was still bent over working on the same shoe he had been when the other man had sat down.

“Hey… you’re that dude from the other day, aren’t you?” Richie asked quietly.

The guy screwed up his face, sitting back up. Richie followed, and he watched as realization fell over his features. “Oh my god, yeah. I’m sorry about that, I was just off a twelve-hour shift and…” he blushed and tried to flatten the hair on the back of his head, just long enough to show a slight curl. “And I was tired. But I’m Eddie.”

“Richie. Pleased to meet you, Eddie. Where ya headed?”

Eddie stood up, beckoning Richie to follow. “Bangor. You?” He asked, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“No shit? Same.”

“Oh that’s weird… I’d definitely peg you for a west coast type of guy.”

Richie laughed, warm, loud, “Ah, yeah. I’ve lived there for almost ten years. Born and raised in Maine though, baby,” he said, pushing his glasses up on his nose as his laughter yielded a snort.

“Don’t call me baby,” Eddie snapped. He’d always hated being called baby, although no one he’d ever dated had used the pet name; it stemmed from something else. It wasn’t his mother, as she favored more cushy pet names for him: Eddie-bear, muffin, sweetheart. Someone else had called him baby, had used it so many times. Why couldn’t he remember? The only thing he had left of the name were the feelings attached to it: the pain, the sorrow, the grief.

Richie put up his hands defensively, “Sorry ‘bout that, it’s a habit.” He checked his watch, there were still two hours until the flight was due to start boarding. “You on the same flight as me? The 4:45 one?” Eddie simply nodded in response, looking over at him with warm eyes. “Wanna get some food? I’m fucking starving.”

Eddie, in turn, checked his phone for the time and shrugged. “Sure, what did you have in mind?”

“Well I don’t know about you, but dat Chili’s 2go really hits the spot pre-flight, it’s an absolute delicacy.” Eddie laughed, a sound that made Richie’s head spin, made his heart ache. He beamed, “Letsa go!”

Eddie shot him a smirk, “You know Chili’s doesn’t serve Italian food, right?”

“It does if you order the spaghetti,” Richie quipped with a laugh.

After wandering around for ten minutes only to discover--to Richie’s utter dismay--that there was, in fact, no Chili’s 2go in their terminal, they settled for a little bar that wasn’t too busy, sitting down in a corner booth in the warm, dimly lit restaurant. When the waitress came over, Eddie immediately ordered “the biggest glass of red wine you guys are allowed to serve.” As she walked away, Richie’s eyebrows shot up at him, above his glasses and into the mess of his hair.

Eddie shrugged, “I fuckin’ hate flying. Plus, it’s an airport, everyone is allowed to drink here at any time of the day, right?”

Richie chuckled, “If I got drunk I’d spend the entirety of the flight trying to get you to let me blow you in the tiny airplane bathroom.”

Eddie’s mouth hung open in horror, “God, that’s fucking disgusting. Is everyone like this in California? Do you guys not have germs there?”

Richie winked, “Sorry.”

“So, anyway, what were you doing in New York?”

“Well, uh, actually… I was auditioning for SNL,” Richie said nonchalantly, looking down at his water glass and taking a small sip of it through the straw.

Eddie raised his eyebrows, his eyes twinkling in the soft light of the restaurant. “That’s cool, what the hell?”

Richie shrugged. “I do a lot of stand up in LA, my agent knows a guy who knows a guy.”

“That’s so fucking cool.”

Richie nodded, “It was terrifying though. Did you know they don’t laugh when you audition? Like at all. They’re not supposed to.”

“God, count me out. I can’t even make old people laugh. And they don’t have the internet, they don’t see any jokes.”

Richie smiled, “Maybe that’s ‘cause they’re just distracted by how cute you are.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Eddie replied, stifling a grin as his cheeks turned a dark, warm rouge. Richie’s heart nearly stopped beating at the sight.

They finished their meal with more expository conversation and slightly less dirty talk, although it was admittedly not much better. Eddie’s cheeks slightly flushed from the wine, Richie’s cheeks sore from smiling, they wandered to their gate quietly. “Well, we’ve still got like an hour…” Eddie yawned as he checked his boarding pass, looking around at the gate numbers ahead of them. “Ah! Over there,” he said, pointing to a sign that read 35, the area underneath already had some people milling around it.

They found a set of chairs that was as secluded as you can really get in an airport and they both sat down, depositing their bags and coats on the chairs on either side of them. After a few seconds, Eddie looked over and nudged Richie, who was rustling around in his backpack. “Will you. Uh. Would you watch my stuff if I nap for a little? I can’t sleep on planes, but I’m fucking exhausted.”

Richie nodded, zipping up his backpack after having retrieved a book from it. “Sure thing, sweet cheeks.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Don’t… call me…” he was interrupted by another yawn, this one bigger than the last. “Whatever.” He pulled his knees up in front of him in the chair and reached for his coat, covering himself in it completely; only his head poked out above the thick fur that lined the hood. “Wake me up before they start boarding, I’m in the first boarding group.”

“Damn, how’d you swing that?”

He looked up at Richie, his eyes already half-closed with sleep yet still somehow managing to shoot daggers, “Printed off my boarding pass in a timely manner.”

Richie raised his eyebrows, “Well alright, just call me out for poor time management.”

Eddie nestled further into his coat, closing his eyes completely, “Mhm. Night, Rich.”

Richie’s heart soared at the pet name, his stomach fluttering with warmth. He smiled to himself as he looked over at Eddie, already breathing evenly next to him.

After about forty-five minutes, Richie was abruptly pulled from his book by an announcement over the loudspeaker that their flight would be delayed by at least an hour. He folded down the corner of his page and set his book aside, turning to look at his still fast-asleep neighbor. His voice low, he placed a hand on Eddie’s shoulder softly.

“Hey. Eddie,” he whispered, pressing his fingertips lightly into Eddie’s arm.

Eddie stirred, but not enough to move or even open his eyes, “Mmm?” He grumbled, curling up under his coat even more than he already was.

Richie kept his voice at a whisper, “Flight’s delayed. Another hour.”

Eddie murmured some sleep sounds, balling his fists up in the fur of his coat and wrapping it around his sides. “Good. Hndhdon’t wanna,” he let out a long, deep exhale, “dohnwandjsee my mom ahneeway.”

Richie chuckled, “That’s okay, Eds.”

Eddie, almost fully back asleep now, leaned over the armrest separating them and rested his head on Richie’s shoulder, nestling his cheek into the soft material of Richie’s baseball tee.

“Dohncallmeethat,” he whispered on an exhale, and his next intake of breath was a sleep-gurgled almost-snore. It was Richie’s turn to blush, he stifled a smile as he recovered his book and opened it back up.

After another hour, Eddie began slowly to wake back up, his eyes fluttering and a yawn breaking his lips apart as he sat up, sloughing off the coat, now too hot under its insulation. He looked at Richie, his cheeks flushed slightly from the warmth and the sleep. “Uh. Sorry for… I didn’t realize… That I’d been sleeping on you… How long was I out?”

“Like two hours,” Richie replied, a grin on his face. “I bet they start boarding soon, the snow stopped a bit ago.”

Eddie attempted to keep another yawn at bay, “Thank god. My mom is gonna have a fucking conniption.”

“Yeah, you said something about her while you slept,” Richie said, looking down to make eye contact with Eddie.

His eyes flew open wide, panic on his face. “Fuck. What did I talk about? I have weird dreams a lot… Didn’t realize I talked during them. That’s.” He paused, running a hand through the hair that was kinked on one side from being pressed against Richie’s shoulder. “That’s great.”

“Oh, not much. You just said you didn’t wanna see her.”

Eddie looked relieved. “Oh. Well yeah, that’s not untrue. She’s… A lot.”

“Sounded like it. From what I overheard when you were talking to her on the phone earlier…” Richie trailed off, the PA system in their gate had turned on, a bored-sounding woman began to drone out their flight information.

“Boarding for flight XF56G to Bangor will start in the next twenty minutes, sorry for the delay.”

“Where’s your seat?” Richie asked, still looking at Eddie, now rifling through his coat pockets for his boarding pass.

“12G,” he replied, neatly refolding his boarding pass and tucking it into his pants pocket.

Richie hastily retrieved his, folded and nestled into the back of the book he’d been reading. “Dang it, I’m 23B.”

Eddie smiled snarkily, “What I get for being on time.”

Richie glowered over at him, “Whatever, a flight’s a flight. Sucks no matter what.”

Eddie shrugged, “I guess you’re right. Well, it’s been fun, thanks for not stealing my shit while I slept.”

“All I had to do was sit here and watch you look pretty,” Richie replied. “Wasn’t too hard of a task.”

“I swear to go--” Eddie started, but was interrupted by the call for boarding group A, of which he was a part. “Well, maybe we could, uh…” He cleared his throat as he stood up, folding his coat over his forearm neatly. “Maybe we could get drinks or something while we’re in town, I’m only about twenty-five minutes outside of Bangor… God knows I’ll need the alcohol.”

Richie smiled. “Me too, maybe we could meet in the middle. Now go, or you’re gonna forfeit your precious group A standing. Find you after the flight.”

Eddie nodded, turning around and hastily pushing past strollers and bags and masses of people to make his way to the desk, turning around to shoot Richie one last grin before he disappeared behind the door.

The flight was quick, not even two hours. Richie spent most of it reading and attempting to sleep, although neither was going very well at all. He was continually interrupted by snippets of memories, playing in his head like snapshots; popping up and disappearing like old, faded polaroids. Things from his childhood he’d since completely wiped from his mind; at first, it was his parents, yelling at him for breaking his glasses, praising him for his A averages, worrying at him for something that to him was still a cloudy and nameless entity in his head. A relationship, maybe, but he hadn’t dated anyone in high school. Hadn’t he?

Then came his friends; the treasure trove of memories that opened up the moment he began to recall them was immense, it was endless. Summers spent swimming at the quarry, the years when time had had no illusion of significance, no meaning at all. The group of them roving the entire town on their bikes as if they owned the damn place, building the clubhouse in the barrens, hiding out from their bullies there. He was abruptly ambushed by memories of those boys, the bullies who’d made his and his friends’ lives living hell until one by one they’d moved all out of Derry. These memories he’d packed so far away he wondered if he’d been paying the bills for the storage space these had taken up, they surely had not been in his head all this time.

He remembered his friends one by one, Bill first. Bill. He hadn’t had a name in years, hadn’t thought about his friends since he’d moved, every attempt had ended with him left more confused, with more details forgotten. God, had he adored Bill. The leader, the coolest one of all of them by leaps and bounds. Bill’s power over them had been unmatched, they had all loved him, stutter and all. He then remembered Beverly, cooler than Bill by all standards but their own for no discernible reason. He recalled her beauty, but more than that he recalled her biting wit, her fierce loyalty, her courage. He remembered the others too, nearly all at once. Stan, Mike, Ben, their faces came up in his mind as if he was looking at photos, as if he was watching the greatest hits of his life. They came crashing into the forefront of his mind like a shattered stained-glass window being reassembled in front of his eyes.

Just as the plane began its final descent, more memories came to the surface, ripping through the others almost violently, overtaking all of his other thoughts like brushfire and flooding his mind with nothing but Eddie Eddie Eddie. Cute cute cute. How he could have forgotten him he had not the slightest notion, but those years with Eddie came rushing back, and suddenly it was all he could do not to pass out. They came over him in a deluge, swarming in his head like bees and making him light-headed. Little Eddie Kaspbrak, little in stature but never in character. His friend with the asthma that had turned out to be nothing but a bad case of worrying. His friend who had carefully and meticulously cleaned up and bandaged his knee that one day he’d fallen from the back of Bill’s bike, the only one of them able to stay calm and level-headed through all of the blood, all of the pain. His friend with the too short shorts and the too big t-shirts. His best friend. The love of his life.

