#it's mind boggling that there actually exists a live version with my town's name in it

[finexbright]

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[badlydrawndrawnings]

atwq book one thoughts

when the first atwq book came out, i was no longer part of the targeted audience. still, when the book came out and i was at walmart shopping with my mom, i was able to check out the book/magazine section and read at least up to the end of chapter one (we had to leave because we needed to go to the checkout line). i liked what i read, and wanted to read more, but i just couldn’t afford to buy the book.

few years back i got spoiled on rather minor details of the books. i decided to do everything in my power to not get spoil from that point on (i usually hunt down spoilers in my other fandoms, but asoue was one of my first fandom i entered via me and my sister. no one else read the books or weren’t fans of them, so we turn to each other to talk about them. getting spoilers for my first fandom hurt me in a way that doesn’t hurt when compare to my other fandoms)

now i got a chance to read the atwq books and i took my sweet time (i began reading at the beginning of the new year year) for the first book. i hope i don’t get spoilers for the remaining books. i’m basically going to do a review of sorts for all four books, but it’s not going to be organized half the time and me probably having some rambles of the original asoue book series + personal stuff that’s not heavy. it’s under the cut to not clog up space + keep most spoilers out.

so this first book and i guess the rest of the series only exists because lemony and kit wants to steal something in the city and lemony deciding to leave kit all by herself, this hangfire wants a stolen statue that’s actually not stolen (because he’s the one who basically came up with the story it was stolen) for reasons, and hangfire deciding that as well as making up a lie he also decides to kidnap a man from his daughter for the BB statue (i’m too lazy to write out the whole name), with lemony deciding to stay to help ellington and strain’d-by-the-sea (i’ll call it sbts i’m too lazy to right it fully again).

thought it does make me wonder something. just how super important is ellington’s dad to be worth kidnapping and become a hostage as well. like, this guy is straight up willing to use ellington and her desire to get her dad back. yes, ellington has shady vibes but they’re all here because of someone who doesn’t want to do his own freaking work of stealing a freaking statue! 

granted because i got also strong noir vibes, especially given lemony is sort of crushing on her but not really and agreeing to help ellington find her dad and like, the opening paragraph of the book is something of a give away, i get the feeling i shouldn’t trust and have my heart on my sleeve 100% for ellington. she is clearly the kid friendly version of the woman character who makes the request to the detective and is totally gonna backstab the detective at some point.

but because i’m not really seeing these signs now in this first book, as well as having terrible judgement when it comes to backstabbing characters i’m just gonna do exactly as the above. i think because ellington talks fondly of her father from what i know of, i think it’s just me wanting a character in this series to have a good parent who is alive.

onto the next character moxie! i like moxie and her friendship with lemony. he needs friends who aren’t completely in this whole vfd mess. bit off topic, but i always thought the kind editor in asoue was a woman for some reason. and despite knowing her for a few days, lemony trusts her enough to tells her things kind of makes me think she is the kind editor.

so, pip and squeaks are clearly the kids who will wear a trench coat and pretend to be an adult. looking at the illustration, squeaks looks like a walking toddler but i get the feeling’s like, five. pip looks like his age so no problem there. so, gonna headcanon that when they go out to get their driver license they are going to ace the test with all early practice

in regards to dashiell qwerty, i like him, and for weird reasons. first off, his freaking last name is something i adore. qwerty is just the freaking first letter row of a keyboard. this is some ace attorney level of naming (they love puns and  meanings for many of their characters). second, the one illustration of qwerty makes me of ghost trick (the hair and sunglasses is basically the character design of the main playable character). i’m honestly sorry for bringing of things you probably don’t know, but i like him and trust him. i feel like i shouldn’t get too attach to him. if the sub-sub-librarian got freaking shot with a harpoon gun, i should expect something bad happen to qwerty. the fact he’s not even part of vfd makes me even more worry.

