#mink yet again asking the for the greatest of things

[wormzandgutz]

hey hey can u tell me more about your OCS. Any of them. Please.

I can tell you about Clover and Valkyrie, since i infodumped about them recently to some other folk tw: abusive relationships

Clover and Valkyrie have been friends since early childhood, Valkyrie comes from a very privileged family but she was neglected by parents. As the years went on, Valkyrie’s treatment of others worsened because she could get away with most things, Clover never liked this; but because she knew about Valkyrie’s family situation, she didn’t want to sever her friendship with Valk Valk became very manipulative in her teens and learnt that she could use her situation as a way to trap Clover in their friendship. Valk is very codependent on Clover

This went on for years and years, While clover wasn’t happy with how Valk treats others, she feels a sense of responsibility for Valk and blames herself for how bad Valk’s gotten. The main story takes place in their college years, where Clover meets Atlas 👇

Atlas manages to talk sense into Clover over a long period of time, without Valk knowing. this builds up until Clover finally gets confident enough to confront Valkyrie, and this time she doesn’t stand for her guilt ripping. The confrontation ends with Clover saying something along the lines of “if you don’t fix your behaviour and seek help, I can’t continue being friends with you” Valkyrie takes this verrryyy hard, Clover was the only person who actually cared about her and now Valk lost her control over her. After this it becomes a more action oriented but emotional drama filled fantasy mess that I made in 2019. but spoiler warning, the reason Valkyrie suddenly becomes what’s basically a supervillain is because of another character Serpentine 👇

(The one on the right) who has the ability to mind control people through their feelings, aka it’s not a 100% mind control, like Serpentine can’t manipulate someone’s feelings towards herself and she can’t directly control their actions, but she can strongly influence them. idk how to continue that so I’ll just say some more character angst Clover is one of the only people who realize somethings off about Valkyrie (outside of her eyes going from brown to purple shshhshhshsh) because despite how awful their relationship was, she is the only one who truly knows her

[pinkysfaultorbrainsfault]

pinky and the brain - s1e5a: where no mouse has gone before

the blood test went okay! i’m still fucking exhausted but i’m pulling through. hopefully when the results come through it’ll be something tame yet treatable.

episode summary: upon learning of a human plot to communicate with aliens from a nearby planet, brain attempts to convince them that he is earth’s leader.

the rundown:

the mice are floating around.

did i need to cap all of those images? no. i probably only needed the last one, honestly. was it funnier? absolutely. so that’s what y’all get.

brain is upside down now.

“look, brain!” cries pinky. “i’m experiencing total weightlessness!”

bonk.

they’re in an anti gravity chamber, for reasons that have not been elaborated upon. they just sort of merrily bump into each other in there until someone lets them out.

bonk.

bonk.

ow. if pinky could die, that would probably be it for his spine. brain looks more like his alarm has just gone off and he really doesn’t want to get up, but god damn it, he has a 9am on tuesdays.

gromp.

“these experiments are degrading.”

“narf! i think they’re fun, brain! i can’t wait for the next ride!”

“that is because you have no dignity.”

but it’s okay. this man in terrifying sunglasses has come to rescue the boys. air mice nyoom is over.

as he takes them back to wherever, brain spots something of interest.

IT’S A DVD. HOW ANTIQUATED. but no, he’s more concerned about whatever it is this dude is polishing.

“did you see that plaque, pinky?” brain asks, and then does... this. for some reason. i don’t know. maybe i paused at a weird time. this is, uh, not a good moment, brain. there are people here.

“poit. he really ought to floss more often.”

this, at the very least, is enough to get brain to stick his ass out slightly less, and as they get lowered into fun little chairs,

he explains to pinky that the plaque "displays representations of man, woman, and the rudiments of earth’s most sophisticated science.”

see! there are the sciences right there. all sciences can be narrowed down to a bunch of dots and pi.

so then they get put in the promare spinny machine for their crimes.

sunglasses man leaves. he has done his duty for bill and country.

completely unbothered by the prospect of fueling the promepolis warp drive, brain explains to pinky that said plaque is being “sent on a probe to the outermost extremities of the galaxy, along with a disk showing earth’s arts and music.” unfortunately, this show is set in the 90s, so it’s a miracle this episode actually happened and the aliens didn’t just listen to a couple seconds of bjork and then decide to call the whole thing off.

meanwhile, the scientist turns the spinny mode up a bit.

“if the aliens look upon it, they will learn everything they need to know about the dominant species on earth!”