Richie felt the plane land, hard and fast, felt his seat underneath his legs jostle him around as they made a bouncy impact with the ground, the movement slowing down as they taxied to the gate. He was pulled from the cavern of his thoughts, he looked up and around the plane, searching for that warm brown head of hair he’d just spent so many years without. It had been ten years, but the next five minutes were due to be the longest of his life. The moment the plane stopped moving, Richie unbuckled and jumped up, joined by some of the other overeager passengers. And Eddie. Richie caught sight of the button nose as the man turned his head, his eyes desperately searching the overcrowded cabin for the boy he’d been in love with since before he even knew what love was. The smile that was on Eddie’s face, his eyes brimming with tears, communicated exactly what they were both feeling. The rush of emotions, the inability to wait five minutes even though they’d waited years already. Richie just stared back, unaware of what his face looked like, although he supposed he probably looked like a damn slack-jawed idiot.

They held eye contact until Eddie’s seatmate exited the aisle and followed the line of passengers off the plane. Eddie tore his eyes away and reluctantly followed, flashing an uneasy, impatient smile before he moved. Richie waited patiently--as patiently as he could, although patience had never been his strong suit. When it was finally his turn, Richie moved anxiously off the plane, following the mass of people in front of him who apparently felt that it was okay to walk as slow as physically possible. On the jet bridge, he began to bob and weave through bodies, trying not to push anyone but nearly mowing down a few old ladies, hobbling at an astoundingly low speed through the wide tunnel. The moment he stepped off, his eyes found Eddie, who was waiting patiently for him, bag and coat in hand. Eddie smiled as Richie approached, dropping his belongings on the floor to reach out to him. Their bodies collided solidly, Richie also cast his bag away, their things in a messy heap on the dirty airport floor.

Richie looked down, looked closer this time than he had before. “Eds.” He fixed his glasses on his face, as if unsure whether or not his eyes were betraying him. “Eddie.”

Eddie nodded, tears welling in his eyes. “Richie,” he whispered.

Richie reached his free hand to cup Eddie’s cheek, letting his thumb swipe softly back and forth across his high cheekbone, still as littered with freckles as it had been when they were fourteen. Richie could feel his eyes wetting as well and blinked a few times, refusing to tear his eyes away from Eddie’s, they were still the same warm, hazel brown with flecks of gray. Richie could feel Eddie staring back up at him, boring holes into his own crystal blue eyes, cast into an almost clear aqua by the brilliant afternoon sunlight reflecting off the snow outside, magnified by the thick lenses that sat in front of them. As they looked at each other for the first time in over ten years--really looked at each other--Richie could feel every single memory of them crashing over him like a tidal wave, crushing him and building him back up again, and he could see the hurricane raging on behind Eddie’s eyes as well. He remembered the long glances, the soft touches, the warm, summer sun reflecting off the water, shining on their wet hair and their wet arms, coaxing freckles out of hiding. The bitter winters, those memories still dominated by warmth, the campfires, the backseat of Richie’s truck with the heater all the way up, the two of them wrapped up under blankets in the same bed. The hot breaths and lingering touches, tingling, warm skin covered with goosebumps. The warmth coming to a crescendo, a blaze that had destroyed everything in its path, igniting their lives and incinerating everything within reach. The fight that had ended it all, and the cold that it had left behind. Replaced again with only longing glances out the back of car windows, driving opposite directions across the country.

Richie watched as Eddie lost his battle with the tears in his eyes, letting a sob escape his chest, beaming up at Richie as the tears began to fell. “It’s been… God, it’s been so long, Rich. So fucking long. And how did we-- how did we not...”

“I don’t know… It doesn’t matter though. Because we’re here. And we remember. And… I never told you when we were younger because I was seventeen and a fucking idiot. But I love you, Eddie. I have since the moment I met you, and… I don’t think I stopped, even while I couldn’t remember you.”

Eddie smiled, laughing through the tears. “I love you too.” Just then, Eddie’s phone began to ring in his pocket, vibrating between them. He pulled it out hastily, sighing at the screen and pressing it up to his ear. “Mom. I just landed, calm down. I’ll be there soon.”

“Yes, I--”

“No, it’s fine, I can--”

Richie chuckled softly to himself as he watched Eddie’s brow furrow, and he reached in his pocket to retrieve his own phone. He read through the few texts he’d missed, deciding to deal with them at a later time. He took a deep breath as he opened his email, refreshing it slowly, ready to see nothing. When it finally loaded, there were two messages. Both from his manager. With shaking fingers, he opened the first one. His eyes pored over the screen, barely reading the words, attempting to absorb the contents of the entire paragraph at once. He scrolled to the bottom quickly, not really retaining any of the text at the top. When he got to the last line, it said this: “I know you’ll have scrolled through this whole thing and not read any of it. So, here’s the deal…”

He looked up at Eddie, who’d just hung up his phone in frustration. Eddie’s eyes went soft when he caught sight of Richie’s face. “What’s up?”

“I did it, Eddie,” he said, exhaling a short, relieved laugh. “I got the job.”

[lydiaandarry]

{5 Cartoons That Could Possibly Survive a Live Action TV Remake}

Hello there!

My name is Arabella but you can call me Arry, if it’s easier. I don’t know about you but I basically grew up on cartoons. And it seems to be a new craze in television history for cartoons to be remade into new adaptations for a new audience. It doesn’t surprise me that cartoons are the main source for this as they are noticeable. Recently, Riverdale and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch have been remade into CW Television Shows. And while I find Riverdale to not be that great of adaptation and murder of character. I have heard more nicer things about Sabrina: The Teenage Witch yet never watched it. Despite this and me thinking this television shows have not survived their live-action adaptations. I will be listing five cartoons that I think could survive a Live-Action Adaptation and I will explain my reasoning and how it may be done and also issues that may be concerning. Let’s invade this topic!

(Scooby Doo)

      My favorite cartoon of all time, Scooby Doo. I am nineteen years old and I have yet to grow out of Scooby Doo and probably never will. It is reaching its 50th year anniversary this year and is still a cult classic. We have had four (not including Daphne & Velma) live-action films that have featured Scooby Doo but we are talking about television shows here. I personally think that Scooby Doo could do better as a live-action television show because you can get multiple mysteries, more monsters and the characters will receive more development. You can also have guest star characters such as The Hex Girls. Yet I have my doubts due to how poorly Archie has been transformed with Riverdale. I feel like Scooby Doo will help avoid stereotypes and forced diverse tropes. As the gang is one of the most diverse group of characters ever. It would be extra amazing if they added in the 60’s-70’s fun charm that the cartoon had. And of course, kept it light-hearted and fun yet aiming it for more young adults and less-so teenagers and children. This will open doors. After watching Daphne & Velma, I do have concerns with forced diversity that may murder the characters as Daphne and Velma did not portray either character accurately. In the name of forcing female empowerment yet ignoring the female empowerment that is there. Fred is the brave, kind-hearted, hilarious and slightly clueless jock who is friends with everyone. Daphne is the fashion-motivated, kick-ass and clumsy popular girl whose greatest value is how quick she finds out things. Velma is the intelligent, sarcastic nerd who is an equal to Fred and fits in perfectly. Shaggy is the hippie who is hilarious, a scaredy cat and athletic who has yet to use more than 1% of his power. And Scooby Doo is the animal sidekick who has character development and has an actual snack named after him. It would make a great television show if done properly and written great.

(The Jetsons)

      I promise, these are not all Hanna-Barbera shows. Except that all of them could be made into wonderful adaptations. The Jetsons is about a futuristic family who live in 2062 that includes George Jetson, a hard-working father. His wife Jane who shops and takes care of the house. His oldest child and only daughter, Judy whose a teenage girl and slightly rebellious. And his youngest child and only son Elroy whose an intelligent kid. And their dog Astro and robot Rosie. Non-surprisingly, The Jetsons is actually outdated and nothing like the actual future. This adds a lot of fun aspects with mixing vintage and newly futuristic ideas. While introducing new concepts into the already existing plot. The Jetsons unfortunately was limited due to animation budget and short-running time with only two seasons that they weren’t able to expand the universe. I feel as if, a new revival of the show could potentially expand the universe and make the characters a bit more realistic. As they are your average futuristic family who can go through relatable issues while keeping with the theme. They could also embark on making Judy more fashion-forward and gifting us unique character designs for the character. As I know that Judy was my favorite character and definitely someone that I could relate to. And of course, keeping the 60’s charm and having more humor. Less dramatics for TV Remakes please! Embrace the humor. And sci-fi is definitely still selling in pop culture and with the graphics we have nowadays, The Jetsons would look absolutely stunning compared to what would have happened if they had perhaps made one in the past. Again, it all comes down to casting and writing. The real-life aesthetics of The Jetsons would be beautiful cinematography wise. It may seem a bit more impossible due to how high a budget would probably have to be to achieve most of the futuristic aspects like flying cars and in the air scenery. Yet the best thing to take advantage of with The Jetsons is how vintage the futuristic aspects are, they can really use a retro futuristic vibe. The Jetson’s futuristic isn’t on the same level as Star Wars or even typical Sci-fi. The effects do not need to be overly complicated as it is mostly dependant on vibe and charm. They could very much go for an Indie vibe where it could be made with a low budget. Choosing style and substance over realism and overdone effects.

(The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)

     Hear me out, as this is a weird one. I grew up with The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and I lowkey blame it for my dark sense of humor. Mandy was one of those unique characters whose clothes did not match her personality whatsoever. Billy was humorous with how stupid yet straightforward he was. And Grim is… I relate to Grim in my old age. This show was such a creative premise to young me that like I adored it. Of course, I loved all things creepy. But seeing that Billy and Mandy and the other young characters were only 9, it is a realization that it may be physically impossible to have a live-action show where the young actors could react in a way similar to let’s say Mandy and Nergal Jr. However after some consideration, I realized that as this will probably be a revamped version, that they could age up the characters. And we could see how Mandy, Billy and the rest have developed into older ages. This of course brings up a lot of new ideas and concepts, new plotlines, and new character developments. Aging them to be teenagers and even young adults can add a more mature theme while keeping the dark humor. It can be darker yet still keep the fun and theatrical side. As it would no longer be targeted to young children but more so, the audience who grew up with the show. Seeing how our childhood characters have grown up to be near our ages. This could bring up more conflicts, relationships, and dynamics. Especially because a popular ship is Mandy and Billy as they are older, so it would be interesting to see if that would come to screen and if they would be compatible being at least ten years older at most. And of course, the graphics would absolutely fantastic since we have ways to make CGI look realistic and would bring on the creep factor. And perhaps, they could even give Nergal Jr more of a character and more humorous scenes. It could survive a TV Remake in this sense because it would be more so, a sequel and they would be working on newer material and not trying to perfect older material which may come in handy with writing.

(Totally Spies)

     If anyone asked me what my three favorite girl-based cartoons were as a child, I would always respond with, “Powerpuff Girls, Bratz, and Totally Spies”. Totally Spies was my ultimate dream television show, they were my Charlie’s Angels before I discovered Charlie’s Angels. Even in my youth, they were relatable. And I don’t care what anyone says, Totally Spies was ahead of its time and very diverse. You had Clover, the fashion-forward girl with a sassy personality and although her flaw was being shallow, she usually always learned her lesson. Sam, the introverted and intelligent one of the group who figures things out quickly yet is too quick to trust others. Alex, the hilarious and tough one who has problems with being invisible. They were feminine and kick-ass and taught me that I shouldn’t be ashamed to be into clothes or hair or makeup as I could still kick ass. I think Totally Spies has the diversity that Hollywood is looking for as they will not have to force anything into the mix, it can be a relatable and humorous show about three girls who are best friends and spies. They can have awesome character designs, great dialog, and mix realistic issues into the fictional issues of being a teenage spy. While also showing girl power and how to handle evil people. While also bringing back former fashion trends, especially the 70’s that Totally Spies is known for. With cool costumes and cool gadgets. This would be a kick-ass show when given the right humor, writing, casting and charm. No one can prove to me otherwise.