on prosper lost i have little to say. well, i can say ‘eh’. but it’s a good eh. he’s just a man trying to run a business in a dying sbts. i wish him all the luck it doesn’t close down

i have some harsh words about the mitchum family. but before i go into it, i want to talk about carmelita spats. as a child, i did not like her. she reminded me of a bully i had while as a kid who eventually left the school, so her return in the later books made me upset because shes like, agreeing to work with the villians. i wasn’t immune from bullies at least until my first year of high school, so when i did a re-read in middle school (and post high school pre-netflix show) i still didn’t like her. 

however, i admit i feel some pity i did not have for her when i was little kid. she’s clearly an orphan who doesn’t know it (i think her parents during taa were alive and spoiling her rotten), and while knowing that she was going to side with esme and olaf, a part of me wished something in the narrative change. i knew that realistically she was going to still side with the villains, but at the same time, i had the dumb idea that maybe she wouldn’t (so when it happens, i went ‘why did i thought the opposite that i’m being silly’). watching netflix!asoue and another re-read with netflix’s show in mind, she’s just a character i love to hate while having a ton of pity for her. i think her rotten behavior is because her parents are showering her love and affection, but sadly by this ‘babying’ and spoiling, it made her think she deserves everything and handed on a platter. hearing the wonderful words from esme and olaf (more esme than olaf), carmelita believe they were going to be loving her like her parents did, maybe even more.

when it came to deciding what is carmelita’s fate is, i usually think she survived the fire, but died from fire related injuries. however, after meeting the mitchum and their oh so ‘lovely’ son, i’m recanting it. i thought carmelita was a terrible child, but no, stew is the real terrible child. i read this book twice, and i can’t find anything from the pages to my freaking heart that can make me love to hate him or give him pity (like, even in the smallest ounce of pity my middle school self gave for carmelita). it’s not help that his parents are too blind and obsess with fighting with each other to work together and see their son is not the sweetheart they think he is. worst, i can’t tell if stew is using this to his advantage or if he’s just that much of bully who gets away with it and doesn’t know his parents are arguing that much.

(going back to carmelita, my new headcanon for her is that she was thought to be dead, and esme - who i think survived the fire- ditch out of grief. upset at being abandon, carmelita decides to go back home to what she presumed to be her worried parents (she’s been missing for like, a few days at max). but discovering the remains of her family house in ashes she enters an almost breakdown because in hindsight, she should have listen to the orphans, as well as having to accept she’s an orphan -the one thing she didn’t want to be. while on the trip back to her parents carmelita drags ernest -who i think also survived- into taking her home because since he worked with esme, carmelita is his responsibility now. ernest is still in grief over the lost of his brothers and wants nothing to do with her, but does so because he wants this kid to return back home to her real family and have no more part of vfd. with the discovery, ernest decides to raise her as his own. it works out compare to esme’s care, and carmelita becomes a better person due to ernest raising her as a real parent and not someone spoiling her 24/7 and because of their experience allow them bond and reflect their life choices.)

in regards to s theodora markson...i don’t know how to feel about her. everything she does in this book towards lemony makes sense if he was an older teenager of 17 or 18. she doesn’t want back talk and is willing to kick lemony out of the car. she is making lemony do things no one his age should do. i know lemony is an apprentice but this is all so mind-boggling hard for someone his age to do (like, even at 17 and 18 is the same but that's older so i’m not as worry but worry none the less). however, given she’s a vfd member, i bet what she went through is just a tough and harsh (maybe even more; times change it’s possible what lemony is going through is actually a water down version of what she and her generation went through), and if the schism affected her in ways i may never know. i do wonder who is her last apprentice.

as for lemony snicket himself...i have words. i got introduced to the asoue series as a kid via my sister and the movie, and it’s actually a funny story. my sister told me there’s this cool movie i would like. when i saw the the littlest elf stop motion i almost left the living room out of confusion. then some british narrator cuts in and after he does his bit, i sat back down and my sister paused the movie and laugh at me (turns out she watch the movie beforehand and wanted to see my reaction). throughout my entire life i only knew lemony snicket as guy who is very sad man who lost everything in his life and does his best to help three children who as it turns out, are children to the woman he loves (loved), and has maybe a faint hope of reuniting with what may be the last member of his family (i read the beatrice letters once and and beatrice’s ii letter wanting to meet him is one of the few details i remember).