“naaarf. too bad there isn’t a picture of you on there, brain!”

“exactly,” says brain, who can somehow still manage a coherent sentence. “are you pondering what i’m pondering?”

“i think so, brain! but pants with horizontal stripes make me look chubby!”

awful. brain somehow manages to convey that if he puts a picture of himself on the plaque, then the aliens will recognise him as earth’s leader.

unfortunately, most of his lower half appears to be significantly broken, so he may need some assistance.

the episode cuts straight from spinny machine to the next scene, so i’m not entirely sure how long afterwards it takes place. i assume at the very least they both had a nap first, but anyway, now the mice are here and significantly less broken, and brain is standing in front of an engraving of himself and saying voila.

“voila.”

not only has he carved himself into the plaque, he’s also carved the human figures out entirely. impressive stuff, considering that tool is bigger than him.

pinky thinks it’s marvellous!

“but who is it?”

bonk.

it gets worse. brain explains that he has “slightly altered the great art masterpieces” to enhance his own importance as earth’s leader.

slightly.

“oh, this is my favourite one, brain!”

“......how did that get in there.”

undeterred, brain switches over to some samples of The World’s Great Works Of Classical Music.

BRAIN’S THE LEADEEEEEEEEEEER BRAIN’S THE LEAAAADEEEEER

he’s even included some examples of america’s contribution to the fine arts!

ROCK. AND ROLL.

A WOP BOP A LOO BOP A LOP BAM BRAIN. let it be known that little richard was actually white and dubiously canadian.

/s

anyway brain wants them to swap his disk and plaque with the real disk and plaque, so they set off to do that.

“but brain, what about ballet? aren’t you going to give them a sample of the ballet?”

“the aliens aren’t going to care about ballet, pinky.”

or perhaps he was just too embarrassed to edit his face onto the ballets russe. it’s okay brain. we love you even if your short legs make your sissones lackluster.

time for Big Rocket.

they’re stopped at the gates, of course.

fear not! it’s only famous jet propulsion scientist wernher von brain from the braun institute in baun.

and wernher von pinky!!! from the mink institute in pink!!!

brain looks at pinky like he’s just said something stupid, and chooses to ignore the fact that wernher van braun had been dead twenty years before this cartoon takes place. very smart, brain. much genius.

still, it works on this guy.

“from now on, pinky, whatever anyone asks you, just say ‘ja’ or ‘nein’.”

BUT NEVER MIND THAT.

IT’S TIME FOR BIG ROCKET.

brain screws his custom Mouse Plaque onto the base of the rocket. he also sticks his ass out again as he does it, because he is clearly having one of those days.

pinky watches as the countdown progresses slowly, from ten-nine-eight-seven-six-five-four-three-stand by for emission.

“did you hear the countdown, pinky?”

“ja!”

“what number are they down to?”

“nien!”

“nine???”

“ja!”

“excellent, plenty of time.”

<does a gay little run into the distance>

(he did not, in fact, have plenty of time.)

“didn’t you tell me they were down to nine, pinky?”

“ja! nien! poit!”

there’s your answer, i guess.

but it’s fine! brain’s picture is on the rocket, as well as his cultural erasure of little richard, so surely nothing can go wrong now!

look at it nyooming around in space. how cute.

conclusion:

ALIENS LAND ON EARTH.

news man witters on about this being the GREATEST MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD as various politicians and news organisations congregate to say hi to the aliens. they are from firnobulax, and they want to meet earth’s leader!

here they come now!

squelch.

the aliens politely request to be taken to earth’s leader.

“he means me,” says bill, wriggling himself to the front of the line. “i can feel his pain.”

):

the other world leaders don’t seem too sure about this.

including... this guy. who is definitely supposed to be british (”oh, really, old chap, i think he means me”) but i. definitely do not recognise him. who are you??? what did you do to the queen??????? give liz back right now you bureaucrat, or the entirety of england will throw hands.

the aliens care not for this.

so they kind of explode everyone in the venue, as you do.

the politicians watch in horror as the aliens fly right past them, to this innocent looking soap box right at the back.

the inhabitants of which came prepared. very cute.

���you are the earth creature known as. brain?”

“yes!”

“i am the leader of this planet!! ruler of all i survey!!!!!”

good for you! (:

“narf. and he really isn’t just a laboratory mouse trying to take over the world.”

brain will handle this from here, thank you.

the aliens are satisfied, at least. they give pinky a little pat on the head for all his narfs (he speaks excellent firnobulax, don’t you know, narf poit egad) and take the mice away to CELEBRATE THEIR GLORY.

it doesn’t look very comfortable, but neither of them seem to mind.