(Daria)

    I am ending this on a rather tricky note as this television show really depends. With the other ones, they’re classics but changes can be made. Daria was ahead of its time and has relatable humor that even fits now. I remember discovering Daria when I was fifteen and going through a tough time and she really learnt to accept myself and my sense of humor. Now while Daria is being rebooted and I have lots of issues with the reboot before it has even come out like the fact it’s called “Daria & Jodie” when Jane Lane was a bigger character than Jodie yet they just ignore her because diversity. I do think if they were to reboot Daria properly, a live-action television show could be great. It will give a new element to the already great show. Of course, casting Daria would be rather hard as you need someone who can remain likeable yet still have a sarcastic aura. And Jane, the slightly more expressive witty best friend. And of course, Trent, the hot older brother of Jane who should have gotten with Daria! Daria is a great show for all ages, especially teenagers to young adults as it really shows the humor of common high school stereotypes. While keeping the complexity of each stereotype in its sense. A lot of Daria’s quotes still hit a string with me to this day. Especially the one where she is at college open-house and responds to the woman asking what goals she has, “My goal is to not wake up at 40 with the bitter realization that I’ve wasted my life on a job that I hate because I was forced to decide on a career in my teens”. That quote still stays by me as I am nineteen now and it’s like my life motto at the moment. And a live-action Daria could play off the nostalgia and have a lot of older watchers which will make it more money than a reboot that may destroy the characters for the sake of diversity. And forgets the true importance of Jodie. I would rather watch a live-action television show than a reboot cartoon as reboots never go well in cartoons.

    Well, that was five cartoons that I feel can survive a live-action remake and how they could. Keep in mind that everything you just read is my opinion and I am not asking Hollywood to look at my post and make all of these into live-action television shows. As the thought of that frightens me. Yet I feel like with the right cast and writers, it can be done. Thank you for reading my post. If you like my post, feel free to follow our Tumblr as I write posts on every Wednesday and Saturday similar to this one. And also feel free to like or reblog the post. I’ll see you on Wednesday! Peace out!  

[zuka-themed-username]

z-t-review: My Fair Lady (National Tour 2018 w/ Asaka Manato)

After a bit of a delay I’m back with the rest of my reviews from my vacation! Two days after I saw Elisabeth I headed down to Oita in Kyushu to see the final performance of Asaka Manato’s first post-taidan show, My Fair Lady. I am absolutely obsessed with this show/film*, so even if Maa-sama wasn’t in it I think I would have still tried to see it. As my Japanese is not that great I was curious to see if I could determine how they would make Eliza’s Japanese sound different. Would she use Saga dialect, as that’s her hometown? Or some other dialect? Frankly I’m still not sure, but as with my other review I’ll be outlining my experience in randomly ordered bullet points. Let me know if you have any info on what specific dialect might have been spoken!

*Apparently it was performed in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater in 1963, with a male Henry Higgins! I didn’t think they’d allow that lol XD

-  Maa-sama played Eliza very girlish. The previous time I saw her perform she was the stalwart Russian guy from Land of the Gods, so this was a welcome change, and there didn’t appear to be any discomfort from playing a female role. At times she leaned a bit toward the dumb side, but in a humorous way that played well with the audience. I forget that, given the age of the actresses playing the character in most productions, that Eliza is supposed to be 19-24-ish (it has moved toward older in newer productions I have seen) so I was glad to see a cheery approach, and it allowed for a stronger shift in maturity in the second act.

- I was curious how Maa-sama’s voice would sound - and it was great! Better than the videos online! She could hit all of the notes, though she sounded a tad tired on the highest ones. Not really strained per se, but as if she had been doing dozens of performances in an unfamiliar register, which, of course it was lol. It’s clear that she was really pushing for lower notes in Takarazuka and almost seemingly faked the strain on the ‘higher’ ones (in comparison now not really high at all). I say seemingly faked because she already sounds great in a higher register after such a short time. She has no doubt worked incredibly hard with a vocal coach, and I’m so happy she was able to perform these songs so soon and so well after her graduation.

- One small change however was the final section of “I Could Have Danced All Night”. The final note was shortened in length, though I don’t wholly disagree with just making it shorter in all productions. It’s a tad unrealistic for someone to be singing in an operatic register at 3AM regardless, but to hold that final note for what, four measures? Beyond unrealistic XD.

- Speaking of voices, everyone sounded incredible! Absolutely fantastic singing from everyone. Honestly, the maid/butler choir was distractingly good. This is mainly because

- Only the songs were amplified? They clearly had two audio settings - one to lightly boost the spoken scenes and another to really bump the music and singing. It was great.

- Speaking of which the orchestra was on stage, split in two and elevated on either side, about a full story up. They sounded wonderful; the bass really popped and if I didn’t see them I almost would assume it was recorded.

- The sets and costumes were quite nice, though they were often carbon copies of the 1964 film. No complaints, but I’m always down for new interpretations in design.

- Some notes on translation:

     * For the uncultured accent, “hi” became “shi”. Thus Professor Henry Higgins was Professor Henry Shiggins and I never not found that funny. It also made for a cool stage trick with a lamp. It had a real flame that if you made “shi” sounds into it the flame would not flicker, but if you made “hi” sounds it would. There was then a kotowaza or phrase of some sort that alliterated on the “hi” sound, which of course led to a wonderful gag of Maa-sama nearly passing out trying to get the flame to flicker on “shi” instead. She eventually just blew it out and her look of pride and then embarrassment read from 10 miles away and was fantastically hilarious. In those moments she built instant empathy for Eliza.

     * I’ve not explained the plot of the show at all (apologies) but there are some set phrases that Higgins attempts to drill into Eliza using a xylophone. One of which in English is “how kind of you to let me come”. In Japanese it was “something arigato gozaimasu” and the way Eliza said it, “arigato goseimes” had the audience rolling. She would not drop it - Higgins was borderline screaming “goZAiMASU!” to her response of “go..seiMES!”. No doubt was leaning into it as it was senshuuraku and I was dying. This led to a gag where Higgins shows her cards - a 5 (”go”), a rhino (”sai” but he flipped it to “zai”), and a trout (”masu”). Eliza proudly looks at them and goes, “Go! Zai! Sakana!” And the woman next to me in kimono legitimately guffawed. The audience was all in and I loved it. 

     * One of my favorite songs “Show Me”, starts in English with a very clipped, “Words words words I’m so sick of words!” But “words” in Japanese is “kotoba” so Maa-sama had to cram “kotoba kotoba kotoba” into the same short rhythm and it was a tad clunky. But the energy was still strong and upset so no qualms there. 

     * I’m not a fan of Higgins in general (small wonder in 2018) but I did feel for the (wonderful) actor Terawaki Yasufumi when “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” started, as that music is ~so~ specific to those syllables the translation simply did not flow well. Again, acting saved the day, and I’d rather a fully translated show then “here’s some random English line and then we’ll explain it with the following lyrics” setup that some Zuka songs have.

- Any moment for dancing was always blown out into full intense segments for the ensemble and it was fabulous. Eliza’s father’s crew was having a blast and I wished they had more time to just trash about on stage. A+

- Also A+, the Ambassador’s Ball was gorgeous, Maa-sama looked ~amazing~. Similarly the Ascot Gavotte cracked me up but the audience did not find “Come on Dover, move your bloomin’ arse!” as funny as I did. Ah well. When Eliza doesn’t stop sharing shocking family gossip though is a universally hilarious moment and Maa-sama’s expressions are priceless. I hoped they filmed it so I can gif the hell out of it.

- As I haven’t really gotten into the plot or characterizations here I don’t want to go on a full analysis on the interpretation of Eliza/Higgins in this story, but I did find that, unlike more recent Western productions which tries to give Eliza as much agency as the plot allows and tends to diminish Higgins, the relationship here between Higgins and Eliza was a bit more romantically-leaning. In the final curtain call Maa-sama and Terawaki Yasufumi who played Higgins did like a fake proposal and lots of “you first, no you go, no, let’s go arm in arm with a head leaning on a shoulder” dealios. It was cute, and audience members were as close to “aww”-ing as they could. It’s not my favorite interpretation, but I think this is the closest I will ever be to experiencing the 1964 film live, which is cool in and of itself. As I listened to the curtain call speech where Maa-sama mentioned how this show helped her post-graduation from Takarazuka, I thought of Sagiri’s first post-taidan show, Woman of the Year, and I realized that both shows have very polite spins on traditional female characters. With her next show after her concert being Sister Act it looks like she’ll continue to kick ass in theater like Sagiri, so I look forward to catching her in more productions in the future.

Next review is either Castle of the White Heron or Thunderbolt Fantasy/Killer Rouge from Taiwan! Stay tuned!

[ellana-ravenwood]

Fate is a bitch - Bruce Wayne x Reader

Warning : I was drunk when I wrote this, just coming back from a friend place...I drunk two beers, and that’s enough for me to get drunk, how weak am I right ? It’s because I never drink...Anyway, that’s why this fic is shittier than usually blahblahblah it’s all fun and game until blahblahblah I thought about not writing this and posting it, but then I promised two stories for tonight so still did it and I’m an idiot yes thank you very much. Look how great Bruce looks down there. Damn hottie. DAAAAAAMN HOTTIE. 

Decided to group two requests, because the two together inspired me. So here for a shy reader, newly a Justice League member, intimidated by the Bat. As usual, feedbacks are very welcome, hope you’ll like it :

PART TWO  

My master list blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

________________________________________________ 

Destiny. 

You strongly believed in Destiny. 

No matter what people could say, how many arguments against it they had, and how much they were sceptic about it...it wouldn’t change your mind. You strongly believed in Destiny.

Because it was impossible only coincidences brought you were you were now...in the Justice League’s headquarters ! 

It wasn’t a coincidence that your path crossed Billy Batson’s, aka Shazam, one of the most powerful superhero in the World (though he was barely ten years old), and that you ended up adopting him.

It wasn’t a coincidence that you so happen to be a meta-human too, being able to manipulate the four elements. 

It wasn’t a coincidence that your son got noticed by the Justice League, nor was it a coincidence either that soon, the leaguers discovered he was only a ten year old boy in the body of a grown ass man (when he used his powers) and therefor, discovered that he had a mom...you. Who almost grilled Superman because you thought he wanted to hurt your boy. 

You believe strongly in Destiny, because hell, if all those chain of events were just coincidental, then wow...It just didn’t make sense. It was just too good to be true you know ? From your first meeting with four years old Billy to now, sitting in the League’s headquarter, in fucking Space ! 

The first one you met was Batman, and damn that guy was intimidating...But when he spoke to you, and when he congratulated you to have raised such a good boy as Billy, something weird happened in your heart. 

At first, you pegged it for a stupid teenage like crush. Like the slight infatuation you’d have on the most popular boy in school, or on a teacher, knowing damn well you’d never have a chance with them. But then...Then it was more than that. The more you saw and talked to him, the more you had...feelings stirring in your belly and such. 

Destiny. You strongly believed in it. 

So, when you started to fall for the Bat, you decided it was also Destiny...Only, sometimes fate could be a bitch, and would destin you to be a sad miserable human being. Because there was absolutely NO chance that you’d ever get with a guy like Batman, he was way out of your league. 

****************

The first thing that made you like him, was the way he defended your son against the other Leaguers. They wanted him out of the league because he was but a ten year old child but...He already proved he was capable of handling himself, and even more importantly, of saving a lot of lives ! So what was the big deal ? 

Batman was the only one defending your son, and he was also the only one that needed to, as he convinced everyone. When you thanked him, he just told you it was normal, there wasn’t anything to thank him for. 

The second thing that made you slowly fall in love with him, was the way he seemed genuinely worried about everyone’s well being. Some of the Leaguers thought he was an emotionless man, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Whenever someone was hurt, he took it as a personal mistake. He threw himself in front of people to save them more times than you could count. He always made sure everyone was alright, even if it meant him not being ok...He was the most compassionate man you ever met. And he was really only a man. No powers. How impressive was that ? 

The third thing that drove you crazy, and you felt a bit vain for that but, oh well, whatever...was his body. His body was ridiculous. The dude worked out a lot. And his voice, oh god his voice (when he didn’t have the modulator on), it was amazing. Deep and soft at the same time. 