so basically reading a kid!lemony snicket is jarring. i can’t say he has a personality change because kid!lemony is still the same as adult!lemony. clearly getting pinned for crimes he didn’t commit, being force to be on the run, and his fiancee broke things off with him happening around the same time and with the fact he probably never saw his siblings again when becoming a fugitive was the biggest shift to a lonely, depressed man who is willing to stay at the edge of a random town and cry and not set foot in it. however, i think there are traces of who kid!lemony eventually become.

kid!lemony is willing to go to a random town he doesn’t know. kid!lemony is spunky and wants to solve this mystery in his own correct way. kid!lemony is all ‘i’m gonna do something and there’s nothing you [theodora] or anyone else can do to stop me’ and like any kid, will make mistakes and will screw up (he fell for hangfire’s voice mimicry after all). but i know that in the end of the day, it’s only a matter of time before things turn sour and traces of adult!lemony shows up in kid!lemony. his ‘talk’ to the imaginary kit is definitely traces of what is the eventually adult!lemony: a lonely person who wants someone/something that is familiar comfort that could brings some amount of joy. kid!lemony uses his imagination, while adult!lemony turns to his memories (netflix!lemony could be using his imagination to ‘look’ into his memories to feel better).

there isn’t too much left to say, other than the spoilers i learn. i am upset to learn asoue characters cameo in the series. i got more upset that one of the cameos i learn was hector. i knew he was a vfd member because the tua confirm it via jacques letter to lemony, but this really 100% confirm it. i wanted to be surprise. it seems i wasn’t completely spoiled, because i was really surprise to see hector be the first cameo. 

hector is one of the few adult characters i like. i think it’s because i relate to his skittish behavior- i’m not on the level as him-  i thought of him as hispanic/mexican -i’m half mexican from my father’s side- and because until jerome and justice strauss’s return in the tpp, hector is the only adult who while failing baudelaires (for not standing up for jacques and willing to leave them in their jail cell) makes up for it 100% and grows as a character. he successfully helps the baudelaires when it came to saving duncan and isadora via the self sustaining hot air mobile home (contrast to jerome, who when the children begs for help, decides to not help because he realizes he’s not brave enough for the task), and rightfully calls out vfd the place for their rules and overall behavior (contrast to justice strauss, who while does use her judicial powers to make the marriage null and calls count olaf out, has listen to a legal argument first due to being enraptured by the idea of being on the stage).

i think by default, i like kid!hector. he basically had my reaction when asking  confirmation that the butler (hangfire) did it, and i share that desire of wanting a (good) mexican restaurant [i consider taco bell as a ‘mexican restaurant’ but honestly i don’t like their menu]. it’s jarring to see kid!hector speak his mind and can be harsh without any signs of the skittish behavior. i will say kid!hector’s call out reflect nicely on how adult!hector at the end of tvv called out vfd the place. i guess hector is the type of guy who would make call outs on other people, not the person who is the target of call outs. it’s sad kid!hector call outs kid!lemony for not helping kit, but adult!hector will do nothing to save jacques from his eventual death. adult!hector is the thing kid!hector would hate, and i can’t help but wonder if hector hates himself for what he did.

[ralphcowanhub]

Media Double Standard Exposed in Case of Deondre Francois

“I hope they will have the decency to clear my name with the same publicity with which they now have besmirched it.” — Micheal Corleone to the Senate Committee in “The Godfather: Part II”

Wednesday morning, accusations of battery upon a pregnant woman by Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois exploded across the sports media. Another case of a major college football player beating on his girlfriend.

Or so it seemed.

Hours later, the investigation was dropped with much less media fanfare.