“at last, pinky! we are finally appreciated!”

“what does it feel like..........”

anyway, the spaceship full of mice flies away. brain regails the firnobulaxians with tales of how he invented electricity.

“but brain. wasn’t that ben franklin?”

bonk.

brain realises mid bonk that this probably looks very suspicious, so he convinces the aliens that this is a gesture of respect on earth.

it goes about as well as one would think it would.

“you mean all those years, you were just showing me respect! i’m touched!”

“yes, you certainly are.”

luckily, they make it back to firnobulax without too much trouble.

there’s a parade and everything. the crowd cheers “narf! poit! brain!” as they’re carried through the street, which is probably a sequence of words that brain is very used to hearing.

i don’t know what these things are, but they’re scary.

they make it to brain’s “domicile” soon enough, which is a big fancy room with a chair in it.

there’s only one chair, which is sad, but hopefully that can be mitigated. brain settles himself down triumphantly.

“from now on, pinky,” he says, “everything will be different.”

which is a good time for bars to fall down over one of the windows.

donk.

the mice look on, horrified,

as it continues around the rest of the room.

and the door, too, for good measure.

“egad, brain!” cries pinky. “they’ve locked us in!”

“yes, pinky.”

“yes.”

awww. ):

as pinky attempts to break the bars, brain wanders off back to his little chair, incredibly despondantly.

he has to prepare for tomorrow night.

“why, brain? what are we going to do tomorrow night?”

“same thing we do every night, pinky. try to take over firnobulax.”

hmmmmm.

man. i just. the plan actually worked, is the thing. it did exactly what brain intended it to. and how could he have known that firnobulax wanted to kidnap the leader of earth for scientific purposes? maybe if they’d been upfront with their intent, we would have had an excuse to send some dictators into space. go figure.

but never mind.

brain: 6 pinky: 7 outside influence: 13

“ooooo, i don’t know, brain. i once saw a group of japanese tourists absolutely melt at the final scene of giselle.”

[aion-rsa]

Best Meryl Streep Musical Performances (Including The Prom!)

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Who would have thought 30 years ago Meryl Streep would become the musical diva of our age? Maybe those who watched her bashfully (and beautifully) sing “You Don’t Know Me” in 1990’s Postcards from the Edge. But largely she was associated with the serious dramas of the ‘70s and ‘80s that won her two Oscars (and saw her nominated for three more) by the time she was 35: Kramer vs. Kramer, The Deer Hunter, Sophie’s Choice. Sober-eyed tearjerkers all.

But an amazing thing happened in the 21st century, didn’t it? Streep, the First Lady of the Academy Awards stage, reinvented herself as the prima donna of the musical-comedy. Sometimes that includes performances so rich that they sing even without any lyrics, such as the imperious Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. But often they come with music and verse too, be it ham-fisted kitsch like Mamma Mia! or something as ambitious as playing the Witch in an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

And today she’s back on the musical big screen—or at least the one in your living room—via Ryan Murphy and Netflix’s The Prom. It’s an all-out musical extravaganza where Streep transcends into her best self: a reigning diva of Broadway. So join us as we use the occasion to count down her greatest cinematic solos.

10. “Changing Lives” in The Prom

For whatever faults The Prom might contain, the Netflix film’s vicious satire of celebrity vanity and performative social action is not one of them. And rarely is that better felt than in Meryl and James Corden’s first big number “Changing Lives.” As a pair of tone-deaf Narcissuses, Streep’s Dee Dee Allen and Corden’s Barry Glickman put on a hell of a show, singing from the lights of 44th St. to the glitzy interiors of Sardis about how being a Broadway star is basically the same thing as Eleanor and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Is it a great song? Not necessarily. Is it great to hear Streep exclaim she only wants to hear a review if it’s a rave or mixed-to-positive while downing champagne? Absolutely.

9. “Super Trouper” in Mamma Mia!

We know everyone has thoughts about Mammia Mia! and where its qualities (or sometimes lack thereof) lie. But Meryl Streep’s performance as Donna is inarguably one of its great strengths. Her matriarch of an idyllic little Greek island seems a far cry from the apparent free spirit and hellraiser she once was. Yet in “Super Trouper,” her young daughter (Amanda Seyfried) gets a glimpse of the dynamo Donna once was (and secretly still is) as she takes the disco stage alongside Julie Walters and Christine Baranski.