The fourth thing that made you want to crash your lips on his was...as oddly as it sounded, his conversation. He was the first one to talk to you when you arrived in the League, and he made sure you felt comfortable. He made sure the look other leaguers gave you (after all, you were letting your ten year old child roamed Earth and Space freely...but Hell, that kid was one of the most powerful being in the universe, if he could save life, shouldn’t he do it ?!) didn’t make you feel bad...Besides, he too let his children, quite young, out int he street to fight crime. He understood. The conversation always flooded so well between the two of you, it was almost crazy. You knew it was in your head, but you felt like a special connection was being webbed between the two of you...After all, it seemed you were the only one he really talked to like that. But no. That was probably in your head.

The fifth...Oh forget it. There was so many reasons you slowly started to fall for the Batman, that listing them all would take ages. He was everything you liked in a guy. Even his broody and aloof side was appealing to you. Because just like him, you were highly introverted, and sometimes, you just needed to be alone...so far, everyone you ever dated did not understand that, and whenever you asked for some “alone time”, they took it the wrong way and ended up resenting you, and therefor, breaking up with you...

Besides, it wasn’t easy to find someone as a single mother...But; didn’t Batman had like, ten children or something ? Maybe he’d understand...You shook your head. You needed to STOP thinking about him. You had absolutely no chance. It was quite clear that he did not want a relationship. 

Still, sometimes, you found yourself just staring at him when you knew he wasn’t looking, and thinking about how it could be, to date him...Billy was getting along pretty well with Damian...

But there was no way in hell that you'd ever be brave enough to make a move, the man was too damn intimidating. Even sometimes when you two spoke, even if the subject was light or silly, he would still keep his composure and his stoic tone and...Well. Yes. Intimidating was a great word to describe his overall behavior. 

*******************

-Say, mom. You have a thing for older guys, right ?

-I totally have a thing for older guys. And it’s not an appropriate subject to talk with my ten year old son. 

-No but, hear me out ok ? Besides, I’m in my adult form right now, which makes it ok right ? 

You had to give it to your boy, his logic was flawless. Well, almost flawless, because even if he looked like he was in his thirties, you knew he was way younger...But you’d hear him out, because it was always interesting to hear him talk about what he was thinking and all. He always had rather...interesting and special inputs on life. So you turned to him, and, going on your tip-toes to ruffle his hair (seriously, you hated his adult form), you nodded for him to continue. 

-Well, Damian...you know Damian, Robin. Batman’s son. Yeah you know right ? Ok cool. Well Damian and I were talking about how you and his dad were getting along so well ok ?

You blushed. What ? If ten year old boys picked up on it then...You shook your head. No. Batman wouldn’t waste his time on this kind of thoughts. 

-Where are you going with this Billy ? 

-Well, Batman is quite older than you. From what Damian said, he’s about twelve years older so...You dig him right ? 

-...This isn’t how it works my boy. 

-But, you like older guys ? 

-I do. 

-So you like Batman ! 

-I don’t like every men that are older than me !

-Oh ? 

-No Billy. What the Hell ? 

-So...You don’t like Batman. 

-No, I do like him. 

-Really ! That’s great because...

-...As a friend ! I like him as a Friend ! Hell, I don’t even know who he is in real life. 

-Yes you do, I bet you figured it out. 

-Maybe. 

-You know it’s Bruce Wayne don’t you ? 

-What if I do ?

-Mom, you can fool a lot of people but not me. I know you’re smarter than you let people think, because you love when people underestimate you and all of a sudden they’re impressed because you’re way better than they thought you were. 

-...What are you, my shrink or something ? 

-My point is. You know who he is, he’s older, you think he’s hot...

-Wow wow wow, I never said I thought he was hot ! 

-Mom, I heard you whispering it to yourself that time he came back wounded and had to take his chest armor off. 

-Oh...You sneaky bastard.

-I’m pretty sure that’s not how you’re suppose to speak to your own son...

-It’s how I’m suppose to speak to my snake of a son who always get up in my business ! Curiosity killed he cat Billy ! 

-Well I’m not a cat so it doesn’t matter ! 

-I don’t even understand where you wanna go with all this ! 

-I was just wondering if you liked Batman ! 

-I do ! As a friend. And...? 

-You do ? 

-I do ! 

-Great, because him and Damian invited us over for dinner tomorrow night !

-WHAT ?! 

-I already said yes. Now we have to go. We’re totally going to try to set you two up with Dams by the way, so be ready. Don’t blush too much alright ? 

-....You little...

-I’m recording you right now mom, if you insult me I’ll call social services. 

-You think you’re funny don’t you ? 

-DAMN HILARIOUS ! 

Ignoring your heart racing like crazy just at the thought of going to have dinner at Bruce Wayne’s house, you grab your son (still in his grown ass man form) and tackle him down, tickling him mercilessly...Of course, because he’s so much bigger than you, it ends with a bloody nose for you, and a very sorry kiddo that order take out from your favorite restaurant, and puts on your favorite film. 

Oh that kid knew you too well. 

******************

Destiny. 

You strongly believed in Destiny. 

But sometimes, fate could be a bitch, and right now, your son’s hand (a child once again) in yours, you could have punch it if it was a person. 

Oh god, you’d punch fate in the face so much. 

Fuck you fate, why did you have to be such a bitch ? Why did you have to drag (Y/N) all the way in front of the house of the guy she had a massive crush on but knew she’d never have a chance with ? WHY ?

You were pondering all of that yourself, when an older man open the door of the massive Wayne Manor (you felt so ridiculous, coming here with your old shitty cars that was such a wreck that most of it was held by duck tape). 

-Good evening, I am Alfred Pennyworth, Mr. Wayne’s butler. I suppose you are Lady (Y/L/N), young mister Billy’s mother ? 

-Yes. Hum...Nice to...meet you...Sorry I don’t know the protocol to...

-Oh do not worry Lady (Y/L/N), no protocol between us. You can call me Alfred, they all do. Now if you would please follow me. Oh by the way young mister Billy, thank you for the birthday card, Master Damian gave it to me, it was very...inventive. 

-Thanks ! I knew you’d like the dragons ! 

You took a look at your son, and how excited he was (lately, he spent A LOT of times in the Wayne Manor, with Damian and Jon, Superman’s son), and at Alfred, who smiled warmly to himself...You were so proud to have a kid as nice as your Billy. Wherever he went, you always had compliment about his behavior...You had absolutely no idea how he became such a respectable young boy, when you spent most of your time swearing like a sailor and all...But it was great. 

***********************

You rarely saw the bat without his cowl, but hot damn. You recognized his square jaw and lips that looked so damn kissable and...his eyes were wonderful. So blue. And he had amazing jet black hair, combed thoroughly. 

He was waiting with his sons in the dining room, and jumped up his chair (while his sons were snickering at him) when you and Billy came in. 

-(Y/N) ! Hi. I...I...What are you doing here ? 

Oh God. That was awkward. 

-Hum...My son he...Said...your son and you invited us for dinner ? 

-Oh...yeah...We did...I just thought...I just thought only Billy would come, for some reasons. 

-I’m sorry. If I’m intruding I can go, I...

-Oh no no no. Sorry to be so rude, it’s just ...A surprised. A pleasant one. 

He smiles at you, and it seems like a genuine smile, not the fake one he sometimes give his fellow leaguers, or the half-smirk he has often. It troubles you...because damn why do you like that guy so much ? 

He smiles at you but...Oh the entire dinner is awkward. Fortunately, Bruce’s older sons ask you a lot of questions, and talk to you, because Bruce do not utter another word  after he said it was pleasant for you to be here. What the hell right ? But what did you expect ? He was always like that. He rarely made connection, and wasn’t even expecting you to be here. It’s not because he talks to you when you’re on a job that he’d want to see you in his every day life...

He just doesn’t speak. Sometimes, he stares at you for a while, or peaks up from his plate when he thinks you’re not looking. He keeps glaring at his youngest son, and the way Dick, Jason and Tim look at him curiously is...Weird. Damian keeps making innuendos about how you and Bruce are very much like each other and...

He leaves before dessert, and the sorry look your son gives you is enough for you to elect yourself as the “biggest looser of the year”. If even a ten year old boy pitted you, well hell, that was something...

You knew it anyway. You didn’t expect much of the dinner (that was a lie, you had an entire scenario ready in your life, ending up with you and Bruce sneaking out in the garden to make out...). Batman was...a colleague. That was nice enough to let you into his own personal home. Granted, it was because your son was a very good friend of his but...Yeah. You don’t know what you were expecting really. 

Bruce Wayne was way out of your league.

********************

You don’t go up in the Justice League headquarters for the next two months. You don’t want to see Batman, not before you’re over him. Not before you stop crushing on him...And you realize that it’s not just a crush. You’re in love. Fuck. 

********************

Your son tells you Batman is asking after you, but you can’t trust the boy. Him and Damian are getting so well along, that they both decided to set you up together...but so far, their attempt was a big failure. It ended up with either Bruce just leaving without a word, off to go things that were actually important, or you making a fool out of yourself. 

*********************

As you’re saving the World with the League for the hundredth time, Clark corners you to ask you what was going on, why you weren’t coming up anymore...and if it was Bruce’s fault. 

You tell him you’re fine, you’re just not a fan of space. And it’s not Bruce’s fault, why would it be ? You don’t like the look Superman is giving you, and you remind yourself of talking to Billy when getting home, because you’re pretty sure your son is spreading some rumors about you and the Bat. 

*******************

You don’t make it home that day. Distracted by thoughts of Bruce and your unexplainable strong attraction to him, even though you know you have no chance, you don’t notice the enemy...You hear your son’s manly voice (powered up, adult form) as you feel an unbearable pain in your chest. What is that thing sticking out of between your boobs ? Did...Did something just pierced your body ? You feel someone’s strong arms catching you before you fall to the floor, and everything goes dark. 

*******************

When you wake up, your boy is sleeping in your bed, next to you, curled up against your side...and it looks kinda weird because he’s in his adult form.

But he’s not alone in the room. In a chair at the foot of your bed, Damian is sleeping tightly too, a blanket with batman symbols on it over him. 

And...Next to you, on a hospital chair, is Bruce. 

What...What was he doing here ? 

You stir in your bed, trying to sit up. It doesn’t even wake Billy up, damn your boy must be exhausted. Damian doesn’t budge either...It wakes Bruce up however, and when his eyes meet yours, his harsh features soften, his creased eye brows rise in relief, and a small smile tug at his lips. 

-You’re awake. 

He says weakly, clearly lacking sleep too. 

-I am. 

Your voice is hoarse, and dry, and it hurts when you speak. 

-What...What happened ? 

-You got stabbed. By a sword. A very big sword. You’re lucky to be alive. 

-...When ?

-You don’t remember ? 

-I’m not sure...

-Almost three months ago. 

-I’ve been out for three months ?!

You try not to raise your voice, as to not wake the kids but...three months ? 

-Yes. You scared your boy. 

You look at Billy tenderly, and push away some strand of his hair out of his face.

-Poor kid...He already went through a lot...I take it, if you’re here, it’s because you took care of him ? 

-Yes. He’s...him and Jon are Damian’s best friends. I couldn’t leave him alone. 

-Thank you. Really Bru...Batman, thank you. 

-We might be in the hospital wing of the League’s headquarter, but as you can see, i’m not wearing my costume. So please, call me Bruce. 

-Thanks Bruce. 

-You’re very welcome. You’d do the same for me. 

-Of course. 

An awkward silence ensue...It’s nice that he took care of your son, but you kinda want him to leave, because it’s...it’s just too painful. Seeing him here makes you hope he’s not there just because of your son, and hoping is bad. You learned that the hard way. 

None of your relationship ever ended well. You were unlucky in love. Fate was a bitch on the matter, you learned to accept it...but if Bruce was there...You just wished he’d leave. 

He was looking at you intensely, and it made you shiver. He probably didn’t mean it, but right now, you found him more intimidating than ever. 