Francois and the alleged victim told police what were described as “dramatically different” versions of the incident. There were no independent witnesses. There was no arrest. Case closed.

I had a similar situation happen to me during my playing days at FSU. It left me with a busted window in my dorm room, my car messed up, my house messed up, I got hit and had a cop tell me he was glad I used restraint or I’d be going to jail. Nothing happened to the woman.

I’m not bitter. She’s moved on and does great things, but the cop telling me he was waiting for me to make a bad decision was mind-boggling.

I had a teammate not too long before that get arrested. The arrest report shows he didn’t hit the woman; instead, he grabbed her wrist to prevent from getting hit himself.

I’ve had teammates accused of rape go through the worst trials of their lives. They’re painted as gangsters and monsters during the trial because of where they come from. When they were acquitted, it was not front page news like the accusation; acquittals seemingly are buried by the newspapers, websites and TV and radio stations that cover sports full-time.

When I Google those names these many years later, the first stories that pop up are the accusations. You can only find the acquittal stories if you dig.

The hypocrisy of expectations for major college football players annoys me. It’s not going away anytime soon, either.

Everybody preaches at these young men about the opportunity they have, even folks with zero clue what it’s like to be in their shoes. They can’t fathom the scrutiny that comes with each step they take. Former athletes get in on the act, as well, talking about “back in my day” and how today’s football student-athlete has to be more responsible.

The same folks will tell you to stay away from girls and parties or any of the other joys that come with college life. In the same breath, they call players arrogant, stuck up and weird for not embracing what everyone considers “the best times of your life” because athletes are paranoid that someone is trying to set them up to be on TMZ.

We always hear about the bad. When an athlete at Major U finds trouble, it’s heavily publicized. It stings because a few moments paint the entire athletic world as filled with punks who need a lesson on humility.

Except when the media gets it wrong. Then, it’s “turn to the next hot story.” Nobody spends the same amount of time clearing the player’s name or investigating what actually happened.

In these cases, fans and media often seek the narrative that fits their level of comfort — typically the lie that small-town local and campus police departments go above and beyond to protect star student-athletes.

That just isn’t true. I experienced that for myself, as I’ve described.

RELATED: A 6-point plan for Willie Taggart to get FSU back to its dominant ways

Here’s a reality you’ve probably never considered. These athletes won’t always be athletes and most eventually head into the “real” world looking for jobs. Potential employers Google the young men before interviews ever occur, and while dozens of stories exist about accusations and charges potentially be filed for domestic abuse, assault, drug possession or other alleged crimes, the few stories that may exist exonerating the young men are buried in the search results.

This occurs in the corporate world and even on the college landscape.

There is a recent head coach at an FCS school I know who was almost not hired for a dream job because of misinformation about a domestic violence case in which a police report was filed; the case eventually dismissed due to insufficient evidence. The accuser moved on with her life while the accused, who never has shown any glimpses of the behavior he was accused of before or after, has to answer for the charges and deal with the after-effects for years.

I’m not naive. I’ve had turd teammates. I know players who’ve gone through these situations who were far from clean. I’ve had kids I know personally who admitted wrongdoing and are taking every step in their power to correct those wrongs.

We live in a time where we view being an athlete, college or pro, as a privilege, and we hold those athletes to a higher standard. That standard is often higher than the one we hold their coaches or even public servants to.

I don’t want athletes to be treated different. I want them to be treated the same.

I think moments like this, when domestic violence accusations are in the news, should be used as opportunities to teach young people – men and women – how to handle conflict resolution, to teach them to be aware of the lasting impact of their poor decisions.

I’m “pro-player” in most situations. I am also a firm believer in right is right, and wrong is wrong. I know how tough their positions in these situations can be. I’ve been there.

I don’t like any young person at any school getting in trouble. Will I make jokes? Yes. But I can’t just write about someone’s downfall without having full clarity on the situation, which is why I didn’t immediately write anything when Francois’ name popped up in the news Wednesday. I’m not that hard-pressed for clicks and I think it should be the media’s job to cover all aspects of the story equally – the accusations and the dropping of chargers, if that’s the case – as in all of these situations there is a lesson.