The trio still make the ‘70s excess of their outfits work, crooning about last nights in Glasgow and reawakening that magic for the next generation. Even Donna’s tuneless exes in the back get swept back in time. It’s sweet, and one of several Mamma Mia numbers to appear here.

8. “Goodbye to My Mama” in A Prairie Home Companion

One of the best films mentioned on this list, A Prairie Home Companion was director Robert Altman’s final film—and the movie appears aware of this. Nowhere is that more tangible in this heart-wringing ballad written in the tradition of early 20th century Country and Western music by Garrison Keillor. An ode to a childhood long gone, and both an aspiration and understated fear about seeing a lost mother again on the other side, the song is an elegy realized in soulful duet by Streep and Lily Tomlin. It harkens the Angel of Death backstage, but in isolation it’s still plenty heartbreaking.

7. “The Winner Takes It All” in Mamma Mia!

We said there’d be more ABBA. And here it is with “The Winner Takes It All,” Streep’s single actual solo. In this moment director Phyllida Lloyd knows exactly where to put the camera, capturing the postcard beauty of a Greek isle at sunset as Meryl sings her heart out, and smashes Pierce Brosnan’s for good measure. Appealingly melodramatic, and with perfect high notes for Streep’s range, the scene puts this Oscar winner in the movie equivalent of a romance novel cover. And who doesn’t want to open that?!

6. “It’s Not About Me” in The Prom

Again rarely does The Prom’s satire land better than in its opening number… but Streep’s big solo “It’s Not About Me” is that rare exception. Strutting into an Indiana PTA meeting in a red mink and extravagant mood, Streep’s Dee Dee introduces herself by belting that she’s here after reading three quarters of an article to ask, “You bigoted monsters, just who do you think you are?” And it’s all downhill from there for her argument, and uphill for our entertainment.

Hijacking a vulnerable teenager’s platform to whine about a New York Post notice and to demand soft lighting and a rainbow coalition of colorful streamers for her Insta-ready moment, Streep is given permission by The Prom to make everything about her. More, please.

5. “Stay with Me” in Into the Woods

Attempting to sing Sondheim is a challenge few take up lightly. With his typically complex lyrics, myriad key changes, and sharp musical bridges, Sondheim has thwarted many a movie star who’s tried. Streep is not one of them. As the villainous and somewhat misunderstood Witch of Into the Woods, Streep dominates the film as an antagonistic force who sees all the other fairy tale archetypes for the schmucks they are.

But that does not include her adopted daughter Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy). As the daughter the Witch never had, Rapunzel is kept secluded away in the woods, but it’s for her own protection. Written years before Tangled, a mother’s fanged psychological warfare and pleas to “stay with me” from the danger in the world is as haunting as it is toxic. And it’s Streep’s best moment in Disney and Rob Marshall’s ambitious, yet bloated, movie adaptation.

4. “Dancing Queen” in Mamma Mia!

Yes, it’s that song and that scene: ABBA’s most overplayed earworm brought to treacly life with maximum cheese, including slow-motion shots of Meryl Streep jumping on a bed and skipping along a Greek coastline. Look over there! Why is that old fisherman playing a piano in the water?! And over here! Where did the hundreds of locals on this tiny, largely uninhabited island come from?!

Read more

Movies

Best Movie Musicals of the 21st Century

By David Crow

Movies

Hamilton Cast Reflect on Backlash and Criticism of Musical

By David Crow

It doesn’t matter! You know from the first time you heard Streep and company belt this that you sang along. You probably still do, joining in at the parade of empowered women, from ages two to 92, who’ve been liberated by the joy of their youth, now or remembered. As they dance badly across the world’s grooviest pier, it plays as loud; as camp; and as a goddamn delight.

3. “My Minnesota Home” in A Prairie Home Companion

Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin’s other major duet in A Prairie Home Companion, “My Minnesota Home” reworks Stephen Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home” to give it a Lake Wobegon tenor. It is also the sweetest showcase for Streep and Tomlin’s chemistry, both as singers and human beings. The give and take between the pair, and then Streep’s rousing vibrato during the final chorus, has the air of genuine inspiration and real pleasure. Here are two performers finding harmony together on the stage and before our eyes. It’s big hearted and irresistible.