-Well...You...You can go now. I’m ok. A bit groggy but, ok. I can take care of him. 

-I’m sure you can but...If you don’t mind, I’ll stay. 

-I do mind actually. 

You speak before you can think, and immediately regret it. Especially since Bruce, for a fraction of second, looked hurt by your reaction. 

-I mean...I’m ok. You can just...Go on with your activities. 

-It’s the middle of the day. I often work just at nights. 

-I bet you have plenty of things to do though. 

-But this is more important. 

-Stop it please. Just stop it. 

-What ? What did I do ? 

-You...you...Just go. 

-Why ?

-Leave.

-I won’t go until you tell me why. 

It was weird, having an argument with someone while you could only whisper (again, not wanting to wake up the boys). And...What was he doing ? Why wouldn’t he just leave ? 

-I don’t have to tell you why. 

-Then I won’t go.

-You’re infuriating Bruce. 

-Does it have something to do with you not coming up the space station those last six months ?

-What ?

-I couldn’t help but notice your absence. Usually, like me, you’d be up there almost every day. 

-Well, sorry to have a life...Wait, no, that sounded rude...Please just leave. 

-Again, not until you tell me why. 

-Stubborn bastard. 

-You couldn’t be more correct my dear. 

The way he calls you “dear” makes your heart flutter...but you know it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a way of speaking. You make one last attempt at driving him away, because you’re not sure you can handle much more of this : 

-Bruce. I beg you. Just leave me alone. 

-I will, promise. I’d even never cross your pass ever again if you wish, and apparently, you wish to...Like, I can't help but think I’m the reason you don’t come up here anymore. So please, tell me what I did wrong. 

-You didn’t do anything wrong. 

-Then why do you want me to leave ?

-Alright ! Fine. You wanna know why ? Here’s why : For some reason, I’m attracted to you. I don’t know why I instantly felt drawn to you, but I did. I’m attracted to you in so many ways. And yes, I didn’t come up in the space station for a while because I was avoiding you, because I know you’re not interested, it’s not your thing, and especially not with me. So please, leave, because...because I’m...I’m in love with you. And seeing you here gives me false hope. Please. Just go. Because I know there’s no way you love me, or even like me...Right ?

You hate the fact that there’s hints of hope in your voice...You feel pathetic.

Especially since Bruce looks at you, his face emotionless...Or almost. Because, aren’t the corner of his mouth trying not to twitch up right now ? 

-I’m sorry to tell you that but...

Your heart stop. Of course. Of course you’d have no chance. He was about to break your heart, right there, right now. 

-You are extremely dense.

You’re stunned. Dense ? That’s...That’s not what you were expecting.

“Dense”. How rude.

-What a...shitty way of rejecting someone.

-Who says I’m rejecting you ?

-..You’re not ? 

-I’m not. 

-...Why ?

-Because for some reason, I’m attracted to you too. Except that I know why. It’s because you’re passionate, compassionate, the way you raise your son is amazing and impressive, he’s really a nice young man. You’re beautiful too, hope it doesn’t sound too vain of me to say so. When you’re around, my..uh..I’m not good with words, but basically, my heart races, and I can’t stop it. I tried. But I can’t. And it’s not that relationship do not interest me, it’s just...I don’t always have time for them, and I never met anyone who understood that. But you do. We often talked about that. The truth is, I’m tired of being alone. Of having no one to understand me, confort me...To listen to my cheesy declaration of love. Sorry for the cheesiness by the way. And besides, Damian...Damian actually convinced me to confront you about all of this, he’s the reason I’ve been pushing you right now to tell me why you wanted me to leave. He thinks...He thinks we’d be a good match.

-Smart boy. 

-I thought so too.

Natural. That’s how it feels between the two of you. Just...natural. As if you were handmade for each others. It’s very weird and confusing. But sometimes, weird and confusing is good.

-After, I’ll tell you why I fell in love with you. But right now, I’m just gonna kiss you alright ? 

-I’m good with that. Just...I love you too (Y/N). 

It was all so casual. All so normal. As if you two told each other a million times before that you loved each other, as if you were already an old couple. As if...As if it was Destiny for the two of you to end up together. As if from the moment you found a four year old Billy down the metro station, it was all written somewhere that you’d end up here. In Bruce Wayne’s arms. With his tongue in your mouth and your arms around his neck. 

You always strongly believed in destiny...There was just no way all the things that happened in your life to lead you here were just coincidences, you...A very manly and excited voice suddenly yelled, from the corner of the room : 

-YES ! NOW I’M REALLY A BAT-SON ! Haha, get it, cause my last name is Batson ? 

-It’s not funny if you explain it Billy...

You and Bruce turned around to be faced by both your young sons (one of whom was in his adult form, and was...dancing a happiness dance ?) The fit of laughter that took over you two was legendary. 

PS : Next time I write something drunk, please, tell me to fuck off. BECAUSE THIS IS TERRIBLE ! Tomorrow, I’m gonna read it and be like : “Wow what, why did I write that ?” and erase everything. Maybe rewriting it someday. OH MY GOD SHIT.

[hallucinationoflacrymosa]

30 questions tag!

I was tagged by @caramellcat1998

Thanks a lot babe <3 I’ve never been tagged in this kind of things and I appreciate it a lot.

Rules: answer 30 questions and tag 10 people you’d like to know more about!

1. Nicknames: I let ppl call me as they please, but closest friends call me Nene, Nana or Ire

2. Gender: feminine human being who acts like a cat most of the time

3. Star sign: scorpio

4. Height: 153 cm (I think it’s 5” or 5’1”)

5. Time: 17:01 I’m a lazy ass so I’ll probably post it late in the night

6. Birthday: 7th of November

7. Favorite bands: uhmm… Black Eyed Peas was my absolute favorite, then there are Pentatonix, Bon Jovy, Die Antwoord (I can’t understand shit but man if I like what I hear), Black Veil Brides, The 69 Eyes (I really love goth music), White Lies, B.A.P. and Big Bang (yeah, I’ve been pretty fixated with kpop during my 3rd year of highschool). They’re not bands but I also do adore The Hobbit, King Arthur and Suker Punch soundtracks.

8. Favorite solo artists: I think I’m gonna die lmao btw David Bowie, Will.I.Am, Sia, Kat Graham, Hilary Duff (her last album is fab), Emily Browning (ik she’s not a singer but I ADORE her songs).

9. Song stuck in my head: I’m still pretty stuck with “Human” by Rag’n’Bone, this song is absolute perfection, and with “Fire Escape” by Civil Twilight.

10. Last movie I watched: Coffee Shop, a romantic comedy (but imo is more a drama) with Laura Vandervoort.

11. Last show I watched: 12 Monkeys and you should absolutely watch it bc it’s freaking amazing if you like sci-fi, and GoT (I’m seeing it translated into Italian bc I watch it with my parents so I’m an episode behind).

12. When did I create my blog: January 2012, but I started using it only late in 2014.

13. What do I post: obv fandoms (I have so many, gosh: Stargate, LOTR, The Hobbit, Avengers, TWD, TW, GOT, Strange Magic…); videogames, such as Dragon Age, Mass Effect, the Witcher; stupid things I like; plants; gifs, so many gif bc I love them, and also photoshoot of my favorite artists;  cats, cats and cats everywhere bc they’re my ray of sunshine.

14. Last thing you googled: Emily Browning height in inches bc we’re more or like the same height lmao and I can’t understand for the life of me how the heck I can convert cm in inches.

15. Do you have any other blog: a blog I made in 2014 with the help of my bff, I wanted to write what I feel but I’m a lazy ass so I’ve never wrote anything.

16. Do you get asks: Nope

17. Why did u choose your URL?: It’s similar to my mail and the mail is really really more complicated. I created the mail bc I wasn’t able to enter in my skype account and I wanted to complicate my self, so I took some part from song names of my favorite artist and here am I with a terrible mail and a terrible url, but now I’ve grown affectionate to it lmao.

18. Following: 423 and I won’t delete any of them.

19. Followers: 44, I block every porn blog that follows me and I’m not so interested in being followed.

20. Favorite colors: absolute favorite is Black, it’s so classy and stylish even if you’re simply wearing a pajama. Then there’s red bc I’m a vampire and I like blood (?) and I’ve take a liking on green.

21. Average hours of sleep: *screech* I should sleep at least 8 hours or I’ve a super iper mega giga headache, but I’m a dumbass and usually stay up until it’s too late and the next morning I struggle to get up. Or, I can sleep to 14 hours.

22. Lucky number: 7 or 8, I’ve never really thought about it, but I think 8.

23. Instruments: I used to play something in elementary school but I gave up for lack of interest.

24. What am I wearing: I’m literally sweating the sweats of my ancestors so I’m wearing only a pink camisole and a pair of purple shorts.

25. How many blankets do I sleep with: depends on the season, now (here’s summer) I sleep without blankets bc I’d risk to burst into flames lmao, but in winter I do love to wrap myself in a duvet. The softer the better lmao.

26. Dream job: I DON’T KNOW. I’d like to do something books related but I’d need a degree or do something with the language I know bc I really love to speak and help tourist.

27. Dream trip: I’d like so much to see the pyramids, I love Egypt and everything related to it. I’d also like to visit Scotland again bc i’ve been there in idk 2014 (I’m bad at memorizing thing) and it was like a dream.

28. Favorite food: I do love to eat, I think my faves are pasta, pizza (hehehe I’m Italian) but also tiramisu, ice-cream, and fruit such as peaches, strawberries, cherries and melon.

29. Nationality: italian

30. Favorite song now: god idk, I’m listening to “Dana” by Dear Frederic so I’ll say this. I’m tagging:  @bootycap I’ve fallen in love with your movie poster, they’re so fucking amazing, and I’m really happy to see your posts on my dash. @veritaaas Even if I don’t follow Z Nation or The Last of Us, i’m pretty affectionate to your blog bc of your love for Boondock Saints. @samcaarter I started following you for Sam Carter and then I’ve discovered that we’ve more fandoms in common and I love your posts. @goldwerewolf As soon as i’ve seen Strange Magic I started searching for blog to follow and gosh if you’re one of my favorite. I really love your drawings of Bog and Marianne. @suzie-guru I think I’ve been following you for quite a long time by now and I’ve always been pleased to see your posts. @nilukka You’re one of my favorite artist that I’ve discovered from tapas. Every update of your comic bring a smile to my face and I would like to adopt a Black Star and tell him everything I know (?) @sikanapanele Your gifs are fantastic and you fill my heart with wonderful ppl every day. My eyes and my soul say many thanks. (All this Charlie Hunnam is a blessing) @givebackandlivehappy I started following you for Strange Magic and then I liked you so much that I’m so happy to have you on my dash. @lovelyblueness  I believe that you are one of the blog I’ve been following quite from the start and idk, when I see your post I’m like “Oh yeah, a post by Natalia, I love this girl. @terrible-wolf In time of crisis you’re my sterek safe island and I don’t know what I’ll do with you. These are just a few people that belong to your tumblr-dash and you get concerned if they don´t show up for a while.

[smokeybrandreviews]

I. Am. Iron Man.

So i didn’t get into all of the stuff i loved about Endgame in my review because i was still processing. here was just, SO MUCH, and i’m not talking about the many, many, easter eggs. I’m talking about all of the fanservice. All of the nods. All of the ending character arcs and plot points. Bro, the shine in this movie is so bright that an entire post was needed unto itself so here we go:

Clint’s family getting dusted. My guy, this is the MOST i have ever seen Hawkeye do and it was so much. Like, Jeremy Renner got to act and it was devastating. This man lost his entire world and it broke him. It f*cking broke him and you SEE that happen.

Robert Downey Jr. I’ve heard whispers that he might be nominated for an Oscar and i’d be okay with that. Dude kind of Dark Knight Joker’s his way through this movie. And that ending scene? I. Am. Ironman. Bruh!

Paper Football!

Karen Gillan’s Nebula was pretty legit. This is the most she’s done in these films and i, as man who absolutely adores his Ginger Goddess, was incredibly happy to see it. I was a curious how they were going to incorporate her relevance from the story, into this movie, and was happy to see that she was so prominent.