The reason I’m writing this is because of the misinformation put out and the unwillingness to show the rights and the wrongs. In Francois’ situation, what got lost in the story of another “athlete hitting his girlfriend” was that Francois is the one who called the police. He actually might’ve been the victim in all this.

We don’t know all the facts. But someone’s life was permanently impacted and a determination of character was made upon him by millions without even knowing what actually happened.

As a man with a daughter, a mother, a sister and plenty of women whom I hold dear, I pray never to be put in these situations. Some people I know have been put in these situations and I was beyond angry.

I also have a son who I cherish. My son likely will follow my path in athletics, or at least try. I pray he will make sound decisions.

As someone who deals with athletes of all ages, genders and backgrounds on a daily basis, I know he’ll make mistakes. But I want him to learn from them and not be afraid to live life because he feels folks are out to get him.

RELATED: Walt Bell makes FSU’s wait for an offensive coordinator worth it

I just believe in “innocent until proven guilty,” no matter what. I don’t believe one’s ability to run fast, hit hard or throw far should deny you your inalienable rights. I don’t believe athletes or celebs should get preferential treatment. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe they should be held to a high standard; I just don’t believe it should be higher than anyone else.

The culture of violence against women on college campuses needs to change, but we need to be careful not to sweep the innocent up with the guilty in our efforts to get there.

Article First Appeared On Gridiron Now: http://gridironnow.com/media-double-standard-exposed-case-deondre-francois

Find more information on: http://sportsdenlive.com

[zacharymatthewschannel]

Media Double Standard Exposed in Case of Deondre Francois

http://launch.newsinc.com/?type=VideoPlayer/Single&widgetId=1&trackingGroup=69016&playlistId=19132&siteSection=ndn&videoId=33468007

“I hope they will have the decency to clear my name with the same publicity with which they now have besmirched it.” — Micheal Corleone to the Senate Committee in “The Godfather: Part II”

Wednesday morning, accusations of battery upon a pregnant woman by Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois exploded across the sports media. Another case of a major college football player beating on his girlfriend.

Or so it seemed.

Hours later, the investigation was dropped with much less media fanfare.

Francois and the alleged victim told police what were described as “dramatically different” versions of the incident. There were no independent witnesses. There was no arrest. Case closed.

I had a similar situation happen to me during my playing days at FSU. It left me with a busted window in my dorm room, my car messed up, my house messed up, I got hit and had a cop tell me he was glad I used restraint or I’d be going to jail. Nothing happened to the woman.

I’m not bitter. She’s moved on and does great things, but the cop telling me he was waiting for me to make a bad decision was mind-boggling.

I had a teammate not too long before that get arrested. The arrest report shows he didn’t hit the woman; instead, he grabbed her wrist to prevent from getting hit himself.

I’ve had teammates accused of rape go through the worst trials of their lives. They’re painted as gangsters and monsters during the trial because of where they come from. When they were acquitted, it was not front page news like the accusation; acquittals seemingly are buried by the newspapers, websites and TV and radio stations that cover sports full-time.

When I Google those names these many years later, the first stories that pop up are the accusations. You can only find the acquittal stories if you dig.

The hypocrisy of expectations for major college football players annoys me. It’s not going away anytime soon, either.

Everybody preaches at these young men about the opportunity they have, even folks with zero clue what it’s like to be in their shoes. They can’t fathom the scrutiny that comes with each step they take. Former athletes get in on the act, as well, talking about “back in my day” and how today’s football student-athlete has to be more responsible.

The same folks will tell you to stay away from girls and parties or any of the other joys that come with college life. In the same breath, they call players arrogant, stuck up and weird for not embracing what everyone considers “the best times of your life” because athletes are paranoid that someone is trying to set them up to be on TMZ.