2. “I’m Checking Out” in Postcards from the Edge

Meryl’s first major musical moment came during the grand finale of director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Carrie Fisher’s wonderful little dramedy. Loosely and nakedly based on Fisher’s own relationship with her movie star mother Debbie Reynolds, Postcards from the Edge is a revealing and sometimes blunt exercise in getting things off a writer’s chest. And one thing Fisher really wanted to clear the air about was her mother’s desire to push her toward musical performance. While Fisher resisted in her own life, she allows the fictional Suzanne Vale (Streep) to give in to mother Doris Mann (Shirley MacLaine).

Read more

Movies

Best 11 Classic Movie Musicals

By David Crow

Movies

Hamilton: The Real History of the Burr-Hamilton Duel

By David Crow

In doing so, she also gives into herself and sings this full-hearted rendition of “I’m Checking Out.” A country hymn to the bitterness of living in the heartbreak hotel, the song allows Suzanne (and hopefully Carrie) to bury some pain, and for Streep to reveal her formidable stage and screen presence in front of a microphone. It is probably the rawest and most intelligent performance on this list.

1. “Mamma Mia” in Mamma Mia!

Among Meryl Streep’s many songs in Mamma Mia!—including a few we did not put on this list, believe it or not—it’s her rendition of the movie’s title song that works best. Imbuing the tune with an infectious playfulness, and leaning into the impatience that pours from ABBA’s lyrics, Streep pounces around the screen like a cat who’s just spotted a bird… or at least three turkeys in the shapes of her exes (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård).

Read more

Culture

How Disney Saved Musicals for a New Generation

By David Crow

Movies

Hamilton: Thomas Jefferson Controversy Explained

By David Crow

As she creeps and creaks around their goathouse (don’t ask), debating whether to sneak another peak, the film finally makes sharp use of a movie’s ability to edit together imagery: We cut between Streep, the exiled suitors, Donna’s daughter and friends, and even an honest to Zeus Greek chorus of extras sticking their heads into the frame to chastise Streep. Not that she can resist her curiosity, nor do we resist watching it. In fact, we want to egg it on as Streep rolls around in overalls and crosses herself before embracing the next crescendo.

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[paper-rose-doodles]

 The first few months are painful. Gutwrenchingly, suffocatingly painful, so painful that Susan feels her heart will simply burst from the grief. How does one go about one’s life so suddenly alone?  She stays with her Aunt and Uncle, themselves bereft with the loss of Eustace - the son they barely understood anymore but loved in their own peculiar way - and lies in bed for weeks on end, staring out the window at the manicured lawns and oblivious neighbors.  How could they go about their quiet lives? Didn’t they know?  How could the world keep turning?  

But then, one winter morning, she sees a rather fat robin redbreast, standing stark against the snow like blood, and she thinks back to another rather fat robin redbreast, looking at her with knowing eyes in a forest a world away.  The robin flutters to her window, pecking a few times before flying away, untethered by the sheer weight of grief that keeps her Earthbound. Susan follows the bird with her eyes, her mind traveling down a path lined with mink coats and fir trees.

 And then, Susan Pevensie does something rather extraordinary.  

Susan Pevensie gets up.

She remembers that she may be alone, she may be orphaned and friendless in a world that is now devoid of the magic she secretly cherished, but Susan Pevensie is a Queen of Narnia, and once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen.  

...

She flings herself into work, typing in a steno’s pool for a few years, then moving upward to management.  What can’t be changed must be endured, she says to herself in Mrs. Beaver’s voice. And it can all be endured, love, for Spring will come again.

It’s 1958 when she realizes she’s stopped enduring and begun to live again.  She decides to chase a new White Hart: the university degree her mother always hoped she’d pursue.  At 30, it’s not an easy path, but Susan has ridden across Archenland with a Tisroc in pursuit. A degree in Classics won’t stand a chance.  She quits her job upon her acceptance to Oxford and simply jumps.

The degree is followed by another, and yet another.  She’s rediscovered her love of writing, and the books begin to flow from her pen like the waters through the Fords of Beruna.  She becomes an expert in Arthurian myth and Medieval literature because there’s something so familiar about it all, the knights in their armor and the wise old wizard and the sheer magic of it all.  Her favorite manuscripts are the bestiaries, because even though everyone else sniggers, she knows that’s exactly what a cockatrice looks like. Susan drowns herself in magic.  But she doesn’t bury herself in the past, because this kingdom needs her as much as Narnia ever did.  Once a Queen of Narnia, always a Queen. She marches for disarmament. She chains herself to a power plant at one point, which is an unexpected choice for a 42-year-old Oxford professor in brogues and tweeds, but it feels like home.  She burns her bras, choking in the smoke and wishing she’d done so upwind.  Susan Pevensie becomes a local legend; no longer Queen Susan the Gentle, she’s Professor Pevensie the Protestor.