“I lost the kid.” F*ck you, movie, for making me feel things so early!

Rocket and Nebula. Seeing those two characters together, knowing what they lost? F*ck!

Toy’s entire unloading on Captain America after getting back from space was just... F*ck. He was right in the worse way and no trust. No trust. I get why he feels the way he does but both of these cats f*cked up.

“I. Am. Inevitable.”

“I went for the head.”

Five years later. BRUH!

Scott Lang! Bro, Paul Rudd is a gift and he’s far more compelling and relevant in this flick than he’s ever been, even in his own movies. Dude was in the quantum realm and, for him, it’s only been 5 hours so he’s completely f*cking lost. Especially when...

F*cking grown ass Cassie! BRUH!! Are we going to get a Stature in the new MCU soon?? Seeing Emma Furhman walked out that door was ridiculous and the way Rudd played his surprised was perfect. I believed this was the first time he saw his what has to be his 15 year old daughter after last seeing her as a 10 year old. Solid f*cking scene.

Namor easter egg

Morgan Stark, are you kidding me? Kid was adorable! Terrible at her job but adorable to look at. And she did an admirable job as a proper for Stark to quip.

Professor Hulk was pretty okay, I like that Mark Rufflo’s arc had a finite conclusion but, i dunno? I kind of feel like this is temporary, as it is in the comics, but we’ll see. According to him, he was able to make that equilibrium happen in 18 months so he’s been that way for 3 and half years.

“I love you 3000.”

“Time travel!”

Literally any scene with Natasha and Clint but that first one when they finally see each other after so many years. If you’ve kept up on this entire saga, you know that Clint and Natasha love each other like siblings. He saved her from her bloody ass past, kind of, and literally set her on pace to become a hero. Clint saw her potential and nurtured her into the leader of the Avengers. Now, she has the opportunity to do it for him, to pull him out of the darkest that used to be her life. Which makes what happens not to much later a f*cking gut punch. Still, it was nice to see something “normal” return for those character.

Speaking of Natasha, Scarlett did a fantastic job as the character. For the first time since Winter Soldier, i felt like Black Widow was an actual character and not a prop. Like, when you look at it, these movies have been blessed with their casts and you get to see why in this flick. Her arc in this flick is one of finality but she’s able to do so much with her screen time, it’s ridiculous. Ma gives Tony a run for his money, easy.

“What’s up, Normal Sized Guy?”

New Asgard, Angry Girl, Meek, Korg, and Fat Thor. BRUH!

Chris Hemsworth doing his best impression of The Dude was hilarious and makes all of the sense. Dude had just destroyed Asgard and taken his place as king when Thanos decided to slaughter half his people, kill his best friend, kill his brother, and then Snapped. Thor lost 3/4 of the entire Asgardian race. There’s literally like, 12 houses in New Asgard. That’s what’s left. Dude’s understandably in a bad place.

TIME HEIST!!

That’s America’s ass!

Watching Hulk half-heartedly smash on his way to the Santum Santorum was cute. Speaking of...

Bro, the Ancient One kind of fending off Chitari was awesome. She would have definitely been there, doing her thing, over yonder. I never even thought of that! It was also dope seeing Tilda Swinton back for a cameo, the first of many time displaced shenanigans!

Loki peace-ing out!

Alexander Pierce, Rumlow, and Sitwell. Seeing them again was awesome.

“Hail HYDRA.”

Everything on Morag was hilarious. Paring Nebula and Rhodey together was a stroke of genius. They play off each other well. I hope they have a bit more interaction going forard. Interesting enough, there are a couple of scenes where they get to interact, and it looks like Rhodey might have made a proper impression. Like, Nebula LIKES him and it’s cute as sh*t.

Past Nebula f*cking everything up! Jesus, b*tch, get your sh*t together!

“That is destiny fulfilled.” Bruh, past Thanos just being okay with his murder is chilling.

That struggle to be Vormire’s sacrifice. Bro, that was f*cked up and it hurt when she fell.

“Let me go.” F*CK!!

Howard and Tony interacting as adults. That was awesome to see, I’m glad Tony got that in the end. he needed it.

Peggy. All she had to do was look up. That’s all. F*CK!

Yo, Jarvis! Shout out to the one show that gets a reference in the movies! Nice!

Stark’s gauntlet. Cats are trying to argue that stark tech shouldn’t be able to harness the power of the tones but, why not? The current armor can do some incredible stuff and there’s a ton of vibranium availed to them now because of Okoye. It kind of makes sense they’d be able to find a way to make that happen.

Time-Travel Thanos! My man didn’t have nearly the presence in this film, than he did in the past and that’s okay. He’s not supposed to. this isn’t about stopping the Snap. It’s abut undoing it. It’s about AVENGING the fallen. Outside of being a final obstacle, Thanos holds no real relevance to Endgame. But, that last obstacle is a doozy!

The Big Three versus The Mad Titan. BRUH!!!

Cap wielding Mjolnir! BRUHH!!!!

Thanos shattering Cap’s shield. BRUH!!!!!

“Avengers. Assemble” F*CKING, BRUH!!!!!

Iron-Dad! Seriously, the reunion scene between Pete and Tony made me cry. The fact that they let Tom Holland and RDJ come up with that scene on their own; Like, all of that was improvised on the spot, was amazing. Seeing them together as the opposite of how i felt when Pete got dusted.

F*cking Wand, man! She solo’d Thanos as second time! and nearly killed him! Ma went in on him with brutality and pure rage! If not for Corvis bailing him out with spaceship guns, that would have been the end right there.

Wait, did i mention Rescue? Pepper out her in her own armor, making some vets in the hero game, look like straight rookies. Dope sh*t is dope!

“If i tell you what happens, it won’t happen.”

Black Panther acknowledging Clint, the opposite of the first time they met way back in Civil War.

Pete finally activating instant kill mode. Stabby-stabby!

“Heads up, Queens.”

“Hey, Peter Parker. You got something for me?”

But dat A-Force, though. HNGGGG!! i’m not goin to lie i never knew i wanted some thing so bad until i saw all those chicks line up and absolutely hard body Thanos’s army. We need this movie. Make this sh*t happen!

Carol eating Thanos’ headbutt and that look of legitimate concern on his face. Keep in mind this is a Thanos with a five stone Infinity gauntlet on, and Captain Marvel is overpowering him. She’s a f*cking problem!

“I am Inevitable.”

“and I. Am. Iron Man.”

Watching Tony die was f*cked up. Rhodey and Pepper getting their moments, sure, but seeing Pete break down like that? Hearing him call Tony by his first name, for the first and last time, man, i lost it again. Tony watched Pete die five years ago and now Pete is watching Tony die. This is a 15 year old, man. man, f*ck this movie for making me feel things!

“I love you, 3000!” F*CK!!!

Yo, Harley was there! That was kind of dope. Kid got huge since Iron Man 3.

“I’m going to get you all the cheeseburgers you want” Come on, movie, you can’t keep emotionally devastating me like this. It’s not fair.

Old man Cap. I’m glad Falcon got the shield, he deserved it and thee’s no way Bucky and be Bucky cap, he’s a literal, publicly known, terrorist, but seeing an aged and happy cap who finally got some of that life Tony was talking about, did my heart some good. until...

My mans finally getting his dance. That’s it. That’s the last scene of this film; Steve and Peggy slow dancing in their home and i f*cking lost it again. He finally got to keep his date.

Endgame was so good, dude. This thing, even withit’s flaws, gave me, as a fan, everything i needed. If i never get another MCU film after this, i am good. We lost some pivotal characters, sure, but what was left, i think, is pretty special. I’m curious to see Far From Home now. That takes place immediately after this and i want to know what heading we’re going toward. It’ll be nice to get a breather after this bookend. It has been one helluva ride.

[smokeybrand]

I. Am. Iron Man.

So i didn’t get into all of the stuff i loved about Endgame in my review because i was still processing. here was just, SO MUCH, and i’m not talking about the many, many, easter eggs. I’m talking about all of the fanservice. All of the nods. All of the ending character arcs and plot points. Bro, the shine in this movie is so bright that an entire post was needed unto itself so here we go:

Clint’s family getting dusted. My guy, this is the MOST i have ever seen Hawkeye do and it was so much. Like, Jeremy Renner got to act and it was devastating. This man lost his entire world and it broke him. It f*cking broke him and you SEE that happen.

Robert Downey Jr. I’ve heard whispers that he might be nominated for an Oscar and i’d be okay with that. Dude kind of Dark Knight Joker’s his way through this movie. And that ending scene? I. Am. Ironman. Bruh!

Paper Football!

Karen Gillan’s Nebula was pretty legit. This is the most she’s done in these films and i, as man who absolutely adores his Ginger Goddess, was incredibly happy to see it. I was a curious how they were going to incorporate her relevance from the story, into this movie, and was happy to see that she was so prominent.

“I lost the kid.” F*ck you, movie, for making me feel things so early!

Rocket and Nebula. Seeing those two characters together, knowing what they lost? F*ck!

Toy’s entire unloading on Captain America after getting back from space was just... F*ck. He was right in the worse way and no trust. No trust. I get why he feels the way he does but both of these cats f*cked up.

“I. Am. Inevitable.”

“I went for the head.”

Five years later. BRUH!

Scott Lang! Bro, Paul Rudd is a gift and he’s far more compelling and relevant in this flick than he’s ever been, even in his own movies. Dude was in the quantum realm and, for him, it’s only been 5 hours so he’s completely f*cking lost. Especially when...

F*cking grown ass Cassie! BRUH!! Are we going to get a Stature in the new MCU soon?? Seeing Emma Furhman walked out that door was ridiculous and the way Rudd played his surprised was perfect. I believed this was the first time he saw his what has to be his 15 year old daughter after last seeing her as a 10 year old. Solid f*cking scene.

Namor easter egg

Morgan Stark, are you kidding me? Kid was adorable! Terrible at her job but adorable to look at. And she did an admirable job as a proper for Stark to quip.

Professor Hulk was pretty okay, I like that Mark Rufflo’s arc had a finite conclusion but, i dunno? I kind of feel like this is temporary, as it is in the comics, but we’ll see. According to him, he was able to make that equilibrium happen in 18 months so he’s been that way for 3 and half years.

“I love you 3000.”

“Time travel!”

Literally any scene with Natasha and Clint but that first one when they finally see each other after so many years. If you’ve kept up on this entire saga, you know that Clint and Natasha love each other like siblings. He saved her from her bloody ass past, kind of, and literally set her on pace to become a hero. Clint saw her potential and nurtured her into the leader of the Avengers. Now, she has the opportunity to do it for him, to pull him out of the darkest that used to be her life. Which makes what happens not to much later a f*cking gut punch. Still, it was nice to see something “normal” return for those character.

Speaking of Natasha, Scarlett did a fantastic job as the character. For the first time since Winter Soldier, i felt like Black Widow was an actual character and not a prop. Like, when you look at it, these movies have been blessed with their casts and you get to see why in this flick. Her arc in this flick is one of finality but she’s able to do so much with her screen time, it’s ridiculous. Ma gives Tony a run for his money, easy.

“What’s up, Normal Sized Guy?”

New Asgard, Angry Girl, Meek, Korg, and Fat Thor. BRUH!

Chris Hemsworth doing his best impression of The Dude was hilarious and makes all of the sense. Dude had just destroyed Asgard and taken his place as king when Thanos decided to slaughter half his people, kill his best friend, kill his brother, and then Snapped. Thor lost 3/4 of the entire Asgardian race. There’s literally like, 12 houses in New Asgard. That’s what’s left. Dude’s understandably in a bad place.

TIME HEIST!!

That’s America’s ass!

Watching Hulk half-heartedly smash on his way to the Santum Santorum was cute. Speaking of...

Bro, the Ancient One kind of fending off Chitari was awesome. She would have definitely been there, doing her thing, over yonder. I never even thought of that! It was also dope seeing Tilda Swinton back for a cameo, the first of many time displaced shenanigans!