We always hear about the bad. When an athlete at Major U finds trouble, it’s heavily publicized. It stings because a few moments paint the entire athletic world as filled with punks who need a lesson on humility.

Except when the media gets it wrong. Then, it’s “turn to the next hot story.” Nobody spends the same amount of time clearing the player’s name or investigating what actually happened.

In these cases, fans and media often seek the narrative that fits their level of comfort — typically the lie that small-town local and campus police departments go above and beyond to protect star student-athletes.

That just isn’t true. I experienced that for myself, as I’ve described.

RELATED: A 6-point plan for Willie Taggart to get FSU back to its dominant ways

Here’s a reality you’ve probably never considered. These athletes won’t always be athletes and most eventually head into the “real” world looking for jobs. Potential employers Google the young men before interviews ever occur, and while dozens of stories exist about accusations and charges potentially be filed for domestic abuse, assault, drug possession or other alleged crimes, the few stories that may exist exonerating the young men are buried in the search results.

This occurs in the corporate world and even on the college landscape.

There is a recent head coach at an FCS school I know who was almost not hired for a dream job because of misinformation about a domestic violence case in which a police report was filed; the case eventually dismissed due to insufficient evidence. The accuser moved on with her life while the accused, who never has shown any glimpses of the behavior he was accused of before or after, has to answer for the charges and deal with the after-effects for years.

I’m not naive. I’ve had turd teammates. I know players who’ve gone through these situations who were far from clean. I’ve had kids I know personally who admitted wrongdoing and are taking every step in their power to correct those wrongs.

We live in a time where we view being an athlete, college or pro, as a privilege, and we hold those athletes to a higher standard. That standard is often higher than the one we hold their coaches or even public servants to.

I don’t want athletes to be treated different. I want them to be treated the same.

I think moments like this, when domestic violence accusations are in the news, should be used as opportunities to teach young people – men and women – how to handle conflict resolution, to teach them to be aware of the lasting impact of their poor decisions.

I’m “pro-player” in most situations. I am also a firm believer in right is right, and wrong is wrong. I know how tough their positions in these situations can be. I’ve been there.

I don’t like any young person at any school getting in trouble. Will I make jokes? Yes. But I can’t just write about someone’s downfall without having full clarity on the situation, which is why I didn’t immediately write anything when Francois’ name popped up in the news Wednesday. I’m not that hard-pressed for clicks and I think it should be the media’s job to cover all aspects of the story equally – the accusations and the dropping of chargers, if that’s the case – as in all of these situations there is a lesson.

The reason I’m writing this is because of the misinformation put out and the unwillingness to show the rights and the wrongs. In Francois’ situation, what got lost in the story of another “athlete hitting his girlfriend” was that Francois is the one who called the police. He actually might’ve been the victim in all this.

We don’t know all the facts. But someone’s life was permanently impacted and a determination of character was made upon him by millions without even knowing what actually happened.

As a man with a daughter, a mother, a sister and plenty of women whom I hold dear, I pray never to be put in these situations. Some people I know have been put in these situations and I was beyond angry.

I also have a son who I cherish. My son likely will follow my path in athletics, or at least try. I pray he will make sound decisions.

As someone who deals with athletes of all ages, genders and backgrounds on a daily basis, I know he’ll make mistakes. But I want him to learn from them and not be afraid to live life because he feels folks are out to get him.

RELATED: Walt Bell makes FSU’s wait for an offensive coordinator worth it

I just believe in “innocent until proven guilty,” no matter what. I don’t believe one’s ability to run fast, hit hard or throw far should deny you your inalienable rights. I don’t believe athletes or celebs should get preferential treatment. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe they should be held to a high standard; I just don’t believe it should be higher than anyone else.

The culture of violence against women on college campuses needs to change, but we need to be careful not to sweep the innocent up with the guilty in our efforts to get there.

Article First Appeared On Gridiron Now: http://gridironnow.com/media-double-standard-exposed-case-deondre-francois

Find more information on: http://sportsdenlive.com