When she’s 35, she marries a man with kind eyes who doesn’t ask her about her family or her past.  He simply listens, and to her, that’s the greatest magic of all. She becomes stepmother to his children, and she tells them the most marvelous stories about unicorns and dragons and the great lion Prince who rules over all.  Susan Pevensie learns to give love again.

She cracks on for a good while, defying the pointed suggestions of retirement from the Board, and by the 1980s, she’s become a sort of institution in Oxford, as permanent as the mossy stones that make up the medieval town.  She’s always there to talk to students, to inspire them, to stir them up and make them laugh. That’s one thing you can say about Professor Pevensie - she’s got a wicked sense of humor.  Her stepchildren grow and have children of their own, and she is a doting stepgrandmother, albeit one who thinks an archery set is an appropriate gift for an eight-year-old girl.  She marches against Thatcher.  She loses her husband, and almost slips back into that heavy place of grief again, but there are robins everywhere in Oxford.

And when she finally falls asleep and wakes again, it’s to a sunny field, greener than anything she has ever seen in England, with a path running through. It’s the green of a land awakening after a century of winter, the green of trees that laugh and dance, the green of Narnia, but somehow more.

Her husband is there, and he takes her hand.  “Go on, love. They’re waiting for you.  I’ll catch up.”  He gently pushes her towards a small crowd of people coming down the path towards her.  And suddenly there they are: the Beavers and Trumpkin and Reepicheep and Mr. Tumnus the faun and Caspian, with a beautiful woman she knew must have been his wife.  She sees Bulgy Bears and badgers and maenads and dryads, all swirling around her like the Dancing Lawn.  Suddenly, the swirling stops because she sees the most beautiful sight. Eustace is there, smiling at her with his parents (who still look as confused by the world as they did in 1957), and as he steps aside, Susan sees them.  Her parents reach out their arms and she weeps as they hold her.  Peter is there, and Edmund and Lucy, and they all look so young but it doesn’t matter because Susan doesn’t feel old. She doesn’t feel young. She simply feels.  

Lucy smiles at her.  “We weren’t expecting you so soon,” she said.  Susan laughed.  “Soon?  You call that soon?”

“I call all times soon,” says a voice Susan has dreamt of hearing for fifty years, gentle and soft and loud like thunder.  He’s here, and He’s more magnificent than she remembers Him being.  Susan looks down, feeling small and foolish, as she often felt when she was a girl. “Aslan, I’m...I’m so sorry,” she sobs, “I’m so sorry.”  

She feels his warm breath on her head, and looks up, only to be nuzzled by a giant lion’s nose.  His eyes are warm and liquid, and suddenly she forgets what it means to feel small.  “Oh, Daughter of Eve,” He says.  “Sorrow is for yesterday.”

Susan smiles through her tears.  “I did all right, then, didn’t I?”

She hears a whiffling noise that - if she didn’t know better - she’d describe as a leonine chuckle.  “Well enough, Susan Pevensie.  Well enough.”

Lucy grabs her hand and away they go, further up and further in.

Turns out people really like me waffling about Narnia on Twitter.

So here’s a more hopeful spin on Susan Pevensie. (From the author’s pen to your eyeballs.)

[inloveandwords]

How has everyone’s first month of 2019 been so far?

Mine has been absolutely fantastic and I’m excited for all the things still to come, particularly with my blog and BookTube channel.

2019 has definitely been a year of bookish fun so far for me, and I’d be 100% ok with it if that stuck around all year long.

Anyway, it’s nearly the beginning of February and that means it’s time for a new reading list…

I’m super excited about this month because it’s my first month participating in Melanie’s (Meltotheany) book club: Dragons & Tea Book Club. I’ll also be participating in Contemporaryathon hosted by Chelsea at Chelseadolling Reads, Julie at Pagesandpens, and Melanie at Meltotheany.

February Reading List

These are all books that I own and want to read this month! Titles link to Goodreads.

Audio

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne ♥ ContemporaryAThon Pick for #s 1 & 6 ♥

Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach…

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that’s inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.

  All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover ♥ ContemporaryAThon Pick for #s 2, 4, &5 ♥

Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

  Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann ♥ ContemporaryAThon Pick for #s 2, 4, 5 & 7 ♥

Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting–working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating–no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

Kindle

A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1) by Talia Hibbert ♥ Dragons & Tea Book Club pick ♥

Everyone has secrets. He wants all of hers.