Loki peace-ing out!

Alexander Pierce, Rumlow, and Sitwell. Seeing them again was awesome.

“Hail HYDRA.”

Everything on Morag was hilarious. Paring Nebula and Rhodey together was a stroke of genius. They play off each other well. I hope they have a bit more interaction going forard. Interesting enough, there are a couple of scenes where they get to interact, and it looks like Rhodey might have made a proper impression. Like, Nebula LIKES him and it’s cute as sh*t.

Past Nebula f*cking everything up! Jesus, b*tch, get your sh*t together!

“That is destiny fulfilled.” Bruh, past Thanos just being okay with his murder is chilling.

That struggle to be Vormire’s sacrifice. Bro, that was f*cked up and it hurt when she fell.

“Let me go.” F*CK!!

Howard and Tony interacting as adults. That was awesome to see, I’m glad Tony got that in the end. he needed it.

Peggy. All she had to do was look up. That’s all. F*CK!

Yo, Jarvis! Shout out to the one show that gets a reference in the movies! Nice!

Stark’s gauntlet. Cats are trying to argue that stark tech shouldn’t be able to harness the power of the tones but, why not? The current armor can do some incredible stuff and there’s a ton of vibranium availed to them now because of Okoye. It kind of makes sense they’d be able to find a way to make that happen.

Time-Travel Thanos! My man didn’t have nearly the presence in this film, than he did in the past and that’s okay. He’s not supposed to. this isn’t about stopping the Snap. It’s abut undoing it. It’s about AVENGING the fallen. Outside of being a final obstacle, Thanos holds no real relevance to Endgame. But, that last obstacle is a doozy!

The Big Three versus The Mad Titan. BRUH!!!

Cap wielding Mjolnir! BRUHH!!!!

Thanos shattering Cap’s shield. BRUH!!!!!

“Avengers. Assemble” F*CKING, BRUH!!!!!

Iron-Dad! Seriously, the reunion scene between Pete and Tony made me cry. The fact that they let Tom Holland and RDJ come up with that scene on their own; Like, all of that was improvised on the spot, was amazing. Seeing them together as the opposite of how i felt when Pete got dusted.

F*cking Wand, man! She solo’d Thanos as second time! and nearly killed him! Ma went in on him with brutality and pure rage! If not for Corvis bailing him out with spaceship guns, that would have been the end right there.

Wait, did i mention Rescue? Pepper out her in her own armor, making some vets in the hero game, look like straight rookies. Dope sh*t is dope!

“If i tell you what happens, it won’t happen.”

Black Panther acknowledging Clint, the opposite of the first time they met way back in Civil War.

Pete finally activating instant kill mode. Stabby-stabby!

“Heads up, Queens.”

“Hey, Peter Parker. You got something for me?”

But dat A-Force, though. HNGGGG!! i’m not goin to lie i never knew i wanted some thing so bad until i saw all those chicks line up and absolutely hard body Thanos’s army. We need this movie. Make this sh*t happen!

Carol eating Thanos’ headbutt and that look of legitimate concern on his face. Keep in mind this is a Thanos with a five stone Infinity gauntlet on, and Captain Marvel is overpowering him. She’s a f*cking problem!

“I am Inevitable.”

“and I. Am. Iron Man.”

Watching Tony die was f*cked up. Rhodey and Pepper getting their moments, sure, but seeing Pete break down like that? Hearing him call Tony by his first name, for the first and last time, man, i lost it again. Tony watched Pete die five years ago and now Pete is watching Tony die. This is a 15 year old, man. man, f*ck this movie for making me feel things!

“I love you, 3000!” F*CK!!!

Yo, Harley was there! That was kind of dope. Kid got huge since Iron Man 3.

“I’m going to get you all the cheeseburgers you want” Come on, movie, you can’t keep emotionally devastating me like this. It’s not fair.

Old man Cap. I’m glad Falcon got the shield, he deserved it and thee’s no way Bucky and be Bucky cap, he’s a literal, publicly known, terrorist, but seeing an aged and happy cap who finally got some of that life Tony was talking about, did my heart some good. until...

My mans finally getting his dance. That’s it. That’s the last scene of this film; Steve and Peggy slow dancing in their home and i f*cking lost it again. He finally got to keep his date.

Endgame was so good, dude. This thing, even with it’s flaws, gave me, as a fan, everything i needed. If i never get another MCU film after this, i am good. We lost some pivotal characters, sure, but what was left, i think, is pretty special. I’m curious to see Far From Home now. That takes place immediately after this and i want to know what heading we’re going toward. It’ll be nice to get a breather after this bookend. It has been one helluva ride.

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundups 7/6/17

Wow I had a lot to read and I still managed to turn it out faster than I turn out about 90% of these which I’m not sure if it’s a reflection on my reading and writing skills getting better or if I was stressing out over doing these way too much in the past. 

Regardless, we have quite a variety this week and still seem to be celebrating Wonder Joy so let’s just get into it~

DC’s Batman, Creator Owned CBLDF Defender, Marvel’s Spider-Man/Deadpool, DC’s Superman, IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light, DC’s Wonder Woman FCBD, DC’s Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor, Viz’s Yona of the Dawn

DC’s Batman (2016-present) #24 Tom King, David Finch, Danny Miki, Clay Mann, Seth Mann, Jordie Bellaire

Okay, so I follow Batman at a distance because I’ll be completely honest: Tom King absolutely lost me with the Gotham and Gotham Girl plot because I just could not get into it, and it annoyed me, so I’ve been hands off with the title for the most part, a decision I only double downed on with the Catwoman debacle and my correct assumption in King really relying too heavily on TWISTS. a

.... 

But I absolutely picked up this issue because even if nothing in my thinking brain believes, at all, that this will be allowed to change the status quo between Bruce and Selina...

I love BatCat so much you guys.

He proposed. And I bought it purely for those pages.

I have to emphasize it was for those pages alone because I could not have cared less about Claire and Bruce’s conversation because I’m just so tired of how many people there are in Gotham and how this conversation would have been so much more meaningful if it came from Kate or Dick or Tim or Cass or Duke or Harper or Damian or Julia or Luke or Jean Paul or Leslie or -- THERE ARE SO MANY BAT CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT BEING USED TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL RIGHT NOW DAMMIT.

The conversation itself is kinda stuff we’ve heard before, and while I like how it tied in thematically it just wasn’t in me to not criticize the fact that it’s coming from the current OC of the Day. 

Anyway. 

I came for the BatCat and I was happy for it even if it was basically only three issues and I had to deal with grown artists making Gotham GIrl’s skirt incredibly short while she was in weird positions for most of it. 

So. That’s my take on that.

Now I can write 3 million fics about how this could be wonderful and that Helena Wayne gets to grow up with all her siblings and be loved by the world. byyyyeeeeeeee

Creator Owned CBLDF Defender Vol. 2 #2 Marc Adreyko, Gene Luen Yang

So this is mostly just an addition at the last minute both because it’s free and because it’s, well, an information brochure about uniting to subscribe or pledge money to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for all those who have been encouraged into activism thanks to recent events and the collective consciousness surrounding events like last year’s Pulse nightclub shooting.

It’s a good idea and it’s pro-community messaging speaks to me. I’d like to spread awareness for people that these voices are out there and that if you’re interested in providing support you can check out this particular brochure on Comixology for free or google at your leisure.

Marvel’s Spider-Man/Deadpool Vol. 2: Side Pieces Scott Aukerman, Gerry Duggan, Penn Jillette, Nick Giovannetti, Paul Scheer, Joshua Corin, Reilly Brown, Scott Koblish, Todd Nauck, Tigh Walker

Okay, so... I like Spider-Man/Deadpool’s first arc... but it’s pretty much exactly like Trinity over at DC and it’s spiritual predecessors Batman/Superman and Superman/Batman in that, outside of what’s honestly a pretty stellar initial premise, there is not a whole lot of plan behind where the comic wants to go for the future. 

So you get a whole lot of different creative teams and no cohesive narrative or direction for the comic to go. 

But I guess that really brings into question what makes ongoing comics work and whether or not th idea of “hilarious monthly team ups of Spider-Man and Deadpool without a point, and assumedly without continuity consequences” is enough to work. 

And as someone who honestly really enjoys one-shot one-and-dones, that’s honestly a pass for me. 

But at the same tim... I mean there’s a reason I have both Spider-Man/Deadpool and Trinity on trade wait status now. 

The whole is not equivalent to the sum of its parts, but honestly it’s got some genuinely funny and worthwhile parts as it stands. And I appreciate that. 

DC’s Superman (2016-present) #24 Patrick Gleason, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Mick Gray, Joe Prado, Wil Quintana, John Kalisz

You know, sometimes being a comic fan is kind of like reading the newspaper more than reading a narrative story. 

For me that’s kinda what this issue felt more like, I was getting information on where all the characters had moved since last time, the motivations, some backstories. Slight progress and movement in the form of an update on what happened to Lois and getting to see her still kicking Clark’s ass in gear despite his concern for her injury, which I liked, but overall this issue mostly felt like filler for the final moment where we see Jon fall completely into the control of Manchester Black. 

Who... is a big whooping plot hole I am stil waiting to be addressed. Clark remembers Manchester Black from the New Earth continuity still and the “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” and knows about the Elite, but do they know about him? Or are they completely different from the Super Elite we knew? Are we going to get a Justice League Elite mention (which good god please spare me, though I’ll take Sister Superior). 

This is one of those cases where I feel like my overly extensive knowledge of things in continuity actually puts me at a disadvantage to actually like... reading and taken things for granted. 

I want things to make sense, or I want enjoyable Kent family shenanigans. 

But this issue did have Krypto so, I automatically add a star to it. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. 

IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light (2016-present) #6 James Roberts, Jack Lawrence, Joanna Lafuente

Look, sometimes I think it’s important for critics, reviewers, readers, what have you, to bea ble to say that they’re confused and don’t know what emotion to feel or whether or not the comic accomplished exactly what it wanted to and I’m just. Like. 

Yes that is my emotion at the moment.

A lot of stuff happened in this issue. Like lots of crazy, out there, amazing stuff was packed into a single issue and it’s like, there were panels where you’d blink and you’d miss important character development notes -- like Ratchet hugging their Rung once they got back. Like there’s so much good -- Rodimus had a lot of amazing moments throughout and I love the range of humor to anger to disappointment that he showed. Like his trust and faith in others is already pretty shattered at the moment and to feel Megatron’s apparent betrayal adding onto that is like a million times more stuff. I fear he’s nearing a very dangerous ledge, which is bad because this issue also tells us that Rodimus’ death wish and lowkey desire to put himself in dangerous positions to die heroically is still as prominent as ever. 

Someone hug my trash fire of a son, please.

And then magical girlfriend romance bringing back her girlfriend as a baby and it’s kinda weird like is it still going to be the same Lug? Does Anode acknowledge that it’s weird? Is anyone going to point out that they could feasibly use protoform matter now to resurrect anyone whose spark remnants are available now? Including Skids and Ravage?

what is going on

Anyway. 

There’s a lot packed into this issue which is why I am honestly kind of happy that next issue’s description is a “fallout” from this because holy shit, I need room to breathe and think through things.

Also. Dat smile when Megatron heard Optimus’ voice in the epilogue-ish finale. I like. Maybe had a fangirl moment. Just maybe. 

Anyway. I’m shrug emoji right now until I can get my emotional state sorted out because wow there’s a lot at the moment. Like a lot. A lot a lot.

DC’s Wonder Woman FCBD 2017 Special Edition (2017-present) #1 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Romulo Fajarado Jr.

Like last week’s Wondy special, this is a reprint, but it’s a reprint of the first issue of “Year One” which still holds up as the far superior of the two starting Wonder Woman titles from Rucka last year and is amazingly well held up...

...save of course for the exact same criticisms as the last time I went over the issue which is Dead Bro Walking trope and a whole lot of Rucka Why???? that comes attached to the really bizarre treatment of race in the first arcs of the series. It’s just so bizarre.