Meet the man next door…

After years of military service, Evan Miller wants a quiet life. The small town of Ravenswood seems perfect—until he stumbles upon a vicious web of lies with his new neighbour at its centre.

Ruth Kabbah is rude, awkward, and, according to everyone in town, bad news. Thing is, no-one will tell Evan why. Does she perform ritual sacrifices? Howl at the moon? Pour the milk before the tea? He has no clue.

But he desperately wants to find out. Because Ruth doesn’t seem evil to him; she seems lonely. And funny, and clumsy, and secretly quite sweet, and really f*%king beautiful…

The more Evan’s isolated, eccentric neighbour pushes him away, the more he wants her. Her—and all her secrets. Because there’s no way a girl like Ruth truly deserves the town’s scorn.

… Is there?

Hard Copy

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

The one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

Library Book

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

What are you reading this month? Are you participating in any readathons or book clubs?

Reading List: February 2019 {Includes #ContemporaryAThon and Dragons & Tea Book Club Reads} How has everyone’s first month of 2019 been so far? Mine has been absolutely fantastic and I’m excited for all the things still to come, particularly with my blog and…

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A Lot Of WantedUpgrade Your Home Manicure With Olive & June's 20% Off SaleAt this point, you may tout yourself as an at-home manicure lover or, at least, you've made the most effective out of these DIY-nail days. Wh.

Appeal products are expensivethat's been well-documented. But that doesn't suggest we do not still fantasize regarding the perfect nude makeup combination or a cream that will banish dry skin completely. Set that with the reality that we're virtually addicted to online shopping, and a reliable, affordable source for make-up as well as skin care goes to the top of our essential checklist.

Harmon Discount Harmon Price Cut is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bed Bathroom & Beyond that sells popular name brand cosmetics like L'Oral, Maybelline, Revlon, CoverGirl, Neutrogena, Physicians Solution, Essie, as well as much more. As well as it houses a comprehensive selection of face, hand, and also body brands consisting of Ahava, Olay, as well as Aveeno. "Harmon Discount rate is my utmost favorite.

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Permanently 21 Despite filing for personal bankruptcy in 2019, Forever 21 stays shoppable in several marketsand, certainly, online, where it recently increased its appeal department (currently called Riley Rose) to include K-beauty favorites, Millennial Pink packaging, and also all-natural options, for a take. "For life 21 is an additional one of my favorite low-cost locations to buy charm," says Glazer.

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The online shop offers marked down offerings from Ardell, Revlon, Mink Lashes, therefore much more. HauteLook "I have actually gotten super-high-end make-up (assume Koh Gen Do and Kevyn Aucoin) from Hautelook," states Irwin. "Plus it's much also simple to throw in a sweater or a handbag while you're there," she adds. Each day, brand-new charm events are curated to feature your preferred brand names for approximately 75% off.

" The people at Frends Appeal stock all expert artist brand names as well as offer you a price cut simply for enrolling in an account." The elegance supply site carries approximately 50,000 items, and also it's constantly upgraded, so it'll greater than most likely have what you're seeking in supply and for an excellent rate.

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" The beauty section is amazingthey have an under-$ 10 section in addition to a natural area. You can obtain impressive shipping bargains relying on just how much you spend, and Target always does store checks if your product is offered out." Glambot "Glambot offers cosmetics and also various other appeal rewards at affordable prices," states Andujar.

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Equally as the sheer number of appealing charm items seems to boost at an exponential price, so also does the number of areas we can purchase them. (Hell, also Trader Joe's has an outstanding selection of offerings!) A lot of interesting online charm sellers have popped up and turned into their own over the previous couple of years, אישה in addition to several of our http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=cosmetic products online long-lasting favorite merchants (such as Nordstrom, Net-a-Porter, as well as Sephora) broaden their brand as well as item variety on what really feels like an everyday basis.

And also, certainly, a lot of our favored shops occur to have an insanely interesting spread of practically everythingthink Ulta, Dermstore, as well as Violet Grey, among others. To commemorate, we have actually curated an extremely bookmark-able listing of the 16 best online beauty shops we constantly have open in our tabs.

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To come to be a leading charm ecommerce website, you likely know that not just will you need to concentrate on website traffic purchase, yet concentrating on boosting conversion prices in order to convert that web traffic right into buyers, is equally essential. The bright side is that to achieve this, the conversion optimization process for elegance and also skincare brand names is similar to the process we utilize with fashion, way of life and also luxury brand names: Determine problems or opportunities with quantitative research, dig much deeper using human signs, and A/B examination.

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What are the top "low-hanging fruits" that are much more likely to do well than not?As a conversion optimization company that concentrates on charm as well as skin care, over the years we have actually determined patterns, as well as collected data on what jobs, and what doesn't. As well as we prepare to share 5 of those understandings with you so you can profit as well.

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Considering that every company and website is unique, there are loads of inquiries that consumers will have regarding your products that they will not have concerning another person's. Firms typically assume they recognize their target market so well, that they vow they understand all the objections their clients may have. Regrettably, not to burst any person's bubble, but we have discovered every solitary firm has their target market unseen areas.

And also they do not understand it. And hunch what?These points they neglect are typically what's causing their include in haul percent to be low, their cart abandonment rate to experience, and also their conversion rate to be less than they prefer. To achieve this we typically begin with 3 vital approaches: By surveying clients that purchased from you within the last month, you can gain an understanding of what drove them to purchase what they acquired, what almost made them abandon their acquisition, as well as what questions they have concerning your products among lots of other insights.

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Utilizing the understandings from these surveys, we were able to create data-driven A/B tests as well as instantaneously boosted sales by over 21%. Wish to know why somebody is hesitant to buy on your site? Ask why!Using a tool such as HotJar, you can introduce surveys on your item or cart web pages after the client has visited a particular number of web pages, invested a particular amount of time on your website, or perhaps when they will leave.

Point is, optimizing a website is not just about making UX renovations. As mentioned above, it has to do with becoming more customer-centric. It has to do with modeling our shops to give whatever a consumer demands (whether they recognize it or not), for them to buy. This is why going old-school and also getting the phone is still one of one of the most effective methods to understand your consumers for conversion optimization.

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You'll find out heaps. Additionally, you can additionally do what we do when we deal with a firm that has retail stores: go to among your shops, talk with the store employees and managers that connect with clients on a daily basis, and even speak with some consumers. You'll learn a whole lot concerning their hesitations, and exactly how employees persuade them to buy.

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That being said, from our experience working with numerous elegance, skin care as well as deluxe ecommerce sites, it is just one of the most effective, and causes high rewards. The membership ecommerce market has expanded by greater than 100% percent/year over the past 5 years. And also it keeps expanding. Supplying customers the choice to subscribe is a terrific low "reduced dangling fruit" activity thing to carry out that can develop up foreseeable profits for your business.

If they're utilized to purchasing a particular concealer, the following time they need much more they might check out alternatives that do not even include your brand, as well as they'll have to go with the conversion journey around once again. By supplying the alternative to clients to register for their preferred items, where for instance, they will instantly get shipped a brand-new concealer ever thirty days, we're eliminating a big piece of the conversion trip where we could lose the customer.

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Now, you see the value of recognizing your customers' inquiries as well as arguments and also addressing them. When implementing a reoccuring membership option to your ecommerce store, understand that merely slapping a button on your item pages asking if they intend to get this product every 1 month won't suffice.

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And among our customers, Kiehl's, is an archetype of a brand doing this well:" Keep in mind exactly how best beside the "Vehicle Renew" function, they have an enigma that when hovered over, presents a new home window with step-by-step guidelines of exactly how it functions. They make it really clear that:1.

2. You can easily handle the entire order including frequency, distribution and amount of your products. 3. That you'll obtain additional advantages from subscribing, such as free shipping as well as a deluxe sample (we'll enter into benefits later).4. That you'll obtain an e-mail pointer prior to every distribution to see to it you do not obtain any type of surprises.

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That you can terminate anytime. This is super essential. This simple home window and also 5 bullet-points quickly answers a whole lot of concerns that can or else lead to site visitors leaving the website without purchasing. It additionally lowers customer assistance queries, as well as also problems if a consumer orders without completely understanding just how the subscription works.

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Individuals make use of these items to feel excellent, to feel great, to feel beautiful. To give them a certain look. And the elegance item, whatever it is, is just a means to achieve that. It coincides thing in skin care. People don't purchase skincare hanker the purpose of purchasing creams.

Whether it's to get rid of acne, soreness or completely dry skinThrive Causemetics performs on this well. On most of their item pages, they have in the past as well as after images revealing the "result" of their makeup on numerous skin shades. The result is crucial to remember when constructing your product pages as well as describing the items you're offering.

Take this item description from a concealer made by Fenty Appeal,