But honestly, again, these moves are meant to attract the new, excited audience after the box office smash that has been the Wonder Woman movie -- an audience that has been largely female of all ages. And if there’s one free comic I’m glad will show up immediately on their google searches this Wednesday, I’m very glad it’s going to be the start of what has quickly become my favorite standard bearer of Wonder Woman’s origin story. 

Something I appreciate even more after having finally read the entirety of Azzarrello’s Wondy run which. Eck. Wash my mouth out. 

DC’s Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor (2017) #1 Tim Seeley, Christian Duce, Allen Passalaqua

So this addition to my pull was kind of unexpected in that I had no idea that it was coming out this week and thought “why not” because I’m literally still so Wonderfully Pumped Up a the moment and as far as I can see, the more proceeds DC and WB can see attributed to Wonder Woman the better.

That being said, Tim Seeley really dug into his Grayson roots in this one because that’s about the only thing I really got from this issue is that Steve Trevor’s a badass secret agent with secrets and a deep seeded guilt thing. Which kinda felt like a harsher toned take on his Dick Grayson more than anything else. Which is fine.

Part of the problem here is that I did not read the New52 short term published book that was A.R.G.U.S. or whatever where Steve starred during the weird interim where Steve was not allowed around Diana and Lois wasn’t allowed around Clark but DC still wants to make money from fans anyway.

idk. And since those kinds of spy books are rarely my cup of tea, I don’t think this issue sold me on renigging on that instinct.

Still it was cute and Diana and Steve’s interactions, while minimal, are really the driving portion of his narrative which I think is always good.

But, just like the Annual, I’m left just sitting here going “why don’t we use this opportunity to show off the upcoming Wonder Woman creative team, DC????”

And I get no answer bc DC actually doesn’t care about some weirdo random blogger on the internet constantly screaming at them.

Viz’s Yona of the Dawn (2009-present) Vol. 6 Mizuho Kusanagi

I have actually been very interested in Akatsuki no Yona since I saw its anime show up in my Crunchyroll feed, and as with most anime I can’t help but immediately try to find the manga instead because I am impatient and want Answers Now. As I understand it, the Viz official translations are far behind the current run of the manga (makes sense, as the manga series has been ongoing since 2009 in Japan), and is only catching up to where the anime left off so far, but that’s more than okay for me right now.

Because oh my gosh, it’s so amazing to read such a beautiful story about the growth, empowerment, and pure will of a female character as told by a female author and artist. I’m not the biggest fan of Shoujo as a style of art, but having Yona strike a balance between beautiful and cutesy visuals with what is ultimately a fairly action driven plot with intense moral posturing and constant detail put into the grayness of life’s choices makes Yona of the Dawn honestly unlike just about any Shoujo I’ve read before. 

Yona is one of the most compelling heroines I’ve ever seen, and her intensity of spirit and her meaningful examination of her kingdom makes this fairy tale story really unlike anything else out there. 

And while I’ve really enjoyed Yona to this point, I have to say it is an amazing relief to reach Volume 6 an finally get more female characters than just Yona. I like the reverse harem appeal of the cast as it has been so far, and I have affection for several of the boys, but man is it so much more meaningful to have a few more compelling female characters backing up Yona in the representation department.

Especially since some of Yona’s crew still feel... a little bland to me. It’s usually not a good sign in a massive cast when the traits that come immediately to mind for me are purely character design. 

I’m excited for what’s to come and to see how our Princess fully realizes her potential as the Crimson Dragon. 

Also I should note some skeevy parts of this. One I don’t mind but am sure other people might, there’s the fact that Yona’s current storyline is dealing with Yona taking down a ring of human traffickers and slavers, which brings up the question of autonomy both for Yona as a woman in this honestly pretty traditionally sexist kingdom but also for the Dragons themselves and how their “service” to Yona is framed as a question of their own will. But it’s still a story about human trafficking and that could bother a lot of people. Another thing in this volume, which has bothered me in the previous volumes but really came to a head this time around, is Hak’s... weirdly possessive outbursts toward Yona. I get that they are meant as... idk protective and romantic to some and that we’re supposed to be compelled by his struggle to not show his affection for Yona, but honestly I’m just kinda... naw hoss. Like Hak’s a fine character and I like his relationship and history with Yona most of the time, but like.. the weird pushing her against walls and... licking honey off of her wrists and just. idk. We’re lost in translation here or something bc I’m not a fan.

I’m also not a fan of Viz’s weird changes in the font randomly throughout the book? Like just stop. It’s bad when your translations look lazier than the fan translations I’ve seen floating around on tumblr.

I’ll be honest, as high quality as I consider almost all of these comics this week, I would say the good majority of them did not give me a fully emotional experience or really captivate me in a way that satisfied me from start to finish. And I’m sure in the follow up issues to come there’ll be a lot for me to question into why that might be for the majority of them, but that time is not now. So, as much as it may feel like cheating to pick a volumed book over single issues, I can’t help but say that Yona of the Dawn by far is my pick of the week. It delighted, it changed up its structure and storytelling, built out its world and has started spending more time on the titular characters where before it often felt like we were just taking for granted that there was a dragon gained every volume. And Yona herself is just one of the most satisfying characters to see grow into their own. 

But that’s just my opinion, I’d love to hear what you all think. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed a great comic this week? Please let me know!

[theenetflixnerd]

REVIEW Big Little Lies Episodes 1 -3

A PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE

That’s for damn sure!! It did not even take the first few minutes of this show to have me hooked. In fact, I was so intrigued and curious that I went straight onto the apple store download the e-book which I then proceeded to finish that same night. You may have gathered that I’m not such a patient person hehe. Any ways if you’re a reader yourself and haven’t yet read the book - I truly recommend it, it’s an excellent story and incredible writing. I’ve since read another three of Liane Moriarty and they’re all amazing. (I’ve done an author spotlight on her on my other blog if you want to give it a read  https://www.tumblr.com/blog/candyc0at3d ). Absolutely massive recommendations on Liane Moriarty’s works all around. She’s an extremely skillfull story teller and I couldn’t put her books down. 

So of course HBO is blessed with an incredible story to tell. David E. Kelly did a fantastic job at adapting this book into a TV show as well. So far the first three episodes have done the book major justice and I think that the casting is magic. I couldn’t imagine anyone else in these roles - but naturally who doesn’t love the three powerhouse lead females. Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley are all amazing and I love them all individually in what they’ve done before this - but having them all together on the same screen ... It’s just incredible. Absolutely perfect casting. 

Seeing as I am rolling three episodes into one here let me try and condense this as much as I can by breaking up the recap / review into characters & families. (From Monday I’ll be reviewing episodes individually, weekly as they are released).

I’ll start with the lead character : Madeline Mackenzie.  I LOVE the character of Madeline she is awesome and delivers some amazing quotes some of which I honestly feel describe my own life.  For example:  “ I love my grudges, I tend to them like little pets.” 

Maddie is entertaining and extremely relatable as a person, wife and mother. I think Reese is portraying her absolutely perfectly. I adore her. 

I loved this quote from when her daughter wanted to move in with her father ... 

Maddie: “She wouldn’t leave if I had cancer” 

Ed (Maddie’s husband): “But you don’t ...”

Maddie: “Well I’d be willing to get it.”

So Maddie is married to Ed, and their daughter Chloe is in Kindy (the parents of the Kindy group is what the story centres around). Maddie is divorced from Nathan (more on him later) with whom she has a now teenage daughter, Abigail.

Ed is a fabulously cool husband and father and he really supports Maddie and stands up for her (even against Nathan!), despite her (at times) crazy antics and refusal to butt out of other peoples business and let bygones be bygones. 

Abigail is being a typical rebellious teenager who is just driving me insane and I can’t stand her to be honest. But whatever, she’s not really such a crucial part of the story. She decides to move in with her father and his new family because she ‘can’t be herself at home’ with Madeline.

Chloe is cute and funny. I love her grown up kind of sass she has for her age (maybe it’s a little too grown up at times?) but it’s unfailingly hilarious.

Side note - In the book Maddie also has a son ( I assume with Ed), who is in between Abby and Chloe - but I don’t think his presence is really missed to be honest. He didn’t actually add anything to the main storyline.

Then we have the family of Maddie’s ex , Nathan. He is now married to Bonnie and their daughter, Skye is also in the same class as Chloe. Talk about awkward!! Nathan is not a bad guy (I don’t think) and Bonnie is a lovely lady, she is kind, caring and compassionate and a total earth child, hippy complete with vegan diets and yoga. Abigail likes this lifestyle and seems to have a better relationship with Bonnie than her own mother. I feel a bit of tension with Maddie’s jealousy here - but it’s also understandable - Bonnie had taken Abby to get ‘the pill’ without consulting Maddie first and I personally think that’s a line that as a step parent you just shouldn’t cross. 

Maddie has a best friend Celeste. Who, according to the books is effortlessly beautiful, so no wonder Nicole Kidman was cast in this role. I mean, does the woman ever age? Celeste has a seemingly amazing marriage and family she is married to the handsome and charming Perry White and they have twin boys Max and Josh, who are also in the same class as Chloe and Skye. However, as the story develops it turns out that Celeste’s marriage may not be all that it seems, and this is where the story touches on a rather deep issue - that of Domestic Violence. Behind closed doors things are not great for Celeste as she has to walk on egg shells around Perry who although charming, has a dark side, that is controlling, violent and cruel. Of course, he is always apologetic after and showers her with gifts and flowers but this isn’t enough for her to threaten leaving him. (Only the reader or viewer gets this insight into Celeste’s life however, and she maintains the facade in the community and her friends (even Maddie doesn’t know). They do try and see a counsellor in the third episode but who knows where the relationship will go from there. 

In the beginning of the series, Maddie meets new single mum in town Jane. They meet at the school, obviously, where Jane’s son, Ziggy is in the same class as the others. Jane is lovely, but you can see she is haunted by some tragic events of the past and is harbouring some dark secrets of her own. (Although all this is only later, slowly revealed).  Jane is besotted with her little boy, and you can see the love she has for her son, and she’ll do anything to protect him. My heart breaks for Ziggy in the first episode when on his orientation day at school a little girl, Amabella, accuses him as being the one who tried to choke her. He maintains his innocence, and I totally believe him. I mean .... how easy is it to just target the new kid to pick on right? .... Of course this is kind of the start of the feuding and drama as naturally the parents begin to take sides. (Maddie is obviously Team Jane and Ziggy). This storyline touches on another deep issue of BULLYING (well I guess Domestic Abuse is also a form of Bullying) but what saddens me most here is that even grown ass ‘adults’ can stoop so low as to bully a young child and make them feel excluded and inferior. I’ve had much personal experience with being bullied myself and despite that, I could never imagine ever wanting to make even my own bullies feel as horrible as they made me feel. Why would any decent human being want to make another person feel like that? I don’t get it, and I don’t think I ever will understand how anyone can be cruel to another person. 

This leads to the final ‘core’ family which is that of Amabella and her parents, more particularly her mother, Renata. Renata is hard core, business woman. Renata immediately has it in for Ziggy since her daughter singled him out as the one who tried to choke her on orientation day. She becomes totally anti-Ziggy and excludes him from Amabella’s birthday - although Maddie isn’t having it and finds away to sabotage the birthday by taking Ziggy and another group of children to Disney on Ice on the same day as the party.  I do kind of enjoy the casting of Renata and think that the relationship between her and her hubby is kind of sweet and they have an interesting dynamic going there.

This whole conflict between parents only gets worse and more intense as the story goes on and well as we know from the little snippits that one of these parents was MURDERED at a school function. But, and I find this an extremely interesting twist on the classic who-dun-it, we have no idea WHICH OF THE PARENTS WAS MURDERED. 

Naturally, each character has their own reasons for why they could possibly be the victim (or murderer) as their is no shortage of fueds and drama between various different groups and individuals through out this story. As I said before, extremely masterfully thought out and written.

I can’t wait for Monday’s episode. So tune back in for my in depth recap of Episode 4!